The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 325

Bayan tasted bitterness.

Looking back on his life, his tribe was swept away by the Ming army when he was a child, and he was dragged to the Central Plains as a slave after the Great Khan moved his base northward.

Of course, his loyalty to the Khan remained unchanged.

But apart from that, he deeply disliked the current situation.

He had repeatedly requested support when the Blood Cloud Squad, backed by the Demonic Sect, began to subjugate the tribes of the grasslands and expand its power.

But the Khan didn’t move.

It wasn’t that Bayan couldn’t guess the reason.

The Khan was probably worried that if his troops moved, the Ming Dynasty soldiers, wary of this, would attempt another northern expedition.

That’s how wary and afraid the Khan was of the Ming.

‘Does he really deserve our loyalty?’

Such doubts filled Bayan’s heart anew.

And this wasn’t just Bayan’s feeling.

Perhaps sensing the rapidly changing atmosphere around them, the faces of the soldiers under the Great Khan who came as messengers were also filled with tension.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you hurrying to prepare for an audience?”

The anxious envoy pressed Bayan.

However, Bayan remained silent.

How much time had passed?

Bayan raised his eyes and met the envoy’s gaze.

The envoy’s heart sank at Bayan’s ice-cold stare.

“While our brothers were dying, what were you doing, Khan?”

“Wh, what nonsense!”

“I’m asking why you just stood by and watched when the Blood Cloud Squad ravaged the grasslands.”

The Khan’s envoy looked around with trembling eyes.

He wanted to scold Bayan right away, but he couldn’t.

All eyes were on him.

Depending on his answer, they were ready to draw their swords at any moment.

The flustered envoy hesitated to answer, and Bayan sighed softly.

“Those people from the Central Plains risked their lives for us instead.”

Bayan looked at the envoy with a somber expression.

“The blood we shed together has made us brothers.”

Crisis pushed to the limit.

At the crossroads of survival, Bayan had an epiphany [a sudden realization].

A friend who comes and lends a hand in times of difficulty is a true friend who can share joy together.

“We have a responsibility to treat them with respect until the end. That is the honor and pride of the grasslands.”

Bayan spoke firmly to the envoy, who could only roll his eyes without saying a word.

“I will personally have an audience with the Khan after the brothers from the Central Plains return safely. So please, just go back now.”

“……!”

The envoy’s eyes shook violently.

To defy the Khan’s order!

In the end, Bayan had crossed the final line.

Conversely, Bayan felt a sense of liberation and elation filling his heart that was hard to explain.

After sending the Khan’s envoy back, Bayan showed a complicated look for a moment.

It was obvious what they would report when they returned.

They might even think he had rebellious intentions and mobilize troops.

He wasn’t entirely without anxiety when he thought about the future.

But he couldn’t stand the thought of his brothers from the Central Plains, who had shared life and death with him, being insulted before his eyes.

And this was the same for his warriors.

The atmosphere wasn’t much different even among the newly joined tribes.

Although they didn’t say it, they were sending their support with their eyes.

Bayan looked around and opened his mouth with a smile.

“I will take all responsibility. So…….”

The grasslands were filled with enthusiastic cheers at Bayan’s shout that followed.

“Drink and make merry now! We have won! And we will continue to win!”

“Waa!”

The warriors of the grasslands responded with fervent enthusiasm to Bayan’s determined cry.

Watching the scene from afar, Dan Akseon turned away, leaving behind the endlessly echoing shouts.

After walking for a while, Dan Akseon arrived at a small ger [a traditional Mongolian yurt] located on the outermost edge of the camp.

“I think we need to hurry our return to Murim [the martial arts world] a bit.”

Cho Akryang looked puzzled at Dan Akseon’s words.

“What happened?”

Dan Akseon mentioned the story of the Great Khan’s envoy who had just visited.

At those words, Cho Akryang let out a bitter laugh.

“People living is similar wherever you go.”

It wasn’t difficult to guess the situation.

From the standpoint of the Great Khan, the ruler of the grasslands, it wouldn’t be welcome for Bayan, a mere tribe under his command, to expand his power.

He must have started to check him early on.

Dan Akseon nodded.

“The longer we stay here, the more difficult Bayan’s position will become.”

“But that guy is still keeping his mouth shut.”

Following Cho Akryang’s gaze, Dan Akseon turned his head and saw Kal Yeom-ui leaning against the ger pillar with his blood points sealed [pressure points that, when struck, can cause various effects, including paralysis or unconsciousness].

His appearance, having undergone several harsh interrogations by Sa Musim, was so terrible that it was hard to look at.

Nevertheless, Kal Yeom-ui still wore a bitter smile and glared at Dan Akseon.

It was a viper-like gaze full of poison.

Dan Akseon, who met his gaze, sighed softly.

“I’ll admit it. You won.”

“I’m sorry.”

Dan Akseon shook his head at Sa Musim’s apology.

“No. It’s not your fault, Uncle Chief. That person’s will is just that great.”

Dan Akseon, who approached Kal Yeom-ui, took out a small wooden box from his bosom.

Kal Yeom-ui, who found the needles taken out from it, sneered at Dan Akseon.

“I will never succumb to any torture.”

“This isn’t torture.”

“……?”

“I told you, you will reveal everything you know.”

Dan Akseon began to place needles all over Kal Yeom-ui’s body.

“You endured well enough. And what happens from now on is beyond your will. So…….”

Dan Akseon, who trailed off, looked at Kal Yeom-ui with an extremely complicated gaze.

“Have a good dream.”

“What are you doing now!”

Kal Yeom-ui shouted spasmodically, struggling to hold on to his fading consciousness.

But soon his expression became languid.

The same was true of his eyes.

The eyes, which had been filled with madness, murderous intent, and curses, changed to a dreamy look as if he were dreaming.

“Drunken life, dreaming death.”

Cho Akryang nodded silently at Han Seolhwa’s words.

Kal Yeom-ui, whose defense mechanism of consciousness was completely neutralized, answered obediently to Dan Akseon’s questions as if he were sleepwalking.

He looked like a sleepwalking patient.

* * *

The next morning.

Despite Bayan’s dissuasion, Dan Akseon and his party hurried to prepare to leave.

“Thank you for everything.”

Bayan couldn’t hide his disappointment at Dan Akseon’s greeting.

Just before leaving, Bayan handed over a small box.

“What is this?”

“It’s a token of our promise.”

Dan Akseon, who tilted his head, opened the box.

Then, about twenty neatly folded flags appeared.

“These are the flags of each tribe.”

Dan Akseon smiled brightly at Bayan’s explanation that followed.

“According to the sacred oath of the grasslands, the person who holds those flags will always be treated as our brother.”

“Thank you. I will not forget your hearts.”

Dan Akseon, who confirmed each other’s hearts with fervent eyes, slowly turned around.

As Cho Akryang and Han Seolhwa stood side by side on either side, the Murim people of Murim also said goodbye to their close friends and followed behind them.

While heading to Gayokgwan, being seen off by Bayan and his party, Dan Akseon was deep in thought.

In order not to disturb such Dan Akseon, the group silently rode their horses.

How much time had passed?

Soon, Dan Akseon, who had sorted out his thoughts, opened his mouth.

“We need to find out the identity of the person called Subo as soon as possible.”

Not much of the information obtained from Kal Yeom-ui was useful.

But he was able to secure a few important clues.

It was that the person named Subo was from the Central Plains.

Kal Yeom-ui had only met him twice.

Nevertheless, the assassin’s unique sense did not miss the other person’s characteristics.

Although he couldn’t face his face directly, he was able to discern the southern accent in his tone.

‘He’s roughly in his late thirties.’

And he said that his position within the Demonic Sect was high enough to give instructions to the Six Demonic Lords.

“I think that person is acting as the Demonic Sect’s strategist.”

This meant that he was the mastermind behind all the conspiracies that the Demonic Sect had been plotting behind the scenes.

The problem was that he wasn’t the only person he was worried about.

“But who is that person?”

“Who are you talking about?”

Dan Akseon, at Cho Akryang’s question, mentioned a person he had overlooked until now.

“The expert who killed the leader of the Blood Cloud Squad.”

A man of about twenty who walked in alone and killed the head of the Blood Cloud Squad.

At first, he thought it was the same person as Subo, but the age didn’t match.

Of course, it wasn’t that he had no idea at all.

“He could be a disciple of the Six Demonic Lords, or he could be a new successor to fill the void of the Six Demonic Lords.”

Cho Akryang seemed to have had similar thoughts.

Still, there was something unsettling.

It was that such an expert had not yet revealed himself directly.

The influence of the Blood Cloud Squad and the Black Night Bees in the outer regions was not insignificant enough to be used as a disposable piece.

The Demonic Sect had sent two of the Six Demonic Lords to prepare for Han Seolhwa’s visit to the Northern Ice Palace.

But this time, they only sent one of the Six Demonic Lords.

If the Demonic Sect had added a little more power, the Blood Cloud Squad would not have fallen so easily.

There was another puzzling point.

When asked why they were so persistently targeting him, Kal Yeom-ui answered this way.

To buy time.

What that meant was clear.

The Demonic Sect was waiting for something.

‘Timing, or a specific person.’

Whatever it was, it was clear that their situation was not so easy that they could not come forward for the time being.

After a while.

“But why me?”

Cho Akryang, who was making a puzzled expression, ended up laughing at Dan Akseon’s words that followed.

“Their top priority.”

If they had not focused their capabilities on eliminating him and used them to seize influence in the outer regions, the grasslands would now be under the control of the Demonic Sect.

“You still don’t know your own value.”

“Value?”

“What do you think the Demonic Sect fears the most?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s the unity of the Murim of the Central Plains.”

“Ah!”

“In that sense, you are a symbolic figure of the Central Plains.”

Han Seolhwa nodded and took those words.

“You are the only person in the current Kangho [the martial world] who embraces both the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions.”

From the perspective of the Demonic Sect, which has been causing and fostering conflicts between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions behind the scenes for a long time, Dan Akseon’s existence is the greatest threat.

But Dan Akseon, the person involved, is not properly aware of his position.

Dan Akseon scratched his cheek awkwardly with a sheepish smile.

“Is that so? Then I’ll have to do my best even more.”

Cho Akryang smiled and shook his head.

“How can you do better than this?”

Sa Musim also smiled and opened his mouth.

“You are doing well enough now.”

Although he didn’t say it, Han Seolhwa also agreed by nodding.

“Still, I have to try harder.”

Dan Akseon’s eyes became more serious.

“As much as the Demonic Sect focuses its attention on me, there will be restrictions on their movements.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

Dan Akseon smiled and shook his head at Han Seolhwa’s question.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t afraid of death.

Moreover, after facing death due to the Dark Lord, he realized something new.

Kangho Murim, often expressed as Dosan Sword Forest [a world of martial arts, often dangerous and filled with conflict].

It has become an opportunity to realize that he has already thrown himself into this place.

“It’s okay. It’s something I’ve already prepared for.”

“They may target you even more persistently than now.”

“Come to think of it, the Demonic Sect must hate me a lot, right?”

The person who answered was Cho Akryang.

“Is that all? You’ve suffered defeats because of you every time, so it must be very uncomfortable like a thorn under your fingernails.”

Dan Akseon, who was thinking about something for a while, suddenly opened his mouth.

“Then I might be the best bait to confuse them…….”

Cho Akryang and Han Seolhwa cut off Dan Akseon’s words with a serious expression.

“Absolutely not!”

“Don’t even think about it!”