The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 390

Dan Ahk-seon, upon returning to the Divine Devil Valley, headed straight to his residence.

As expected, the Subseon [folding fan], a gift from Ga Du-dal, was there, untouched.

Dan Ahk-seon unfolded the Subseon before him, his eyes gleaming as he intently studied the painting of the Taoist hermit within.

Taking the Subseon outside, Dan Ahk-seon received the broken Subseon that Cho Ahk-ryang had been keeping. He aligned the painting and the ends of the two fans.

“I knew it.”

A single painting of a Taoist hermit was seamlessly completed.

The two Subseons were, from the beginning, made as a pair.

“What is it? Doctor Dan,” Bum Gye-wi asked, having stealthily approached. Dan Ahk-seon replied with a serious expression.

“When they were separate, they were just simple landscape paintings, but now that they’re together, they look like a map pointing to a specific location.”

Undeniable worry was etched on Dan Ahk-seon’s face.

“It would be great if someone knew exactly what this thing is…”

If he could figure that out, it would be a significant clue to understanding Yoo Gi-jin’s identity.

Bum Gye-wi suddenly spoke up.

“Doesn’t that bastard Ga Du-dal know something?”

Having wandered all over the Central Plains, stealing treasures, he would surely know the history of this item.

The problem was that Ga Du-dal’s whereabouts were still unknown.

“How do we find him?”

At Dan Ahk-seon’s question, Bum Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa exchanged troubled glances.

Dan Ahk-seon felt the same way.

Since that day, he had disappeared without a trace, like a pebble thrown into a vast lake, and no clever ideas came to mind to find him.

After much deliberation.

“How about posting a warning that only he would recognize?”

At Cho Ahk-ryang’s suggestion, Dan Ahk-seon sighed softly.

“Do you think that will work?”

“There will definitely be a reaction.”

It wasn’t a brilliant plan, but there was no other way for now.

Sa Mu-sim, who had been listening to the conversation, rose and headed to Muwi to inform So Jeok-san of the decision that had just been made.

Meanwhile, Cho Ahk-ryang spoke.

“In the meantime, we’ll check the Black Dot’s branches. If we interrogate each branch leader, we might get some clues.”

At those words, Bum Gye-wi’s face lit up.

He had been itching to move, having been stuck guarding Byeok Hwa-ryeong.

“Hahaha! That’s one of the things I do best. Just kidnap them all… no, bring them all, right?”

“Don’t kill them.”

Bum Gye-wi looked at Cho Ahk-ryang with a dumbfounded expression.

“Come on. What do you take me for? I’m not the old Bum Gye-wi.”

“But is it okay to leave Hwa-ryeong and move around as you please?”

Han Seol-hwa, who had thrown the words without much thought, flinched.

Suddenly, Bum Gye-wi glared at her as if he would devour her.

After a moment.

Bum Gye-wi grinned.

“The witch can do it for me.”

“…?”

“You can protect Hwa-ryeong for me. You can’t do this kind of work anyway.”

“What?”

“You know how hard Doctor Dan is working on this, right? Are you going to ruin Doctor Dan’s efforts?”

“…”

Han Seol-hwa was dumbfounded and speechless for a moment.

She was appalled by Bum Gye-wi’s assumption that she would fail, but what made her feel worse was something else.

It was Cho Ahk-ryang nodding in agreement with Bum Gye-wi’s words.

“Are you guys serious?”

Just as Han Seol-hwa was about to explode.

Bum Gye-wi’s figure disappeared before her eyes.

Before anyone could stop him, Bum Gye-wi vanished into a small dot in the distance.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Leaving her dumbfounded, Cho Ahk-ryang immediately flew away as well.

The pure white frost spreading beneath Han Seol-hwa’s feet represented her feelings.

* * *

Black Dot, Shanxi Branch.

As a pigeon with an urgent message attached to its leg flew in, the informants of the Shanxi Branch became busy.

One of them judged the authenticity of the message and headed straight to the top floor.

“Branch Leader! It’s urgent!”

Yeop Dan-yeong, who was leisurely enjoying his tea as usual, frowned at his subordinate’s sudden shout.

He was not pleased with the highest-level order that only came once or twice a year.

“Tsk. What’s going on this time…”

It was then that Yeop Dan-yeong’s face turned ashen as he frowned and received the message.

Thud.

The entire ceiling suddenly shattered, and a huge figure fell straight down.

The problem was that the figure was someone he knew.

“W-What’s going on all of a sudden?”

Bum Gye-wi, who smiled at Yeop Dan-yeong, who was stammering in confusion and fear, suddenly reached out and snatched the message from his hand.

“What does it say here?”

“Yes? Uh… well…”

Yeop Dan-yeong’s eyes widened as he checked the contents of the message.

“Huh? Close all branches and secretly hide in the designated safe houses?”

“What? That’s what it was?”

“…!”

Yeop Dan-yeong’s face turned pale as he belatedly realized his mistake.

The contents of the message were written in code that only high-ranking Black Dot officials could understand.

If he denied it, even Bum Gye-wi would not be able to grasp the contents right away.

However, he was so overwhelmed by the fear of Bum Gye-wi and his overwhelming power that he readily revealed everything.

“W-What the hell is going on…”

At that moment, when he was unable to come to his senses due to Bum Gye-wi’s sudden appearance and the shocking contents of the message.

Grasp.

Bum Gye-wi grabbed Yeop Dan-yeong by the scruff of the neck.

“Let’s go, for now.”

“Yes? Where are we going…?”

“You’ll know when you get there. You know what will happen if you try anything funny, right?”

Yeop Dan-yeong began to tremble pitifully like an aspen in the wind.

At this time, Bum Gye-wi, who belatedly remembered something, asked Yeop Dan-yeong.

“Oh, right. Do you know where the other branch leaders are?”

“As you know, we’re organized in a dotted manner, so…”

“So you don’t know?”

Yeop Dan-yeong’s face turned black as Bum Gye-wi’s eyes grew eerie.

At that moment, Bum Gye-wi stomped his foot with all his might.

Kwaang!

The heavy impact seemed to shake the entire five-story building disguised as a tea house.

Woojigeun.

In an instant, the building collapsed completely.

A disaster like a sudden natural disaster.

Yeop Dan-yeong, who was dumbfounded in front of it, gasped for air.

Before he knew it, Bum Gye-wi was sticking his face close to his and asking again.

“You really don’t know?”

* * *

At the same time.

Cho Ahk-ryang was facing someone in Xi’an.

Yo-eum Nan-hee, Seol Nan-yeong.

She, who was in charge of the Hao Gate’s Xi’an branch, was one of the few informants whose information could be trusted.

“I want to know the location of the Black Dot.”

Seol Nan-yeong lightly glared at Cho Ahk-ryang, who was abruptly getting to the point.

“You know it’s an unreasonable request, right?”

“I know. But it’s a matter of urgency.”

“We don’t know everything either.”

After a moment of contemplation, Seol Nan-yeong soon wore a meaningful smile and cast a flirtatious gaze.

“But if we limit it to Xi’an, I can’t escape the eyes and ears of the Cheoncheop [Thousand Spies organization].”

The next day afternoon.

Cho Ahk-ryang returned to the Divine Devil Valley with a man who had lost consciousness.

“Fortunately, the Black Dot’s Xi’an branch leader was this guy.”

Cho Ahk-ryang pointed to a middle-aged man in his fifties whom he had knocked unconscious by hitting a pressure point.

Go Byeok-un.

He was the one who had been in charge of the Muwi branch before Yoo Gi-jin.

“Hasn’t Bum returned yet?”

At Cho Ahk-ryang’s question, Dan Ahk-seon nodded.

“Yes. He hasn’t returned yet.”

“Could it be that he failed?”

Han Seol-hwa scoffed at Cho Ahk-ryang’s worried expression.

“From the beginning, trusting that idiot was…”

Han Seol-hwa, who was about to pour out a barrage of nagging, suddenly stopped.

Because she felt a wave of energy approaching this way at a rapid pace in the distance.

At that moment.

Thud.

Bum Gye-wi, who had suddenly appeared before them, threw a pile of people he had been carrying on his back to the floor like luggage.

“I didn’t know which ones you needed, so I brought them all.”

Han Seol-hwa closed her mouth at Bum Gye-wi’s triumphant expression.

Bum Gye-wi glanced at Cho Ahk-ryang and snorted.

“What? Only one guy?”

Before Cho Ahk-ryang, whose eyebrows were twitching, could say anything, Bum Gye-wi immediately snapped.

“Why are you doing things so carelessly? How can Doctor Dan trust and rely on you at this rate?”

“What, you?”

Cho Ahk-ryang flared up, but Bum Gye-wi, as if he didn’t care about him, strode towards Dan Ahk-seon.

“How is it? Doctor Dan. I did a good job, right?”

Dan Ahk-seon looked at the men lying on the floor with surprised eyes.

“Are they all the Black Dot’s branch leaders?”

“That’s what they said.”

“How did you find out? I heard that the Black Dot is a dotted organization, so the branch leaders don’t know the locations of other branches unless they are superiors?”

“Ah, that?”

Bum Gye-wi grabbed one of the fallen men by the collar and pulled him up.

“This guy knows it well.”

Yeop Dan-yeong, who was rolling his eyes anxiously with a bloodless face, met eyes with one person.

The only person among them who could be considered a friend.

It was Neung So-mil.

“H-Help me.”

Neung So-mil sighed softly at his appearance, as if he was about to burst into tears.

Because he finally understood what was going on.

There was a reason why the saying “A cunning rabbit has three burrows” existed.

Due to his timid and cautious nature, Yeop Dan-yeong had clearly grasped even the higher-level information that he should not have known in preparation for any possible situation.

However, the burrow he had dug in advance to escape had become a trap from which he could not escape.

Above all, his relationship with him was only business-related.

Moreover, now that the suspicious circumstances of the Black Dot had been detected, it was not good to pretend to be close.

Especially if the person who caught him was Bum Gye-wi.

Neung So-mil, fearing that an innocent spark would fly, was already subtly averting his gaze.

Late that afternoon.

Dan Ahk-seon, who had finished the interrogation, called close people together.

Tak.

At the place where everyone had gathered, Dan Ahk-seon placed a small porcelain bottle on the table.

It was a bottle containing the medicine that Namgoong-ho had been taking.

“I analyzed the ingredients of the medicine in this.”

Dan Ahk-seon sighed softly.

“It wasn’t just opium powder. It was a kind of powerful stimulant containing trace amounts of musk and mercury. That’s why he was able to maintain his sanity even after taking so much.”

“It’s clear that the medicine contributed to his extreme choice.”

At Cho Ahk-ryang’s words, Dan Ahk-seon nodded.

“I think the person who gave him this medicine was trying to induce such behavior from the Namgoong family head.”

Neung So-mil asked cautiously.

“Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“To some extent.”

Dan Ahk-seon’s gaze turned to Cho Ahk-ryang.

“Uncle Cho said that if I intervened in the Namgoong family’s affairs, it would cause chaos that would be incomparable to what has happened so far.”

“Are you saying they were aiming for that?”

Cho Ahk-ryang was startled.

To try to use the Namgoong family to shake Dan Ahk-seon’s position…

“It’s highly likely that it’s related to a person named Yoo Gi-jin. He disappeared as soon as we started investigating this. But there’s so little information about him that we can’t find out the real story.”

“If it’s about that, I can…”

Bum Gye-wi, who was subtly getting up, sat back down awkwardly at Dan Ahk-seon’s words that followed.

“You won’t be able to find out anything even if you torture the branch leaders. In fact, due to the nature of the Black Dot’s organization, the branch leaders don’t know each other’s identities in principle. However, we got some information through a person named Go Byeok-un.”

“Information?”

“He suspects that a person named Yoo Gi-jin is a superior within the organization.”

Neung So-mil’s eyes twinkled.

In their organizational system, there was only one person with a higher position than the branch leader.

It was the Black Dot Lord, the head of the Black Dot.