The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 416

The tense situation hung in the air, both sides glaring, ready to explode.

“Um…”

A figure peeked out from the Moonrise Gate.

“We have a guest.”

It was Adoo.

Cho Ak-ryang frowned.

“A guest? At this hour?”

“Yes. They said it’s urgent…”

Then, a woman appeared from behind Adoo.

Cho Ak-ryang’s brow furrowed slightly as he took in her appearance.

A woman draped in flowing jade-colored silk.

Though the fabric did little to conceal her curves, she radiated an aura of purity and subtle grace, rather than anything vulgar.

More importantly, Dan Ak-seon recognized her as someone he had recently met and spoken with.

“What brings you here?”

Seol Nan-young, head of the Hao Moon’s Seoan branch, responded to Cho Ak-ryang’s cold tone with her signature alluring smile.

However, she couldn’t quite mask the underlying embarrassment.

“I didn’t come here by choice.”

Seol Nan-young carefully retrieved something from her sleeve.

It was a letter, wrapped in silk.

“…!”

A fierce glint flashed in Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes as he recognized it.

The snow-white pear blossom pattern engraved on the letter was unmistakable.

“The Pear Blossom Palace…”

Only after hearing Cho Ak-ryang’s low growl did Dan Ak-seon understand the symbol’s significance.

A mysterious sect comprised solely of women.

Their location remained unknown, and their members were shrouded in mystery.

Only the names of the Palace Lord and the Four Divine Maidens, her protectors, were known.

Above all, Yeon Ok-sang, the Moon Spirit Palace Lord of the Pear Blossom Palace, was an acknowledged master, long considered one of the Five Supreme Masters of the world.

“Why would the Pear Blossom Palace send a letter to me?”

Seol Nan-young shook her head.

“It’s not for you, Venerable One.”

“What?”

Seol Nan-young walked past Cho Ak-ryang and offered the letter to Dan Ak-seon.

Confusion flickered in Dan Ak-seon’s eyes.

He had no particular connection to the Pear Blossom Palace, as far as he knew.

With a bewildered expression, Dan Ak-seon unfolded the letter and examined its contents.

“…?”

Dan Ak-seon looked at Seol Nan-young, puzzled.

The letter was blank.

Cho Ak-ryang, on the other hand, erupted in anger.

“Are you trying to make a fool of me?”

Seol Nan-young sighed deeply at Cho Ak-ryang’s furious glare.

“What good would it do to be angry with me? I am merely a messenger, conveying her words.”

After silently glaring at Seol Nan-young, Cho Ak-ryang spoke after a long pause.

“What did that woman tell you to say?”

Cho Ak-ryang directed the question, but Seol Nan-young answered Dan Ak-seon.

“She said that the Pear Blossom Palace has a plan prepared in advance to destroy the Demonic Sect. And if you are willing to discuss this, she requests a meeting.”

Cho Ak-ryang scoffed.

“Now, of all times?”

Dan Ak-seon, who had been listening to their conversation in silence, finally spoke.

“Where is the meeting to be held?”

Seol Nan-young hesitated to answer Dan Ak-seon’s question.

She kept glancing at Cho Ak-ryang with an anxious look.

After a moment of hesitation,

she carefully opened her mouth.

“Where the moonbow [a lunar rainbow] lies to rest…”

Seol Nan-young was startled and couldn’t continue speaking.

For a moment, Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes twitched, and a chilling murderous intent surged from his entire body.

It was a reaction she had anticipated to some extent.

However, facing Cho Ak-ryang’s anger directly made her vision blur.

Dan Ak-seon stepped forward, placing himself between Cho Ak-ryang and Seol Nan-young.

Only then did Seol Nan-young breathe a sigh of relief.

Dan Ak-seon looked at Cho Ak-ryang with a complicated expression.

Cho Ak-ryang’s gaze towards Seol Nan-young reminded him of Cho Ak-ryang from long ago, when they first met.

His eyes were just as cold and full of venom as they had been then.

However, that fierce hostility wasn’t directed at Seol Nan-young.

It was directed at Yeon Ok-sang, the Palace Lord of the Pear Blossom Palace, who had ordered the message to be delivered.

‘What on earth happened between those two?’

Dan Ak-seon was curious, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask right now.

For some reason, Beom Gye-wi had been watching Cho Ak-ryang’s every move since earlier, and Han Seol-hwa was also staring at Cho Ak-ryang with a worried look.

Above all, he couldn’t easily speak because of Cho Ak-ryang’s unusual atmosphere, as he was trying hard to suppress his anger.

“To dare…”

Cho Ak-ryang, as if swallowing his anger, glared at Seol Nan-young with blazing eyes.

“Was there anything else?”

“That was all.”

With those words, Seol Nan-young hurried away as if fleeing.

Even after she left, Cho Ak-ryang stood blankly, staring up at the night sky for a long time.

How much time had passed?

Cho Ak-ryang sighed softly.

“Do you intend to meet the Pear Blossom Palace Lord?”

“Are you going with me, Uncle Cho?”

“The only person who knows the place where that woman wants to meet is me right now.”

Cho Ak-ryang smiled bitterly.

“Besides, her talk about a plan is probably not just empty words.”

There must be a reason why the Pear Blossom Palace Lord wanted to meet first.

The two had hated and loathed each other terribly for a long time.

“It’s not too far from here, so it won’t take long.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Dan Ak-seon had no reason to object.

Cho Ak-ryang took the lead and soared away, with Dan Ak-seon closely following behind.

How far had they traveled?

The place they arrived at was a high hill overlooking a distant flowing river.

It was a place difficult for people to reach due to its location, but surprisingly, the surroundings were clean.

The originally overgrown bushes were neatly trimmed as if someone had taken care of them.

Dan Ak-seon’s eyes lit up as he belatedly discovered a small mound located on one side of the hill.

A liquor cup was placed in front of the mound.

The liquor contained within was clearly Peach Blossom Spring, made in Muwi.

Cho Ak-ryang, reading Dan Ak-seon’s expression, cleared his throat briefly.

“I stopped by here for a while while you and the Beggars’ Union Leader were having a meeting.”

“So, this is Uncle Cho’s…?”

Cho Ak-ryang nodded.

“It’s a place I used to visit alone from time to time.”

Dan Ak-seon turned his head and looked at the mound.

“Were you close?”

Cho Ak-ryang stared at the grave with an extremely complicated look.

“Do you remember the day we first met?”

Cho Ak-ryang continued, addressing the puzzled Dan Ak-seon.

“At the time, I thought I was going to die. In fact, if I hadn’t met you, I would have died then and there.”

The place that came to mind when he was facing death was here.

Cho Ak-ryang, wanting to visit this place one last time, headed here without a plan.

“But the fog was so thick that I lost my way.”

That’s how he first set foot in the Divine Devil Valley, and his relationship with Dan Ak-seon began.

Cho Ak-ryang smiled faintly as he looked at the mound.

“Looking back, it might have been her who led me.”

“Her?”

Cho Ak-ryang nodded at Dan Ak-seon’s question.

“Yes. Her name was Wol-hong (Moonbow). The only woman I ever loved.”

“Ah! So…”

Moonbow, a faint rainbow that appears only at night, relying on the moonlight.

Dan Ak-seon finally realized the meaning of the place where the moonbow lies to rest.

The resting place where the woman named Wol-hong slept was right here.

It was then.

“Hmph! How ridiculous.”

Beom Gye-wi, who suddenly appeared from the darkness, snorted as if it were absurd.

“The only love, my foot! Why were you known as the Flowery Young Master then?”

Han Seol-hwa, who landed next to Beom Gye-wi, also nodded.

“Come to think of it, there was such a thing.”

Han Seol-hwa mentioned the old woman who came after seeing the notice posted to catch Ga Du-dal, and Cho Ak-ryang frowned.

“Yes! First love! It’s my first love! Are you happy now?”

Dan Ak-seon smiled quietly at Cho Ak-ryang’s flustered and angry appearance.

Thanks to the two of them, he had returned to his usual self.

Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa exchanged glances for a moment.

The two of them knew to some extent the story between the Pear Blossom Palace and Cho Ak-ryang.

They had known each other for that long.

So, they followed from a distance, preparing for any possible situation.

If Cho Ak-ryang, upon meeting the Pear Blossom Palace Lord, became blinded by anger, there would be no one else to stop him except for them.

Above all, they had to prevent Dan Ak-seon from getting caught up in an unfortunate situation.

Cho Ak-ryang chuckled at the two of them.

“Unnecessary worries…”

Beom Gye-wi scoffed.

“Who’s worried about you, Cho? We’re worried about Doctor Dan.”

It was then that Cho Ak-ryang’s expression hardened as he was about to say something with a smile.

Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa mirrored his expression.

Following Cho Ak-ryang’s gaze into the darkness, the two also fell silent.

Immediately after, Dan Ak-seon felt an intense presence approaching.

And after a moment.

A huge figure, carrying the moonlight on its back, appeared before them.

It was a palanquin, dazzlingly decorated, carried by four people in the front and back.

Surprisingly, the people carrying the palanquin were all women with their faces covered with veils.

However, that was not the reason for Dan Ak-seon’s surprise.

It was because their feet did not touch the ground as they climbed the hill.

Despite carrying the heavy palanquin, they were all displaying the incredible lightness skill of Transcendental Flight [a martial arts technique that allows one to move with incredible speed and agility].

Swoosh.

Snow-white silk was laid on the ground, and the palanquin slowly descended onto it.

Then, a person appeared, parting the curtains.

Dan Ak-seon knew at once that she was the Pear Blossom Palace Lord.

Although her face was covered with a veil, even that could not hide her beauty.

Her only flaw was her extremely cold gaze, but on the contrary, her skin, so white that it seemed transparent, stood out even more clearly, shining brightly.

A dignity that could not be captured by the simple expression of beauty.

That mysterious atmosphere could not be easily imitated by anyone.

Above all, the overwhelming aura and presence unique to an absolute master, flowing through her entire body, was comparable to any of the Five Supreme Masters he had met so far.

The woman had her hair neatly tied up and adorned with a hairpin.

It was a white hairpin with a pear blossom pattern, the symbol of the Pear Blossom Palace Lord.

The last of the Five Supreme Masters whom Dan Ak-seon had not met.

She was none other than Yeon Ok-sang, the Moon Spirit Palace Lord.

Dan Ak-seon politely paid his respects to her.

“I am Dan Ak-seon, a physician from Muwi, and I greet the Pear Blossom Palace Lord.”

Contrary to his preconceived notions, Yeon Ok-sang unexpectedly gave him a warm look.

“To think that the Divine Devil Physician, who is shaking the Central Plains [the central region of China, often used to represent the martial arts world], is such a generous young man. The future of the Jianghu [the martial arts world] is promising.”

Yeon Ok-sang added with a kind voice and gentle eyes.

“I should have noticed the misfortune of the Divine Physician and the Devil Physician sooner, but I didn’t. I apologize for this.”

Confusion settled on Dan Ak-seon’s face.

“Do you know my parents?”

Yeon Ok-sang slowly nodded.

“Who among those who were involved in Dosan Sword Forest would not have a connection with them? Especially with your mother, I was very close.”

Yeon Ok-sang, recalling the Devil Physician, gave a pitiful look.

“Our Pear Blossom Palace wanted to embrace your mother at all costs, but we couldn’t.”

Still, Dan Ak-seon couldn’t shake off his doubts.

There was no reason to apologize simply because they had a connection.

Leaving those questions behind, Yeon Ok-sang opened her mouth again.

“If it weren’t for the unpleasant karma staying by your side, I would have found you a long time ago…”