The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 43

Divine Doctor of the Demonic Arts (43)

“This is a miracle! He’s completely healed!”

The physician examining Namgung Hyang exclaimed, his expression bewildered.

“Dad, please stop. Doctor Dan already said I’m completely healed.”

This was the third physician to visit and confirm the same thing.

“I know, but I just… I just wanted to keep hearing that he was completely healed.”

Namgung Baek suddenly looked perplexed.

He noticed a wistful expression in his daughter’s eyes as she gazed into the distance.

After a moment,

Namgung Hyang sighed deeply.

“If only he could have stayed a little longer…”

Namgung Baek belatedly understood the reason and smiled wryly.

“I kept urging him to stay, but he said he had patients to treat and couldn’t delay his departure.”

“I couldn’t even properly repay him…”

“That’s what I’m saying. He only asked for an old wooden box as payment for the treatment. He even refused to accept travel expenses, but I managed to press them on him.”

“Someday… will we be able to see him again?”

“Of course. I’ll arrange a meeting.”

At that moment, Namgung Baek couldn’t miss the rosy blush that crept across Namgung Hyang’s face in the soft light of the setting sun.

Namgung Baek’s heart felt a little complicated at the sight of his daughter.

* * *

Inside the carriage heading towards Hubei Province after leaving Mu Han, an exclamation of surprise erupted.

“The Martial Alliance Leader sure has a lot of money!”

Beom Gye-wi grinned as he inspected the box filled with silver coins.

“How much is this? He said it was for travel expenses, so I figured it would be enough for a few meals, but there’s enough money here to buy several houses!”

Han Seol-hwa chuckled.

She could easily imagine Namgung Baek agonizing over how much to include. Considering his acquaintance with her, he couldn’t have offered a paltry sum, treatment fee aside.

Then, Dan Ahk-seon smiled and said,

“I won’t have to worry about medicine costs for a while.”

Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa exchanged dumbfounded glances.

Even though he said that, they knew perfectly well that he would squander his fortune without hesitation if rare and expensive medicinal ingredients became available.

“Anyway, it’s all thanks to you two.”

At Dan Ahk-seon’s praise, Han Seol-hwa nodded slightly, as if it were nothing special.

On the other hand, Beom Gye-wi smiled brightly and sidled closer to Dan Ahk-seon.

“Right? I think I did pretty well too. It’s not easy, you know? That whatchamacallit? The Weihwa… Anyway, not just anyone can do that kind of therapy.”

“That’s right. Uncle Beom is really amazing.”

“Hehe. You can praise me as much as you want.”

“How did I end up traveling with such an idiot…”

Beom Gye-wi glared at Han Seol-hwa, who trailed off as if she were dumbfounded.

“I should be saying that! And what’s wrong with being praised? It’s more disgusting to pretend to be noble like Cho Hyung for no reason!”

“Why is my name suddenly being dragged into this!”

Cho Ahk-ryang shouted from outside the carriage.

Thump.

At that moment, the carriage shook violently, as if a wheel had struck a rock.

Beom Gye-wi yelled out,

“Cho Hyung! Drive the carriage properly! Is this the first time you’ve ever driven a carriage?”

“It is the first time! You bastard!”

“Then get out and pull it yourself! Our Doctor Dan is getting scared! You can use your inner energy [qi] now, can’t you?”

“Ha…!”

Cho Ahk-ryang, speechless with disbelief, wore a bitter expression at Beom Gye-wi’s next words.

“Didn’t you thank us a while ago? If you’re grateful, you should repay the favor. Don’t try to get away with just words! If you keep acting like this, I might not help with your treatment in the future, you know?”

Cho Ahk-ryang, who was suddenly being treated like a coachman, sighed deeply.

It was all because of his damn mouth.

He had volunteered to sit in the driver’s seat because he was grateful for Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa’s help with his treatment, but it only ended up inflating Beom Gye-wi’s ego.

At that moment, Dan Ahk-seon stopped Beom Gye-wi.

“I’m okay. So don’t be too hard on Uncle Cho.”

“I’m not okay. I’m putting so much effort into making Doctor Dan’s trip comfortable. Anyway… huh?”

Beom Gye-wi suddenly shouted.

“Cho Hyung! Didn’t I tell you to drive the carriage straight? Didn’t I? This isn’t the right way!”

“What, you punk?”

“You have to go right to get to Chang’an! Why are you driving towards the left? That’s the road to Lanzhou!”

“Why are we going to Chang’an?”

Dan Ahk-seon answered instead.

“You said that Master Sa was waiting for us. We should see the patient first in case something happens.”

“Ah! That’s right?”

Beom Gye-wi, embarrassed for no reason, blamed Cho Ahk-ryang.

“You should have told me to go to Chang’an in the first place, instead of telling me to go to Lanzhou…”

“Yes! I’m the one to blame! I’ve committed a great sin!”

“If you know, then reflect on it. Don’t be so grumpy.”

Although he couldn’t see his face, Dan Ahk-seon could fully imagine the kind of expression Cho Ahk-ryang was making at that moment.

“It’s okay if we don’t go to Chang’an. I’m having too much fun right now.”

“Really?”

Beom Gye-wi smiled and cautiously broached the topic.

“Then shall we just travel around like this for the rest of our lives?”

“That sounds good too?”

Beom Gye-wi asked back with a surprised expression at the unexpected answer.

“Really?”

“But there’s something I need to do.”

“What is it? I’ll do anything I can to help.”

“I’m going to try to combine my mom and dad’s medical skills this time.”

“I can’t help you with that…”

Dan Ahk-seon smiled at Beom Gye-wi’s slightly dejected appearance and opened his mouth.

“I can’t leave the valley until I finish that. The data is so vast that I barely managed to organize it in order.”

“So, the two of their medical skills are being reborn as Doctor Dan’s own.”

Dan Ahk-seon nodded at Han Seol-hwa’s words.

“It’s like a homework assignment that the two of them left me.”

After saying that, Dan Ahk-seon looked at the wooden box on one side of the carriage as if he had suddenly become curious.

“By the way, what’s inside that?”

“Why? Curious? Should I break it open?”

Dan Ahk-seon waved his hand at the sight of Beom Gye-wi grabbing the wooden box.

“No, it’s okay.”

Dan Ahk-seon hurriedly continued.

“I heard that there’s a mechanism installed, so if you open it without a key, the contents might be damaged? That’s why even the Martial Alliance didn’t touch it, right?”

“Was that so?”

Leaving Beom Gye-wi, who was tilting his head, behind, Dan Ahk-seon revealed his curiosity.

“Anyway, it’s really amazing. To install a mechanism in this small wooden box.”

“It’s a waste of money, what else could it be.”

“I hope we arrive in Lanzhou soon.”

What could be inside the wooden box that he risked his life for?

More than anything, Dan Ahk-seon was curious about that.

* * *

The carriage passed the border of Gansu Province and entered Lanzhou.

“Then I’ll return to the Medical Clan. I’ve been away from my seat for too long.”

Pung Jin-sung, who had switched places with Cho Ahk-ryang and taken the driver’s seat, promised to meet again soon and drove the carriage away.

“But how do we find him?”

Cho Ahk-ryang was taken aback by Dan Ahk-seon’s question.

He had only been told to go near Jin Seong-ui in Lanzhou, but he hadn’t made a separate appointment or set up a meeting place.

But if he admitted the truth here, only Beom Gye-wi would be happy.

He didn’t want to be caught with unnecessary weaknesses.

“Let’s go to a crowded place first. It won’t be too difficult to meet him.”

Cho Ahk-ryang, glossing over the details for the time being, led the group to the market.

However, not long after entering the market, Cho Ahk-ryang couldn’t help but smile.

“He’s over there.”

It was a moment that made him feel embarrassed for worrying about how to find him.

“Where?”

At Dan Ahk-seon’s question, Cho Ahk-ryang raised his hand and pointed to a specific location.

Under a beautiful tree that had taken root on the side of the road, many people were gathered around a small makeshift table.

“Middle! I’ll bet on the middle!”

“I’ll bet on the right!”

“No, it’s the left. I saw it with my own two eyes!”

The people, captivated by a strange fever, raised their voices to the fullest, each claiming that their choice was right.

A gambling den had opened.

The shell game operator, having collected the money that the gamblers had bet, simultaneously lifted the three teacups neatly placed on the table.

In that short moment, people’s reactions diverged sharply.

Some cheered, while most lamented.

It was truly a moment of joy and sorrow.

“I told him to hide quietly.”

Beom Gye-wi grinned at Cho Ahk-ryang’s words.

“Well, he’s disguised properly.”

Dan Ahk-seon asked with a curious expression.

“What are they doing?”

“It’s called the shell game. They put a bead in one of those three teacups and mix them up. If you bet on one of them and guess correctly, you get double the money.”

“If you don’t guess correctly, the person moving the teacups gets it?”

“That’s right.”

“Then isn’t it much more advantageous for the person running the shell game? Why are people making such unfavorable bets?”

“Most people think their luck will exceed the odds.”

It was then.

“Isn’t this a scam?”

“Give me back my money!”

The people who had lost money shouted in anger.

“Oh, come on. You were quiet when you won earlier, weren’t you?”

Some people blushed at the shell game operator’s words, but no one who loses money is ever in a good mood.

“Catch that guy!”

As someone rushed towards Sa Mu-sim, who was disguised as a shell game operator, everyone else jumped in to compete. The market instantly turned into a mess as people became entangled in one place.

Amidst the people who were tumbling over each other, all sorts of curses, shouts, and screams were rampant.

However, Sa Mu-sim, the person who had created this commotion, had already slipped out of there with the money, like a loach.

Then, he disappeared over the wall in an instant.

“Oh? He got away!”

Beom Gye-wi smiled leisurely at Dan Ahk-seon’s bewilderment.

“Hehe. Don’t worry, Doctor Dan. He’s just a flea jumping around.”

No sooner had those words been spoken than Beom Gye-wi’s figure soared into the air.

Beom Gye-wi, who had risen to a dizzying height in an instant, fell straight down from the air again.

“He was heading towards the alley where the rice merchants are gathered?”

“Let’s go see.”

Beom Gye-wi picked up Dan Ahk-seon and flew away. In an instant, he arrived at the market alley where the rice merchants were lined up.

“Shall I go and catch him?”

Dan Ahk-seon shook his head at Beom Gye-wi’s words.

“Let’s just watch for a moment.”

It was partly curiosity, but Dan Ahk-seon was quite serious.

Anyway, he was someone he might be spending time with in the future.

Sa Mu-sim went around the rice merchants, loaded the grain and food he had purchased onto a cart, and headed to the outskirts of the village. Then, he distributed the goods to the beggar children living in the back alleys of Lanzhou.

After finishing all the work and turning around,

A person fell right in front of Sa Mu-sim.

“Gasp!”

Sa Mu-sim, who had gasped for air, soon recognized Cho Ahk-ryang and let out a sigh of relief.

“Have you come?”

Cho Ahk-ryang, who was staring at Sa Mu-sim, suddenly opened his mouth.

“I suddenly have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Are you a bad guy? Or a good guy?”

Only then did Sa Mu-sim realize that his actions had been discovered, and he let out an awkward laugh.

“I was just playing around for a while because I was bored of waiting.”

At this time, Beom Gye-wi put down Dan Ahk-seon, whom he had been carrying.

“Say hello first. This is the person who will treat you.”

“Yes?”

Sa Mu-sim looked back and forth between Beom Gye-wi and Dan Ahk-seon, who were standing side by side, wondering what he meant.

Neither of them seemed like the person who would treat him.

“You don’t mean to tell me that this kid is going to treat my Inner Force Deviation [internal energy imbalance], are you?”

At that moment, Sa Mu-sim was overwhelmed by a terrible feeling, as if a chilling aura was cutting his whole body to pieces.

It was because of the murderous intent that poured out of Cho Ahk-ryang and Beom Gye-wi’s eyes.

“Hic.”

He involuntarily hiccupped at the sense of crisis he had never felt even when he was being chased by the Martial Alliance.

Sa Mu-sim quickly bowed his head towards Dan Ahk-seon.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Sa Mu-sim.”

“I’m Dan Ahk-seon. Nice to meet you.”

Sa Mu-sim, who was raising his head, was startled.

He belatedly discovered the wooden box that Dan Ahk-seon was carrying under his arm.