The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 52

The Divine Doctor of the Demonic World (52)

“……!”

Wang Ilcheon had reached the end of his rope.

He had no choice but to stake everything on one final, desperate gamble.

“Die!”

True to his moniker, Eight-Armed Yaksha [a demon-like figure with multiple arms in Buddhist mythology, often associated with fierce protection], he unleashed a flurry of chaotic hand movements that instantly filled the space before Cho Ak-ryang.

In his hand, he clutched a dagger coated with a deadly poison, potent enough to kill with a mere graze. However, his desperate attack was easily countered by a simple upward twist of Cho Ak-ryang’s arm.

Wang Ilcheon’s hand, still gripping the dagger, was deflected, leaving his chest completely exposed.

Cho Ak-ryang’s elbow struck with devastating force.

Crack.

That was the end.

Wang Ilcheon, his chest bones shattered, coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed, gasping for air.

“S-Spare me…….”

A chilling gaze fell upon Wang Ilcheon as he groveled for his life.

“Go and tell the Seven Fiends Demonic Army how miserable the end of a traitor is.”

“……?”

Puzzled, Wang Ilcheon quickly nodded.

“I will tell them…….”

Hope flickered across Wang Ilcheon’s face at the prospect of survival. At that moment, Cho Ak-ryang’s fist shot up, slamming into his jaw.

Crack!

With a sickening sound of bones breaking, Wang Ilcheon’s body flew through the air, landing like a discarded leaf. Until his last breath, his eyes were wide with disbelief.

“Tell them when you get to the afterlife.”

Cho Ak-ryang slowly turned.

And approached the man trembling like an aspen leaf in a storm.

He was a survivor Cho Ak-ryang had deliberately spared.

Staring into the man’s eyes, filled with despair and terror, Cho Ak-ryang asked,

“Where is Neung So-mil?”

* * *

Sizzle.

“Kuaaak!”

As the red-hot branding iron seared his thigh, a desperate scream tore from Neung So-mil’s throat.

The excruciating pain seemed to stretch on forever!

The acrid smell of burning flesh was enough to drive him mad.

Yet, the interrogator who inflicted the torture showed no emotion whatsoever.

“Are you ready to talk now?”

“…….”

Neung So-mil had no strength left to answer.

He was slumped in the chair he was tied to, panting for breath.

His condition was truly wretched.

His fingernails and toenails had been completely ripped off, exposing the raw flesh underneath, and the skin visible through his torn clothes was a mass of angry, red welts.

The same was true of his face.

It was so swollen and disfigured that even his own parents wouldn’t recognize him.

Neung So-mil struggled to move his lips.

“What did you say?”

The moment the interrogator leaned closer, Neung So-mil spat the blood that had pooled in his mouth into the man’s face.

Then he grinned weakly.

“……Fuck you, you son of a bitch.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

The interrogator clicked his tongue in disapproval and grabbed Neung So-mil’s hair, forcibly tilting his head back. Then, he waved the still-burning branding iron in front of Neung So-mil’s eyes.

“I don’t know why you’re making things so difficult for yourself.”

The interrogator wore a seemingly pitiful expression.

“I hope you remember that we tried to be polite. It’s you, Neung Leader, who brought the situation to this point.”

“…….”

“Do you know why we haven’t yet promoted this guy Lee Gyu to leader?”

“…….”

“The Main Alliance isn’t in such dire straits that we need to join hands with a foolish and greedy pig. Rather, we highly value your abilities, Neung Leader. Not just anyone can build up a faction of this size with no background.”

“…….”

“So, why don’t you just stop here?”

The interrogator waited for Neung So-mil’s answer with a relaxed air.

The key to torture isn’t just how much pain you can inflict, but how much fear you can extract through that pain.

And that, too, is ultimately just a means to get a confession.

For that purpose, a glimmer of hope was sometimes necessary.

Just like now.

“If you make the right decision, Neung Leader, we’ll get you treatment right away. And we’ll hand over Lee Gyu, who betrayed you. The Main Alliance will personally take responsibility for your safety until you regain control of the New So Faction.”

“…….”

“Besides, we could also work together on future projects with the Main Alliance.”

The interrogator smirked as he saw Neung So-mil’s eyes wavering.

It was working, just as he expected.

You can’t just torture someone without a plan.

That was especially true for someone as strong-willed as Neung So-mil.

Despair brings resignation, but hope turns despair into fear.

Above all, his eyes hadn’t yet given up on life.

Neung So-mil struggled to open his mouth.

“Water……. Some water…….”

The interrogator nodded, and one of the Pasa Clan warriors brought a bowl and poured water into Neung So-mil’s parched mouth.

Neung So-mil gulped down the water, and only then did he seem to regain some strength, looking up at the interrogator.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I want to know why you collected information about the Main Alliance separately.”

Neung So-mil smirked.

“What reason would a guy who makes a living off information have? I just gather everything I can get my hands on. It’s the most influential place in the current Murim [martial arts world], after all.”

“Is that all? Then why did you give separate instructions? And why did you focus specifically on information related to the Pasa Clan Leader and the Pasa Clan?”

“I admire the Pasa Clan Leader.”

“What?”

“I have a thing for that kind of person. I heard your Alliance Leader also seduced his subordinates like that? I can’t even dream of touching the Alliance Leader, so I was going to try to do something with the Pasa Clan Leader.”

Neung So-mil chuckled at the interrogator’s distorted face.

“That water was good, you bastards.”

The interrogator gave him a chilling look.

“Good. You’d better be. Because I’m going to extract the price of that water from you now.”

At that moment, one of the Pasa Clan warriors entered and whispered something to the interrogator.

The interrogator smiled quietly and looked at Neung So-mil.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Why did you collect information about the Pasa Clan separately?”

“I was curious about the Pasa Clan Leader’s taste?”

“I can’t understand it. Why would someone as smart as you make the worst choice? It’s a pity. It’s truly a pity. I mean that sincerely.”

The interrogator sighed and approached Neung So-mil.

“You’ve heard of bone-grinding torture, haven’t you?”

“……!”

For the first time, real fear flickered in Neung So-mil’s eyes.

“First, I’ll break your ribs. Just like this.”

The interrogator’s fingers dug into Neung So-mil’s side.

Crack.

“Ugh!”

Ignoring the desperate screams, the interrogator continued.

“I’ll break every rib one by one like this. Do you know what happens then? Every time you breathe, the broken ribs will pierce your lungs.”

Just being alive becomes hell.

“Then, I’ll cut the tendons in your ankles and carve out the kneecaps, making it impossible for you to stand on two feet. After that, I’ll break every joint. I guarantee you’ll find out that a person’s body can become as limp as a mollusk, depending on the circumstances.”

Of course, all sorts of other torture methods would be applied after that.

Burning the Gihae blood point [a vital point in traditional medicine] with a red-hot poker to destroy the dantian [energy center], and even the process of cutting the ligaments in the limbs so that the shriveled muscles clump together.

Neung So-mil, who was breathing shallowly due to the pain, gritted his teeth at the interrogator’s attitude of kindly explaining the order of bone-grinding torture.

But his expression crumbled at the last words.

“I heard that a beggar child tried to deliver a letter to you.”

“……!”

“I’ve already sent people to the meeting place. What does that mean?”

The interrogator gave a cruel smile.

“It means you’re no longer needed.”

With those words, the interrogator’s hand dug into the opposite side of Neung So-mil’s ribs.

Crack.

“Shiibaal!” [a Korean curse word, similar to “shit”]

The interrogator cast a chilling gaze at Neung So-mil, who cursed instead of screaming.

“Do you have any last words? It’s already too late, but if you reveal the mastermind now, I’ll at least let you go without pain.”

Neung So-mil, his eyes blazing with fury, shouted.

“Fuck you! Dying at the hands of a bastard like you is my eternal regret! Your Pasa Clan sucks, and that bastard I can’t name sucks too! Life is a bitch! Ssi☓!”

“That bastard you can’t name?”

“Yeah! That bastard is the worst! He doesn’t give me anything, just makes me run errands all the time! And now he’s even making me die? The shameless ☓ bastard! Even if I become a ghost, I’ll curse that bastard forever! May he be born impotent in the next life and the life after that!”

“So who is that bastard?”

“There is! Such a dirty bastard!”

“What’s his name?”

“I won’t tell you, you ☓ bastard!”

Neung So-mil, who had been screaming at the top of his lungs, suddenly felt strange. For some reason, a chill ran down his spine. Come to think of it, the interrogator’s voice also felt different.

Neung So-mil raised his head and looked at the interrogator.

And blinked several times to confirm the person, and then confirmed again.

“Ah, ssi☓…….”

A curse escaped his lips without him realizing it.

No matter how he looked at it, the person standing in front of him was definitely Cho Ak-ryang.

Looking around, the room was filled with nothing but corpses.

At this moment, Neung So-mil forgot even the pain and made a crying face.

“……I’m really fucked.”

* * *

A secluded mountain path outside the village.

Neung So-mil, who was following Cho Ak-ryang, who was walking ahead, carefully opened his mouth.

“When did you arrive?”

Neung So-mil flinched as Cho Ak-ryang turned around.

“From ‘That bastard is the worst’?”

‘Damn it!’

He heard everything.

As Cho Ak-ryang started walking again, Neung So-mil also began to move, carefully watching his expression.

But before long, Neung So-mil groaned.

“Keueu…….”

With two ribs already broken, it was difficult to even breathe, let alone walk. Moreover, his stamina was completely depleted due to the severe torture he had endured for several days.

Even in the midst of all this, Neung So-mil chuckled like a madman.

“Keuk keuk.”

“What’s so amusing?”

“The interrogator who tortured me.”

“What about him?”

“Just imagining the look on his face when he met you makes me feel good.”

In fact, he had felt good since he heard that the guy had intercepted the letter and dispatched the Pasa Clan to the meeting place.

Thinking about the guys who would be dumbfounded by the sudden disaster made him feel like a long-standing indigestion had been washed away.

Cho Ak-ryang looked at Neung So-mil with a look of pity.

This guy was definitely not in his right mind either.

Cho Ak-ryang quietly looked at Neung So-mil and asked a question.

“But why didn’t you say my name?”

Cho Ak-ryang was curious about that.

When you think about it, they hadn’t shared a bond strong enough to risk their lives for, nor were they connected by trust.

To put it simply, it was just a relationship of subjugation through fear.

He couldn’t understand why Neung So-mil had endured all sorts of torture.

Neung So-mil spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and answered nonchalantly.

“Because of principle.”

“Principle?”

“Isn’t it the same for you?”

Neung So-mil retorted to the puzzled Cho Ak-ryang.

“You said you always keep your word, right?”

“I did.”

“So do I.”

“That’s……. It?”

“Do you need more reasons?”

Cho Ak-ryang stared at Neung So-mil and chuckled.

Now that things had come to this, Cho Ak-ryang had to change his opinion of Neung So-mil.

He was a better guy than he thought.

It’s difficult for even powerful people to keep their word.

It’s ten times more difficult for powerless people to keep their word.

At that moment, Neung So-mil remembered something and ground his teeth.

“It’s also because of that damn Lee Gyu that I endured.”

“Lee Gyu?”

“He’s the vice leader. I told him to find out about the Murim Alliance and the Pasa Clan, but he got scared and betrayed me. He’s the one who reported me to the Murim Alliance.”

“Did he want the leader position?”

Neung So-mil nodded.

“He’s wanted New So Faction to be under the Murim Alliance for a long time.”

Lee Gyu wasn’t the only one who thought that way.

In fact, many factions were relying on the Murim Alliance’s shadow.

“Well, he won’t have to worry about making a living for the rest of his life. He won’t have to risk his life and volunteer for dangerous things like now.”

“You think differently.”

Neung So-mil frowned as his broken ribs hurt and nodded.