The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 63

Neng Somil was dumbfounded, watching the black-clad men confidently stroll into the Demonic Divine Valley as if they owned the place.

‘Well, I suppose.’

*They’re the kind of fools who have to get burned to learn fire is hot, the kind who only cry when they see their own coffin.* That’s what makes ignorance so terrifying.

“Did you come from Jangnakbang [a notorious underworld organization]?”

At Neng Somil’s question, Ak Younggi, who was leading his men, stopped.

“You seem curious about how I knew?”

Neng Somil smirked.

“Because I’ve already met your other group.”

Only then did Ak Younggi notice the owner of the herbal shop lying unconscious.

However, that made even less sense. There was no way Ak Youngsan would have let them go so easily.

Moreover, the guy smirking so annoyingly in front of him was clearly far below their level.

Ak Younggi frowned.

“How did you get back?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself? You’ll be meeting him soon anyway.”

Ak Younggi looked around, puzzled. But he couldn’t sense the presence of the others anywhere.

Neng Somil mocked him.

“No matter how much you search, they won’t come. They’re probably too busy having a meeting with King Yama [the King of Hell in East Asian mythology] right now.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry. You won’t have to wait long. You’ll soon be standing next to them.”

“Nonsense!”

Ak Younggi was inwardly dumbfounded and appalled.

He was already annoyed from wandering around the mountain, and hearing such ridiculous words only made him angrier.

Kidnapping the owner of the herbal shop had been easy. But in the first place, he didn’t know much.

All they had found out was that the son of Shin-ui [a highly respected doctor] lived somewhere in the mountains and that he always used the east gate whenever he came to the village.

So, he and his men had begun to search the eastern mountain thoroughly.

But the terrain here was so intricate that they couldn’t find him easily.

If they hadn’t found Neng Somil in the middle, they might still be wandering around the mountain.

“You’d better keep your mouth shut if you want your corpse to remain intact.”

Neng Somil scoffed at Ak Younggi’s threat.

“So, you do have a conscience? Unlike your brother, who blatantly lies to your face, saying he’ll spare you?”

Ak Younggi was momentarily taken aback but soon suppressed his anger.

He realized that it would only be a loss for him to exchange words with the guy. Even if his martial arts were lacking, the guy was a master at using his tongue.

Soon, he wouldn’t be able to use that tongue even if he wanted to.

Besides, his priority now was finding the son of Shin-ui.

Ak Younggi’s gaze turned to Dan Akseon.

“Are you the son of Shin-ui?”

Meeting his eerie gaze, Dan Akseon glared back without backing down.

“So, it’s you. The ones who hurt an innocent person just to find me.”

Ak Younggi, who had been staring at Dan Akseon’s face, suddenly burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Good! Very good!”

After laughing for a while, Ak Younggi wore a bitter smile.

“Indeed, blood is terrifying. The face of Shin-ui definitely remains.”

A thick light flickered in Ak Younggi’s eyes.

“Now, it’s time to settle old debts.”

“I don’t owe you anything.”

At Dan Akseon’s words, Ak Younggi chuckled.

“The sins of the father are borne by the son. That’s the karma of blood. And that’s the way of the Jianghu [the martial arts world].”

Dan Akseon bit his lip in anger.

“Good. That face… I like it very much.”

The murderous intent on Ak Younggi’s face deepened at the sight of Dan Akseon glaring at him.

“Shin-ui… It’s very similar to that guy’s expression.”

“……”

“I look forward to it. To see that face screaming and begging….”

Uncontrollable anger swirled in Dan Akseon’s eyes as he glared at Ak Younggi, who was giving off a devilish laugh.

At that moment, Han Seolhwa stood in front of Dan Akseon.

Then, she said to Neng Somil.

“Take the two to the main building.”

Short, but the meaning was clear.

She didn’t want to show Dan Akseon the chilling scene that would soon unfold.

“Let’s go, Valley Lord.”

“But……”

Neng Somil persuaded Dan Akseon with a gentle smile.

“Shouldn’t we treat him quickly?”

Dan Akseon sighed and nodded. But he didn’t forget to glare at Ak Younggi before leaving.

Ak Younggi’s gaze, which had been watching this, left Dan Akseon and fixed on Han Seolhwa. The corners of Ak Younggi’s lips twisted.

It was a clear mockery that anyone could easily recognize.

“Are you the rumored Bingok Seonja [Ice Valley Immortal]?”

The more he looked, the more absurd it was.

The woman in front of him was at most in her mid-twenties.

No matter how he looked at her, she didn’t seem like a seasoned master.

He admitted that she had beauty enough to captivate people, but he was a rational person. No one could live that long.

Especially while maintaining their youth.

‘Unless she ate the legendary Ju-an [a mythical herb that grants eternal youth].’

But even that was just the nonsense of gossips who liked to talk. Ak Younggi was not foolish enough to seriously believe such absurd stories.

“Let’s see if the rumors are true.”

Swish.

One of the Jangnakbang members, who had received Ak Younggi’s gaze, drew his Gold Ring Sword and began to walk towards Han Seolhwa.

The sword energy emanating from the drawn sword scratched the floor, leaving a long groove.

On the other hand, Han Seolhwa took no action.

At that sight, Ak Younggi thought that his expectations were correct. Until now, many people had been deceived by her plausible bluff and had revered her. But it wouldn’t take long for them to realize how foolish that thought was.

“……?”

Puzzlement appeared in Ak Younggi’s eyes.

The subordinate who was approaching Han Seolhwa suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He was only two steps away from her.

“What are you doing?”

At Ak Younggi’s rebuke, the Jangnakbang member who was approaching Han Seolhwa turned his head and looked back. His face was full of embarrassment.

“My feet……”

“What?”

“They won’t move.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

The subordinate couldn’t answer.

As if exhaling white breath, he didn’t move at all, as if he had become a stone statue.

It was then that Han Seolhwa, who had been maintaining silence, slowly raised her hand.

Thud.

Han Seolhwa pushed the shoulder of the Jangnakbang member who was standing blankly.

Crack.

The Jangnakbang member, who had lost his balance and was staggering, had his ankles shattered. His ankles were already covered in white ice.

But the real surprise happened after that.

Clang.

The body of the Jangnakbang member, who had fallen to the floor, shattered like a porcelain bowl, scattering into pieces.

“What kind of sorcery is this!”

At Ak Younggi’s cry, which was close to shock, three Jangnakbang members simultaneously drew their swords. And they rushed towards Han Seolhwa at a terrifying speed.

Han Seolhwa curled up a cold sneer.

Swoosh.

The three people who had rushed towards Han Seolhwa were cut off in mid-air without even screaming. Following Han Seolhwa’s gesture, an invisible sword of internal energy soared from all directions and tore their bodies to pieces.

“……!”

Ak Younggi couldn’t come to his senses in the face of the tragic deaths of his subordinates, who couldn’t even leave their bodies intact.

He was overwhelmed with bewilderment, and his mind couldn’t accept the situation that was unfolding before his eyes.

It was that unrealistic.

‘This is…….’

Ak Younggi could only open and close his lips with a pale face at the martial prowess that he couldn’t believe was within the realm of humans.

He had no choice but to admit it.

‘Bingok Seonja!’

As rumors usually do, they tend to be exaggerated and inflated.

He had thought that the rumors about her circulating in the Jianghu must have been somewhat exaggerated, but what was this?

Experiencing it directly, the rumors felt rather modest.

He couldn’t understand it at all.

How could someone with martial arts that could overlook the world have lived in seclusion for so long!

It was then that one person opened his mouth.

“Tsk, tsk, you could have known if you had thought about it a little……”

It was Cho Akryang.

Cho Akryang, who clicked his tongue as if he was pathetic, slowly continued to speak.

“Do you think the Murim Alliance Leader’s [leader of the martial arts alliance] discernment is worse than yours?”

Ak Younggi, who was puzzled at first because he didn’t know the reason, soon realized the meaning behind those words.

‘Come to think of it……’

The first place Han Seolhwa appeared after breaking her long seclusion was the Murim Alliance.

If she was a fake, Namgung Baek, the Murim Alliance Leader, would have held her accountable for insulting him.

“That’s why confirmation bias is so scary. It only makes you see and hear what you want to believe. It completely ignores the other facts.”

“……!”

Cho Akryang’s eyes turned cold.

“Those who are caught up in greed often fail to discern reason.”

“I, I……”

“You wanted to settle old grudges?”

Cho Akryang cut off Ak Younggi’s words and snorted.

“No. Even at the moment you said those words, your eyes were filled with nothing but greed.”

Was he hit in the bullseye?

Ak Younggi, whose face was flushed red, couldn’t continue speaking. One of the subordinates, unable to watch the sight, drew his sword and shouted.

“Shut up……”

But he couldn’t finish his words.

Thwack!

With a gruesome sound, his head burst like a watermelon.

Brain matter and flesh scattered in all directions.

The sight of the subordinate spurting blood and collapsing was etched into Ak Younggi’s retina.

Thud. Rumble.

Only then did a stone roll onto the floor.

‘This is!’

Ak Younggi’s face turned pale.

The thing that had burst the subordinate’s head was clearly the stone that the old man, who had just given a long speech, had been rolling in his hand like a pressure point ball.

To burst a person’s head with just one stone throw!

But it didn’t end there, and a murderous intent as strong as the bitter smell of blood began to surround the area.

“Was your name Ak Younggi? You were one of the brothers of the former Jangnakbang Lord, Heuksalnohu Ak Youngsan, right?”

“Who are you……?”

“I had quite a bit of acquaintance with the dead Jangnakbang Lord. I’ve seen you a few times too.”

Ak Younggi tried to recall the nightmarish opponent from his memory.

“That’s how narrow your vision has become. You still can’t even recognize me.”

“Gasp!”

Only then did the fog in front of him clear, and Ak Younggi recalled one person.

“Blood… Blood Demon Lord!”

The atmosphere was too different from the past, so he couldn’t recognize him right away, but his eyes and contours finally overlapped with the old him.

‘Damn it!’

Ak Younggi was about to lose consciousness.

Just surviving Han Seolhwa was already distant, but now there was Cho Akryang!

But his despair didn’t end there.

“It’s best not to expect the other Jangnakbang members to return alive. Bukmangsan has already visited them.”

“……?”

“Ah, he’s coming over there.”

Following Cho Akryang’s gaze, Ak Younggi could find a giant man blocking the entrance to the valley.

As he belatedly recalled Bukmangsan, whom Cho Akryang had mentioned, one person’s title naturally popped out.

“Mangansachoja [Mountain Moving Madman]!”

Ak Younggi couldn’t come to his senses.

There were as many as three monsters in this place, any one of whom he couldn’t handle.