Chapter 67: Playing Divine Physician by Chance

Anyone would be flustered to hear that they were poisoned in an out-of-the-blue situation.

Had they heard those words after visiting a physician because their body was sick, they would have at least had some mental preparation, but since they heard this from an opponent who had beaten them up after they picked a fight, it was understandable for them to be dumbfounded.

[Looking at his state, the guy next to him is also like that?]

“This guy is too.”

Teacher Hua Tuo pointed out that there was a problem with the liver by looking at the broken capillaries and blemishes on the face. And he obtained certainty by observing the reaction through palpation.

There seemed to be other reasons besides that, but he seemed to have just skipped them out of sheer laziness.

They said skilled physicians could see through a person’s illness even without palpation, and he showed exactly that kind of appearance.

“Argh!”

When I pressed the guy next to him as well for confirmation, the same reaction came out.

‘Is it not a poison used on an individual?’

Someone was poisoned. Yet, coincidentally, the person who appeared to be his companion was also poisoned with the same toxin.

It would be correct to view it as someone using poison targeting the group or faction to which they belonged.

“What kind of bullshit is this, damn it.”

The guys deeply crumpled their faces. It was an appearance of accepting that they were poisoned.

“Why did you attack my friend?”

“…Well, it’s because someone we’ve never seen before was holding a sword in our territory, so we thought we’d mess with him, I guess… sir.”

Although I knew it was a world that felt different from the territory of the Orthodox Faction, to think they would charge in blindly for only that reason—certainly, there were rough guys as expected of the Unorthodox Faction’s territory.

But now, I knew that was not the whole reason.

“And?”

“Because our bodies are sick, we were a bit irritated too… sir. Roughly, well… um… a bit of venting too… sir?”

As expected, it was not that they had attacked after realizing that Baek Mu-ho or I were of the Orthodox Faction. If that were the case, they would not have spoken so hesitantly.

Furthermore, their tone had become cautious.

I smacked the heads of the two guys.

“Ack!”

“Ugh!”

“Since you are patients, I will let you off with just that much.”

As long as I had decided to act as a physician, I held the initiative. Even so, if I let it slide easily like a good-natured fool, they would look down on me, so it was necessary to show a gesture of minor punishment.

Still, not excessively, I gave them a knuckle-knock as if scolding a mischievous child. What they were feeling right now was probably similar to the feeling of being scolded by an elder.

Feeling quite strange, the two guys clutching their heads wore blank expressions.

[You know how to handle patients?]

Finding that scene quite amusing, Teacher Hua Tuo was delighted. Subsequently, he explained about the poison they were infected with.

[Being able to move around to some extent while poisoned means it is a chronic toxin. Long-term exposure to this kind of poison causes it to dig in deep, and later, you won’t even be able to do anything about it. In a sense, this side is more dangerous. Because you are definitely heading toward the path of death without knowing it. From their perspective, meeting you is a stroke of luck.]

“Consider yourselves lucky. This kind of chronic poison is easy to miss the timing for treatment, so in the long run, it is more dangerous than a fast-acting poison.”

Since things had turned out this way, I had to firmly act as a physician. Moreover, I needed to clearly mention the parts I deserved credit for to draw attention.

Perhaps my intention worked reasonably well, as the two guys nodded their heads vigorously like people who were possessed.

‘It feels like I’m training them somehow.’

[You can use medicine like this. Let me see, if it’s a poison that makes one like this, the medicinal herbs easily obtainable in Sichuan are…]

“I will dictate the prescription, so go quickly and get the medicine brewed and take it. As for how to prepare the medicine…”

I recited the medicinal herbs Teacher Hua Tuo dictated.

Perhaps because it was a matter of life and death, strength entered the eyes of the two guys.

Having finished dictating the prescription, the two guys hesitated and bowed their heads. Were they going to say thank you or something?

“Excuse me… Could you… write it down for us… please.”

“…”

Look at these guys who are just like Baek Mu-ho.

“Ack!”

“Ugh!”

Ultimately, I smacked their heads once more, borrowed paper and a brush, and wrote down the prescription myself.

Even though they were hit once more, the guys holding the prescription bowed repeatedly and ran toward the apothecary.

‘This should be of some help to my future steps.’

I hoped they would spread the word well.

Just as there were hypocrites in the Orthodox Faction, even in the Black Way Unorthodox Factions, there would be those who valued loyalty. And if they were people who valued loyalty, they would not throw away a received favor in vain.

Even if my identity were to be revealed by any chance, if we could avoid creating a meaningless fight, that would be the most ideal conclusion.

“By any chance… are you a physician?”

Having sent the two guys off like that, someone spoke to me.

“Excuse me… If possible, could you look at us too…”

“Please show some mercy to our situation, Physician.”

People began to gather.

[This is great. A whole bunch of prac— no, textbooks!]

Teacher Hua Tuo welcomed it joyfully. Although I was very worried about what word would have followed after that letter ‘prac’ (practice / practical test subjects), we wouldn’t go to the worst-case scenario… right?

Still, it was not bad.

While waiting for a bit, I could hide my identity and also repay Teacher Hua Tuo, to whom I owed a debt.

Well, one way or another, I was the one who would have to suffer.

‘Let’s just think of it as learning something good.’

To avoid exploding inside at ‘that expression’ Baek Mu-ho was wearing in front of me, I had to control my mind by thinking that way.

***

Somehow, I ended up learning medicine as well.

Although I only moved according to Teacher Hua Tuo’s instructions, there were many things I naturally picked up and learned.

I thought I should call Teacher Hua Tuo “Master” as well and tried to call him so, but for some reason, it was rejected.

He said it probably wouldn’t be good to have such a relationship.

‘How weak or strong a human body is. How it crumbles. I only learned medicine, but something strange is attached to it. Is it because I approached Teacher Hua Tuo’s medicine from a martial artist’s perspective?’

I had learned about the basic human body structure through the lecture on pressure point techniques I heard before, and while peeking at Teacher Hua Tuo’s medicine, I came to know what roles and derivations those structures caused.

However, I could not learn acupuncture.

He said it was not an area to be handled carelessly by someone who even possessed internal energy.

He said if I used acupuncture, Qi would naturally be loaded onto the needle; while the effect would be good, the aftermath of a mistake would also be significant.

He said it would become usable only after killing several people.

Although Teacher Hua Tuo said that was originally how one accumulated medical skills through such experiences, from my position as a fake physician just trying to hide my identity, immediate reputation was important, so I agreed.

Instead, I learned Chuna (tuina) therapy, a kind of massage method to relax and govern the body.

“Oh my! You are truly a divine physician!”

These were the words of the elderly patient I had just finished treating moderately.

With a refreshed expression, he moved his body here and there, finding it marvelous.

As a patient with a back problem, when the twisted parts of his muscles and skeleton were corrected, the patient who had come leaning on a cane stood up easily on his two feet.

“Wow.”

The people watching from the surroundings marveled.

Because it was done under a tent set up against the wall of the government office, anyone passing by could see it.

‘In the eyes of those who didn’t know, did it look like a person whose movements were so uncomfortable they seemed crippled had suddenly returned to normal in a flash?’

“Although I corrected the twisted part for now, this is temporary. If you don’t change your bad habits, you will soon return to a bad condition. I will teach you some simple movements, so repeat them whenever you have time.”

What I taught the patient was the Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi), which was said to have been made by mimicking the movements of five animals.

Since some even called it the origin of qi cultivation exercises, he would be able to see great effects if he did it consistently.

Of course, it did not apply to me. Because it was a cultivation method so basic that the word ‘origin’ was attached to it.

[Hmm! This person also seems to have been exposed to some toxic energy.]

“And I will give you a prescription, so it would be good to get the medicine brewed and take it.”

“Yes. I will do so, Divine Physician. Thank you. Thank you.”

The elderly man bowed deeply. It was an appearance of fully believing me to be a divine physician.

Since it was not my pure ability, my conscience pricked slightly, but I decided to just let it slide, thinking that what’s good is good.

‘It’s not like I’m scamming them to rip off their fortune anyway.’

The reward received for treating patients was literally trivial. I accepted whatever was given.

Thanks to that, people living difficult and hard lives flocked to receive treatment. The revenue was as good as none.

Even for today, the largest revenue was a chicken brought by the family of a paraplegic patient. Other than that, they mostly brought food like eggs, beans, and wild vegetables. Thanks to this, food piled up to the point where there was no need to worry about starving while staying here.

“That aside, this is a big problem…”

Although I had felt it implicitly while treating patients over the past few days, at this point, it could be called a certainty.

[There are more people invaded by poison than I thought.]

“Yes.”

The Unorthodox martial artists I treated first could be considered poisoned due to personal grudges, but there were many people among the civilians who were exposed to the poison as well.

“Did someone poison the wells the people use…?”

Teacher Hua Tuo’s thoughts were slightly different.

[If it were poisoning through a well, the scope would have been incomparably wider than this. Rather, it would be a localized method.]

“Indeed, that must be true.”

Certainly, if it had been poisoning through the wells, there would have been no one in this vicinity who was not a patient.

However, at the time of the private meeting, there was no particular problem with Teacher Emerald Bamboo. The same went for the surrounding government officials.

[From what I see, it feels like those associated with the Unorthodox Faction are primarily poisoned.]

“Hmm…”

Because there were many civilian poisonings, I had wondered if it was a regional poisoning, but those who were connected with the Unorthodox forces in this area were often exposed to the poison.

“Fundamentally, the spread poison itself is indeed targeting the Unorthodox faction, and other people are collateral damage?”

‘If it is concluded like this, it feels like returning to square one. Using poison targeting the Unorthodox Faction is also a problem.’

If there was a dispute with the Unorthodox Faction, the opponent was naturally the Orthodox Faction. And in Sichuan, there was a place famous for poison.

The Sichuan Tang Clan.

One of the Five Great Clans, and a prominent family that shook the world with their fame in poison and hidden weapons techniques.

Since they were a family that personally practiced the maxim commonly spoken by martial artists—to repay favors twofold and grudges tenfold—even people of the same Orthodox Faction held them in awe and fear.

“If the Tang Clan really had a hand in this, it’s beyond control.”

Considering the temperament of Sichuan’s martial world, once this fact begins to be publicized, there will be plenty of crazies (Unorthodox martial artists) who will point their blades at the Sichuan Tang Clan regardless of the truth.

And the moment they collide with the already sensitive situation of the Orthodox martial world, the prelude to the Great Orthodox-Unorthodox War will open.

“Hey, the boiled chicken is done.”

Not knowing my feelings, Baek Mu-ho came bringing an earthenware pot containing glossy chicken meat.

It seemed he had slaughtered and prepared the chicken received as today’s treatment fee.

“It must be nice that you don’t have any worries.”

“Stop talking nonsense and just eat.”

Just like that, half of a well-cooked chicken was placed before me.

Or rather, should I say it was almost placed?

“No. You won’t be able to eat this anyway, will you?”

“Huh? Why?”

They say giving and taking back is the pettiest thing in the world!

At my protest, Baek Mu-ho retrieved the boiled chicken and gestured with his chin toward my back.

“Because it seems the fruit of your labor is coming over there?”

Chewing on a chicken leg all by himself, Baek Mu-ho let out a faint laugh.

Indeed, there was someone approaching.

A person who revealed a strong presence that made the surrounding people keep their distance on their own.

Even though he was an old man who looked easily past sixty, there was only one Unorthodox martial artist in Gohyeon with that much influence.

“Ghost Hand Baek Pung-rip.”

The first method to try to calm the boiling Unorthodox Faction. The being who would be the first button to be threaded approached.

“The boiled chicken has truly gone down the drain.”

***

Meanwhile, at that time.

“A great divine physician has appeared in Gohyeon?”

“Yes. They say with just a touch, a person who was half-crippled is healed in an instant, and when he writes an unheard-of prescription, all illnesses disappear. Yet, he only accepts things like chickens or eggs.”

“Acting too greedily without desire actually catches my attention. Since a person does not bestow favors without reason.”

The man, who was fiddling with something click-clacking in his hand, stroked his chin as he received the report.

“That prescription, if it has spread as much as it can, monopolizing it would be difficult, right?”

“Yes, most likely.”

“Then pre-empt the medicinal herbs that go into it. Because physicians usually have one or two medicinal herbs they favor. Even if we just secure the herbs commonly included, it will be quite profitable. If the effect is that good, we might even be able to squeeze other regions dry.”

“Understood.”

The person who received the man’s instructions moved quickly. He had a pleased face, as if he had caught the scent of money.

Left alone like that, the man gazed intently at the empty space and pondered.

“Anyway, he is an interesting guy. Should I pay him a visit? In times like these, there would be many places to use him.”

The man soon dropped what he was clacking and spinning in his hand onto the floor with a thud.

The two objects that rolled around with a thud were dice commonly used in gambling.

Looking at the number resulted from the dice, the man laughed.

“The dice tell me to do so too.”

The man spoke of the dice as if they were a living person, a close friend.

The figure called the Evil Gambling King in the world sneered and rose from his seat.