I Became the Oriental Doctor for Divine Beasts - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Physician of Divine Beasts
#71
Baek Ho-jung, the chairman of the Baek Clan, entered Baek Eun-ho’s room with his silver-gray hair neatly swept back.
“Still awake, I see.”
The chairman carried an air of composed dignity despite the late hour.
“You as well, Father.”
At Baek Eun-ho’s words, Baek Ho-jung let out a soft chuckle.
“How could I sleep, knowing you’ve been through such trials in Sokcho?”
He settled slowly onto the sofa across from his son before asking:
“So, how was the trip to Sokcho?”
Baek Eun-ho fell silent for a moment.
Then he offered a brief reply:
“It was quite interesting.”
A glimmer of amusement crossed the chairman’s eyes.
“Because of Go Yeon-hee, I’d wager.”
Eun-ho said nothing.
“The more I hear of her, the more I find her remarkable.”
The chairman laughed with clear satisfaction.
His voice rang with genuine admiration.
“Such courage, such keen instinct, such precise judgment. I cannot fathom how one so young could possess such sharpness.”
Eun-ho affirmed this with his silence.
Baek Ho-jung still wore an expression of keen interest.
“I hear the Won Clan’s stance has shifted. That picky Won Young-ok actually acknowledged Go Yeon-hee first, did he?”
“He did.”
“Extraordinary. The more one hears, the more apparent it becomes—she is no ordinary person.”
The chairman shook his head slowly in wonder.
Then, with a pleased expression, he began to stroke his chin thoughtfully.
“Indeed. With the Divine Beasts of the Won Clan having regained their vigor, there should be no further disruption to our supply of Divine Artifacts. Excellent. Most welcome news.”
But in the next moment,
his smile faded gradually.
The chairman’s atmosphere shifted.
“However,”
Baek Ho-jung’s voice grew quieter.
“I hear you also encountered a Fallen One. Is anyone injured? Especially you—you faced one directly, I’m told.”
Baek Eun-ho let out a soft laugh.
It was that distinctive laugh of his, tinged with an almost arrogant confidence.
“Who am I, Father?”
He leaned back against the sofa with an ease.
“That pitiful wretch couldn’t have harmed me or the other Divine Beasts by a hair’s breadth.”
For a moment, Eun-ho’s gaze darkened.
“Unfortunately, just as we were about to begin proper interrogation, Curse Magic activated and the creature was destroyed.”
The chairman’s eyes deepened with thought.
“Tell me in detail.”
Baek Eun-ho gave a concise account of the situation.
How Ma Yun-sang’s biological father had orchestrated the kidnapping plan for a Purifier.
And what the Fallen One had revealed about the Fallen Ones’ true purpose.
“They are filling Crystals with Spiritual Energy. We were told approximately three years remain.”
The air in the room grew heavy as lead.
Baek Ho-jung’s expression hardened.
“Three years. So this war, too, will reach its conclusion within three years.”
Less time than they’d imagined. The eyes of father and son across from each other grew grave.
Baek Ho-jung exhaled deeply.
“Yes. For over a decade we’ve done nothing but test each other’s strength. It was only a matter of time before they drew their blades.”
After a brief silence, his voice came low and quiet.
“Still, you’ve brought back crucial intelligence. Well done.”
“It is largely Go Yeon-hee’s accomplishment. The Won Clan was able to produce the Divine Artifacts in time, and it gave Ma Yun-sang the opportunity to take on the role of a double agent at great personal risk.”
Having finished speaking, Baek Eun-ho leaned forward slightly.
“Father, time is running short. We must discover what they intend to do with the Spiritual Energy in those Crystals and stop them.”
“Indeed.”
Baek Ho-jung murmured quietly.
“There is one piece of good news, though. If a Purifier succeeds in treatment, the Spiritual Energy trapped in the Crystal returns to its Divine Beast.”
Relief and gratitude flickered in his eyes.
“Without Go Yeon-hee, where would the Divine Beasts stand? I myself might have drawn my last breath on the street. Truly, she is a blessing sent from heaven.”
Eun-ho remained silent.
Go Yeon-hee.
At that name, Baek Eun-ho found himself staring blankly into memory—a scene from Sokcho.
The moment when Ma Yun-sang made contact with his biological father.
In that instant, Eun-ho had truly believed Yun-sang was a traitor. And at the same time, he’d thought he’d endangered Go Yeon-hee.
‘The emotion I felt then was… unusually violent.’
A fury that shot straight to his crown.
He’d even entertained the thought of killing both Ma Yun-sang and his father right there.
It was an impulse entirely unlike him.
The real Baek Eun-ho, upon discovering a traitor, would have thought first not of execution but of exploitation.
Capture, interrogate, extract information, use them to the very end.
It was far more efficient.
Yet in that moment, emotion had overridden reason in a way that was simply strange.
‘If not for that conversation with Yeon-hee in the car…’
He might have continued to misunderstand and oppose Yun-sang entirely.
But
Go Yeon-hee had spoken with absolute certainty: Ma Yun-sang was never such a person.
After hearing that, when Eun-ho spoke with Yun-sang himself—
He realized then that the boy was deliberately pretending to capitulate, having even volunteered to play the spy for Yeon-hee’s sake.
‘I could tell Yun-sang’s sincerity without even using Dominion.’
Whenever Ma Yun-sang spoke of Go Yeon-hee, that normally taciturn, reserved boy would transform utterly.
His expression would soften, his eyes would shimmer with bashfulness.
It was not a change one could feign.
‘Yet strangely, that look…’
irritated him.
Baek Eun-ho, who had been frowning slightly, suddenly snapped to attention at the sound of his father’s voice.
“Eun-ho. What troubles you?”
“It is nothing, Father.”
He raised his gaze and answered briefly, at which Baek Ho-jung chuckled softly.
“I see.”
He rose slowly from his seat.
“You’ve worked hard again. Rest well.”
The door closed.
Only the sound of crickets remained, soft and steady in the room.
* * *
I returned to my ordinary life.
Despite everything I’d experienced in Sokcho, Baek Myodang remained remarkably peaceful.
The wind chimes hanging from the eaves tinkling gently.
The subtle scent of Korean Herbal Medicine.
And the footsteps of patients passing through the courtyard.
“Welcome back, Doctor! You’re finally here!”
The moment morning clinic began, patients who’d been waiting poured in eagerly.
“It’s only been a week, but it felt like an eternity without you.”
“My back was killing me while you were gone—I thought I’d die!”
The patients all lamented how much they’d struggled in my absence.
I greeted them with a smile from the consultation room.
“Well, you could have visited another clinic in the meantime.”
“Oh, Doctor! You just don’t understand.”
A regular middle-aged female patient waved her hand dismissively.
“Once you get used to your touch, you can’t go anywhere else.”
“My touch? Acupuncture has such a thing?”
“Of course it does! Doctor’s needles just feel different!”
Such affectionate complaints weren’t unpleasant to hear.
In fact, my mood improved.
Between patients, as I organized the charts, I found myself thinking:
‘So acupuncture really is my calling.’
Watching people improve from my treatment.
Seeing their faces light up as they felt lighter.
There was something indescribably fulfilling about that.
Though, separately from that,
‘I really do need to hire staff now.’
My therapeutic skill had definitely improved since my spiritual vision opened and I became a Purifier.
The number of patients was rising noticeably.
Referrals upon referrals, appointments filling up—it was all the proof I needed.
“Hmm.”
I glanced at the empty reception desk for a moment.
Fortunately, I’d heard Jo Mi-so had recovered considerably.
She was supposed to join Baek Myodang officially soon, so reception and administrative support would at least improve somewhat.
Just thinking about it made me feel like I could breathe a little easier.
I was in the middle of the frantic morning clinic
when the door chimed open—
A young woman stepped inside.
She appeared to be in her early thirties.
Casual attire.
Her hair was tied back roughly, and exhaustion was heavily etched across her face.
“Welcome.”
The woman glanced around the interior curiously before approaching the reception desk.
“I’d like a weight-loss consultation.”
“Ah, of course.”
I pulled out a chart as I spoke.
“Is this your first visit to our clinic?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Let me help you with registration then. May I see your ID?”
The woman took an ID from her wallet and handed it over.
Yun Se-rin.
The moment I confirmed her name and face,
“…?”
Something felt off.
Her face seemed vaguely familiar.
Even though she was a first-visit patient—what we usually call a “completely new” patient in the clinic—something about her felt like I’d seen her before.
‘What is it? Where have I met her?’
While I tilted my head in puzzlement,
Click, click!
Yun Se-rin pulled out her phone and began photographing the interior of the clinic.
And not just a couple of shots—from the entrance to the waiting room, the treatment room, all the way to the director’s office.
It was quite deliberate and thorough photography.
‘What…? What is she doing?’
I blinked in confusion.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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