I Became the Oriental Doctor for Divine Beasts - Chapter 8
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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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A Healer for the Divine Beasts
#8
The dimly lit garden of Baek Myeong-dang.
As if the summer night were catching its breath, even the cicadas had fallen silent.
Then.
Tap-tap-tap.
Men in suits scattered across the garden in all directions.
They drove silver-gleaming nail-like objects into the ground at regular intervals.
Then golden threads wove upward like a spider’s web, and——
Swish.
A thin veil like sunlight unfurled, enveloping the garden before vanishing.
The jujube trees and grass leaves trembled faintly at the pulse, then settled back into silence.
“What are you doing right now?”
I watched the spectacle with wide eyes.
Baek Eun-ho answered matter-of-factly.
“Setting up a Barrier. So the Fallen Ones can’t invade. Your identity hasn’t been exposed yet, but if it is, there’s a real risk they’ll attack Baek Myeong-dang.”
“Ah…….”
So I don’t have to worry about being ambushed inside Baek Myeong-dang anymore.
I marveled for a moment, then my face fell.
“Wait a second. So you’re saying I can only live in here?”
Eun-ho chuckled and crossed his arms.
“Why are you in such a hurry? I was about to give you this anyway.”
Drop.
Something fell from his fingertip into my palm.
A bracelet of jade beads strung on a silver chain.
The large bead in the center glowed with an ethereal light, as if it had captured the luminescence of the deep ocean.
“What is this?”
“The Jade Bracelet.”
Eun-ho answered tersely.
“I’ve infused the center bead with my Spiritual Energy. When the Fallen Ones draw near, it’ll turn cloudy, and it should block one physical attack.”
“So I have to block the second attack myself?”
“The bead will shatter on impact, and I’ll appear right away.”
I looked Baek Eun-ho up and down with a skeptical gaze.
“Hmm……. But are you good at fighting? Wouldn’t it be better to just hire a bodyguard like that big guy from the action movies……?”
Eun-ho’s mouth quirked up in disbelief.
“You’re really asking a tiger if it can fight? I’m Baek Eun-ho. Direct line of the Tiger Clan, the sole heir.”
“Right, right~ So what specific abilities does the Tiger Clan have?”
“Dominion.”
“Dominion?”
“Yes. Physical or mental, either way.”
Ah, I see.
I nodded and twisted the knife a little.
“Of course. So that’s the secret to how Baek Ho Group became a conglomerate. You subjugated all your business partners and swallowed them whole.”
“Huh? If you don’t like it, give the VIP card back.”
I quickly waved my hands in protest.
“No! That was high praise. In the age of capitalism, a conglomerate rules. Go, Baek Ho Group!”
Eun-ho laughed as if he couldn’t believe me.
After a moment of silence, he turned his gaze back to me.
“By the way, I heard about Jung Ra-bit.”
“So? Did I pass your test?”
……
Baek Eun-ho, silent for a moment, scratched his chin.
“You’re better than I thought. I didn’t expect you to fix Jung Ra-bit that quickly. Neither humans nor Divine Beasts have been able to heal her for years.”
I let out a laugh of disbelief.
This Divine Beast? He’s got real problems with his personality—or Divine nature, rather.
“What? Was it a problem you threw at me expecting me to fail?”
“More than that.”
Eun-ho smoothly changed the subject.
“Doctor, I heard you read Jung Ra-bit’s memories.”
——!
I paused to collect myself, then briefly explained the visions I’d witnessed during the treatment.
“……Perhaps my mother’s death is also connected to the Fallen Ones.”
Eun-ho’s gaze hardened with cold clarity.
“I see. I’ll look into it.”
“Really? You’ll help me?”
At his unexpected response, I opened my eyes wide in question, and he cut to the point.
“If it’s connected to the Fallen Ones, it’s not just your problem. It concerns all of us Divine Beasts.”
After the conversation ended, Baek Eun-ho and his group completed their inspection of the Barrier and withdrew.
As I wandered around the garden, which had grown quiet again.
I suddenly reached into my pocket.
“Oh right. I forgot to return Chairman Baek’s Badge again. Well, I’ll see him another time anyway.”
“Meow.”
A soft cry came from behind.
The white cat Alfred hopped lightly down from the stone wall.
“Where were you hiding?”
[The tiger Divine Beast’s aura is far too strong. Staying near him drains one’s energy quickly. But still, quite a formidable and powerful Barrier.]
I slowly surveyed the garden.
The space enclosed by the traditional Korean house’s stone walls felt even more cozy and secure.
“Is that so? I don’t understand much of that, but I do feel peaceful and reassured.”
A small smile spread across my lips.
Baek Myeong-dang, wrapped in the Barrier, felt like a sanctuary both tranquil and absolute.
Like when my kind mother stood by my side, long ago.
* * *
That night. Chairman Baek Ho-jung’s residence.
A teapot on the table in the reception room steamed gently.
Beyond the window, the moonlight of early summer night stretched long across the room.
“So, Eun-ho.”
Chairman Baek Ho-jung sat deep in his chair’s back, teacup in hand.
Between strands of graying hair, a furrowed brow was revealed.
“Did you have a good visit to Baek Myeong-dang?”
The chairman’s voice rang low.
“Yes, Father.”
Baek Eun-ho sat upright across from him.
He kept his hands folded neatly on the table and nodded.
“I’ve set up a solid Barrier. The Fallen Ones won’t be able to approach it. I’ve also delivered the protective bracelet infused with my Spiritual Energy.”
“Well done.”
The chairman set down his teacup and continued slowly.
“So then, that child……. Go Yeon-hui, the doctor. What was your impression?”
Eun-ho was silent for a moment, then took a sip of tea.
The fragrance of black tea drifted subtly through the air.
“I acknowledge she’s a skilled physician. You and Jung Ra-bit were both far from easy patients, yet she cured you both at once. Moreover, she apparently has the ability to read memories, which does pique my curiosity. But I cannot yet say she’s truly exceptional.”
Through the deep wrinkles around his eyes, Chairman Baek Ho-jung’s gaze flashed with acuity.
“But to my eyes, she seems quite remarkable indeed.”
“Sir?”
Eun-ho looked up in surprise.
The chairman continued, breathing slowly.
“Her bloodline, her Spiritual Energy……. Much is hidden. And for someone not a full Divine Beast to wield such Purification Power—how could that be unremarkable?”
Eun-ho said nothing, gazing out the window.
Lips pressed firm, eyes deep in thought.
The moonlight threading through the curtains faintly illuminated his profile.
* * *
Deep underground.
Following the stairs that led beyond the sealed stone gate.
Ancient patterns carved along the stone walls slowly revealed their contours.
Grooooow——
At the center of the Underground Space.
On a charred altar lay a Crystal the size of an adult’s forearm.
Its surface swirled endlessly with deep vortex patterns.
Thump. Thump.
The rhythmic pulse that occasionally emanated from the Crystal created the eerie illusion of a living heart beating.
……
Circled around it stood Fallen Ones in black robes.
They gazed at the Crystal without moving a muscle.
Their eyes were deep voids, hollow and dark.
……
And high above, in a tall chair overlooking the altar,
A man with the upper half of his face hidden by a half-mask watched the scene below.
His mouth curved ever so slightly, as if satisfied.
“Already halfway. Faster than I expected.”
“Yes, Leader. Harvesting the Spiritual Energy of Baek Ho-jung proved significant. Indeed, the direct line—and especially the patriarch’s Spiritual Energy—is substantial.”
A subordinate bowed beside him, his voice high and thin, hissing like a serpent with each breath.
“Good. At this pace, perhaps three years more at most.”
The man called Leader rose from his seat. Then, looking down at the Fallen Ones, he spoke quietly but with unmistakable force.
“When that Crystal is filled, the Seal will break and our ‘God’ will awaken. When that day comes, the world will enter a new order.”
All nodded in agreement——when suddenly.
Craaack——
The Crystal shuddered, and a sound rang out as if cracks were forming.
One of the Fallen Ones cried out urgently.
“L-Leader! Something’s wrong! The Spiritual Energy we contained—it’s leaking back out!”
The golden Spiritual Energy accumulated in the Crystal should have been consumed by the dark force.
Yet the brilliant light was slowly, as if the recording were reversing, seeping away.
——!
The Leader’s eyes narrowed.
Behind the mask, his gaze gleamed coldly.
“As I feared—so the rumor that Baek Ho-jung awoke is true.”
He fixed a sharp stare upon the subordinate beside him.
“How did this happen? Weren’t you the one who boasted that Baek Ho-jung could absolutely never recover, Jung-ik?”
The one called Jung-ik hurriedly bowed, his voice trembling.
“My apologies. The curse was properly cast, I swear it. But……. Something is wrong. An unforeseen variable seems to have arisen.”
“A variable?”
The Leader’s voice echoed as if from a cavern.
“Variables always exist. But tolerate them, and there is no ‘order’.”
As the Fallen Ones swallowed hard,
He tilted his head slowly and muttered low, almost to himself.
“What variable could it be……. Ah. Could it be that there’s another Purifier?”
——!!
Shock and horror rippled through the chamber.
A deep furrow carved itself into the Leader’s brow.
“Troublesome. The Purifier is our plan’s greatest obstacle—you must discover their identity at all costs.”
He exhaled low, scanning the room around him.
“This world has been broken since long ago. The Purifier is merely a convincing gauze wrapped over that festering wound.”
……
“By the will of the ‘God,’ we shall recreate the world from the beginning.”
As all held their breath before that quiet, chilling gaze,
“What of Baek Ho-jung and Baek Eun-ho’s movements?”
At the sudden question, another subordinate stepped forward and reported.
“Baek Eun-ho has been behaving oddly. Recently, he’s been in frequent contact with Jung Ra-bit of the Rabbit tribe.”
“Jung Ra-bit……?”
“Yes. And Jung Ra-bit’s Spiritual Energy has suddenly become robust.”
The Leader’s mouth twisted into a sharp smile.
“Good. Use that rabbit as bait. Then we can draw out the Purifier.”
The air in the Underground Space grew fouler still.
The Crystal on the altar writhed ominously, dark mist the color of blood rising from its surface.
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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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