Murim Login - Chapter 307

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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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Chapter 307
“The world looks entirely new.”
These were the first words spoken by the Luoyang Eccentric Physician after regaining consciousness within a single hour.
His tone and voice had become so gentle that I questioned whether this was truly the same old man who had been irritably snapping at everyone before returning to the modern era.
“Are you… truly well?”
“Of course I am. My head aches somewhat, but such things happen.”
Now I was genuinely frightened.
One would have to possess an extraordinarily difficult temperament to be openly called an “Eccentric Physician.”
Yet this man, after his temper shattered like pottery, had transformed into an entirely different person.
Even Geom-seong Maejong-hak, who had rushed over in haste believing it was an attack from Dark Heaven, asked with evident concern.
“Tell me, Eccentric Physician. Are you truly certain you are well?”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician smiled softly and nodded.
“Hehe, Grand Master Mae. You need not worry about this old man. I merely ask that you take special care to ensure this promising young one does not suffer injury in the coming war.”
“You…!”
“Master…!”
This was truly Hanan’s greatest Physician. A genuine healer!
To think I had grumbled to Maejong-hak about such a fine person, calling him a charlatan.
As overwhelming emotion and shame caused me to lower my head, the Luoyang Eccentric Physician’s voice pierced through to my ears.
“Should this young one suffer grave injury and require my treatment, I may very well drive my great needles directly into the dead blood. Hehe.”
“…”
“…”
“A physician cannot commit killing, after all.”
So that was what he meant by being careful not to suffer injury.
I felt my spine chill as I lifted my head. The Luoyang Eccentric Physician, whose gaze met mine, smiled like the grandfather next door.
“Regardless of being a disciple of Grand Master Red Sky River or anything else, those eyes of yours… hehe.”
“…”
At this point, he was less like the grandfather next door and more like the serial killer next door.
With bandages wrapped tightly around his head, the Luoyang Eccentric Physician—laughing like a madman—finally began the examination of Red Sky River that he had postponed.
Regardless of his temperament, he was Hanan’s greatest Physician and among the top ten medical masters under heaven.
Yet after an examination lasting roughly half an hour, his conclusion was similar to before.
“I cannot fathom it. Truly, this is most peculiar.”
“Is there… no method?”
“No method, you ask?”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician regarded me with a displeased gaze and continued.
“There exists no incurable disease under heaven. Yet how can one find a method when the disease itself remains unknown?”
This was utterly hopeless.
If only I knew the name of the illness, I could find some way forward… but this suggested a disease that had never been documented.
I grasped Red Sky River’s weathered hand.
‘How can someone so formidable possibly remain unable to rise?’
Unable to bear the shock brought by the death of my disciple, followed by my dearest friend?
No. The Red Sky River I know is far more resolute than that.
Then what could it be…?
‘Aftereffects of the Fire God’s Ghost Dance? Or did the Blood Lord employ some scheme?’
The Fire God’s Ghost Dance was a double-edged blade that consumed even the caster’s life force. For the already-aged Red Sky River, it would have been a power beyond his capacity to withstand.
The Blood Lord, a core figure of Dark Heaven, was certainly the type to resort to underhanded tactics.
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician murmured as if groaning.
“It’s neither demonic energy seeping in nor poisoning. But if this continues, his vital meridians will surely become obstructed gradually.”
My eyes and Mae Jong-hak’s eyes widened simultaneously.
“What? What do you mean by that…?”
“Eccentric Physician, didn’t you say there would be no threat to his life?”
“You didn’t listen to my words properly. I distinctly said there would be no threat ‘right now.’ ”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician continued slowly.
“Upon taking his pulse today, I noticed it differs from yesterday. If the Great Swordsman Red Sky River does not awaken from his current state, all his vital meridians will become blocked, and he will become an ordinary commoner.”
“Are you saying he will only regain his senses after losing his martial prowess?”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician shook his head at my question.
“I cannot even guarantee that. Even if heaven aids and the Great Swordsman Red Sky River awakens, his lifespan has already exceeded its natural limit. How much longer could he possibly endure?”
“…!”
It felt as though I’d been struck on the back of the head with a hammer.
As the Luoyang Eccentric Physician said, Red Sky River had already lived for more than a century.
The Fire King could perhaps endure another ten or twenty years, but that would only be possible with formidable inner strength and martial prowess intact.
For the old man Red Sky River, not the Fire King, how much time could possibly remain?
“Half a year. If you continue acupuncture treatments on his vital points, you might buy him a couple of months more, but that is all.”
“Half a year… Is there truly no other way?”
“You stubborn fool. Must this old man repeat himself twice before you’re satisfied?”
Not knowing the illness meant not knowing how to cure it.
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician’s answer was resolute enough to douse the embers of hope with cold water.
Yet it was he who rekindled those embers once more.
“Therefore, you must find the Divine Physician.”
“The Divine Physician?”
As if drenched in ice water, my senses snapped awake. I asked with eyes wide open.
“Who is the Divine Physician?”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician asked back with a bewildered expression.
“…You don’t know the Divine Physician?”
“A physician, I suppose. Exceptionally skilled.”
“Divine Physician is their very title, so of course! Even a stray dog in the back alleys would know that. Great Swordsman Mae, is this fellow truly a martial artist?”
Mae Jong-hak, who had been standing back, stopped the indignant Luoyang Eccentric Physician.
“Calm yourself, Eccentric Physician.”
“Even for an outsider, there are limits. Not knowing the Divine Physician makes no sense whatsoever.”
“Ah, they must be quite a famous person then.”
“…What?”
“…Huh?”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician and I turned our heads in unison. Mae Jong-hak was smiling with an innocent expression.
‘Where have I seen that smile before?’
Ah, I remembered.
Mae Jong-hak opened his mouth, his smile bearing a striking resemblance to Chung Poong’s.
“I’ve been secluded in the Deep Mountain Valley for nearly thirty years, you see.”
“What are you saying? The Divine Physician has been known throughout the martial world for over forty years already.”
Mae Jong-hak answered after a moment of silence, struck by the Luoyang Eccentric Physician’s factual blow.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve also been around for over forty years. I must have lost track of time.”
“….”
“….”
How pathetic, you old fool.
* * *
The Divine Physician.
True to his epithet, he was a master of medicine who had reached the realm of divinity.
Forty years ago, he appeared at the edge of the continent and displayed medical techniques bordering on miracles, single-handedly treating thousands of patients and quelling epidemics before earning the title of Divine Physician.
“Since then, the Divine Physician has given freely of his medical skills. He turned away no patient who came seeking help and accepted no payment whatsoever. He is a true Physician of the highest moral character, as skilled in virtue as in medicine.”
“Ah, what a noble Physician.”
“The most powerful figures under heaven sought to employ him as a guest, but each time he would vanish without a trace. Always departing with words that he would tend to the sick in the lowest places.”
“Ah, a righteous physician like Hong Gildong.”
“He always covered his face with white gauze as he traveled, so no one could ever see his true visage….”
“Ah, the masked Physician.”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician, about to continue speaking, picked up a palm-length acupuncture needle.
“Shut your mouth, will you?”
“My apologies. I couldn’t help myself.”
Mae Jong-hak is present, yet this young fool’s mouth won’t stop wagging. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Mae Jong-hak answered with sparkling eyes.
“Ah, the Divine Physician.”
“….”
After that, the Luoyang Eccentric Physician, having become half a sage, explained the Divine Physician to me with kindness and brevity.
The universally acknowledged greatest Physician under heaven, and a person of lofty moral character.
And….
“No one knows his true identity?”
“Did I not say he always wears gauze when practicing medicine?”
“But he’s been active for over forty years. How is it possible that no one knows?”
Logically, a single gust of wind would naturally expose his face.
Yet the Luoyang Eccentric Physician shook his head.
“Someone may know. But no one under heaven has ever truly grasped his identity.”
“Why? Because he always escapes before being found?”
“The testimonies always differed. Some commoners claimed the Divine Physician was an old man with white hair, while others said he was a nun with a shaved head. No matter how we captured those who had seen him and coaxed them through every means, their accounts never aligned. How could we possibly track him down?”
“Hmph.”
“That Person’s reputation among the common people is absolute. With so many willingly becoming his eyes and ears, concealing his whereabouts like this, even the Imperial Palace has abandoned their search.”
“I understand the Divine Physician must be quite remarkable.”
I stared at the Luoyang Eccentric Physician, who was grinning contentedly, with a bewildered expression and continued.
“How am I supposed to find someone even the Imperial Palace has given up on?”
“Ah, right.”
“….”
Was he joking right now?
As my expression hardened, the Luoyang Eccentric Physician suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
“Don’t worry. Would I have brought this up to you without any means to accomplish it?”
“Of course. I’ve always had complete faith in you, Elder.”
“Ten years ago, upon hearing tales of the Divine Physician, I was so impressed that I embarked on a medical pilgrimage.”
“Ah, a medical pilgrimage.”
I’d heard it mentioned in passing during my days confined to the Taewon Jin Clan. Just as martial artists undertook martial pilgrimages, physicians undertook medical ones.
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician said he spent five years traversing the continent from remote regions, following the trail of deeds left by the Divine Physician.
“It was fulfilling and joyful work. Yet for someone already past sixty, it was an arduous journey.”
But at the end of that journey, there was fruit to be borne.
“Something I’d only imagined came to pass.”
The unexpected gift he received came from a Slash-and-Burn Farmer Village in the Southern Continent.
The slash-and-burn farmers, who could barely eat or receive education, spoke of a noble who had treated their illness and departed merely months before.
‘There’s nowhere for me to treat you further. However, I’ll leave a few silver coins, so use them to nourish yourselves.’
‘Um….’
‘What is it? I’m sorry, but these are all the possessions I have left….’
‘That’s not it. Are you perhaps a physician from Luoyang?’
‘Why do you ask that?’
‘The noble who treated our people not long ago told us this. If a physician bearing the surname O from Luoyang should come, please give him this.’
What they handed over was a fragment of jade-colored porcelain, and now that object rested in the Luoyang Eccentric Physician’s hand.
“This is….”
“Read what’s written on it.”
On the porcelain fragment resting in the wrinkled palm, faint characters remained.
The finest gall nuts come from the lands of Sichuan.
What nonsense was this? Confused, the Luoyang Eccentric Physician explained.
“Gall nuts are a type of medicinal ingredient widely used. With this single line, the Divine Physician subtly informed me that he was in Sichuan.”
“…How does that work?”
“That’s how it works.”
“Then if I said adult entertainment is best from Japan, would that mean I’m in Japan?”
“What insane nonsense. Mae Jong-hak, are you completely mad?”
Mae Jong-hak asked with a face suggesting he was dying of curiosity.
“What in the world is this adult entertainment?”
“That’s not what’s important right now!”
The Luoyang Eccentric Physician, who had been bouncing about excitedly, placed a fragment of a bottle into my palm.
“Look carefully! Can’t you feel it? The Divine Physician’s earnest desire to exchange medical knowledge with me!”
“An earnest desire… is that what this is supposed to convey?”
The moment I picked up the bottle fragment to examine it more closely, it happened.
Ding.
– Quest Item acquired:
[Traces of the Divine Physician]
You have acquired it!
– You can infer his whereabouts from
[Traces of the Divine Physician]!
We can infer his whereabouts from this!
– Quest generated:
[Find the Divine Physician in Sichuan]
has been created!
I murmured, gazing at the Luoyang Eccentric Physician.
“I feel it now. The sincerity.”
And I see it too.
The path to healing Red Sky River.

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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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