The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 220

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 220

A few days after returning from volunteer work.

I managed to convince the children of the grandmother who first showed me the soybean astragalus to file a case report.

However, since I wasn’t the direct victim, I had no way of knowing how the investigation was progressing.

‘There are only old articles on the internet…’

Wouldn’t he have left traces like that scammer who used to sell martial arts techniques before?

I tried to think of ways to track him down personally, but I couldn’t seem to catch his tail.

Then one day, on a Thursday morning.

While I was resting at home, I got a call from Lee Dongwon, the president of the medical volunteer club.

– Clinic Director, I found him! He’s in Miryang right now!

“Really? How did you find him?”

– Everyone in the nearby villages said they didn’t know, so I called all the surrounding areas! Gimhae, Yangsan, Changwon, Sichuan, Haman, and so on… I contacted community centers and senior welfare centers wherever I could find them, and one place said they saw someone similar!

Wow, that was hard work. It seemed like he had left that area just when his tail was about to be caught.

“So when is the scheduled event?”

Preferably on Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday.

It would be troublesome to adjust my clinic schedule as well.

If I could figure out the schedule in advance, I planned to ambush and catch him when he appeared.

– Ah, from what the victims said, it seems like the only event-like thing was at the community center last time. Usually he does business at the market, and sometimes he goes to restaurants where lots of people gather and sells after giving them a little taste. This time we were lucky that a welfare center staff member saw him while passing by…

“Then do we need to go right now?”

– Ah, you’re in the middle of clinic hours, right? That person said they’d try to keep him there, so I already canceled my classes and came out.

“It’s a holiday. Give me the location. I’ll go now.”

When I entered the location Lee Dongwon gave me into the navigation, it was a little over an hour away.

If he had set up shop once, wouldn’t there be enough time? Plus, with someone trying to keep him there, it seemed like we could catch him.

“Did you also report to the police?”

– Well… the person who contacted us said not to expect much from the local police station… Actually, the other staff members who answered the phone were also a bit…

Lee Dongwon trailed off. I could picture it without him saying more.

Of course there are many diligent officials, but the more rural you go, the less things tend to work according to the system.

On the surface, he was just selling tea leaves and such at restaurants for a slightly high price, and since there wasn’t a warrant out for him yet, they would move half-heartedly.

“Thank you for your hard work finding out. Still, if we catch him in the act and drag him there, they’ll have to accept him.”

I was planning to go directly anyway, and it wasn’t a working day.

I had already changed clothes while talking on the phone and even started the car.

“Let’s see when we get there.”

After hanging up with Lee Dongwon, just before departing, I connected a speakerphone call to Baek Suji.

Since she wanted to know the news, I was going to inform her right away.

Fortunately, the call connected immediately.

“You don’t have time since it’s a weekday, right Clinic Director?”

I had said I would catch him, but Baek Suji also happened to have Thursdays and Sundays off. That overlaps with mine, doesn’t it?

Originally, Thursday has the fewest patients of all days anyway.

– Miryang is closer for me. I’ll go right away!

And so, somehow, three cars ended up racing toward the same destination.

* * *

Self-proclaimed herbalist Yeom Yeongi.

What he actually did was only sales, but he always explained to people that these were herbs he had picked himself.

Because that was much more mysterious and worked better.

“Just looking at you, I can see you have no energy at all. With just this herb here, your head will become clear, your arms and legs will gain strength, and all this swelling in your hands and feet will go down. The stuffiness in your chest will also improve.”

The main medicinal ingredient he was pushing today was cyperus.

“What’s it called?”

“It’s a medicine called Thunder God’s Head. It’s a mysterious medicine that clears your head like being struck by lightning.”

Thunder God’s Head was its alias.

Like all the herbs Yeom Yeongi dealt with, it had a cheap cost but a very plausible-sounding alias.

“Hmm…”

But the old man he had targeted today wasn’t easily swayed.

The old man had shown interest right away, so he thought he had him hooked!

“What about that bean-like thing next to it?”

Just then, help came from the side.

“Ah, this is an herb called soybean astragalus. …It’s precious, but I don’t have much left so I can’t sell it.”

“Let me take a look at that one.”

“Ah, you don’t really need to buy this one…”

“How much is it that you’re being so picky?”

Apart from the main herb he was pushing, there was also a strategy of pretending to hide other herbs while reluctantly bringing them out.

Yeom Yeongi exchanged conversation back and forth, then pretended to give in and brought out the soybean astragalus.

“Mmmmm, this should be at least 60.”

“Ah! Even if I go to town and get herbal medicine made, it only costs 40 or 50!”

“This isn’t such a common medicine – it’s much more precious. I dug this up myself from Jirisan. I was wandering the mountain to get some for my mother, and I did find a little more than expected, but it’s not abundant.”

When one grandmother loudly haggled over the price, other elderly people gathered around.

Jirisan? Of course that was bullshit. Yeom Yeongi didn’t even know if there were medicinal herbs there.

He had bulk-purchased everything from China online.

“Well, let us smell it once.”

“Oh my, even the scent is precious…”

“You’re being too stingy!”

After some bickering, about ten people smelled it.

Yeom Yeongi enthusiastically explained the effects.

And finally.

“Do it for 50, okay?”

“Ah, there’s no profit in it!”

“I’ll bring the money right away!”

He pretended to reluctantly give in to the person who haggled first.

“Won’t 45 work? I’ll keep it completely secret.”

“Even 50 is selling at almost a loss!”

“Alright, alright.”

“Let me take a look too.”

Several bundles of Daeduhwanggwon began to sell.

The trend was very good.

“Ahem, let me take a look too.”

“Oh my, Noegongdu would be perfect for you, sir. It’s absolutely tailor-made, you know? Just looking at your face, you must have been incredibly smart when you were young.”

“Yeah, if I’d had money, I would have gone to university.”

Moreover, the wallet of the old man he’d initially targeted finally opened.

He even sold Hyangbuja for 300,000 won.

Wow, how much did I make just today? Even combined, the cost doesn’t exceed 10,000 won.

I could take a week off.

“Oh my! I’m taking too much of a loss! Everyone stay healthy!”

Judging he’d done enough, he got up from his seat.

He would never set foot in this area again.

“Wait a minute…!”

But a middle-aged woman stopped him.

‘Hmm.’

Yeom Yeongi looked her up and down. A typical countryside-style ajumma who looked like she’d live in a place like this.

But she was too young to make into a customer.

The elderly he targeted were at least 75 to 80 years old, those who didn’t know Korean well or couldn’t handle smartphones even if they could read.

These ambiguous middle-aged people would cause trouble no matter how you deceived them.

“What can I do for you?”

Still, since he was within the sight range of the elderly who had bought herbs from him, Yeom Yeongi replied with a smile.

“Well, I came late so I didn’t hear properly. That brain… thing? Please tell me about it once more. My mother is under a lot of stress too.”

Yeom Yeongi pondered for a moment.

Should I just leave? But it wasn’t Daeduhwanggwon that he’d claimed was sold out from the beginning, and Hyangbuja was obviously still available.

“Please. Just sit for a moment and tell me about it.”

Damn it, let’s make another 300,000 won!

“So this is called Noegongdu…”

And so Yeom Yeongi began explaining enthusiastically again.

And about 10 minutes later.

“Don’t you have any Daeduhwanggwon left?”

“…”

Another 10 minutes later.

“If you buy them together, I’ll give you a special discount!”

“Uh, so if I buy this and this together it’s 650,000 won… 30 plus 50 makes 70, right? A 30,000 won discount from there?”

“Added together it’s 80, and that’s a whopping 150,000 won discount!”

Yeom Yeongi was frustrated.

This was a person with intelligence problems!

Well, otherwise why would she be listening to this kind of story!

‘Open your wallet quickly, quickly…’

Just as he was getting frustrated.

“Why are there so many young people here today~?”

As if for him to hear, a loud voice came from outside the restaurant.

“…!”

Suddenly Yeom Yeongi felt some kind of intuition.

‘Could this woman be doing this on purpose?’

Something felt strange about this.

He was being way too obtuse, even for someone who couldn’t understand what was being said.

Had he been stalling for time after calling the police?

“Buy some next time when you get the chance.”

Yeom Yeongi gathered up all the herbs he had spread out and quickly stood up.

“Where do you think you’re running?”

Just then, a young woman’s voice came from the front entrance. Damn!

But it was still okay.

He had already checked out the restaurant’s back door.

Yeom Yeongi ran through the kitchen toward the back door.

Crash!

To prevent them from following, he also smashed the dishes that were lined up in the kitchen onto the floor.

“Hey, you crazy…!”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The restaurant owner and his wife, who had received a small fee from him and provided the space, burst into anger, but Yeom Yeongi didn’t care.

He’d never come back to this place anyway.

How much could dishes from a place like this cost? They probably wouldn’t even bother reporting him just to catch him.

“Clinic Director, the floor…!”

With broken dishes covering the floor, as expected, they couldn’t carelessly cross through the kitchen.

In the meantime, Yeom Yeongi escaped the restaurant through the back door.

Looking at the parking lot, there were three cars parked that hadn’t been there when he arrived.

‘Don’t tell me plainclothes police came just to catch someone like me? No, what was it… some clinic director.’

Damn! The victim was the fool! Chasing him all the way here?

He couldn’t figure out how they had tracked him down.

In all his time doing business, Yeom Yeongi had never given his contact information to anyone and only accepted cash.

That’s why he’d never received calls from the police, let alone had his accounts frozen.

‘At most it’s just one person… over there.’

For now, he had to run and see what happened.

Yeom Yeongi discovered that the back of the parking lot was a cliff.

A country road where only the road itself was paved, with everything else a complete mess.

Of course, the cliff was only about 5 meters high, but if he went down under the rocks while the police were coming around the restaurant, it would be enough to hide.

He’d hide there for a bit and then run when he got the signal.

‘Huff…!’

So he diligently climbed down the 5-meter cliff, but.

“Over there!”

Even though the angle should have made it impossible to see him, the woman who had first shouted ran straight in his direction without hesitation.

‘Damn! How?’

When he looked up, the woman was smiling eerily.

There was another woman and a man standing on either side of her, but Yeom Yeongi was momentarily overwhelmed by the eyes of the woman standing in the center.

“A flea trying to jump, how cute.”

But he quickly came to his senses, and Yeom Yeongi immediately turned his body.

There was no reason to respond to such provocation.

It would take time for them to come down, and Yeom Yeongi was quite confident in his running ability.

“Doctor Han and I will chase him by car. Junior…”

So only one man would be chasing him.

Yeom Yeongi ran without looking back anymore.

If he could somehow reach the bus stop and the timing worked out, he’d be able to escape.

“Clinic Director!”

“It’s dangerous!”

But then he heard screams from the man and woman who had been standing on either side.

“Huh?”

He didn’t have time to make any judgment.

Before he could even suspect it might be a fake to make him stop.

“Gotcha.”

Thud.

His collar was grabbed and goosebumps spread all over his body.

‘Sh-she came down this cliff in one go…?!’

The woman’s hair fluttered, and her eerie smile filled his vision.

Instinctive fear took precedence, but Yeom Yeongi barely managed to think and make a decision.

‘I don’t know how she jumped down, but still…!’

He pushed the woman with all his strength.

Or rather, he tried to push her.

Whoooosh.

The very next moment, Yeom Yeongi’s body rose into the air.

Thud!

Before I knew it, he was lying on the floor.

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