The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 340

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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 340

Whoosh!

The energy wrapped around my hand shot forward, bending Kwantaesik’s waist.

Simultaneously, his feet left the ground, and his entire body floated up with a whoosh.

For a moment, silence fell as if time had stopped.

Kwantaesik flew about one jang—no, roughly 3 meters—and tumbled across the gymnasium floor.

“Urgh!”

He screamed roughly as if he might cough up blood.

However, naturally, Kwantaesik would be perfectly fine.

Of course. Couldn’t I control it so he wouldn’t suffer internal injuries?

…Though it would hurt quite a bit.

‘Sigh… I really just came to quietly spy and leave.’

I had gathered enough evidence and planned to kill some time before naturally slipping away.

But wasn’t the Diamond Body technique just too much?

I couldn’t stand both him brazenly spouting that nonsense and people believing it.

‘This absolutely isn’t because I’ve been fooled by similar nonsense before.’

Vaguely recalling the martial arts manual swindler I met in Gyeongju shortly after opening my clinic, my face somehow burned even hotter.

I had to teach the swindler a lesson and help the victims come to their senses too.

“Huh, huh, impressive. Where did you cultivate your internal energy?”

Kwantaesik said.

Well, it might have sounded plausible if he had said it while standing upright.

But he was lying on his side, facing the wall.

“I’ve been cultivating internal energy for nearly 40 years… I never expected to meet a master in a place like this.”

“I-Instructor.”

“I acknowledge my defeat…! In the name of Unjangmun…”

“Instructor? Get a grip!”

Choi Seongman ran over to support Kwantaesik.

His condition—no, anyone could see Kwantaesik’s state was… just pathetic.

“Damn it. What the hell are you people?”

After Choi Seongman helped him up and he rambled incoherently for a while, it seemed he finally grasped the situation and gave up maintaining his pointless dignity.

As I approached him, the other members fearfully parted to both sides.

“My patient said something went wrong after getting acupuncture from the instructor, so I came to see what kind of place this was. Turns out it wasn’t just one thing.”

I raised both arms to show I wouldn’t harm the other members and gave them gentle smiles on both sides.

“Eek!”

“Gasp!”

Of course, it wasn’t very effective.

For some reason, the others seemed even more frightened.

“Hey, why are you interfering with business in the same industry, you bastard?”

Realizing that the members were watching me instead of him, Kwantaesik seemed to decide to go all out.

“Who’s in the same industry? Our clinic director is a Korean Medicine Doctor!”

“No, don’t! That was a sparring match just now, but hitting him here would be assault!”

But we can’t go all out too.

I hurriedly stopped Kim Jaegyu.

“Sparring match, that… um, yes.”

“Korean Medicine Doctor? Why did a Korean Medicine Doctor come all the way here? I’m just trying to make a quiet living…!”

“Why don’t you reveal the truth about the Diamond Body technique?”

“What? There’s no such thing, get lost! Ahhh!”

Kim Jaegyu and I coolly untied Kwantaesik’s martial arts uniform strings.

As we expected, he was wearing a vest made of special material under his uniform.

“Ah…”

“My goodness.”

“Hmm, I thought you might be wearing something underneath.”

Even among the seven people who participated in today’s working adult class, reactions were divided.

While Choi Seongman and a few others were genuinely shocked, the young couple and one middle-aged man seemed to have expected there might be some secret.

“W-we just came because it was close to home and seemed fun.”

Did they want to appeal that they hadn’t fallen for a ridiculous scam?

Though I hadn’t said anything to them, people began making excuses one by one.

Just moments ago they had been agreeing with Kwantaesik’s words, but their change of stance was very quick.

“Making up martial arts origins as you please is fine since Guan Yu won’t sue you for it.”

I sighed and collected various pieces of evidence from within the Unjangdo gymnasium.

“But acupuncture treatment is a clear violation of medical law. Unlicensed medical practice carries a penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 50 million won.”

It was one of the regular questions in the medical law section of the Korean Medicine Doctor national exam, so I remembered it even after several years.

The members nodded with still bewildered faces.

Well, ordinary citizens probably weren’t very aware of such matters.

Seeing how they retreated three steps and parted ways every time I took one step forward, would they develop a keen sense of reporting in the future?

“Hey, you son of a…”

“Mister, it’s all over.”

While Kim Jaegyu held Kwantaesik, I openly rummaged through the bookshelf.

Seeing the Acupuncture Compendium inserted there, I thought he at least tried to study, but when I opened it, it was completely new.

It would be nice if ledgers or something came out like when I caught that swindler in Gyeongju, but this guy doesn’t seem to even record such things.

“Hm?”

But while flipping through the books one by one.

I discovered something that went beyond déjà vu and was clearly familiar to my eyes.

“Is there something?”

“Martial Arts Manuals…”

“Martial Arts Manuals?”

Kim Jaegyu showed interest, but it wasn’t worth such attention.

What was actually written was a combination of acupoints that couldn’t even be called energy circulation breathing techniques and external martial arts similar to the Three Disasters Sword Technique.

“No, obviously only the title says Martial Arts Manuals. It seems like another scam item, but I’ve seen it before. Hey, where did this book come from? A guy who was running a similar scam to yours in Gyeongju also had it.”

“Gyeongju…?”

“He was selling this there for 790,000 or 890,000 won. Did you buy it? Or did you sell it to them? Ah, that guy was also deceiving people by selling deodeok as wild ginseng. Don’t tell me this is multi-level marketing?”

While pressing Kwantaesik, I felt dizzy at the thought that suddenly occurred to me.

Could it really be true? It’s quite shabby for multi-level marketing, but if there are separate roots… Should I contact the reporters?

“…”

If it’s right, say it’s right; if not, say it’s not.

If he doesn’t know why the Gyeongju guy had it, say he doesn’t know.

He just needed to answer, but Kwantaesik only avoided eye contact.

“Why can’t you speak?”

I approached Kwantaesik holding the book.

“Uh, uhh.”

He made foolish sounds and stepped backward, but he wasn’t very fast.

Kim Jaegyu quickly grabbed Kwantaesik.

“Hey, Mr. Kwantaesik?”

He didn’t answer.

“Hmm.”

I lightly extended my fist into the air.

Whoooosh!

“I learned it in Gyeongju! If the guy who was in Gyeongju is around mid-thirties, he’s like Master’s grandson!”

Geez, he should have answered this quickly from the start.

“Th-th-the Azure Dragon Fist is martial arts I learned from Master that I made a bit more flashy. Master was also the one famous as a renowned physician on Gyeryongsan. He didn’t teach me acupuncture, so I just roughly followed along by reading books. I was wrong. I was wrong. I won’t do it again.”

He was going to spill everything anyway, so why hold back?

“So there was a lineage after all… What about other students? Are there more people in the same industry?”

“There aren’t any, there aren’t. I was originally teaching martial arts normally, but that guy said selling wild ginseng makes much better money, so I followed along and ended up like this…!”

“You weren’t making much money though. I guess you only heard the bragging and didn’t get recent news.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t large-scale multi-level marketing.

The founding investigation of Unjangmun… should I call it that? The period when Kwantaesik’s master was active was probably before the establishment of the South Korean government.

The place name Gyeryongsan is somewhat suspicious, but if he was active as a sage and physician in a place beyond administrative reach, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong.

How did the grandson and student both end up becoming swindlers?

“You know you shouldn’t carelessly place needles and you can’t sell medicinal materials like this without permission, right?”

“Yes. Even knowing this, I committed a mortal sin.”

Kwantaesik kept glancing at my hands.

“It’s not a mortal sin. As I said earlier, you can pay for your crimes with imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine of up to 50 million won. I’ll inform all the victims, so you’ll also pay damages.”

“Ah…”

“Work diligently, and, hmm, it seems at least one person will remain here, so continue teaching martial arts or something.”

Choi Seongman was still staying by Kwantaesik’s side.

Whether he was grateful to him or suddenly remembered his master.

Kwantaesik prostrated himself and shed tears.

“Mr. Choi Seongman, what you mentioned earlier isn’t Sojucheon but you touched some nerve wrong. If the tingling sensation continues even after 1 month of rest, go to a big hospital for examination.”

Whether he follows with his heart or not, he should know what he needs to know.

I only gave Choi Seongman a simple warning about possible damage.

“Um, Teacher.”

“Yes.”

Just when I thought there would be no response, Choi Seongman called me a beat late.

Even if I asked more, it’s currently difficult for me to guess the prognosis.

I was wondering if I should introduce a hospital for examination and nodded.

“How did you pierce through Instructor’s vest?”

What he was curious about wasn’t his own physical symptoms.

Looking again, Choi Seongman was wriggling his whole body, dying to know about my fist technique.

“…”

I couldn’t say I launched it with internal energy.

“Really, how did you do it? Clinic Director, couldn’t you do it to me just once?”

“…You want to see it done?”

“Yes!”

When Kim Jaegyu added his voice, the serious atmosphere instantly disappeared.

The officials who hadn’t been able to speak up quietly approached and started talking one by one.

“I’m also curious about how you did it…”

“By any chance, can you wield a crescent blade, Teacher?”

Whether it was because they were people who loved strange tales from the beginning.

Or whether it was because they had been brainwashed by Kwantaesik all this time.

The level of their questions was extraordinary.

I cleared my throat loudly.

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It was a similar trick to what Kwantaesik did. Don’t fall for such obvious schemes, and steadily train your bodies.”

And I escaped while spouting appropriate words.

I raised my right arm and turned around immediately, so didn’t I look reasonably cool?

* * *

The next day, I contacted the health center to file a report and handed over the evidence.

Very fortunately, there was no need to contact any reporters.

Kwantaesik surrendered voluntarily, and since a civil servant was waiting at the dojang during daytime hours, the grandmothers who had come for treatment appeared.

With additional testimony secured from them, everything proceeded smoothly.

From criminal charges to civil damages.

He should at least bear legal responsibility for what he had done all this time.

[Acupuncture treatment at martial arts dojang… Unlicensed medical practice discovered in Busan]

Some time later, an article even came out.

I read it from beginning to end, but I was very satisfied since there was no mention of me at all.

“How is Seunghyun doing these days?”

“Oh, yes. He’s been coming to after-school programs well. He says the tingling sensation is gone now too. Should I tell him to come visit once?”

On the day Kim Jaegyu visited with Kim Jinsang and Lee Dajeong, I also asked about Im Seunghyun’s news.

“No, it’s fine. As long as he’s recovered, that’s enough.”

If he was okay, that was sufficient. It hadn’t been a particularly dangerous situation anyway.

“Oh, Choi Seongman seems to be doing well too, fortunately. He’s working hard at our dojang, so I’ll bring him next time.”

Kim Jaegyu even conveyed news about Choi Seongman.

That day, after I had coolly left the scene, Kim Jaegyu had taken care of him and brought him to the Taichi Dojang.

That middle-aged man wasn’t even young, but his ears were so thin that it was worrying to leave him by the waterside?

Looking at this aspect, Kim Jaegyu definitely had a sense of responsibility as a teacher.

“It’s fine. Why would he come to the clinic when he has no pain?”

It would be troublesome if he started asking about the fist techniques or requested me to teach him Sojucheon.

I waved my hand, wanting to stop being involved with them.

While I felt proud of doing a good deed, this was exactly where it should end.

“Do you have any discomfort anywhere?”

“No. Thank you again today.”

Since Kim Jaegyu’s acupuncture treatment was also finished, I moved to see the next patient.

With even the aftermath handled like this, I thought the swindler incident had come to a good conclusion.

But less than a month had passed.

A person related to this matter came to the clinic.

“You people arrested our teacher, didn’t you?”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“My nephew said the director of Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic arrested him!”

“If anyone was arrested, it would be the police who arrested them. How could a clinic arrest someone?”

Jin Minjeong was earnestly trying to explain, but the elderly woman was screaming unreasonably.

She was already a grandmother who was hard to communicate with, and since the staff knew nothing about the incident, communication was impossible and both sides were suffering.

“I’ll handle this!”

“Director, I’m sorry. This person is unreasonably demanding that we return Master Gwanungjang.”

When I rushed out to the desk, Jin Minjeong gestured toward the phone.

She was asking whether to call the police.

I shook my head and dragged the grandmother into the examination room.

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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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