The Cloud Middle Strange Doctor
Sal-gwi and Hwa-seon, Bang So-un and Jang Il—they were all looking at the same place. Ma Clinic. It was a renowned physician's practice in the Hangzhou area, where he practiced medicine after opening his doors. Rumors even claimed his skills could revive the dying with a single needle.
That very Ma physician was in a modest room. Seated before him was a man gaunt as a skeleton. It was the Soul-Chasing Death Ghost, Ak Bul-beom. Beside him, Yang Yeon-hwi watched with trembling eyes, waiting for the physician to speak.
“Hmmm……”
Ma carefully examined Ak Bul-beom's wrist, then withdrew his hand and spoke gravely, as if the diagnosis was complete.
“The damage to your dantian is severe. Many of your energy meridians are ruptured. Your condition is truly dire.”
For a master physician like him to call it serious and poor meant it was critically grave.
Yang Yeon-hwi asked in a tense voice, “……Is there any way to treat it?”
“Not with my abilities.”
“Ah……”
Yang Yeon-hwi's head drooped as if all strength had drained from her.
But Ak Bul-beom himself remained calm. He hadn't held any expectations from the start, so there was nothing else he could feel.
“Your situation is urgent, so I'll speak bluntly. No physician in the world could treat an injury this severe.”
He said this to prevent the patient from wasting time on futile hopes. In all the world, only two people might have a chance of healing him. No… now just one. And that one was right here in Hangzhou.
“However, there might be one person who could.”
“One person……?”
“The Divine Physician… or rather, you'll know him as Go-eui, the Strange Doctor.”
Un Jung-seon, the Cloud Middle Strange Doctor. Known by that bizarre moniker, “the strange healer in the clouds.” Yet he more than lived up to it as an enigmatic figure. Nothing was truly known about him—not even his gender or name. A physician who had cut ties with the world, building a hermitage called Cloud Middle Pavilion deep in the mountains and living in seclusion there. He treated patients who made it that far only on whims, regardless of how dire their condition or how long they'd waited. He was infamous for refusing entry to martial artists altogether. Those who rebelled and caused a ruckus were invariably caught in the hermitage's ingenious traps and soundly thrashed—a well-known fact.
Such an unfathomable eccentric with his bizarre ways. Yet patients never stopped coming in faint hope because his medical prowess was said to reach divine heights. Exaggerated rumors even swirled that he could raise the dead. And those weren't mere exaggerations: among the lucky few treated at Cloud Middle Pavilion, not one had failed to recover fully from their illness or injury. His skills alone were truly extraordinary.
“Ah, Go-eui…… We had planned to seek him out, but circumstances made it impossible……”
“Because you're from the martial world, I presume.”
Ma nodded knowingly. He'd already discerned Ak Bul-beom was a martial artist from the pulse.
However.
“I've only told you of the sole possibility as a physician. Human life rests in heaven's hands, but as the saying goes, jininsa daecheonmyeong—do all you can and await heaven's will. I pray it turns out well.”
Ma delivered his final words as a healer, unswayed by the patient's status as a martial artist or Go-eui's peculiarities. If there was even one path to treatment, he would inform the patient. That was his duty. The rest was up to fate.
With that, Ma departed.
“……In the end, no one can help.”
Yang Yeon-hwi sighed deeply.
“Your efforts are admirable, my lady, but I knew it would come to this. We have no choice but to head to Cloud Middle Pavilion.”
“……”
Yang Yeon-hwi bit her lip. Cloud Middle Pavilion was their last hope. She feared even that thread snapping, which was why she'd sought out every other renowned physician. But now, there was no alternative. She had to accept it.
“I'll go ahead and plead our case somehow.”
“No, I can't allow that. Don't make me out to be a pathetic man. No matter what, I must go myself.”
Ak Bul-beom spoke firmly.
Go-eui, the Cloud Middle Strange Doctor—whoever he was, he wouldn't even entertain someone hiding behind his wife's skirts. Martial artist or not. Beyond that, Ak Bul-beom's nature wouldn't tolerate such a thing anyway.
“We'll leave tomorrow.”
Cheon-sang Ru. Not long since his last visit. But everything was utterly different from his first time. It was like night and day.
“Aing, Golden Dragon Chief, you're here~ Why didn't you come sooner?”
A coquettish whine as a courtesan clung to Bang So-un's arm. Nothing unusual for a typical courtesan. But when that courtesan was Eun Hwa-yeong, the brothel's madam, it was another story entirely.
Hangzhou's top courtesan greeting a guest at the door with such flirtation? Unthinkable before. But things had changed. She now had an official patron, acknowledged by all.
“Haha, even I have public and private duties keeping me busy. How could I come sooner? Still, I hurried as fast as I could because I missed my beautiful Pavilion Lord's face.”
Bang So-un chuckled. There was no lie in his words. He was busy, and Eun Hwa-yeong's stunning face and body had indeed crossed his mind. Of course, his main purpose wasn't just to bed her after so long.
It was to maintain his deliberate public image as “Hangzhou's playboy.” He had to be seen regularly visiting women like this to keep the facade alive. And as a bonus, he could verify information firsthand and enjoy some fun. What could be more efficient?
“Oh my, you're thrilled just to see this lowly woman's face? Come in, come in.”
Eun Hwa-yeong led him inside, arm tightly linked. Bang So-un's arm was fully buried in her ample breasts. Soft and plush—a wonderful sensation. A pleased smile crept across his lips.
Meanwhile.
“Kuhk.”
“Th-that……”
The other men of Cheon-sang Ru stared with envy and jealousy. Their chests heaved with frustration, on the verge of illness.
Bang So-un's mood lifted even more under their gazes. One decisive move here would make it perfect.
Squeeze!
His hand slipped under Eun Hwa-yeong's short skirt, grabbing her ass firmly. The thin fabric did nothing to hide the flesh yielding in his grip.
“Aiing, Golden Dragon Chief, you're so naughty~”
In public view, she could have taken offense. Instead, her face flushed as she played along coyly.
“Kuh, keck.”
“W-water! Gah!”
The men around them were already half-dead inside.
Bang So-un grinned widely.
“Just feeling your ass tells me it's perfectly fuckable.”
“Aigoo, you're embarrassing me. You can pound it all you want later, so let's hurry inside.”
That fucking bastard!
……No sound came out, but their curses rang clear.
Young master, you've grown again.
Jang Il, trailing behind, gave a subtle thumbs-up with a pleased expression.
“Bring it.”
“Yes, Master.”
At the top seat on the seventh floor of Cheon-sang Ru, Eun Hwa-yeong respectfully presented Bang So-un with a paper listing intelligence. She was already stark naked, not a thread on her. He resisted the urge to impulsively slap her swaying bare tits. It would lead straight to rutting, and it wasn't time for that yet.
“Hmmm.”
Bang So-un scanned the information carefully. Moments later, he spoke.
“They went to Cloud Middle Pavilion?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Any chance there?”
“I don't know. But if Go-eui can't heal an internal injury, no one can.”
“That good a physician?”
Bang So-un had lived a life untouched by illness, visiting doctors only a handful of times. He knew little of the medical world. Go-eui, the near-recluse, was just a vague rumor to him.
“Physicians call him a divine healer. They say his skills touch the heavens.”
“Hm. Then he might actually pull it off.”
Bang So-un pondered. Healing the Soul-Chasing Death Ghost would be the worst outcome. He might need to intervene.
Then.
“But he's famous for never treating martial artists, so you needn't worry too much.”
Eun Hwa-yeong offered the key detail. Bang So-un's expression shifted.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Master. Not a single martial artist has ever been treated by Go-eui and left alive.”
“Hmmm. Then no need to lift a finger.”
Bang So-un muttered. But something nagged at him. Like he was missing a golden opportunity.
The only one who could heal him. The only one. Meaning Sal-gwi and Hwa-seon had no choice but to beg that person. That desperation……
Could he turn it against them somehow?
His eyes gleamed as an idea struck.
“No details on this Go-eui's background. Especially the gender?”
“Still unknown.”
“What?”
“Such a mysterious figure……”
“So it could be man or woman.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Hoo, worth a shot then?”
Bang So-un's eyes sparkled. Jang Il interjected.
“Young master, hypnotize if it's a woman? But then what?”
“Haha, Jang Il. Physicians don't just save lives, you know? They can kill too.”
“Pardon?”
“Called a divine healer by physicians? For someone that skilled, slowly driving a patient to death without a trace would be child's play.”
“Ah, brilliant!”
Jang Il nodded in admiration. If they could control Go-eui, killing Sal-gwi under the guise of treatment would be effortless. Assuming Go-eui was a woman, of course.
But there was another issue.
“He picks patients on whim, no standards. Meeting him won't be easy.”
Eun Hwa-yeong pointed out the next hurdle. Waiting at Cloud Middle Pavilion wouldn't guarantee an audience.
Bang So-un thought again, then asked her.
“Any other peculiarities about Go-eui?”
“Well…… Not confirmed, just rumors among physicians. May I?”
“Go ahead. Bul yeonji dol yeon bul saeng—unlit smoke doesn't rise. Rumors have roots.”
“Then, Master. They say Go-eui's skills are so great because he's one of the two sole disciples of the late Absolute Divine Physician.”
“Disciple of the Absolute Divine Physician?”
Bang So-un's eyes widened.
“Yes, Master.”
“Absolute Divine Physician. Absolute Divine Physician.”
Yu Baek-gi, the Absolute Divine Physician. The greatest healer in martial history, earning the title “absolute” because none could compare. For his disciple to possess such skills made perfect sense.
The rumor rang true to Bang So-un. His instincts told him so.
“Wait.”
That name—he'd seen it somewhere. In Golden Dragon Battlefield's secret archive. That odd ancient tome by Mu Gam-ja. At its end, Yu Baek-gi's name appeared repeatedly. The book closed with the tale of Mu Gam-ja temporarily regaining his insensate state thanks to Yu Baek-gi's personally crafted pills. And those two pills remained intact with the tome.
“What's wrong, young master?”
“This will work.”
“Pardon?”
“A secret tome with unknown tales of his master, and mysterious pills handmade by that master. What disciple wouldn't be intrigued?”
“Ah, that Mu Gam-ja tome from before?”
Jang Il finally recalled the old story, nodding in understanding.
“Whoa…… As expected of you, young master. Just hearing 'Absolute Divine Physician' and connecting the dots like that. B-but……”
“What?”
“What if it's a man? We'd waste those precious pills for nothing……”
“Waste or not, we meet first. Then we see if it's feast or famine. Besides.”
“Yes?”
“If it's a woman, we hit the jackpot beyond imagining. Disciple of the Absolute Divine Physician. Might even know how to craft elixirs rivaling Shaolin's Great Return Pill or Huashan's Purple Core Pill.”
Gulp.
Jang Il swallowed hard, throat bobbing at the mere thought.
“And that's not all. She might even brew a special San-gong Poison effective against super peak experts or higher.”
“Eh…… No way. A physician?”
“To cure all poisons, one must master them. If she's truly his disciple, it's entirely possible. All speculation for now, of course. But let's go see.”
Bang So-un grinned, eyes alight with irrepressible anticipation.