The Divine Physician of the East is Obsessed with Me (2)
"Cheon Doyeon." The Divine Physician leaned toward me. The corners of her mouth twitched. Even under the dim lamplight, I could tell her face was flushed with excitement. "Are you, by any chance—"
"S-so about that! Could you perhaps read this for me?!" I shoved the martial arts manual in her face. I knew this was nothing more than a desperate distraction to save my skin. But right now, this was my only option!
"Hmm? A martial arts manual. Is this why you asked if I could read Hanja?" The Divine Physician took the book. "The Primordial Chaos Great Void Infinite True Scripture... What utter arrogance. If it lives up to its name, it must be the peerless art of peerless arts... Are you sure it is alright for me to look at this?"
"Pardon?"
"I am no martial artist, but I know their ways. They are the kind of people who would slaughter an entire village just because a single one of their sect's techniques was leaked."
"Well, that's..."
"I know they do not usually go that far." Usually. But there certainly were crazy bastards who actually did.
"There won't be any trouble like that. I found this manual inside a Gate."
"I can protect myself. That is not what I meant. I was asking if it is truly alright for you to share such a precious-looking martial art with me."
"Ah..."
"If you do not belong to a sect, this is your chance to monopolize it. Are you truly fine with throwing that chance away?"
"I don't even know how long it would take me to learn to read Hanja fluently."
"Ho..." The Divine Physician licked her lips, staring intently at me. "You possess a thirst for knowledge, yet you value practicality over obsessing over the knowledge itself? A highly desirable attitude... Unlike those detestable physicians who refuse to share their own prescriptions..."
"Ah, hahaha..." I awkwardly averted my gaze. "Very well. I shall read and translate it for you." The Divine Physician opened the manual. Like all traditional Eastern books, the text inside was written vertically, reading from right to left. As expected, there were barely any characters I could decipher.
"Preface. Heaven says... Heaven says..."
"..."
"..."
"Divine Physician?" Holding the manual, she froze. "...Divine Physician?" Was the content that shocking? What on earth was written in there to make her react like this?
Drip, drip. A strange trickling sound. The Divine Physician's pants were rapidly growing damp. Huh...? Why was she suddenly doing that? Did she suffer from urinary incontinence? Oh, jeez, this is getting incredibly awkward—
Drip. Blood began to trickle from her nose. Drip, drip, drip. And then, from her eyes and mouth as well.
"Divine Physician?!" Looking closely, her entire body was trembling minutely. She hadn't frozen from shock. She was paralyzed, as if struck by a paralytic poison! I slapped her hand, knocking the manual away. That was the only possible reason a perfectly healthy person would suddenly start spraying blood!
The Divine Physician gasped. "My... Geogeol... acupoint...!"
"Where is the Geogeol acupoint?!"
"Ugh...!" But right now, she didn't seem to have the strength to explain exactly where it was located on her body. Aaaah! Where... where on earth is it...! I widened my eyes and focused. Just like I had seen in Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's body earlier, the tangled energy inside the Divine Physician's body...!
There's too much of it! The qi inside her body wasn't circulating; it was writhing chaotically. There were three spots that looked particularly dangerous: next to her heart, her forehead, and below her solar plexus. In those three areas, the qi had coiled like snakes, acting as if it wanted to tear her apart from the inside.
Oh, no. This is Qi Deviation! It all made sense now. The reason she had suddenly fallen into Qi Deviation was because of the martial arts manual I had given her to read. She was going to die because of me!
Which of those three is the Geogeol acupoint?
"Ugh..." The Divine Physician drooled, her gaze dropping toward her solar plexus. It was a signal. Please let this be the right spot!! Out of the three locations, I pressed my finger hard against the point below her solar plexus.
"Gasp—!!" She coughed up a torrent of blood. But at the same time, the paralysis seemed to break, and she collapsed forward.
"Are you okay?!"
"My... my needle case...!"
"Here it is!" The Divine Physician grabbed it and began stabbing acupuncture needles into various points on her own body. With each needle, the wildly rampaging qi channels returned to normal one by one. Finally, she drove a needle into her forehead and took a ragged breath.
"Ptooey...!" She spat out a mouthful of dark, stagnant blood. With that, the Qi Deviation seemed to have completely subsided. The energy inside her body began to flow normally once again.
"Phew... That was close..."
"I'm so sorry!! It's because I made you read that weird book—" The Divine Physician shook her head. "It is not your fault."
"But..."
"However, from now on, make sure no one other than yourself ever lays eyes on that manual. Unless, of course, your goal is to deliberately induce Qi Deviation and kill them."
"Is... is it really that dangerous? Dangerous enough to cause Qi Deviation in anyone who just reads it?"
"No." The Divine Physician picked up the manual, which had flown into the corner. "This manual itself rejected me."
"...Pardon?"
"Among the sacred relics found inside Gates, there are occasionally items that choose their own masters. This manual must be one of them."
"Ah..."
"So it seems you have no choice but to learn Hanja and read it yourself. Do not worry too much. If it is you, you will master it in no time... *cough*."
"Are... are you really okay?"
"The rampage in my qi channels has stopped, but the internal injuries sustained in the process still linger."
"I'm so sorry..."
"Did I not tell you that you have nothing to apologize for? However..." The Divine Physician collapsed backward, lying down. "Tonight, you will have to nurse the both of us."
"Ah, yes! Of course! Should I brew some medicine?"
"No." She pointed a finger toward a corner of the hut. There lay a stack of... not medicinal herbs, but clean towels. "First, wipe down my body. Bleeding from my nine orifices has left me sticky with blood all over."
The Divine Physician was a woman of mysterious age. She had the kind of mature, elegant vibe that would look perfect in a sophisticated, form-fitting dress.
"...Me?"
"Is it not a physician's basic duty to wipe blood and pus from a patient's body? Besides, we are both women. What is there to be shy about?"
"Y-yeah. I... guess so." Except I'm not. But explaining my situation would be too difficult, and in the end, I was the only one who could wipe down the Divine Physician and Hyeonsongcheonnyeo. If explaining would only make things awkward, wasn't it better for both of us to just keep quiet?
"...But I'm not a physician—" "Hush, now!"
A long night passed. Morning dawned.
"Mmm..." I rolled over. Why was the floor so hard? Did my mattress break overnight? And why was the sunlight so bright? On top of that, whose gentle hand was this, softly stroking my forehead?
"...Mmm?" I blinked once, then twice. My eyes met Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's, who was looking down at me with a tender gaze.
"Are you awake?"
".........Mom."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...W-wait, what?!" I bolted upright. "I'm sorry! I just blurted out something weird—!"
"It is fine, sleep a little more. Were you not nursing this poor Taoist and the Divine Physician until late last night?"
"I was, but—" "Lie down." Hyeonsongcheonnyeo pressed her hand against my forehead, pushing me back down. As expected of an elder of the Bongrae Sect, I couldn't resist her strength in the slightest and was forced to lie back down. I looked around, but the Divine Physician was nowhere to be seen.
"The Divine Physician went out to fetch some medicinal spring water."
"Ah..."
"Doyeon." Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's hand gently stroked my forehead again. "Thanks to you, this poor Taoist owes you her life."
"It wasn't me, the Divine Physician did all the work—" "Thank you." There was a hint of moisture in Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's voice. "Truly, thank you."
"...Aw, come on. I barely did anything..." Embarrassed, I turned my head away. For a long while, she silently continued to stroke my hair. ...It's so warm. Oh, man. I shouldn't be doing this, but I feel like I'm going to cry again.
"Doyeon, it seems there is something weighing heavily on your mind."
"..."
"What is it?"
"...Well. Actually..." Too embarrassed to look her in the eye, I mumbled hesitantly. "While I was carrying you on my back, we ran into some danger along the way. It was Hangangmyeolpa of the Pasadomun, an old man with a bizarrely wrinkled face..."
"This poor Taoist knows of Hangangmyeolpa. A truly wicked and grotesque demon. He is not an opponent you could possibly face with your current strength."
"Yes... so back then..." Ah, this is so embarrassing. "I had a thought. I thought, If I had known this would happen, I should have just run away by myself instead of trying to help the Daoist Fairy. Then I would have lived..."
"..."
"..."
"...And?"
"Huh?"
"Is that all?"
"Pardon?" Hyeonsongcheonnyeo let out a sigh. "You silly child. Were you feeling guilty toward this poor Taoist over something so trivial? It is not as if you abandoned me on the street; it was merely a passing thought." She gave me a light flick on the forehead. "Ouch."
"To any human, their own life is the most precious thing. When your own life is on the line, how could you not have such thoughts? If you could avoid them, you would already be an immortal ready to ascend to the heavens." Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's hand stroked my forehead once more.
"You have absolutely nothing to feel sorry for. You risked your life to save this poor Taoist, and I even heard that you gave up the spiritual medicine you received from the Dobong Sect for my sake."
"Yes..."
"...You foolish, sweet child." Her touch grew even gentler. "How do you expect to survive in this world when you are so soft-hearted?"
"Hehe. You don't need to worry about that. I'm a real expert when it comes to survival."
"You?" Wow, she really didn't know me.
"For example, they say you lose the most heat from your head in the winter, right? That's why you always have to wear a hat."
"Indeed."
"But if you can't get a hat, using a plastic bag as a substitute is actually amazing. It might look a bit ridiculous, but it definitely stops the heat from escaping."
"I... is that so?"
"Or what if you're inside a house but it's still freezing because of a draft? In that case, you can just build a separate house out of cardboard boxes inside the room."
"Out of... cardboard boxes?"
"Yes, yes, corrugated cardboard boxes. If you get a big one, like a refrigerator box, and make a little box-house inside your room, it won't be cold at all."
"..."
"Oh, and when you have nothing to eat and you're starving, you can pick dandelions and—"
"Doyeon." Hyeonsongcheonnyeo gently covered my mouth.
"Mmph...?"
"I am sorry. This poor Taoist... is so sorry."
"Mmph...?"
"I am sorry. Truly... I am sorry. Because this poor Taoist... because our Bongrae Sect... lacks the strength, I am so sorry..." I had no idea why she was reacting like this. I still had so many survival tips left to share.
"Mmph..."
"...Doyeon." Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's tone turned solemn. "By any chance, have you studied under a martial artist of the Baekdu Sect?"
"...What does 'studied under' mean?"
"Have you formally established a master-disciple relationship with a martial artist of the Baekdu Sect?"
The Sword Empress instantly came to mind. She did seem incredibly desperate to win my favor... But did she want a formal master-disciple relationship? I wasn't sure. She had practically thrown an incredible technique like the White Dragon Divine Art at me, so she couldn't have done it on a whim. But could the Sect Leader of the Baekdu Sect and the Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance just take in a disciple whenever she pleased? If she did, wouldn't it completely mess up the generational hierarchy of the sect?
Does the Baekdu Sect currently go down to the third-generation disciples? That meant, relative to the Sword Empress, the youngest members of the Baekdu Sect were the disciples of her disciples' disciples. If I became the Sword Empress's direct disciple... What would that make me to the rookies? In a normal family, I'd be the grandfather's youngest sister, so a great-aunt. What would the martial equivalent of that be? ...I'll have to look that up later. At any rate, there was only one answer to Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's question.
"No. It's just... we happened to cross paths."
"How could you 'just' cross paths with someone from the Baekdu Sect?"
"Uh..."
"It is indeed strange. No matter how I think about it, a child like you has had no time to meet a martial artist of the Baekdu Sect. Furthermore, what business would they have coming all the way down to Hanyang?" Ah, whatever. I might as well just tell her.
"Daoist Fairy, by any chance, do you know about the Jin Moorim Gallery?"
Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's shoulders flinched. "...How do you know about that place?"
"I knew you'd know! But it's strange, I've never seen any posts under the name 'Hyeonsongcheonnyeo'."
"T-that is because this poor Taoist... No, more importantly, how did you manage to enter that place? Normally, one must reach the Super-Peak Realm just to barely gain access?!"
"Ah, if you search for—"
"You must absolutely never search for it!!"