Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Divine Physician
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"Now I feel like I'm alive again."
Because of the aftereffects from swallowing that flower seed, my entire body had ached like I'd been beaten black and blue. While I was home, all I did was eat and sleep.
'Why does time fly by so fast when I'm just lounging around eating?'
Before I knew it, a week had passed.
'I have to head back to the Demonic Cult tonight...'
Now that I was the Young Cult Leader's aide, I couldn't expect those leisurely days at the Cult anymore.
'The Young Cult Leader guaranteed my personal time, so from now on, I'll thoroughly search the Cult for a cure!'
There was one more thing I needed to do upon returning to the Demonic Cult.
Stabilize my unstable inner energy.
'Right now, I can't control my power at all.'
In the past week alone, I'd crushed who-knows-how-many things because of it.
'But isn't it weird? Dad should've noticed by now, yet he doesn't suspect me at all?'
It was the same that day when I ate the noodles he'd made.
"Wow, the veggies are perfectly cooked, and the broth is flawlessly seasoned! Dad's noodles could go up against famous master chefs and survive!"
I was so overcome by the taste that I gripped my chopsticks too hard, and they bent right in my hand.
"Ah, Dad... this is..."
Just as I was despairing, thinking there was truly nowhere left to run...
"The chopsticks are at fault."
Like the time I'd smashed the floorboards, Dad didn't scrutinize things closely and pinned all the blame on the chopsticks.
'And that wasn't all. Even when I smashed that rock—thinking it wouldn't break—and split it clean in two, Dad just...'
"The rock's at fault."
That was it. He calmly cleared away the shattered chunks with a straight face.
'The Dad I know isn't clueless. He must've sensed something was off, so why isn't he asking about it?'
After pondering, I came up with one possible reason.
"Maybe he's worried I'll refuse to eat, like when I broke the floorboards?"
'Yeah, Dad's exactly the type to do that.'
For him, maybe me eating properly mattered more than the source of my strength.
'Well, either way, it's a relief I don't have to make excuses.'
Still, even if Dad didn't ask about my power, I desperately needed to learn how to control this wild force.
'Nothing like that's happened yet, but if I can't rein it in, I might unintentionally hurt someone.'
The Golden Immortal Lotus had healed the damage to my body after I ate the flower seed, so it probably knew how to control the seed's power too.
'Speaking of which, I hope that Lotus is behaving itself at the Cult. If it causes trouble without me there, it'll get kicked out immediately...'
Before giving me the flower seed, the Golden Immortal Lotus had been a ruthless being capable of turning martial artists into cripples. But now it was in the pitiful position of begging an ignorant girl like me—who knew nothing of martial arts—to protect it.
'First thing when I get back to the Cult, I'll go check on the Lotus.'
Thanks to my good rest, my mind was clearer than ever. I calmly reviewed the events I'd been too busy to think about before.
'Come to think of it, the Lotus said there was poison blocking my meridians, right?'
And that wasn't all.
'For some reason, the Divine Physician's power latent in my body protected me from the poison.'
So, who poisoned me?
As long as Dad was protecting me, no lunatic would even think of poisoning me...
'But if Dad wasn't around, that changes things.'
I suddenly recalled the dream I'd had when I swallowed the flower seed.
The resounding cry of a newborn baby and Mother Seol-hwa's pained groans.
The Tang Clan of Sichuan servants rushing off to fetch cloth to wipe the blood.
'That was obviously a childbirth scene. Mom would've been out of it, and since it was such a private moment, Dad might not have been there.'
And one more thing.
"Baby, forgive me. I have no power."
A servant, trembling in fear as she looked at me as a newborn.
"Open your mouth. Be good, okay?"
That servant had fed me something from a purple vial.
'It was too vivid to dismiss as just a dream. What if it was a real event, and what she fed me was poison?'
Considering the Tang Clan of Sichuan's fame for poisons, it was a convincing theory, but I couldn't shake the doubts.
"Lady Seol-hwa, it's a girl—the first one!"
'She said "the first one is a girl."'
And right before I woke from the dream after being poisoned, I'd heard another newborn's cry.
'If that dream showed me what really happened, then I should have a twin sibling.'
But I'd grown up as an only child.
Another mystery was the Divine Physician's power.
'I've never met the Divine Physician, so how could its power be innate in me from birth?'
Unless I met it in the womb.
But Dad would know about that.
Yeah! Like the Lotus said, the Divine Physician was from the Tang Clan of Sichuan, so maybe Dad knows something!
It was almost time for dusk to fall.
'Before heading to the Cult, I'll ask Dad about the Divine Physician!'
The moment I flung open the sliding door in my haste...
Slide, crack!
"Ah... darn it."
Along with my deep sigh, the fourth victim of my rampaging power became the bedroom's sliding door.
"The door's at fault."
Dad heard the news of the perfectly fine sliding door's heroic demise and comforted my downcast self with the exact same words as before.
'What am I even being consoled for...?'
I might not know much else, but seeing Dad's worried expression told me he wanted to reassure me.
However, I didn't have time to dwell deeply on it.
"Dad, I've got a question."
"Don't worry about the sliding door. Dad'll replace it with a sturdier one."
Dad put on a resolute face, as if to say, just trust me.
'Is that really something to get so fired up about?'
Well, a six-year-old suddenly smashing up the house would rattle anyone.
I decided to understand Dad's side.
"...Thanks, but that's not what I was curious about."
"Ah, something else! I jumped the gun before you even asked. So, what is it?"
Dad seemed embarrassed and immediately asked about what I wanted to know.
"Has Dad ever met the Divine Physician from the Tang Clan of Sichuan?"
"Hmm... Dad hasn't met them either."
"Aww, I wanted to hear about the Divine Physician... Too bad Dad hasn't met them."
I puffed out my cheeks to show my disappointment, and Dad continued as if he had no choice.
"Honestly, it's not a great story, so I wondered if I should even tell you. But if my Star is curious, I have no choice. The one called the Divine Physician passed from this world before I was even born. That's why Dad never met them."
"Before Dad was born? That's ancient history!"
"That's right."
'If even Dad never met them, there's no way I did... So how is the Divine Physician's power latent in my body?'
I'd asked to get answers, but now I felt even more confused.
"Where'd you hear about the Tang Clan's Divine Physician? I don't think I ever told you."
"Oh, I read about it by chance in a book at Ik-seon's house!"
"From a book?"
Dad's face took on an inscrutable expression at the mention of a book.
'One thing's clear: Dad doesn't like this topic.'
"Yeah, Divine Physician sounds so cool! I got curious and asked Dad, since you know everything!"
I continued innocently to make sure he didn't misunderstand.
Dad's face returned to normal.
"It's not a story fit for my Star. They were skilled, but just as greedy."
"Greedy?"
"Yes. The Divine Physician was the current Tang Clan Lord's older brother—a genius who gained near-divine medical skills and martial arts at around ten years old. But they tried to dethrone the Lord and take the seat, only to be executed from within. That's how it's passed down. So the clan remembers them only as an arrogant genius Divine Physician."
'An arrogant genius Divine Physician?'
Why would such a greedy genius's power protect me?
The more I learned, the more my head hurt.
"I see. Not a good person, huh? I thought a Divine Physician would naturally be a kind healer..."
"Medicine, when mastered, can save lives just as easily as it can take them. The Tang Clan's Divine Physician excelled more at the latter."
'Did the Tang Clan's Divine Physician kill people with medicine?'
Now I understood why Dad hadn't welcomed the topic.
'It was hard for him to share a dark story with me.'
"Thanks to Dad, I learned something new. Thank you."
"My Star's so polite. No need to thank me every time. Dad enjoys clearing up your curiosities. Ask anytime if something else comes up."
"Okay!"
Dad patted my head as if proud of my gratitude.
At that moment, another question flashed through my mind.
"Dad, did I ever have a sibling?"
As I looked up with my question, Dad's face noticeably stiffened.