Chapter 1895 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect
Chapter 1895. So You’re All Gathered Here. (4) ❀ ❀ ❀
With his hands behind his back, Do Yeonwi [도연위(道聯瑋)] stepped out the door, clicked his tongue in annoyance, and frowned deeply as he asked,
“Tsk. No patients today either?”
“Yes, doctor. My apologies.”
The head steward rushed over and bowed his head awkwardly.
Do Yeonwi couldn’t bring himself to scold the steward. It wasn’t his fault. It was those damn unorthodox sect bastards. With all the nearby residents having fled, how could there possibly be patients?
“Urgh… I miscalculated. When I heard war was breaking out, I thought the injured would line up at my door. If I’d known I’d be left with nothing but flies, I’d have packed up long ago.”
He clicked his tongue once more and was just about to turn back into his room when….
Thump, thump, thump.
“Is anyone there? Anyone inside?”
Someone was banging on the closed main gate.
Do Yeonwi’s face lit up as he spun around. For more than a week, not even an ant had crossed the threshold of his clinic, and now finally, guests!
“Yes, yes! Yes! I’m here!”
Forgetting all dignity as a doctor, he shouted hastily,
“Quick, open the gate! Hurry!”
“Y-yes, doctor! Right away…!”
Before the steward could even finish, he bolted for the gate. Even the female healers, who had been hiding themselves in the infirmary out of boredom, timidly peeked out.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Crash!
Before the steward could open it, the shut gate burst open as though broken down, and a swarm of beggars rushed in all at once.
“Huh?”
Stunned by the scene, Do Yeonwi’s mouth fell open. His long goatee quivered.
“W-what on earth is this…?”
“You’re Doctor Do, right?”
At the blunt question, Do Yeonwi scowled.
A doctor’s house was supposed to be a sacred place. Even the government offices would not treat it carelessly. And yet, here these filthy beggars barged in, cutting him off mid-sentence and demanding answers.
“Do you realize where you are, behaving so rudely…”
Boom!
At that moment, one of the beggars stomped his foot into the dirt floor, sinking it a full inch deep. Do Yeonwi’s mouth snapped shut.
“I asked if you’re Doctor Do!”
“Y-yes, that’s me.”
The beggar who had stomped the ground gave a short nod.
“Take him!”
“Yes!”
At once, the beggars swarmed him, surrounded him, and hoisted him up.
“W-wait, what is the meaning of this?! Euaaaah! Help! The beggars are kidnapping me!”
“Quiet down, will you? Stop fussing and stay still!”
“Eeeek!”
Despite Do Yeonwi’s fierce resistance, the beggars paid no attention and carried him straight out of the clinic.
“Uh…”
Those left behind could only stare blankly, stunned. One beggar remained behind, his expression oddly anxious, and spoke quickly,
“We’ll borrow him and return him after. Just so you know.”
“…What?”
“That’s all.”
And with that, even he dashed away.
Like a storm had passed, silence fell over the estate. Those left behind could only gape at the battered gate.
“…Shouldn’t we report this to the authorities?”
“And say what? That beggars barged in and kidnapped the doctor?”
It was a situation far too difficult to explain. After hesitating for a moment, everyone ended up closing their mouths again.
“So… is there, maybe, some beggar who’s really sick or something?”
In a way, it was a perfectly natural question.
❀ ❀ ❀
“Doctor! We’ve brought a doctor!”
“Over here!”
“W-wait, wait a moment! A momeeeent!”
Like a freshly caught fish flailing in the air, Do Yeonwi thrashed and screamed the moment his feet touched the ground.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing? Why would you…! At least give me a reason! Why did you drag someone off like this?”
Do Yeonwi, glancing around in panic, drew Tang Soso’s glare, her eyes blazing with fury.
“Just what kind of explanation did you give when you brought him here!”
“W-well… you said it was urgent, so we just rushed him over…”
“Rushed him over? Do you even understand what bringing someone over is supposed to mean? This isn’t bringing him, it’s abducting him!”
“I-it’s just that doctor, once they start explaining, their words tend to run long, so…”
The beggar stammered out his excuse, but as Tang Soso’s eyes grew colder and sharper, his words trailed off and he quickly lowered his head.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Unbelievable.”
Tang Soso shot the beggar a glare as if her chest were about to burst with frustration, then snapped her gaze toward Do Yeonwi.
“My apologies for the rudeness.”
“N-no, that’s….”
“But the truth is, we don’t have time to explain. Please, I beg you. We are desperately short on hands. Help us first, I’ll offer proper apologies later.”
“…Still…”
“Please! Every moment we waste, people die. I’m begging you!”
“A-all right.”
Overwhelmed by her urgency, Do Yeonwi nodded almost without realizing it. Hastily pulling out his needle case, he rushed toward the patient, then suddenly froze.
‘Wait… why am I giving in so easily? This doesn’t feel right…’
As though entranced…
“Here, over here.”
“Yes?”
“Start with this one.”
An elderly doctor, looking to be quite advanced in years, called out and gestured toward the patient’s leg. The wound was deeply split, the flesh inside already turning bluish. Do Yeonwi’s face went pale.
“W-what kind of wound is this…?”
“Hurry.”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
Trembling, he held the patient steady. Without the slightest hesitation, the old doctor began cutting away the rotting flesh with a scalpel.
Slice. Slice. Slice.
“U-ugh… Urrgh…”
The ghastly sight made Do Yeonwi shudder. The old man glanced at him and shook his head.
“And you call yourself a doctor, shaken by this?”
“M-my apologies.”
“Just hold him steady.”
“…Yes.”
“If you’ve ever sewn up a body mauled by a tiger, this is nothing. Still, this one wasn’t a clean cut.”
Do Yeonwi, tongue-tied, could only tighten his grip on the patient. Against someone like this, he naturally couldn’t assert himself.
‘But why is such a man taking orders from a young girl like her?’
A strange sense of resentment began to rise in Do Yeonwi’s chest. The elderly doctor caught sight of the shift in his expression and chuckled softly.
“Why? Do you feel wronged?”
“Not so much wronged… but isn’t this improper? Kidnapping me out of nowhere was already an issue, but now to use me however they please… Honestly, it’s intolerable. I need to speak with whoever is in charge here.”
“I wouldn’t say that’s a good idea.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Do you even know where you are?”
“I may be oblivious, but not that much. From the look of it, this is the camp of that Heavenly Comrade Alliance, or whatever those martial artists call themselves.”
“You know well, don’t you?.”
“Even so, this isn’t right. This goes against all order and principle…”
“You’re not wrong.”
The elder doctor nodded as if to agree.
“But….”
He broke off, glancing toward the entrance of the tent.
“Ughh…!”
“Just hang on! We’re almost there! They’ll treat you now!”
Alliance disciples burst into the tent, rushing in with a stretcher carrying a man clearly at death’s door.
“He was struck in the chest.”
“This way, quickly!”
Without even turning her head, Tang Soso shouted. Several doctors leapt to their feet without hesitation and swarmed the patient.
“Stay awake! Don’t pass out!”
“Clench your teeth. You won’t die here!”
Straddling the line between life and death, they desperately worked on him. Another stretcher came in right after.
Looking at them, Do Yeonwi realized the doctors themselves were utterly haggard, on the verge of collapse. Yet they forced their bloodshot eyes open and bent once more over the wounded.
Watching the scene, the elder doctor spoke again.
“Order and principle… here, in this place?”
Do Yeonwi had no words.
“Even principle has to bow to circumstance. When people are dying before your eyes after fighting murderous foes, is it really the time to harp on order and propriety?”
Do Yeonwi let out a long sigh, then focused on the patient before him.
“So this one only needs stitching now?”
“That’s right. If you have the hands to spare, help with the sutures.”
“Understood.”
Without another word, Do Yeonwi began closing the wound. The elder doctor gave him a faint smile.
“Yes. That’s how a doctor should be.”
Just then, the tent flap burst open again.
“Soso-ya! We came to help…”
“Hands! Wash your hands before you come in, you damned fools!”
The tent flap, which had been open, quickly closed again. Do Yeonwi’s stitching sped up slightly.
❀ ❀ ❀
“How are the wounded?”
“The alliance disciples are scouring the area. They’re transporting every injured people they find.”
“…We should’ve searched more last night.”
“No, that was impossible.”
Baek Cheon shook his head firmly.
“Even now, plenty of the searchers are collapsing. Last night, many couldn’t even get up again after lying down for a short rest.”
“Hmm.”
Cheong Myeong scratched his cheek with a sour look.
“What’s Soso saying?”
“She says they’re managing the external wounds somehow, but the internal injuries are the bigger problem. As you know, ordinary doctors can’t do anything about those.”
“That’s true.”
“It seems there’s a limit to how much you can channeling qi into them. A lot of them are worsening.”
“Is that so?”
Baek Cheon sighed heavily.
“If only we had some elixir… No, that won’t work either.”
He shook his head, recalling his words. With so many suffering internal injuries, a pill or two wouldn’t do a thing. They would need at least hundreds…
“…Ah, then it will work.”
“Huh?”
At that moment, Cheong Myeong clapped his hands, his expression clearing. He tapped his own forehead.
“See? My brain’s really going dull. If they’ve got internal injuries, just give them elixirs. Can’t believe I forgot something so simple. Tsk, tsk, I must be getting old.”
“…Seems you really are going dull. Idiot, do you know how many wounded we have? Where do you expect us to get that many elixirs?”
“We don’t need that many. Just for the severely injured, right?”
“…Well, yes.”
“Even if it’s not enough, we can just toss everything into one big pot and boil it up. Add some water, it’ll stretch. Divide it up and have everyone drink some. It will still help, won’t it?”
“Divide it up? How is that…”
Baek Cheon’s face froze mid-rebuke.
As Cheong Myeong said, the elixirs’ effect of boosting cultivation would vanish, turning the whole brew into little more than a hodgepodge. But even as gruel, elixirs were still elixirs.
‘At least for stabilizing them… it might work?’
It shouldn’t. It really shouldn’t make sense. But…
“Well? Not a bad idea, right?”
“W-wait a minute!”
Baek Cheon shook his head furiously, unwilling to admit there was logic in this nonsense. But at last, he slumped, powerless.
“…It does make sense.”
“Right?”
“But it’s impossible all the same. Where would we get that many elixirs? We already used up the purple mist pills from Mount Hua. We’d need dozens at least…”
Baek Cheon trailed off as a bad premonition struck him.
“You… you’re not thinking… right?”
“Who knows?”
“Tell me you’re not serious.”
Cheong Myeong just grinned.
❀ ❀ ❀
“So… what you’re saying is…”
Jongli Gok’s expression was grim as he spoke on behalf of the others. His ruined expression wasn’t unique. Everyone else looked the same, but his was especially grim.
“…You want us to hand over our elixirs?”
“Yes.”
“H-how many?”
“Hey. Why are you asking such a thing? You already know the answer.”
Cheong Myeong beamed brightly, sweeping his gaze across the gathered sect representatives. Locking eyes with each one, he enunciated clearly,
“All of them.”
“…”
“If I find even a single pill hidden away, you can start preparing the funeral that day. Think carefully.”
Everyone had the same thought: maybe it would’ve been better if the Evil Tyrant Alliance hadn’t been destroyed after all.
And so, through this “amicable” discussion and agreement, each sect’s stock of elixirs was obediently(?) collected.
[note: yes, there is indeed a (?) sign in the raw lol]
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