Chapter 308: The Demon Physician (1) |
It was an especially dark night. One of those nights when the starlight was brighter than the moonlight.
The Demon Physician was waiting for them.
“Your actions told me one thing—that people can change.”
Only after hearing those words did he realize.
The Demon Physician—his future had been changed by none other than himself.
As he stood frozen in place, the Demon Physician laughed cheerfully and continued.
“Heh heh. The grudges of the martial world are truly persistent and vile. They’re not something one can easily escape. You know this well, don’t you, White Moon Sword Lord? You seem to have ties to both the Thousand Poison Gate and the Beast Palace, as well as the Centipede Sect.”
He did know.
No matter how it began, gratitude was easy to forget, but hatred was etched into the bones.
But if you spared no one, claiming you would not leave any future threat, if you inflicted upon the enemy’s family the same pain you’d suffered—then how were you any different from the enemy?
Every avenger knew the endless void at the end of the path. And yet, they could not stop.
Because—
“More than becoming a better person, more than a comfortable future, more than the righteousness the world demands—what one truly wants is simply for the enemy to suffer in the days to come. That is the essence of revenge, is it not?”
The Demon Physician was right.
Those blinded by hatred were irrational. No matter how much they suffered, no matter how wretched they became, as long as their enemy felt pain—that alone was enough.
The path of demons, not men. That was why the Demonic Cult members, though sometimes pitied, were also avoided.
“I was like any other vengeful ghost. My father’s death left me powerless, and in the whirlwind of unbearable rage, I lost my wife and unborn child as well. Having lost everything, I believed I could do anything.”
He himself was not so different. The only difference was that he hadn’t gone completely mad.
The infernal flames in his chest constantly scorched his mindscape, and he always dreamed of collapsing pavilions in his sleep...
But even then, he clenched his teeth and endured, grateful for the chance to meet again—so how could he not understand?
“So I joined the Demonic Cult. There was a time when this old man’s medical skills were called divine, said to touch the heavens. But no one cared how much sacrifice it took to earn that name. I’ll admit it now—there were many unspeakable things I did in the past.”
Not every member of the Demonic Cult failed in their revenge. Some succeeded, and those who did thought:
It would be a waste to simply kill.
So they carried their enemy on their backs across the vast lands of Central Plains and beyond, constantly fearing that they might die or lose their minds along the way.
When they finally arrived at the Demonic Cult, they handed over their enemy to the Demon Physician.
They asked how to inflict pain without killing, how to bring back someone driven mad by extreme torment.
Some even begged to exchange the life of their enemy to resurrect a lost loved one.
There were requests the Demon Physician could answer, and others he couldn’t. But one thing was certain:
The existence of people who could be treated without restraint allowed the Demon Physician’s skills to grow rapidly.
“Knowledge is built either over long years… or on a foundation of blood. I have seen more blood than any other physician. That’s why I could grow so quickly.”
The early versions of the Spirit Blood Pill and High Blood Pill were born from that process.
Healing bodies with medicine and minds with sorcery naturally led to combining the two.
He had only known the Demon Physician’s general past. This part was something he never could have guessed.
This man was not one who had gone mad and awakened his talent.
He was one who could awaken his talent because he had gone mad.
“What do you call someone who focuses more on killing than saving lives? What name suits someone who enjoys inflicting pain more than offering peace to patients? I didn’t know the answer, but I knew one thing—I wasn’t a physician. Yet people still called me the Divine Physician.”
Hiding his true intentions behind that title, he met many powerful figures in the Central Plains, healing their ailments and earning their trust.
All of it was to infiltrate the Jinju Yeon Clan—his enemy.
The plan worked. As a guest retainer, he received lavish treatment and entered the Jinju Yeon Clan, eventually discovering his enemy dying alone in a secluded place.
“I thought it was the perfect opportunity. The plan was flawless. The timing, just right. All that remained was resolve and execution... but there was one thing I didn’t expect.”
As he knew, the Demon Physician had once led the Elder Council of the Jinju Yeon Clan and ambushed the man who killed his father and family. The problem was—
“He was far too strong. Though we were at the same level, and I knew more about the human body than anyone—none of my attacks landed.”
It must have been a difference in fundamentals and experience.
Between one who steadily climbed from the bottom and one who reached his level through the volatile explosiveness of demonic arts, there was a bigger gap than expected.
“No matter what I tried, I couldn’t harm my enemy. That reality filled me with despair. But do you know what made me feel even more wretched?”
He had thought the Demon Physician’s madness stemmed from being so close to vengeance, yet failing.
That he hadn’t fought to the bitter end because he cherished his life, allowing his enemy to die peacefully.
Everything the man had said before, lost in a haze of insanity, seemed to point to that conclusion.
But the Demon Physician had spent his life hiding his true feelings.
No matter how mad he was, would he really reveal his secrets so easily?
Perhaps they had simply never cared to understand the regrets of a dead man, or the pain of someone who had cracked the foundation of justice with countless deaths.
So many things they had simply glossed over.
And now, the man before him was speaking truths he had never told anyone.
“My enemy said this—he had sinned, blinded by fear of downfall. That now, knowing the weight of his actions, he wished to atone. But for that very reason… he could not die here.”
At first glance, it sounded ridiculous. If he truly wanted to atone, then why not just die?
But thinking further, the story changed.
Had the Demon Physician succeeded in revenge, the Yeon Clan would have had to declare him a public enemy.
Because the Jinju Yeon Clan was not just a person, but a collective.
Even if they were in the wrong, they couldn’t let a guest retainer who killed an elder go free.
And the Demon Physician would’ve spent his life on the run… creating even more chains of vengeance while fending off pursuers.
Given that he had once been promised a bright future as the Divine Physician, it would not have ended well.
The elder knew this. That’s why he told the Demon Physician—precisely because he recognized his sins, he could not die for him.
And in the end, he survived without a scratch.
Later, when the Demon Physician received a symbolic apology from the Yeon Clan, it was only because the elder lived.
Even if people avoided him and his title shifted from Divine to Demon Physician, he could still wander freely between the worlds of justice and demonic ways.
Ironically, all of that was possible only because he failed in his revenge.
Perhaps he had just said it all because he didn’t want to die.
But looking at the outcome—it was true.
“I received my future from the man who had thrown my world into hell. I couldn’t accept that. I didn’t want to.”
And so, he began researching zombie arts.
Zombies couldn’t disobey their master’s command. If he could revive the elder—
He could see what the man had truly felt when ordering the murder of his family, when saying he couldn’t die out of guilt.
Being able to kill him again with his own hands would be a bonus.
What the Demon Physician truly sought was truth.
But the shadow rooted in his heart was too deep to pursue it rightly.
Regret, guilt, rage, doubt, hatred, sorrow...
These emotions alone weren’t problems. But in excess, they twisted people.
A shaken heart lost its way, and the sword it bore turned toward the wrong things.
They hurt what they sought to protect, struck down the innocent, and finally carved themselves apart.
Martial artists called it heart demon.
Before he could reach a conclusion to the question his enemy left him, the Demon Physician was consumed by his own heart demon.
He wandered in and out of madness, pushing fragments of his research into his patients without even remembering what he wanted anymore.
“It was during that time... that I heard of you.”
“What news?”
“At first, it was just hype about a divine prodigy.”
“Doesn’t sound like much.”
“But that prodigy had such a murderous aura, it shocked even the Murim Lord.”
“White Moon Sword Lord. I don’t know your circumstances. I shared mine—not because I expect you to do the same. But surely, you haven’t lived an ordinary life either.”
Glancing at Seo Mun-Hwarin beside him, the Demon Physician continued.
“But you did what needed to be done instead of succumbing to your own heart demon. You saved lives, punished injustice, and resolved the long-standing rift between the Yeon and Peng Clans.”
“That wasn’t my intention. I was merely acting to protect personal ties, not some grand cause. The results just turned out well.”
“And that’s enough. You said it yourself—you acted to protect. I couldn’t do that. Born into a physician’s family, known all my life as a physician, yet all I ever thought about was how to harm.”
The Demon Physician smiled bitterly, glancing now between him and Tang Sowol.
“I’ll say this now... I actually watched what happened after you destroyed the Thousand Poison Gate. I was intrigued by the forbidden technique its leader was trying to use on the Sky-Winged Poison Phoenix.”
“It must not have been a pretty sight.”
“It wasn’t. Even the corpses radiated such killing intent, someone with a weak heart might’ve fainted on the spot.”
“Anyone watching might have thought a Heaven-Slaughter Star or some legendary killer spirit had returned.”
Was it really that bad...?
As he grimaced, the Demon Physician chuckled, but his face soon turned serious.
“But at the end of it... something completely different awaited.”
The Demon Physician’s eyes sparkled as he looked silently to the sky.
As if he had captured the faint starlight, or as if the night sky had finally reflected in eyes that once saw nothing...
A clear brilliance now dwelled in the Demon Physician’s eyes.
Not blindingly bright—but not so dark that one would lose their way either.
Just like this night sky.