Chapter 97 : The Slacker Starts Trouble (3)

Chapter 98: The Slacker Starts Trouble (3)

Ha Daebung had accurately targeted the blind spot of physicians. Jin Soa was no exception—like all physicians, he was obsessed with improving his medical skills.

It was because of the belief that if one’s medical skills were high, patients would naturally come flocking.

However, most patients weren’t looking for a highly skilled divine physician—they were just searching for someone trustworthy.

It would be ideal to entrust oneself to a skilled physician, but such expertise naturally came at a high cost, and most patients couldn’t afford to spend lavishly on medical care.

That was why when a clinic promoted itself as trustworthy and affordable, patients would inevitably gather.

It was Ha Daebung’s perspective—seeing clinics not as sacred places for healing but as businesses—that had triumphed.

"Now we just need to stabilize things."

"Will anything unexpected happen? I’ll do my best."

"Who knows? Maybe a thief will show up tonight."

"Hahaha, surely not."

Wi Yeonho smiled gently.

"Why are there no patients at all today?!"

U Myeong, the Head of the Lustful Hand Grounds, shouted in frustration as he looked at the empty courtyard.

It had been over two hours since consultations began, and not a single patient had come in. It was the first time this had happened since the clinic opened.

"Th-that’s…"

One of the physicians, startled by U Myeong’s rage, hesitantly opened his mouth.

"A new clinic just opened across the way. Today is their opening day, so it seems everyone has gone over there…"

"What?!"

Veins bulged on U Myeong’s face.

"A new clinic opened? And you just stood by and watched?!"

"It all happened in the blink of an eye…"

"You fools!"

U Myeong let out a groan.

"Still, for all the patients to have gone there? Does that even make sense?!"

"The new clinic is called the Sacred Hand Grounds."

"Sacred Hand Grounds?"

U Myeong mumbled to himself in sudden realization.

"A Sacred Hand Grounds when the real Head is gone—what the hell is going on?"

"They say the young son of the Sacred Hand Grounds has opened a clinic."

"Grghhh…"

U Myeong waved his hand.

"Cold water! Bring me a cold drink, now!"

"Yes, sir!"

After gulping down the chilled water brought by the servant, U Myeong perched himself on the porch.

"Sacred Hand Grounds, huh…"

Though they had slyly used the name Lustful Hand Grounds for themselves, if the real Sacred Hand Grounds had returned, it was understandable that people would flock there.

"This is why I said we should crush them completely!"

Ever since luring the Head of the Sacred Hand Grounds into gambling and ruining the place, everything had been going smoothly—until now. He hadn’t expected a problem like this to arise.

"What should we do?"

"What do you mean, what should we do?"

No matter what schemes they used, there was no winning against the real thing. Moreover, with all the resentment they had accumulated through their monopoly, even if the cost were the same, more people would prefer the real Sacred Hand Grounds.

"This is the task entrusted to me by the Young Master. If something goes wrong while the Young Master is away, all the blame will fall on me."

"But there’s nothing we can do, is there? If we’d known beforehand, maybe we could’ve paid someone off, but now it’s too late."

"Hmm, what a pity."

"…Pardon?"

"How tragic that the young physician who barely managed to reopen the Sacred Hand Grounds was tragically killed in a robbery last night. Make sure to offer a generous condolence at the funeral."

The physician lowered his head and replied.

"I will ensure the victims’ families aren’t left wanting."

"Yes, that’s only proper."

U Myeong smiled calmly.

"Aigo, I’m dying here."

Jin Soa sprawled across the bed.

"Aigo, I’m really dying."

He must have seen over a hundred patients today. Before he could send one out, another would barge in. Sometimes a new patient would come in while he was still in the middle of examining the previous one. His heart would skip, and cold sweat broke out all over his body.

"Good work today, Head."

Ha Daebung was all smiles, clearly in a great mood.

"…Will this many people come again tomorrow?"

"There were easily another hundred people who couldn’t be treated today because it got too late. They’ll probably start lining up again from the morning, so you should rest while you can."

"Aigo."

Jin Soa’s eyes spun in their sockets.

"You mean I have to keep doing this?"

"After about half a month, the number should drop. Right now, even those who aren’t seriously ill are coming because of the reputation. Later on, that type of patient will likely decrease."

"A-a clinic is usually like this? The ones I knew were more relaxed…"

"They were just well-off."

At Ha Daebung’s cold remark, Jin Soa shuddered.

"S-so you’re saying things will get easier after two weeks?"

"Not quite."

"Why not?"

"If patient numbers drop, we’ll have to cut staff. The foundation of any business is investment and thrift. We’ve already invested everything, so when the number of patients decreases, we must reduce physicians to lower labor costs. In the end, the number of patients you’ll need to see won’t decrease."

Ha Daebung’s words stabbed Jin Soa in the heart.

"Urgh…"

Jin Soa half-fainted where he lay, and Ha Daebung left the room with a satisfied smile.

"More patients than expected."

It had been his business plan, but even so, the turnout had exceeded his expectations. That just showed how many people had been denied proper treatment until now.

It would be great if things continued like this, but at this rate, the clinic could soon be overloaded.

"Hey, someone there?"

"Yes, Chief Steward!"

"Inform the pharmacy to prepare nourishing tonics for the physicians. Tell them to dump in the ingredients without holding back."

"Understood."

"They mustn’t collapse."

Ha Daebung chuckled.

Each of them was no different from a walking pile of silver coins. He absolutely couldn’t let such valuable people collapse before they’d earned their keep.

He’d squeeze out every drop if he had to…

"Who the hell are they?!"

"Hmm?"

At the sound, he turned his head and saw a group clad in black nightwear leaping over the wall. With swords in hand and dressed in stealth gear, it was obvious they weren’t jumping in with good intentions.

"Grghhh..."

Ha Daebung let out a deep sigh and pulled out a money pouch from his sleeve.

"One tael."

"Grghhh..."

He opened the pouch, pulled out a single tael of silver, and tossed it onto the eaves.

Thup.

A hand shot out from beyond the eaves and snatched the gleaming silver.

"Told you they’d come tonight."

"Tsk. I thought it’d take at least three days. They're far too impatient."

Had they never heard the saying: Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will never be defeated? If you’re going to ambush someone, the least you could do is gather some intel.

When has a general who only shouted attack first ever succeeded?

"Grghhh..."

Normally, if you're going to sneak in, you wait until everyone’s asleep and strike quietly. But here they were, hopping over walls while people were still out and about in the courtyard. You could tell just how desperate they were.

Or maybe they simply intended to kill every single person inside tonight.

"You’ve prepared for this, right?"

Wi Yeonho leapt down from the eaves.

"Huhuhuhuhu."

Lowering his head slightly, Wi Yeonho began to laugh.

"How dare they mess with my cash cow!"

His eyes blazed.

Did they think he would let anyone ruin a business he had invested so heavily into on its opening day?

"Have they not even heard of the Golden Flower Manor incident?"

Ha Daebung shook his head.

The invaders who had crossed the courtyard opened their mouths with eerie voices as they saw Ha Daebung and Wi Yeonho standing before them.

"Huhuhu, tonight you shall—"

But before they could finish, Wi Yeonho had already gripped a broom and rushed the masked intruders.

"Ah, wait! At least let us finish—"

No such luxury.

"Aigo."

Ha Daebung clicked his tongue.

If that figure soaring through the air were a bird, it would’ve been a beautiful sight—but alas, it was a person. A tragic spectacle indeed.

Wi Yeonho, who had just performed the miracle of sending a man flying through the sky without wings, now followed it up by demonstrating how to roll a human across the ground at terrifying speed—not a hoop, but an actual man.

"Aaaaagh!"

Lovely scream.

Watching humans tumble across the ground, leap into the sky, and crash into walls repeatedly, Ha Daebung couldn’t help but ponder the essence of humanity.

"…Should’ve done your homework first."

If they had known that Wi Yeonho had taken down Black Land Manor by himself, they would never have dared to jump the Sacred Hand Grounds' wall while he was inside.

"Well, I suppose…"

It wasn’t something that would have shown up even if they had researched.

Though the rampage at Golden Flower Manor had become a famous story in Hubei, known as the Golden Flower Incident, no one had directly witnessed the fall of Black Land Manor, so no one knew Wi Yeonho was responsible.

So perhaps this was inevitable.

Still, it broke Ha Daebung’s heart to see one of his precious silver taels fly away because these fools couldn’t hold off even for a single day.

"Kyah!"

With a strange shriek, the last night-clad intruder fell. Ha Daebung shook his head and walked over to Wi Yeonho.

"…Good work."

"How dare they!"

Seeing Wi Yeonho consumed by rage stirred a strange feeling. Normally he loathed even lifting a finger, but the moment money was involved, he became frighteningly efficient. It really did make one contemplate the nature of humanity.

"Uuugh…"

Wi Yeonho yanked the head of the foremost intruder.

"Aiyayaya! My head! My hair!"

"Huh? This mask won’t come off?"

"My hair! My hair! You’ve got my hair, aiyayaya!"

"Huh, not working very well..."

"I’ll take it off! I’ll do it myself!"

"…Why get snappy about it?"

Mildly sulking, Wi Yeonho stepped back. The masked man grabbed his mask and flung it to the ground.

"Fancy seeing you again."

"…You know me?"

"We met once before, didn’t we, Sacred Hand Grounds’ Head?"

"Grghhh…"

U Myeong, Head of the Lustful Hand Grounds, collapsed to the floor with a thud, realizing everything was over. This monster of a man had made short work of the warriors he had trained with painstaking effort.

The guy who had flown up and gazed at the moon just now—he might never walk on his own two feet again.

"We are…"

"Yeah, no thanks."

Wi Yeonho let out a long yawn and waved his hand.

"Not interested in your sob story or who sent you."

"But still, it’s only proper to explain—"

"Nope. I’ve already notified the constable. Go get questioned there. That’s their job, not mine."

The now mute U Myeong was tightly bound with ropes by the servants.

"Well, that about wraps it up."

"Good work."

Ha Daebung and Wi Yeonho exchanged smiles. All that was left now was to scoop up every last bit of silver in Hubei.

"But even with all this racket, he still won’t wake up?"

"…He must be taking after the Supreme Head."

Wi Yeonho clicked his tongue, glancing at the firmly shut and unmoving door to the Head’s room.

Jin Soa, completely unaware of what had transpired, was deep in peaceful slumber.

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