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Chapter: 03
A private VIP room in a hospital.
Chairman Baek Hojung lay unconscious on the bed, his body connected to various medical machines.
The tiger clan’s close aides stood around his bedside, their faces filled with worry.
“They said they were coming, but they’re still not here. Do you think they’ll actually show up?”
“Maybe they got scared of taking responsibility and ran away.”
Baek Eunho coldly dismissed their suspicions.
“They’ll come. They’re the one who called first and said they could treat him.”
Yet despite his firm tone, he bit down hard on his lip in anxiety.
He had bitten so hard that the metallic taste of blood spread through his mouth.
Beep… Beep…
The steady rhythm of the monitor only heightened his tension.
On the bed, his father, Chairman Baek Hojung, repeatedly regained consciousness only to lose it again.
His complexion was deathly pale.
His body occasionally convulsed.
The imposing figure who had always seemed as solid as a mountain was nowhere to be seen.
The human doctors said every test came back normal, yet they have no idea why his condition keeps worsening.
But the divine beasts knew the reason.
The attack of the foul energy had not ended yet.
Divine beasts could not see spiritual energy or foul energy with complete clarity, but they could vaguely sense them.
It was like how humans could not see inside their own bodies when they were sick, yet could still feel chills from a fever or the dull ache of illness.
The difference was that divine beasts could sense not only their own energy, but that of other divine beasts as well.
Those Fallen bastards… How dare they use such vile dark sorcery on Father.
They had abandoned their sacred duty as guardians and turned their claws against fellow members of the Twelve Zodiac Guardians.
Even his father—whom no one had believed could ever be harmed—had fallen victim.
Eunho clenched his fists.
With such a vicious curse… can that traditional medicine doctor really cure him?
She had looked like nothing more than a rookie who had only recently graduated from medical school…
His thoughts were in complete turmoil.
Click.
“I’m here.”
“…!”
The hospital room door opened, and Go Yeonhee walked in.
Her long black hair fell straight to her waist.
Her slightly upturned, cat-like eyes gave her a naturally confident appearance, as though every word she spoke carried unwavering conviction.
She certainly looked intelligent and capable.
But she also looked far too young to be a renowned physician.
The moment she entered, the atmosphere inside the room turned icy.
“That’s the doctor?”
“At a time like this, they bring in a child? We’ll be lucky if her hands don’t shake so badly that she misses the acupuncture points!”
Before Baek Eunho could even speak, several agitated people stepped forward and waved her away.
“This is absurd. Please leave immediately.”
“Executive Director Baek, even if you’re the heir… this is an insult to the family! You’re seriously entrusting the Chairman to a greenhorn like her?”
The criticism grew harsher by the second.
One middle-aged man even clicked his tongue openly.
“I won’t stand here and watch this! If something happens to the Chairman because we just stood around doing nothing—”
“Enough.”
Baek Eunho cut him off with a single word.
But by then, the room had already descended into chaos.
“If that woman touches him and his condition gets even worse, who’s taking responsibility? You, Executive Director Baek?”
Without saying a word, Yeonhee calmly looked at each face in turn.
Distrust.
Ridicule.
Anger.
Anyone else would have been shaken or intimidated.
Yet she did not so much as blink.
Then, disaster struck.
“Ughhh…!”
Chairman Baek Hojung’s body suddenly began shaking violently with convulsions.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The machines erupted into frantic alarms, and screams filled the room.
Moments later, the attending physicians rushed inside.
“Check his vitals immediately!”
“Huh…? That’s strange. All his test results were perfectly normal just moments ago…”
After hurriedly examining the patient, they turned toward Yeonhee with hostile expressions.
“And who is this woman?”
“I brought her.”
Eunho answered firmly.
“She’s going to perform acupuncture.”
The doctors’ expressions instantly hardened.
They looked Yeonhee up and down before raising their voices.
“Acupuncture? Absolutely not! You’re going to use acupuncture on a patient in critical condition?”
“Do you think this is some kind of joke? We will never allow it!”
“If something goes wrong, who’s taking responsibility?”
Their words came at her like a pack of hyenas tearing into prey.
Eunho silenced them with an icy glare.
“It was her emergency treatment that brought him back to consciousness before. And none of you even know what’s causing this.”
“…That…”
The doctors fell silent.
Meanwhile, Yeonhee quietly removed the elastic band from her wrist and tied her hair tightly into a single ponytail.
In that instant, the look in her eyes sharpened completely.
The atmosphere around her changed.
Responsibility.
Focus.
Determination.
The intensity in her gaze made everyone in the room unconsciously stiffen.
“Every second counts.”
She spoke with unwavering certainty.
“My acupuncture saved the Chairman.”
“I can do it again, just like I did last night.”
Silence filled the room.
Eyes filled with doubt and disbelief once again turned toward Yeonhee.
“Don’t be ridiculous. That must have been a coincidence.”
“A miracle like that doesn’t happen twice.”
Yeonhee answered calmly, yet every word struck home.
“Then are you going to let him die… without even trying?”
Baek Eunho stepped forward.
“Move.”
“I’ll take full responsibility for whatever happens.”
“…”
The doctors remained silent for a moment before grumbling in dissatisfaction as they left the room.
Amid the clicking of their tongues, snippets of muttering drifted back.
“This has nothing to do with us…”
“Hmph.”
Yeonhee took a deep breath before taking out her acupuncture needles.
Beginning with the Baihui (GV20) point, she inserted needles one after another into the Seven Stroke Treatment Points.
Buzz!
Golden threads of spiritual energy flowed gently from her fingertips into the needles before gradually entering the Chairman’s body.
Qubin… Jianjing… Quchi… Fengshi… Zusanli… Xuanzhong…
Each time another needle was inserted, the Cat’s Eye Stone hanging around her neck shone brilliantly.
“Ah!”
“Ohhh…”
The watching divine beasts gasped in amazement.
Golden spiritual energy flowed warmly through the Chairman’s body like rays of sunlight.
Meanwhile, the black foul energy that had been clinging like thick ink around the blood vessels of his brain began melting away as though snow under the spring sun.
“Did you just see that?”
“What on earth did she do?”
The tiger clan’s attendants erupted into astonished whispers.
Soon, the Chairman’s convulsions stopped.
His eyelids slowly opened.
“Father!”
“Chairman!”
Everyone rushed toward the bed.
But Yeonhee’s expression remained grave.
Her eyes were fixed on the Chairman’s chest.
Using what sounded like the last of her strength, she spoke.
“Something’s wrong.”
“It’s not completely over.”
“There’s… black energy still remaining near his heart.”
The moment she finished speaking, her knees gave way.
Her body collapsed forward.
Cold sweat had already formed across her forehead.
“Go Yeonhee!”
Eunho immediately caught her before she hit the floor.
Then he shouted at his attendants.
“What are you standing around for? Lay her down! Tell them we’re taking over the room next door too!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The attendants hurriedly rushed out.
The tense atmosphere inside the room instantly became even heavier.
Everything felt dizzy.
I slowly forced my heavy eyelids open.
My blurry vision gradually cleared.
The first thing I heard was a sweet singing voice.
“Destiny whispers in my ear, moonlight calling out to me from somewhere… ♪”
The wall-mounted television in the hospital room was playing a performance by the popular girl group Lunar.
But even louder than the song were the hushed conversations of the people gathered in the room.
“In all my life, I’ve never seen purification power like that. Other purifiers would need days to accomplish what she did with a single acupuncture treatment.”
“If she’s this powerful, she might be the legendary Purifier… perhaps even greater.”
“If an all-out war with the Fallen ever breaks out, that girl could become the key.”
“Who exactly is she? Could she be a surviving direct descendant of the Cat Clan?”
…At this point, weren’t they practically saying all this on purpose for me to hear?
I deliberately cleared my throat.
“Ahem.”
“Oh, she’s awake!”
Someone exclaimed happily.
I slowly pushed myself upright and murmured,
“Why… did I pass out?”
“Because the spiritual energy stored inside your necklace was completely exhausted.”
A calm voice answered from one side.
I turned my head.
Baek Eunho was sitting in a chair beside the bed, quietly looking at me with his blue-gray eyes.
