Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 1004

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1004
Fearing the Instructor might change his mind, he quickly accepted the payment.
“No refunds!”
At his signal, the poison pellets and stone honey tea were brought out swiftly.
“Ah, quite impressive after all…. The aroma is delightful.”
The poison pellets were merely poison, but the stone honey tea possessed an exquisitely subtle fragrance.
Sim Haksa immediately consumed the poison pellets and then rinsed his mouth with the honey tea to eliminate the aftertaste.
“Well then, has everyone finished? Now assume the meditation posture.”
Before receiving payment, the Instructor had spoken casually, but after the deposit was made, he subtly shifted to formal speech—truly befitting the Sichuan Tang Family’s manner.
Even in this situation, he never once dropped his respectful tone.
Once everyone had settled into position, the Instructor spoke.
“Assume the meditation posture, press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, keep your teeth closed while parting your lips slightly, then inhale long and deeply, and exhale very slowly….”
The Instructor began reciting the incantation again.
No metaphors or symbolism.
Incantations anyone could easily understand.
Following the incantation, they repeated cycles of exhaling and inhaling.
They dared not venture into the realm of selflessness, yet their minds began to grow remarkably calm.
That was precisely what they desired.
Reaching true selflessness required effort, after all!
Their unwavering determination: to simply savor the honey before that point.
Soon, the poison pellets began decomposing within Sim Haksa’s stomach.
Glug-glug-glug—
He could feel the toxic qi spreading throughout his body.
Yet mysteriously, the qi from the Boundless Lotus Brahma Divine Art seemed to merge with it as if waiting for this very moment.
‘Ohhh…. So this is toxic qi!’
‘It seems learning the Boundless Lotus Brahma Divine Art beforehand creates some synergistic effect.’
‘Kahahaha! Now I have mastered poison cultivation as well!’
Sim Haksa became delighted.
After the instruction concluded.
Sim Haksa stepped outside.
Normally, he would need at least another week of practice, but since he had already mastered the Boundless Lotus Brahma Divine Art, it presented no great difficulty.
Soon, Sim Haksa extended his hand.
“Observe this.”
Whoosh!
Something far too feeble to be called a palm strike.
A breeze so subtle that ordinary people would never notice it emanated from Sim Haksa’s palm.
Yet it carried toxic qi within it.
Enough poison to make an ordinary person cough once.
Of course, at this level, he could scarcely be said to have deployed martial technique—a roadside campfire’s smoke would prove more harmful to the human body.
But the essence of the toxic qi could be perceived.
It felt somewhat like I was using poison techniques.
That was enough.
I began playing around, shooting the Infinite Lotus Realm Heart Formation from my palms.
“Krahaha! Receive the poison techniques of this lord!”
In spirit, I was the Sichuan Tang Family.
* * *
Many factors are necessary to overcome an epidemic, but in the Gangho, two things are particularly important.
One is environment, the other is immunity.
Environment begins with facilities to isolate the sick, and extends to eliminating the marshlands that cause disease—ultimately, it comes down to civil engineering.
Immunity is solved through vaccination.
Malaria—a disease impossible to create a vaccine for with this era’s technology.
For such diseases as malaria, we have no choice but to rely on Gangho-style vaccination.
‘One gold coin is essentially the pride of the Sichuan Tang Family.’
Even though the poison techniques are released to relieve the commoners, there is the pride of never selling them cheaply.
Looking at this, it’s a different choice from Shaolin.
However, interest-free loans and medicinal herbs.
Opening these two options was also an intention to provide relief.
Many commoners chose the medicinal herb route.
Since these herbs become materials for poison techniques, the unit cost would be significantly reduced.
Some chose the ten-year interest-free loan.
These were commoners who had their own fields or found it burdensome to forage for herbs.
Commoners who could obtain neither directly petitioned the Sichuan Tang Family’s branch families, and at such times, the branches secretly took them in and taught them.
And surprisingly.
‘…The relief measures the garrison put out—no one’s actually taking them.’
In such cases, there exists a system where the garrison releases budgets to provide assistance.
That could be sufficiently managed with half a silver coin rather than one gold coin.
Yet. Yet….
‘The people of Sichuan truly distrust the garrison intensely.’
Well, Baek Rin’s county is the strange one; most places are probably like this.
Ordinarily, visiting the garrison carries a fear of a different dimension than going to a modern administrative office to get a registry extract.
Rather, the Sichuan Tang Family’s branch families scattered across various regions were serving the garrison’s role instead.
They took in the poor and taught them, had those poor people bring their friends, and secretly taught their families as well.
The price was nearly free, yet they never accepted it completely for free.
Later, those people would respect the Sichuan Tang Family for life and become their eyes and ears.
‘There’s a reason the Sichuan Tang Family calls Sichuan Province their own land.’
Like capillaries, they supply oxygen to even the smallest places and receive their respect.
But on the surface, one gold coin.
The commoners who received grace also tell outsiders they learned it for one gold coin.
It’s a lie, but that’s the Sichuan way.
Moreover, since they would offer respect worth one gold coin to the Sichuan Tang Family, it wasn’t entirely a falsehood.
Thus, Sichuan Province became swept up in an unexpected fervor for poison cultivation training.
“Wow, the Family Head must have spent a fortune!”
Outsiders began pouring enormous sums of money into the region.
And so the plague ravaging Sichuan Province began to fade rapidly.
* * *
Namgung Un departed after apparently concluding some transaction with the Sichuan Tang Family Head.
With the epidemic contained, the Sichuan Tang Family could finally proceed with the medical exchange conference as planned.
Sama-hye spoke with unbridled enthusiasm.
“The Sichuan Tang Family is being remarkably generous with their medical knowledge this time! Thanks to them, we can accelerate our research into new medicines.”
I nodded in agreement at her words.
“The medical staff at the research division were grinning so wide their faces nearly split. We’ve even begun exchanging rare medicinal herbs.”
In this warm and harmonious atmosphere, everyone enthusiastically exchanged their innovative techniques with one another.
Particularly notable was how the Sichuan Tang Family’s physicians seemed to have gained some new insight, becoming far more open than before.
“I’ve heard the Sichuan Tang Family is exclusive, but they give generously to their friends… Does this mean we’ve become their friends?”
“I suppose so. And you…”
Just then, someone burst through the door.
“My friend! Let’s go boating!”
It was Dang-a.
She was even wearing a mask, fully dressed for the occasion.
At her words, Sama-hye whispered to me.
“I’ll be going.”
“Go ahead. Have fun.”
With my permission granted, Sama-hye retrieved a mask and put one on as well.
“Splendid! Where shall we venture this time!”
“To a place where the madness of the heterodox can be felt!”
Ah, the nearby river, then.
I’d heard that merchants from the Western Continent had already docked their ships there to obtain Sichuan silk, and a market had sprung up as a result.
There was no way the curious Dang-a would miss that.
“Hehehehe. Well, I suppose I have no choice. I hadn’t intended to prepare, but… Go forth, human greed!”
And with that, she pulled out a Golden Blood Hall silver token from her pouch!
It was given to her by Sama Hyeon, and it not only guaranteed the creditworthiness of anyone making purchases with it, but also served as proof that the Hall would cover any future debts.
In other words, it was like a martial arts world credit card.
‘Looks like she’s planning to do some serious shopping.’
The fact that she was also bringing her own purse suggested she intended to buy gifts for her brother as well.
It probably felt awkward to buy her brother gifts with his own money, so she was likely using her own monthly stipend instead.
And so Sama-hye and Dang-a swept out like a whirlwind.
Watching them go, I picked up my brush.
‘For Hyeon…’
I intended to write about what had transpired at the Sichuan Tang Family.
And also how the favor that Sama Hyeon had once given to Oh Dok-mun was now being utilized by the Sichuan Tang Family.
‘No interest.’
At the time, it seemed I had shouted it out of urgency…. Who knows?
That cry saved Jin Cheon-hee.
It saved Oh Dok-mun’s people.
And beyond that, it ended up saving countless commoners throughout Sichuan Province.
Sip-
Jin Cheon-hee continued writing his letter, feeling the warmth of the tea.
Just as my older brother had not forgotten what happened with Oh Dok-mun, my younger brother would not have forgotten either.
Now Sama-hye and Dang-a run about in that place from back then.
Though it was something we did to survive.
What remains where grace has passed?
That story, today.
I intend to write it down for Sama Hyeon.
‘The weather is lovely.’
A sky cleared of rain after so long.
Jin Cheon-hee wrote a long letter to his younger brother, pouring his heart into it.
Filled with memories.
054. Sharing Secrets
I gave Hyeon a silk cord woven from Sichuan silk as a gift.
‘That fellow probably has everything money can buy….’
But I thought something made by hand would have more meaning, so I sent it. I hope he uses it well.
It can be used to tie back hair or woven with jade as a clothing ornament.
I don’t think I’ll receive a reply right away.
‘We’ll be leaving this place soon anyway.’
If I send it to Baekrin Uiseon, I’ll be able to receive a reply then.
Sama-hye also sent gifts to Hyeon, and they were incredibly large and numerous.
Hye-a said she had heard many stories about Hyeon while here.
“Ahem! He’s truly our brother. In Gangho, if you ask who the scary ones are, Cheonmyeon Hori always gets mentioned, but in Sichuan Province it’s the complete opposite.”
‘Not Gwang Myeon-hori, but Cheonmyeon Hori….’
It seems Hyeon has accumulated quite a fearsome reputation over time.
‘Recently, he’s gotten blood on his hands from collecting debts from other sects.’
Just as martial artists sometimes default on debts, occasionally entire sects do as well.
They don’t want to default—usually it’s due to problems like gambling or drugs that cause the sect leader or the sect leader’s son to create trouble.
Normally, one would spend time gradually repaying the debt.
But sometimes such unreasonable sects exist. Then one must sometimes use force to recover the money, or occasionally even administer punishment.
If rumors spread that the Golden Blood Hall failed to recover debts, then more people would default in the future.
‘Hyeon has taken on a difficult role.’
Usually it’s resolved at the subordinate level, but sometimes the Gumhyeolbang Sobangju must step forward personally like this.
Especially Sama Hyeon….
He doesn’t hesitate to instill fear in his opponents.
Furthermore, he does not forgive those who come at him recklessly, leaving examples in his wake.
He has even annihilated an entire heterodox faction that tried to cheat him out of money, and then burned all their assets to the ground as if to make a statement.
This did not simply mean that the Golden Blood Hall took the money and left.
As some villain once said, “Forget the money—what matters is the message.”
I thought Sama Hyeon was obsessed with money, driven mad by it, but the martial world taught me that he was simply mad, with or without it.
After that, he earned nicknames like Gwang Myeon-hori, Blood-face Hori, and sometimes even Gwang Myeon-wang or Blood-gold Beast.
‘Cheonmyeon Hori is… gradually falling out of fashion.’
To Sama Hyeon, money is precious, yet sometimes he sees the distant fortune rather than the one right before his eyes.
‘Thanks to that, collecting debts has become a bit easier.’
Sama Hyeon knew this from his childhood experience in Hangzhou.
That humans are controlled by two things: money and fear.
He possessed a natural talent for wielding both.
However, his younger sister Sama-hye seemed to dislike such methods.
“Hehe, everyone told me so much about you, brother.”
Thanks to the incident at Oh Dok-mun, Sama Hyeon’s reputation in the Sichuan Tang Family was exceptionally high.
High enough that even the Sichuan Family Head treated him the same way.
This seemed to be great comfort to Hye-a.
Thus the two of them stayed for a month, and several more months if you counted the plague eradication, before preparing to depart.
They sent a final gift to Hyeon and prepared to leave.
It was time to return to Baekrin Uiseon.
“By the way, a letter arrived from brother this morning.”
With those words, Hye-a handed Sama Hyeon the letter.
A letter covered in gold leaf.
As he opened it, something tumbled out.
“Huh? A Golden Blood Hall silver token?”
It was identical to the one Sama-hye possessed.
This era’s credit card—a token that guarantees one’s creditworthiness and allows the Golden Blood Hall to cover expenses.
“This is so rare that even if it’s Hyeon, they shouldn’t be able to issue more than one, right?”
With this, one could freely access any Golden Blood Hall branch, obtain any information immediately, secure loans, and if desired, even receive an escort unit—a veritable magic wand!
Sama-hye straightened up proudly.
“I’m not sure. Brother must have had his reasons.”
As for money, Jin Cheon-hee has plenty.
But being able to access information, an escort unit, and perhaps even smuggled goods if desired—that was significant.
“Whoa, why are you giving this to me? Wow, this is… what will the Golden Blood Hall think of me?”
Just as Jin Cheon-hee spoke and prepared to return it.
Click—
Sama-hye grabbed Jin Cheon-hee’s wrist.
“?”
“Eun Gong, just use it.”
“Huh?”
“Just use it!”
“No, wait. Hye-a, isn’t this too much?”
Sama-hye raised her voice with inner energy, which was unlike her.
“Eun Gong, let’s just eat and die!!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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