Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 1018

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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 1018
With blood coating both hands and spattering across his face, the smile he wore was eerie yet beautiful.
“It has been a long time, Patriarch. And Master. This matter was unforeseen even by me, so I would be grateful if you could overlook it with generosity.”
As he spoke, Sama Hyeon performed a fist salute.
“Tsk, tsk. Please don’t mention this to Soggakju… you understand what I’m saying?”
At Dokgo Junghu’s words, Sama Hyeon merely gazed back with that same smiling expression.
“In any case… why did Soggakju accept someone like you as a sworn brother? Though, if he hadn’t, the previous Patriarch would surely still be alive.
Very well. For the sake of Sama Dangju, I shall grant your request. Now go.”
“Yes, Patriarch.”
Dokgo Junghu launched his body forward without hesitation.
Wang Chae-baek watched Sama Hyeon for a moment before following after him.
Sama Hyeon gazed at their departing figures, then let out a soft whistle.
At that, several servers who appeared utterly ordinary by any measure emerged from the shop.
Curiously, the skin beneath their ears had a slightly different hue.
A sign that they had concealed their faces with human-skin masks.
And.
Grrrrk—
A breathing sound that no human throat could produce escaped softly.
They seemed slightly excited at the sight of the corpse.
Goe-eo-in.
When non-human entities had flowed into Hao-mun, these creatures had been mixed among them.
Some tribes, like the goe-eo-in I had fought before, were hostile to humans and consumed them for religious reasons, but surprisingly, there were tribes with whom common sense prevailed and trade was possible.
‘Though they were an extreme minority of the whole.’
Of course, that didn’t mean this tribe refrained from killing humans.
It was merely the difference between killing because they served an evil god and viewed humans as food, or killing because they saw humans as competitors for survival.
In the end, most goe-eo-in killed humans.
However, this was not particularly important to me.
After all, none of the heterodox factions I commanded refrained from murder.
If one had to choose subordinates based on whether they killed in this Gangho, one would have to live alone.
And wasn’t I myself already the greatest killer that the Gangho people pointed at, saying I was obsessed with money?
‘As long as they’re not eating people, I don’t particularly care. The Golden Blood Hall’s black cultivators don’t treat human flesh anyway~’
Food hygiene was a serious matter.
Those who ate humans could not be ‘friends.’
What mattered was whether communication was possible.
Whether they left commoners untouched.
Whether they could follow the laws I had established.
And whether they were profitable.
Did they possess capitalistic desires?
As long as they had their own currency system and desired currency, the Golden Blood Hall’s Bunta would have a path forward.
‘The goe-eo-in still don’t understand finance well.’
They crave wealth but lack the wisdom to obtain it.
Traditionally, tribes like these acquire money by raiding merchant caravans and plundering their goods.
Extraordinarily primitive. Isn’t that a method used by heterodox Black Dao cultivators?
‘Of course, human Black Dao cultivators are primitive too.’
Then wouldn’t there be an opportunity to exploit?
It remains a secret from my brother.
Commander Yoo came down to the village and crossed paths with me a few times, but after discovering that despite being a Goe-eo-in, he possessed considerable common sense and didn’t devour humans, he merely left a warning before departing.
A mysterious monster guarding Baekrin Uiseon.
Fortunately, the ‘monster’ guarding Baekrin Uiseon is rather indifferent as long as the rules are observed.
The problem is that the moment those rules are broken, it shows not a shred of mercy.
“Clean it up. Don’t let my brother see.”
“Screech!”
The hands disposing of the corpse moved with the swiftness of a pursuer.
Soon, not a trace of blood remained on that spot.
Sama Hyeon smiled languidly and hummed as he headed outside.
A song of jubilation.
Something he remembered from his brother Jin Cheon-hee humming long ago.
It was a melody he felt compelled to sing on days when he had killed someone.
* * *
“Amitabha. It has been long, Jegal Siju. I congratulate you on transcending the realm and approaching enlightenment.”
Venerable Monk Wonseon, the Divine Monk.
The Patriarch of Shaolin Temple and one of the pillars of the Martial Arts Alliance.
He does not rank among the Ten Greatest Masters or the Sixteen Greatest Masters of Gangho.
The reason is simple.
There are virtually none who have witnessed this old monk in combat.
This is the same reason Jegalling does not rank among the Sixteen Greatest Masters.
“Please speak at ease, Venerable. I, Jegalling, find it difficult to bear such praise.”
Jegalling responded with a serene smile.
“Heheheh. What is there for this old man to be borne or not borne?”
“How could I, this humble monk, possibly match one who can contend with the Three Elites?”
Since reaching a transcendent realm beyond the limits of cultivation, Jegalling had come to perceive the world through a perspective different from ordinary people.
This was thanks to the functions of the Five Elements Divine Art, the mystical nature of the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, and the extraordinarily acute sensitivity of the Nine Yin Pulse Severing technique.
“Is that not equally true for Jegal Siju?”
The old monk sat in meditation posture with a smile.
His frame was small, his body aged and frail.
Yet within Jegalling’s perception, the old monk felt like an incarnation of Buddha himself.
The inner energy of Buddhism carries a hue and sensation entirely different from other martial arts.
Among orthodox martial techniques, none is more solid, serene, and unshakeable than the inner power of the thousand-year Shaolin Temple.
The culmination of Shaolin’s martial arts stood before his eyes.
“Do you know why this humble monk summoned someone from the Jegallga?”
“….”
Jegalling did not answer, his eyes half-closed.
At that moment, Venerable Monk Wonseon hurled the teacup he held.
Whoosh!
‘If I catch this wrong, I’m dead.’
In that instant, Jegalling grasped the profound mystery contained within the teacup.
‘Ah, he has reached the Way.’
What lay within that cup was unmistakably the realm of Hyeongyeong.
The Venerable Monk was testing whether Jegalling could receive it.
Jegalling extended his hand.
A teacup infused with the Way of Hyeongyeong carried no ordinary force. Failure to catch it would tear his body to shreds.
Using such a thing merely as a question and answer—how eccentric.
‘He remains as peculiar as ever.’
Jegalling’s sleeve billowed softly as if caught by a gentle breeze.
The Venerable Monk’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he watched Jegalling.
‘Can the Blood Qilin truly receive this cup?’
Tap.
Jegalling extended his hand. It was strange.
To intercept such a ferocious teacup required corresponding internal power.
Yet, mysteriously, as if heaven and earth themselves aided Jegalling, the cup gradually slowed, and slowed further.
Intent.
With merely the intent to stop, the cup spiraled gently before Jegalling, then was drawn into his grasp.
Jegalling received the cup and brought it softly to his lips, savoring a sip.
“The aroma is exquisite.”
“Does Shaolin’s tea suit your palate?”
Venerable Monk Wonseon chuckled heartily.
Jegalling regarded him.
He seemed like a living Buddha.
To the eye, he was merely an old monk of small stature, but when closing one’s eyes and perceiving through the sixth sense and spiritual awareness, Venerable Wonseon appeared like a Buddha statue filling the chamber of the Patriarch of Shaolin—radiant and boundless.
A compassionate Buddha, emanating golden light.
That was it.
Just as Jegalling had reached that realm.
Venerable Wonseon had already attained the realm of Hyeongyeong.
Why had no one ever witnessed him in combat?
Why was his martial prowess unknown?
Why?
The Patriarch of thousand-year-old Shaolin.
Nothing of him was revealed?
It was because he did not wish it.
And facing such a Venerable Wonseon, Jegalling understood that defeating him would be difficult.
I won’t lose, but winning is difficult either.
That was the realm of non-action that Venerable Wonson had achieved.
“Isn’t that the same for Jegal Siju as well?”
“I’ve only just crossed the threshold, so I still have a long way to go. However… Venerable Wonson, was there a particular reason you called for me?”
The celestial energy had now dispersed and vanished.
Even those who had reached Hyeongyeong could now act freely.
Jegalling was still being cautious nonetheless.
But Venerable Monk Wonseon wouldn’t need to be.
Venerable Wonson alone would be sufficient to handle the malevolent beings imprisoned in the depths of thousand-year-old Shaolin.
“They too can atone and achieve liberation. That is the reason.”
“I see. I don’t know who they are, but judging solely by the fact that they’re confined in Shaolin’s Hall of Repentance, their sins and karma must be as vast as mountains. Is there truly a need to give them such an opportunity?”
“The Great Sage Equal to Heaven Sun Wukong accumulated karma, and his sworn brothers Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing also accumulated karma, yet they reformed and turned to righteousness, did they not? I believe these beings deserve at least such an opportunity.”
“I see. However, I’m uncertain whether the resentment and grudges of those who suffered harm from them would accept such a thing.”
“That may be your own attachment, Jegal Siju.”
“Whether liberation from the five desires and seven emotions is truly righteous—I, Jegalling, have not yet determined this.”
Venerable Wonson smiled with a benevolent expression.
“Form is emptiness and emptiness is form, as it is said. Do you perhaps know that sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are likewise the same? Delusion too is of this nature.”
At Venerable Wonson’s words, Jegalling smiled wryly.
“Those are words from the Heart Sutra. However, it seems that is not the path of humans.”
“How can you say it is not the path of humans?”
“If humans ultimately abandon everything they are born with and achieve liberation, then are they human? Or are they something other than human?”
“That too is human. And that too is human.”
“Then, is a liberated being truly better?”
For a moment, Venerable Wonson said nothing.
Having entered the Buddhist order, practicing the Buddha’s teachings,
and ultimately living a life approaching the Buddha with liberation as the goal—a venerable monk was being questioned by the one person least like a human.
Is a liberated being truly human?
And is such a human truly good?
“Indeed… Jegal Siju is remarkable.”
More than anyone else.
One who is not human and is not human.
Yet his roots remain human, and he has a disciple who loves humanity.
That is one of the few fragments of humanity remaining in Jegalling.
Perhaps it is because he is such a being that he can ask such questions.
“The standards of good and bad differ from person to person. Just because the Buddha is called a great being does not mean it would be good for me. Just as those belonging to the Ilwol Singyeo and the parasites following Hyeolseon.”
“Indeed. Justice takes on different forms for each person… Hehe. This old monk too may still be fixated on delusion and form. However, even so, this monk merely follows the Buddha’s teachings…
I would be grateful if Jegal Siju would repair the true formation of the Hall of Repentance.”
Yet the old monk still smiled.
Like the Buddha himself.
“With this, all past debts and grievances shall be erased. Would that be acceptable?”
The old debt of gratitude that Jegalling had once received from Shaolin.
Though different from what Mudang Gwon-je had left behind, Shaolin too had bestowed something upon Jegalling in the past.
The White Qilin forgets neither gratitude nor resentment.
“This old monk and this temple have never shown you kindness in the past, nor have we caused you harm.”
Watching the Old Monk’s faintly smiling face, Jegalling let out a hollow laugh.
“Yet I have received kindness, and I have obtained resentment. Let us call this an accounting of those debts.”
The ancient karma that my disciple Jin Cheon-hee knows nothing of.
“Do as you see fit.”
Jegalling offered a small bow and rose from his seat.
“Maha Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing the Prajna Paramita….”
With the sound of the wooden fish, the recitation of the Heart Sutra began.
Jegalling left the Patriarch’s chamber, leaving the chanting behind him.
And guided by an attendant, he made his way to the deepest inner sanctum of Shaolin Temple.
A small rocky mound within the forest of wooden structures.
Standing before it, he could feel a chilling demonic aura and malevolent qi flowing forth.
What could be imprisoned within?
In exchange for repairing the Penitence Cave, could I obtain one or two of those things?
Jegalling’s eyes began to transform, the pupils spreading until his entire eyes turned a brilliant azure.
And with those eyes, he began to pierce through the formation of the Penitence Cave and beyond.
“?!”
In that moment, Jegalling’s eyes widened slightly.
“Interesting how this unfolds. To think there would be traces of Gae Pa Josa here….”
‘He grasped the very essence of the Penitence Cave merely by observing it!’
‘What manner of genius is this.’
All the Shaolin monks watching Jegalling felt their hair stand on end.
In that instant, a terrible shriek erupted from the Penitence Cave.
Kwaaaaaaang–!
Though what dwelt within the Penitence Cave remained unknown, the sound alone caused the monks to cough blood and collapse from their seven orifices.
A crossroads between life and death.
Jegalling’s silver hair unraveled like threads.
And around him, a sinister will surged forth.
“If I am to give good things to Hee, I must hurry.”
My reckless disciple.
A doctor who loves humanity.
According to the man’s will, the colors of the world transformed into emptiness.

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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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