Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 104

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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 104
That night, the Namgung siblings and I gathered in the tea room.
Dang-a had retired to bed early.
In martial contests, it often happened that the victor grew more exhausted than the defeated.
Today was such a case.
Dang-a had expended all her energy for the day and fell asleep so deeply that she wouldn’t wake even if roused.
Namgung Un spoke.
“Brother Jin, in just two years you fought so well against the Tang Family’s late-stage expert—was that thanks to your Master’s secret technique, the Hyeonwon Jeondan Divine Art?”
At those words, I tilted my head slightly.
“You seem knowledgeable about my Master’s martial arts.”
“The Nine Great Sects and Eight Great Families inevitably know something of each other’s techniques. That hasn’t changed even though the Jegal Family suffered calamity in the past.”
‘The Namgung Family is arrogant.’
It was a story that appeared several times in the novels.
There was no one in Gangho who didn’t know of the Jegal Family’s destruction.
By now, it was ancient history.
‘If my Master were to marry and have children, the Jegal Family could continue.’
My limited lifespan was now a thing of the past.
If my Master found good fortune in marriage and had descendants, the Jegal Family could certainly be rebuilt.
He possessed sufficient strength, resources, and reputation for it.
The problem was that my Master’s personality was so unique that he showed absolutely no interest in romantic affairs between men and women.
‘My Master seems to dislike people themselves, regardless of gender.’
From what I had observed, my Master didn’t seem to care much for humanity itself.
He collected important information about Gangho that the Medical Hall needed without fail, but he paid no attention whatsoever to idle gossip and rumors outside of that.
‘My Master doesn’t even care much for animals.’
Hwang-gu had noticed this too and never fawned over my Master.
Rather, he avoided getting anywhere near him if possible.
I shook my head.
‘He lived with a limited lifespan for so long that not forming attachments became a habit. Time will resolve it.’
Even though I had learned my Master’s secret techniques as his disciple, it was a shame to see the Jegal Family’s line end like this.
I stopped my thoughts there and looked at the man before me.
Namgung Un.
His surgery had ended successfully.
This gathering was a farewell reception for Namgung Un’s safe recovery and departure.
Of course, it was natural that a doctor didn’t hold a farewell reception for every patient who was discharged.
Usually, such events didn’t happen.
But Namgung Un was someone I could say I had essentially invited.
Or more precisely, Namgung Un himself had insisted strongly that since things had come to this point, he would hold a farewell reception no matter what.
So on the tea room table sat tea and refreshments, along with alcohol confiscated from Namgung Un, and dried meat also confiscated from him.
‘He really had hidden away quite a lot.’
Some of the dried meat had gone into Hwang-gu’s belly, but the remaining amount was sufficient for drinking snacks.
And the only one drinking that alcohol was Namgung Un.
Namgung Un poured himself a drink from his hidden stash and spoke.
“The Hyeonwon Jeodan Divine Art. I’ve heard it has the ability to develop the five senses. It doesn’t accumulate inner energy, but its effectiveness in combat is terrifying. Especially, they say it allows you to create countermeasures against other martial techniques or reverse situations through quick thinking?”
After sparring with Dang-a, he seemed to have taken greater interest in me, constantly approaching and asking various questions.
Nine Schools and One Faction. Eight against three families.
It referred to the eighteen sects that formed the greatest pillars of Gangho’s orthodox factions. And Namgung Un was saying it was no secret that they knew each other’s martial arts in considerable detail.
He was also curious about why I was growing so rapidly.
“Oh, older brother….”
Namgung Yeon looked at Namgung Un with a complicated expression.
Namgung Un spoke with a hint of intoxication in his voice.
“The height and depth of martial arts, the shallowness and profundity of training. Beyond these two, not knowing the characteristics and traits of an opponent’s techniques is also a threat. That’s why no one helped when the Jegal Family was annihilated in the past.”
Clink—
The wine cup filled to the brim like the moon.
“They were subtly afraid. Of a clan where ‘geniuses’ were ‘created.'”
“Those are words with substance. Are you permitted to speak such things?”
At my question, Namgung Un burst into hearty laughter.
His actions were unmistakably those of a refined gentleman, yet there was steel hidden within.
‘I mustn’t let my guard down.’
This situation was the same. He appeared to be letting loose while drunk, but the words he spoke were sharp as blades.
“Well… consider it a sign that I trust you that much. After all, warriors don’t entrust their lives to just anyone.”
Dang-a of the Sichuan Tang Family. Once she was absent, he revealed his true thoughts slightly.
It was a sign that he acknowledged me.
At the same time, it meant that while he cared for Dang-a like a younger sibling, he was also aware of the competitive dynamics between the families.
It was unfortunate that Dang-a wasn’t present, but he had no intention of missing this opportunity to have a leisurely private conversation with me.
After all, Namgung Un himself had to bear the future of the Namgung Family.
‘A truly strange man.’
A refined gentleman, a strategist, and an excellent swordsman.
I picked up the crimson wine he had been drinking and poured it into my teacup.
“Ah, are you accepting my cup?”
“I’m pouring for myself.”
“You’re quite cold-hearted, Brother Jin.”
I laughed.
“Even with the Hyeonwon Jeodan Divine Art, it would be impossible to know Namgung Sohyeop’s true nature.”
“Is that so? To my eyes, Brother Jin is far more difficult to understand.”
….
He quietly took a sip of the crimson wine and spoke thus.
“People are like this wine. It depends on what vessel they’re poured into. Poured into a wine bottle and it takes the shape of a bottle, poured into a cup and it takes the shape of a cup.”
He spun the wine cup.
The cup, filled with the wager, spun like a top on his fingertip, yet not a single drop of wine spilled.
‘Impressive.’
I couldn’t help but admire it openly.
An ordinary teacup—mine, in fact. To wager with it required such delicate control that it wouldn’t shatter.
And the fact that it spun like this without a single drop of liquor spilling meant he was even controlling the alcohol inside with his wager.
‘Has he reached the stage just before grasping emptiness and capturing objects?’
He was doing this while appearing intoxicated.
Even feigning drunkenness, he had truly attained a state of unshakeable mind.
‘If this were a blade instead of a teacup, what would happen?’
He could sever a man’s throat without a drop of blood seeping out.
He continued speaking.
“I’m a lazy good-for-nothing, so managing the Namgung clan’s affairs and training both feel tedious to me. Spending nights like this drinking with friends—that’s what brings me the most joy.”
Tap.
He set the teacup down on the table.
Even after he released it, the cup continued spinning like a top.
“But I know my position and what I must do. So I put in just enough effort to avoid becoming a liability. That much seems to satisfy the clan elders.”
This was Namgung Un’s true nature—something that never appeared in the novels.
He was not a conscientious person.
He merely fulfilled his duties adequately, just enough to avoid criticism, and wanted nothing more than to enjoy himself for the rest.
Yet with merely that, he had grown into a swordmaster capable of pursuing the title of greatest blade under heaven.
“And if I had one more wish, it would be to plump up my sister Yeon’s cheeks this year and give them a good squeeze… Ow! Yeon!”
Namgung Yeon struck her brother’s arm again with sharp slaps.
Namgung Un feigned pain and whined theatrically.
‘Is all of this truly his genuine self?’
What an arrogant man he was.
Born strong without the desperate hunger that drove others, he lived as one who reigned supreme among the strong.
As a chicken born to live a chicken’s life, as a tiger born to live as a tiger.
He lacked the blood-coughing desperation that I possessed, and the burning ambition that Dang-a carried.
He had no need to suppress the Heavenly Killer Nature like Yeo Ha-ryun did.
He didn’t need to bear Jegalling’s Heavenly Punishment and strangely twisted sensibilities.
With only what he reluctantly learned, he surged forward effortlessly.
I thought he was like a hawk.
While other birds flapped their wings desperately, he soared effortlessly at dizzying heights simply by riding the wind.
‘My taste has turned bitter.’
My soul of forty years envied him.
I had seen such people before in my previous life.
Superhuman prodigies who accomplished in one or two hours what others needed ten hours to study.
I myself had studied considerably as a surgeon and took pride in my knowledge, but keeping pace with such prodigies was an exhaustingly difficult task.
‘And why do they all have such pleasant personalities?’
If only they were wicked, I could hate them outright. But their strength born from never knowing hardship had made their temperaments gentle.
Namgung Un was the same.
His character was excellent as well.
Many martial artists sought to forge connections with him, yet even amidst such attention, he never became a fool—he knew precisely how to secure what the Namgung Family needed.
He even cherished his younger sister, whom others mocked for her stutter, so deeply that he awakened her as the Iron-Blooded Sword Master.
As the alcohol warmed his blood, I revealed what lay beneath the surface.
“I dislike Namgung Sohyeop.”
“Interesting. I find the Jin brother quite appealing, actually.”
“I felt jealous from the moment I first saw him.”
“Is that so? Strange. I don’t recall putting on airs before the Jin brother. Surely it’s not because of the silk martial robes crafted by the Nanjing artisan.”
“Baekrin Uigak has considerable wealth as well.”
“You know that well enough. Who is Baek Rin-ui-seon? Is he not the most pragmatic person in the world?”
“That sounds like sarcasm.”
“I don’t know what the Jin brother thinks, but to me, Baek Rin-ui-seon is frightening.”
“Master, why is that?”
“Sometimes, I cannot tell whether he smiles at me or smiles with the intention to kill me. It’s rude to say to the Jin brother, but there are moments when he feels less like a person and more like something with cold blood running through its veins.”
Thus, following Gungwi and Yeo Ha-ryun, even Namgung Un arrived at a similar conclusion.
I shook my head, thinking that my Master was simply someone prone to misunderstandings.
“Everyone has it wrong….”
“…There’s no need to convince me. As a member of the Namgung Family, I will conduct myself without fault toward Baek Rin-ui-seon.”
Persuasion simply didn’t work on him either.
He spoke.
“I simply like you. You said you didn’t understand my inner thoughts, so I showed you, didn’t I?”
I scratched my temple.
“Is this your role as a member of the Namgung Family?”
“Forging a connection with the disciple of Baek Rin-ui-seon is certainly important. But if it were merely that, I would not have spoken ill of your Master. That would have been easier to win your favor.”
He was right.
He was taking a risk, revealing his true self to me.
“Why go this far?”
“I told you already. I like the Jin brother. I admired your effort, and I liked how you deliberated. I also appreciated how you held back your true strength against Dang-a until the very end.”
“…You knew, Namgung Sohyeop.”
“How could I not?”
During my match with Dang-a, I never once revealed my true abilities.
Against the Haowen vagrants who harassed commoners and sought bounties, I could have unleashed my full power easily.
The sparring I had yearned for so much.
Once it began, I found I could not bring myself to break the arms or legs of a child who had not yet reached adulthood.
Would it have been easier if my opponent were a grown adult?
When I met those large, bright eyes like a calf’s, a groan escaped me involuntarily.
The middle-aged curmudgeon within me kept scolding—what was I doing?
It was a forced moment of clarity.
‘Damn it….’
So I approached the match as merely a match, nothing more.
“Even if I had fought properly, I would have lost.”
“Hmm. Who in this world knows the vital points better than a Doctor? Well, my intuition tells me something different.”
He lightly dismissed the notion and spoke thus.
“I wish to continue deepening our bond with Jin Cheon-hee.”

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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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