Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 110

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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 110
I crossed pathless terrain in a single stride and leaped between boulders.
Then an open field suitable for camping came into view.
“Hand over all your valuables!”
“We’ve already paid the passage fee!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Bandits with “bandit” practically written across their foreheads were attacking a merchant caravan.
What caught my eye first were the corpses—ordinary commoners of the sort you’d find in any village.
Simultaneously, the stench of blood and the foul reek of spilled entrails pierced sharply into my nostrils.
The number of the dead already exceeded twenty.
From those who appeared to be bandits to caravan guards and commoners untrained in martial arts—all lay slain by the blade.
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
‘Damn… this…’
Clenching my teeth involuntarily was unavoidable.
Witnessing the reality of this world where human life held no value, it would be stranger if I didn’t feel rage as a former physician.
“Please, please spare us. We have no more money.”
“Don’t make me laugh. Merchants are creatures who keep yielding more when you squeeze them. Or else… hehehehe… hand over some people instead.”
The bandit regarded the commoners with predatory eyes. Women and children were mixed among the caravan members. This was no ordinary merchant escort.
The bandits had already surrounded the group.
Nine caravan guards remained alive, with thirty-two commoners surviving.
Against them stood exactly thirty-two bandits, and notably, one of them appeared quite formidable.
‘They must be travelers or people attempting to relocate.’
In this era, whether traveling or relocating, leaving one’s home required risking one’s life. That’s why people always hired caravan guards to cross the mountains.
But even such guards weren’t omnipotent.
Caravan guards with any real martial skill were too expensive for commoners to afford.
Hiring within their means inevitably led to situations like this.
I took a step forward toward them and spoke.
“Can’t you stop now?”
“What?”
The bandits all turned to look at me at once. To them, I seemed to have appeared suddenly.
“What is this?”
“Hey! I told you to watch the rear! These bastards never listen. Ptui!”
A man of considerable build, radiating qi in waves, shouted and spat.
This was the one I’d been observing from the start.
He appeared to be at least a master of the highest caliber.
“Hey, kid. From what I see on your back, you look like some wandering doctor. Come here and hand over all your money. And that dog next to you—I’ll use it for my health today.”
“Sigh…”
I exhaled slowly.
“I tried suggesting you leave, but you won’t listen anyway, will you?”
It was my final offer. But the bandits burst into laughter as if they hadn’t understood a word.
“Wahaha! Look at this punk. Does he think he’s some chivalrous hero from a prestigious faction? Anyway, looking closer, he’s got a decent face. I like it. Come to my bed, boy.”
So that was his preference.
“Insane bastard….”
I cursed under my breath and stomped the ground.
Boom!
The Heavenly Foresight unfolded at maximum intensity.
My body blurred like a phantom, and I crossed fifty paces in an instant.
In that fleeting moment, the bandit leader could only react with wide eyes and shock.
Crack!
My hand, arriving like a ghost, struck the bandit leader’s cheek squarely. Blood sprayed as several teeth flew out. His skull rang with a sickening crunch as his head snapped to the side.
But that wasn’t all.
My vision darkened, and his body swayed and trembled.
I kicked his legs without hesitation.
Crash! Snap!
His ankle shattered. The bandit leader’s body collapsed face-first to the ground.
I pressed my foot down on his skull.
Rage bubbled up from the depths of my chest.
If I channeled my inner force into my foot now, this filthy bandit’s life would end here.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to kill him?’
‘Keeping a creature like this alive won’t help anyone in this world.’
‘Look at all the people already dead.’
Two versions of myself screamed conflicting arguments within.
The doctor in me collided with the martial artist in me.
My patience felt like a candle burning down, gradually disappearing.
“Haaa….”
But.
I withdrew my foot. Then I lowered my head and moved my hands swiftly.
Snap snap!
I had sealed his pressure points. He wouldn’t be able to move now. Only then did I raise my head and survey my surroundings.
The bandits stared at me with pale, ashen faces.
I took a step toward them.
They flinched and retreated a step backward.
“Drop your weapons. All of them. Before I break something.”
“Will you… spare us?”
“If I were going to kill you, I wouldn’t say that.”
Clang. Clatter.
The bandits began dropping their weapons one by one.
* * *
“Benefactor. Thank you for your help. Thanks to you, all the people of our Gong-un Pyoguk and those traveling with the caravan have been saved. How can we ever repay such a debt….”
“It was merely chance. Please don’t concern yourself with it.”
I turned to look at the bandits as I spoke.
They had all been subdued by my pressure on their vital points. Yet that was merely because they had lost their nerve and will to fight in the face of my power.
Behind them lay the corpses of innocent civilians already scattered across the ground.
‘So this is reality.’
When I was simply dealing with those who came at me entangled in Haowen affairs, I hadn’t felt this way.
Back then, I only needed to save my own life.
I never had to witness another person dying before my eyes. But now that I saw the reality before me, an uncontrollable rage burned through my heart like wildfire.
Non-killing.
It was a principle I had set for myself. But did I truly need to uphold it?
If I showed mercy, these men would simply go out and kill again.
Was there any reason to spare such creatures?
I yearned for an answer that no one could provide, my heart darkened by the question.
I simply continued speaking with composure.
“Those who are injured, please raise your hands. I will treat you.”
At my words, everyone’s expressions brightened.
A doctor is precious.
During a long journey, the probability of meeting a doctor in the mountains was extremely low.
The people exchanged glances, each wanting to step forward first.
The oldest among the Pyoguk members spoke.
“It’s difficult to find anyone whose body is unharmed. The grace you have already shown us is more than enough.”
At those words, everyone sighed with regret.
Yet it was already difficult to ask for more when their lives had been saved.
Treating people was no simple matter, and it felt wrong to keep imposing further.
I shook my head.
“No. I will check for any critical conditions before I leave. I can provide emergency treatment, after all.”
At my words, everyone expressed their gratitude to me.
As the tension eased, some collapsed and began to weep.
In this journey between life and death, I was truly a thread of hope.
“Thank you… truly, thank you….”
“We are grateful…!”
* * *
I provided emergency treatment to those struck by blades and prioritized treating the injured children.
The medicine pouch Yoo Ho had prepared contained many useful items.
‘So many things can fit inside a pouch no larger than a backpack.’
Once I actually used them, they proved remarkably practical. Conversely, the Pyoguk members and civilians marveled at my medical skill.
‘I thought he would simply prescribe some medicine.’
I stopped the bleeding through pressure point techniques, sealed wounds with herbal paste and applied dressing, or sutured longer wounds before instructing them to visit the Uibang affiliated with Baekrin Uigak.
For fractures, I performed reduction and applied splints.
The pain from the reduction process was unavoidable, but the speed was remarkably swift.
“We heard that the benefactor is the famous Seo Baek-ryong of the Gangho.”
How did you know my name when I haven’t even introduced myself?
Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes widened slightly before understanding dawned on him.
‘Could it be the qilin emblem engraved on the tablet?’
It was the symbol of Baekrin Uigak.
Of course, there were other doctors at Baekrin Uigak, but since his martial prowess had begun to spread and his youth was known, he suspected they had simply deduced it from those facts.
The escort spoke.
“Among the escorts, there is one who saw you from a distance when the esteemed doctor once treated poor commoners.”
“Ah, I see.”
Whenever I had spare time, I would practice medicine and often treated the poor without charge.
It seemed one of the escorts had witnessed this.
“Today, this escort captain Gong Il-sang has confirmed with his own eyes that the rumors are no exaggeration.”
Captain Gong.
Through our conversation, I learned that Captain Gong belonged to a small escort house called Gongwun Pyoguk.
Gongwun Pyoguk.
A small escort house that never appeared in the novels—one founded by a secret disciple of Bota Geommun.
Whether this escort house survived while the Heavenly Demon ran rampant was unknown, but judging by how they faltered against bandits, their future seemed far from bright.
‘Perhaps they were completely annihilated this time.’
Had Jin Cheon-hee not intervened, all the escorts would have died and the commoners would have been taken away.
Gongwun Pyoguk was a very small escort house operated by the Gong family.
Captain Gong was the eldest son of the Gong family.
He hadn’t encountered some great master—merely bandits.
And with so many escorts slain and the escort mission failed.
The escort house was likely already ruined by that alone.
‘In the end, they’re just extras.’
Just as there are extras in a cast, there are extras in groups.
Jin Cheon-hee treated every last person.
Captain Gong expressed his gratitude and pulled out silver coins from his possession.
His purse was quite heavy.
Jin Cheon-hee never refused payment offered to him.
‘I should set this aside for travel expenses ahead.’
What Jin Cheon-hee had done already far exceeded the value of their lives.
“What will you do with the bandits you’ve captured, esteemed doctor?”
He meant the bandits.
Jin Cheon-hee gave the answer he had long deliberated over.
“I will seal their dantian and turn them over to the Gwana. As for the bandit leader, I’ll need to ensure he can never harm anyone again.”
After all, I could never become a Buddha.
Even if I spared them all, I could not find it in myself to forgive them.
Jin Cheon-hee decided once again to merely spare their lives.
Merely spare them.
“So you won’t kill them.”
“As a doctor, that’s where my limits lie.”
At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, Gong Pyo-du nodded.
“That’s right. Sometimes living is far more arduous than death itself.”
For some reason, Gong Pyo-du and his companions seemed even more pleased at the mention that Jin Cheon-hee would destroy their dantians while keeping them alive.
If it were merely broken limbs, it might be different, but with their dantians shattered, they could never again oppress people as they once had.
‘Even if they’re handed over to the Gwana, some may still seek their own revenge.’
From that point on, it was the bandits’ karma.
Among the dead, there would surely be someone’s father or mother, son or daughter.
Having finished his thoughts, Jin Cheon-hee rose to his feet.
“I’ll accompany you to the nearest city.”
“Thank you!”
“We’re truly grateful!”
Yelp!
Hwang-gu nuzzled affectionately against Jin Cheon-hee.
Jin Cheon-hee handed some dried meat to Hwang-gu and moved forward.

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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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