Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 127

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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 127
After bowing to the Head Monk and stepping outside, I found the young disciples of Bota Temple laughing cheerfully until they spotted me, then they startled and quickly bowed in respect.
‘Looking at them, they seem like ordinary children their age.’
In the distance, one of Bota Temple’s disciples who had destroyed something was caught by the Abbot and was now fleeing through the temple grounds.
Someone who witnessed this was also fleeing from the Abbot alongside him.
From the brief shout of “Samae! We’re caught!” it appeared the two of them had caused trouble together.
The Abbot declared that if he caught them, they would both undergo wall-facing meditation.
His expression was truly like the Buddhist Eight Hot Hells, the Abbot Hell itself.
Now that the illness had passed, it seemed all of Bota Temple was overflowing with vitality.
It was quite remarkable.
Even after enduring this calamity, Bota Temple continued through each day as if nothing had happened.
‘I think it would be better if the Abbot simply continued managing the sword training…’
I thought to myself.
‘Do we really need to consider successors? With that level of energy, he could even aspire to Half-Step Immortal Ascension.’
The way he moved, unleashing sword energy in torrents, was truly extraordinary.
And the Bota Temple disciples who were giving their all to evade the Abbot were equally out of their minds.
‘Ah, I see. The silence all this time was because everyone was ill.’
I had mistaken it for the kind of tranquility found in martial arts novels about temples.
One of my illusions was shattered.
‘No matter how deep the sea, an island will never sink.’
Thus I confirmed the true strength of Bota Temple.
* * *
I descended Botasan in this manner.
Many came to see me off. From now on, it would be Bota Temple’s responsibility to carry on.
I placed the Bota Tablet inside my sleeve.
Now there remained one more task for me.
“Will you guide me to the contaminated water source?”
Woof! – That place with the strange water smell, right? Master!
“Yes.”
As I nodded, Hwang-gu lifted his head and sniffed the air for a long moment before barking briefly as if telling me to follow.
Then he dashed off at high speed.
I followed Hwang-gu toward the location of the contaminated water source.
‘Once I purify the water source, my work here will be complete.’
I would simply need to use the Five Elements’ energy to cleanse the corruption.
My Master could accomplish this without difficulty, but it would take me some time to do it alone.
‘And one more thing. What if the Hyeolseonggyo was the cause of the plague?’
Since it was merely a hypothesis, I kept it to myself.
Moreover, accidents caused by natural disasters differ from those caused by deliberate sabotage.
If the enraged monks of Bota Temple were to leave the temple, there would be no way to prevent the plague from spreading.
I could not carelessly speak of such things based on mere speculation.
I pondered the situation.
‘For the Hyeolseonggyo to search for Cheonryeong, they need to bind the feet of the Bota Temple.’
The righteous sects’ inspectors would never leave the Hyeolseonggyo alone, whether they were heterodox or demonic.
Weren’t they a group whose very existence remained unknown in the martial world?
If discovered this way, it would certainly create troublesome complications for future operations.
‘With my limited intellect, this hypothesis seems quite plausible.’
How do you verify a hypothesis?
By investigating directly.
Woof, woof woof! – Master, this terrain is too harsh.
Hwang-gu’s tongue lolled out as we raced through a deep, steep ravine, finally arriving at our destination.
It was a secluded pond.
Inside the pond sat a wooden chest with holes drilled through it, and I saw what lay within.
A rotting human arm.
“Ugh…”
The chest was covered haphazardly with talismans, and the ominous feeling it gave off suggested some kind of sinister sorcery.
“I shouldn’t touch that directly. Hwang-gu, step back. We’ll need to disinfect your paws after this is done.”
Woof! – Understood.
I pulled Hwang-gu back and drew my blade.
As I slowly circulated the Wind technique of the Five Elements Divine Art, I was able to create the same wind my Master had once shown me with his fan.
Instead of a fan, I swung the Icebound Sword.
The cursed chest rose effortlessly into the air. It floated up and flew toward me.
This time, I wrapped the Icebound Sword with fire energy.
Though it was a blade imbued with cold, it willingly submitted to my Five Elements Divine Art.
Without even touching it, I swept the blade across the chest as if merely grazing it.
Whoosh—
When the Wind and Fire of the Five Elements Divine Art met, the damp chest ignited at tremendous speed.
In moments, I reduced it completely to ash.
‘It’s not true Void Grasping, but using the Wind technique of the Five Elements Divine Art, I can achieve something similar.’
The Samadhi Flame wasn’t true Samadhi Flame either, but rather a convincing imitation.
‘Could this be why the Jegal Family has a reputation for being swindlers…?’
It’s not true Void Grasping. It’s a counterfeit.
It’s not true Samadhi Flame. It’s a counterfeit.
‘Hmm…’
I furrowed my brow and stopped dwelling on the matter.
Instead, I installed a Five Elements Formation at the pond and began its purification.
Though not as skilled as my Master, I had become quite proficient.
After several hours.
I was able to completely purify the pond.
Woof. – Master.
“What is it, Hwang-gu?”
Growl. – Now that I think about it, that rotting flesh from earlier. It moved at the very end.
Growl. – It made a strange sound, and when my master burned it, it moved on its own. I definitely saw it.
“How could something like that move?”
It wasn’t simply a decomposed corpse, then.
‘If the opponent is the Hyeolseonggyo, this wouldn’t be unusual.’
In typical martial arts tales, jiangshi appeared as frequently as ginger in herbal remedies.
Since the Hyeolseonggyo were villains, they could likely deploy jiangshi with ease.
“This is turning out to be quite formidable from the start.”
A faint smile played at the corners of my lips as I spoke.
‘Oh, so I’m actually going to see a jiangshi?’
Jiangshi—when I was young, there were plenty of videos about them.
A dead corpse. In a way, you could think of it as a zombie, but it’s quite different.
The limbs are stiff, the arms stretched straight forward, bouncing along as it comes toward you.
I remember when a Taoist priest would wave a staff with bells, and the jiangshi would move following the sound of those bells.
In my past life, my phone charm was even a jiangshi.
When it changed to a smartphone, I couldn’t attach one anymore, but still, a small jiangshi-shaped phone charm always sat in the corner of my drawer.
‘Not that I particularly wanted to see one, of course. It’s just something I might unavoidably encounter.’
I deliberately suppressed the thought of what my Master would have said if he’d known.
‘It’s not like I’m trying to see one. It’s unavoidable! Completely unavoidable.’
My spirit as a martial arts enthusiast was stirring.
‘If I had a phone, I’d at least take one photograph….’
* * *
After purifying all the sources of contamination, I obtained a boat from the Bota Temple and received a letter sent by them through the fisherman.
It contained the location of the island frequented by Cheonryeong.
I immediately burned the letter where no one could see.
The fisherman had spent many years fishing in this region and was well-versed in navigating the currents.
He deftly avoided the complex reefs scattered about without even looking.
Thanks to him, I could rest comfortably on the boat.
At last, we arrived at the island where Cheonryeong was presumed to be.
“It’s an uninhabited island, but there is a small hut where fishermen can rest. I’ll wait there, so once your business is finished, you can come back down.”
I cupped my fist in gratitude.
“Thank you.”
“Compared to the kindness that Seo Baek-ryong has shown to our island, this is nothing. This humble fisherman is simply grateful to be of some small help.”
It wasn’t only the Bota Temple that held me in gratitude.
Among the patients afflicted with this strange illness were villagers as well.
Everyone in the village knew that I had treated them all without showing the slightest strain.
I smiled awkwardly.
“Thank you. However, would it be possible for you to return? If you bring the boat back at this time tomorrow, we can meet then.”
The fisherman nodded.
“Understood. I’ll return at this time tomorrow.”
The fisherman didn’t ask Jin Cheon-hee why for some reason. It seemed he trusted Jin Cheon-hee that much.
‘I hope it’s nothing serious, but if a conflict with the Hyeolseonggyo breaks out, innocent civilians could get caught up in it.’
If it were just me, it might be manageable, but I didn’t have the capacity to fight while protecting the fisherman as well.
Once the boat had drifted far enough, Hwang-gu spoke.
Woof. – Master, I found that prickly feather smell, but there’s a strange scent next to it too.
As expected. He found it quite close by.
‘If I had ignored Sama County and Bota Temple in between, I would have found it much sooner than the Hyeolseonggyo.’
Then there wouldn’t have been this danger either.
But I didn’t regret it.
I scratched Hwang-gu’s head and tossed him a piece of dried meat.
Munch munch. – Wow, delicious! Loyalty, loyalty!
“Alright then, Hwang-gu. Lead the way.”
Woof!
Hwang-gu’s tail stood straight up.
Then he began running, following the scent.
I started chasing after Hwang-gu using lightness martial arts.
* * *
How long had I been chasing? Lightning struck not far ahead.
Crackle!
Cheonryeong, as a spiritual creature, is said to command lightning.
I had thought at best he might just discharge electricity from his body like an electric eel on Earth, but it seemed to be on a different level entirely.
‘Right, I shouldn’t compare an electric eel to a martial realm spiritual creature on the same scale.’
What I knew in theory and what I saw in reality were definitely different.
Lightning racing across a clear sky was eerie enough to take one’s breath away.
My heart pounded.
Woof! – Master, it’s around here.
How much further into the steep ravine did I go?
Finally, a massive hawk came into view.
Screee!
The dharma instrument I wore at my waist rang out sharply.
It seemed to be trying to translate Cheonryeong’s cry the way it did for Hwang-gu, but since he was still far away, the translation wasn’t coming through clearly.
‘That’s magnificent.’
The hawk was so enormous it defied perspective.
As I drew closer, a black-clothed person stood there.
Around that black-clothed person lay the corpses of other black-clothed people who had already been struck by lightning.
Next to them stood another monstrous person, from whose body steam rose in wisps.
“Krahaha, Cheonryeong. If you don’t want to see your chick die, surrender quietly!”
In the black-clothed person’s hand next to the monstrous person was a baby bird.
Chirp! Peep peep peep! – Mother. Mother!
This baby bird was also translated, so it must be a spiritual creature too.
The baby bird twisted its body, but it couldn’t move properly due to my crude grip holding it firmly in place.
‘It seems the chick can’t unleash lightning after all.’
Chirp! Chirp-chirp-chirp! – It hurts! Help me! Mother! Mother!
‘Hmm. If I hadn’t heard it, that would be one thing, but since I have, there’s nothing I can do about it.’
So this is why Yoo Ho gave me the dharma tool.
I clicked my tongue in disapproval. Then I gave Hwang-gu a command through hand signals.
Woof! – Black-clothed human. Attack from concealment!
True to his nature as a spiritual creature, Hwang-gu understood my intent immediately.
Hwang-gu approached slowly in a low crawl.
Even I, who had given the command, wouldn’t have noticed such a stealthy movement.
At that moment, the Monstrous Person seemed to sense something and tried to turn his gaze.

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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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