Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 144

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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 144
Yeo Ha-ryun tended to his brother whenever he had spare moments.
I was gradually beginning to adapt to the Makyeo Buntta.
Of course, adaptation came only through what I could hear.
Since I had never ventured outside, I couldn’t know how things were unfolding myself.
From what I could sense, it seemed Yeo Ha-ryun had taken control of this Buntta.
‘Even those clearly outranking Yeo Ha-ryun bow to his words.’
In the Demonic Sect, a realm of the strong, that was only natural.
“Brother, how’s your body feeling?”
“It itches.”
It was evidence that new flesh was beginning to form.
New blood vessels were developing to replace the damaged ones, and cells were beginning to regenerate.
During this process, substances like histamine are secreted, which expand capillaries to aid healing but also trigger itching.
Moreover, as the body regenerates tissue, the nerve fiber endings that sense pain begin to be stimulated, which also becomes a source of itching.
Itching was something countless burn and laceration patients suffered from.
‘Itching at surgical suture sites was a universal symptom.’
But scratching could cause infection, so I endured it.
“Don’t you have any salve?”
“They didn’t prescribe anything like that.”
I thought moisturizing might help somewhat.
“Get some wound salve and apply it for me.”
“Got it.”
I gazed at the ceiling and sighed.
‘When will this all heal? Damn it…’
I recalled the countless patients who had been hospitalized at Baekrin Uigak.
They would grab me saying, “Seo Baek-ryong, it really itches—couldn’t you just loosen the bandages around my hands?” or “Seo Baek-ryong, please… please just let me go home. I’ll rest like I’m dead until I’m fully healed.” They would plead constantly.
To those asking to have their bandages removed, I would ask if they never planned to use a sword again. To those wanting to go home, I would ask if they really wanted that knowing they could die if their condition suddenly worsened at night—surely they didn’t want it just to drink alcohol.
Now I understood their feelings.
Then Yeo Ha-ryun, who had gone to get the salve, returned midway and opened the door with a creak.
“Brother, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
“The person we arranged to make a deal with.”
He said only that and left.
Then someone entered.
Samjeolchuho, Do Baek-ha.
Upon seeing me, she startled and exclaimed.
“Those vicious Demonic Sect bastards. Restraining a patient’s limbs like this…!”
I quickly twisted my ankle to hide the qilin emblem that symbolized Baekrin Uigak.
No matter what, as a disciple I couldn’t bring shame to my Master.
Creak.
I answered calmly.
“The Demonic Sect members are naturally terrifying, after all.”
“Hmm… I’m not sure if making this deal was the right choice. Little brother.”
She said this and stepped inside.
* * *
“Why did you bind that person so tightly? Were you trying to extract secrets from the Makyeo Buntta?”
I answered ambiguously.
“That’s certainly possible, but in any case, they promised to release me once I’m fully healed, so that’s fortunate.”
“I… see. Well, that’s some consolation at least. But it’s truly brutal. Even ordinary criminals aren’t restrained like that. Little brother, you’ve fallen into the hands of truly terrible people.”
“…They’re not quite that terrible… but in any case, everything is fine, so please don’t worry too much.”
“I understand.”
Samjeolchuho nodded and pulled a chair next to me to sit down.
“Well… first, there’s something I need to clarify. I’m a wanderer of the Gangho. So I don’t strictly follow the ways of the righteous sects, and I simply conduct my own principles.”
“I see.”
“Yeo Ha-ryun is somewhat unsettling, but he’s reasonable and different from other demonic cultivators, which is why I made this deal with him. So I hope you won’t feel too resentful about this, little brother.”
“Even though I’m bound in chains, I believe there’s good reason for it. After all, I’m receiving proper care.”
“That’s truly fortunate. It looks grim, but it really is fortunate.”
She nodded while looking at me, bound at all four limbs.
“In any case, little brother. All the children have been rescued and treated with the Mihondan antidote without any lingering effects. I also received the antidote. Since we only went to the entrance and not deep into the stone chamber, the detoxification didn’t take long.”
Meanwhile, I had been thoroughly saturated with poison while battling the Demonic Necromancer.
I spoke calmly.
“I’ve completed my detoxification as well.”
“That’s fortunate.”
She nodded.
“There’s one more thing. This is the most important matter… while deciphering the documents they left behind, we discovered several things.”
“Several things, you say…?”
“First, they appear very similar to the Demonic Sect on the surface, but they have no connection to them. We don’t know what they call themselves, but we could tell their name begins with the character for blood.”
Hyeolseonggyo.
Samjeolchuho had discovered that much.
“That’s frightening.”
I pretended to hear it for the first time.
Samjeolchuho continued.
“Moreover, through the circumstances revealed in various documents, we were able to discover something important.”
“Something important, you say…?”
A small smile crossed her lips.
“…Your sister appears to be alive.”
“What?”
My eyes widened.
Samjeolchuho spoke to me.
“She’s alive. She’s alive. They intended to use the kidnapped ones as sacrifices, but by the sect leader’s order, they were raised as disciples instead. So… Euni is alive.”
Do Baek-eun. That was her younger sister’s name.
Euni appeared to be a shortened, affectionate nickname.
While Samjeolchuho beamed with joy, my expression darkened.
“As you know, sects like this thoroughly brainwash anyone they recruit. So your sister may be quite different from the one in your memories.”
Just look at the Demonic Sect—they feed recruits blood poison and raise them as followers while brainwashing them.
Hyeolseonggyo operates the same way, merely differing in degree.
That’s why cults are the most terrifying threat, whether in the modern world or the Gangho.
Yet an unexpected answer came from Samjeolchuho’s lips.
“I know. How could I not?”
“Then?”
“It’s fine. As long as she’s alive, that’s what matters. Then I can drag her out by force if needed. I’ll worry about what comes after later.”
‘Ah, I see.’
Searching for a sibling’s corpse for twenty years and searching for a living sibling for twenty years—the weight of despair was different.
Samjeolchuho had spent those years struggling desperately, trying anything to escape the despair that crushed her limbs.
Though she’d done her best, no one could tell her if it truly was her best.
“Every day, I imagined my sister’s funeral. Where to bury her. I even agonized over the size of the coffin. Whether I could cremate her there and carry away her ashes. There is no more pitiful worry in this world….”
Her voice trembled softly.
“As long as she’s alive, that’s enough. If she’s alive, I can truly do anything.”
She clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly.
“The only problem is whether I’m strong enough to subdue that child. That’s why… I turned to the demonic path.”
My pupils dilated.
“It doesn’t matter if my junior brother despises me. But I have no time, and the wall of the supreme realm is one that an ordinary person like me cannot overcome no matter how hard I try. That won’t change in the future either.”
She had recognized her own limitations within that despair.
…
I grasped her hand.
A subtle sound.
Sending my qi through to examine her meridians, I found demonic cultivation beginning to sprout seeds in her dantian.
‘At least it’s fortunate. It’s not an extremely dangerous variant.’
I asked.
“Did Yeo Ha-ryun teach you?”
“He did.”
That must be why Yeo Ha-ryun had taught her the most stable yet slowest-to-acquire demonic cultivation among those he knew.
However, that was only in comparison to other demonic techniques—it couldn’t compare to orthodox methods.
It would be more incomplete than orthodox cultivation, but faster in return, and the risk of demonic possession would be higher.
‘Why is the world designed so that gaining one thing requires surrendering another?’
That principle was the same even on Earth, where I lived in my previous life.
‘Fortunately, with this, I can help. I can manage this.’
I spoke.
“There’s a martial art that would be good to learn together.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Taiji Quan.”
“Isn’t that just a breathing exercise the Wudang taught to commoners?”
…Well, that’s true enough.
Even if mastered to perfection, it lacks destructive power and practical combat effectiveness. With the same effort, it makes more sense to learn even one additional supreme martial art afterward. That’s common knowledge in the Gangho.
But I’m Jin Cheon-hee, who mastered the Samjaesgeombeop—a basic sword technique from the same marketplace foundation—to its absolute limit.
I know how terrifying that can be.
I spoke.
“The fact that everyone practices it means it doesn’t depend on individual constitution. In contrast, the subtle principles of yin and yang are properly embedded within it, and it’s stable. I’ve never met anyone who experienced demonic possession while learning Taiji Quan.”
“Of course not. Where would you find someone experiencing demonic possession from a breathing exercise?”
At those words, I laughed softly.
“So consider it a favor and learn it. There will come a time when it helps greatly.”
“You prescribe strange remedies to me, junior brother.”
She scratched her head vigorously and spoke thus.
“But thanks to you, junior brother, I could shed twenty years of heart demons. I’ll take your words to heart.”
“Thank you.”
“I’d like to embrace you, but your condition makes it difficult.”
I laughed quietly.
Samjeolchuho soon made a decision and spoke to me.
“If you don’t mind, may I consider you my true friend?”
I immediately grasped the meaning.
It meant she wished to share not merely acquaintance, but genuine brotherhood.
A friend in the Gangho cannot be bought with money.
Samjeolchuho offered me that.
I nodded.
“Always welcome.”
“Thank you. Then….”
Samjeolchuho withdrew a small wooden token from her bosom and placed it beside my bed.
“Most Pyoguk will send word to me immediately upon seeing this token. Whether you need information or someone tracked, just say the word. I’ll do it free of charge for you, junior brother.”
“Thank you.”
“A vagrant offering free service. I’m being shameless about it, but it’s a special privilege I give only to you, junior brother.”
The Samjeolchuho token, following the Bota token.
One could say it was grandiose as a token of friendship.
I bowed deeply in gratitude.
* * *
My Master Jegalling’s meticulous treatment and my younger brother Yeo Ha-ryun’s devoted care.
Combined with my determination to end this ordeal as quickly as possible, my recovery was faster than anyone’s.
Once I judged myself fully healed, I retrieved the iron needle I’d hidden through Samjeolchuho and inserted it into the keyhole.
‘The locks of this era ultimately operate on the same principles.’
Click-click-
Inside the lock were several cylinders.
These cylinders varied in height, and when aligned in a straight line by matching their heights, the lock would open.
The key’s shape was simply the bumpy surface carved according to height, allowing it to align those cylinders.
So I could use an iron needle to understand the cylinder’s structure through my fingertips and align them accordingly.
Iron needles in Gangho were flexible and resilient—perfect for this sort of work.
‘It wouldn’t work in modern times.’
Picking locks with wire was pure fantasy from movies; in reality, it was impossible.
‘This is a modified Central Plains style.’
I inserted the wire and slowly grasped the internal structure through my fingertips, then aligned the cylinders.
Using the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, I concentrated all five senses and methodically aligned each cylinder by understanding the internal mechanism.
There was no need to rush.
Click—

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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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