Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 174

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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 174
Jeong Gwang merely sent a faint hostility toward me without any particular objection.
“….”
Jang Mun-in exhaled a sigh of relief inwardly.
‘Regardless, joining hands with Seo Baek-ryong would bring considerable benefits to the Wudang Sect as well. It seems Jeong Gwang understands that.’
Though Hwaju Uiseon served as their primary Medical Hall, Jang Mun-in was not ignorant of Baekrin Uigak’s influence.
Even if Myeong-gil Jingin had handled the matter in his eccentric way, it was undeniably a brilliant move when viewed from another angle.
‘But… to have me handle the aftermath like this… Master….’
Tears threatened to spill.
Jang Mun-in spoke while forcibly composing himself, his insides rotting away.
“Then I shall take it as settled.”
The meeting had ended.
I considered the situation.
‘An outer sect disciple, then… with no obligations but all the privileges. That’s quite favorable for me, actually….’
Since I had already learned some dark arts from Hyeolsaeng-nim anyway, I felt no great resistance.
Moreover, the Tai Chi Fist that Gwon Je of Wudang had demonstrated was no mere Tai Chi Fist.
Just as my Threefold Destruction Sword Technique was no simple sword technique.
‘I wonder if Master will accept this.’
Whether he would accept it through benevolence, or whether he would draw his blade, rush here, and duel Gwon Je of Wudang to determine who was my true master—there was no way to know.
“….”
I gazed up at the night sky of Wudang Mountain and pondered.
‘I need to… somehow… ensure this resolves peacefully… If it doesn’t work, I should at least set things up beforehand to treat emergency trauma before the match….’
Surely two of the ten greatest masters under heaven wouldn’t actually fight over one disciple. That would be madness.
I told myself I was being too conceited, that it was a mad hypothesis, and tried to calm myself.
‘Still, let me postpone this until Master’s reply arrives.’
The atmosphere didn’t permit me to speak, so I stayed silent, but laughing it off was my specialty.
Even in the Medical Guild, if I set my mind to glossing over something, no one could stop me.
That insane skill activated in the martial world.
* * *
A sinister dwelling. In profound darkness.
A voice echoed—an unpleasant sound like fingernails scraping iron, asking thus.
[Will you accept the Way of Blood Immortality?]
The sound resonated in the head rather than emanating from the throat. Someone stood before it.
“If you can restore my arm… I will do anything.”
[Will you accept?]
“I accept.”
[May the Way of Blood Immortality be with you.]
In the darkness, the voice’s owner vanished. What remained in that place was a headless Buddha statue and Jeong Gwang.
Before Jeong Gwang lay a crimson ring, blood-red in hue.
Strangely, the ring writhed and pulsed of its own accord, as if it were a living creature.
Jeong Gwang gazed at it with sorrowful eyes and spoke.
“You made me this way—the Sect Leader, Master Tae Sa-sukjo, and you all.”
Jeong Gwang reflected.
The Demonic Sect had rotted. It was time for change.
Those who refused to teach him the Dual Thought Technique to the end, despite being a hermit who had lost his arm, were no true hermits themselves.
“You knew my suffering, yet you were so cold. Was that wretched Seo Baek-ryong truly worth more than me, who devoted my entire body to the Demonic Sect?”
Jeong Gwang ground his teeth, his voice trembling with resentment.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
The villain never knew he was a villain. Jeong Gwang only saw himself as pitiful and wretched.
“I never wanted this. What was the deceased’s dying wish that he would not grant me the Dual Thought Technique alone? If this is the Demonic Sect… if this is the Way…”
He swallowed the crimson pill left behind by Hyeolseonggyo.
Crunch—
Grinding his teeth, he accepted it. The vital energy throughout his body suddenly began to surge violently.
“Ugh… blood… blood lineage…!”
He glared at the Demonic Sect with a venomous expression.
He resented those rotten hermits who would not grant even the possibility of the Dual Thought Technique to someone as virtuous as himself until the very end.
If that was how it would be, then he would walk the path of blood.
“Kwaaaaagh!”
Jeong Gwang staked his life on it.
* * *
I had delivered the ancestral remains and transmitted the Dual Thought Technique as well.
I had returned the Jade Seal too.
I had reunited with Cheonwoo, who had grown tremendously, and completed every objective.
Or so I thought I had.
‘A lay disciple… what could that mean?’
First, I sent my Master a letter spanning twelve pages, filled with my reflections on the current situation. I included gifts and everything else I could gather.
[Master, upon learning of your connection with Gwon Je of the Demonic Sect, I cannot express how moved this disciple became.]
Either way, one must extinguish the flames of anger, mustn’t one?
Orthodox sect, heterodox sect, or Demonic Sect—regardless, since we are all rooted in the martial world, karmic debts matter.
I could perhaps prevent Master’s rampage… though I cannot guarantee it with absolute certainty.
The King, His Majesty, and Hyeolsaeng Nogoe had all subtly coveted this disciple, so nerves were already frayed. Who could have predicted that bringing up an old debt would cause them to act like popping beans in a raging fire as a joint benefactor?
‘Gwon Je, it seems, transcends the common sense of the world… hehehehe.’
The Sect Leader spoke with a face that looked as if it might blow away in the wind.
The world called such a person a ‘madman,’ but one could hardly say such things to one’s own master.
Expressing it as gracefully as possible was the Sect Leader’s virtue.
‘…’
It was best to prepare everything I could.
I procrastinated as much as possible while waiting for Master’s reply.
‘Distribution will be important too. Even as a lay disciple, if I’m the disciple of Gwon Je Myeong-gil Jingin, I’d rank at the elder level of each sect…’
How should I handle this?
I wasn’t so bound by Confucian propriety that I couldn’t adapt to modern sensibilities.
Still, I had no desire to speak informally to people old enough to be my grandfather.
Just then, Cheonwoo entered the room where I was staying.
“Brother.”
“Ah, Cheonwoo.”
He wore a dark silk robe, his hair tied back more neatly than before.
His sharply defined jawline stood out prominently, and with the eye patch, he looked less like a disciple of an orthodox sect and more like a demon sect leader.
Cheonwoo smiled at me.
Yet because of his distinctive aura, it was the kind of smile that seemed to have cut through ten people to reach me.
Looking at him, I engaged in self-hypnosis: ‘He’s a good kid despite his appearance. A good kid.’
“What brings you here, Cheonwoo?”
“We’re preparing to hold a ceremony to formally accept you as an outer disciple. Tae Sa-sukjo instructed me to prepare in advance.”
“Already? This soon?”
“Yes. According to Tae Sa-sukjo’s own words… we need to finish this quickly before Baek Rin-ui-seon arrives and causes a disturbance. Though he’s received great favor, if he loses his mind, there’s no telling what he might do…”
“He used the word ‘disturbance’?”
“No. To be precise… he said… a dog… b…”
“I see…”
The older a martial artist became, the more they understood their master’s temperament.
I considered the situation.
‘I should probably press the acupoint that causes acute stomach pain beforehand.’
Cheonwoo, unaware of my madness, continued.
“Tae Sa-sukjo also said he wishes to teach me directly.”
“Wow! That’s truly remarkable!”
“It’s all thanks to you, brother.”
Cheonwoo smiled brightly. Though that smile would normally make one’s liver tremble, to me—having completed my self-hypnosis—it looked like the innocent smile of a child.
Cheonwoo spoke.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve become my fellow disciple. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a dream.”
“Though we share a master, technically speaking.”
“Yes. Even as co-disciples under one master, being fellow disciples doesn’t change.”
“Mm…”
It was a good thing. Now that Cheonwoo had received his dharma name, I hoped he would rise to great heights. I was fully prepared to help him achieve that.
He was a direct disciple of Gwon Je himself—Cheonwoo’s future was nothing but smooth sailing.
For me, there was nothing better.
“If I were to back out now, your position as a direct disciple wouldn’t be cancelled or anything, right?”
“Why would you need to do that when it’s entirely in your favor?”
“That’s true.”
“Besides, you’re not a hostage. We don’t conduct matters that way.”
I scratched my head vigorously.
“Right. Then I understand.”
Suddenly, I noticed that Cheonwoo had tensed slightly.
“Are you scared?”
“Yes. I’m afraid that Tae Sa-sukjo will be disappointed in me.”
“That won’t happen.”
I patted Cheonwoo’s back as he became my disciple.
‘I’ll protect you, Cheonwoo.’
Having come this far, I resolved firmly that as his senior brother, I would pave the way for him.
* * *
The ceremony was to be held at the Geumjeon Temple.
Since the Geumjeon Temple was the Taoist temple on the highest peak, it often presided over such ceremonies.
The sect leader temporarily closed the Geumjeon Temple to outsiders and prepared for the ceremony.
Though it would be conducted in abbreviated form, nothing could be lacking. Jang Mun-in ground himself, the elders, and the hermits to prepare the ceremony.
Watching this, I thought to myself.
‘In martial arts novels, joint transmission of the way isn’t that common, yet here I am doing it.’
While it was quite common in martial arts fiction for protagonists to use martial techniques from multiple sects, this form of being formally recognized as a joint disciple and conducting a ceremony to learn properly was a development rarely seen in modern martial arts novels.
As a fan, it was fascinating, but thinking of my Master, I wondered if this was really acceptable.
I pressed the acupoint at my stomach and rolled on the floor to buy time.
I wonder how long I managed to keep it up.
Just as Myeong-gil Jingin and Jang Mun-in came to check on my condition in the morning, a letter arrived.
Letters were delivered to both me and Myeong-gil Jingin, one each.
The moment Myeong-gil Jingin received his letter, he burst into loud laughter.
It seemed to be quite an extraordinary message.
Jang Mun-in, reading it from the side, looked as if he might hang himself right then, glancing once at Myeong-gil Jingin, once at Mudang Mountain, and once at his own feet.
Then his legs gave out and he collapsed with a thud.
Jang Mun-in’s bloodless face looked like a corpse. Having lost his composure, he muttered incoherently.
“The Master… no… why me… how am I supposed to handle the aftermath…”
The letter that came to me contained words I could never have imagined.
[Our Hee is such a good-natured person that this has happened… Since it’s come to this, learn everything you can. If even one thing can save your life, your Master will be delighted.]
I had expected him to be angry, but I never dreamed I would receive such warm words of encouragement instead.
‘Since Master has permitted it, there’s nothing more I should delay…’
I scratched my head.
‘But then what letter did Myeong-gil Jingin receive… and why did Jang Mun-in’s legs give out?’
Could it be that Master sent such a warm letter to Myeong-gil Jingin as well that Jang Mun-in was so moved he collapsed?
“…”
“Well then, now that the panacea letter has arrived, shall we begin the ceremony?”
Myeong-gil Jingin spoke lightly with a smile and rose to his feet.
He was aware that the inadequate disciple following Baek Rin-ui-seon was feigning illness. But knowing and being unable to do anything about it was troublesome.
When a doctor deliberately feigns illness, it becomes so formidable that if you tried to find fault with it, you’d be pointed at as a shameless disciple thief with no tears in the world.
‘This is the kind of situation where you know but have no choice but to be fooled.’
I thought he would give up if I pressed with force, but I never imagined he would deliberately roll around until Master’s reply arrived.
‘Hehehe, this vicious Seo Baek-ryong.’

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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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