Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 175

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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 175
Dong—
The incense rose with the sound of the bell.
The ceremony ended more quickly than the preparations had suggested.
The essence was reciting the prescribed words to the Mudang sect’s ancestors, announcing that I, Jin Cheon-hee, had become a new member of the family, and that Cheonwoo had become his direct disciple.
Then Cheonwoo and I bowed respectfully.
Myeong-gil Jingin and Jang Mun-in also bowed together.
That was the end of it.
Myeong-gil Jingin chuckled.
“Speaking of which, I received a letter from Baek Rin saying that the white kirin was stealing disciples from him—had he lost his mind? Hehehehe!”
“Cough!”
No matter what, sending such a message to an elder of far greater age than even my Master meant he had truly gone mad.
“Yet the fact that he permitted it means he concluded it was beneficial. That’s how the white kirin is. Regardless of emotion, his mind remains perpetually cold. Perhaps even his anger serves only to erase both debts of gratitude. And that has been accomplished.”
“….”
“Others would prostrate barefoot if the Sect Leader took them as a joint disciple, yet I obtained you while bearing two debts of gratitude. Do you understand what that means?”
For some reason, my throat tightened and words came with difficulty.
Myeong-gil Jingin spoke.
“Soon I will depart from this place, whether by old age or by ascending to immortality. In a few years, you will have only one Master again. The white kirin knows this as well.”
In the original work, Myeong-gil Jingin was not present when the Heavenly Demon’s Blood Path opened.
The Mudang sect desperately needed him, yet no one could save him.
Knowing the future, I opened my mouth heavily.
“Such words are too heavy for me to bear. Please….”
The old man’s eyes held a glimmer of light.
“…When that time comes, I ask that you look after the Mudang sect once.”
With those words, Myeong-gil Jingin walked ahead.
I watched his departing figure intently.
Gwon Je’s back seemed to fade away as though it might vanish at any moment.
* * *
The next day, I stood before Myeong-gil Jingin with a face of firm resolve.
“Please allow me to take your pulse once.”
“You are neither a patient nor the one who requested it first—do you not know this is discourteous?”
At those words, I nodded.
Myeong-gil Jingin extended his wrist to me without lengthy deliberation.
I examined Myeong-gil Jingin’s pulse with my diagnostic energy, thinking.
‘There is no obvious ailment… but that is precisely the problem.’
If I had to pinpoint the affliction, it was old age itself.
A body that had accumulated fatigue from countless battles and could only grow old.
Myeong-gil Jingin’s physical form was now approaching its limit.
Whether he ascended to immortality or died of old age, his prediction that he would not be here in a few years was accurate.
‘I saw this in the original work, but experiencing it firsthand weighs heavily on my heart.’
Reversing one’s circulation of inner energy was a privilege granted only to an extremely select few martial artists blessed by fortune.
Even amidst countless epiphanies, Myeong-gil Jingin’s body showed no signs of turning back.
“Kekeke, what do you think? Doctor. You can’t fix old age, can you?”
“That’s rather harsh, sir.”
“Seeing that expression of desperation to save me at all costs makes me laugh. It’s been so long since I’ve seen eyes like that.”
“…Perhaps if you hadn’t overexerted yourself so much in your youth, things might have been different.”
I ceased taking his pulse.
“Had I fought less, I would never have become Gwon Je. What is martial arts? It is the refinement of one’s craft by wagering one’s life. Without staking one’s existence, one cannot attain martial arts—a martial artist who does not fight is merely hollow.”
It was the enlightenment of a madman who had devoted his entire life to martial arts alone.
“Not a single regret. No. My only concern is what comes after I’m gone.”
“….”
“One who can see inside the Mudang Sect from outside it, and one with genius talent who will take root within the Mudang Sect. With these two, the next thirty years should manage somehow. Both of them have quite the temperament.”
I raised one eyebrow.
“You may insult me, but not Cheonwoo.”
Among my potential junior brothers, wasn’t Cheonwoo the one with the best temperament?
“Kekeke. Is that so? To my eyes, he seems to have swallowed a thousand vipers. Every time that fellow opens his mouth, the venom reeks so foul that the stench carries a thousand leagues away.”
‘So Cheonwoo’s appearance causes this misunderstanding again.’
Though Myeong-gil Jingin’s judgment was poor in evaluating Cheonwoo this way, once he witnessed Cheonwoo’s righteous conduct and eloquent speech in the future, his mind would surely change.
Thinking thus, I spoke.
“I understand. Regardless, please at least take some tonics and care for your health. You must live as long as possible.”
“When you’ve spent this entire life cultivating martial arts, you develop a strange premonition. I can predict who will live and who will die with uncanny accuracy.”
“I see.”
“To keep this body alive and ascending, it seems I shouldn’t even touch such things. Kekeke.”
A martial artist might nod at Myeong-gil Jingin’s words and think, ‘What admirable resolve—rejecting comfort and devoting oneself to martial arts until the very end! Truly inspiring.’
However, my sensibilities as a modern surgeon differed somewhat.
‘…A patient who won’t listen to their doctor.’
I was accustomed to this.
Young martial artists might listen to a doctor, but the elders who had lived long and wielded a blade or two were invariably stubborn.
Even when told not to drink alcohol, they’d drink claiming it disinfected the stomach; when instructed to avoid salty foods for a time, they’d insist salted fish was fine and pile it on their rice.
Recalling the countless elders who flashed past like a lantern on a galloping horse, I nodded.
“I understand. I’ve said my piece.”
“What’s with that look?”
I pulled out Baekrin Divine Pellets from my medicine pouch and cut them into quarters.
“In martial arts terms, it’s a panacea for internal injuries, but it also contains the subtleties of the Five Elements Divine Art, making it excellent for stabilizing inner energy and nourishing the organs. Take one quarter daily.”
“You said you wouldn’t take tonics, yet you don’t listen.”
“It’s an internal injury medicine, so it’s fine. Not a tonic.”
Having come this far, I decided to insist as well.
But he wasn’t a three-year-old child, and if he still refused, there was nothing more to be done.
“…Persistent fellow.”
Saying so, Myeong-gil Jingin accepted the Baekrin Divine Pellets I had given him and kept them safely.
“The Mudang Sect has plenty of money. Once you finish these, simply order more. I’ll inform the Medical Hall in advance, so they’ll arrive without delay.”
“Hmph! Now I understand why Baekrin Uigak’s business has been thriving lately.”
“Truly, even when saving someone’s life, you speak like that.”
Myeong-gil Jingin grumbled.
“How much longer can this extend your life? Perhaps a year? That’s all it will be.”
“I can’t cure old age anyway. I just hope to reduce your suffering and spare you from minor ailments.”
Jin Cheon-hee smiled softly.
“I know humans are destined to die. I’m aware of that. But as a doctor, there are things I can do, so I do what I can.”
“You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you?”
Jin Cheon-hee said nothing more, bowed respectfully, and withdrew.
Human death cannot be prevented. I could only hope that Myeong-gil Jingin would succeed in ascending to immortality as in the original story.
But now that the original story was unraveling, even I couldn’t be certain how far it was possible.
‘Humans die. I know that.’
A brief melancholy flickered across my face as I turned away with a smile.
But soon enough, my expression returned to normal as though nothing had happened.
Cheonwoo was approaching me from a distance.
“Brother, I’ve finished organizing the quarters!”
Since Cheonwoo and I had decided on a master, our living arrangements needed to change as well.
Cheonwoo had taken care of all the preparations.
“Thank you. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“Anything you make for me, brother.”
At those words, I ruffled Cheonwoo’s hair. Given his massive frame, even that was no easy task.
“Wait a moment. I’ll make you something delicious.”
“Yes!”
* * *
Myeong-gil Jingin had said it before.
One who could observe the Mudang from outside it. Another who would take root in the Mudang with genius-level talent.
These two were necessary.
To achieve this, he had used two favors.
According to Jang Mun-in, he was indeed an eccentric quite unlike the world’s common sense.
At the same time, he was one who devoted his entire life to the Mudang and loved it dearly.
“I will teach you exactly as I learned. How you digest this will be your burden to bear. Keke… are you afraid?”
Jin Cheon-hee shook my head.
Before the young man’s eyes lay Taoist scriptures stacked like mountains.
“The Jegal Family’s Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong is said to be so remarkable? Can you memorize it all in a single day?”
“I have no confidence in that.”
Watching Jin Cheon-hee answer calmly, Myeong-gil Jingin replied with amusement.
“Somehow you don’t act like someone your age. But that’s how it should be. That’s what pleased me about you.”
He muttered to himself, then slapped my back with a loud thwack.
“Do your best. This is a scripture that everyone in the Mudang—lay disciples and direct disciples alike—must memorize. If you haven’t memorized it by nightfall, I’ll beat you.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, and one more thing. You don’t need to call me Master.”
Jin Cheon-hee was slightly taken aback by those words. Myeong-gil Jingin continued.
“Though we’ve formally become joint Jingings out of necessity, I don’t think of you as my disciple, so you needn’t think of me as your Master either.”
“Then how should I address you?”
Myeong-gil Jingin stroked his chin and spoke thus.
“Well, titles like Mudang Gwon Je or Taiji Gwon Je would feel awkward. Hmm… how about Grandfather?”
“Pardon?”
“If I had a grandson, I imagine he’d be as clever and refined-looking as you. So call me Grandfather.”
At those words, I pondered.
‘So my face is the type that appeals to elders…?’
Of course, he wouldn’t have made me a joint Jinging based solely on appearance, but still, it must have played some role. That’s what I thought.
Humans are visual creatures, after all.
“Understood, Grandfather.”
“Cheonwoo, how would you like to address me?”
Cheonwoo answered calmly.
“I don’t have another Master. My only Master is you. I’d like to call you Master.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, one grandson and one disciple. Even my twilight years are abundant. Lucky me.”
Myeong-gil Jingin nodded, clearly pleased.
“Cheonwoo, follow me. I need to assess the fundamentals of your Mudang training.”
“Yes.”
“If it’s been neglected, know that you’ll learn the characters for ‘energy,’ ‘character,’ and ‘sword’ all over again from the beginning. Kekeke!”
He meant he would kill the sect leader and elders alike.
Cheonwoo nodded confidently instead.
“Understood, Master. I’ll do my best.”
I was impressed by his resolve and clenched my fists.
‘Cheonwoo, survive this.’
* * *
Reading and mastering all ten core scriptures of Daoism posed no difficulty.
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong itself was a martial art specialized for absorbing such knowledge.
“Ho, I thought you couldn’t do it, but you’ve memorized it all. Not all the Jegal Family children managed this much, I’d say.”
Myeong-gil Jingin tested me on several passages and, finding my answers amusing, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Though his words suggested otherwise, his expression looked genuinely delighted.
Behind me, Cheonwoo stood with his body slightly injured.
“Good. Rest well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

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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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