Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 212
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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 212
Sama Hyeon laughed awkwardly, unlike his usual self. The young child from back then had grown so much that he now stood shoulder to shoulder with me.
That dark alley from those days.
When I faced Gokgol Hyeolma, who was trying to abduct Sama Hyeon.
I didn’t hesitate because of some profound calculation.
My body simply moved on its own.
I grasped Sama Hyeon’s hand.
As an adult, I told him he didn’t have to go.
Even if the price was death itself.
I was grateful I risked my life back then.
I was grateful I saved my younger brother.
“How is Hye-a doing?”
At Sama Hyeon’s question, I nodded.
“She’s doing well and staying healthy since then. You should visit her in person instead of just exchanging letters.”
At my words, Sama Hyeon shook his head.
Sama Hyeon had told his younger sister Sama-hye only that he’d found work at a trading company, and aside from sending money and gifts, he hadn’t met with her at all.
It was I who took care of Sama-hye in his stead.
Sama-hye was earnestly pursuing the path of a doctor and occasionally visited the main headquarters of Baekrin Uigak.
Each time, I would take her pulse, lend her necessary texts, or answer her questions as she devoted herself to the medical arts.
“…Not yet. I need to earn more and establish a foundation first.”
“Are you worried enemies might come looking?”
Sama Hyeon didn’t deny it.
“Still, she’s my only sister. I need to finish cleaning house before welcoming her. I can’t let her see a filthy home when there are still so many ‘rats’ infesting it.”
He probably wasn’t referring to actual rodents.
I immediately understood he meant people. But I didn’t ask how he planned to clean house. I would walk my own path, and Sama Hyeon would walk his.
I knew that Gangho was too treacherous for careless meddling.
I knew that Gangho was too treacherous for careless meddling.
“When can you finish the gloves for me?”
“Whenever you have time, brother.”
“Are you sure? Trusting something so precious to someone like me? If it’s for the Golden Blood Method, the imperial palace could find craftsmen who supply them.”
“What are you saying? It’s precisely because it’s something so precious that I’m entrusting it to you.”
“The size… I mean, roughly how large should they be?”
“Just large enough for you to use comfortably. Then they’ll fit me perfectly.”
“That’s really vague.”
I grumbled with vacant eyes.
Whether in modern times or the martial world, exhaustion hits the same way.
Whether it’s Earth or the martial world, there’s a qi-draining water vein flowing through—why does merely being there drain my energy?
On top of that, I treated several patients and performed one major surgery.
More patients kept arriving, and I continued treating them, which made it even more exhausting.
Still, my body wasn’t severely damaged. It was more that my spirit was worn out.
Without my inner energy, I would have collapsed.
Jin Cheon-hee habitually reached for his eyes before realizing his glasses weren’t there.
Right. I have a young body now.
Sama Hyeon watched him quietly, then spoke.
“Want to eat something delicious?”
“What? All of a sudden?”
“Let’s eat~”
“What am I, a pig? Every time you see me, you’re trying to feed me something.”
As his older brother grumbled, Sama Hyeon grinned and grabbed his arm firmly.
“Come on, brother. We eat to live, don’t we?”
This grip strength was something else.
Once he decided to hold on, he was like a leech.
“Next time there’s a fight, I’m carrying you and running. And if the Martial Alliance disciples show up again, I’ll send you straight to the emergency room since there are patients, right? That’s what you call it—’emergency room’? I remember you saying that.”
“Well… we also call it an emergency treatment room… but roughly, yes.”
He learned quickly. My younger brother seemed to remember every small word I’d ever mentioned.
“Brother. Since we’re here, let’s wreck all the Martial Alliance’s restaurants~”
His voice hummed playfully, but his eyes were quite serious, which made me laugh.
He must be worried about me.
Seeing my older brother with his fortune in ruins after being here such a short time, he seemed to feel sorry for me.
“Alright. Let’s go eat.”
“Good, good. That way our family—”
“Say one more word about that. I’m not eating.”
“Understood. Understood~”
Sama Hyeon laughed playfully and led the way.
Ah, right. I was supposed to give a briefing to the Martial Alliance doctors but forgot.
I’ll do that later.
If they’re at the level where I need to explain basic hygiene, the road ahead is long. Even if I answer their questions, without foundational knowledge, I’d have to skip over many parts.
For now, delicious food.
Aren’t we a people of rice? People gain strength from eating.
Let’s eat. Eat!
* * *
Sama Hyeon brought me to another inn.
Another new place.
“This place makes excellent duck. So good!”
Did I teach him that phrase too?
Jin Cheon-hee pondered for three seconds but couldn’t quite remember.
Fatigue had dulled his mind.
“Let’s get some for Hwang-gu and Noeji too~”
Squeak!
Woof, woof-woof!
As the two spiritual beasts continued barking, I finally responded.
“When did you two get here…”
“Brother, you really have lost your mind. Do you have any idea how much time has passed?”
The Martial Arts emergency room had neither wall clocks nor wristwatches.
While bells chimed every hour to mark the time, the sound never reached the emergency room.
The screams and cries of patients drowned out the bell chimes from outside.
So I stopped the bleeding, examined and diagnosed the wounds… and if diagnosis was delayed, we might miss the golden hour, so all emergency treatments had to be administered.
‘Where was I in my thoughts? Ah, at least fortunately, no one died.’
I managed to save several patients whom I would have had to give up on in the past.
It was thanks to gaining not just inner strength, but also enlightenment of the heart.
‘The enlightenment gained through martial arts doesn’t convert to medicine very efficiently.’
Gripping a sword, gripping an acupuncture needle, and gripping a scalpel are three entirely different things—naturally, it makes sense.
If my Master knew that I had poured all the precious enlightenment gained only at the brink of life and death into medicine, he would tear his hair out.
Yet my unconscious mind, forged from the very bones of a physician, could only operate that way.
In that hellish blood battle on Mount Wudang, the final technique I unleashed at Jeong Gwang was not to kill him, but to knock him unconscious.
Even my enlightenment in the end was that of a doctor, not a martial artist.
My head was spinning.
“Right… when I entered the ER it was evening, but coming out, the sunlight is stabbing my eyes…”
“I only found you after hearing you’d been relieved from duty.”
Thud—
I pressed my forehead against the table and collapsed limply across it.
Perhaps it was because of my martial arts-trained body. Sleep wouldn’t come.
My mind was simply exhausted beyond measure.
“Do you remember when these guys joined us?”
“…?”
“Never mind. Just stay like that, brother. Server! Add another bowl of duck porridge here.”
I pressed my forehead against the table again.
‘Ah… the table feels so cool, it feels nice.’
My exhausted mind spewed out random thoughts without coherence.
Sama Hyeon asked.
“Brother, so you went in there and just kept seeing patients and performing surgeries the whole time?”
“It was only half a day, what.”
“Brother… it’s evening now.”
“That’s not morning sunlight…?”
“Insane, it’s worse than what I heard from my subordinates.”
Sama Hyeon couldn’t help but curse at my overwork.
“Brother, at least eat something and get some sleep.”
“Sleep? I’m going back on duty later.”
“Brother, aren’t you going to sleep?”
“I will sleep. I will, but I’m planning to sleep later.”
“Listen, brother. I’m going to give you a sleeping draught. You’re going to drink it and rest. Even the spirits agreed with my decision. It’s better than having the master work himself to death, isn’t it?”
“You’re joking, right?”
“….”
Sama Hyeon stared at Jin Cheon-hee for a moment before responding.
“Of course I’m joking. Does it sound serious to you?”
“You startled me. I thought you might actually do it….”
Jin Cheon-hee trailed off.
A delicious duck dish arrived before him.
“Oh!”
Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes sparkled with delight.
“Duck soup! Duck porridge!”
“They brought everything at once.”
Jin Cheon-hee picked up his spoon with joy.
He ate with such relish, though only for a brief moment.
“Ah… I’m so full. It feels like the first meal I’ve eaten in a day… Now that I think about it, that’s actually true. In a day… a day…? Wait, was it actually three days…? How long did I labor there…? I did manage to scavenge some energy pills in between.”
My already sluggish mind seemed to slow down even further.
Suddenly, strength drained from the hand holding the spoon.
Clang!
I realized it was a sleeping draught and tried to circulate the Five Elements Mutual Destruction Poison, but it was too late.
The drug’s effects had already spread throughout my body.
I had let my guard down.
‘How is a sleeping draught working on me when I have poison resistance… This is….’
My thoughts grew sluggish. I struggled to continue thinking. A medicine potent enough to overcome my poison resistance—how was this possible?
As I marveled at this, I caught sight of Sama Hyeon’s eyes.
He was looking at me with a pitying gaze.
“Brother… when people work, they need to rest. You understand, right? I’m truly a good younger brother. So sleep well, and I’ll forcibly put you to sleep.”
With those words, Jin Cheon-hee collapsed.
* * *
I slept like the dead. I don’t think I even dreamed.
In my sleep, I seemed to hear Sama Hyeon saying, “Brother, this medicine is really expensive. Pay me back with interest.”
He made me drink it and now wants me to repay him.
I knew he was crazy, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.
‘Well, the original story hasn’t gone anywhere.’
Even if the path had changed by 180 degrees, a person’s fundamental nature doesn’t change.
When I opened my eyes, Hwang-gu was staring intently at me.
Woof!
Perhaps pleased that his master had recovered, Hwang-gu enthusiastically licked my face.
“Yes. Yes. I’m fine. I’m all better now.”
“You feel a bit better after a good sleep, don’t you, brother?”
I turned toward the voice and saw Sama Hyeon reading through ledgers piled up like a mountain, one by one.
“As the Golden Blood House, you must have quite a lot of ledgers to review.”
“That’s a recent change. In the old days, the time spent beating people far exceeded the time spent on bookkeeping.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s a good thing. It means our business is conducting ‘officially’ legitimate operations.”
Then what exactly were we doing unofficially?
Was he demanding repayment because I’d poisoned my brother and made him consume something expensive?
It was probably something like that.
Sama Hyeon spoke up quickly, perhaps noticing my sullen expression.
“Just to be clear, the medicine your brother took wasn’t poison.”
“Then what was it?”
“Despite its appearance, it’s a medicine supplied exclusively to the royal family from the Serkhang. The imperial physicians use it when treating nightmares or insomnia. It has no other effects besides inducing sleep, so rest assured. You don’t have a headache, do you?”
“I feel quite refreshed, actually.”
“That’s genuinely expensive medicine. I’m relieved your complexion has returned~”
Woof!
Hwang-gu wags his tail vigorously.
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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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