Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 238

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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 238
When I opened my eyes after waking, approximately two hours had passed.
There were no emergency calls while I slept, suggesting no patients had taken a sudden turn for the worse.
As I stepped out of the tea room, Sang Ui-won, who was on night duty, came rushing over.
“You’re awake already instead of resting more.”
That look in his eyes.
The gaze one gives when observing a madman under heaven… yet with a hint of pity for that very madman.
I was beginning to grow accustomed to it.
“It’s fine. Where is my Master?”
“I heard he went to the Martial Alliance.”
“I understand.”
I said so and gathered my outer robe.
“Are you planning to go as well, Soggakju?”
“Yes, yes. If any patients take a sudden turn, please ring the bell immediately.”
“Understood… ah, that’s right!”
Sang Ui-won fumbled about and handed me something.
“These are rice balls mixed with medicinal herbs. They should be better than chewing on grain-avoidance pills. And… there’s also some leftover rice cake. It’s cold, but it’s quite delicious.”
Expressing care through food was no different in Korea or in the martial world.
All places where people lived seemed fundamentally the same.
With my mouth full of these provisions, I headed toward the Martial Alliance.
* * *
Though dawn had not yet fully broken, the Martial Alliance was more crowded than during the day.
This only meant there were many difficult matters that needed resolving from this incident.
I sent someone to inform my Master of my arrival and sat in the tea room they guided me to, waiting for him to appear.
How long did I wait?
It was not my Master who came to find me, but Dokgo Seon, the strategist of the Martial Alliance.
She offered her respects and spoke with a somewhat troubled expression.
“I cannot express how delighted I am to meet you this way. However, it seems the Alliance Leader does not wish to be disturbed at the moment, so it may be difficult to enter.”
“It appears my Master’s conversation has grown quite deep.”
“Yes. The contents of the plan are somewhat… extreme.”
Dokgo Seon trailed off quietly.
Was she hoping I would intervene?
Or was she seeking my wisdom for a different perspective?
“I’m not certain if this is a matter I should be hearing about.”
At those words, Dokgo Seon nodded and gestured with her chin toward the others.
With merely that gesture from Dokgo Seon, everyone stopped what they were doing and filed out in perfect order.
Click—
The door was completely sealed, and silence filled the tea room.
“Nothing will leak outside.”
‘She seems quite eager.’
Jin Cheon-hee asked.
“What proposal did Master suggest?”
“Baek Rin-ui-seon said that as long as the Murim Alliance has its identity, it’s difficult to act rashly without evidence, but if we leave things as they are, that too invites disaster. The embers still remain, after all.”
That much was a problem everyone understood.
Dokgo Seon spoke.
“Creating something from nothing, luring the tiger from the mountain.”
Pfft!
Jin Cheon-hee spat out his tea.
“Truly Baek Rin-ui-seon’s disciple. You’ve grasped the idea with just two phrases.”
Jin Cheon-hee coughed.
“Master truly proposed that…?”
First, creating something from nothing.
To create existence from non-existence.
At first glance, it sounds like some grand magic.
But the reality is different.
It means insisting that something non-existent actually exists.
“You mean to pretend we have evidence when we don’t?”
“Yes. As the saying goes, three men make a tiger—if we spread rumors and shape public opinion, even the mightiest sect would have no choice but to move. After all, our disciples and kinsmen were genuinely injured.”
Jin Cheon-hee asked back.
“You mean to spread word that Hyeolseonggyo used curses?”
“Yes. Very loudly, very widely. So that other sects cannot help but act.”
A bold stratagem—those words alone were insufficient.
It was something only Master could do.
Jin Cheon-hee murmured.
“It’s better than doing nothing because the timing is late. That seems to be his judgment. Besides, if we succeed in luring the tiger from the mountain, the problem ceases to be one.”
Next, luring the tiger from the mountain.
It means drawing the tiger out from the mountain.
One of the military stratagems—luring the enemy out from their nest to strike.
It’s good to anger the sects and gather them together.
The problem comes after.
“How do we lure out the enemy?”
“…He’s telling us to figure it out ourselves.”
“What?”
He hadn’t mentioned Dalggi’s relics.
Or perhaps he was keeping that precious card hidden, intending to use it later.
“Do you have a stratagem in mind, Strategist?”
There was always a reason when Master remained silent.
Dokgo Seon fell into thought, then spoke thus.
“This strategist recommended the stratagem of angering them into action.”
In simpler terms, it meant making the opponent lose their temper.
“…How exactly are you planning to anger him?”
“Simple. I’ll insult Hyeolseonggyo.”
That would work?
Jin Cheon-hee asked in return.
“What did Master say about it?”
“He said it was a good strategy.”
…No, that actually works?
Does he have some other hidden agenda?
* * *
There existed a profession called a storyteller for hire.
Just as Sama Hyeon earned money performing theatrical pieces, there were those who sold stories for coin, and they were called storytellers for hire.
Also known as tale-tellers, they could be compared to modern-day personal broadcast streamers.
Since they sold stories for money, they all possessed excellent eloquence and were well-versed in rumors.
Their tales, where truth and fiction were mysteriously intertwined, kept listeners sucking on their candies until the very end.
“A pleasant evening to you all! Some of you may already know, but I am Punggyae, the storyteller who has sold tales in this inn many times before! Today, I thought to share some recent happenings from last night—what do you all think?”
“Recent happenings, you say? Do you mean about the Martial Alliance?”
“What else could it be!”
“I was curious about it anyway, this is perfect!”
“There’s been so much talk about Seo Baek-ryong, that’s what I’m most curious about!”
The moment the storyteller opened his mouth, the inn’s patrons began chattering excitedly, each offering their own comments.
Passersby walking past also paused at the storyteller’s voice and drifted toward the inn’s entrance.
The server, as if he’d been waiting for this, promptly guided the newcomers to seats, and they reluctantly ordered the cheapest noodle dish available.
Punggyae the storyteller.
The name meant “wind chicken.”
Whether it was his real name or not was unknowable, but in the underworld, such details hardly mattered.
His gaze fixed on one particular spot on the second floor.
It was Sama Hyeon.
Most storytellers for hire maintained a symbiotic relationship with inns, and the majority belonged to Haowen.
They trained orphans as storytellers there and dispatched them in all directions.
Sama Hyeon was a disciple of the Golden King of the Blood Vein Pavilion, and unlike other underworld warriors, he was known for rarely resorting to violence.
‘However, once he makes a move, he sees it through to the end. And his methods are known to be brutally cruel.’
Those who witnessed that process were said to suffer nightmares without exception.
Being favored by the Golden King, selling stories in front of such a person naturally made one nervous.
“Ahem, well then, allow this Punggyae to elaborate on the tale for you. Though my throat feels a bit parched….”
At that, coins poured into the basket before the storyteller.
Normally, he would have to send apprentices to go table by table, but the sight of money cascading down all at once was quite a spectacle.
A broad smile spread across the storyteller’s face.
“My, with everyone so eager to hear, I simply cannot keep my mouth closed! So then, what happened at the Martial Alliance last night…! It all began with a hairpin.”
“A hairpin? Surely you jest—all that commotion over just a hairpin?”
“Yes, yes~ indeed. Merely a hairpin worth less than a single coin, but in the right hands, it can drive warriors to madness. Have you ever heard of a curse?”
At those words, even the guests seated at the very back of the tavern stopped their chopsticks and turned their attention toward us.
A sign that they had been drawn into the story.
The storyteller Punggyae continued on like flowing water, his words smooth and unbroken.
“One day, the belongings that the junior disciples carried began to disappear, one by one. Yes, nothing of great value, mind you. Combs, trinkets, cheap hair ornaments—the sort of things you could simply replace when lost. And so the esteemed warriors of the Yongbongjihoe all thought to themselves: ‘Ah, I must have had too much to drink!'”
Wahahahaha!
Laughter erupted throughout the tavern.
Even Sama Hyeon, who had been observing, let out an amused chuckle.
Delighted by the response, Punggyae continued his tale.
The Hyeolseonggyo, curses, and the shameful conduct of the righteous sects fighting over mere low-level curses! And those unscrupulous ruffians from the demonic sects who fell so easily for the scheme!
“The demonic sects are, well… it’s somewhat awkward for me to say, but as you all know, they’re always up to their usual tricks. This would have happened curse or no curse.”
Puhahahaha!
Normally, I would have paused here to collect payment, but given the presence of such an esteemed guest, I decided against it.
It was far more important to maintain this excellent momentum.
As I transitioned into the main tale of the great chaos, even those sipping tea had fallen silent.
Everyone’s eyes gleamed with rapt attention!
“And it was the White-Robed Divine Dragon, Jin Cheon-hee, who resolved it all!”
“As expected!”
“The White-Robed Radiant Dragon!”
“Is it true he went mad from saving people?”
“I heard he’s a sage, but somewhat unhinged?”
In that instant, crash!
A tremendous sound rang out.
Though invisible to the passersby on the first floor, it was perfectly clear to the storyteller Punggyae.
Sama Hyeon had shattered the wine cup he was holding with nothing but the strength of his fingers.
“Unhinged? How could anyone speak such nonsense! That man is the greatest of all great heroes!”
Punggyae hastily worked to salvage the situation.
He added a word to his audience.
“Jin Cheon-hee, the Great Hero! Truly the White-Robed Divine Dragon! A genuine warrior and doctor who embodies the bearing of a great hero worthy of that name!”
Drawing upon the meager inner energy he had cultivated through basic breathing techniques, Punggyae shouted with all his might.
“Ohhhhh! That’s right, a madman? Where would such talk come from!”
“There are countless who owe their very lives to the White-Robed Divine Dragon!”
The poorer the people, the higher their recognition of the White-Robed Divine Dragon.
Among those who could not afford to visit the Uibang, few had not benefited from Jin Cheon-hee’s medical services.
Moreover, when poverty left them with nothing to eat, he would accept medicinal materials that lay scattered everywhere—like dandelion roots—which no one could sell, and exchange them for food.
He never gave money in exchange.
The reason was simple: if he gave money, the thugs of the slums would exploit the children.
Instead, he exchanged them for thin meat porridge or flatbread.
Such food had low monetary value, making exploitation far less likely.
Of course, compared to the food sold in taverns, the taste was woefully inadequate.
Yet it was packed with nutrition, drastically reducing the risk of starvation.
To those impoverished souls, I had already become their doctor.
“The White-Robed Divine Dragon! The White-Robed Divine Dragon!”
As more people joined in the chant, the word “Radiant Dragon” faded away entirely.
Glancing up at the second floor, I saw Sama Hyeon accepting a fresh cup of wine as though he hadn’t just unleashed a killing intent, sipping it leisurely.
‘Thank… thank goodness….’

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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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