Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 277

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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 277
“Martial arts are merely martial arts, nothing more.”
“Like the bow you wield, I see.”
…
“Ordinarily, I would believe you dropped your guard seeing me abandon the path of a divine being. That Baek-ui Sinryong relied on his inner energy and drew his bow. Yes, most Gangho saints would do the same. Even the Spear Dragon Sword would.”
The old man’s voice settled into a calm, measured tone.
“But the truth is the exact opposite, isn’t it?”
…
“While the dog flees, you intend to become bait and provide cover. That’s why archery, not swordsmanship, would surely be superior. A single arrow would prove more useful than complex sword strikes. Am I wrong in this humble observation?”
Jin Cheon-hee clicked his tongue softly.
Just as the young man enjoyed strategic games, this old man before him seemed to relish them with the cunning of an assassin.
“You are no ordinary person, Elder. Who are you?”
Lightning energy gathered at the corner of the bow.
Simultaneously, blue energy coalesced at the feather tips of Noeji soaring through the air.
There was one thing the old man had overlooked.
Jin Cheon-hee intended to become a lightning rod himself.
He planned to fire arrows infused with golden and lightning energies to guide the lightning Noeji would generate.
The lightning produced by Cheonryeong Noeji was far more powerful than the lightning energy Jin Cheon-hee could emit.
But its weakness was that its accuracy fell far short of martial technique.
So if Jin Cheon-hee himself fired arrows carrying lightning energy to place Noeji’s lightning precisely where needed.
In the first move, five.
Once those five fell, the situation could be broken from that point onward.
“You’re devising a way to defeat us all without killing us.”
Thud—
A dozen shadowy figures behind the old man stepped forward.
Then the old man opened his mouth.
“Everyone, stand back.”
The figures halted at his command.
Soon the old man walked toward Jin Cheon-hee alone.
‘Is this also a strategic game?’
Rather than letting his guard down, Jin Cheon-hee considered his next move.
In just three moves, the young man had devised a method to safely deliver Hwang-gu and the patient to the King’s residence.
But what the old man did was neither drawing a weapon nor surrendering.
He simply brought his hand to his mask.
Click—
The mask fell away, revealing the weathered face of the old man.
No beard visible, just a smooth, clean jawline.
Yet the snow-white face, covered in scars despite this, spoke volumes of how long this old man had endured in struggle.
“Ten thousand blessings. Ten thousand blessings. Ten thousand times ten thousand blessings. I am Han Gwang, serving as Eunuch General, and I bow in gratitude to my benefactor.”
He discarded his weapon and clasped his fists in salute toward Jin Cheon-hee, bowing deeply at the waist.
‘The Eunuch General… Han Gwang? Isn’t he Han Yi-jeong’s grandfather?! But before that. Why is Cheonryeong doing this?’
The Emperor’s most trusted aide number one!
I had considered the possibility that Dongchang, which could be called the imperial family’s secret unit, might be involved in this attack.
However, I never imagined that the Eunuch General, the leader of that Dongchang, would be directly involved in this matter.
And on top of that. Such an excessive bow of respect!
‘Ah, no, that’s too high… By that standard, Eun Wang-ya would also be high. Yes…’
A commoner doctor’s legs trembled.
No matter what, it was strange that such a heavy-bottomed official would appear directly in this desert…
‘Since Eun Wang-ya has come, he could have summoned me directly.’
However, the fact that he recognized me immediately upon seeing me yet deliberately reacted that way was ultimately a test to see if I was someone worthy of standing beside the Emperor.
For now, I thought I needed to speak carefully here. So I cupped my fist and opened my mouth.
“According to the Book of Rites, excessive propriety is impropriety. I am merely a doctor, so please lower your speech.”
The Book of Rites.
A Confucian classic containing writings about propriety and etiquette. It is known as one of the Five Classics among the Four Books and Five Classics.
Of course, anyone in the empire with even a modicum of learning knew of this.
This phrase from the Book of Rites, ‘excessive propriety is impropriety,’ carries the meaning that exaggerated courtesy is not true courtesy.
I responded to the Eunuch General’s action of calling out Cheonryeong.
Why would he show such excessive respect to someone unworthy of receiving it?
“Indeed… this old servant has made an error. Hahaha! Upon meeting the benefactor who saved my master’s life, my heart got ahead of itself.”
The old man spoke gently, then lifted his head and smiled. Yet his words and actions were natural.
However, the people around him showed signs of agitation and disturbance.
‘It seems this person does know about me… but the other Dongchang agents didn’t know. Then there must be a reason he spoke it aloud? Is he trying to inform them about me? Or… no. Hasty speculation is meaningless right now. What matters is not that.’
“Then, sir. Regarding this matter, I shall visit you later and explain. For now, I wish to discuss the matter at hand.”
“You may speak even more humbly… and what do you mean by the matter at hand?”
“Can you hand over that child?”
Is this also a test? I cannot know.
However, it is exactly like when I faced the Emperor.
I simply walk my own path.
“I apologize. I intend to take this person under my care and have a conversation with them.”
The smile vanished from the old man’s face.
“You speak thus while knowing that the child you seek to protect wielded a blade attempting to assassinate the Third Prince of the Tadou Kingdom?”
It might be a mad answer.
However, if I retreat here, this person will die. I could not accept that.
“After all, it is a blade with nowhere to go. The blade’s master will worry about where this blade is directed and seek to break it. They will eliminate it without hesitation, so there is no problem in my picking it up and using it.”
Assassins from the assassination cult are bound to take their own lives if captured during a mission.
If they do not take their own lives, another assassin is dispatched to ensure they are killed.
That is their method of protecting their organization.
My words referenced that fact. And the Eunuch General Han Gwang knew this well.
However, the fact that he knows this and the fact that I mention it carry different weights.
“Hehehehe. How interesting. To answer thus. According to my investigation, surely you had not seen that child before?”
Is that all you know?
Well, my behavior certainly must seem strange to you.
‘Even I can see this makes no sense.’
Suddenly, I noticed blood seeping onto Hwang-gu’s back.
Even if I’ve stopped the bleeding with pressure point techniques, the patient’s life is slipping away with each passing moment.
If we were to engage in combat, the patient would bear the full burden during that time.
‘I need to give a convincing answer before he’ll step aside.’
I took a deep breath and spoke.
“If there is a connection, I would like to interrogate them myself. Besides, I’m quite intrigued by the unusual martial techniques this person has demonstrated.”
It was a more convincing answer—one befitting the Baekui Gwangryong.
As I smiled, recalling Hyeolsaeng Nogoe, my expression was that of a doctor obsessed with research itself.
“….”
The Eunuch General fell into thought before speaking.
“Since you are favored by the Emperor, I shall overlook this matter this once. However, I will certainly report this incident. The Emperor will then make the judgment. Is that acceptable?”
So he was deferring judgment to Eun Wang-ya.
That was what I wanted anyway. It bought me time to treat the patient.
“Yes, of course.”
“Understood. I humbly ask that you take care of yourself.”
With those words, he donned his mask once more.
Like scattered classmates, he vanished toward the desert horizon.
Once the Eunuch General disappeared, I finally released a small sigh of relief.
“Hwang-gu, Noeji. Let’s go back.”
I spoke with difficulty, dispersing the electrical current gathered at my fingertips.
At the far edge of the desert horizon, dawn was slowly breaking.
‘I can still feel his gaze.’
He said he’d overlook it, but he didn’t say he’d let it go completely.
Indeed, the Eunuch General.
But it’s fine. As long as I can treat the patient.
It was truly a long, long dawn.
* * *
Ilkana dreamed.
In the dream, her mother was alive, and the Sultan loved her mother.
There were no schemes or power struggles there.
The Sultan held young Ilkana and gave her a piggyback ride.
Her mother walked through the garden with the Sultan.
Wild beasts were visible in the garden, but no one tore at her mother’s flesh.
Because they were properly leashed and not starving.
Her mother held Ilkana and did not speak of the royal family’s schemes.
It was not a story to tell a child not yet ten years old.
She simply understood the story because the child was so intelligent, and loved her mother enough to understand her mother’s anguished whispers and malicious screams.
The young girl swayed unsteadily atop the Sultan’s neck.
The Sultan’s crown was visible.
This world was filled with nothing but good things.
Yet she reached out her hand. Something solid was grasped. It was a chakram.
Her weapon, which she had practiced hundreds and thousands of times.
And with that weapon, she struck the Sultan’s head.
Thwack!
The skull shattered.
Her mother screamed.
The beasts rejoiced. Whose corpse would they feed on.
Crack!
She struck the Sultan’s head again and again.
The beast within her laughed.
Yes, this is what I wanted. The Minister of National Defense, the assassins… this is what I desired.
Watching the blood-soaked head and her own hands equally stained crimson, she alternated between laughter and tears.
Woof!
With the sound of a dog barking, something wet touched her cheek.
Ilkana awoke from the nightmare and returned to reality.
‘Where am I? I was clearly…’
A familiar ceiling. The one she had envisioned hundreds and thousands of times in her mind to eliminate her target.
It was the first thing her eyes perceived.
‘Ah… I was trying to save my subordinates.’
She had been attacked by assassins.
Judging by their skill, they felt less like Gangho masters and more like the Imperial Army of the Central Plains.
Her subordinates numbered eight.
Her attackers numbered thirty.
There were no openings, and the enemy was formidable, having trained beforehand in the desert.
In the end, Ilkana chose to become bait herself to save her subordinates.
Her subordinates fled.
Now only self-termination remained.
‘But I couldn’t bring myself to bite the poison hidden inside my back teeth.’
Perhaps her sense of self was too strong to become a true assassin.
She could not take her own life.
Wounds accumulated, and she missed the final moment to end it.
And as the last blade pierced her chest… consciousness flickered.

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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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