Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 289

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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 289
“I apologize for rudely demanding a match despite the impropriety, Great Martial Artist.”
“I see.”
“However, I thought if not now, there would be no other opportunity…”
“That would be so.”
Mak Jin-chu, whose eyes had swollen purple, spoke to me with utmost courtesy.
Less than an hour after I had positioned myself and struck his vital points with precision, he finally yielded.
Upon hearing his surrender, I immediately adjusted his shoulder and told him to descend the mountain now.
“I have always admired you, Baek-ui Sinryong, Great Martial Artist.”
And along with the vital point treatment, courtesy had returned as well.
It was a good outcome.
“You may descend the mountain alone without concern… ah, with your martial prowess, that should suffice.”
“Yes, and since it hasn’t grown completely dark yet, I should be fine descending with light steps.”
“As I mentioned initially, your body will ache for three days. Find an inn and rest well.”
“I am merely grateful that Baek-ui Sinryong performed the vital point treatment yourself.”
If only it had been like this from the beginning.
I offered courtesy to this fleeting encounter.
And Mak Jin-chu offered courtesy to the Baek-ui Sinryong.
It was a beautiful parting.
As I resumed my journey, I reflected.
‘Yes. Now that my reputation has risen, such things occur.’
Thinking this way, my irritation eased somewhat.
“At first it was absurd and bothersome, but perhaps this too is the romance of the martial world, Hwang-gu.”
Woof!
Yet I did not know.
That this was merely the prelude to what would unfold ahead.
By the time I reached the city, dawn was already breaking the next morning.
‘The match truly consumed too much time.’
Fighting itself wasn’t the problem—it was the time spent fighting and then treating.
Even though I had only engaged in pure combat without lethal techniques, I had to let him descend the mountain on his own feet, didn’t I?
‘If only he had been a bandit or villain, I wouldn’t have cared.’
Instead of demanding money, he asked to learn a technique, so I was rather lenient with him.
Neigh—
“Right. You’re exhausted too. I’ll leave you at the relay station to rest.”
Since things had come to this, I planned to rest and then simply switch to a fresh horse and depart.
I’d grab some noodles quickly at an inn.
Since I hadn’t slept at all, I’d take a brief nap or something.
As I traveled the main road toward the relay station, a sudden shout pierced the air.
“Hahaha, I am the one called Heavenly Mountain’s Crimson Light Sword! I challenge you to a match, Baek-ui Sinryong!”
‘Heavenly Mountain’s Crimson Light Sword? Who is that?’
In modern terms, this fellow is a nobody.
However, for someone to call themselves the “boss,” they must have considerable confidence in their abilities.
Judging by his age, he was a middle-aged warrior in his forties.
He too blocked the road and shouted arrogantly at me.
I answered him.
“Your words exhaust me. I’ve also crossed mountains all day and am quite fatigued. I apologize, but I’m not in a state to engage in combat. Please, step aside.”
At my words, the middle-aged warrior cried out.
“Krahaha, are you frightened of this one! The name Baek-ui Sinryong is wasted on you! I had high expectations since you’re the foremost disciple of Baek Rin-ui-seon, but it seems his eye for talent has dulled with age. Krahahahaha!”
—A jolt—
My rational mind urgently spoke to my emotional self.
‘Listen well! Jin Cheon-hee! This is a desperate provocation meant to force a match even by insulting your Master! Surely you won’t fall for such a pathetic taunt…!’
Hearing the voice of reason, I spoke.
“Understood. I’ll defeat you immediately.”
I merely listened. Only listened.
In any case, since he’d insulted my Master, I decided he wouldn’t eat for at least a week.
‘If I show him how far a human jaw can break, perhaps he’ll become more respectful.’
Courtesy toward an elder martial artist as a junior?
Counting my previous life’s age, I was older than him.
The moment I dismounted, my opponent unleashed a sword strike as if he’d been waiting.
Clang!
I merely fluttered my sleeve and deflected his blade with the wind pressure alone.
‘Wow, look at this heterodox bastard. Attacking without even announcing it.’
He was equally obsessed with obscurity and had abandoned courtesy, but like a heterodox sect member, he was more vicious.
“Indeed, Baekui Gwangryong! You’ve seen through this one’s first move!”
‘This bastard’s ambush failed and he’s embarrassed.’
As I thought this, he spoke his next words.
“Receive this one’s sword!”
A crimson sword aura split into twelve strands.
Though the first move was blocked clumsily, this sword was genuine.
A realm honed through endless effort.
That sword descended upon me as if seeking an answer.
‘Hmm…’
Still, my desire to confirm how far his jaw could break remained unchanged.
Finger Flick Heaven Penetration.
My weakened version.
Stepping Rebound—!
Sword threads gathered in the rebound infused with rotational force.
The energy bullet extending from my hand tore through the twelve crimson sword auras and flew forward.
Clang!
At the same moment the Crimson Light Sword’s blade was severed and sent flying—
My vision was engulfed by pale white hands.
Crack—
His jawbone undulated rhythmically.
Searing pain forced his eyes wide open.
Of course, I had no intention of stopping there.
Insulting my Master was the same as insulting my parents.
Failing to teach a lesson would bring shame upon my Master.
Before I began in earnest, I said this.
“For a week, consume only rice porridge and remain bedridden. Seek out a doctor in the Baekrin Uigak region.”
Crack-crack-crack—!
“A doctor from the Chuna Hall will treat you well. If you wish to move about as before after a week, you’ll need at least two months of proper recuperation.”
Thud-thud-thud—!
“Should your fever worsen, obtain medicine from the medicinal herb shop. They’ll dispense it immediately after taking your pulse.”
Crack-crack—!
Having completed my diagnosis calmly despite his insult to my Master, I delivered results to match.
In other words, I had thoroughly beaten him in the middle of the square.
That was precisely what it meant.
“Gahhhhhhh!”
Having extracted his surrender, I dusted off my hands.
“Tsk—”
A bit of blood had stained them.
Indeed, when someone insults my Master, controlling my strength becomes difficult.
Still, since I hadn’t struck the challenger’s vital points, he would recover well, and once he paid his treatment fees at Baekrin Uigak’s Buntta branch, he’d be able to wield his blade again.
Of course, having learned how his jawbone could be broken, I imagined he’d gained some valuable instruction as well.
“…Ugh… I apologize for my ignorance, Baek-ui Sinryong. In my haste, I shamefully insulted my Master.”
I nodded.
“Such things happen in life. I understand. Simply ensure you never commit the same mistake twice.”
“Thank you for your understanding, Great Hero. I swear I shall never commit such rudeness again.”
“Yes. You must always maintain courtesy and respect others.”
“Great Hero… I am ignorant, and so… I apologize.”
True to my origins in the Land of Eastern Courtesy, I had successfully taught this man the importance of propriety.
‘Well… I suppose it’s time to move on.’
Now I finally felt the reality of having arrived in the Central Plains.
Just then, someone began rushing over using lightness martial arts.
“White Robed Daooooo! Next is my turnnnnnn!”
An urgent voice.
Clearly, he was running first, afraid of missing me.
Judging by how he opened with informal speech, this bastard would surely insult my Master if I refused.
‘Why do these martial artists keep appearing endlessly!?’
It was certainly a different dimension from when I moved about with the people of Pyoguk.
‘Understood. For now, take the hit…! Since you haven’t insulted your Master yet, I’ll limit the injuries to two weeks of recovery.’
In that instant, he shouted urgently toward me.
“Baek-ui Sinryong! What right do you have to be the successor of the Jegal Family! You’re nothing but a reckless fool aaa!”
It felt like something he’d been preparing for quite some time.
The determination to provoke me into a fight, eagerly awaiting the day we’d meet!
I, a modern person, found myself deliberating.
‘Did he insult my Master or not? Let’s see… he’s saying I don’t have the qualifications, not insulting my Master, right…? So should I limit it to three weeks of recovery? Or since he mentioned it anyway, should I go with a month….?’
This is the problem with Gangho.
I wish there were a standard scale—mild anger, moderate anger, severe anger, absolutely furious.
‘I’ll figure it out once we fight.’
I’d start with at least three weeks, and if it seemed insufficient, I’d add another week or so.
* * *
In the end, I had to engage in five forced duels.
‘This is something… they’re all quite advanced in years…..’
The first one I met was relatively the youngest, while the rest appeared to be well past forty.
‘Of course, they all had their skills. Not at the supreme pinnacle, but they seemed to have reached just before that level.’
I understood.
While inner energy could slow aging, for a middle-aged person to move their body as nimbly as someone in their twenties required vast inner energy and martial mastery.
‘The elders of major families like the Namgung Clan had overflowing funds and accumulated expertise, so they could wield their swords better than young people, but for martial artists of mid-tier families who passed forty, they couldn’t help but feel their bodies gradually declining.’
When that happened, urgency was inevitable.
For those at the very bottom, resignation sets in.
After all, they can see they’ll never catch up.
However, just like modern entrance exams, it’s always the middle tier that worries the most.
It feels like just a bit more effort and they could break through to the next level.
That’s the feeling that comes.
Yet there’s no way to stop their bodies from aging day by day.
To prevent that, they had to do whatever it took, as quickly as possible.
And that urgency creates situations like this.
‘Only the strong ever look dignified in old age.’
Once, I too had a middle-aged body.
Each year, digestion weakened, and even after sleep, fatigue wouldn’t easily lift—such was daily life.
Back then, I could stay up all night, sleep a bit, and still work. Now, doing that leads straight to body aches.
I simply aged a little more each day, slowly.
Yet I could still do something, though not as much as I could in my twenties.
That awkward age.
Forty and beyond.
‘Very few people live a beautiful middle age.’
It was true on Earth, and it was true in this world too.
Television always shows middle-aged people with leisure and composure, but in reality, most live in desperation.
To protect their children. To protect their parents.
Every year, I feel my health slipping through my fingers, and all I can do is endure with stubborn determination.
Still, I must do something to survive, and I’ve grown more seasoned than I was at twenty.
Perhaps that means learning to bear even difficult hardships with a smile.
Unlike what television shows, there are few people who truly possess such composure.
And few are as healthy as the middle-aged celebrities on TV variety shows.
‘Medieval masters in films always have faces full of scars.’
Modern people bear their scars on the soul instead. That’s all there is to it.
It was then that Hwang-gu barked loudly.
“Hmm? Hwang-gu, what is it?”
It wasn’t a warning of an ambush.
Seeing his tail wag, he seemed delighted.
Suddenly Hwang-gu bolted toward something with a patter of paws.
Woof!
“Hwang-gu?”
He darted into an alley, then emerged again moments later.
Hwang-gu was tugging at the robes of a tall man—I couldn’t see his face, but the martial robes were familiar.
The Heavenly Demon Sect!
“Cheonwoo?”
“…Brother?”
Woof woof woof woof!
Hwang-gu, overjoyed, planted his front paws on Cheonwoo’s chest and licked his face repeatedly.
Normally, Hwang-gu’s massive frame would knock someone backward, but Cheonwoo’s height was equally extraordinary, so he remained perfectly steady.
“Argh, Hwang-gu, stop…! Brother, what brings you all the way out here?”
Indeed, that was my question.
Why were you appearing from there?

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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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