Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 364

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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 364
“What if I were to grant you a painless end to that life?”
“You clearly promised you wouldn’t lift a finger….”
“…I promised for my granddaughter’s sake, not for your safety, you wretch. Besides, isn’t this a rather appealing choice? You’ve lived quite a long life, worn down by time itself—wouldn’t you welcome peace?”
Cheonma parted her lips, crimson as blood, and spoke sweetly.
“I shall ensure your granddaughter lives in comfort. A life safer and more peaceful than anything Baekrin Uiseon could offer. I swear this by the name of my sect.”
Wuying Touguai’s hands trembled at those words.
“Why speak such things now….”
“…Because it seemed necessary. I have, despite my nature, enjoyed watching your glory days with pleasure. It pains me to see that radiance so thoroughly shattered.”
Jin Cheon-hee, observing this scene, swallowed his words.
‘Cheonma speaks from the heart.’
He could not fathom what whim drove her to offer Wuying Touguai death.
Yet one thing seemed clear.
Remarkably, this offer was an act of kindness.
For one who would live eternally and could never ascend.
For one who could not abandon humanity either.
It was a strange tale indeed.
Soon, what emerged from Wuying Touguai’s mouth was a torrent of crude curses.
“You’re spouting utter nonsense, you bastard! If I died by your hand, do you think my little one would laugh and live happily? Because you’re like that, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains sect gets mocked! Do you understand?!”
Hearing the curses, Cheonma laughed with delight.
“Hahaha, you haven’t changed at all.”
“Why should I die! I absolutely won’t die until my granddaughter marries!”
“Yes. That’s right. That’s how Wuying Touguai should be. Hahaha, haha….”
Cheonma laughed for a long while.
Then she spoke toward Jin Cheon-hee.
“Thank you. For letting that one live.”
“Did you not wish for death…?”
“Hmm. One part of me desired it. As the Leader of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, I certainly wanted that one’s demise.”
“Then why offer thanks….”
“Yet another part of me wished for that one to live. The sight of struggling is worth observing.”
Ah… this psychology, I don’t understand it.
Is this what one must become to rule as a demonic sect leader?
In the midst of this, Cheonma gazed upon Jin Cheon-hee.
Her deep eyes were like blades themselves, and merely looking upon them felt as though flesh were being cut.
“Continue to live as boldly as you do.”
“Pardon?”
To Jin Cheon-hee’s question, Cheonma offered no answer, only speaking what she wished to say.
“I hear you seek a fan. No matter how much you search, nothing will match the old one. This is a gift from me, so there will come a time when you’ll need it.”
Click.
She set a small wooden box before Jin Cheon-hee.
“…What is this?”
“There is no need to be anxious. Hahaha.”
I had not forgotten the resentment of Game Sal-tang-su.
I gazed at Cheonma with eyes full of wariness, but she seemed to find my caution endearing and merely responded with leisurely composure.
“What lies within is a cord woven from moonsilk thread. Should you use it to decorate the fan, Jegalling will be most satisfied.”
“Moonsilk thread?”
“Ah, it is a rare material that no longer exists in this world, so few would know of it. Tugoe, you would remember it, would you not?”
At those words, Tugoe responded in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Of course I do. It is natural that others do not know. Our generation was the last to obtain moonsilk thread. The Moonweaving Workshop has long since burned to ash, and all its artisans were slaughtered. That must be the last moonsilk thread in existence.”
Ah… what a desolate tale.
Then Tugoe added one more thing.
“But it was the Demonic Cult that burned down the Moonweaving Workshop, was it not?”
Cheonma answered.
“Indeed. When I was ascending through my Heavenly Demon Blood, a rival Soegooju competing with me committed that deed.”
‘…The more I learn of this tale, the more sinister it becomes.’
The two women spoke of the past as though it were nothing.
Listening carefully, it seemed that Tugoe, Cheonma, and Hyeolsaeng Nogoe had all emerged as masters of the martial realm around the same era and wandered through Gangho.
“What purpose does such a cord serve?”
“It is durable and beautiful. That is all there is to it.”
At those words, my eyes widened.
Tugoe added a remark.
“In darkness, it shimmers faintly like moonlight, which is why it is called moonsilk thread…. That is all one can say about it, young one.”
‘So it is precious, beautiful, and… I should think of it as a rare material more durable than ordinary cord.’
“Well… using it as a fan decoration cord is extravagance beyond measure. The box itself would be considered the more precious object.”
“The box?”
No matter how I looked at it, the box appeared to be an ordinary wooden container.
Cheonma spoke.
“Indeed, Tugoe, you have a discerning eye. This box is moonwood. When inner energy is infused into it, it becomes harder than steel, and its properties transform according to the nature of that inner energy.”
‘What manner of rare material is this…? No, rather than making weapons from such a thing, they wish to make a fan…?’
Having thought that far, I quickly reconsidered.
‘…But the length is too short for use as a weapon. And Master can kill humans effectively with even a paper fan, let alone a folding fan…. Yes, making it into a fan would be quite fitting.’
The more I thought about it, the more it suited Master.
Tugoe furrowed her brow.
“It is excessive as a reward.”
At that, Cheonma laughed playfully.
“Before ascending to leadership, one may indulge in such extravagance.”
As one responsible for the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, Cheonma had issued the order for execution, yet she had secretly hoped Tugoe would survive.
Those words were undoubtedly sincere.
Tugoe’s expression grew complicated as she glanced at Cheonma, then her gaze shifted to the moonwood I was holding.
“Moonwood too can no longer be obtained.”
“Yes. That forest burned away as well. The orthodox sects set it ablaze.”
* * *
Though I had spent time with extraordinary individuals, the drinking gathering itself was surprisingly ordinary.
After the brief gathering ended, Cheonma rose from her seat.
“It was enjoyable. Though I cannot speak for what you think of it.”
“….”
Tugoe did not answer. She merely tilted her cup with a complicated expression.
The current Cheonma must have once been a Soegooju as well, and surely had stained her hands with no small amount of blood.
A living demon—cruel and merciless beyond compare.
For Tugoe, Cheonma had always been an existence she must avoid.
Yet to share a cup with such a Cheonma…
It must have been something only those who lived through the same era could feel.
It was an emotion that neither Yeo Ha-ryun nor I could understand.
Thunk!
Tugoe set down her cup, her flushed face speaking.
“Let us not meet again. You ascend to the heavens, and I remain here!”
“Do you truly have no intention of ending your life? In all of Gangho, there is none who could sever your existence as painlessly as I.”
“….”
The silence meant that lingering attachment to death remained within Tugoe.
I do not know how long she has lived.
Since Hyeolsaeng Nogoe lived so long, Cheonma and Tugoe must be the same.
Having lived through endless ages, she must have sent off countless precious people.
If enlightenment in the martial way remains distant, and abandoning the human heart equally distant, then perhaps only erosion remains.
“Perhaps I may regret it. But I do not know. Do I appear to you as one clinging to life out of fear of death’s pain, Cheonma?”
“….”
Intoxication colored Tugoe’s voice.
“In truth, this is our first time sharing a cup, but we crossed blades often in Gangho when you were the Thunder Demon, did we not? I honestly struggled to survive, but you wielded your sword with killing intent. Yes, you could have ended me then, Cheonma.”
“Still stubborn. Still foolish….”
“Yes, I know. I am ignorant.”
Soon after, Tugoe also rose to her feet.
“So let us treat this drink as a farewell toast and never meet again. You watch from there how I crawl upon the earth.”
Tugoe pointed her index finger toward the sky.
And so the gathering ended.
* * *
Yeo Ha-ryun was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by Cheonma and ended up unable to slack off, returning instead. (Though he had already played enough under the pretext of searching for the fan with his brother.)
And so I returned to the Medical Guild.
I could not find the fan to present to my Master, but I did bring back the materials to make one.
‘Ah, I hope this eases my Master’s anger a little.’
I left saying I would handle it quietly, yet I’ve gone and dealt with everything—how shameful.
‘No, this was Ha-ryun’s doing…. I was planning a somewhat more moderate, pragmatic (?) strategy!’
There’s a grievance here, light as a feather though it may be.
But considering Yeo Ha-ryun’s nature, what can I do?
As long as he’s the protagonist, no one knows how he’ll move.
And true to form as a protagonist, the situation ended in the most spectacular fashion.
‘That’s right. Ha-ryun was so cool… his charisma was absolutely extraordinary….’
If a martial arts novel protagonist stepped out fully dressed, wouldn’t it be Yeo Ha-ryun?
No, from the very beginning, wasn’t he born to be the protagonist?
He was practically the embodiment of coolness itself.
But since I don’t know what he might do, traveling as his companion isn’t good for my heart.
On top of that, Cheonma’s words were ominous.
-Hahaha, I’ll borrow this fellow for a moment.
…To borrow means to return… In a way, doesn’t that mean he’ll come back soon?
‘No, but… I don’t have the confidence to handle Ha-ryun twice.’
He’s cool, absolutely overflowing with coolness.
An ordinary person won’t live out their natural lifespan traveling with this guy.
Now I finally understand in 4D why supporting characters in martial arts novels curse the protagonist as a madman or clutch their necks saying they won’t live long because of him?
‘Can’t I just maintain a reasonable distance like now and support him while blocking the blood calamity?’
The ordinary man’s heart was complicated.
“The Patriarch is calling for you.”
As expected. I hadn’t even finished unpacking when Master’s summons came immediately.
Last time, he came out to greet me at the door, but sending someone to call me like this meant he was quite angry.
‘I’m done for now.’
And that prediction was accurate.
For exactly two and a half hours, I received a harsh scolding from Master.
What made it worse was this.
“That’s right. What could my Hope have done wrong? It’s all because one bug got attached to him. The Demonic Cult wouldn’t be the Demonic Cult for nothing, and Cheon Sal-seong wouldn’t be Cheon Sal-seong for nothing.”
That was it.
To Master, Yeo Ha-ryun was a bug.
No, if possible, he was less than a bug.
I had to embrace that bug and argue my case once again today.
“Master, though Ha-ryun may be hasty at times, he still made a great contribution to ending this matter swiftly.”
“That’s not it, Hope. This matter ended swiftly thanks to your Master’s virtue.”
If I disagreed, eight hundred warriors would weep.
But Ha-ryun’s contribution to reversing the situation and ending things quickly was significant.
Even though I wanted to address that point, Master was…
“But surely you didn’t venture into Gangho without a plan. I’m curious whether things would have gone awry if you’d followed your plan. You, who read the situation beforehand and sent letters to the Namgung Family.”
“Even so, it wouldn’t have ended as quickly as what Ha-ryun accomplished.”
“But it would have ended safely. Hope, that would have sufficed for me.”
That was it.
Master had already finished his calculations and was scolding me accordingly.
And winning against my Master through mere words was hardly an easy feat.
In fact, when I was clearly in the wrong, there was no way to win through excuses.
In the end, all I could do was beg: “It is all my fault and my lack of virtue. Please do not blame Ha-ryun….”
‘Ha-ryun, your older brother is suffering like this.’
Of course, Ha-ryun, who had been dragged away by the scruff of his neck by the Cheonma, was likely suffering far more.
My Master was merely admonishing me out of affection, but the Cheonma cared little whether Ha-ryun lived or died.
Of course, she likely maintained some minimal sense of obligation toward the one who had transmitted the Cheonma Divine Art to her.
In the Demonic Sect of the strong, the weak simply perish if they fall behind.
That was how she had lived her life, and the same logic would apply to Ha-ryun.

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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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