Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 374

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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 374
“I hear you’re an excellent Doctor. Is there perhaps a medical method to stabilize one’s mental state?”
“You’re not referring to something like brainwashing, are you?”
“Of course not. Not soul-binding techniques or brainwashing. Just something to calm the mind and… restore normal cognition?”
‘If such a thing existed, I would’ve used it myself.’
He wasn’t speaking of methods like the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, which accelerates thought and processes multiple thoughts simultaneously while forcibly maintaining rationality.
“Going to a temple to cultivate body and spirit would be the most appropriate course.”
“Tch… I understand. At least take my pulse. If this is the influence of toxic cultivation, perhaps once it stabilizes, something might change.”
Her father hadn’t given up on his daughter yet.
But my thoughts were different.
‘If it were Hwagyeong, it would’ve stabilized long ago…’
At this point, wasn’t this simply Dang-a’s personality?
Father wanted to believe my daughter was acting this way because toxic cultivation had invited an evil heart demon into her.
But it was entirely possible this was just Dang-a’s true nature.
However, with him continuing to ask, I couldn’t refuse considering the relationship with the Dang family.
“Understood. I’ll do my best to… have a conversation with Dang-a. Also, would it be acceptable to take the pulse of others who’ve cultivated different toxic arts? To see if there’s something different.”
Normally, he should have hesitated at this.
He couldn’t possibly not understand that I meant examining the method and operation of inner energy, not merely taking a patient’s pulse.
“…I’m asking you to do this.”
‘Ah, he’s sincere.’
I thought he’d refuse at this point.
Since he accepted so readily, I let out a sigh.
The Gaju continued speaking.
“However, keep this secret from others. Only your Master, Baek Rin-ui-seon, needs to know. Furthermore.”
“Yes?”
“The Dang family’s martial methods have been known to Baek Rin-ui-seon since his days as Hyeolpyeon-wang. He’s taken my pulse many times.”
“Ah… So Master treated you?”
“Yes. Three life-or-death duels, two torture sessions, and five treatments afterward. We were quite young then. Hehehehe.”
What on earth had my Master been doing, visiting the Dang family back then?
I felt a strange sense of distance.
* * *
‘This is troublesome. Even if I can’t cure it, I should at least pretend to try.’
From my perspective, no matter how I looked at it, this was simply her personality.
Based on my research into the structure of Hwagyeong, deepening cognition expands one’s perspective, but it doesn’t cause a complete 180-degree personality change.
Therefore, through my accumulated hypotheses, the analysis suggests that Dang-a’s current personality is likely the self she desires.
‘Right. Living as a rebellious youth is more fun than being an adult anyway. With power and talent, why should she conform to others’ expectations?’
Of course, this was merely speculation in my head.
I hadn’t actually investigated it, so I couldn’t say for certain.
However, if my hypothesis was correct and this was Dang-a’s true personality…
‘…Father will need to prepare himself to accept it.’
Adolescence usually corrects itself in most people, but there are adults who reach their thirties, forties, and fifties living exactly as they were during those years.
Even if hormones return to normal, if someone likes how they are, they simply continue living that way.
‘Well, let’s try as far as we can go for now.’
And so, the next day.
Sama Hyeon went around meeting with people from the Sichuan Dang family’s financial department.
It seemed to involve transactions related to merchant operations.
Meanwhile, I went around meeting with the medical staff from Baekrin Medical Guild who had come with me and the doctors of the Sichuan Dang family.
Beyond poison and detoxification, what I was particularly interested in was one of the Sichuan Dang family’s specialties.
Antiparasitic medicine.
Just as it was in the Dadu Kingdom incident, the parasitic problem in this era was on an entirely different scale than the modern world.
People lived their lives coexisting with parasites.
Yet occasionally, these parasites caused illness.
Despite this, there were virtually no properly effective antiparasitic medicines.
The Sichuan Dang family’s antiparasitic medicine was known to be effective, but the reason was actually quite simple.
They used poison.
The sect’s method was to administer poison in quantities that wouldn’t kill humans but would kill parasites.
Of course, poison is poison, so people didn’t come out unscathed.
Usually after taking it, patients suffered from stomach troubles for several days, or in severe cases, developed fevers.
I had come here with my sights set on this parasitic medicine even before arriving.
I wanted to verify the accumulated data, confirm the medicine’s efficacy, and discuss improvements.
‘Thinking of the principles behind modern antiparasitic medicines… the basic principle is usually to starve them to death by preventing parasites from absorbing nutrients.’
There was a time when rumors spread that one antiparasitic medicine commonly used on animals had anticancer effects, and many cancer patients sought it out.
However, until research was completed, people couldn’t take it carelessly, and if the liver happened to be damaged, it would make the cancer treatment already underway even more difficult, so it was troublesome all around.
‘This world even has a strange parasite called godoк.’
There existed parasites that, once parasitizing the body, would kill the host if a specific medicine wasn’t administered periodically.
Not only the Hyeolseonggyo, but heterodox sects and demonic cults also controlled people this way.
If it were possible to remove such parasites, it wouldn’t just be about curing disease—it would allow patients to maintain their will against coercion from rival factions.
Of course, the Sichuan Dang family wasn’t idle either.
“I heard there’s a new concept about life. That countless microcosms gather together to form the human body.”
‘When you describe cells this way, it actually sounds impressive.’
It vaguely resembled the philosophy of Buddhism or Taoism.
Since I joined the Baekrin Medical Guild, medicine had advanced at an extraordinary pace.
I created primitive microscopes, established the concepts of cells and bacteria, and sent them out as medical texts.
I created a systematic educational curriculum, and doctors from various regions repeatedly came to the main branch for training and then returned to the field.
During this time, other medical guilds and doctors still didn’t even understand the basic concepts of bacteria and cells.
Some found the medical texts difficult to comprehend, or thought them too far-fetched to believe.
Humans were created from yin-yang and the five elements, and they lived through the eight extraordinary meridians—not through cells.
‘Hmm… it was good that I brought the primitive microscope.’
The Sichuan Dang family wanted to learn about the medical techniques of Baekrin Medical Guild and was eager to accept them.
‘Then there’s no reason to refuse.’
I needed many people for the organization I was building.
So I exchanged knowledge with the Dang family doctors.
In my spare moments, I examined martial artists who had studied poison techniques and accumulated data.
Time passed like this.
* * *
“Phew! Today was fulfilling too!”
I had managed to learn the Dang family’s secret poison detoxification techniques.
I also learned how to paralyze poison parasites by injecting toxins through the tip of a needle.
Of course, I had only learned the theory—practical application was still a distant dream.
‘But seriously, to paralyze only the poison parasite without killing the patient requires at least ten years of martial cultivation? That doesn’t make sense.’
Even within the Sichuan Dang Sect, there were few doctors capable of using this technique.
For it to be possible, one needed deep expertise in poison techniques and human anatomy, plus internal energy on top of that.
‘It’s really complicated. If I miss the mark, the poison parasite’s abdomen ruptures and dissolves the patient’s organs. And if I accidentally pierce the wrong spot, I fail to immobilize the parasite while injecting toxin directly into the patient’s body.’
…Gangho medicine was always unpredictable, but this was even more so.
‘Even if I adapt it to suit the Baekrin Medical Guild, how many doctors would actually be capable of it?’
Fortunately, most poison parasites have the characteristic of remaining nearly motionless once they establish themselves in the host’s body, so at least those are manageable. But poison parasites that move around inside the body? Those I cannot treat.
Thankfully, such parasites are quite rare.
I rolled my shoulders to loosen them and entered the guest quarters.
Just then, Sama Hyeon was coming in as well.
“Hyeong, you worked hard.”
“You too, Hyeon. Any progress on your end?”
“Of course! We already have twelve contracts signed? And our inn will be opening another branch with the Dang Sect too~”
“That’s impressive.”
Regardless of other matters, the additional inn branch was certainly novel.
Given Sichuan’s nature, they rarely sold land to outsiders.
“What about you, hyeong?”
“I obtained much of what I wanted. The problem is there’s one issue.”
Sama Hyeon immediately grasped what that problem was.
“Ah yes… The Hyeolpyeon-wang, after all….”
Just then, I sensed someone approaching the guest quarters rapidly using lightness technique.
Since the Dang family warriors weren’t stopping them, it must be someone from inside.
And indeed.
A woman in black clothes looked down at me from the rooftop, arms crossed.
“Have you been resting well! My destined rival. Keke, how amusing to see you indulging in luxury and pleasure!”
[Well, hyeong has been absorbed in scholarship and cooking.]
Sama Hyeon spoke through sound transmission.
What was remarkable was that despite all this socializing, my expression remained unchanged.
I spoke.
“Lady Dang. I was just about to come take your pulse anyway, so this works out perfectly.”
“You dare take the pulse of this seat’s master? Are you prepared to forfeit your life?”
“Life itself?”
“Life. Death. A final duel! Darkness is always impartial. You who have consumed blood and flesh as a guest of the Dang household shall now pay the price!”
[Translation: She’s saying that since I ate well and slept well as a guest of the Dang family, now it’s time for a martial match. Brother~]
[You’d probably survive just fine even if you were dropped in the middle of a desert. Hyeon-a.]
In truth, there were ways to escape this.
‘If I just say my stomach hurts and a match is impossible right now, she’d back off. She’s a good person, after all.’
Dang-a, that chaos-seeking dark warrior who finds no joy in defeating a weakling like me, would simply turn back.
And she’d probably return a day or two later asking if my stomach had healed.
Based on the pattern so far, she’d likely bring some sort of get-well gift.
She’s a good person, after all.
‘But. A martial match is what I want too.’
If I ended this with nothing but a pulse diagnosis and no actual combat, the Gaju of the Dang household would think I was shirking my duties.
If he felt I’d done a half-hearted job despite being asked so earnestly, he might even think his pride had been wounded.
‘Strangely enough… once swords are crossed, people consider you to have given your all.’
Of course, a life-or-death duel means risking one’s life is legitimate.
Though that too is giving one’s all in a different sense.
But what does that have to do with diagnosing illness as a doctor?
‘Right. Let’s have an intense match. Then I’ll take her pulse. And… if I don’t know, I’ll just say honestly that I don’t know. What doctor in this world would agree to a life-or-death duel with Dang-a!’

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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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