Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 377

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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 377
It rained the next day.
True to the hot and humid climate of Sichuan, rain fell frequently here.
Sama Hyeon had stepped away briefly to continue his business dealings.
I was resting, still recovering from the aftermath of yesterday’s battle.
‘What should I eat today? Should I just accept whatever others prepare for me?’
While pondering such matters, Dang-a came to visit.
‘Hmm? She’s not wearing her mask today?’
She, who always wore a mask when going about, had come today with an ordinary face for some reason.
“You seem perfectly fine.”
She looked at me and then plopped down beside me without ceremony.
“Are you doing well, Lady Dang?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
‘Did she come because she was worried I might be badly injured? If that’s the case, why did she insist on a life-or-death duel in the first place?’
As a doctor, I didn’t want to understand it, but as a warrior, it made perfect sense.
To achieve enlightenment, one must hone their skills to an even greater degree.
“I came because I wanted to review yesterday’s fight.”
“I’m afraid I must decline.”
The moment I refused, Dang-a clicked her tongue in displeasure. Then she said this:
“Then what about fighting with words?”
“A sword discussion, then.”
It wasn’t actual combat. Rather, it meant discussing a hypothetical fight through words.
In a sword discussion, it was customary to reveal each other’s stances and speeds.
That said, it was quite different from actual combat. Still, Dang-a and I had already crossed weapons once before.
Since we had come to understand each other well, a sword discussion was worthwhile.
We had already experienced how each of us would move.
‘That too is a certain romance of martial arts.’
As I paused to choose my words, uncertain whether to accept, Dang-a spoke first.
“Since I lost in our last duel, I’ll take the first move. I attack with the Dang Family’s Poison Dragon Technique, Third Form: Poison Dragon Summoned!”
Poison Dragon Summoned.
Though the name suggested summoning a poison dragon, in reality it meant grasping a whip with both hands, pulling it back, and then using the recoil to snap it toward the opponent like a lash.
A technique centered on speed. Of course, I was well familiar with this move.
“Which area are you targeting?”
“The chest.”
“Then… I shall step back one pace while employing the Taeul Danseonggeom’s Fourth Form: Heavenly Origin Sword Severance.”
Heavenly Origin Sword Severance.
A defensive technique that draws a circle with the sword, deflecting attacks that enter the trajectory as if brushing them away.
Of course, when sword energy or sword force is layered upon it, it transforms into a terrifying technique that doesn’t deflect but severs, combining offense and defense.
“Interesting… Then I shall…”
The two of us continued our sword discussion.
However, this debate through martial arts could only have one predetermined outcome.
There was no way I could lose in a battle of inner strength when I had cultivated Eungryong’s precious technique and the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong to their peak!
“Ugh… then my inner strength will become depleted.”
“Yes. That would be the case.”
“Very well, I acknowledge my defeat.”
Dang-a admitted her loss with surprising ease and composure.
She gazed at the falling rain before speaking.
“Why do you humor me like this?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s strange. You don’t deny that I’ve fallen into the Dang Family’s heart demon. Yet you don’t cough blood like the Elders of the Dang Family, lamenting memories of the past.”
“Haha.”
“You’re not trying to exploit me either.”
It’s fortunate that Hyeon isn’t here.
Actually, knowing that fellow’s personality, he might not react much even if I said it outright.
He might even affirm it—saying that exploiting you is exactly what I’m doing.
Dang-a rested her chin on her hand and gazed at me from an angle.
“Why did you play with me like that in the first place?”
“Were you not entertained?”
“I was entertained. That’s the problem.”
She let out a soft laugh.
“My father constantly worries about me, and the Elders of the Dang Family suffer when they see me. It was enjoyable, but… sometimes I feel lonely.”
Her gaze drifted toward the ceiling.
“I don’t understand why you’re being so kind to me.”
I had shared a worldview with her, even if only briefly.
A strange perspective—neither mocking nor looking down from above.
For Dang-a, that had become a precious memory. Even as she returned and pondered her enlightenment, she would recall that day’s “play.”
She extended her wrist.
“Father asked you to take my pulse, didn’t he?”
“The Gaju did make such a request.”
“Hehehehe, do you think it can be cured?”
“…Well… I haven’t taken your pulse yet, but… if Lady Dang wishes it to be cured, then it will be cured, and if not, I believe it will remain as it is.”
“You don’t think of it as an illness. Truly, my destined rival.”
Having said that, she found it amusing and let out a small laugh.
“Ah, but living like this is tedious, I tell you.”
I grasped Dang-a’s wrist, which possessed considerable muscle definition.
Of course, the thickness seemed far insufficient to wield that enormous whip like paper.
Yet this was an arm that had swung against a wall alone a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times.
“Then I shall take your pulse.”
“Very well.”
I closed my eyes and spent a long time reading her pulse with my inner energy.
Dang-a’s eyes traced the streaks of rain.
When I finally looked away, her gaze had somehow shifted from the raindrops to my brow.
“Is something troubling you?”
“I’ve reconfirmed that the Dang Family’s vital energy is composed of toxic qi. Because of this, the metabolic response differs quite significantly from ordinary people.”
“Couldn’t any other warrior of the Dang Family have discerned that?”
“Yes. Additionally, there’s a tendency toward endocrine hypersecretion. While this naturally affects the body greatly, it inevitably touches upon psychological aspects as well.”
“And?”
I smiled gently.
“Lady Dang’s body is remarkably robust and brimming with vitality.”
“Good.”
She laughed softly.
The Hyeolpyeon-wang wearing a mask would make one’s knees tremble, but Lady Dang without her mask still retained traces of youthfulness.
I spoke.
“If you were to cultivate inner energy of a nature that supports both body and spirit, you might improve somewhat.”
“Something like the Hyeonwon Gong of the Jegal Family?”
I hadn’t expected her to grasp it so quickly.
I answered.
“Up to this point, this is something to discuss with the Gaju. However, ultimately it is your choice, Lady Dang.”
“True. Whether to cultivate the Hyeonwon Gong and pretend to be an adult, or to enjoy this time a bit longer.”
Dang-a wasn’t mad—she was simply playing because she found it enjoyable.
I realized that I had noticed this fact and found nothing strange about it.
“Adults say it’s shameful, but why do I find it only amusing? Is this still the influence of the heart demon?”
“Hmm… I couldn’t say. Whether it’s your nature or something else.”
I watched with amusement as my brow furrowed.
“I shouldn’t worry the adults too much, though.”
She had played enough by now. Yet still, she wanted to play more.
“I want to live as the Hyeolpyeon-wang and say whatever I wish… Kekeke.”
Dang-a’s gaze turned back to the rain streaks. She laughed like a mischievous child.
“In this state, I can say anything at all.”
When she entered Hwagyeong, she had already recognized her surroundings and herself.
She also realized that if she were to return as the good child the Elders of the Dang Family desired, she would never taste this freedom again.
Her talent had pierced through to understand just how tedious that life would be.
Contrary to the Gaju’s concerns, from my perspective, Dang-a in her current state is extremely normal and brilliant.
After all, it would have been impossible for someone without martial training to achieve so much daily with a heart demon in this manner.
The more we sparred, the more I understood what state of mind she was truly in.
Therefore, I found myself fond of Dang-a, who enjoyed the present moment with a sound mind.
Regardless of what others say, doing what one wishes—I am no different myself.
I am called the Mad Doctor and commit mad acts, yet it brings me joy.
‘At times, to assert myself, the gazes of others truly matter little.’
The world is like waves, and small stones are always struck and rounded smooth.
If that’s what you call being an adult.
I wanted to keep one sharp edge—that was my true desire.
So I couldn’t help but understand Dang-a deeply.
“Hmm.”
“I’ll say I taught her part of the Hyeonwon technique. If I mention some adjustments were made… the Gaju would—”
“He’d believe it. Father would.”
“….”
Whoooosh.
The rain grew heavier and heavier.
She gazed at the downpour for a long while before speaking.
“I’m telling you this for the first time, but… I actually enjoyed how flustered the adults became because of me.”
“I see.”
“In situations where I should have stepped back because I’m a young master of the Three Families, I could smash through everything. That was exhilarating.”
“That’s certainly something to enjoy.”
“Right. I insulted the Dang Family. Not openly, of course—subtle remarks you’d only understand after dwelling on them—but I couldn’t help myself. How delightful it was to tap those fools gently on the head.”
“I can’t restrain myself from insulting my Shifu either. Even indirect insults, I can’t hold back.”
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
Whether from the moisture the raindrops created, or from tears.
Two streaks of wetness marked her sleeve.
“…I wanted to spend more time as a child. But I know now that’s just greed. It’s time for me to grow up.”
From the perspective of someone living a second life, I still saw her as young.
But from this world’s perspective, Dang-a was an adult.
As the young mistress of the Dang Family, she would have to live her entire life in restraint.
That was the fate of the Three Families who bore responsibility for the four provinces.
The only thing she could pursue freely was mastery of martial arts; everything else, even marriage, would be decided by her parents.
Even if she married into another family, she still couldn’t marry just anyone.
When Dang-a made the decision to let go of her childhood like that.
I suddenly made a proposal.
“What if you did it this way?”
“Hmm?”
“When you wear a mask, you’re the Hyeolpyeon-wang. When you don’t, you live as an ordinary child of the Dang Family.”
I think I’d seen this kind of setting in a comic book long ago.
“That’s… absolute madness.”
“No, no—if you say you only recovered halfway, what can anyone do? I’m the Baek-ui Sinryong and I don’t even know the full picture. And honestly, even from a pulse diagnosis alone, that’s the case.”
The Hwaju Medical Institute couldn’t find answers, and the Baekrin Medical Guild couldn’t either—so how would your father know?
This was simply Dang-a’s decision to adjust to those around her because her nature wasn’t cruel enough.
If you kept pretending to be mad and continued like this, your parents would have no way of knowing, would they?
I matched her tone playfully.
“You don’t necessarily have to conform to others, do you?”
“…!”
In that moment, tears began to flow more freely from Dang-a’s eyes.
“Is that really allowed?”
“Yes.”
“Can I keep playing like this even when I become a bent old grandmother?”
“You won’t merely play. Lady Dang, you’ll surely excel at the duties of the Gaju as well.”
“As long as this play doesn’t become shameful even when I’m a grandmother.”
“That’s good then.”
“…But if it does become shameful.”
“Then I’ll examine you. I’ll make sure it doesn’t progress to demonic cultivation.”
“You’re quite an unusual Doctor. You are….”
“Haha. And it’s fine if you don’t return either. Lady Dang is already far too strong.”
“Damn it…. You’ve already beaten me twice. You have no conscience.”
“I’m… well… my situation is simply unusual.”
I stopped there and didn’t explain what made my situation so unusual.
Dang-a covered her face with her sleeve for a long while.
I remained by her side, watching over her until she had composed her heart.

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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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