Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 381

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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 381
“Oh… Hyeong, are you taking me with you?”
“If I said I was going alone, you wouldn’t follow anyway?”
“True enough. I can’t resist my curiosity~”
Sama Hyeon grinned sheepishly and affirmed his brother’s words.
“Then let’s go.”
Jin Cheon-hee spurred his horse and leaped into the air.
The martial artists gasped at the fluid movement, as graceful as a dragon ascending to heaven.
Sama Hyeon followed a beat slower, his movements equally elegant as he pursued the afterimage of his brother.
* * *
A putrid stench.
Not merely the smell of decay, but the distinct reek of a corpse rotting away.
Surprisingly, a doctor doesn’t often encounter the smell of decomposing bodies.
Once a body begins to putrefy, it means the corpse has been left unattended for a long time, and typically once a patient dies, the work falls to undertakers or forensic physicians.
Yet this was a doctor of the Gangho.
Especially one from the Baekrin Medical Guild.
Nevertheless, I had grown accustomed to this stench of rotting flesh throughout my time in the Gangho.
Wherever bloodshed occurred, such odors were commonplace.
‘I’ve smelled it even on battlefields.’
Bodies must be recovered when families still live and society must continue functioning, even minimally.
And now.
The faint odor of death I’d detected from afar grew steadily stronger, until it hit me fully.
“Wow… This is pretty vicious, huh? Doesn’t look like just one or two corpses.”
“You’re telling me.”
I withdrew a handkerchief, applied medicinal herbs to it, and wrapped it around my face.
I handed one to Sama Hyeon as well.
“This will make it much more bearable.”
“Ah, thanks, Hyeong.”
The two young men arrived at a nameless clearing in the forest where weeds had grown waist-high.
Fifteen corpses lay scattered across the overgrown grass.
Insects crawled between the bodies while flies buzzed overhead, feasting on the remains.
The corpses had already been ravaged by beasts, their flesh hanging in tattered strips.
A gruesome sight.
I took a measured breath.
The herbal fragrance penetrated my nostrils, neutralizing the stench of death.
‘Most martial artists would have retched by now. Is this what it means to be Hyeong?’
Sama Hyeon glanced at me, contemplating.
He’d grown considerably desensitized climbing to this position, but he thought his brother wouldn’t be.
Yet Hyeong proved far more resilient than expected.
Sama Hyeon spoke with exaggerated expression.
“Wow… now that’s quite the twisted taste~ Could this be Oh Dok-mun’s doing~?”
“Based on the territory, it’s quite possible, but it’s too early to jump to conclusions.”
Sama Hyeon spoke, and Jin Cheon-hee answered calmly.
“I’m not sure of the reason, but… we can’t leave this as it is.”
“Because of that hygiene matter?”
“Yes. This place is close to Oh Dok-mun’s territory. And if they died around the same time, there’s a risk of plague.”
It was difficult to say for certain. However, if there had been a blood massacre nearby, I would have heard it, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘Well, if it’s just my worry, that’s fortunate. Still, leaving corpses like this near the village is concerning.’
In a world without antibiotics, leaving them like this would easily spread plague.
Even if it did, since there’s no concept of pathogens, people usually think it’s the wrath of the heavens and perform rituals. After that, nothing gets resolved.
People just keep dying.
In an age without vaccinations, all we can hope for is herd immunity through infection.
But that’s easier said than done in reality.
Most of the time, villages become ruins, nearby villages are struck by plague again and again, and the nation simply cuts off roads and maintains control until the epidemic passes.
Sama Hyeon asked.
“But there are so many of them, Hyeong. How are you planning to handle this? Should we call the Medical Guild’s martial artists?”
“Let’s do it the way the corpse handlers do. Collect the belongings and burn the bodies.”
“Cremation?”
“Yes. The families don’t need to see their rotting relatives’ corpses.”
Whoosh—
Flames erupted from my hand.
I had drawn forth the fire element from the Five Elements True Qi.
Just as I was about to throw it among the corpses.
Hwang-gu barked.
Both Sama Hyeon and I immediately retreated at that signal.
The moment we stepped back, several arrows came flying and struck the spot where we had been standing.
Thud-thud-thud—!
Hwang-gu had sensed the arrows shot from quite a distance away.
“!#%#% !@^%#!!!”
A booming voice shouted in an incomprehensible language.
At that mighty roar, three people who appeared to be his companions emerged from behind.
Since Sama Hyeon and I had already sensed the three presences as the arrows arrived, we weren’t particularly surprised.
One was a massive man with thick muscles and bones, resembling a bear.
Another had cat-like eyes and ears slightly longer than ordinary people.
The last had pale skin and hair and eyes black as obsidian.
All three men, dressed in sleeveless garments with arm guards, descended before Sama Hyeon and me.
Each wore beast hide clothing of different animals, but all three bore the same emblem on their chests.
It was an emblem I had seen before.
The emblem of Oh Dok-mun!
“Central Plains dogs! What are you doing here!”
That was the moment.
The Burly Man snarled with fury in his expression.
Each possessed distinctly individual skeletal structures.
These bodies were likely optimized for mastering the martial arts of their respective bloodlines.
I made my best guess based on what I’d studied.
‘Tiger tribe, Adaptive Tribe, Golden Insect Tribe perhaps… In any case, seeing them so enraged suggests these corpses…’
I organized my thoughts and offered a respectful bow.
“I am Jin Cheon-hee, Soggakju of Baekrin Uiseon. It is an honor to meet the martial artists of Oh Dok-mun.”
First, a proper introduction.
In Gangho, an introduction is a significant act.
Once you introduce yourself, it is courtesy to receive acknowledgment in return.
Especially important is declaring the name of one’s sect.
“Hmph! I refuse to listen! You dare insult our funeral rites! Repay your crime with death!”
Yet the Giant of the Adaptive Tribe ignored my introduction entirely and charged forward. The sheer force was like a bear barreling toward me!
Nearly eight feet tall, yet his body’s thickness transcended human proportions, making his presence all the more overwhelming.
“Tsk~ I offered a greeting and you won’t accept it~ Dealing with such a rude creature is such a bother.”
Before I could step forward.
Sama Hyeon burst ahead first.
His arms extended, his upper body leaning forward in a bizarre, explosive movement.
Simultaneously, each of Sama Hyeon’s fingers began to gleam as if they were made of metal.
The Giant of the Adaptive Tribe paid no heed to such strangeness and brought his fist down in a hammer-like strike from above.
The force was like a colossal mallet descending—capable of shattering stone in a single blow.
Whoosh.
Yet.
Sama Hyeon slipped the fist aside and burrowed deeper into the giant’s embrace.
Though their heights differed greatly, Sama Hyeon’s metallic-gleaming hands were at the perfect distance to reach the giant’s shoulder.
Crunch.
“Ugh!?”
Sama Hyeon’s hands dug into the opponent’s shoulder like a hydraulic press.
Muscle crushed instantly, bone fracturing.
The giant’s face twisted in agony. Yet instead of screaming, he emitted a bizarre sound from his throat.
“Tssssssssss!”
Suddenly, insects from all directions took flight.
It resembled an explosion of smoke, yet was something entirely different—it instilled an instinctive revulsion.
Even Sama Hyeon was caught off guard by this sight and released his grip, allowing the giant to drive his leg upward.
Whoooosh!
Yet.
Sama Hyeon, lifting himself with the force of that kick, surrendered his body to it like a fox and soared skyward, evading the attack.
He landed smoothly beside me.
From the front, the insects continued gathering in ever-greater numbers.
“Oh Dok-mun’s poison technique is incredible~ Hyeong, what do we do about that?”
“It’s certainly impressive. Controlling venomous insects like that… It reminds me of what happened with Yo Cheon-gun back then.”
“Right?”
It wasn’t just the insects writhing over the corpses.
Insects were appearing from various spots throughout the forest, and alongside them, snakes were also revealing themselves.
“Tssssssss!”
The Giant of the Adaptive Tribe continued to emit sounds. And judging by the murderous intent blazing in both his eyes, he showed no signs of stopping.
I spoke.
“I happen to know a tune myself.”
With that, I drew in a deep breath.
And then.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaa–!!”
A tremendous sonic assault.
Excessive vibrations that shook the eardrums reverberated in all directions.
Naturally, the insects couldn’t escape unscathed.
They all began to stagger and tumble to the ground.
Seeing this, the Giant of the Adaptive Tribe stopped his insect-summoning cry in shock.
Astonishment etched itself across his face.
“Stop! Who told you to act on your own!”
A man standing behind the Adaptive Tribe member shouted. Then he quickly sent back the venomous insects that had managed to survive.
From how the other two Oh Dok-mun members lost their nerve at his rebuke, he appeared to be the eldest among them.
He was a Cat-Eyed Man.
“I am Mayasuri, the patriarch of Oh Dok-mun. My younger brothers acted rashly and caused friction, but you also committed a grave offense against us.”
His dialect was thick, but it posed no problem in understanding.
“May I ask what offense you speak of?”
“What you were attempting was to interfere with our clan’s funeral rites.”
At those words, I immediately understood.
“Sky burial.”
It referred to the funeral custom of leaving corpses in open fields to decay under rain and wind, exposed to wild beasts and insects.
“What we received from our ancestors must be returned to our ancestors. You empire folk keep interfering with our customs, so we have no choice but to protect them this way.”
‘The Hwa Empire is a Confucian nation… They cannot acknowledge sky burial.’
From the perspective of the Hwa Empire, leaving a parent’s corpse unattended by the wayside without proper burial would be seen as an act worthy of universal condemnation.
However, this was the culture of this place.
For the clans that comprised Oh Dok-mun, it was a sacred act—returning to their ancestors what they had received from them.
And from a doctor’s perspective…
‘Hmm, I wish they would conduct it in a more sanitary location.’
Though beasts had eaten the corpses so thoroughly that the cause of death was indeterminable, if any of the bodies were those of plague victims, it would be dangerous.
‘But if I say that… the atmosphere will turn sour.’
This went beyond an issue an outsider couldn’t meddle in—we had already crossed weapons just moments ago.
“I understand. First, I would like to meet the patriarch of Oh Dok-mun.”
They had already felt the martial prowess of Jin Cheon-hee and Sama Hyeon firsthand.
They had no desire to provoke further conflict.
“Understood. I’ll guide you then.”

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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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