Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 387

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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 387
‘Ah, so he’s politely saying that next time he’ll bring a large force of skilled martial artists.’
I looked back at the villagers.
‘Simply executing people because of a plague?’
Why did it feel like there was something more to this intuition of mine?
I spoke.
“I understand.”
Then one of Oh Dok-mun’s warriors said.
“I don’t understand why a great master like yourself would concern yourself with the Snake Clan.”
The Snake Clan?
One of the clans that composed Oh Dok-mun.
Suddenly, I realized that the Snake Clan was barely visible in the Oh Dok Medical Guild.
And the appearance of the servant who had been whipped and the features of the Snake Clan people who made up this village were similar.
“I don’t know much about the relationships between clans.”
“The Snake Clan is cursed!”
He spat on the ground.
The Shaman spoke.
“Let us stop this. Though they say the ancestors’ wrath was incurred, the Snake Clan people also have the right to live. If they do good deeds in the next life, they will not be born as Snake Clan.”
…Discrimination.
Extremely closed societies seemed to maintain group cohesion by tormenting one group.
The Snake Clan people were Shudras in the caste system.
Untouchables.
Only then did one puzzle piece fall into place.
Only after the Oh Dok-mun members left did the grandmother, who had been lying prostrate, breathe deeply. Then she immediately coughed up blood-tinged phlegm.
“Are you alright?”
“!@$%&^.”
Lim Un-hyeon, the deputy patriarch of the Silver Blood Party beside her, spoke.
“He’s saying to run away quickly. All the young children should escape in this chaos.”
Behind the grandmother, others shouted various things.
Lim Un-hyeon continued translating.
“He’s saying that people who haven’t even cultivated inner energy can’t possibly escape. And that they can’t abandon the patients.”
‘So they’re mercilessly killing the discriminated Snake Clan because a plague has spread among them.’
I pressed my forehead repeatedly.
“First, let me take their pulses. Is there anyone here who knows the Central Plains language?”
None of the Snake Clan people raised their hands.
Then someone crawled out from somewhere in a shabby house.
“Master Eun…. I know it.”
“Hmm?”
It was that servant who had been whipped at the welcoming banquet on the first day. I had saved him then.
“You came here.”
“Yes. I ran and hid. Master Eun!”
What Jin Cheon-hee had saved was merely one day of his life.
But that single day was enough for a person to find a path to survival.
He bowed respectfully to Jin Cheon-hee, then called out loudly to the villagers in his clan’s language.
“@#%#&##–!!!”
“Q#$?”
“!$@^@%@&!”
Lim Un-hyeon heard the sounds and immediately translated.
“He says that the Master Eun who helped before has arrived, so you can all rest easy.”
“Ah, it seems he’s already told you about me.”
“While hiding and running, he naturally would have mentioned the Patriarch as well.”
Relief washed across the villagers’ faces.
But conversely, my expression hardened into stone.
‘Now comes the real problem.’
I had just crossed an irreversible river with Oh Dok-mun.
I had to treat these people, and I had to protect this village.
‘Moving the patients is impossible.’
The roads were already treacherous enough.
Transporting patients would only increase the likelihood of spreading the plague further.
‘Can I do this?’
Being human, a doctor is still human—regret suddenly washed over me.
Then my eyes met those of a grandmother huddled in the corner.
It looked like her ribs had been broken from the beating just now.
‘I have to do this. Somehow….’
It’s the same whether on Earth or here.
If a doctor doesn’t act, people will die.
All I can do is give my absolute best to everything within my power.
* * *
First, I withdrew all the Baekrin Uigak warriors to the rear.
If there was a plague, they could easily become infected.
Until the diagnosis was certain, they had to avoid contact and be careful even about the water they drank.
Only a few medical staff, including myself, prepared for the examination.
Changing clothes, covering mouth and nose with cloth, putting on gloves—then I noticed one of the medical staff trembling slightly.
“Are you frightened?”
The medical staff member answered my question.
“No, sir. It’s the duty of a doctor, so naturally we must do it.”
But the trembling in his hands did not cease.
‘This is a natural reaction.’
A medical staff member of that rank has witnessed countless deaths.
There is fear born from ignorance, but there is also fear born from knowledge itself.
Ahead lies nothing but flames.
A firefighter doesn’t enter those flames without trepidation.
The same applies to a doctor.
“It’s perfectly acceptable to step back. No one will blame you.”
“…Patriarch.”
“If fear causes you to make a mistake, it will only lead to disaster. So rest with the martial artists for now, and once the pulse diagnosis is complete….”
“Soggakju!”
Sang Ui-won called out to me without thinking, his voice loud and urgent.
I stopped mid-sentence and looked at him.
“Speak.”
“Aren’t you afraid, Soggakju? We still don’t know what this illness is. It could truly be a curse, or a disease we recognize but cannot treat, or something contagious. If that’s the case, you won’t be able to return home, and you won’t be able to see your family.”
He understood how epidemics spread, and because of that, he had resolved that if he contracted it, he would rather take his own life than risk infecting his family.
Moreover, in this world, he vaguely understood how strange and mysterious curses could be.
I gazed at him calmly with my blue eyes.
“…I’m fine.”
“You’re truly not afraid?”
“….”
At those words, I swallowed hard.
‘If I said I wasn’t afraid at all, that would be a lie. But if I spoke honestly, it would only disturb everyone more.’
I was still human, after all.
If someone else could take my place, I would gladly hand it over.
Perhaps I would ask them to do it instead, only to end up joining them out of guilt anyway. That’s how I felt right now.
‘The truth is, I don’t want to leap into these flames.’
Because I couldn’t know how much suffering this fire would bring, I feared it all the more.
If it were a known disease, that would be fortunate. But if it were a disease unique to the martial world, or one that exists in the modern era but is difficult to diagnose without proper equipment, or perhaps….
‘Even if I know it, I cannot treat it.’
If it were truly a curse that existed only in this world, even with precautions, bad luck could lead to infection.
‘I must smile. I have to smile.’
Fear is contagious.
‘With the Bota Clan, I was alone. But now there are many people here.’
All of them waited for my command, and depending on that command, they could become saviors or villains.
I tried to smile, but my facial muscles refused to cooperate.
The fire is hot.
How much deeper must I charge into it?
When will someone come to take my place?
If it never happens, will I have to keep throwing myself in?
I suddenly noticed the ground tilting beneath me.
“….”
After shedding my shell and advancing to a higher realm, I thought I would never witness this landscape again—yet here I was, facing it once more.
‘Ah, is this my world?’
First, I naturally reached out and grasped the carriage wall.
Even by my own assessment, it was hardly a composed gesture.
Using the carriage as my reference point, I precisely centered my body’s balance.
I found my composure, guarding against the pull of hallucinations.
After repeating to myself several times that I was still fine,
‘Let me smile.’
“What’s there to fear about that? In the end, it’s just bacteria. All I need to do is determine whether it can be cured or not.”
“Patriarch… *cough*… I…”
“Don’t push yourself. Rest. That’s an order from me as Patriarch. Fear is natural. Besides, someone needs to provide support from the rear—this works out well.”
“Will you be alright without me?”
“Didn’t I tell you to lean on me when things are difficult? Who am I? Am I not the Veiled Madman?”
Did I manage to smile with proper audacity?
‘Without a mirror, it’s hard to confirm…’
In that moment, I saw my own face reflected in Sang Ui-won’s eyes.
‘Ah, I smiled well enough.’
There stood a physician with no fear in this world.
“Isn’t it rather fascinating? What illness exists in the Yunnan region? After all, even Oh Dok-mun’s Medical Guild couldn’t cure it, right? If we research it properly, we might just open up a whole new path.”
“Hehehehe. We cannot match you, Patriarch.”
Sang Ui-won’s trembling hands finally stilled. Thank goodness.
Jin Cheon-hee spoke with the brightest voice I could muster.
“Those who are afraid, step back to the rear. I’ll conduct the diagnosis, so don’t worry unnecessarily.”
“Truly, Patriarch…”
“We trust only in you, Patriarch.”
The medical staff gazed at Jin Cheon-hee with reverent eyes.
Sama Hyeon watched from a distance.
* * *
[Why did you follow me?]
[There might be something that requires strength, right? Or maybe… hmm… you might have some other special skill I can’t do?]
Sama Hyeon, despite not being a doctor, had inevitably come along.
[Special skill? What special skill? You’re in the way.]
[I’m remarkably good at taking care of children, you know~]
Sama Hyeon transmitted his voice with a shameless expression.
‘What is he thinking anyway? This guy.’
Did he catch the scent of money? But the patients are from poor noble families.
I wonder what he could possibly accomplish.
[I don’t know. I’ve already taught you the basics, so I can’t worry about you this time. Take care of yourself.]
[Okay~]
Regardless, he remembers everything I say and deploys it at just the right moment.
As we entered the wooden house where the patients had gathered, a foul stench rushed toward us.
But it was different from the stench of the Bota Clan.
‘Based on the symptoms alone: headaches, fever, loss of appetite, and constipation.’
I’d heard that diarrhea occasionally occurred, but the prevalence of constipation made this clearly a different disease from cholera.
Some patients also experienced hemoptysis, but these symptoms alone made diagnosis difficult.
“Disperse and take pulses individually. We’ll reconvene afterward.”
“Yes, Patriarch.”
The medical staff scattered and began methodically examining each patient’s pulse.
‘This is certainly better than diagnosing alone.’
With that thought, I continued observing the patients.
Half a day passed like that.
‘Good heavens… this is madness.’
My head felt like it might split apart.
First, there was a case of intestinal perforation—a patient with a hole in their bowels.
Even if I wanted to perform emergency surgery, this patient had barely any pulse remaining, meaning they could die during the operation.
Another patient had an enlarged spleen.
There was also a patient suffering from bowel obstruction.
One patient was enduring severe fever from inflammation in soft tissues including bone tissue.
Osteomyelitis.
This required prolonged antibiotic treatment and removal of necrotic bone and surrounding tissue.
This needed surgical intervention and potent antimicrobial therapy, and treating it here rather than at the Medical Guild…
‘This patient could die as well.’
In modern times, bacterial culture testing would be necessary.
Only then could I make a definitive diagnosis. But without such facilities in this place, all I had was rough estimation through qi sensing and pulse examination.
Hearing loss would be considered a mild condition—that’s how insane this situation is.

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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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