Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 397

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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 397
‘Even if I simply throw a single fish washed ashore back into the sea, tomorrow another will wash up. Yet for that fish, it is salvation. Perhaps it will live to see the next winter.’
-It may have only lived one more day. No, it could be caught and devoured by a predator before even a day passes.
That too was a valid point.
Among the patients I had saved, there were martial artists who failed to survive even a week after discharge, succumbing to silver poisoning.
I had earnestly instructed them that they must recuperate within their sect for at least a year even after leaving the Medical Guild.
The martial artist did not listen.
His master had been insulted, and his teacher had been killed.
The patient died a week after leaving the Medical Guild, yet his treatment had taken over two months.
I performed major surgery several times.
I could not guarantee success, and even if successful, I could not be certain the body’s functions would remain intact.
On the day that patient’s treatment succeeded and he was discharged.
I held a modest celebration with the Medical Assistants.
I made the oil-fried tteokbokki I had eaten on Earth. Everyone enjoyed it.
And a week later, that patient died, and a letter arrived.
The Medical Assistants could not eat the oil-fried tteokbokki again.
It took a very long time before they could eat it again.
‘It is acceptable. That too is a possibility.’
-What can a fish that will soon die accomplish?
‘I do not know. That fish will decide for itself.’
-It will become foam and scatter into nothingness. Other fish will devour its corpse. It could be swept away and killed by the cold currents of winter.
I did not deny those words.
‘That too is one of the possibilities.’
Just as migratory birds follow ocean currents and weak birds die in the process, weak fish too are destined to perish as they travel along the currents.
Then, feeling intense pain again, I added one more thought.
‘However, it might do something else. Who knows? Perhaps that fish will discover writing and paint murals on the walls of an underwater cave?’
-You have lost your mind.
‘Haha, I speak in metaphor. It is no different when applied to humans. I understand that one person saving another person connects the present to the future. Perhaps someone, and their descendants, might live to see a winter I will never reach.’
A life lasting barely a hundred years—having died young in my past life, I sometimes wonder if this life will be much different.
All I can leave behind is someone who will see the next winter.
At my words, Eungryong fell silent for a moment.
-You will not see it.
‘That is fine. Even so, when that winter ends, spring will come. Someone will tell me how beautiful that spring is. And it is magnificent, is it not? Enduring the next winter in my stead, reaching even spring. That is why those above are in an uproar about the heavenly mandate being disrupted.’
I chuckled mischievously.
‘What I am doing is not meaningless.’
-You seemed pleased by the words that the heavenly mandate is being disrupted.
‘When you think about it inversely, saying the mandate is disrupted means I am having an impact. It means this work is not in vain. Well….’
My limbs ached more intensely.
Even breathing was difficult.
Though I wished to sink deeper into delirium, my conversation with Eungryong alone kept my mind continuously pulling me back into the world of consciousness.
Most of life is suffering.
‘We simply endure countless pains just to eat, defecate, and sleep.’
Even if I, Jin Cheon-hee, saved a life, the patient would still worry about tomorrow’s food, silver coins for the future, and eventually throw away their life again.
Harrowing memories from Gangho would cause insomnia.
Nights spent sleepless from memories of the dead—whether comrades or masters—might continue indefinitely.
If that was life, then so be it.
If that person could taste the sweetness of roasted winter sweet potato even amid the suffering that comes from eating, sleeping, and defecating.
The occasional sweetness of candies and the warmth of spring sunlight.
A gift for myself born from careful deliberation.
Did humans not live by those fleeting moments of perfection alone?
Simply by existing within that, humans change the world.
Though winter may be long and painful, spring will come after it nonetheless.
-I am curious. When the time comes, what choice will you make?
‘If I’m still alive by then.’
-I shall wait in anticipation.
Eungryong’s voice grew distant.
In the moment when deep relief washed over me that I could sink back into the hazy world of sleep.
I ended up hearing words I didn’t want to hear.
-Oh, and by the way, your Master is extremely angry this time, so you should prepare yourself.
‘What? What do you mean by that…?’
The moment I calculated the distance between Yunnan and Baekrin Uiseon, recalling this cursed road that was nothing but treacherous.
I jolted my eyes wide open.
“Gasp?”
Damn it, I was completely awake now.
* * *
This time, my neck moved.
Even though my entire body was in a plaster cast.
“What in the world is this! Who plastered me up like this?”
At the sound of my voice, someone suddenly sprang up from beneath the bed.
“Oh! Hyeong, you’re awake~! You’ve been sleeping for twenty whole days~?”
Twenty days?
Glancing out the window, the seasons hadn’t changed one bit.
The vegetation was lush, probably because we were in Yunnan.
“Uh… I really slept that long?”
“Yeah. Your body was fighting against poison and all that… but they said there shouldn’t be any danger to your life~”
I asked the question I didn’t want to hear but absolutely had to ask.
“W-who?”
“Odok Munzu…”
Just as I was about to feel relieved, Sama Hyeon immediately continued.
“…and your Master.”
Damn it.
“Wait, how far is it from there to here? How did you even get here?”
“I’m curious too. But I came. If I calculate it right, the moment I received the letter, I could’ve made it by running with lightness technique instead of riding a horse.”
“No, the distance from there to here is end to end. You’re not Hyeongyeong with infinite inner power. How could you possibly run it? Even if you did run, don’t people need time to eat and sleep?”
“Don’t ask me that. Ask Baek Rin-ui-seon directly yourself.”
Just imagining it made my flesh crawl.
“So, so Master really came?”
“Yeah. He said he applied special treatment along with medicinal paste. Oh right, I used the Six-Horned Venomous Snake’s venom as the antidote. It came because you collapsed.”
“The Six-Horned Venomous Snake seems to be fine…”
“No… I’m not sure what happened to it, but it kept waking and sleeping like a sick chicken~ According to Odok Munzu, it seemed like it had eaten some potent poison. Still, thanks to Baek Rin-ui-seon, it recovered completely.”
I felt sorry for humanity.
Perhaps the Six-Horned Venomous Snake came not because of Eungryong, who had conveyed my voice, but for another reason.
A strange intuition washed over me.
I muttered quietly.
“Right. From Eungryong’s perspective, whether you humans live or die doesn’t matter. It must have been hunted. Yeah, humans were wrong. What sin did you commit?”
I decided to cherish not just my furry friend but my snake friend too.
I stared blankly at the ceiling.
“My inner power barely moves. Master must have sealed my pressure points quite thoroughly.”
“Yeah. I can’t undo it either, brother~ And I won’t~”
“No, that’s…”
“You brought it on yourself. Even if you’re only half-strength, you fought a monster at Hyeongyeong level and won by grinding your own body? Sure, it’s thrilling as a warrior. But you didn’t fight for pride as a warrior, did you~?”
That was true.
I sighed. Sama Hyeon continued.
“You need to reflect, brother~”
“No, I should reflect, but even so, pressure point sealing and full-body immobilization is really…”
Then the door creaked open and a familiar voice was heard.
“A patient must maintain absolute rest, Hope.”
“Master…”
Cold sweat was already pouring down. Even though I had no sensation below my neck, I could feel my flesh trembling on its own.
Was this the phantom pain I’d only heard about?
“Teacher, this is because of the Demonic Cult! Your unworthy disciple is innocent! The Demonic Cult is bad!”
I earnestly explained that all of this was the Demonic Cult’s scheme, that I was innocent, and that I had merely been caught up in misfortune against my will.
Master simply stared at me in silence for a long time.
“…”
I thought he would chew me out as usual, saying I was making clever excuses.
But Master just gazed at his disciple.
“Master?”
“Stay quiet for a moment. I’m savoring the fact that you’re alive.”
“…”
Jegalling stared at his troublesome disciple with an intensity that felt almost like resentment.
“Fortunately, this time I didn’t have to stitch you back together. By the time I arrived, the Medical Staff had already finished the treatment.”
“I trained them all well….”
“Hope, be quiet.”
“…Yes….”
Jegalling informed Sama Hyeon that a letter had arrived from the Geumhyeol Chamber, and Sama Hyeon immediately went outside to receive it.
Only two people and silence remained in the room.
My Master’s massive frame loomed before me like a mountain.
He gazed at my blinking eyes for a long while, then looked at my nose, which was now breathing, and my cheeks, which were still pale but had regained some color.
He brought his index and middle fingers to my neck to check my pulse, then spoke.
“I’m wondering whether you having all four limbs intact gives you a higher survival rate, or whether being half-paralyzed would give you a better chance.”
“Cough, Master, surely not.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and be quiet….”
“….”
He was truly angry.
But at the same time, he seemed deeply relieved that his disciple had finally awakened.
Still, his anger must stem from the fact that despite all his careful arrangements, this foolish disciple couldn’t restrain himself and charged in recklessly.
“It’s quite a talent, leading all those martial artists and returning in such a state. I didn’t know. I had no idea my disciple possessed such a gift.”
“….”
I wanted to say something in protest.
I wanted to say that wasn’t the case.
But Master had ordered me to be silent, and I could only pout like a dog caught in the rain.
Even as I found my disciple’s face endearing, the memory of that puppy throwing himself at an incomplete Hyeongyeong master made my anger flare up.
“You should have simply fled when the demonic energy began to rampage.”
“If I had done that, there would have been severe casualties.”
“Be quiet.”
“….”
“Even if it were not thousands but hundreds of thousands, even millions of lives, your single life is worth more to me than all of them. When will you understand this, you foolish, foolish disciple?”
A sigh welled up from deep within my chest.
I repeated apologies hundreds of times in my heart.
Soon, Master spoke.
“I’ll answer just one question you wish to ask.”
“What happened to Oh Dok-mun?”
“Oh Dok-mun? That sect no longer exists, Hope.”
“What?”
My eyes widened.
Jegalling looked at my wide eyes and opened his mouth.
“Now, continue to ponder with that small head of yours. Since you cannot rise, walk, eat, or even relieve yourself on your own, you’ll have plenty of time to think.”
“Master…?”
“This is your punishment.”
Thump—
My Master finished speaking and closed the door.
‘Could it be that while I was unconscious, he returned to the time of the Bloodline Massacre…?’
But there was no one to answer.
All that filled my vision were the ceiling, the verdant foliage beyond the window, and the calls of nameless mountain birds and insects.
In the end, I had no choice but to continue wrestling with unanswerable questions within the world’s smallest prison.
It was a punishment devised by Jegalling, crafted exclusively for me.
A rather insidious trap.

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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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