Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 401

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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 401
Clang!
Following Hwang-gu’s guidance to find the Six-Horned Venomous Snake, I sensed a presence nearby.
[Hmm, so that’s how it is. If Eungryong said so…. Is it finally approaching….]
[It matters not how many humans perish. Once I fulfill my promise, I can return. But you….]
[I see. So that’s what you’ve decided.]
[Humans are always merely human.]
A voice that resonated not through my ears, but through my mind itself.
It was distinctly different from telepathy—more similar to how Eungryong had spoken to me before.
And this voice was one I had heard many times.
‘Yoo Ho?’
As I cautiously approached, I found a massive Six-Horned Venomous Snake the size of a house standing beside a man with long golden hair cascading down.
His facial features were unmistakably Yoo Ho’s, yet instead of his usual squinted eyes, both were now wide open. More than that, the overwhelming aura emanating from him was something no human should possess.
Normally he would have noticed my presence, but he seemed deeply absorbed in conversation with the Six-Horned Venomous Snake.
[A prophecy, then. You intend to leave a prophecy for that human? For one destined to become a dragon someday to go so far for a human…. Ah, I see.]
Yoo Ho turned around.
Precisely toward where I stood.
“You’re coming out now, young master?”
“Haha, when did you notice me, Yoo Ho?”
“What good does it do to know?”
The clothes Yoo Ho wore were not the Chief Manager’s attire typically worn at Baekrin Uigak.
Rather, they were elegant and refined garments of antiquity.
Yet the way they fluttered in the wind and how the sleeves swayed didn’t feel as though they were woven from cloth of this world.
‘Is this Yoo Ho’s true form….’
However, I spoke with solemn composure, revealing nothing on my face.
“Yoo Ho, no matter what form you show me, I believe you are human. So you must continue our research together with me.”
“Do you see? This is the kind of human he is. More vicious than a leech. Why would you bestow such a precious prophecy for such a wretch?”
“Yoo Ho, it’s fine. You look cool today.”
Professor Jin feared his graduate student’s graduation.
If I acknowledged he wasn’t human, he’d likely dance away like a celestial maiden who’d obtained feathered robes and soar into the heavens—the very thought made my skin crawl.
“This human is insane. Do you see? A human with nothing but research obsession and gourmandise.”
“It’s fine, Yoo Ho. I love you…. Gack!”
In that instant, Yoo Ho seized my collar at tremendous speed and shook me violently.
“You mad bloodsucker! You’re going to keep squeezing my labor until the very end?!”
The refined, otherworldly grace that had been visible moments before vanished entirely, replaced by murderous intent pouring forth in waves—the very gesture of shaking my collar was a clear signal of intent to kill.
“Yoo Ho, calm down… urgh…. Yoo Ho! Hack! I have no malice!”
Whoosh, whoooosh!
The Six-Horned Venomous Snake shook its head in alarm.
It seemed worried they’d have a corpse to dispose of.
Only when I pleaded with desperate earnestness did Yoo Ho finally release my collar.
Thud!
I deliberately refrained from using any falling technique, rolling across the ground as pitifully as possible.
‘Even though I’ve grown this strong, Yoo Ho still has me by the collar.’
In those old-fashioned martial arts novels, celestial fighters would appear at the climax to battle the protagonist. Could Yoo Ho possibly be that formidable?
I pondered this.
Whoosh, whoosh!
“I understand. I’ll calm down.”
Soon, Yoo Ho exhaled a long sigh as he watched me emit deliberately pained groans.
This bastard had grown even more handsome after crossing the Transcendent threshold.
Looking at that flat face of his, irritation welled up within me.
The most incomprehensible human in the world.
Whoosh, whooosh—!
“To interpret: it’s saying that it’s grateful the location of the Feng Zang has shifted as a result.”
“Hmm?”
I opened my eyes wide.
Contrary to my innocent expression, the azure light gleaming in my eyes began to perceive an unsettlingly vast array of things.
“Now that I think about it, the previous Feng Zang location was close to a ruin, wasn’t it?”
“A temple from when the Six-Horned Venomous Snake was worshipped as a deity. In ancient times, humans revered spiritual beings as gods. This temple was built for the Six-Horned Venomous Snake, and it promised to remain here and protect this land as long as the temple stood.”
Are you referring to that crumbling pile of ruins right before my eyes?
Though it still maintained the shape of a building, it was being consumed by an enormous tree, growing decrepit and weathered.
Even rain couldn’t protect it—only moss and mold accumulated within.
Even the altar-like structure had deteriorated, showing no trace of its original reverence.
“Now people fear it rather than worship it, wouldn’t you say? Though they do respect it as a guardian, of course.”
“The form of faith has certainly disappeared. But you’re right. Humans forget, but we remember. We never forget.”
Yoo Ho gazed upon this ruined place with bitter eyes.
“Foolishly, our emotions remain ever fervent, binding us to contracts. I limited myself to a single person, but the Six-Horned Venomous Snake bound itself to this temple. It swore to protect this place as long as the temple endured.”
“But it couldn’t intervene in the conflicts of Yunnan’s people, then.”
“Because it was a blood feud between those who drank Yunnan’s waters and ate Yunnan’s fruits.”
Whooosh—
The Six-Horned Venomous Snake’s cry sounded particularly bitter, and that was no mere impression.
Yoo Ho spoke.
“Well, in any case, it’s fortunate. Thanks to you, this temple has been protected from the turbid qi of the dead ever entering. So it wishes to repay you with a prophecy.”
“A prophecy?”
“Since ancient times, snakes have been symbols of insight. As such, serpent spirits possess a stronger power to perceive the future than most other spiritual beings.”
I nodded.
“Before that… if this temple could be freed by being destroyed, I could demolish it for you.”
Whoosh…
The Six-Horned Venomous Snake cried softly, then spoke to Yoo Ho in a complex sound.
“Ah, it says there are too many memories in this place.”
A hundred years, or perhaps two hundred… it might even date back to the fallen Dali Kingdom.
Humans forget, but beasts do not—they remain here, unable to let go.
Even when offered liberation, the Six-Horned Venomous Snake refused to abandon its post without hesitation.
“But if things continue like this, I gain far too much from this arrangement…?”
I felt a wound in the snake’s breath.
It was the pain that comes from the sweetness of memory.
A deep revulsion toward all that could never return.
Yet, as Yoo Ho had said, unable to forget or cast off, the Six-Horned Venomous Snake remained here, guarding this place.
I spoke with deliberate indifference, careful not to touch its wounds.
“Alright then, let’s do this.”
What I said next was unexpected.
“Is there anything you like? Anything you’d like to eat?”
Hisss?
* * *
It was a banquet beneath the moonlight.
I brewed the wine myself.
It was merely a shortcut using brewing techniques I’d learned in Wan Nong, but the wine still tasted decent enough.
Though it wasn’t nearly enough to quench the Six-Horned Venomous Snake’s enormous thirst.
Still, I raided Oh Dok-mun’s original wine stores and managed to fill the vessels somehow.
I invited no one else.
This banquet was for Hwang-gu, Noeji, Yoo Ho, and the Six-Horned Venomous Snake alone.
The ruins, consumed by wood and vines, swelled upward as if drawing the moon.
“Come now, drink!”
As I hurled a massive bucket of wine, the Six-Horned Venomous Snake swallowed it with delight.
In my form, the Six-Horned Venomous Snake saw the ancient king of Dali.
He too had once offered such banquets to the snake.
Now no one worships it anymore.
A spirit creature is merely a means to obtain inner elixir.
Yet having lived so long, the snake dared not covet anything from any human.
Thousands of musicians and tens of thousands of people no longer existed.
Where had the performers who once danced for it gone?
Dali remained nowhere, and the land god had become merely a spirit creature.
Drinking wine, intoxicated by the moon, listening to me play the seven-stringed zither, the Six-Horned Venomous Snake reflected.
Ah, so this is the next memory.
If I lived a thousand years on memories of Dali, then I shall live another thousand years on this memory.
This story would continue as long as it did not die.
It was also the cruel fate of a spirit creature.
All things in this world are like a great dream—
Why then exhaust oneself with living?
Therefore I remain drunk all day long—
Singing boldly, waiting for the bright moon to rise.
When the song ends, the heart too has already been forgotten—a line from Li Bai’s poetry.
I recited a portion of Li Bai’s verse.
Whether I omitted several passages in my drunken state or deliberately left them out, I couldn’t say.
I plucked the strings of the seven-stringed zither and hummed the melody.
What use was a human’s song of forgetting to a spirit being that could not forget?
Yet that sentiment reached even the Six-Horned Venomous Snake.
Soon, as if the Six-Horned Venomous Snake had made its decision, it produced its most precious jewel from somewhere.
I felt that this would be acceptable.
Humans forget quickly, but spirit beings remember for a long time.
Both the bad and the good.
So if even one good memory remained, that alone would have been enough for the snake to be satisfied.
Therefore, it would remain on this land and continue to watch over its people.
Now, at the closing of this banquet, it was time to offer its gratitude.
The snake had realized this.
Behold, behold, eyes of the future.
We are all descendants of Eungryong, crawling through time with tail linked to tail.
Our shame belongs to the past, and our tongue shall bear the future.
To this young man, whispers of what is to come.
Shhhhiiiiik—
The jewel began to emit brilliant light, radiating colors of every hue.
Then.
Crrrack—
It trembled as if shattering, its light blazing before it shattered completely.
Clang!
I stopped playing the seven-stringed zither in surprise.
Yoo Ho spoke.
“Why would you go so far for him? Anyway… you naive spirit being.”
I wasn’t sure if one could call a massive Six-Horned Venomous Snake naive.
After all, it had swallowed a warrior from Hwagyeong that was sent from the Golden Blood Hall in the past.
Smoke rose from within the shattered jewel. The Six-Horned Venomous Snake inhaled it and trembled violently for a long while.
When it finally opened its eyes.
A tear fell from the enormous eyes of the Six-Horned Venomous Snake.
Yoo Ho also seemed flustered, his body going rigid for quite some time.
Soon after, he relayed to me what he had heard from the Six-Horned Venomous Snake.
“How many more winters do you wish to see?”
“…?!”
…It was a prophecy that had followed me since my previous life.
—How many more winters do you wish to see?
Back then, I had answered “the more the better,” and my grandmother had gazed at me with profoundly sorrowful eyes.
Though different from humans, the snake’s eyes held that same expression as it looked upon me.
Yoo Ho spoke.
“From here on, I must deliver the prophecy directly to you alone, it seems.”
“How…?”
“Since you’ve already destroyed the dharma tool, just bring your forehead to mine.”
At those words, I pressed my forehead against the massive Six-Horned Venomous Snake’s forehead without hesitation.
In that instant, the Six-Horned Venomous Snake’s voice resonated within my mind.

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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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