Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 403

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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 403
Sa Jeo, who was also the Patriarch of the Blood Crimson Chamber, rose to his feet.
“Then I shall attend to my duties. Please, take your time and enjoy yourself.”
She smiled brightly, shut the door with a bang, and left.
Jin Cheon-hee spoke.
“Seems like she’s upset?”
“Can’t help it~ Sa Jeo is starting to grow satisfied with the current situation. At this rate, she’ll die.”
Sa Jeo was quick with calculations, but being human, she was bound to let her guard down.
“Our work can only move forward~ If we try to stop or go backward, we die. The moment vast sums of money flow in is precisely when we must stay sharpest. If she gets angry with me and raises her vigilance, that’s profit for me.”
Sama Hyeon could not take responsibility for her life.
‘So you deliberately began drawing lines. But that’s not a method someone your age should use, Hyeon-a.’
It meant she had experienced every conceivable hardship within the Blood Crimson Chamber.
“A moment ago you were thinking of something else, now you look at me pitifully. Hyeong?”
“It’s painful to watch. My younger sibling… you’ve grown well.”
Saying so, he stroked Sama Hyeon’s head with a tender expression.
As his hand caressed her, Sama Hyeon let out a soft laugh.
“Good, good. I like the pity I receive from you, Hyeong~ Look at me even more pitifully.”
This one had no pride whatsoever.
On the other hand, thinking of the original work, Sama Hyeon as the Hao Munzhu rarely concerned himself with pride at all.
For him, pride was merely one of many social signals.
And he would turn it around to tear humans to shreds.
“Hey, you’re not going to kill me, right?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Hyeong~?”
Usually they come to kill after selling their pride like that. You bastard!
Paradoxically, that was Sama Hyeon’s most terrifying aspect.
* * *
Beneath the gift lay a handkerchief embroidered by Jin Cheon-hee himself.
This was a reciprocal gift for the handkerchief Sama Hyeon had once given to Jin Cheon-hee. Beneath that layer lay a hair ornament.
Since Sama Hyeon was so fond of changing ornaments and adorning himself lavishly, Jin Cheon-hee had put considerable thought into preparing this.
“There’s a needle hidden in the center that allows for anesthesia.”
It was something Jin Cheon-hee had personally designed and commissioned from a craftsman—a golden ornament with the pattern of a white dragon engraved in silver on its surface.
Made so it could only be seen when light shone upon it, designed to appear increasingly elaborate the more closely one examined it.
“Can it be used as a hidden weapon?”
“Yes. And if you urgently need pain relief, you can use it as is.”
Whether anesthetizing enemies or allies driven mad by pain, anesthetic drugs were always necessary.
‘How very like Hyeong.’
Jin Cheon-hee continued.
“And the liquid can be replaced by turning it like this, but I’d prefer if you didn’t use anything with strong acidity. The interior could corrode.”
Click—
How on earth did he come up with something like this?
“Ooh~ And what else?”
Opening the lower compartment revealed a small dagger.
“I use the Frost Blade most in combat, but in daily life I find myself reaching for the Black Pine Cloud Blade quite often.”
“Right. I’ve seen you pull it out a lot when you’re cooking.”
“Yes. It’s good as a concealed weapon too. If I ever need to urgently cut away a limb struck by a poison arrow, I heat it up and use it. It’ll be much easier if I insert an anesthetic needle into the affected area beforehand.”
“I see.”
Sama Hyeon nodded and asked.
“Did you carve this box yourself?”
“Ah, yes. I was going to order one sized perfectly for the gift, but I just did it as a hobby instead.”
Sama Hyeon examined the box from top to bottom, then spoke.
“You really don’t suit being a warrior, hyeong.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“Mm-hmm~”
Sama Hyeon selected the golden hair ornament that was the birthday gift and fastened it at the back of her head.
Click—
“Does it suit me~?”
“Yes. It has such an elegant air, just like the youngest young master of some noble house.”
“I like it~ I really like it~”
Sama Hyeon hummed happily as she spoke.
Her brother spoke to her seriously.
“Happy birthday, Hyeon-a.”
“Thank you, hyeong.”
* * *
And so Jin Cheon-hee parted ways with Sama Hyeon.
Sama Hyeon would remain here for a while to handle the cleanup.
That meant establishing the new foundation of the Golden Blood Room and facilitating exchanges with the Yeonmu City Branch Six.
And.
‘It’s also to organize and solidify the Silver Circle.’
It seemed much had happened during the time I lay unconscious.
My Master, Yoo Ho, and Sama Hyeon were not people who would carelessly organize the Silver Circle, but there was a chance something unexpected might slip out somewhere, so they intended to keep watch for a while.
‘How meticulous.’
Money. Did handling the Empire’s black funds mean something like that?
Sama Hyeon had said Sa Jeo had become too loose. That it was dangerous.
That would have the same meaning as Sama Hyeon remaining here to handle the cleanup.
“Oh right, hyeong. The Seven-String Zither.”
What Sama Hyeon pulled out was a seven-string zither with a body the color of ink as if ink had been scattered, and strings that shone with a silvery light.
At first glance it was a luxurious item, but there were no visible characteristics that would reveal its origin.
“That’s expensive, isn’t it?”
At those words, Sama Hyeon spoke as if she’d been waiting.
“I bought it for three silver taels.”
What does that mean?
Just looking at it, the elegance flowing from it suggests it’s worth at least thirty taels of gold, not three taels of silver, so I’m even more frightened that you bought it for such a price.
“Come on, just pluck it once.”
I plucked one of the strings with trembling hands.
Huuuung—
A deep resonance spread through the air and drifted far away.
“Could this be a mystical artifact?”
“All I’ll tell you is that it belonged to someone who once practiced sound cultivation. Didn’t I tell you beforehand? Three taels of silver.”
What story lay behind such an item being worth only three taels of silver?
Moreover, when I tried to ask what kind of object it was, Sama Hyeon refused to open his mouth, as if he feared I might decline.
“Understood. I’ll use it well.”
“Hehehehe~”
Sama Hyeon spoke with evident delight.
“That object is called the Chileumin, the Seven-Silver Qin.”
Perhaps it was named that because the strings were silver in color. It was a surprisingly plain name.
‘I’ve never heard of it before.’
I left with the Chileumin in hand.
* * *
After parting with Sama Hyeon and returning, the preparations for departure were already complete.
“You’ve acquired something unusual.”
“They call it the Chileumin.”
“Hmm, the name itself is quite plain.”
Master climbed into the carriage.
When I mentioned that it would likely be quite bumpy, Master shook his head.
“Let’s take the main roads on the way back, even if it’s a bit longer.”
I boarded the carriage with Master, while Yoo Ho sat on the driver’s bench with Man Seon.
As the carriage departed, the scenery gradually receded into the distance.
‘So much has happened.’
I witnessed the depths of humanity, yet simultaneously saw those who rose despite it all.
People poured out malice toward one another that could not be defined in mere words, and within that darkness, someone resisted rather than surrender.
‘I nearly died.’
My left arm still ached.
It was fine if I didn’t use my inner energy, but the more I channeled, the more intense the pain became.
Yet it was also true that I had grown stronger beyond that.
As a warrior, the calculation was clear—growing stronger was overwhelmingly advantageous. Still, the pain remained bothersome.
‘I need to resolve this as well.’
As I sank into thought, I suddenly felt Master’s gaze upon me.
“Master?”
“I think it’s time for you to advance to the next realm.”
“The next realm?”
Already, Master, there’s no one above the Three Elites standing over you, is there?
Considering your age, isn’t that an extraordinary achievement?
Even Mudang Gwon-je said he wasn’t as strong as you at your age.
My Master spoke.
“This time, I was fortunate to face merely a lackey of the Demonic Cult rather than Cheonma herself. But had fortune turned against me and I’d clashed with Cheonma, it would have become troublesome.”
“Haha… If you defeated Cheonma in battle, wouldn’t you eventually have to ascend to the Heavenly Demon rank?”
“I’m not so sure.”
My Master said only that much, then fell into thought before speaking again.
“Let’s prepare tonight’s camp meal together. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“Hmm… I think I could eat just about anything.”
“Then… chicken would be nice. Since we have plenty of oil, how about we try frying it?”
Fried chicken cooked at a campsite.
I immediately grasped my Master’s meaning.
‘Glazed chicken… This time, not simple fried chicken, but glazed chicken!’
Today, I would witness the ultimate form of poultry.
* * *
I returned to the Medical Guild.
Waiting for me upon my return was work in the Research Hall.
I threw myself into the aspirin research with renewed dedication.
What I brought was tang oil used by the Tang Family, and also odok oil used by the Oh Dok-mun organization we’d recently acquired.
‘Poison is ultimately chemistry.’
I succeeded in extracting salicylic acid from odok oil.
The problem wasn’t simply extraction—what mattered was efficiency.
If we used too much willow bark, the unit cost would rise.
‘Oh… The efficiency is better than expected?’
Moreover, even the same willow varies in extraction yield depending on species and season.
The most efficient relative to bark was Yunnan white willow.
At this rate, we could come quite close to our projected targets.
‘This next part is manageable.’
Acetic acid would be extracted using medical alcohol, and we only needed to synthesize it.
I devoted myself to the research and completed it absurdly easily compared to the previous two medicines.
“Hehehehe, Patriarch. Have we grown stronger, or are our enemies just pathetically weak?”
The Medical Staff folded their arms and laughed arrogantly.
I thanked them for their hard work and promised to give them bonuses.
“Wooooooow!”
“Patriarch! We love you! Kyaaaah!”
Everyone’s eyes were screaming ‘loyalty, loyalty, loyalty’.
Whether on Earth or in the martial realm, money truly reigns supreme.
That day, I threw a grand celebration.
For tang oil, I’d need to borrow from the Tang Family, but odok oil belonged to the Oh Dok-mun Medical Institute.
In other words, the Baekrin Medical Guild, having absorbed the technology and personnel of the Oh Dok Medical Institute, could now manufacture these medicines in-house.
With time and money saved, the grueling work I had endured at the Oh Dok-mun organization seemed to wash away like a distant memory.
“Then let’s see this through to the end today!”
“The Patriarch has given his permission!”
Just as we were throwing a grand celebration, Muyue arrived.
“Ah, it seems I’ve come at an inopportune time.”
I caught Muyue as he turned to leave immediately.
“What brings you here?”
“Ah, well… the task you requested last time has been completed.”
“I see.”
At those words, I nodded promptly and suggested we move to a different location.
The two of us then climbed to the second floor of the research building.
The first floor was loud with the excited celebration of the medical staff, but the second floor—my office—was quiet.
“You had requested the number of people revived by the Baekrin Divine Elixir and Baekrin Elixir, and finally, responses have come back from each branch.”
With that, Muyue set down the papers.
Since I became Patriarch of the Baekrin Medical Guild, its operations have been steadily modernizing.
One of those changes is statistics.
The greatest difference between modern medicine and traditional medicine is precisely statistics.
Cure rates and side effects must always be documented numerically.

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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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