Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 415

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 415
At the same time, the Demonic Sect also received the report.
Sulche, the Demonic Sect Leader, spoke to his strategist.
“Strategist.”
“Yes, yes!”
“I’m too old to care about such things anymore. Whenever it rains, my bones ache. Look at me.”
Despite having skin as taut as a young man’s, Sulche earnestly insisted he was old and infirm.
Saboe Bukgung Sansan, the Commander-in-Chief.
True to her epithet of “Evil Brain,” she wielded all manner of cunning and bizarre schemes, yet she deferred to her elders as Confucian society dictated.
Especially when that person was the one signing her paychecks.
Sulche continued.
“So according to you, the righteous sects are joining hands with our heterodox disciples to strike at the Gongseon Family?”
“Yes. If the four Surochai disappear, the heterodox sect’s influence in Shandong Province will vanish entirely.”
“The bait is presumably the Bota Clan’s sword inspector.”
“Correct.”
“There’s nothing we particularly need to help with.”
“You won’t help them?”
“You young ones don’t know how foul-tempered those Bota Clan bastards are. Back in my day, whenever that beast of a Sword Saint said ‘Amitabha,’ someone’s head got split in half. Mercy? That mercy is frozen solid.”
“However, that’s merely the Sword Saint’s story….”
“Mind your tongue. We still don’t know who the Sword Sovereign is.”
The Sword King and Sword Saint had dueled, yet both masters mysteriously kept the results secret.
Sulche continued.
“Either way, anyone trained under her will also say ‘Amitabha,’ won’t they? Plus, since they’re from an island, they’re close-knit. They stick together well. Lose one sister and three will chase you across the entire Gangho seeking vengeance? You want to experience ‘Amitabha’ from three of them?”
Sulche suddenly shuddered.
Old nightmares had surfaced.
“So you’ll truly leave them alone?”
“Has the heterodox sect ever been completely wiped out from the Gangho? Leave them be and eventually another Surochai will emerge. Let them fend for themselves. If they win, that’s fine too.”
Neither faction knew of Baekrin Medical Sect’s involvement.
They never imagined that Gongseon Hyeon would go so far as to disguise Seo Baek-ryong in women’s clothing and position him there.
* * *
The boat began gliding along the Yellow River.
Standing at the bow, Gongseon Yeong explained the itinerary.
“Nothing special. We just follow the Yellow River to the end of Shandong Province, then head straight back. If there are cities worth sightseeing along the way, we can enjoy them a bit.”
Ding ling—
Jin Cheon-hee nodded while playing the guqin.
“I see.”
[Do you want them to attack on the boat? Or in a city?]
Jin Cheon-hee countered Gongseon Yeong’s telepathic transmission.
[So you’re expecting an attack, sister.]
[It’s not expectation. It’s inevitable. You’re just hoping it won’t happen.]
I nodded.
Regardless, I simply hope that the Orthodox Sects uphold their duty as Orthodox Sects.
There are those we can join hands with, and those we cannot.
The Demonic Sects are the Demonic Sects. They attack people, kidnap children, and sell them into slavery.
Children always fetch a high price.
Even if the Empire forbids slavery, the public authority of this age is infinitely weaker than a nearby blade.
Without even crossing into another nation, if they sell a child to some island, that child will never be found again.
‘That is what the Demonic Sects do. Converting blood into gold means exactly that.’
Ding—
I plucked the strings of the guqin, lost in thought.
‘I have connections with both the Sandong Ak Family and the Hwangbo Sega.’
With the Sandong Ak Family through Changwang Akjin, and with the Hwangbo Sega through sharing a meal from the same pot on the way to the Martial Arts Alliance.
Becoming enemies did not frighten me so much.
However, incurring karmic debts—that terrified me.
‘Even though they clearly committed wrongs. Why must karmic debts arise?’
The lavish price Gongseon Hyeon paid to Baekrin Uiseon included the cost of settling those debts.
[I truly hope no one finds out.]
[Are you worried the Hwangbo siblings might come wearing masks?]
[It is not impossible.]
[True. That too is possible. So you do not treat enemies, as I understand it—but if they are mixed among the others, will you still refuse to treat them?]
Ding-ling—
“….”
I did not answer.
I simply continued plucking the strings in silence, drawing out the melody.
‘There was once a time when I genuinely enjoyed this aspect of the Gangho. Black and white were clear, yet debts were murky—I found pleasure in reading such muddy waters.’
And now I realized that within those muddy waters, I might see the corpse of someone I knew.
When I asked Wang Gak-yeon about this, she set down her bow and answered quietly.
[Listen. I will not show mercy in my hands. Understand?]
[Yes. You will not forgive.]
[That’s right. Orthodox Sect members who stand with the Demonic Sects are not worth living.]
That was Wang Gak-yeon’s code of chivalry.
She neither hesitated before the coming debts nor was bound by sentiment.
With a heart clear as a mirror, she would simply pierce the enemy’s heart.
‘As bait, are all preparations already complete?’
Wang Gak-yeon was peak-tier, Gongseon Yeong was Hwagyeong, and of the ten close guards, five were peak-tier and the other five were also masters of the highest caliber.
One could say the finest of the finest had gathered.
Moreover.
Three of the peak-tier masters were from the Gongseon Family, and the other two peak-tier masters were two of the Dam Heads from Unryongpyoguk.
Unryongpyoguk has four Dam Heads.
These are the core executives and strongest warriors of Unryongpyoguk.
Though Hwagyeong’s master, the Woon Ryong Pyo Gukju, remains confined by illness, those who serve the Unryongpyoguk never truly abandon it.
The bonds forged through long journeys together run deeper than any comradeship.
Even though the enterprise had failed, the Woon Ryong Pyo Gukju possessed virtue and benevolence, which only strengthened their loyalty.
Gongseon Hyeon deployed such people without hesitation for this task.
Though some couriers at the Unryongpyoguk still cursed the Black Ice Poison Dragon, she was not one to concern herself with such matters.
I found that aspect of her terrifying.
To her, reputation was merely a resource to be utilized or discarded as needed.
The genuine goodwill would naturally flow toward Gongseon Yeong, so she could shoulder the role of being called ruthless.
Upon the deck in the dead of night.
Only the sound of water and the resonance of zither strings echoed.
When Wang Gak-yeon asked if she could speak aloud, Hwang-gu signaled his approval with a low bark.
No one was listening, and whatever sound remained would be swallowed by my seven-stringed zither anyway.
Still, Wang Gak-yeon asked in a voice so soft that only the three of them could hear.
“What will you do about Gongseon Yeong?”
“Hmm…”
Gongseon Yeong fell into thought while listening to my playing.
If the Sandong Ak Family and Hwangbo Sega truly intervened, there would be no turning back from that point.
“Well… I don’t want to see the corpse of someone I know either. But that person came to kill me anyway, so what choice do I have? And if my sister tells me to go, then I should go. I am my sister’s blade.”
Wang Gak-yeon asked.
“Is that all? You have no thoughts of your own?”
“What do you mean? I don’t want to think too deeply. I am my sister’s limbs. I learned martial arts for this purpose, so the blood my sister sees, I see as well, and the debts my sister owes, I bear. That’s enough.”
“What if you die?”
“My sister would cry terribly. Who knows? The Central Plains might become a sea of fire.”
‘Oh, surprisingly accurate.’
Upon the dark river, the zither’s tones resonated from the slipping boat.
Gongseon Yeong fell into thought before adding one more thing.
“Despite appearances, my sister is someone who suffers greatly from loneliness, so she couldn’t bear it if I died. So… I’ll bear my sister’s blood debts, and to preserve my own life, I’ll have to slit the throat of every enemy I see. That’s all. The end!”
“Simple.”
“What, did you think I’d open the path of a righteous hero like you?”
Wang Gak-yeon’s brow furrowed.
“Even if not to that extent… ah, never mind. For now, as someone of the righteous path, if I see any traces of contact with the Demonic Sect or evidence of their training, then they are no longer righteous—they’re beasts worse than animals, so I’ll shoot them!”
‘Hmm, both Gongseon Yeong and Wang Gak-yeon have made their decisions.’
Now only I remain.
The two of them looked at me. I understood the meaning in their eyes.
They were asking which path I would choose.
I laughed softly.
Whether I wish it or not, humans are merely human.
Whether they contact the Demonic Sect or undergo their training is a matter of individual conscience—something I cannot control.
That is the Gangho.
That is what debts of gratitude mean.
Ding ding—
“I’ll be a bit selfish about this.”
“Hmm?”
“Because I’m a foreign princess. Princesses are allowed to be a little selfish, after all.”
Just as Wang Gak-yeon and Gongseon Yeong were dressed as men, I remained in my princess attire.
These water bandits weren’t particularly sharp-eyed, so I had to deceive them properly.
I continued speaking.
“I could be an inspector for the Bota Clan, or I could be an assassin for the Black Sword Sect—a mysterious single-lineage school. Or perhaps a princess.”
“You could be a princess?”
“Yes. I could be a princess. In any case, I won’t be Seo Baek-ryong of Baekrin Medical Guild.”
[So you’re saying you’ll fight without using the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong?]
Blue eyes were something like the symbol of the Jegallim Family.
To that question, I answered without blinking an eye.
“It’s fine. I’m a princess, after all. Even if I crack someone’s skull with a stone pipa, it’s fine because I’m a princess.”
At my calm response, Gongseon Yeong couldn’t help but let his true thoughts slip out.
“Insane….”
Within that madness, I declared my will as a princess—to smash them as a princess would.
Wang Gak-yeon laughed for quite a while at something she found amusing.
“Wahaha, I like it. Princess Jin.”
Clang!
“Hwang-gu likes it too.”
Through the Chuggeun technique, Hwang-gu had transformed his very bones and muscles, adding fur to resemble a foreign alpaca.
I called Hwang-gu an “alpaca.”
Even so, if he barked, his cover would be blown, so he never came outside the ship.
The same went for Noeji.
He had deformed his body’s bones and muscles to the extreme, resembling a seagull.
In this state, flying was no problem, but fighting was difficult, so he rested on Hwang-gu’s back.
His master—me—hadn’t sent him any reconnaissance orders either.
“It’s surprising how the ship moves at night without hitting any reefs.”
“The captain is an experienced man. He has considerable experience navigating the Yellow River at night.”
“Ah… That’s not easy for a merchant vessel.”
“He’s from the water bandits.”
My eyes widened slightly, then I nodded again.
“He’s from the Unryongpyoguk, isn’t he?”
“Yes. The Unryongpyoguk has many connections everywhere. He was influenced by the Pyo Gukju and washed his hands clean, they say.”
I nodded and returned to playing the strings.
The stone pipa that had been pitch black was now painted with white glaze and reinforced with wood, leaving no trace of its original appearance.
The same was true of the Chilgeumgeum that Sama Hyeon had gifted me.
The Gongseon Family’s martial artists were famous for keeping their mouths shut, and there was no overlap between the warriors who had been transported before and those involved in this matter.
Gongseon Hyeon was truly thorough.
The Veiled Madman is widely known in the underworld to primarily wield the Icy Frost Sword and fist techniques.
That said, though rare, the vast Gangho has always had masters who wielded the pipa as a weapon.
Assassins disguised as musicians in particular frequently employ it.
Jin Cheon-hee wielded it with such monkey-like dexterity that he astonished those around him.
‘Which is precisely why this stone pipa was crafted by a master artisan’s hand.’
Where there is demand, supply follows.
In plain terms, unless Jin Cheon-hee employs the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong or the Taeul Danseonggeom, they have no way to identify his identity from that quarter.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————