Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 446

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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 446
Looking at the wealth of the Hundred Thousand Great Sect leaves me breathless.
It wasn’t merely a matter of money—they possessed things that couldn’t be bought with gold at all.
‘Well… even just the Poison Antidote Wine that cures any toxin is already incredible. If they’re the Demonic Cult, wouldn’t they have an elixir of immortality as well?’
These people could make that possible.
“You lot don’t pay taxes, you cunning bastards.”
“Hm?”
Yeo Ha-ryun’s eyes widened at my unexpected remark.
“You’ve been evading taxes for generations! That’s why you’ve accumulated this much wealth!”
“How amusing. Our sect is heaven itself—so why should we pay tribute to the imperial court?”
This is exactly why you’re all traitors.
Well, I suppose to the Demonic Cult, the idea of a god paying taxes to a mere human would be absurd. The Emperor is just flesh and blood, while the Leader is divine.
Still, seeing treasures accumulated through tax evasion makes this honest taxpayer’s blood boil.
“Alright, enough. When you become Cheonma, you’ll pay taxes too! You will, I’m telling you!”
“This brother doesn’t even appreciate gifts…”
“No, I’m grateful, truly. But you should pay taxes with me. This isn’t right. It’s not!”
Baekrin Uiseon’s Patriarch flailed his arms wildly.
‘Damn it, this is so unfair. This is why cults are useless. Though Cheonma is a demon by nature, so she can’t possibly live righteously!’
Thus I had to endure my brother’s complaints, which I hadn’t heard in a long time.
I couldn’t understand why he’d accept a gift and then complain about it, but I was relieved that he seemed healthier than I’d worried.
* * *
Yeo Ha-ryun said he had to return to his duties.
Before he left, I told him about Won Cheon-gun.
Even about how he’d tried to make contact.
Yeo Ha-ryun left with gratitude and sincere words wishing me safety.
“May both you and I survive until the very end.”
“If the front lines don’t push back any further, I’ll be fine. More than that, worry about yourself.”
Yeo Ha-ryun nodded, put his mask back on, and left the tent.
Thud—
One step.
But I heard no sound from the second step.
I couldn’t sense Yeo Ha-ryun’s presence or his distinctive scent at all.
Hwang-gu tilted his head with a questioning whine.
Even a spirit beast found it impossible to track Yeo Ha-ryun.
‘He’s truly advancing toward the realm of Cheonma.’
Faster than expected. But my younger brother growing stronger is good news.
After that brief parting, I was back to sipping my herbal decoction Americano when Cheonwoo entered.
“Brother, are you alright?”
My expression darkened at his words.
“Are you the one who’s alright?”
This was because Cheonwoo’s complexion had turned deathly pale.
“Let me check your pulse.”
Seeing his ashen face, I grew concerned. Cheonwoo shook his head.
“It’s fine as long as you’re okay, hyeong. I’ll go check on things.”
And with that, he tried to leave.
I caught Cheonwoo by the arm.
“Come here first and eat something.”
Was it a Korean trait to feed someone whenever you worried about them?
I pulled out a honey taffy from the corner.
Cheonwoo let out an exasperated murmur.
“How does hyeong always have an endless supply of food?”
“You need to eat to have strength. Come on.”
Even the elderly elders of the Mudang sect would always carry snacks in their robes. Was this the same thing?
Despite Jang Mun-in scolding him to stop feeding people, he would secretly give snacks to the young Mudang disciples and seem delighted about it.
He would get angry, saying they weren’t his direct responsibility, yet he’d give them anyway.
So that’s what being a grandfather meant—no responsibility, just affection.
And yet, sometimes I felt that same quality from this young hyeong.
“There we go, eating well. The honey taffy keeps going down, doesn’t it?”
“Did hyeong make this?”
“Yeah. With practice, you can make it quickly. High calories, high sugar. It’s also called yongsu-yeom, but I prefer calling it honey taffy.”
As the thread-thin taffy melted on his tongue, the peanut powder, walnuts, and pine nuts inside provided a satisfying chew.
“Want some dried persimmon slices too? I made those as well.”
Before Cheonwoo could even answer, I pulled out more from somewhere and handed them over.
Then, sucking on a bamboo tube straw while watching him with that expression—I looked like a madman incarnate.
‘Hyeong is just different from others.’
Why was that?
As food began settling in my stomach, my heart naturally eased as well.
Suddenly feeling a gaze, I looked up to find hyeong watching me. It seemed he’d been observing how I ate for some time now.
Embarrassed that our eyes had met, he smiled bashfully.
“Finally, your expression looks better.”
“Does it?”
“Yeah. There was a murderous glint in your eyes. Keep that up and the Cheonma will come.”
“….”
I couldn’t respond.
Instead of saying what I might have—’What’s wrong with you, a warrior afraid of blood?’—hyeong asked something different.
“Is the war difficult?”
That was all.
“…Yes.”
No matter how skilled an assassin or powerful a hermit one faced, the heart’s barriers crumbled easily.
Did this hyeong know he possessed such power?
Cheonwoo continued speaking.
“After I tore off his ears and killed him, a face younger than mine rolled out of his helmet.”
“That’s rough.”
“Yes. It feels different from killing a warrior. This sensation.”
“It’s different from a life-or-death duel. If it were the same, it wouldn’t be war.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
“If it gets too hard, run away.”
“Pardon?”
“If it’s unbearable, desert. What’s the problem? You look like you’re about to die anyway from the Cheonma.”
My older brother, living up to his nickname of the Veiled Madman, spoke such insane words with complete composure today as well.
“I’ll handle the aftermath, so just slip away. It’s fine.”
“Hyeong, aren’t you ashamed if your younger brother does that?”
“Why would I be ashamed? Wow, our Cheonwoo’s decisiveness is incredible. I’ll give you a thumbs up.”
He chuckled as he spoke.
I ruffled Cheonwoo’s large head and said, “It’s okay. It’s okay. Just coming back alive is already remarkable. And you saved Ju Wang too, didn’t you? You’ve done everything you needed to do. That’s enough—you worked hard. You fought with all your strength.”
Desert if it gets too hard.
On this battlefield.
It was the most insane thing Cheonwoo had ever heard.
But he couldn’t deny that it was also the most comforting thing he wanted to hear.
“I’m glad you’re my hyeong.”
“Of course~ who else’s hyeong would I be.”
* * *
When Sama Hyeon came to visit, Cheonwoo was already preparing to leave.
‘Huh, that bastard’s expression has improved.’
A moment ago he’d looked haggard, as if carrying all the world’s worries on his shoulders, but now his face was brighter.
Moreover, looking at his hands, this guy was eating something.
Sama Hyeon felt inexplicably irritated.
‘He played weak in front of hyeong again.’
Hyeong can’t even take care of himself, yet he takes care of others so well.
If you were to draw a spiritual pillar, it would be this kind of person.
A great tree that creates shade for everyone.
He bears the full brunt of scorching sun and storms alone, yet still provides shelter beneath him for insects and climbing vines to survive.
He becomes a nest for squirrels and birds, and when autumn comes, he bears fruit to feed the beasts.
So it was natural that people kept gathering around him.
Especially Cheonwoo, since hyeong had even named him and saved his life—attachment was inevitable.
“Hyeon came?”
“Mmhm~ Hyeon came~ Gaga.”
“….”
Cheonwoo cursed with cold eyes.
Cheon-woo cursed with cold eyes.
Here I was, having charged through like a wild bull and slaughtered people, yet sitting before my brother and pretending to be weak—it was infuriating. So.
“Cheonwoo hyeong. Mudang Gwon-je is calling for you.”
“Is that so?”
I spoke up.
“Go on, hurry. I’ll pack you a few more dried persimmon slices. Eat them on the way.”
Saying that, I pulled out a small wicker basket from somewhere and carefully packed it before handing it over.
It was just a sickbed, yet I couldn’t fathom where all these things kept coming from.
After Cheonwoo left, Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Gaga~ I have a mouth too, you know.”
“You need to stop that… No, never mind. Just eat.”
Saying so, I took out dried persimmon slices for Sama Hyeon as well.
In the center of the dried persimmon slices, rolled into perfect rounds, something white was embedded. I explained.
“Cheese… or rather, dried curds. I rolled it with dried curds inside. This tastes good.”
It seemed I’d created another strange dish.
Come to think of it, most of my cooking didn’t concern itself with ingredient costs.
Where would the Patriarch of Baekrin Medical Guild go?
With a generous purse, I didn’t spare on food ingredients.
‘So hyeong calls dried curds “cheese.”‘
It’s something nomads mainly eat, though the form is somewhat different from what nomads typically consume.
I’ve tasted it directly, and hyeong’s version seems processed to be easier to eat, if I had to describe it.
‘I have no idea where this culinary knowledge comes from. Hmm~’
Ultimately, creativity springs from foundational knowledge.
A person who has eaten three dishes their whole life and one who has eaten three hundred dishes have different creative capacities.
Since Baekrin Medical Guild specializes in medicinal cuisine, hyeong must have tasted plenty of that style.
However, hyeong’s specialty is these bizarre creations.
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.’
This hyeong being strange wasn’t something that started yesterday. There’s no point in tracing the origins now.
After Cheonwoo left, Sama Hyeon happily ate the dried persimmon slices, honey taffy, and snacks that hyeong provided.
Suddenly I felt a gaze and looked up to find Jin Cheon-hee staring at me intently with those blue eyes.
“Hyeong, what is it?”
“No, it’s just that you seem to be doing alright.”
“Ah~”
Seeing that Cheonwoo hyeong was exhausted, hyeong must have been worried I’d be the same way.
“As for the Third Prince, he’s orthodox, so it can’t be helped~ Of course, living as an orphan wasn’t smooth for him either, but directly living in the back alleys is a different matter altogether.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Of course~ First, he didn’t have people to take responsibility for, and he never had to grab someone’s leg for today’s food. Back then, it was truly… difficult.”
Even now, I recall those days in the Akdan.
Back then, Elder Seok Nosa transmitted the Cheonbyeon Geomman Gong to me and then passed away, leaving me to take care of my younger siblings.
‘For grandfather to transmit something like that. He should have left silver instead.’
In the end, because of the Cheonbyeon Geomman Gong, I became unable to leave Hao-mun, making it the root cause of my twisted life.
Back then, no one explained the circumstances properly, so I thought it was just common grunt work for a sect.
Because Elder Seok left without a single coin to his name, I had to do whatever I could to fill my hungry belly.
“Hye-a grows sicker by the day, and I’m just a worthless brat. The streets are vicious, I don’t have money to see a doctor~ and there’s no one to trust~”
Sama Hyeon continued speaking as if humming a song.
A ruffian snatched away the coins I’d earned with such difficulty.
I asked for them back, but he wouldn’t listen. So at first, I clung to his feet like a dog, begging.
You’d think a child pleading so desperately might move someone, but the back alleys of Hangzhou were never that merciful.
Instead, he beat me.
As I was being pummeled in that back alley, I eventually gripped his leg with all my strength and tore the tendons in his ankle.
The bastard went mad, indignant that he’d been bested by a child.
That was when I killed someone for the first time.
Looking back now, I wonder if my obsession with money back then lingered and drove me to the Geum Blood Method.
And the memory of killing someone that day remained so vivid that I kept wanting to kill.
Still, I discarded that man’s facial skin.
At the time, I didn’t know how to preserve facial skin.

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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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