Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 449

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

Chapter 449
Eun Wang-ya’s eyes seemed as though they could pierce through the very depths of a person’s soul.
“Am I to become your staff of virtue, Your Majesty?”
“Yes. You shall become my staff of virtue.”
Ting—
Hwang-gu’s tail wagged.
I stroked the dog’s broad forehead firmly as I spoke.
“I have one final question, if I may.”
“You have my permission.”
“Then where is Gingoa, the smallest prison in the world?”
At those words, Eun Wang-ya laughed for a long time as if to say, “Why would you ask such a thing?”
“It is here, is it not?”
“Your Majesty?”
He pressed his index finger firmly against his own heart as he spoke.
“This pathetically frail body of mine—that is Gingoa.”
…
He hummed as he spoke.
“Now then, child who could not become the son of the Jegallga family, listen well. Am I not the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?”
…
“I possess the smallest prison in the world, the Cloud of Geun Du-un, and my staff of virtue. So now I must journey to the end of the earth to obtain the scriptures—can I make this journey?”
I answered him.
“You will be able to, Your Majesty.”
“And the scriptures?”
“You will be able to obtain them.”
Hahahaha.
He laughed for a long time, delighted by something.
“Tell me then—what should the scriptures be called? Would the Art of War suit? Or perhaps the Six Paths or Three Strategies? The Methods of Sima are not without merit either.”
I answered the King.
“I believe the scriptures should be called the Legalist Canon.”
“How cruel you are, little doctor.”
He laughed softly as he said this.
And the sound of the drum—
stopped.
Boom—
* * *
Where could my Master be?
In this world without phones or drones, strategists typically follow along with the main army’s advance.
Thinking of that, he was likely moving somewhere in the rear encampment.
Would he feel at ease knowing his disciple remains within sight, or would he instead feel anxious?
There is no way to know.
What’s certain now is that finally, these two factions have begun their collision toward mutual annihilation.
The Imperial Army deploys the Eight Trigram Formation with three legions and advances forward.
A well-constructed Eight Trigram Formation is impeccably solid—if operated properly, even formidable cavalry breakthroughs cannot leave a scratch.
They even deliberately allow a breakthrough, then shift the Eight Trigram Formation to close it, severing the cavalry’s waist.
The cavalry trapped within the Eight Trigram Formation perishes there.
In go, this is called a palace enclosure.
Whether it becomes a flower four-palace or plum blossom six-palace, ultimately the opponent is captured within a few moves depending on their placement.
I observe the palace enclosure made of humans that my Master created.
The Empire’s white stones advance and march forward.
The Suksin Tribe’s movements are swift.
If the Suksin Tribe’s cavalry are masters of speed go, then my Master is….
‘A master of short-life go, surely.’
The stronger the player, the more they typically place each move with multiple purposes rather than just one.
Why was it placed? It’s nothing special—even seemingly random opening moves contain multiple calculations within them. That’s what makes a professional.
Especially my Master tends to compress many things within a single move.
Because of this, even in a world where go is the supreme entertainment, my Master has always finished renowned masters like Jang Mun-in with the minimum number of moves.
That’s why the saying circulates among the elders of the great families: “If you face Baek Rin-ui-seon, there’s no escaping short-life go.”
Speed go and short-life go.
Though their specialties differ, ultimately a go player cannot avoid the board.
Once seated, one must see it through to the end.
The funny thing is that since this is a real battle of moves between people, not actual go, there’s no reason to wait for the opponent’s move.
In reality, speed go always has the advantage.
And the Hwa Empire’s white stones move far more sluggishly than the Suksin Tribe’s black stones.
As a disciple, I have the duty to observe this situation.
“Phew.”
“A pipe on the battlefield—quite refined indeed.”
This Emperor speaks quite remarkably.
Without knowing what the smoker truly feels.
‘I’m smoking this to keep from going mad, after all.’
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong and the medicine my Master gave me circulate through my body together.
They render fear and pain numb.
This is merely the minimum safety mechanism to prevent me from going berserk.
Oseng, who has evolved this into a jewel, assists further.
“Please do not resent the Ruyi Staff for its inadequacy.”
“The Veiled Madman underestimates himself too much.”
A strengthened spirit and an expanded depth of mind objectify oneself and turn one’s gaze away from pain.
Whoooosh—
The first move has begun.
As always, it is the black stones that move first.
A barrage of arrows from the Suksin Tribe comes flying.
Breaking through the Jegallim Family’s perfect Eight Trigram Formation with cavalry alone is impossible.
So their strategist’s response was to unleash arrows with overwhelming range and penetrating power far beyond what the imperial army possessed.
Arrows infused with qi pierce shields like tofu and shatter skulls.
Crack—
The shattered skull rolls across the ground.
Can I save them?
My rational mind whispers, but my Master has placed a leash around my disciple’s neck.
While accompanying the King, I must abandon being a doctor and exist only as a soldier.
Reason strains against its chains, creaking.
My Master’s next move unfolds.
“Bichano, forward!”
Archers must be countered with archers.
Then what can narrow the gap in range?
The Turtle Shell Bichano.
Arrows fly forth, propelled not by human strength but by the mechanical principles of this era.
My Master’s goal isn’t like the Suksin Tribe’s—launching arrows in parabolic arcs to blot out the sun and rain down like a downpour to shatter helmets.
The target is the cavalry horses.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap—
Arrows launched in straight trajectories begin embedding themselves into the enemy’s mounts.
The Eight Trigram Formation ripples and advances forward.
A wave made of human bodies surges ahead.
The horses panic, and the formation begins to crumble.
“The Turtle Shell Bichano doesn’t fall far short in effective range. With favorable wind, we can pierce through the front ranks and shatter the rear lines. The improvements I’ve made since two years ago are proving quite useful.”
Eun Wang-ya speaks as if discussing someone else’s matter.
Even though he stands within this very battle line.
Even though his death would follow if this line breaks.
He contentedly savors the power of the Turtle Shell Bichano he had refined.
“If things proceed this way, the engagement ratio will favor us. There was a reason for positioning the Turtle Shell Bichano in the second row of the Eight Trigram Formation.”
As technology advances, so too must battle formations.
This is why my Master’s Eight Trigram Formation differs from the traditional one passed down through the family—human warfare techniques have evolved far beyond the Three Kingdoms era.
If warfare evolves, formations must evolve with it.
I drew deeply on my cigarette.
“I wish this could end here.”
“You know that won’t happen.”
At that moment, horn pipes and war drums began sounding together.
The Suksin Tribe’s formation ripples at accelerated speed.
Arrows begin flying toward the Turtle Shell Bichano.
Fire arrows.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—!
“They respond quickly. To replace arrows so rapidly…”
“They’re not individuals—they’re people capable of unifying an entire army to designate arrows and firing range. They are our enemies.”
Simultaneous with the fire attack, the Suksin Tribe’s army splits from five divisions into six.
‘A fire attack, and then a cavalry charge?’
The black stone placed two moves at once.
On the board it would be a foul, but in reality it was mobility.
‘They’re inducing a collapse of the formation.’
Crash-crash-crash-crash!
Armored war horses pierce through with extreme breakthrough force.
Even masters skilled in martial arts found it impossible to face the Suksin Tribe, who were masters of beast-spirit techniques.
Especially after suffering the fire attack!
The cavalry, split into five or six groups, circled the Imperial Army’s formation like hyenas, searching for gaps to charge through.
“It’s the method of herding sheep to hunt. The way of wolves.”
Eun Wang-ya watches the Suksin Tribe’s tactics with interest.
What is he seeing with those eyes?
If I survive this, it will become great wealth. But can I survive?
Is there no fear?
Didn’t I say it myself?
That my body is ‘Gingoah’.
“My hands are trembling.”
“….”
“Breathing in the smoke, I feel better again.”
People are killing people.
This wasn’t simply a fight between martial artists.
It would have been better if it were a blood wind aimed at secret techniques.
A soldier some distance away is struck by a cavalryman’s spear and dies.
The last word he spoke was ‘Mother’.
Unexpectedly, people speak of what is urgent rather than what makes for a grand final testament.
If the last words spoken at the end of life are just ‘Mother’, then that must be what is most urgent.
“You don’t turn away your eyes even though it’s painful.”
“Thirty severely wounded soldiers entered the field hospital at once. We have limited personnel, resources, and time. That’s simply how field hospitals are.”
Hospital.
I let slip the word from my home world, but Eun Wang-ya didn’t ask about it.
That’s simply how the Jegallim Family operates.
“What should I do then, Wang-ya?”
“Normally, shouldn’t you treat patients with higher survival rates first? That’s the way of war.”
“Yes. That’s how it is.”
Whoosh—
Drawing in smoke again, I spoke.
“Then Wang-ya, if we compare this war to a field hospital, which side should we save first?”
“That would also be the side with the higher survival rate.”
“…Yes. That is correct. I too must do the same.”
Even within the roiling heart demon, the Doctor made his decision.
He had not yet reached his boiling point.
He could boil further still.
Does blood vaporize into qi?
Does the heart demon vaporize into qi?
Where do people go when they kill other people?
Tap, tap—
Jin Cheon-hee tapped the ash from his pipe and placed it between his lips.
This pipe that Yeo Ha-ryun had given him must surely be an object that had witnessed much blood.
How could something belonging to a Minor Sect Leader of the Demon Sect possibly be clean?
Yet it didn’t matter. That was precisely why it helped.
At that moment, Noeji dropped a bamboo tube onto Eun Wang-ya’s head before flying back toward the soldiers.
Tap—
He opened the tube and examined its contents, then spoke thus.
“We move as well.”
“Has the General’s command arrived?”
“Yes. He said now.”
“Then we shall move.”
He reached for the reins but stopped, asking instead.
“But tell me something.”
“You have a question at such a critical moment?”
“No, I’m simply curious. I couldn’t help myself in the end.”
I couldn’t fathom why he would dawdle at such an urgent time.
Then Eun Wang-ya’s voice struck at my core.
“The descendants of Boggi awaken their abilities in the midst of war, ascending to the next level. So even those deemed incompetent, when thrust into the heart of battle, often manifest true power.”
“I see.”
“Do you feel nothing unusual?”
“Pardon? I’m not sure what you mean, sir.”
Without waiting for Jin Cheon-hee’s response, Eun Wang-ya gestured to the honor guards on both sides.
The honor guards on both sides then flanked him closely, providing protection.
Cutting through the tide of moving people, he made his way toward the place his Master spoke of.

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