Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 49

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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 49
Now I understood why those proud Medical Guild leaders deferred to Yoo Ho’s words.
‘But I need Yoo Ho.’
If there were someone to replace him, I would have done so long ago.
I turned my head to look at the penicillin.
“Please work properly. You have to. If it doesn’t work, who knows how much more he’ll complain with that personality of his.”
Deep in my heart, I prayed to a god I had never truly believed in.
* * *
Syphilis.
While there were various causes of infection, the primary factor was transmission through sexual contact.
Originally on Earth, it was a disease found in the West Indies, and after Columbus and his expedition—those who could be credited with opening the Age of Exploration—became infected, it spread to Europe. The conventional wisdom during my studies was that it subsequently spread throughout the world. However….
These days, evidence has been discovered suggesting it already existed in Europe a hundred years before Columbus, so it remains uncertain.
‘Either way, it doesn’t matter to me.’
The problem was the treatment for syphilis.
In this era, infection with syphilis typically meant death.
Beyond the high mortality rate, there weren’t even decent remedies available.
Mercury-based potent medicines were sometimes used as treatments, but they proved ineffective, and patients often died in greater agony from mercury poisoning.
As a result, syphilis became a cursed disease that killed countless infected persons until penicillin was developed.
The same was true in this world of the Hua Empire.
Whether it manifested from the West Indies as in actual history, I couldn’t know, but syphilis did exist, and it was currently a disease killing countless people within the Hua Empire.
An incurable disease.
My request to gather syphilis patients naturally spread throughout the entire Medical Guild.
“I believe in the Master.”
Gungwi spoke with eyes full of trust.
Wang Gak-yeon also clenched her fists tightly.
“I want to help too, Dad!”
“You should rest. You haven’t fully recovered yet.”
She inherited Gungwi’s personality—her execution was flawless.
In the past, she had to be a good daughter, staying by her father’s side when he was in danger. But now it was different.
Now that Gungwi’s life was stable, she was at an age to find what she truly wanted to do.
“But you can’t do anything until you’re completely better. That’s the rule. If you break it, Uncle Gungwi will get scolded by the Master instead of you, asking why he’s making his daughter work when she hasn’t fully recovered.”
At my logical words, Wang Gak-yeon puffed out her cheeks.
“But I could help….”
I laughed at that.
“Haha, help me once you’re fully better. By then, you’ll be crying that there’s too much work.”
There was another reason I was desperately stopping her like this.
‘It seems many people from the Haowen faction will be coming… it’s not good for the children’s education. Gak-yeon….’
Syphilis was a sexually transmitted disease.
Naturally, many people from Haowen—a faction centered around brothels—would gather here.
Gungwi and I exchanged a knowing glance.
* * *
Haomu.
A faction within the Gangho world that manages brothels and pleasure houses.
Wherever people gather, alcohol flows.
Haomu maintains a presence wherever people congregate.
Even the most stone-faced individual loosens their tongue after drinking. They profit by selling the information gleaned from such moments, and sometimes plant spies to lower people’s guard and expand their influence.
The problem is that human rights sensibilities in this era differ greatly from those of modern Earth.
Most of Haomu’s members are children sold into the organization in their youth.
Some are born orphans, but many are sold by impoverished families simply to put food on the table.
There is little distinction between the two.
Based on constitution and appearance, they are assigned roles—whether as guards protecting Haomu, spies, or discarded pieces.
The selected children learn the faction’s martial arts, along with dance and song.
Being a faction, there are no moral boundaries.
Since death could come at any moment, these children live lives utterly divorced from the ordinary world.
This is why once you enter Haomu, you remain in Haomu forever.
The debt incurred upon being sold can never be repaid, and they have learned no other means of livelihood beyond what Haomu teaches.
‘The best outcome, I’ve heard, is becoming a high official’s concubine.’
It is a place where virtue cannot take root.
“We are grateful for your assistance, Young Master.”
A Heavily Painted Man and Woman entered.
All were beautiful in appearance, yet greatly disfigured by syphilis. The heavy makeup was an attempt to conceal this ravage.
Some had their faces entirely covered with cloth, while many were carried in by martial artists due to difficulty moving.
Yet that distinctive odor remained unmistakably that of the afflicted, causing all the doctors to wince involuntarily.
Even within the Gangho, Haomu always undertook the filthiest tasks.
The treatment received by those living in such establishments was predictable.
Only Jin Cheon-hee responded with composure.
“Thank you for making the journey here.”
“Bodies not worth a single coin anyway. We’re simply grateful to be of use in any capacity. Hehehehe.”
It was not a jest one would make to a child.
Yet in the world they inhabited, it was precisely that—a jest.
Jin Cheon-hee replied thus:
“I had intended to provide treatment at the medical hall below the mountain. What prompted you to ascend here personally?”
“What is more terrifying than human eyes? Understanding filth intellectually differs greatly from witnessing it directly.”
The Haomu members spoke of themselves without hesitation in such terms.
She added a further remark.
“You are truly eccentric, Young Master. To gather filth for the sake of medicine—remarkable indeed.”
Her words carried an edge.
Though they were martial artists of the Gangho, they had climbed the mountain as patients, which was only natural. Yet her words carried self-mockery regarding their inescapable circumstances.
A peculiar distortion.
Jin Cheon-hee answered calmly.
“You needn’t believe whether I’ll succeed or fail at treatment. I’ll simply do everything within my power.”
A patient’s circumstances belong to the patient alone.
A doctor merely does his utmost in treatment.
The Haowen disciples found Jin Cheon-hee’s attitude peculiar.
The Haowen disciples exchanged glances with one another.
‘I’ve heard Baekrin Uiseon’s disciple is eccentric, but it’s really true.’
‘He’s neither sympathetic nor dismissive….’
‘His plainness makes it difficult to discern his true thoughts.’
These were Haowen disciples who had weathered every storm.
Even to them, Jin Cheon-hee was quite an unusual specimen.
It was strange enough that he’d volunteered to treat syphilis and sought out patients, yet he neither scorned them as filthy wretches nor pitied them as unfortunate souls.
“We haven’t properly introduced ourselves. My name is Muhua. Young Master. My younger brother’s name is Muyue. We siblings shall oversee the Haowen disciples who’ve come with us.”
Muhua spoke sweetly, her red smile blooming.
Jin Cheon-hee asked.
“Both of you are showing symptoms of syphilis, then?”
“Yes. We siblings both contracted it around the same period, though the severity differs.”
Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
“Understood. Yoo Ho, please escort everyone to the wards.”
With that, Jin Cheon-hee began his work.
* * *
“I’ve lived my whole life in the brothel, but I’ve truly never seen a child like that.”
“Sister. Your jest toward Baekrin Uigak’s young master was excessive.”
After being assigned to their ward, Muhua and Muyue stepped outside to converse.
The siblings were a brother and sister sold from a poor family.
Both possessed exceptional beauty from childhood and were carefully cultivated by Haowen.
They had talent in dance and song, and were skilled at painting and calligraphy as well.
They had once risen to the position of Buntta’s master before contracting syphilis and being relegated to the back rooms.
“Muyue. Why not speak honestly now? You’re perfectly fine.”
“You know what becomes of syphilis patients in Haowen. If I weren’t here, who would care for you, Sister?”
“You’re truly foolish, Muyue.”
“Sister, you’re the foolish one. If you’d escaped with me when I suggested it, we siblings would both be fine now….”
At those words, Muhua laughed for a long while.
“Father and Mother said it themselves. That we should now consider Haowen our home. They were the ones who caught our fleeing hands and placed them back into Haowen’s grasp.”
“Sister.”
“Where would we go if we fled? And do you think Haowen would even wave goodbye to us?”
The wind blew.
The bamboo rustled like falling rain.
Beneath her thick makeup, the pustules—evidence of syphilis—were starkly visible.
“That young master….”
“Don’t harbor premature hopes, Muyue.”
“Sister.”
She shook her head.
“It’s just the young master’s whim. We simply offer our bodies and steal information—that’s all there is to it.”
A commission had arrived at Haomu.
An investigation into Baekrin Uigak’s movements and inquiries about the young medical prodigy.
Everything from reputation to medical skill. Even if we can’t uncover weaknesses, that’s acceptable.
We’ll gather whatever small details we can discover.
It was quite a broad commission.
As always, the siblings had no way of knowing who had placed this order.
When they were with Buntta, information flowed in constantly, but now they were merely discarded pieces.
That’s why Muyue felt desperate.
“A commission is merely a commission, sister. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on your treatment?”
“Do you think incurable diseases are called incurable for no reason, Muyue? Stop worrying about someone like me and do what you wish.”
“Caring for you is more important than selling smiles.”
“How foolish.”
With those words, she closed her eyes.
‘It’s unlikely, but if—just if—that young prodigy succeeds in treatment… then I…’
Her thoughts ended there.
She laughed bitterly at herself.
‘I’m still the foolish one. Dreaming of impossible dreams when I know there’s no greater stupidity than that.’
As a child, she had dreamed so many dreams.
The first dream was eating delicious food until her belly was full.
But even the most popular courtesans in the brothel couldn’t do that.
Unlike other martial artists in Gangho, she couldn’t sharpen her blade every day.
Because gaining weight made her ugly.
‘Next came the dream of earning lots of money and becoming rich.’
But that too was impossible.
It was Haomu that earned the money, not the courtesans.
Somehow, the more popular she became, the more debt accumulated.
She realized that no matter how beautiful she became, she would never escape debt.
So she changed the direction of her dreams.
‘I even dreamed of escaping this place.’
She had watched a fleeing courtesan’s fingers branded with a hot iron.
She and her siblings had to heat that iron together.
It was meant as a lesson.
As they heated the iron in the flames, she and her siblings wept.
Even now, some children woke from sleep crying.
The hot iron left scars not only on the fleeing courtesan but also on the hearts of those who witnessed it.

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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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