Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 506
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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 506
There’s a saying that a cousin’s land purchase causes stomach pain, but in the Demonic Sect, when a rival disciple acquires land, it’s not the stomach that aches—it’s one’s life that’s in danger.
Building brotherhood by calling each other “elder brother” and “younger brother” with laughter and joy—that’s the way of the righteous sects like the Mudang Sect, Shaolin, and Huashan, rooted in Daoism and Buddhism. (Of course, since people live everywhere, even those sects have unspeakable stories if you dig deep enough.)
A Gaju drawing his blade to test successors and assess their abilities—that’s mainly the way of righteous families bound by blood, like the Namgung Family and Hwangbo Family.
Though fierce, they manage reasonably well, like the Namgung Siblings, Hwangbo Siblings, and Gongsun Sisters.
There are even cases like Dang-a of the Sichuan Demonic Sect, who stood out dramatically early and secured her succession ahead of time.
But the Demonic Sect has none of that.
Disciples of the Demonic Sect are usually just means of making money.
Disciples of the Assassination Sect receive contracts, carry out assassinations, and their masters profit from it—the same applies to the Greenwood Bandits and Suro-chae.
In that sense, the Golden King was rotten through and through with the Demonic Sect’s nature.
Assassin No. 11 thought this way as he waited for the signal.
The reason his designation was No. 11 was simple.
Among the fifty-odd orphans the Assassination Sect had taken in, he was the only one who survived.
His master, Amhyeollang, had secretly brought those orphans and locked them in a small cave, continuously testing these children.
He had no doubt that once his martial prowess reached its peak, he would become the greatest assassin under heaven.
So No. 11 spent his childhood without ever knowing his own name.
During those years, human emotion had long since been erased; he killed his rivals No. 22 and No. 40, becoming the sole assassin.
And his master… simply took in another fifty orphans.
Children who would become No. 11’s new rivals were growing up in that Assassination Sect.
Not even the greatest assassination sect under heaven.
Nor was the master himself one of the top ten masters of the realm.
Yet the Demonic Sect operated in precisely this manner.
Behind the master stood some unnamed high official providing patronage, and sometimes children disappeared, led away by that official’s subordinates under the guise of long-term missions.
Whether those children lived or died after disappearing, no one knew.
What they did, where they were used.
One thing was certain: there was a need for children with erased names and origins, trained only in murder.
Such was this world.
Money rotted from abundance.
Human lives could be manipulated as needed.
After all, more people evaded taxes by remaining unregistered than those officially recorded.
In this vast Central Plains, humans were more numerous than grains of sand, and their lives were worth less than sand.
Piiiiieeeek–
An ultrasonic pitch infused with inner energy.
A sound in the frequency range only trained assassins could hear pierced the night.
‘Depart!’
All the assassins, including No. 11, moved in unison.
A dark night.
The moon shone brightly, yet there was no escort.
Whether carelessness or a trap, none could say. He and the other assassins read the air currents and detonated smoke bombs on the ground.
Shhhhhuk–!
Invisible smoke creeps along the ground.
Due to the basin-like terrain, I confirmed the air flowing into the workshop and settling there.
This toxic smoke’s name is Thousand Beast Poison.
‘Colorless and odorless, yet lethal to beasts. Kekeke.’
This poison, once discarded as ineffective against humans, found use precisely because of the two spiritual creatures beside Jin Cheon-hee.
Especially Hwang-gu—that dog was a thorn in my side.
He could detect scents from great distances and warn his master, making him the assassins’ natural enemy.
Yelp!
Just then, an unlucky fox passing by let out a single cry and collapsed to the ground as if falling asleep.
Blisters bubbled up across the dead beast’s body.
Animals poisoned by Thousand Beast Poison cannot be eaten.
They taste foul and cause stomach ailments.
The Thousand Beast Poison disperses invisibly to human eyes. Yet wherever it passes, animals invariably die.
Thus the toxic smoke released by assassins at multiple points on the mountainside reached the workshop and seeped deeply within.
It was truly a stratagem approaching divine mastery.
Numerous assassins continued releasing the Thousand Beast Poison they had prepared.
The sound of insects gradually fell silent.
Assassin No. 11 watched the chickens in the coop collapse and die.
The toxic smoke spread in all directions.
It continued advancing on the wind.
No matter how spiritual the creatures were, they could not survive inhaling Thousand Beast Poison.
How much time had passed?
Then the second signal sounded.
Beep beep, beeeeeep—!
The signal to advance.
Assassin No. 11 descended the mountainside with the other assassins.
The lightness technique of first-rate assassins was utterly concealed.
Despite so many running, not even the sound of leaves being brushed could be heard.
That eerie silence.
Shadows vaulted over the wall.
The assassination begins.
At that moment, Assassin No. 11 felt something strange.
I thought I had crossed the wall, yet another wall appeared before my eyes.
‘A formation!’
The other assassins, equally startled, gripped their weapons tightly.
In that instant, an arrow streaked past his side.
Whoosh!
The arrow, infused with inner force, pierced through an assassin’s face.
“It’s an ambush! Ambush!”
How was this possible?!
Could it be that Hwang-gu had been awake all along?
* * *
I stood atop the roof, observing the situation unfold below.
‘Damn these wretches. How dare they touch Hwang-gu?’
I had to watch in real-time as the hens sleeping peacefully in the coop, the livestock, and even the cattle all perished.
The poison was so potent that every creature exposed to its smoke collapsed without even a final cry, dying where they fell.
‘There are poisons in this world I’ve never encountered.’
That was only natural. This wasn’t some peaceful village, after all.
Hwang-gu, now shrunk to the size of a chick, perched atop my head.
Hwang-gu hadn’t caught the scent of the poison.
No one could have imagined that all the assassins would climb halfway up the mountain to spray their toxic smoke, and had Hwang-gu caught that scent, he would have been heading to the afterlife as well.
But I could hear the strange signal sounds they used to communicate.
Thanks to the Chilmakeum, the supreme sound technique.
Kee-ing—
“It’s alright. Don’t lose heart. They’re the villains here, not you.”
Hwang-gu seemed upset that I had sensed the enemies before he did, and had been whimpering ever since.
“And this roof isn’t safe either, so don’t breathe too deeply. No, wait—Noeji.”
Squeak?
“The toxic smoke can reach even up here. Take Hwang-gu far away, and you escape with him.”
Chirp, chirp-chirp!
“You don’t need to scout. Our goal is to block their assault. Your lives come first.”
Squeak?
“You can do it. They say a fully grown Cheonryeong can snatch cattle if it sets its mind to it, so taking Hwang-gu should be no problem.”
Squeak-squeak—
Noeji circled around me anxiously, then reluctantly grabbed Hwang-gu with its talons and flew far away.
With that, all my animal companions were safely away.
Had Noeji and Hwang-gu breathed in this poison and died, I wouldn’t have been in my right mind.
I drew my bow and peered down below.
Beneath the roof, roughly two hundred elite assassins attacked from all directions.
My formation had blocked them initially, but their skillful attempts to break through made it clear the enemy had hired expensive mercenaries.
I wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.
‘These assassins aren’t all of them, are they?’
All two hundred were undoubtedly skilled fighters.
Yet something about their attack pattern felt like they had another unit prepared elsewhere.
Only a strategist who had experienced real war could sense this.
I had the distinct feeling that their main force was hidden somewhere.
I clenched and unclenched my fists repeatedly, then finally drew the bow from my waist.
It was the bow Gungwi had gifted me long ago.
In my hands, instead of arrows, rested the qi projectiles of the Tanjicheon Technique. And my resolve was absolute.
The Wind God’s Bow—!
Twang!
Jin Cheon-hee’s Windgod Bow arrow flew through the gap between Baek Rin’s Thunder Dragon Bow.
Though it was merely an energy projectile, azure sword energy clung to it, tracing a trajectory like a comet across the sky.
The azure arc that flew forward pierced through the assassins’ bodies without fail.
“Watch out for the blue arrows!”
Someone shouted.
Even in this chaos, they quickly recognized that one arrow was special. Their response was swift.
“The arrows are infused with inner energy!”
Hmm, they noticed the inner energy too?
They’re quite skilled indeed.
Thinking so, I continued firing the Windgod Bow relentlessly.
Since Noeji and Hwang-gu nearly died, my movements were rougher than usual.
‘Why didn’t they just poison me instead? Why did they have to touch my children! The poor thing was so traumatized it wouldn’t even eat its snacks!’
Noeji ate his. Perhaps because he had been struggling against nature since birth.
He didn’t seem to be shocked by this level of incident.
But Hwang-gu was different.
Anyone who’s raised a dog knows that when a dog suddenly refuses treats, the owner’s heart sinks.
If the dog normally had no appetite, that would be one thing (though that’s still worrying), but when a dog with a voracious appetite suddenly turned its head away from treats and trudged off to find a corner—that’s when panic sets in.
At that point, the owner’s alarm bells start ringing, and they rush to the hospital with the dog in their arms.
Refusing sweet potato jerky—his favorite treat, the one he loved to death.
A Jindo dog, no less.
‘Why don’t you just use poison on humans instead, you bastards!’
With chickens, horses, and cattle dying left and right, the financial loss from that single strike was immeasurable.
Especially in this era, military horses were difficult to raise again.
‘Once this is over, I’m definitely teaching Hwang-gu poison resistance.’
For some reason, Mudang Gwon-je was exceptionally skilled at teaching spiritual creatures.
‘I should take my children’s pulse again later. I’m worried their liver or kidneys might have been damaged.’
Hwang-gu had refused the sweet potato.
That Hwang-gu!
Pap-pap-pap-pap-pang!
Jin Cheon-hee fired the Windgod Bow wildly, venting the owner’s anxiety.
While azure light rained down, Baek Rin’s Thunder Dragon Bow gradually began to slow.
It was natural—one couldn’t fire arrows forever. But that was fine.
Sama Hyeon’s subordinates were waiting in reserve anyway.
That was when it happened.
Kwaaaang!
A massive explosion erupted with a deafening roar that assaulted the ears.
“The formation has been breached!”
“Fall back one step—!”
With Man Seon’s forceful command infused with inner energy, Baek Rin’s formation began to shift.
[Hyeong, I’ll make my move now.]
Sama Hyeon’s telepathic voice resonated.
[Go ahead.]
The moment Jin Cheon-hee granted permission, Sama Hyeon and his subordinates immediately began spreading across the ground like mist.
Sama Hyeon wore black garments, unlike his usual attire.
Perhaps he had decided there was no need to stand out by wearing his customary flamboyant robes?
“Find Sama Hyeon, the Bangju of the Silver Blood Lodge!”
In that instant, a massive hand obscured the enemy’s vision.
Crack—
A skull shattered in an instant, and simultaneously, facial skin was torn away.
“I wanted to take a couple of assassin faces with me, and it worked out perfectly.”
Sama Hyeon licked his lips with the tip of his tongue.
At the same moment, Sama Hyeon’s face transformed.
What was remarkable was that he had seized the face mask worn by the assassins and put it on in reverse.
And the eyes visible beneath the mask were unmistakably those of an Unnamed Woman.
Even with the obstruction of the mask, he had flawlessly altered his entire face.
Once Sama Hyeon, with his changed face, blended among the Masked Persons, there was no way to tell who was the Bangju of the Silver Blood Lodge.
On this very night, dressed in black garments and wearing the seized masks of the Masked Persons in reverse, distinguishing friend from foe became even more difficult.
Rather, suspicion arose that the assassin protecting one’s back might be the notorious Cheonmyeon Hori.
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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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