Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 514

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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 514
Waaaaaaah–!
The roar of nearly a thousand voices struck like a physical blow against my ears.
I immediately turned to look back and counted the numbers of the Tamho Brigade.
“A hundred men, and without any formation arrays to support them. I’ll have to hold against a hundred with nothing but raw strength.”
“Your grasp of the situation is swift.”
It was simply, utterly impossible to subdue all of them without killing.
Yet if I hesitated here, my allies would die.
How could that be allowed? So I turned my gaze forward once more.
Beneath a sky stained crimson red, they charged toward me with bloodshot eyes.
Whimper!
Hwang-gu let out a distressed cry at the faint scent of poison drifting through the air.
“These people, brainwashed into madness—they are victims too, are they not, Sister?”
“Brother, to make your choice easier, I’ll add this: before the brainwashing, they were human butchers. They murdered commoners and sold people into slavery.”
“Sister.”
“Did I not speak of the fate of those who walk the dark path? Their hands are already stained with the blood of commoners, they have abandoned their humanity. How can you expect their end to be anything but inhuman?”
“I will.”
“Whether you kill them or not, I will. And any of these wretches who survive will kill more commoners for the next Hyeolseon Sect ritual.”
“I will. Do what I can.”
I clenched my teeth.
Samjeolchuho answered.
“That is chivalry. And why chivalry can never become righteousness.”
“….”
I launched my body forward like a drawn bowstring.
The inner force gathered in my lower dantian surged upward through my middle dantian. Finally, it coalesced in my throat and erupted as the Roaring Tiger’s Cry.
A sound like a beast’s howl reverberated across the battlefield.
A sound like fingernails scraping a chalkboard—the sound of human agony—would be useless against the brainwashed.
So I released a sound that could strike directly at the cochlea itself.
In that instant, those who had lost their sense of balance staggered and swayed.
At that moment, projectiles rained down like a downpour, felling the brainwashed Haesa Bangju members.
“Is that… human?”
“Ilgwang’s reputation is no exaggeration.”
The Tamho Brigade murmured in shock.
And well they might, for the moment Ilgwang entered the enemy lines, she began scattering them like a wolf among sheep.
Samjeolchuho shouted.
“Snap out of it! Everyone, form the sword formation! Tamho Formation, deploy!”
The Tamho Brigade immediately formed the sword formation at Samjeolchuho’s command.
“Your opponents have lost their reason through brainwashing. Whether their arms are severed or their legs cut off, they will come at you like the living dead. Never let your guard down!”
“Living dead, you say?”
It was a term for those who had been brainwashed while alive, their consciousness scattered like ash.
These days it was less common, but they were those raised hearing from previous generation warriors about how the Demonic Cult had frequently employed such methods in the past.
Fear settled into Tamho-dae’s eyes.
“Yes. Essentially living corpses. However, the Hyeolseon Sect’s living corpses are different. The Demonic Cult’s living corpses only do as commanded, but the Hyeolseon Sect’s living corpses crave slaughter itself.”
“You mean they are… superior?”
“No. It’s not a matter of superiority. It means they don’t even control themselves.”
Soon, waves of Haesa Bangju warriors crashed through the sound barrier I had created.
No matter how strong a human might be, it would be impossible to fell all the living corpses enhanced by the Hyeolseon Sect’s sorcery.
“Close the Gate of Life!”
Geomjin moved into action.
Tamho-dae danced with his blade, striking down the Haesa Bangju warriors. Yet even as his arms were torn and his legs were shredded, they lost their reason, screaming and swinging their weapons.
Kwaaaaagh! Kwegh! Kwaaaaaaaagh!
It would have been better if I weren’t facing humans.
Kwaarrrrung!
Lightning erupted from my hands, sweeping across the Haesa Bangju warriors like a net.
In response to my signal, Cheonryeong also answered, unleashing lightning bolts.
But there were too many of them.
Far too many.
Ilgwang’s pale blue eyes held lightning as he fired again.
Sound barrier and lightning danced together.
“Is that even human?”
Tamho-dae spoke with reverence toward Ilgwang’s martial prowess.
“If a deity existed, I wonder if they would fight like this. How can he remain so composed even in this chaos?”
“An ordinary warrior would have exhausted their inner force long ago. How is he maintaining such blade energy?”
Even as they deployed their formations, they were astonished by my endless martial techniques.
“So this is the legendary Mad Physician. The title of Ilgwang, one of the ten greatest masters under heaven, seems to have actually understated his power.”
The number of Tamho-dae members who died that day was twelve in total.
Among the approximately one thousand Haesa Bangju warriors who attacked, five hundred and sixty perished.
A brilliant victory, and the fact that more than half were captured alive was an extraordinary achievement.
Having exhausted my inner force, I lost consciousness and collapsed, but I awoke within a moment and treated the wounded.
Then I collapsed again.
Hell was not far away.
* * *
Hangzhou, a nearby earthen cave.
A small bird darted into a shabby earthen cave.
Inside, a man in black robes and black clothing sat facing a man in white robes and white clothing.
“You’ve come.”
“Yes, Shifu.”
Midong handed them a letter.
Their names were Heukbaek Goeseun.
Two middle-aged men with completely identical faces, differing only in the color of their robes, read the letter for a long while.
“The Hyeolseon Sect is making its move.”
“It must be a scheme to obtain the Heavenly Reversal Cultivator.”
The expressions of the two monstrous persons twisted identically.
“The Heavenly Reversal Cultivator has grown even stronger in the meantime.”
“Sound manipulation, finger flicking, and thunder techniques?”
“With so many cards in hand, it’s difficult to define him by any single technique.”
“Moreover, he doesn’t even establish a framework for his martial arts himself, making him quite different from ordinary Gangho warriors.”
Soon, the white-robed monstrous person spoke.
“We should deal with those Hyeolseon Sect bastards as well. Their presence in Hangzhou now goes against the Heavenly Way, does it not?”
“Then we must wait for the right moment.”
“Indeed.”
Presently, the black-robed and white-robed monstrous persons simultaneously wrote something with their brushes.
The stance of the clam and the snipe.
Using barbarians to control barbarians.
As two forces clash like a snipe’s beak caught in a clam’s shell, they meant to deal with them the moment the two forces collided.
Heukbaek Goeseun, confirming what each had written, nodded.
“The same intention.”
“The same conclusion.”
Then the next course of action was already determined.
They wrote something more, fashioned it into a letter, and handed it to Midong.
Midong bowed respectfully and immediately left the earthen chamber.
“Guide the Heavenly Way to the righteous path.”
“Guide the Heavenly Way to the righteous path.”
The two monstrous persons spoke the same words simultaneously and nodded.
* * *
I treated people, exhausted myself, and treated again.
Fortunately, the doctors dispatched by the Martial Arts Alliance were with me, so I could avoid the worst situation.
Samjeolchuho regarded me with an exasperated expression.
“Don’t you ever experience demonic cultivation deviation?”
“Hmm?”
“It’s simply astounding that you don’t experience demonic cultivation deviation despite repeatedly expending and replenishing your inner force to such an extent.”
“For that to be possible, pure martial arts and mental cultivation are essential. If you repeat it from the moment you first create your lower dantian, it becomes possible. It’s similar to the principle of an iron master. At first, you thrust into sand at low temperatures, then gradually thrust into sand at higher temperatures.”
“…You’re insane.”
I had given quite a scholarly explanation, but she abbreviated it that way and immediately asked.
“What do you gain from going that far?”
“My current realm?”
“I’ve heard you use that realm for skin regeneration.”
At those words, I laughed hollowly.
“I’ve become capable of healing life over a wide range, so it’s something to be grateful for.”
Suddenly, I wondered what on earth my master was doing.
Samjeolchuho thought for three seconds before deciding to let it go.
When I think about it, my Master Baek Rin-ui-seon isn’t exactly a normal person either, is he?
Perhaps only someone of Baek Rin-ui-seon’s caliber could manage to live with such a person.
I unwrapped the bandage on my left arm and rewrapped it.
“Be careful.”
“It seems the toxic qi continues to seep out.”
“Yes. Ever since I neutralized Oh Dok-mun’s poison technique with the Five Elements Mutual Destruction Poison, it has been like this.”
“…You’re quite the survivor.”
Samjeolchuho’s expression turned serious, as if exhausted.
“Hehe.”
I brushed off her serious expression with laughter.
After wrapping the new bandage, I immediately burned the old one with vital qi to dispose of it.
I also remembered to crack open the window slightly for ventilation.
As I wrapped my left arm with a clean new bandage, I spoke.
“I heard from my younger brother Sama Hyeon that the Haesa Bangju has roughly five to six thousand members. Is that correct?”
“Uncanny. That’s about right.”
“Then roughly a thousand came here, and another thousand or so died following Haesa Bangju, so that leaves about four thousand remaining?”
“That would be it. And we still need to account for the Hyeolseon Sect’s forces on top of that.”
Continuing to wrap the bandage, the young man fell into thought with his water-blue eyes.
After a moment, he asked again.
“Simply defeating them outright is impossible. What if we just mobilize the imperial army instead?”
“Hmm?”
“After all, the imperial army has the numerical advantage, so numbers aren’t their main concern. These people haven’t fulfilled their military obligations from before, so in the eyes of the orthodox sects, bandits are no different from traitors. That’s why the Green Forest also didn’t fulfill their military duties during the war against the Suksin Tribe.”
“Brother. From the start, water bandits and mountain bandits don’t pay taxes, so how would they contribute military supplies?”
“Yes. Therefore, there’s no problem using the imperial army to suppress them.”
“That’s… hmm.”
Samjeolchuho tried to object but closed her mouth.
“What troubles you? Are you perhaps worried that the water bandits might be stronger than the imperial army?”
“Mm. Of course that’s true. Suro-chae is, strictly speaking, a martial sect faction. Even if they’re called water bandits, they don’t completely neglect martial arts training, so even if they’re third-rate, they’re stronger than ordinary imperial soldiers.”
“Then let’s also request support from the Martial Arts Alliance. The Hyeolseon Sect is a public enemy of the martial world. So the Alliance has justification to intervene.”
At those words, Samjeolchuho clicked her tongue slightly, as if something didn’t sit right.
“Why do you react that way? If you have another plan….”
“That… no. No, it’s fine. There is one part that bothers me, but my suspicion could be wrong, so let’s go together and see.”
With only that much said, Samjeolchuho closed her mouth.
“…?”
I wanted to ask further, but the fact that she wouldn’t speak suggested she had her reasons, so I didn’t press the matter.
Thus, I wrote a letter to Do Baek-ha of the Martial Arts Alliance.
“You can make the request through Cheonroe Eungin Noejin.”
Chirp—
I roasted some dried meat with vital qi and placed it in Noejin’s beak.
Chirp chirp!
“You’re asking me to deliver it.”
“The fastest messenger in Gangho, Jeon Seo-gu.”
“That would be correct.”
With that, I tied the message to Noeji’s leg and sent the bird off into the sky, then began packing my belongings.
“Are we heading straight to meet the government forces now?”
“Yes, we are. The Hyeolseon Sect has already crossed the line of official untouchability, so we must use every resource available to us.”
There was no way to predict when they might strike at another civilian settlement next or perform their ritual using the organs of commoners.
I could feel the urgency mounting.

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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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