Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 517

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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 517
How much longer had we been sailing?
Could that be Muodo Island?
According to the intelligence, Muodo Island was shaped like a crescent moon and was quite a large island.
There was only one place suitable for docking a ship.
Everywhere else was sheer cliffs, making it truly a fortress blessed by heaven itself.
Wheeeee—
Noeji, a member of the Cheonryeong, sent a signal from the sky.
“The Haesa Bangju forces are already preparing to welcome us.”
Not long after Noeji’s signal.
The Haesa Bangju forces came into my view.
At the beach of the bay, the Haesa Bangju forces were swarming together.
“Since they can only dock at one place anyway, blocking the entrance is their best strategy. And they’ll fire arrows and cannons the moment we approach, so this will be troublesome.”
I nodded at Samjeolchuho’s words.
“Then there’s no need to go there at all.”
“Hmm?”
“What if the garrison soldiers draw their attention by firing cannons, while we attach our ship to the cliff side and climb up from there?”
Martial artists have inner energy—why not use it?
Besides, everyone here was elite, so even a modest cliff would be easily scalable by climbing or using lightness techniques. We’d have more than enough capability.
Alternatively, a martial artist skilled in wall-walking could climb up first and lower a rope for the others.
“A diversion tactic.”
“It’s a very basic strategy. Hardly worthy of being called a tactic at all.”
“Do you know what’s frightening about you, younger brother?”
“What?”
“You might be right that it’s hardly a tactic worth mentioning. But being able to make that judgment with just a few pieces of information is another matter entirely. Normally, it would take at least two hours to reach a decision.”
“Is that so?”
Time is life. That’s why it’s remarkable.”
Samjeolchuho said this and moved his lips silently.
No sound emerged, only his lips moving.
He was sending a silent transmission to the others.
Only the ship carrying the martial artists attached itself to one side of the cliff.
The garrison soldiers kept their ship anchored outside the bay without entering.
Then the sound of cannons began.
Boom! Splash—!
The cannons fired by the Haesa Bangju forces struck the water’s surface.
At the same time, the garrison ship began firing cannons as well, and they had more cannons than the Haesa Bangju had secured.
The problem was accuracy.
The Haesa Bangju fired from solid ground, but the garrison ship fired while rocking on the sea. This made the cannon exchange mutually inaccurate.
“Let’s go.”
Samjeolchuho leaped forward with all his strength, his hand grasping a rocky outcrop on the cliff face.
The way he climbed using only shoulder strength resembled a leopard in motion.
Following him were Namgung Un and myself, Jin Cheon-hee.
The three of us ascended first, then lowered the ropes.
The martial artists seized the ropes and began climbing in what could only be described as an instant!
Before much time had passed, all the martial artists had reached the top of the cliff.
“The Hyeolseonggyo who practice human sacrifice and the pirates of Haesa Bangju who plunder commoners are down there! I, Namgung Un, the Bangseon Danzu, shall lead the charge—follow me, all of you!”
Waaaaaaah!
Every martial artist roared in unison.
Then they began rushing down the hillside below the cliff toward the bay at tremendous speed.
The martial artists charged forward.
And in response, the pirates of Haesa Bangju began rushing to meet them from below the bay.
Several cannonballs rolled about where the Haesa Bangju pirates had positioned themselves, but since this world’s cannons fired iron spheres rather than explosive rounds, the pirates’ casualties were minimal.
The only silver lining was that the garrison ships’ bombardment had completely destroyed all of Haesa Bangju’s cannons.
The moment the garrison ship slipped slightly into the bay and began unleashing volleys of arrows.
The elite of Haesa Bangju and the Martial Arts Alliance.
The Bangseon Danzu collided head-on.
* * *
‘As expected, whether their arms are severed, their legs cut off, or their entrails spill out, they still wield their blades.’
Impossible for any human possessed of reason.
Yet the Haesa Bangju pirates, their eyes bloodshot and drunk on carnage, continued to swing their swords.
I couldn’t fathom how this was possible.
What’s more, they had grown stronger and more savage than the Haesa Bangju pirates I’d faced before. Unbelievable.
Even the Martial Arts Alliance members, whose sword formations were tightly coordinated, began to struggle.
They resembled corpse demons in some ways, yet differed in others.
A corpse demon’s weakness is typically the joints, isn’t it?
But these opponents are alive, so their joints don’t stiffen rigidly, and yet they feel no pain like corpse demons do—it’s absolutely maddening.
“Kraaagh! Kraaaaaaagh! Kwaaaagh!”
Golden lightning crashes down upon those who can no longer even produce human speech.
Kwurrrung—
‘A sword thread made of lightning? This is absurd.’
Lightning power is formidable and devastating, but its drawback is that it’s difficult to control.
Even for someone like me, Jin Cheon-hee, using lightning power to create sword energy or sword force is possible, but deliberately forming fine threads is extraordinarily difficult.
Yet Namgung Un accomplishes it with such ease.
Truly the embodiment of an imperial swordmaster!
‘Wow, this is really frustrating.’
Still, thanks to him, things have become far easier.
What is Gangho, truly?
I still don’t fully understand it.
Can we truly say that might makes right?
If so, can those who have lost themselves and beat people senseless truly be called righteous?
Within the inferno, snowflakes bloom like pearls upon the tip of my blade.
The technique of water receives the prohibition, freezing even more bitterly, and the extreme yin energy born thus began to encase all directions in ice.
Stacking, twisting, chilling, and building again.
At the edge of the ice crystal sword’s blade.
The moment that edge traced a diagonal arc, winter became the key that unlocked the bitter cold.
The frigid aura born from snowflakes summoned winter itself, beginning to engulf the corpse soldiers.
Sword energy and sword force floated in the air, bursting and freezing of their own accord, destroying all directions.
The martial artists of the Martial Arts Alliance fell into shock.
“Was it not said that this was the realm of Hwagyeong?”
“It is indeed Hwagyeong.”
“Can even those who have crossed the same barrier differ so greatly?”
These were all who had transcended the wall equally, yet what was this delicate and flowing static cold energy?
Those summoned here were no rabble.
Of course, individual combat strength might fall slightly short, but even so, their caliber and vision differed vastly from the riffraff of the heterodox sects.
“To erode a defense of this magnitude with cold energy would be difficult with ordinary internal force.”
For traditional martial artists, attacks progressed through points and lines as the foundation.
Only where the blade’s edge touched was territory he could dominate, and from there, with sword strikes, sword barriers, and sword force, attacks gradually transformed from points to lines, then to surfaces.
Upon comprehending strong environment, one could detonate space itself.
And was that not what we call Hyeongyeong?
As they arranged sword formations and dealt with the corpse soldiers, they began to feel a kind of awe.
Even as limbs were severed, the corpse soldiers’ movements slowed or halted entirely, allowing them to reinitiate the collapsed sword formations.
Namgung Un muttered in disbelief.
“He’s grown stronger than last time. Elder brother. I don’t understand—having grown this strong, how much further does he intend to go?”
On one hand, he felt concern.
‘Now I understand why the Elders have been so vigilantly wary of the Jegallim Family.’
Of course, that was merely the business of the previous generation.
Namgung Un had decided not to walk that same path.
Yet, despite that.
The winter created by this young man left a certain impression upon Namgung Un.
Ice technique and lightning force sweep through all directions together.
Namgung Un spoke.
“To minimize casualties, we must strike the neck in one blow! With the cold energy consuming the surroundings, this is the perfect opportunity to strike!”
Crack! Craaaaaack–!
Bizarre sounds that seemed impossible to come from human vocal cords burst from the mouths of the corpse soldiers.
In that moment.
Shrieeek!
A sharp whistle pierced through the entire island, and all the corpse soldiers’ movements ceased.
Shriek!
Two sounds.
Soon after, the corpse soldiers began withdrawing toward the interior of the island in unison.
Namgung Un shouted urgently.
“Don’t pursue them! Reorganization comes first!”
‘A sound judgment.’
Traps set by the enemy might be waiting deeper within the island’s forests.
No—they were almost certainly waiting.
If the Martial Arts Alliance charged recklessly without thinking, they would become ginger paste.
All the Haesa Bangju’s men had fled.
Once we secured the port, the garrison soldiers began disembarking from the ships onto the shore.
“The Martial Arts Alliance, stand by for now!”
As I reorganized our formations, I suddenly witnessed a thin parasitic worm crawling out from between the skull of a dead Haesa Bangju member.
A Gu!
So they hadn’t merely relied on toxins and sorcery—they’d employed Gu as well.
‘So that’s what was controlling the brain. They moved in rhythm with the flute’s melody.’
I had walked too long a path to feel physiological disgust now.
Here, the modern doctor reached a conclusion that no Kang Ho-in could ever imagine.
‘…Could I replicate the flute melody with my own voice?’
If possible, the modern person’s trolling would become feasible.
That was the true meaning of saving lives.
My master Jegalling burned his body with affliction every time I uttered such thoughts, but for me, this was the genuine reason for studying the martial way.
At least it would prevent such grotesque stabbing matches on the beach.
‘The melody was remarkably intricate…. Perhaps it would be more reliable to simply seize the flute?’
Then the doctors who had disembarked from the official vessel began treating the martial artists.
“Ah, I’ll help as well!”
“My goodness. If So Ui-seon assists us, we couldn’t ask for more.”
All the doctors welcomed me.
They were all small clinic physicians who had come out seeking the compensation the government provided.
To them, I was the light of Hangzhou.
I sheathed the Icy Frost Blade and immediately followed after them.
* * *
Through treatment, I learned several things.
When a strong impact strikes the head, the Gu emerges through the ear.
When that happens, the brainwashing breaks, but the victim becomes an idiot—neither living nor dead.
Of course, the impact to the head cannot be a mere blow; it must be forceful enough to potentially cause death.
This adjustment is nearly impossible to control during combat, so simply.
“It seems best to leave it to fate. Brother, if you keep aiming for the head to kill them, surely some will survive among them, won’t they? Kehehehehe.”
I see.
Yes. That’s right.
There were commoners who had been kidnapped in the water village, all used as sacrifices for the Hyeolseonggyo.
Not a prison fit for humans, but a pigsty.
Seeing how they had been raised and abused like livestock, even the upright doctors felt murderous intent bloom within them.
“He’s gone mad. Absolutely mad. I knew that captive beasts are more vicious than wild ones, but seeing it firsthand is another matter entirely.”
“I cannot say he deserves what the Hyeolseonggyo would inflict upon him. And yet… I cannot fathom why the garrison soldiers were not dispatched sooner.”
Even the Doctors, seasoned from countless encounters with Kang Ho-in martial artists, spat out curses.
‘So that is why Samjeolchuho instructed Haesa Bangju to show no mercy.’
Samjeolchuho must have already understood these matters with brutal clarity.
That is precisely why he spoke so calmly of walking the path of a beast and meeting the same end as a human.

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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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