Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 540

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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 540
While it wasn’t the exact dish I’d hoped for, the stir-fried pork and meat dumplings were absolutely delicious.
Especially the head chef of this establishment—he was a magician with meat juices.
Whenever his hands touched the ingredients, even the fishiest meat transformed into dumplings and fried delicacies bursting with peppery, succulent juices.
“I honestly don’t understand how you’ve reached such a level of mastery. There must be countless enlightenments behind it.”
Cheonwoo asked.
“Hyeong, does cooking have some kind of martial discipline too?”
“Rather than martial discipline, I’d call it culinary discipline. Cheonwoo, everything in this world has its own corresponding enlightenment. Even Buddhism teaches that all paths lead to enlightenment, doesn’t it? In the end, there’s no hierarchy in any endeavor. When you reach the ultimate level, everything becomes extraordinary.”
“….”
Cheonwoo fell into contemplation.
After all, this was a world built on hierarchical pyramids.
Even Confucianism had carved in stone the relationships humans would build through society—ruler and subject, master and disciple, father and son.
Of course, if a ruler didn’t act like a ruler, there was always room to create a new one, but that didn’t mean the pyramid disappeared.
Ultimately, humans were a species that would find reasons for their own superiority over others if they had nothing more than the strength to lift a spoon.
Moreover, in Gangho, the highest hierarchy was ultimately the martial artists.
Among them, the heirs of the Nine Great Sects and Eight Great Families who formed the core of the orthodox faction were the Brahmins.
It wouldn’t be easy for Cheonwoo, who was receiving instruction from Gwon Je of the Wudang School, one of Gangho’s greatest mountains, to accept that martial arts and cooking were equal.
Surprisingly, the orthodox sects had more difficulty accepting such ideas than the heterodox ones.
And the Wudang School was rooted in Taoism, so secular teachings were even scarcer than in the families.
After all, Taoist meditation required abandoning human desire itself, so the disconnect was inevitable.
‘It’s strange, isn’t it? The Way should exist for people, yet to cultivate the Way, one must leave people behind and enter the mountains. Isn’t that right, Cheonwoo?’
Either way, I had no intention of saying it directly.
After all, if someone doesn’t realize it themselves, it just becomes nagging.
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Exactly. Money is just as important as martial arts~ Earning money isn’t so different from cultivating martial arts~ And serving decent meals at an inn requires daily practice every single morning, doesn’t it?”
The heterodox faction certainly grasped things quickly.
‘No, it’s not a matter of the heterodox faction. This guy is Sama Hyeon. He’s the type who memorizes even my foreign expressions and slang and uses them.’
Wasn’t he too different to use as a comparison?
Sama-hye fell into thought before speaking.
“Eun Gong. That’s consistent with the saying that there’s no hierarchy in professions.”
Right. Sama-hye also grasped things quickly.
After all, being the youngest Bundata Master and Sang Ui-won at the Baekrin Medical Institute meant this one’s intellect was far from ordinary.
Within the Sama siblings’ “Yes, yes, I understand~,” only Cheonwoo wore a strangely sorrowful expression.
Like a bear crouching inside a fox’s den.
“….”
“Ah… Cheonwoo. Just think of it as an old man’s nagging and forget what I just said.”
“…No, Hyeong.”
“I’m sorry, Cheonwoo.”
“…It’s fine, Hyeong.”
Who stuffed a bear into a fox’s den?
I had really planted that rumor myself.
* * *
On the way back after finishing the meal, a warrior from the Martial Arts Alliance came looking for me.
A message was left that the Martial Arts Alliance Leader himself wished to see me.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Come back safely~ Gaga~”
“Please return soon~ Eun Gong~”
That was how it went.
Sama Hyeon, that rascal, was in high spirits and had dressed in women’s clothing, linking his arm through my left arm, while Sama-hye played along with her brother’s antics and clung to my right arm.
The sight was unmistakably….
“Could the rumors about Hyeong having complicated relationships with women be because of this…?!”
“Women? What women! You know how I live, Cheonwoo!”
So rumors like that had spread without my knowledge.
Cheonwoo spoke.
“There were always rumors that a different woman appeared each time, but I didn’t believe them, Hyeong.”
“Who could have started that?”
“Gaga~ Little girl, next time I’ll come with a different face~”
…Cheonwoo continued in shock.
“And the rumor that you have a woman on each arm and both legs wrapped around you…?”
“Eun Gong~ Surely you don’t dislike us~?”
Damn these Sama siblings!
So the vicious rumors about Ilgwang being fond of women had been completely fabricated by Sama Hyeon, with Sama-hye providing the finishing touches to confirm it all!
Looking around, I could see the warriors whispering among themselves, just as I expected.
Two beauties(?) on both arms, no less.
Cold sweat dripped down my back.
If this continues even at the Yongbong Conference, I’m finished.
What were these damned Sama siblings thinking, destroying my reputation like this?
And while Sama Hyeon could just change his face and be done with it, was Hye really okay with this?
After all, the Bundata Master of Hangzhou was going to live freely anyway, so it didn’t matter if she didn’t marry into some great family, right?
Even though men and women are said to be different, it’s not as if romantic feelings won’t develop.
Among those in the Gangho, there are cases where people live freely in their youth and settle down through marriage when they’re older.
Hye-a is a doctor and has also learned martial arts, so there’s no reason she can’t live freely.
That’s right. I’m Ilgwang… why should I care about my reputation? When have I ever cared?
In the end, I made an earnest request to Cheonwoo to look after things, then escaped from the two Sama siblings and hurried toward the Martial Arts Alliance.
The warriors guided me to the Martial Arts Alliance Leader’s study.
As soon as I opened the door, I felt a deep tea fragrance.
I could faintly detect a medicinal scent as well.
It was a scent I recognized.
When herbal medicines with analgesic properties were used, they produced this kind of fragrance—not simply for recovering fatigue and nourishing the body.
I was familiar with it from having smoked it many times already through Yeo Ha-ryun’s pipe.
‘Perhaps he has a serious illness, or a patient just left.’
Either way, it’s difficult to guess.
Not unless he personally takes their pulse.
Dokgo Seon stood behind him, and both their expressions were as emotionless as stone statues.
“Greetings are done. Have you come with full authority from the Baekrin Medical Guild?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
His eye sockets were deeply sunken. He looked like someone who hadn’t slept in a long time.
Soon he opened his mouth.
“You seem to grow stronger each time I see you. Now it’s becoming difficult to even guess your level.”
“You’re too kind.”
“No. Just as the moon waxes and wanes, so too do people. Yet with you, So Ui-seon, I have the strange feeling you’re not yet at your full moon.”
He fell into thought before speaking.
“How unlike me to feel jealous of such a talented young person. In any case, please sit.”
Creak—
As I sat in the chair, the warriors brought tea.
Soon, as Akjin, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, gestured, everyone quietly withdrew.
Only deep silence filled the study.
He fell into thought before speaking.
“First, my spiritual energy is at its limit now. So I have neither the strength nor the desire for roundabout words. Understand that.”
“I understand.”
“War may break out.”
“….”
Changwang saw Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes turn a deep blue at those words.
‘Frightening.’
How many warriors in Gangho would not fear the power of the Jegallim Family’s Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong?
Especially when those blue eyes were fixed upon oneself.
“Don’t you despise war? From what I observed before, you tried to prevent war by any means necessary.”
“Yes. Because I’m a doctor.”
Of course, those methods far exceeded the scope of a doctor’s duties, but Jin Cheon-hee answered without hesitation.
Had I chosen my methods carefully, I would never have earned the title Ilgwang.
“So is that why you called me? To ask about my true intentions?”
“Indeed. To know your true heart. But first, let me explain the situation. General.”
Dokgo Seon, who had been standing behind him, snapped his fan shut.
“To speak bluntly, the probability of war breaking out is over eighty percent. This war is not something only the orthodox sects desire.”
“I see.”
“The declining Sadoren seeks to make a last stand, there are the evil schemes of the Demonic Cult, and the imperial court’s hidden agenda hoping for the mutual destruction of Gangho’s forces, combined with the greed of the sects under the Martial Arts Alliance. All of these have converged.”
Are the Gold and Silver Wang-yas involved?
Well, given their nature, they see all Gangho people as mere lawless swordsmen anyway, and there’s nothing good for the imperial court in the Gangho forces growing stronger.
Especially since the heterodox sects and the Demonic Cult don’t even pay taxes.
Unlike those who play rubber band games between legality and illegality like the Golden Blood House, the truly illegal ones like the Sea Bandits or the Green Forest bandits are the chief culprits of tax evasion and leeches sucking the people’s blood like planthoppers—there’s no reason to favor them.
‘No, wait, that’s not too extreme… Actually, that’s just how they are.’
If we head to the Jicheon Cheonma, Eun Wang-ya would pass away, leaving Geum Wang-ya to struggle alone with little time to spare for the Gangho.
Normally by now, he’d be fighting the Suksin Tribe, managing administration, hunting down Hyeolseonggyo, keeping the Demonic Cult in check…
Truly, he’d have to do everything alone—beating the drum, playing the janggu, spinning the sangmo, blowing the flute—performing every miraculous feat imaginable.
Now the Suksin Tribe has been repelled, Eun Wang-ya lives, and Ju Wang remains strong.
Even Han Yi-jeong, who should have died, is now a reassuring presence.
‘Yes. It’s time for a purge of the Gangho.’
But they’re not the type to step forward directly and declare ‘By imperial order, kill the Gangho warriors!’ Besides, that would shake the very foundations of the Hwa Empire in a catastrophic war.
There’s no benefit, only endless bloodshed—why would they do such a thing?
They’ll probably just quietly eliminate a few troublemakers from the palace, pruning the branches as they go.
“…Whether it’s the Righteous Faction War or the Righteous-Demonic War, something will definitely happen.”
“Yes. There’s a high probability it will exceed the level of blood assassins.”
Wow, this is a promised hellgate.
Still, it’s a martial arts novel after all—a martial arts style Righteous Faction War will probably occur.
So unlike when we fought the Suksin Tribe before, we won’t be using catapults, throwing Jincheon Thunder from afar, or sounding the war drums.
“Since each sect has their own headquarters, it will be individual battles and shifting alliances.”
It’s quite presumptuous to say this, but from a modern perspective, it might be similar to the gang wars of the 1980s and 90s…
Those who remember that era will understand roughly what I mean.
Or those who’ve watched old gangster movies.
‘Wow… this is driving me crazy.’
Dokgo Seon continued speaking.
“Since Baekrin Medical Institute isn’t a sect belonging to the Martial Arts Alliance… it might seem at first glance that we could avoid this Righteous Faction War. But precisely because of that, we might be the first to be attacked.”
“So that’s why you called me separately. To ask my intentions on what to do.”
“Yes. You understand quickly.”
As a fellow strategist, Dokgo Seon fears the Jegallim Family.
This meeting is to probe what I will do.
However, upon reflection, I’ve already told him the necessary information, and now he’s begun to see through my intentions first with that information.
On the surface, it might seem like nothing special.
But Dokgo Seon felt slightly afraid.
‘The Jegallim Family has always been quick-thinking. Especially skilled at rapid strategy.’

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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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