Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 556

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 556
When I went to the separate quarters as instructed, I found freshly prepared yukhoe with pear slices arranged on top, pine nuts sprinkled over it, and sesame oil drizzled generously across the dish.
“I also prepared eggs from black-boned chickens.”
Then he set down a bottle of liquor as well.
“I’ve infused the fragrance inside, so when you open it, you’ll catch a wonderful aroma.”
“Is there something you wish to ask of me?”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee looked at me with a startled expression.
Well, that’s typical of this man.
What could it be this time? Perhaps he wants me to create some bizarre contraption, or maybe he’s about to suggest we wade through mountains of paperwork together again.
I was bracing myself for annoyance when Jin Cheon-hee said something unexpected.
“For the next research project, I’d prefer if you didn’t help me.”
“…?”
“You can’t help forever anyway. People need to conduct their own research with their own strength.”
He drew the line naturally and laughed with composure.
“Of course, if things get difficult, I can still ask for your help.”
“Are you referring to that sodium bicarbonate?”
“Ah, yes. That one needs to wait for now until we acquire a suitable lake. The next project will be an anthelmintic.”
“An anthelmintic?”
“Yes. You could eat raw meat or raw fish without much concern, but humans can’t easily do that. People die from it. I’ve performed multiple surgeries because of it. Kang Ho-in knows well because of his solitude, and if one’s inner strength is exceptional, they can burn it away through that method—but most people don’t receive such benefits.”
“Will it truly be alright without me for such an important task?”
“Yes, it will be fine.”
Jin Cheon-hee said this and retrieved the seven-stringed guqin that he had carefully stored in a corner of the quarters.
The seven-stringed guqin that Sama Hyeon had gifted him.
Ding-
“Unless you plan to throw me out, shall I play a piece?”
I furrow my brow slightly.
This madman was always like this.
Always sudden, always enigmatic.
Sometimes he clung with the persistence of a leech, but now he arranges luxurious food and liquor, then says he won’t interfere in people’s affairs anymore.
This gap irritates me.
I don’t know why it irritates me, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
Pong-
As he poured the liquor, the profound fragrance of Cheonil Chwi filled the entire quarters.
A supreme aroma that I had never tasted even once before.
Glug glug-
As he filled the cup with golden liquid, Jin Cheon-hee plucked the strings with his fingers as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
Then he began to play slowly.
“Do you have thoughts on how to create it?”
“You know there’s no proper anthelmintic, right? I found records of my Master developing a temporary anthelmintic in the past, but I suspect those notes were written when he visited the North Sea Ice Palace. Even those haven’t been improved upon since then.”
“What about the ingredients?”
“It’ll become a herbal antiparasitic.”
That was obvious.
Originally, antiparasitics on Earth are manufactured through chemistry, but this world lacks such techniques.
‘Well, I managed to make penicillin through sheer stubbornness. Same with streptomycin. And aspirin too.’
“Biota and sea lettuce will be the foundation. These have been mentioned several times in past medical texts, and my Master’s antiparasitic was based on them as well. I’ve already listed the auxiliary herbs I’m considering next, and well, through repeated trials until it works, something will emerge.”
Ninety-nine percent grueling labor and one percent luck.
No different from before, really.
Glug—
The liquor moistened my throat, and a fragrance—whether floral or honey—filled it completely.
Yoo Ho faintly detected the scent of inner energy.
It was Jin Cheon-hee’s inner energy.
It seemed the Five Elements True Qi was being infused into the Thousand Day Intoxication together.
No wonder Hwang-gu and Noeji were desperate to drink it too.
“Are you certain you don’t need me?”
“Yeah. This is far simpler compared to what I made before. I’m not introducing any new methods. I’m just combining what I already know.”
I’m not even bringing knowledge from the future.
Just gathering what exists and making it better.
“Why go to such lengths?”
Ding—
Following the main note, the seven-stringed zither rang out broadly.
“Because eventually the day will come when neither you nor I exist, and then people will have to manage on their own. If I had to put it simply, we’re like training wheels. Someday, the people here will have to move forward alone.”
Still speaking words that were somewhat difficult to grasp.
Yet despite that, words whose meaning came through nonetheless, as Jin Cheon-hee played on.
“So what do you think? The liquor? The side dishes? Anything you’d like me to improve? I’ll make it that way for the next meal.”
They say the Thousand Day Intoxication means one becomes drunk for a thousand days after drinking it once.
That’s not literally true, but they say one won’t forget for a thousand days.
In the past, Yoo Ho killed many people.
Human liver was a delicacy to him, and he couldn’t remember how many he’d slain.
After all, it was no different from counting meals.
After this creature dies, would he be able to eat human flesh as he once did?
Since it’s called Thousand Day Intoxication, would he forget after a thousand days pass?
“Are you perhaps scouting for a burial ground?”
In the end, I blurt out the words weighing on my chest.
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee answered with an expression of being struck at the vital point.
“Well, that’s not it. Still, I need to think ten, twenty years ahead, don’t I? I’ll grow old. As for you… you won’t be able to labor for me by then, will you?”
Truly shameless, this human.
Having started so many undertakings, yet somehow tying up each knot so that even after he disappears, someone can continue in his place.
‘It’s always been his habit.’
Ever since learning the sword, the human before me had done so habitually.
Because those in Gangho die easily, he could afford to do so.
Learning martial arts came slower than accepting death.
Sometimes I wondered if I’d already died once before.
“Do try to be a bit more shameless about it.”
“Hehehehe. Looks like you’re enjoying the liquor?”
I was about to grab him by the collar when my enthusiasm dampened somewhat.
So Yoo Ho quietly sipped his drink, while I sat beside him and played the pipa.
A leisurely spring afternoon.
Before long, spring rain began to fall.
“Wow, it’s raining even though the sun is out?”
I enjoyed the capricious spring weather. The pipa’s melody continued without interruption.
* * *
Time passed again.
After finishing the arrangements and resting thoroughly.
After laying the groundwork for new research.
After even writing recommendation letters for the doctors who wanted to visit the capital.
With all preparations complete, I set out.
‘Spring is already here.’
But since the North Sea Ice Palace would be cold, I didn’t forget to prepare warm quilted clothes in advance.
As for Hwang-gu.
Woof woof!
I decided to ride Hwang-gu in his true form instead of using a horse. So I also prepared thick quilted armor for him.
Hwang-gu had grown as large as an ox from eating the food I made, and when he fully returned to his true form, several of the Medical Assistants made startled expressions.
My Master spoke.
“It seems you’ll only need to ride Hwang-gu at the North Sea Ice Palace.”
Hwang-gu could traverse cliffs that horses could never reach.
“Yes. So this time, I intend to go without bringing the Baekrin contingent.”
If we were ambushed, the snow would only hinder our escorts and slow us down.
My Master seemed displeased and deliberated for a long time before finally consenting.
No matter how clever the horseshoe tricks, they couldn’t match Hwang-gu’s paws.
‘If even one frostbite patient appeared, this creature would try to save them no matter what.’
Because he was the type who had no concept of abandoning anyone.
“Then, I’ll be going!”
Woof woof!
Between the flowering trees, I set out with the now-massive Hwang-gu.
True to his nature as a four-legged spirit beast, he ran faster and more easily than any human lightness technique.
‘My Master said Hwang-gu wasn’t a pet but a spirit beast, and there was a reason he told me to put him to work if I fed him.’
I used Noeji as a messenger bird and Jeon Seo-gu for other tasks, but he’d criticized me for letting Hwang-gu loaf around lately except for occasionally finding intruders.
Ugh. I know.
But these furry friends are healing just by breathing beside me, aren’t they?
Chirp!
Jin Cheon-hee rode upon Hwang-gu, and Noeji perched upon Jin Cheon-hee.
Recalling the Town Musicians of Bremen for some reason, they had traveled far from Baekrin Uiseon.
Jin Cheon-hee brought Hwang-gu to a halt and dismounted.
“Since the North Sea Ice Palace lies further north even from Heilongjiang Province… If we’re departing from Baekrin Uiseon, it would be better to head east to a port city, take a ship to Liaoning Province, and then continue by land from there.”
Liaoning Province was where the Moyong Family and Gongseon Family held their territories.
So before departing, I had already sent a letter ahead to the Gongseon Family.
Informing them that I would need their assistance in reaching the North Sea Ice Palace.
“Alright. From here on, we travel on foot.”
Woof?
“I’m not saying I won’t ride you. I’ll ride you once we reach the North Sea Ice Palace. Until then, I’m planning to dash using lightness martial arts.”
Woof, woof!
“Don’t complain that I’m getting down just because Master isn’t watching. This is training too.”
Growl!
“Really. I’m running because it’s training, I’m telling you?”
Squeak?
Noeji was confused.
This human didn’t even have any special techniques, yet somehow he understood Hwang-gu’s words reasonably well.
Was this that intuitive interpretation everyone spoke of?
In any case, Jin Cheon-hee lightened the baggage on Hwang-gu’s back somewhat and carried it himself.
Then he urged them forward.
Hwang-gu growled a few times, but ultimately agreed to run alongside them, having understood from his master that he would cling to him like a leech even when told to dismount at the North Sea Ice Palace.
Whoosh!
Cheongi Miribu.
I had originally considered running with the Three Disasters Technique, but fearing that if I fell behind Hwang-gu, he would surely insist I ride on his back, I simply kept pace with him.
“Ha, this is actually fun?”
The wind brushed past my cheeks.
The sensation of the earth folding beneath me.
Mountains that had been distant suddenly appeared before my eyes in an instant.
Woof woof!
“Got it. Got it. I’ll definitely ride you when we arrive. I promise I’ll let you carry me on your back!”
Saying so, I leaped from one cliff edge to another.
Noeji fluttered his wings above Jin Cheon-hee’s head. He seemed to be experiencing the sensation of flying through the sky.
Tap—
In an instant, I landed on the cliff edge and resumed my running posture.
The repositioning required not even a single breath.
Like water flowing, I traversed the path with incredible speed.
‘Indeed, thanks to my inner energy, I don’t grow tired.’
A marathoner who never tires—what nonsensical talk was this?
The Olympic marathon champion had run 42.195 kilometers in 2 hours 01 minutes 39 seconds, and naturally, after crossing the finish line, he was utterly exhausted and collapsed.
However.
I ran far faster than any marathon champion, yet instead of tiring, my body surged with vitality.
‘At this pace… I could easily cover 200 kilometers in four hours? I can spend the remaining time eating, sleeping, and resting?’
If the terrain were better, I could push even faster, but traversing a forest thick with trees and ravines was no simple matter.
Thus I dashed eastward, employing my lightness technique.
Hwang-gu bounded joyfully behind me.
Screech!
Noeji mocked Hwang-gu for falling a step behind.
Woof!
Perhaps wounded pride? Hwang-gu began running faster.
‘Wow, I can’t keep up with Hwang-gu.’
So his earlier sprint hadn’t been his true effort after all.
Crash, crash-crash-crash!
Whereas I carefully dodged trees and boulders, Hwang-gu charged straight ahead like a wild boar, plowing through every obstacle in his path.
Yet not a single scratch marred his fur.
‘So this is what a spiritual beast truly is.’
Only now did I grasp the true nature of a spiritual creature.
No wonder Hwang-gu was frustrated, running on his own four legs while I was left behind like this.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————