Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 627

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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 627
“Gather all information about bandits in the area. And since there must be other locations that were attacked, provide relief to all of them. Exempt the affected regions from taxes and submit reports accordingly. Understood?”
The first part of my instructions was necessary for relief efforts, but the latter part about ‘reports’ was something else entirely.
No matter how much the ledgers were manipulated, if the contents differed from the additional reports I submitted, heads would roll.
This was administration.
“We shall obey your orders, Inspector!”
Thud!
He bowed so deeply his head nearly shattered against the ground before scrambling away.
Watching him go, Man Seon asked through a whispered transmission.
[What if he acts this way now and later takes out his frustrations on the commoners?]
[If he were that incompetent, he wouldn’t last long. He’ll likely be thorough, knowing I might conduct surprise inspections and submit memorials to the Emperor.]
[The Patriarch’s position has risen considerably, so he’s feeling the pressure.]
[Yes. I’m no longer just a mere doctor.]
Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
This was the advantage of power.
‘The fate of commoners is determined by who wields such immense authority.’
Displeased with the thought, I clicked my tongue softly.
* * *
One day later.
“Oh, hyeong~ Looks like you didn’t sleep?”
Sama Hyeon and the Masked Persons returned with the bandits bound.
However, their number was fewer than twenty. In contrast, there were dozens of commoners who had been dragged away by the bandits.
There were more commoners than bandits.
“That’s all the bandits there were?”
“Of course there were three times as many. They’d practically formed a small village out there.”
Sama Hyeon looked at me and chuckled.
“They resisted far too fiercely, so we had no choice~ Only these fellows survived~ Right? Agree with me.”
As Sama Hyeon pulled the rope, dragging a bandit forward, the bandit screamed.
“Kyaaahhh!”
The bandit’s crotch dampened with terror.
Sama Hyeon asked again in a cutesy manner.
“Right? You all resisted fiercely, didn’t you~? Only these guys survived because we had no choice. Right?”
“Yes yes yes yes! That’s right!! Absolutely! Even though I’m a b-bandit, those guys were truly foolish! So kyaaahhh! Kyah!”
He trembled violently, even wetting himself, consumed by madness-inducing terror.
Regardless, Sama Hyeon continued.
“See? I was right. We had no choice. This is self-defense, hyeong. Self-defense.”
“…Yes. If you say so, then I suppose… that’s what it is.”
Several passages from the Jicheon Cheonma describing how Sama Hyeon toyed with people came to mind.
The way he stimulated the deepest recesses of human fear and drove people mad in short periods.
In the Jicheon Cheonma, those were simply called ‘games’.
It was sometimes called a “clown’s game.”
There was no profound meaning to such actions.
A child catching dragonflies to play with, pouring water into an anthill—surely there wasn’t some grand philosophy behind it.
They simply did it because it was fun.
I deliberately erased the thought that had surfaced in my mind.
‘Hyeon was angry because she saw the commoners being slaughtered.’
How angry had I myself been?
A seasoned Gangho doctor could tell from the sword marks alone.
These bastards had wielded their blades not only to kill others, but to boast, to toy with their victims.
Or was it not because they couldn’t sever cleanly in one stroke, their pride wounded, so they struck down the commoners again and again?
The corpses of commoners I had collected and the wounds of commoners I had treated through the night were far too deep to sympathize with these creatures.
“Surprisingly cold-hearted, aren’t you, hyeong? You really trust me~?”
I answered.
“Just as I have my own way, you have yours. I have no intention of interfering with that. And I won’t in the future either.”
“Ah, I see.”
Why was that?
Sama Hyeon seemed pleased with my answer and spoke once more.
“Ah, I see. So that’s the kind of person you are, hyeong.”
He looked delighted.
I wasn’t sure why.
I said.
“First, I’ll hand these bastards over to Podoo and the guards the Magistrate left behind, and I need to treat the freed commoners and send them back to their families.”
I said so and swayed slightly, then straightened my back again.
“Hyeon-a.”
“Yes, hyeong.”
“I… need to rest for a bit.”
Words I never thought would come from my mouth.
“Then I entrust things to you and Manseong Daejoo.”
With those words, I crawled into the tent.
It was my first sleep in days.
* * *
I fell into a deathlike sleep.
Sama Hyeon and Manseong Daejoo kept watch over the tent where I slept.
Even though Noeji, Cheonjin, and Nanman were absent delivering letters, there was no need for concern with Hwang-gu present.
Nevertheless, the two of them kept watch over my sleeping form.
“Was Sama Mun-ju also moved by the Patriarch’s benevolence?”
Sama Hyeon laughed at Manseong Daejoo’s words.
“That may be part of it~ Yes, yes. If it weren’t for our hyeong’s benevolence, Hye-a wouldn’t be alive, and I couldn’t have guaranteed my own survival either.”
At that answer, Manseong Daejoo tilted his head slightly.
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Hmm~ how should I put it~ good people always go first, you know. And no matter how I think about it, this older brother is clever, but he has such foolish aspects that I can’t just stand by and watch~”
“Ah, clever yet foolish…. I think I understand what you mean.”
Manseong Daejoo burst into hearty laughter.
She nodded while wiping her fishing rod.
“It was the same in Baekrin. How could someone clever enough to change the world be so stubbornly obsessed with other people’s lives? Soggakju is someone who could abandon those around him and live for himself, and no one would dare say a word against it.”
Sama Hyeon tilted his upper body awkwardly.
“That’s the kind of person he is~ He has the intellect to know he could live that way. Yet he still rushes off to save the injured….”
Sama Hyeon glanced toward the tent.
My older brother had a habit of curling up when he was tired.
In that state, he slept like the dead.
Unlike last time when he couldn’t regain consciousness, this was just deep sleep from exhaustion—a blessing in disguise, perhaps.
Manseong Daejoo spoke.
“Still, it’s fortunate that someone like Sohyeop is his younger brother. Our Soggakju is someone whose nature is that of a doctor. He even worries over the lives of villains.”
“You mean someone willing to stain their hands with blood for him~”
At Sama Hyeon’s words, Manseong Daejoo laughed awkwardly.
“Hmm… that’s not wrong. But at the same time, he’s so strong, so virtuous, so brilliant…. And yet he has anxious aspects too.”
“That’s why so many follow him.”
“Indeed. I feel the same way. There’s no one like him in the Middle Kingdom.”
Manseong Daejoo said this while glancing toward the tent where Jin Cheon-hee was.
Nearly half of the martial artists gathered at Baekrin Group shared the same sentiment.
At first, they had come seeking better conditions, or as wanderers looking to settle down.
There was no one who didn’t know the alias Ilgwang.
Everyone in Gangho knew how mad Jin Cheon-hee was.
But once you entered Baekrin Group and observed him up close, watched him day by day, didn’t everyone come to feel the same way?
That’s why they risked their lives to protect Soggakju.
Of course, since he had become so overwhelmingly strong, the word “protect” might be a misnomer, but still—hadn’t they trained every day to gain even one more blade strike, one more second?
At least, that was Manseong’s heart.
“Perhaps it would be better if older brother conquered Gangho instead~”
Toward Sama Hyeon, who smiled with a sly grin, Manseong Daejoo sighed.
“Baek Rin-ui-seon said the same thing. But….”
I knew.
Sama Hyeon had hinted at it once before.
Unification of all under heaven.
‘Pre-modern, conventional rule that produces many wounded and dead.’
Even thinking about it again, it was absurd.
All Gangho warriors, even those righteous faction warriors who claimed they wouldn’t walk the path of tyranny, had their hearts race at the thought of unification—yet he described it that way.
In a sense, it was even an insult to Gangho.
Ilgwang (One Madman).
That’s why Gangho warriors took him seriously only by mocking him as a lunatic.
And he affirmed himself as such.
How much time had passed?
Rustle—
“Yes, yes, Hwang-gu. Stop licking. Hyeon must have prepared food for you… Mmm…”
Jin Cheon-hee stirred awake at the sound of movement.
Sama Hyeon entered the tent.
“Hyeong, did you sleep well?”
“Yeah… A nomadic ger really is the best for sleeping quarters. It’s so warm and cozy.”
“I was surprised by the ger too. You’re trading well with the nomads?”
“That’s right. The Hyeolseonggyo is the problem, and I’d be arrested for treason for saying this, but traditionally the Flower Empire has been far too arrogant. That’s why they treat others as barbarians. So much for diplomacy—the nomads just accumulate resentment.”
“That’s an interesting perspective.”
“Listen, Hyeon-a. Even though we’ve crossed blades with the Suksin Tribe, they didn’t invade out of inherent evil. It’s all karma and consequence. That’s the Empire’s weak point, and that’s what Hyeolseonggyo is targeting.”
Jin Cheon-hee said this while stretching lightly.
The blanket covering Jin Cheon-hee was woven fabric made by the nomadic people.
Even at this very moment, the Baekrin Medical Guild was conducting trade.
“Ahhh, I feel like I could live again after sleeping so well.”
“What would you like to eat, Hyeong?”
“Just give me whatever leftover rice there is.”
For some reason, I felt like laughing.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you slept well and I’m in a good mood.”
“I thought you might have put a sedative in the food, so I’m relieved.”
“If it looked like you’d work yourself to death like last time, I’d do it without hesitation~ Your younger brother is prepared to do anything for you, Hyeong.”
“Goodness.”
Sama Hyeon hit Jin Cheon-hee once with a pillow.
Yet still in good spirits, he chuckled and headed outside.
‘Ah, Hyeong has truly recovered.’
Sama Hyeon hadn’t realized that just knowing his brother had slept well and rested deeply could bring such peace of mind.
“Hyeong! How about venison curry?”
“…You’re making curry? Be honest with me. You’re from the Middle Kingdom, aren’t you?”
At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, Sama Hyeon burst into laughter again.
* * *
Thus, Jin Cheon-hee’s group set out once more and crossed the border into Fukien Province.
“From Hangzhou to here, the bandits and heterodox sects have vanished without a trace. Those fools.”
News that the Baekrin Medical Guild and Hao-mun were advancing had spread among the bandits and heterodox sects, so they all fled crying “Yikes! Too hot!” in panic.
Along the way, we encountered some who thought they’d take one last chance while fleeing, but fortunately or unfortunately, they weren’t on the scale we’d seen before, so they were manageable enough.
“It seems the Baekrin Group is gaining more experience in relief work than actual combat, Hyeong?”
“Relief work is also real combat, Hyeon-a.”
“Well, that’s probably the direction you prefer anyway.”
Originally they were under the Nok-rim Eighteen Strongholds, but they weren’t ranked among the Nok-rim Eighteen itself.
The Nok-rim Eighteen Strongholds.
Surely there aren’t only eighteen bandit strongholds in this vast Gangho.
The eighteen strongest bandit strongholds are registered as the Eighteen Greenwood Strongholds, and lesser forces also enter the Greenwood Path, but they are small-to-medium-sized bandit groups.
In other words, beneath the Eighteen Greenwood Strongholds exist countless small-to-medium-sized bandit strongholds.
Because of this, the Eighteen Greenwood Strongholds function more like a coalition.
When the Greenwood King and Supreme Stronghold Master possesses both strong charisma and martial prowess, their cohesion becomes formidable, but when the Supreme Master is weak, their unity loosens.
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“However, the current Supreme Master doesn’t even rank among the top ten masters under heaven, so their cohesion isn’t particularly strong right now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes~ According to information that came into Hao-mun, the current Supreme Master has the nickname Jecheon Xiaosheng, and because he looks like a monkey, he’s called Jecheon Xiaosheng, which is smaller than Jecheon Daeseong.”

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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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