Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 63

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

Chapter 63
The Baekrin Uigak, which should have gradually declined and scattered to the winds once Jegalling’s death severed its lifeline, began to pulse with renewed vigor.
Meanwhile, it was equally clear that the Hwaju Medical Sect had developed a hatred for Baekrin Uigak that transcended mere rivalry.
Yet for neither Jin Cheon-hee nor Jegalling was this a matter of great concern.
* * *
“Grandmother.”
“Yes… that’s right.”
“I’ve come far too late, haven’t I? I apologize.”
I bowed apologetically to the unnamed grandmother whose knee I had injured.
“I promised to help you down, yet here I am only now.”
I apologized several times over, genuinely remorseful.
Whether as a physician or a doctor, it was always the same.
The schedule was never set by the doctor—it was the patient who determined it. After treating the patient and clashing with her guardian, Ju Wang, the days had simply slipped away.
It was unavoidable. Still, there were many people at the Medical Hall.
Someone else could have helped her instead of me.
I had asked another to assist and simply forgotten about it. But then I learned that the grandmother had not left and was waiting for me at Jukrim-dang.
When I finally arrived at Jukrim-dang, there she was. And beside her lay the bundle of cloth, exactly as it had been when she first arrived, untouched.
Seeing that no one had disturbed it, my heart grew heavy.
‘Did her grandson never come? Or did he arrive, eat nothing, and leave at once?’
In such moments, it is kindness not to ask.
I arranged my expression to show nothing amiss. Then the grandmother spoke.
“Will you eat?”
“Me? You mean me?”
“Yes. It hasn’t spoiled yet, so don’t worry. And bring your master too.”
She spoke as though summoning a worthless cur.
Something felt odd, but I thought to myself:
‘Does she think her grandson is suffering because my master keeps me so busy?’
As I hesitated over what to do, the door opened.
Creak—
Standing there was Jegalling.
The grandmother laughed at the sight of him, a broad grin spreading across her face.
“I thought it was a dog, but it’s a tiger. They say even tigers come when you speak their name.”
“I apologize for keeping you waiting, Elder.”
What? The two of them acted as though they had known each other for ages.
I looked back and forth between them in surprise.
Jegalling spoke.
“Please cease testing my disciple. Have you not observed him sufficiently?”
A test?
“What do you mean, Master?”
At that moment, the old woman burst into cackling laughter.
It was no longer the voice of an elderly man.
Young and vibrant, yet somehow carrying a weight of gravitas.
Crack-crack-crack—
The sound of bones twisting echoed through the air.
The old woman’s arm bent unnaturally, rotating in a full circle.
Her skeletal frame gradually straightened, and the wrinkles of her skin began to tighten and smooth. Her snow-white
silver
hair transformed into a warm brown.
“Indeed. Young Baek Rin. Thanks to you, this old eccentric has had quite the spectacle.”
She swept her bangs back.
I stumbled backward toward my Master, even bracing myself for combat if necessary.
“Who are you?”
“Hmm, so attentive when I was an old woman, yet now you look ready to unleash your martial arts. Have you heard of Hyeolsaeng Nogoe, little one?”
Hyeolsaeng Nogoe!
One of the three Medical Guilds of three generations—the Guild Master of Heukjeon Medical Sect.
Her bizarre conduct earned her the title of “Eccentric” in the Martial Arts World.
A master of Muscle Contraction Technique who constantly changes her appearance.
Whether she was male or female remained ambiguous in the Martial Arts World—but I knew from novels.
‘She’s a woman.’
During combat, she used Muscle Contraction Technique to transform into a body resembling a massive gorilla, and “Eccentric” was precisely the right word.
She obsessed over bone-setting, believing she could resurrect the dead through it.
She “treated” patients in a manner both similar to and different from mine.
The problem was that her treatment was decidedly bizarre.
Yes.
-If a finger becomes six instead of five and grows stronger, isn’t that a success? You wanted to overcome the wall, so it’s done.
In the past, she cured a patient afflicted with deviation in a novel. Moreover, she even upgraded them one level.
The problem was that she had attached an extra finger.
And this was done regardless of the patient’s consent.
-Two eyes weren’t enough, so I gave you three. For your martial technique, this body is optimal. Look! Aren’t those bovine eyes quite soulful?
I have no idea what method she used, but she had attached a cow’s eyes.
She certainly had supplemented the flaws in the martial technique. But the victim would spend their entire life being cursed as a monster. Yet that was not her concern.
In the first place, she would strike the back of her chosen victim’s neck, abduct them, and then cure them.
Only Hyeolsaeng Nogoe knows how the treatment will be conducted.
What was even more terrifying was that Hyeolsaeng Nogoe had achieved the Half-Step Return to Life realm.
Upon learning this fact, a Sect Elder let out a scream.
-That insane monster achieved Half-Step Return to Life! Heaven is truly indifferent!
Thud-thud-thud!
With those words, she struck him with her bone-setting technique, rendering him unconscious before dragging him away for “treatment.”
The Sect Elder no longer suffered from lung disease.
Perfectly cured, one might say. As a bonus, he gained an extra nostril.
I do treat patients effectively. I do treat them.
Even incurable diseases that no one else can cure aren’t 100% successful, but I do achieve a decent success rate in treatment.
The problem was that her goodwill was something the criminal couldn’t comprehend.
Jin Cheon-hee pondered, recalling the novel’s contents.
‘I’m not sick anywhere. Surely she didn’t come here specifically targeting me?’
The other party was a mad scientist of Banro Hwandong.
Jin Cheon-hee’s mind raced rapidly.
‘At this point in the novel, Hyeolsaeng Nogoe wouldn’t personally kidnap martial artists for treatment very often….’
The people of Gangho thought.
That Hyeolsaeng Nogoe’s violent treatments had decreased somewhat.
With age, wasn’t it time to prepare for retirement like other masters of Banro Hwandong and leisurely enjoy life?
But Jin Cheon-hee knew from reading the novel.
‘She’s deeply absorbed in creating corpse puppets right now.’
In the past, she was a public enemy of the Martial Arts World.
The reason it’s past tense is because circumstances changed over time.
An execution order had been issued for her, but martial artists retreated before her power and underwent forced treatment(?) for their injuries multiple times.
During that time, over fifty years passed, and her grudge faded.
Now she established Heukjeon Uiseon and conducts business against the Demon Sect and Heterodox Factions.
Heukjeon Uiseon’s treatments are fast and inexpensive, but the downside is they have side effects.
However, the major advantage is that one can obtain various materials used in demonic illnesses, demonic techniques, and heterodox techniques that regular Medical Halls would never handle, and can assist in procedures.
Furthermore.
Heukjeon Uiseon has treated conditions that the other two Medical Halls could not.
In that process, one might die or become worse than death, but there exists even a thread-thin hope.
It was incomprehensible why such a being appeared in the form of a grandmother and tested him.
Hyeolsaeng Nogoe spoke.
“Rest assured. I made a covenant with Baek Rin.”
“A covenant?”
“I agreed not to cause trouble in Baek Rin’s Medical Hall.”
Jin Cheon-hee looked toward his Master.
Jegalling sighed.
“Long ago, Hyeolsaeng took great interest in my condition. She wanted to forcibly treat me, but I resisted. We exchanged fifty moves, and if I were defeated, I agreed to become her patient willingly. Conversely, if I won, she agreed not to cause trouble in this Medical Hall anymore.”
To endure fifty moves against a master of Banro Hwandong was absurd.
Hyeolsaeng Nogoe burst into cackling laughter.
“That young one endured so easily. With a body bearing the Nine Yin Absolute Vein, the most vicious of all severed meridians, facing a master of Banro Hwandong and only losing a bit of hair—remarkable.”
The Master spoke to Jin Cheon-hee matter-of-factly.
“Listen well, Hee. When your martial arts reach the pinnacle, you can become the greatest under heaven.”
“Even now you’re devoted to teaching your disciple. Baek Rin.”
“I do it whenever I have the chance. Hyeolsaeng.”
They called each other by their aliases rather than their real names.
Hyeolsaeng Nogoe unwrapped a bundle of cloth.
“The Beginning of Spring marks the turning of yin and yang, the linking of one year to the next. I wonder if you have the courage to eat food prepared by this old monster, Baek Rin.”
At those words, Jegalling let out a sigh.
“Hyeolsaeng always keeps his promises as seriously as life itself.”
“Indeed. I know this well.”
* * *
The food prepared by Hyeolsaeng Nogoe was, surprisingly, an ordinary festive dish for the Beginning of Spring.
Moreover, it was delicious.
Whether she had used her inner energy to keep it warm, the food was still hot.
I picked up my chopsticks, took a bite, and continued eating.
She watched my expression with satisfaction.
“They say Baekrin Uigak has never heard of nor seen the surgical techniques you employ. How could this old monster overlook such a thing? I came at once. Your skill in treating my knee is quite remarkable.”
“I see.”
My Master responded with a pleased expression as she observed me.
“Even in our Heukjeon Uigak, we rarely find someone with hands as swift and precise as that young one. And with ideas that others could never conceive.”
She examined my face carefully.
I deliberately fixed my gaze on the food to avoid meeting her eyes.
“And Ju Wang came as well.”
“Yes. Had it not been for the chaos surrounding the Prince, if it had been Ju Wang in wartime, he surely would have caught on.”
“I see. Did you observe the treatment?”
“Using sorcery, I borrowed the eyes of one of the Medical Assistants
among
them. Thanks to that, I could watch well. Hmm… that one treated the patient with an approach I had not considered. To restore the flesh, he first cut away the damaged area.”
She was referring to debridement.
On Earth, it was one of the basic emergency surgical procedures.
I replied.
“Removing the contaminated area accelerates recovery.”
When muscle becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, recovery becomes even slower.
Inflammation worsens further, and complications like sepsis and necrosis only arise. That is why we cut it away.
“I see. By removing the damaged tissue,
you
promote healing. A rather interesting concept.”
She laughed with genuine interest. Then she spoke thus.
“I find you more appealing by the moment. In Heukjeon Uigak, my….”
At that moment, my Master grasped her shoulder firmly. Then she smiled brightly.
“That will not do.”
“What?”
“That will not do.”
She rejected the proposal before even stating the main point.
“You won’t even let me finish what I was saying?”
“Haha, absolutely not.”
But Hyeolsaeng Nogoe was not one to stop there.
She spoke immediately.
“Yi-ik! Will you not become my disciple? If you become my student, one day Heukjeon Uiseon will be yours, and you will be able to grasp and shake the darkness of all under heaven.”
“….”
I dropped the fried lotus root I had been holding with my chopsticks.
Thud.
“Pardon?”
“Become my disciple. I can offer you far more than that fool Baek Rin.”
Hyeolsaeng Nogoe was desperate.
I was a prodigy who could not merely continue her legacy but could develop it even further.
“Your field of expertise is destruction as well, is it not? Heukjeon Uiseon, where destruction is the primary focus, would suit you far better than Baekrin Uijak, where acupuncture is the mainstay.”

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