Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 660

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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 660
Though it’s called the grand bathhouse, it’s essentially reserved for my Master alone.
The four faction leaders who come to bathe make a wide detour from my Master’s quarters to avoid running into their superiors.
These men possess some wild instinct for reading the heavens—whenever I need something, they’ve already vanished. And I can’t even find the other doctors from their faction.
The lower-ranking doctors naturally don’t want to share the same bath as my Master and the faction leaders, so they turn back as well.
That’s just the senior doctors’ situation.
The middle-ranked and junior doctors enter, but when they hear the senior doctors launch into their “back in my day” lectures, they sense the mood and quietly slip away to bathe among themselves.
Then our delicate senior doctors, realizing there are no attendants to serve them, shed tears and enter the bath together.
Inside, they compete over who has the worst physical ailments.
This is how the Baekrin Medical Guild’s hot spring pyramid operates.
The higher you climb, the lonelier it becomes.
And at the very apex of that pyramid is my Master.
“Hmm, freshly built and spotless.”
He’s the type to get upset if even a single strand of someone else’s hair falls in the water.
Him bathing alone is what preserves peace throughout the Baekrin Medical Guild.
And so the newly constructed grand bathhouse (or rather, my Master’s exclusive bath) remains peaceful today.
I crouch down to inspect the tiles.
“Yes, they’re laid beautifully.”
We borrowed some elements from Roman bathhouse design.
Embedded in the floor tiles is a qilin mosaic symbolizing the Baekrin Medical Guild.
And at the four corners stand stone statues of the four celestial creatures symbolizing longevity—the tortoise, crane, deer, and qilin—spouting hot spring water.
“Since this bath is positioned relatively high up, it’s quite hot.”
“Yes. The lower bath is designed to maintain a lower temperature.”
There’s another reason it’s reserved for my Master.
Few humans can endure the scorching heat of what’s called the Hell Bath.
Most people bathe at foot-soaking temperatures, but my Master simply uses this one.
In other words, it’s hot enough to boil a person alive.
As my Master’s massive frame settled into place, the hot spring water rippled and created enormous waves.
I retreated to a corner.
“Now then, tell me about it. You defeated the Hyeolseonggyo, didn’t you? Jang Cheon-gun, I mean.”
“Yes. We defeated them without much difficulty, Master.”
My Master floated a bottle of yuzu wine from the basket using telekinesis and tossed it to me.
Though the character for alcohol is in its name, it contains no intoxicating spirits—essentially just a sweet beverage.
A health drink made by simmering yuzu and medicinal herbs.
Alcohol-free wellness drink.
Even young children can drink it.
He even hands me a bamboo straw.
I recalled banana milk from my past life as I sipped the yuzu drink through the straw.
The tangy yuzu flavor is refreshingly cool.
“I went to investigate insurance fraud, but the matter escalated.”
“That’s right. Given your track record, it’s entirely plausible.”
I recounted the story of meeting Jang Cheon-gun and described the state of the village.
I made sure not to omit the strange aspects of Doyeon-dong.
“Creating spirit pills from human bodies… Now I understand why the Hyeolseonggyo is so formidable.”
“Yes. They were powerful despite lacking any enlightenment regarding martial arts.”
“I only half-believed the letter saying your limbs were intact, but they truly are.”
At those words, I swallowed hard with a grimace.
‘Am I really that untrustworthy…?’
Surely you jest, Master.
I kept such thoughts to myself and held my tongue.
After all, there had been more than one occasion when I’d actually been beaten to a pulp but sent letters claiming to be fine.
“And you disguised yourself again.”
How did he know that when I hadn’t mentioned it?
“The names were rather obvious, weren’t they? Sama Hee and Jin Cheon-hyeon.”
“Indeed. Such names. Have you started enjoying getting caught?”
“….”
Explaining that Sama Hyeon had called me by those names first would only be an excuse.
I couldn’t respond and simply sipped the pomelo juice.
“And the Emperor—he should know better than to work my disciple so hard without providing proper compensation. Really, I must say.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Yes, so I cursed him to go bald!”
“…That’s very much like you. Petty and painful.”
What’s wrong with baldness? Where could one find such a vicious curse?
Master chuckled with amusement.
‘Still, I’m relieved. He’s less angry than I expected.’
Perhaps it was because he’d personally confirmed I was unharmed, or perhaps the lengthy letters had arrived and somehow appeased his anger.
The cause remained unknown, but either way, it was something to be grateful for.
After finishing the tart pomelo juice, Master handed me a whole pomelo.
“Shall I float it in a bath?”
“You’d use premium pomelo for bathing?”
The pomelo was clearly large and fragrant—it looked particularly precious. Master spoke.
“Eat it.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a pomelo picked from a thousand-year-old tree on Wudang Mountain. It’s excellent for recovering from fatigue, good for recovering from colds, and helps with internal injuries.”
“Ah… I see. Then I’ll make pomelo preserve and consume it.”
“The Wudang masters simply eat them as is. If you make preserve, the medicinal properties diminish.”
Master spoke so matter-of-factly.
‘Eat this sour and bitter thing raw?’
Who would peel and eat pomelo like a mandarin orange? One would either simmer it or pickle it in alcohol.
Yet Master spoke with such affection.
“Eat up, Hope.”
“Yes, yes!”
‘So much for him being in a better mood.’
That was right. In this world, nothing was as long-lasting as Baek Rin-ui-seon’s grudges.
I had to eat an entire raw pomelo in front of my Master while tears streamed down my face.
Fortunately, just as he’d said it came from the thousand-year pomelo tree on Wudang Mountain, so the bitterness wasn’t as intense as I’d feared.
It was a rare treasure, certainly. But sour. Terribly sour.
Even eating a raw lemon would probably be less sour than this.
“Ugh, Master. My fatigue is being… relieved!”
“Indeed. It’s said that the Spirit Elixir’s efficacy even allows for modest recovery of one’s inner strength.”
“Wow, that must be incredibly expensive.”
“It is. Normally, outsiders cannot obtain such a precious item, but Gwon. Je. Sent. It. Specially.”
Ah. He was taking it out on me.
This was one hundred percent him venting his frustrations at Gwon Je.
And so I ate the pomelo raw and became two percent healthier.
* * *
“I’d like to let you rest now that you’re here, but you’re not the type to sit still.”
“Hehe!”
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly in the bath.
After eating the entire pomelo, I even mentioned how surprisingly pleasant it tasted.
As I continued eating, the aftertaste turned sweet, making it quite the delicacy.
This defeated the purpose of a punishment, but my Master seemed willing to let it slide since he’d given me something precious to eat.
“There is a patient I’d like you to see.”
“A patient?”
“Yes. A rather special one.”
A special patient.
That meant a particularly ‘difficult’ patient.
“First, do you know how many families in this empire could be called powerful clans?”
“Hmm… I know the names of the Eight Imperial Houses at least.”
The eight families that controlled the empire’s core.
Even if the Emperor possessed unprecedented power, these eight families united could suppress imperial authority itself.
Of course, that meant they couldn’t exercise their veto at any time.
The Emperor likewise could not manipulate the Eight Imperial Houses at will.
Such was the current state of affairs in the Hua Empire.
“Right. Yuk Heon, whom you saw before, is from the Yuk family, one of the Eight Imperial Houses.”
“I see.”
“And today, a patient from the Ga family, another of the Eight Imperial Houses, has arrived. Among their ancestors, the most famous was Ga Hu, who rose to the position of Grand Commandant during the Three Kingdoms period.”
‘A name I haven’t heard in a while.’
Ga Hu. His courtesy name was Munhwa.
So many people called him Ga Munhwa.
Ga Hu was a mastermind of strategy who ranked within the top ten in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, and unlike Shun Yu, who committed suicide under Cao Cao’s service, he lived to nearly eighty and died of old age.
By the time of his death, he had also prospered his family greatly.
Those who have read the Records of the Three Kingdoms know that even taking care of oneself was difficult in those times, let alone managing one’s household—yet Ga Hu accomplished it.
‘Considering the fiefs and wealth that the Gaga clan possessed, it was quite substantial even by the standards of that era.’
Of course, that goes without saying now.
Jin Cheon-hee spoke.
“However, Master. Just because they are blood relatives of the Eight Great Families of the Empire doesn’t mean we need to provide any special treatment….”
I do my utmost for every patient.
If it were an incurable disease beyond the reach of human knowledge, there would be nothing to be done, but otherwise, haven’t I always given my all to treatment?
Whether they belonged to a great clan or not was surprisingly unimportant.
“However, if you cure this illness, they have promised to provide a substantial reward.”
Financial support or connections.
Either way, they would give it.
Come to think of it, didn’t treating Han Yi-jeong result in gaining a major patron for Baekrin Uiseon?
Moreover, the massive financial support sent by Han Yi-jeong’s grandfather, the Eunuch General, at that time greatly aided Baek Hwan-hu and the expansion of the new Bunta.
“Ohhh! Money given is always thank you!”
Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes gleamed.
“You’re always like this.”
My Master clicked his tongue and spoke thus.
“Go and conduct a direct diagnosis yourself. I determined that treatment would be difficult….”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee furrowed one eyebrow.
“If you say treatment is difficult, Master, then it would be difficult for me as well…?”
“That remains to be seen.”
“Hmm….”
Jin Cheon-hee rubbed his chin and nodded.
“Then this humble disciple shall go conduct a diagnosis!”
* * *
Fourteen years old.
A patient of small stature sat before me.
The child, whose entire body was covered in hair like a gorilla, stared blankly at the ceiling.
Being covered entirely in hair during such a sensitive period meant it was impossible to make friends or engage in proper social interaction.
Especially in this era, people were all the more accustomed to rejecting those different from themselves.
At first, I wondered if this child might also be a supernatural being like Yeon Won-wang, but I soon realized they were human.
The medical records don’t lie, after all.
And I also knew that the descendants of Ga Hu in this empire were not insignificant beings.
‘Based on the pulse diagnosis results… it’s severe hirsutism.’
For some reason, the Gaga clan had consistently produced descendants with excessive hair across generations.
When this began was not disclosed to the outside world, so it remains unknown, but the public refers to it as a ‘curse.’
I don’t know who cast it or what curse it was, but apparently one of Ga Hu’s descendants was born with this congenital hirsutism.
‘Usually, congenital hirsutism manifests as a genetic abnormality, but….’
If this were modern Earth, I would have diagnosed it as a genetic disorder, but since curses genuinely exist in this place, it’s difficult to say definitively.
According to the other doctors’ initial examination, the child’s body was completely normal in all respects.
I also took the child’s pulse.
‘Hmm. As expected, it’s not a tumor issue. Not a hormonal imbalance either. And not caused by medicine or poison.’
My assessment aligned with theirs.
For some reason, this was simply how the child was born.
Even in reality, severely hirsute individuals have their faces completely covered in hair, sometimes appearing like werewolves or yetis.
Some people’s hair grows endlessly, requiring periodic trimming to manage.

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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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