Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 695

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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 695
‘What a peculiar fellow.’
Namgung Ban found himself curious about what choice Jin Cheon-hee, who could be called Hyeolrin’s successor,
or rather, Jegalling in his heart, would ultimately make.
The debts of Gangho were so severe that even an adopted son could not escape them.
‘Gangho called this man a madman of the world and named him Ilgwang. Yet now, isn’t it rather the opposite?’
He did not easily surrender to anger and let himself be consumed by resentment.
Rather, he was disturbingly rational.
It was simply that his conclusions deviated from Gangho’s conventions, making them unacceptable.
‘So the conclusion is suspended.’
It seemed he would make no judgment until the truth was revealed.
Or perhaps, even after learning the truth, he would not act unless it aligned with his own convictions.
At that moment, I noticed Jin Cheon-hee’s blue eyes looking directly at me.
“Elder.”
The young Jegalling’s eyes were those of the Jegallim Family.
The eyes of those who once pierced the throats of the Namgung Family’s enemies.
“What is it?”
“Regarding the debts of Gangho you mentioned—if you affirm such debts, what would you do if it were deemed righteous to repay grudges through logic?”
“….”
Why was it?
It felt eerie, as if he were gazing into one’s very soul.
Many had desired the annihilation of the Jegallim Family because of these eyes.
Yet Namgung Ban found himself laughing.
“Come then. If you come for this old man’s neck, you must be prepared to die.”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee burst into laughter.
In a way, it might have been considered rude. Yet the young man laughed with genuine delight.
And watching him, Namgung Ban found himself laughing as well.
Yet there was something that sent shivers down his spine.
‘Because this fellow truly is a young Jegalling.’
Hyeolrin had raised a monster.
* * *
Namgung Un sat in his room, waiting for someone.
Oddly enough, before him lay not wine but a pair of teacups, and time flowed on.
Soon the door opened, and someone appeared and took a seat before Namgung Un.
Thump—
The sound made by his massive frame was considerable.
This man, born without bones, exuded an overwhelming pressure merely by his presence, yet only Namgung Un remained unflustered, his expression unmoved.
“Were you waiting?”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“Hehehehe. Indeed. That fellow of yours is worthy of being called a close friend. Remarkable. Hyeolrin has raised a monster.”
“….”
Namgung Un did not answer.
Instead, he simply filled his grandfather Namgung Ban’s cup with tea.
Trickle, trickle—
Namgung Ban’s face reflected in the teacup as it filled with golden liquid.
“Even if I were to stake my life in a death match, I cannot fathom whether I would emerge victorious. A youth not yet thirty years of age possesses such strength… I find myself suspecting whether he might be a disciple of the Hyeolseon Sect or the demonic path.”
He recalled Yeo Ha-ryun.
I had heard he released a strong qi at such a young age.
However, the young man I had just encountered was formidable in a different sense.
If Yeo Ha-ryun’s strength was like that of a mountain, then Jin Cheon-hee’s strength was like that of the sea.
One can see the majesty of a mountain with one’s eyes, but the depths of the sea are difficult for an ordinary person to fathom.
Moreover, what was even more peculiar was that he showed no obsession with victory or defeat.
Namgung Un spoke plainly.
“That cannot be. The Hyeolseon Sect has targeted my younger brother Jin multiple times.”
“Indeed, that Hyeolrin would not join hands with those Hyeolseon Sect members… So, you trust that young man’s medical skills?”
Gulp—
Namgung Un swallowed his tea.
Then, without blinking an eye, he spoke with sincerity—the greatest sincerity he could show.
“This humble one trusts younger brother Jin.”
“Hmm… Mercury poisoning, you say… Indeed, cinnabar is not entirely beneficial to the body.”
“Grandfather, did you already know of this?”
“Vaguely. I could not be certain until that young man pointed it out directly.”
“….”
Grandfather Namgung Ban fell into thought before speaking.
“I discovered it during my cultivation. Mercury is effective at gathering qi, but it clouds that qi. So when I underwent rebirth of bone and shedding of skin in the past, I expelled it from my body.”
“I see. So that was the case.”
“However, I could not be certain because nearly all elixirs and miraculous medicines contain cinnabar. Even the expensive cosmetics used in the imperial palace contain mercury.”
“Indeed.”
“If it were truly harmful, would doctors not compete to include it? In any case, I am merely a warrior, not a doctor.”
Namgung Ban spoke thus and swallowed his tea.
“And as the master of the Wol Ryong Sword Unit, I shall speak.”
The head of the intelligence organization that handled the Namgung Family’s secret affairs, known as the Wol Ryong Sword Unit.
It was the law of the Namgung Family that the previous Gaju would personally command this intelligence organization, and if the previous Gaju passed away, the highest-ranking Elder would take command.
Namgung Un’s eyes changed.
“Please speak.”
“The Hwaju Medical Institute harbors no impure intentions. At most, they seek to seize some of the main family’s profits. Your second mother called upon them with a pure heart.”
“I see… So that is the case.”
Namgung Un’s expression grew cold.
“Of course, your second mother has not yet abandoned the idea of making Jin I her successor. However, this matter is not because of that.”
“…I understand.”
Succession disputes are familiar territory. Or rather, if I’m being honest, the framework has already solidified.
There’s no need to stain my hands with blood.
All the necessary variables have already been accounted for.
That’s something the Grand Patriarch before me, the Crescent Moon Sword Master, and my father—unconscious from mercury poisoning—both understand.
Which is why I ask.
“What will you do? As the Minor Sect Leader of the Namgung Family and its eldest grandson. Do you still trust that monster raised by Hyeolrin, the Minor Sect Leader of Baekrin Uiseon?”
“….”
I’m not asking the good-natured Namgung Un, but rather the Minor Sect Leader of the Namgung Family—Namgung Un.
He understood better than anyone the weight of that question.
Namgung Un takes a sip of the tea, then another.
His failure to answer the Patriarch’s question immediately and instead drink his tea is improper, yet Namgung Ban doesn’t press him. Namgung Un doesn’t rush either.
Then.
Clack—
He sets down the empty cup.
“As I drank this tea, not once did doubt cross my mind. Even though I despise this tea so.”
“Indeed. For a Longjing tea, it’s quite astringent. And yet you swallowed it without a shred of suspicion.”
“Yes. Not a single sip gave me pause.”
“….”
Namgung Ban nods.
It was a tradition of the Namgung Family.
When conducting important confidential discussions, one drinks the bitterest, most astringent tea.
It serves to sharpen the mind, but it also carries the meaning: doubt everything.
Thus, the children of the Namgung Family drink the finest fragrant tea, while the Family Head and Minor Sect Leader drink the most astringent.
This tradition was born when the Namgung Family had declined so severely it nearly faced annihilation.
The Family Head of that era created this custom while reviving the clan.
A family is not established by bloodline alone.
If bloodline is the body, then tradition is the soul.
Such traditions are what keep a family alive.
“Your grandson still trusts Uncle Jin. Even if it goes against Second Mother’s wishes.”
Clink—
This time, Namgung Ban fills his grandson’s empty cup with tea.
The golden liquid released a bitter aroma.
“Hmm…. Is that so? Then there’s actually a simple method.”
“What is it?”
“Try the medicines from Hwaju Medical Institute first, and if that fails, then entrust the matter to that boy.”
“…!!”
Namgung Un’s eyes widen at those words.
“Grandfather. But if we do that, Father may not be able to endure it.”
Namgung Ban’s expression doesn’t waver.
“Then his life ends there.”
“Grandfather… how can you be so cold about this?”
Namgung Un’s father was his own son, after all—not merely a distant relative.
“Cold? Perhaps. It would be more accurate to say I’ve worn away. Do you think you’re the first of my children to depart before me?”
In that moment, Namgung Un read his grandfather’s true intentions.
‘Grandfather intends to set aside Father for the sake of the Namgung Family.’
If Hwaju Medical Institute’s treatment succeeded and he lived, that would be fortunate.
But if the treatment failed and he died, or if he had to live with lingering aftereffects…?
Then the position of Gaju would need to change hands.
“If I were to say I couldn’t trust Baekrin Uiseon, would you have planned to have them treat him first?”
Namgung Ban did not answer that question.
Instead, he simply said this:
“I was the Gaju of the Great Namgung Family. Many of my family members lived or died by my decisions. That is what it means to be a Gaju. And it is the burden you must bear.”
“Is this because Father has committed indiscretions recently?”
“He began laying hands on the servants, fathered bastards through a second household in the pleasure quarters, and embezzled the family’s funds.”
“That is…”
After his defeat at the hands of Geomhwang, Father had wandered adrift.
Outwardly, it was announced that he had gone into seclusion, and while the Namgung Family’s power made it easy to manipulate information, reality itself could not be changed.
“…and that’s not all. He began meddling with the inner chambers, and tried to hand over part of the merchant enterprise to some unknown person. Money can be earned again. But to surrender the very foundation of the business itself—that is not the act of a sound mind.”
That was grave indeed.
Gongseon Hyeon of the Gongseon Family would not sit idle and watch such a thing.
She was merciless. The moment she seized power as the new Gaju of the Gongseon Family, she began driving her blade into the Namgung Family.
The dark indigo robes she always wore.
Her hunched shoulders and skeletal frame.
People pointed at Gongseon Hyeon and called her the Poison Dragon, yet the Namgung Family knew her terror intimately.
Without blinking an eye, she trampled the Namgung Family and expanded her influence.
Her younger brother Gongseon Yeong became the blade that executed her schemes.
And Wang Gak-yeon, who had begun to be called the Palace King, started cutting down the Namgung Family’s warriors one by one.
If Gongseon Yeong was the Gongseon Family’s sword, then Wang Gak-yeon was their hidden dagger.
Two blades of the Gongseon Family.
Was the current Namgung Family Head prepared to withstand their momentum?
“Yes, he is my son. Would I wish to harbor murderous intent toward my own flesh and blood? I thought that given time, he would return to himself. I truly believed he would.”
Yet he would not go so far as to poison or strike down his own child directly.
He would simply wait with patience.
Namgung Un smiled bitterly.
“Soson never desired the position of successor in the first place. Would it not be wise to withdraw that expectation?”
“The history of this main branch runs deep. And you are more than capable of fulfilling the duties of Gaju.”
Namgung Ban rose from his seat.
Namgung Un bowed respectfully to his grandfather.
“I shall take my leave.”
“Very well. And maintain your friendship with Ilgwang, even if it costs you wealth. He is quite different from ordinary Gangho figures.”
“I am not a friend who refuses wealth, but neither am I a friend who is swayed by it.”
“Yes. That’s exactly how it appears. And that’s what frightens me.”
Namgung Ban finished the conversation and left.
The empty room.
At the sight, I could only smile bitterly.
“Heh heh heh. I wish I could drink. But that won’t do. I must make a shameless request of my younger brother Jin….”
At minimum, I should abstain from alcohol for some time.
With the Patriarch collapsed, I must keep my wits about me.
“Younger brother Jin. What should I do? What would you have chosen?”
My anguish only deepened.
“So that’s why you never once expressed anger and instead drew a clear line. That was it.”
From the beginning, my younger brother Jin had known.
The true face of the Sega.
It was a scheme both ruthless and, at first glance, almost gentle.

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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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