Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 710
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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 710
“It’s the heart of family.”
With those words, Jegalling began inserting needles into his disciple’s body.
Thunk, thunk-thunk, thunk—
Strangely, as the needles pierced flesh, they rang out as if tapping vital points.
“When I first taught the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, I never imagined he would reach this level so quickly.”
“That’s because I’ve pushed my body to its limits.”
He was born without a martial constitution. I forced him into the mold of martial arts anyway.
And then came the pushing, more pushing.
When a vessel not meant for martial arts breaks and is repaired, I simply poured more in again.
His body would naturally improve beyond before. But what would happen if I continued pouring in martial knowledge beyond that?
A life of tempering oneself like forging a blade, though humans are not steel.
“Words never reach him no matter how much I speak, so perhaps it was time he learned through his body.”
Speaking calmly, he continued inserting needles.
For some reason, his appearance seemed like that of something inhuman, some alien entity.
The hair on Yoo Ho’s back stood slightly on end.
“Is this what you consider family, Master?”
“You could say that.”
* * *
I had a strange dream.
People gathered around, looking down at me.
The faces were familiar, and after staring for a while, I realized they were patients I had encountered over the years.
All of them were deceased.
Some from severe injuries, some from serious illnesses, some from knowledge beyond human understanding.
‘Or perhaps… because I was insufficient…’
Were the decisions I made back then truly correct?
If there had been another way, wouldn’t the patient have lived longer?
No matter how many cutting-edge papers I read, how much I study, or how I hone my skills, illness always tests humanity.
Accidents are no different.
Beneath the heavens, no two broken bones look exactly alike.
Even if I became an authority revered by all… before death, I felt like nothing more than an ant in a flood.
Swept away, swept away.
No matter how much I struggled, human knowledge remained insufficient before disease.
It was a thought I’d carried since Earth.
Humanity still hasn’t conquered cancer. Diabetes is the same. Dementia remains unconquered.
Children’s bodies have small organs and small blood vessels—there are no easy cases.
As people age, there come times when each surgery demands a gamble with life itself.
All medicines carry side effects.
Humanity is fragile.
Even with knowledge, if conditions aren’t right, treatment itself becomes impossible.
I couldn’t save every patient.
Those who died before reaching the Medical Guild were beyond my help, but what of those who died after arriving?
A modern scalpel suddenly appeared in my vision.
It was a patient I had seen when I first arrived in this world.
That patient held the scalpel and looked down at me.
All I had back then was a child’s body.
Where the blood swordsman had passed. Already having lost so much blood, there was no way to save them.
They were still alive.
Breathing remained, but it was impossible without modern equipment, and even with it, the prognosis was uncertain.
So I made the difficult choice to let go.
I prioritized finding those I could save with my young body.
Didn’t that also mean I had chosen who would die?
But how could I? I’m not a god… what could I do with that body?
And yet… seeing them again, my breath caught in my throat.
“Ugh!”
Every patient who passed by me held a scalpel in their hands.
The deceased.
‘I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.’
Since I had sent them away, was it now their turn to treat me?
Guilt became weight, crushing me down.
-You don’t seem suited for clinical practice.
My Senior’s words came back to me.
That voice I had tried so hard to forget.
-But if I were a patient, I think I’d want a doctor like you.
They gouged at my eyes.
Pain continued even though it was a dream.
One patient spoke.
‘How have you been, Soggakju?’
A life I had lost whispered to me.
I remembered that voice clearly.
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong never forgot.
A patient who had been struck in a vital point during a blood swordsman’s attack and came to the Medical Guild as their condition worsened.
I had done everything possible, but their condition deteriorated suddenly at night and they died.
They were fine until daytime, but the evening moon flower sent from their family caused it.
Those of Gangho are strong yet fragile.
The same injuries often have better prognoses than those of earthlings, but conversely, they sometimes die suddenly from Heart Demons.
At that time, I hadn’t thought to remove the flowers the family sent.
It was natural.
It was a wound that should have been fatal anyway. And in Gangho, there had always been a strong tendency to accept death from Heart Demons as fate.
Night is long, and there is much time to think.
Concerned about the Heart Demon troubling Kang Ho-in, I prescribed sleeping medicine in advance.
Thus, a new rule was established at Baekrin Uiseon.
Do they resent me? I laughed bitterly at myself.
Had I not witnessed such nightmares in the past? Now it was time for the Heart Demon to strip away Jin Cheon-hee’s flesh piece by piece.
This time, it was deceased patients.
It pierced through the most vulnerable part of a person without warning.
Was I dying?
Should I accept such a death?
For some reason, it felt like a death befitting me.
But then a voice spoke.
‘You will recover completely.’
Why?
It was strange. The deceased were each gripping a scalpel, hacking away at my body.
Yet despite this, it felt like treatment.
Because something pitch-black was seeping out through those wounds.
The Doctor was moving away from death.
It was a peculiar sensation.
A single ant swept along by a flood. I pressed my hand to the ground and opened my eyes.
What appeared before me was darkness.
A darkness deeper than any dream.
Jin Cheon-hee realized that I had awakened from sleep.
My body’s senses were normal, yet simultaneously heavy and drained of energy.
The greatest problem was that darkness filled my vision completely.
“My eyes…”
“Yes. You can’t see, can you?”
My Master’s voice came from beside me.
“Master. I cannot see ahead.”
The Master answered my words.
“That’s quite fortunate. Do you feel a bit more inclined to rest now?”
My body, no longer boneless, trembled. Only then did I realize something else.
My inner energy would not move.
“Master. My cultivation…”
“There is no movement at all?”
“That’s correct.”
“Since you’ve entered a ‘trial’ for the first time in a while, I’ve temporarily sealed your inner energy. If you had no eyes, you would surely attempt to perceive and move using sound cultivation, so I’ve preemptively embedded the Severing Demon Golden Needle to place a restriction upon you.”
A trial?
Groping with my hand, something suddenly came into my grasp.
A human body. Muscle. As I felt upward, I could now touch what seemed to be a jaw.
“Is this you, Master?”
“It’s Yoo Ho.”
“….”
My Master chuckled softly, seemingly delighted by something.
“Well then, let’s see. You’ve brought this upon yourself. You must escape from it. Hope. An infinitely compassionate yet self-destructive genius. Can you transcend the heavens?”
Transcend the heavens?
“…Is it something like the process of Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong?”
“How curious that you’ve deduced that much. And yet you possess no inner energy to even use Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong.”
“….”
“It’s not a process. That’s right. To be precise… it would be a miracle for someone without martial bones to reach this level of attainment.”
“Do I need martial knowledge to turn my eyes away?”
“If you obtain martial knowledge, then you will gain not just your sight, but everything.”
I understood then.
My Master had known from the beginning.
Transmitting the Jegallim Family’s secret dumplings and inducing me to sell them, subtly keeping me at his side—it all meant the time was drawing near.
Sending Yoo Ho to continuously monitor me meant he had sensed the date.
“I’m curious. Whether you can truly transcend the heavens.”
He was cold yet considerate.
He protected his disciple’s body and supported everything I could do.
Even the consequences it would bring.
A madness that transcended conventional master-disciple relationships by far.
Yet I sensed it instinctively.
My Master’s voice carried a tone of genuine delight.
“I won’t be able to move around for a while.”
“That’s right.”
“Then I’ll meditate in this state.”
“You never know how to yield.”
He had expected me to weep and beg my Master for mercy.
This one was also mad. That’s why Jegalling was delighted.
How had such a madman become his disciple?
And Yoo Ho, watching these two insane master and disciple, clicked his tongue.
“Should I bring some hot water?”
“I’d appreciate that, Yoo Ho.”
“Understood.”
Even if the day came when he could understand humans, he doubted he’d ever understand these lunatics.
* * *
Time passed like that.
I cannot see.
Though martial artists can normally perceive and sense their surroundings one way or another.
Through what they call qi-sensing—manipulating one’s energy to detect the surroundings.
Moreover, I had even learned the Yin Arts.
Using the principles of ultrasound, perceiving objects around me would normally pose no difficulty. But now, with my inner energy sealed, I cannot use qi-sensing.
Moreover, since my inner energy wouldn’t move, I couldn’t use shadow energy either.
Of course, with a superhuman body that had trained external techniques to reach the Diamond Indestructible state, my senses were superior and transcendent compared to ordinary people.
Just from the sounds reaching my ears, I could manage a fairly normal daily life.
The sealing of my inner energy didn’t mean that all my prior training disappeared.
The sensations and refined skills remaining in my body were still alive.
That’s why, when the sun rose, I began closing my eyes and moving through the Medical Guild’s interior to conduct my work.
Though “conducting work” amounted to listening to documents that Yoo Ho read aloud and deciding yes or no.
“Eun Gong. Are you really sure it’s okay to work in this condition? Did the Patriarch permit it?”
Sama-hye burst into my office.
She spoke with concern in her voice as she looked at Yoo Ho standing quietly behind me.
I could hear the worry in her voice. I smiled faintly.
“All the geographical information about the Medical Guild is stored in this head of mine. And my ears aren’t far away. This body is sturdy too. The only problem is I can’t oversee Ga-won’s martial training for a while.”
“I heard the Patriarch is handling that himself.”
“Master is? I’ll have to thank him later.”
“Hmm…. I’m not sure. I’d need to hear from Ga-won about that too.”
Sama-hye had also received martial training directly from the Patriarch before.
It was hell. Jegalling was an utterly vicious person who didn’t treat people like people.
Why is our precious Eun Gong attached to such a monster as a disciple? Sama-hye thought, letting out a sigh.
“Eun Gong. Please rest while you work.”
“I still have work to do though.”
“Soggakju. Hyeon-seung requests an audience.”
A servant from outside called into my office.
“Hye-a. Then you should go. I have work to do too.”
“Sigh…. Please take care of yourself. And I’m telling your brother about this.”
“Hyeon gets far too worked up….”
“Not at all, he doesn’t overreact.”
Sama-hye left with those words.
Hyeon-seung entered after her.
“I greet the Magistrate. Are you well?”
“I’m fine. It’s just that my eyes don’t work for a while.”
Though my eyes were covered with a blindfold, vitality could be felt in my voice.
Seeing this sight, I wanted to say, “For you to call that fine, you truly are Ilgwang.” But Hyeon-seung swallowed his words.
“Please, go ahead with your report.”
“Yes. First, regarding the construction progress….”
I held a meeting with Hyeon-seung for about an hour, then sent him away.
Feeling something strange, I turned to look behind me.
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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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