Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 716

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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 716
“I’m not talking about mining it directly—I mean establishing trade routes. As it happens, there are many medicinal herbs that grow only in that region. Spices too.”
“The Hwaju Medical Institute has been acting out, though.”
That was true.
Last time, the deputy director of the Hwaju Medical Institute had received treatment from the Baekrin Uiseon Sojakju.
An absolute humiliation!
The Hwaju Medical Institute’s retaliation had been fierce indeed.
As a result, several rare medicinal herbs had been cut off from supply, and I was at a loss for what to do.
“Haven’t you prepared substitute medicines?”
“We have, but they’re less effective, and I can’t just endure it every time the Hwaju Medical Institute acts out like this.”
In modern society, I could pool stocks to seize management rights or do something else, but here, unless I physically cut them down with a blade, it will continue.
I longed for capitalism in the modern world.
Of course, there were many dog-like aspects to it, but still, there were many more ways to end things peacefully and well.
“Hmm… Perhaps I shouldn’t have given him that short sword after all.”
My Master said this, and his eyes curved gently in amusement.
Jin Cheon-hee didn’t miss that expression.
“Then what if you sent a letter to the imperial palace? Didn’t the Emperor suffer from dental problems not long ago? Good news might arrive. And it would be good to mention the matter of medicinal herbs while we’re at it.”
“Ah! Then I don’t need to go myself?”
“First, send a letter to the imperial palace.”
“Yes!”
Jin Cheon-hee answered energetically and hurried out.
My Master watched my disciple’s retreating figure calmly.
After Jin Cheon-hee had completely left, Yoo Ho, who stood behind, asked a question.
“Weren’t you deliberately trying to send the young master to the Damjin Kingdom?”
“He’ll end up going anyway. Those two from the imperial family like to use Hee. Besides… there are currently many matters piling up in Damjin. It would be perfect to send Hee there.”
“You said you disliked sending the young master away, yet you’re deliberately sending him. It’s hard to understand.”
At those words, Jegalling chuckled softly.
“Since he has perfected the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong… he won’t die anywhere. Besides, at minimum half a year, at most a year—Hee will be away from here… Haven’t I bought time to deal with the pests? And furthermore.”
Jegalling’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“If Hee goes there, that pest from the Demonic Sect will surely follow, so there’s no need to worry about safety.”
“Ah… I see.”
That pest from the Demonic Sect.
Yoo Ho immediately understood who that referred to.
“The imperial palace, Cheon Sal-seong, and the enlightenment gained this time. Isn’t that excessive protection?”
“Under normal circumstances, it would be. One could say Hyeolrin has gone mad with worry over his disciple.”
Even so, there was no blocking his path.
“He is my disciple, but a life like his is like a river—one can change its course somewhat, but one cannot stop it.”
Jegalling said no more and picked up his brush to write a separate letter.
It was a letter to be sent to the Demonic Sect.
* * *
A few days later.
A letter arrived from the imperial palace.
Stripped of the imperial court’s characteristic flowery language, it essentially said this:
– Jin Cheon-hee, disciple of the Medical Saint and Magistrate, report to the palace.
“What now? Another summons to the palace?”
When I went to my Master, he said he’d expected as much and ordered Yoo Ho to pack my belongings.
While packing, Yoo Ho suddenly asked me a question.
“Should we not discard the walking stick anymore?”
It was the staff that had served as my eyes when I lived as a blind man.
I shook my head.
“It helps when I’m thinking.”
“I see. It’s certainly true that your eyes are blue more often now.”
Unlike my Master, whose eyes were always that brilliant blue, my eyes spent more time in that azure hue than they used to.
Compared to the past, when they only shifted to that blue light for brief moments of necessity, it was quite a change.
So whenever I circulate the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong for too long and begin to feel like I’m losing my mind, I close my eyes.
And I calm my heart by touching the walking stick.
The fact that the duration keeps increasing means
that in a world where all things naturally slow down,
‘…an ordinary person’s mental fortitude simply cannot bear it.’
My Master, living with such a condition as though it were natural, is all the more remarkable.
“Couldn’t you live like your Master even now if you wished?”
“The realm of the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong itself would allow it. With the state of Shimmoo I’ve comprehended now, it would likely be more than sufficient. I simply can’t endure it.”
How does my Master manage to live without his mind deteriorating?
‘In modern terms, it’s like watching every drama in slow motion.’
It made sense that life would taste bland.
When I mentioned this, Yoo Ho replied:
“Your Master probably adapted easily because he already considered all humans to be insects and stones.”
‘Ah, so he thought—these savages are already crude, what does it matter if they appear even cruder?’
I’d somewhat grasped one of my Master’s secrets of the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, but on the other hand…
“Yoo Ho, isn’t that too harsh? My Master can’t be such a joyless person, can he?”
“He is arrogant, that’s true.”
“That’s because he’s a genius.”
I carefully packed the last of the belongings and loaded them onto Hwang-gu’s back.
Woof, woof, woof!
Hwang-gu wagged his tail excitedly.
The moment that massive frame, as large as a house, wagged its tail,
Crack—
the neck of the wooden statue my Master had carved shattered.
It had been quite a sturdy wooden statue, yet he destroyed it with merely a flick of his tail.
‘Ah, if that tail even grazes you, even a boulder would shatter.’
By now, Hwang-gu had grown strong enough to bite a Mountain Soldier commander to death with nothing but his bite force.
‘His body had already grown far beyond that point.’
From simple tonics to elixirs.
I fed him every good thing this world had to offer, and on top of that, he experienced life-and-death battles alongside me.
With the addition of partial transmission of martial arts from the late Gwon Je, I sometimes wondered if he might become the greatest master under heaven—or rather, the greatest dog under heaven.
Pant, pant, pant, pant!
But a dog knew nothing of being the greatest master under heaven.
He was just a dog, after all.
He loved eating delicious food, running to his heart’s content, and rolling around with Jin Cheon-hee all day long.
Baths were terrible.
Treats were wonderful. Long walks were the best.
Especially this time, seeing the pack loaded onto his back made him happy—he could go on even longer walks.
Hwang-gu knew that the more cargo loaded on, the longer the walk would be.
No matter how much was piled on, it didn’t matter to him.
To a dog who could shatter mountains, human luggage and Jin Cheon-hee’s weight were nothing—like carrying a single sparrow on his head.
Woof, woof woof woof woof!
Yoo Ho calmed the excited Hwang-gu and then collected the broken statue fragments.
“Ah, this won’t do. The master carved it as practice material, so there’s no particular attachment to it, but….”
“Then I’ll take it.”
“Are you running away before getting scolded?”
“Hehe!”
Jin Cheon-hee simply laughed and fled far away with Hwang-gu.
* * *
As Jin Cheon-hee held onto Hwang-gu, I thought to myself.
‘Wow. This feels like riding in a car speeding down a highway.’
I never expected to feel this in the Central Plains martial world.
We even began rushing down pathless mountain trails at terrifying speed.
Of course, there were occasional problems.
“Ahhh, Hwang-gu! Don’t catch birds! I’ll give you separate meals!”
Chirp, chirp chirp!
Noeji, who had been sleeping on my back, also chirped in protest.
Sometimes while running, he’d get distracted by a large bird and dash toward it instead.
Aside from those moments, the speed was absolutely insane.
“Let’s camp out tonight.”
When night fell, we camped.
I pitched a nomadic-style tent and prepared food.
Curry. I used the secret powder I’d received from Sama Hyeon for the broth.
It was that artisan’s powder—somehow recreating the taste of MSG in the Central Plains.
And so I indulged in the eccentricity of making curry in the martial world, enjoying the night journey.
“I gratefully partake!”
Having finished cooking, I closed my eyes again during the meal.
The curry of the unseen world tasted different from the curry of the visible world.
Crunch!
Squeak!
I heard Hwang-gu and Noe Jin-i munching away.
Even with my inner energy sealed, I had been sensitive to sound, but now that the seal was lifted, I could hear distant sounds as well.
Deep flavors and the sounds of the mountains.
The moisture of the night breeze.
I could even hear the crackling of lamb roasting—tomorrow’s lunch.
Whoooosh—
Strangely, as I sat with my eyes closed, leaves began to rise around me.
I was beginning to reach a realm where matter transforms through intention alone.
However, I was so focused on distant sounds that I didn’t notice it myself.
“Ah, that was delicious. A wonderful meal.”
I said this and grasped my walking staff.
Tap, tap, tap.
Having enjoyed the time, it was now time to clean up.
* * *
Upon arriving in Hwangdo, I carried the luggage while Hwang-gu trimmed his body with Chuggeun Gong.
“How on earth did the late Gwon Je teach martial arts to a spirit creature?”
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
In any case, as I walked with the luggage on my back, many people recognized me.
“Hey, isn’t that Cheonhailgwang!”
“It must be. It’s definitely Cheonhailgwang!”
“Despite the rumors of madness, he actually looks quite normal.”
Even with Hwang-gu on a leash and Noe Jin-i tucked away in a pouch, far too many people recognized me.
‘How is it that everyone recognizes me in an era without the internet?’
It was karmic retribution.
It meant I had transcended being merely a neighborhood madman or a regional madman—I had become a Gangho madman.
“The cooking of Cheonhailgwang is truly extraordinary!”
“I heard that with just a wave of a ladle, he creates a hundred servings of the finest cuisine!”
“Ooooh!”
People gasped in admiration.
I thought to myself.
‘Why is my medical skill overshadowed by rumors of madness and cooking ability?’
And they don’t even mention my martial prowess.
Or perhaps the tales of madness already encompassed martial skill, making them one and the same.
‘I wish smallpox vaccination had become more famous at this rate…’
That was the truth.
People in this era would do anything for money.
Smallpox vaccination was already a situation rife with counterfeits.
Fake soap, fake jade—such things didn’t kill people immediately when purchased as frauds.
But vaccination was different.
Damage was spreading from poorly executed vaccinations administered by neighborhood quacks who hadn’t even received proper authorization from the Medical Guild.
‘I’d rather become famous for medicine or soap instead!’
Today, my career compass was spinning like a dog chasing its tail.
Since I was already here, I stopped by Baekhaknok first.
A long line stretched before Baekhaknok’s entrance.
It had always been a thriving establishment, but now it was absolutely packed.
‘When did it become like this?’
The gatekeeper recognized me immediately.
“Master of the establishment! Welcome!”
It seemed that was how they addressed the owner of Baekhaknok.
‘Hmm, I wish they’d just call me Sojakju. Ah, never mind.’
The gatekeeper appeared to be a newcomer.
Everyone in line recognized me as well.
“Oh! It’s So Ui-seon!”
“What brings Ilgwang to such a distant place?”
“Is that really Ilgwang? Really?”
“He’s far more handsome in person than in the portrait.”
“It’s beyond comprehension why someone with such looks would do such things.”
I felt my career compass spinning once again.

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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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