Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 724

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

Chapter 724
I arrived in Raua.
Upon reaching a small inn, I unpacked my belongings.
The first thing I needed to understand was the connection between Hyeolseonggyo and the cattle plague.
‘These guys’ ultimate purpose is to offer people as sacrifices.’
Simply causing disease in cattle was merely a means to that end.
‘According to the letter, it seems they’re gathering healthy cattle from all directions as I requested.’
To create a vaccine for the cattle plague, I needed the proper materials, and implementing it required time.
What I intended to do was develop an immunological serum method.
The modern approach would be difficult.
However, based on the early immunological serum method discovered in the late 1800s and published in 1918, creating it with current technology was barely possible.
‘If I don’t uncover the truth about Hyeolseonggyo during the preparation time here, everything will come to nothing.’
That was how epidemics worked.
Creating a vaccine didn’t mean the game was over.
People and people, society and society—they drew all the patterns.
The vaccine simply meant I had finally reached the starting point of this battle.
‘Even that starting point requires preparation.’
I gave dried meat to Noeji, who had flown such a long distance.
Chirp!
In that instant, lightning spheres curved and rose from Noeji’s jet-black feathers.
Crackle!
“Careful!”
I quickly used Metal-Generating Qi to redirect the lightning and Wood-Earth to disperse it.
Chirp?
Noeji couldn’t understand.
Until now, Noeji could only strike lightning from the sky, but now she could emit various forms of lightning energy from her current location.
Yet despite this, I scattered it so easily with my eyes closed.
“You need to learn how to control your power. Someone could get hurt carelessly.”
I gazed at Noeji with closed eyes.
The appearance of a blind musician.
Even with my appearance altered and half my face wrapped in bandages, an eerie pressure emanated from me.
Chirp, chirp!
Noeji fluttered her wings urgently.
“Right. You’re not going to attack people recklessly, are you? At this level, even a graze would kill someone.”
She fluttered and shook her wings vigorously, conveying that she could control herself and that the dried meat had simply been too delicious.
“Good. That’s a relief.”
How did I understand her with my eyes closed?
It was unknowable.
However, Noeji knew that I was not merely a kind person.
When it came to matters like attacking people, I was stricter than anyone, and sometimes even unsettling.
“Noeji, you possess strength greater than that of a Warrior, but you must be equally cautious. I don’t expect you to achieve spiritual cultivation, but you mustn’t kill someone in jest.”
Chirp, chirp chirp chirp!
“Good. I’m relieved.”
Having calmed Noeji, I stepped outside.
For some reason, the innkeeper was waiting for me.
“I heard you were blind—might you also be capable of exorcism?”
The folk belief stemmed from the idea that since the blind read fortunes well, they must also be adept at driving away spirits.
I’d heard that those who studied shamanism often possessed such abilities.
I didn’t answer yes or no, but instead asked, “What is the matter?”
What is the matter?
“If you’re a wandering musician, surely you’ve heard the rumors? About the malevolent spirits appearing? They’ve reached our village.”
Malevolent spirits!
I had already learned that the locals attributed the plague to the work of malevolent spirits.
“We do have a Shaman in our village, but… wouldn’t two be better than one? What do you say—would you help?”
“I’ll take a look.”
I agreed without hesitation.
Besides, I wanted to directly observe the plague myself.
* * *
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
I advanced forward, carefully feeling my way along the cane my Master had crafted for me.
Moooo—
We arrived at a traditional cattle shed of the region.
‘As expected.’
Several cows were present, but three of them were already dead, their bodies cold and lifeless.
The living cows were also in an abnormal state.
I purified my body with the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, then approached the cows directly.
‘The plague is difficult to detect from clinical symptoms alone. In modern times, you’d need to go to a laboratory to identify it.’
Still, there were a few symptoms visible to the naked eye.
“Recently they haven’t eaten and keep panting heavily. They seem depressed. And those three over there died quite suddenly.”
The Cattle Shed Owner followed beside me, trembling as he spoke.
Even if people remained unharmed, witnessing cows die so grotesquely was enough to strike terror into one’s heart.
Especially in an era without scientific knowledge of infectious disease.
That’s probably why the corpses hadn’t been removed.
‘Fear. Dread. Ominous foreboding about malevolent spirits.’
Hadn’t I witnessed this multiple times already in Oh Dok-mun?
“I see. To determine whether a malevolent spirit truly exists, I must be alone for a moment.”
“Ah, yes yes! Of course. I’ll tell everyone else not to come near!”
The innkeeper left.
I approached the living cows and carefully lifted the bandage wrapped around my eyes.
Blue eyes swept rapidly across the cow.
“Hello there?”
Moo moo—
“If it’s acute hemorrhagic fever, there’s no way to treat it. I can barely diagnose acute cases, I think….”
If the cow had acute hemorrhagic fever, it would inevitably suffer from high fever within two to three days of onset and die suddenly.
It wasn’t without reason that people mistakenly believed evil spirits had possessed them.
After confirming there were no eyes watching nearby, I immediately put on gloves and a mask. Then I observed the cow’s eye discharge, nasal secretions, and drooling.
I then opened its mouth to examine the necrosis on the cheeks and under the tongue.
The necrotic area had already grown too large to be reversed.
‘Severe stench and diarrhea too. Just like the literature describes. But judging by these symptoms alone, it’s similar to foot-and-mouth disease.’
Finally, after examining the vital energy through pulse diagnosis for quite some time, I inspected each of the dead cattle as well.
‘Foot-and-mouth disease has a lower mortality rate compared to hemorrhagic fever. In the end, I can only judge based on the literature and vital energy pulse diagnosis.’
Foot-and-mouth disease and hemorrhagic fever look similar on the surface. That’s why this would normally require going to a laboratory.
Dragging in knowledge from Earth when it wasn’t even my specialty was agonizing.
If I didn’t have the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything and everything would be over by now.
‘In the Jicheon Cheonma, there was chaos from drought, plague, and livestock dying. So this hemorrhagic fever that was here must have spread to the Central Plains.’
Then a voice came from behind.
“The innkeeper has done something unnecessary.”
It was a cold, low voice that settled heavily. Yet it was also a rather pleasant baritone.
I lowered my bandage to cover my eyes and turned around.
Even so, it wasn’t difficult to see the other person through the gaps in the bandage.
“Who might you be?”
The man was taller than me and wore sparse clothing.
On his head sat a large goat skull like a hat or helmet, and his muscular body, with skin so pale it seemed albino, was covered in various patterns tattooed across it.
He wore pants that were nearly shorts, and draped around his neck like a cape was the fresh fur of a wolf. On his arms and neck hung bracelets and necklaces made from animal bone fragments—a man with a distinctly bizarre appearance.
At first glance, he appeared to be someone involved in shamanism.
“I am the shaman who claims five villages in this area as my territory. And who are you? Coming into another shaman’s domain and carelessly wielding power without permission. How rude.”
‘Is there such an etiquette?’ I thought. I had learned shamanism, but I had never actually worked as a shaman, so how would I know?
Besides, what did it mean to claim an area as one’s territory?
Was there some kind of agreement?
In any case, I had stepped onto someone else’s business grounds.
It was natural for him to be displeased.
To the man’s expressionless display of displeasure, I answered quietly.
“I am merely a wandering musician passing through. The innkeeper asked me to perform an exorcism, so I came. I simply didn’t know there was a shaman in the area.”
“So you didn’t know my territory because you’re a drifter. Then leave. I will revive these creatures through ritual.”
“Ah, so you have a treatment method?”
Perhaps this martial world had its own unique treatment method?
If that were possible, I might not need to struggle with papers from the early 1900s.
My eyes gleamed.
“Of course. Step aside.”
“I shall step aside. However, might I be permitted to observe?”
“I’ll permit that much.”
It seemed that among shamans, one could reveal their own rituals.
In any case, as Jin Cheon-hee, I was willing, so I stepped back to observe how it was done.
The shaman strode purposefully toward the dead cow.
From within his cloak, he withdrew a primitive stone blade that appeared to be made of obsidian.
With it, he cut the hide of the dead cow and drew blood.
He smeared it on his hand and scattered it across the cattle shed floor.
Strange patterned combinations enveloped the dead cow, and a Won Jin circle was drawn as he raised a dagger and slashed his own palm.
‘Ah, that. While it may not be cattle plague, contaminating bacteria could still infect it….’
My will as a doctor to stop him internally surged, but I held back. In the meantime, the shamanic ritual began.
“Tree, oh tree. Tree, oh tree. Tree, oh tree. Here is food for you to consume. Tree, oh tree. Tree, oh tree. Tree, oh tree. I offer you three cows to devour. Eat. Eat. Eat. Suck and drink the life force, chew and swallow the vitality. Bear fruit. Bear fruit. Bear fruit. Tree, oh tree, bear your fruit and give it unto me.”
I witnessed it.
From within the Won Jin circle the shaman had drawn, something resembling tree roots that ordinary people could not see burst forth.
Something appeared that could only be seen by those who had reached the realm of a warrior or possessed what was called the Spirit Eye.
It extended toward the corpse of the cow that had fallen to cattle plague, driving its roots deep into that body.
And it moved with a squelching motion as if drawing something in.
The remarkable part came after.
The cow’s corpse began to desiccate like a mummy.
‘The cow is certainly dead, but the life force hasn’t completely vanished. Decay is a form of life activity after all. So through shamanic ritual, it’s drawing in that life force. How fascinating….’
Soon, the cow’s corpse had completely withered, becoming nothing but bone and hide clinging together.
And in the shaman’s hand, several dark red fruits had somehow appeared.
“Young one. Did you observe well?”
The shaman laughed with pride.
Shamanic Fruits!
As I learned about shamanism, I knew such things existed.
I simply didn’t know the method of creation or the shamanic incantations.
The shaman then took them and fed one each to the living cows.
Thereupon, the cows’ bodies, which had been feeble, swelled up and suddenly regained their vitality.
‘So they squeeze out the life force of the dead cow, shape it into fruit form, and feed it to the living cows to transfer that life force! How fascinating? Life force is ultimately innate true qi. They’re using it to restore the body to a healthy state.’
On Earth, such a method would be unimaginable.
Certainly, these people also possessed their own methods of preventing epidemics.
‘But… the disease isn’t actually cured; they’ve merely restored the weakened body to its normal state. Will this increase immunity? Can they withstand cattle plague? I hope they can endure it… then these cows would be perfectly suited for creating an immune serum method…”
If the cows could survive with this help?
Thoughts raced through my mind at tremendous speed.

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