Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 729

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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 729
At least there was one saving grace.
The shamanic technique I wanted to learn—the one for cultivating shamanic knowledge—wasn’t spirit summoning, so I was able to study it.
And I was able to learn about several curses as well… which proved quite useful in various ways.
In exchange, I taught Jasi the shamanic knowledge I possessed, and he said some of it appeared to be techniques he could use himself.
Once our exchange of knowledge concluded,
Jasi departed before I even left.
After dismantling his shelter and gathering his belongings, he brought a camel from somewhere and loaded his supplies onto it.
“Then, Jin Cheon-hee, let us meet again if fate allows.”
“If karma brings us together, we shall meet again. Oh, and this!”
I took out a Baekrin Uiseon token and handed it to him.
“Should you ever come to the Central Plains, I would be honored to assist you.”
“That won’t happen. Why would I leave my territory knowing my strength would diminish?”
How disappointing.
‘It’s truly difficult to recruit a genuine shaman without proper cause.’
The camel departed into the forest.
I watched its figure fade away.
Then I returned to the village, sold all the horses there, and departed on Hwang-gu.
I coveted the cattle that had endured the harsh journey, but traveling with them would have been far too arduous.
‘For some reason, I have a feeling I’ll see him again.’
I glanced back several more times in the direction Jasi had gone.
It was truly a peculiar premonition.
* * *
‘First, I need to determine how the Hyeolseonggyo will interfere and assess the scale of damage.’
Chirp—
Noeji landed on my arm.
It was a letter from my destination: news that contact had been established with one senior doctor and two middle-aged doctors who were studying abroad in the Saebae region.
They were former senior doctors from the Research Institute who had come down to Bunta during the Oh Dok-mun incident and simply remained there.
Since then, for various research purposes, they had been traveling through Saebae like proper wandering scholars, and such arrangements were not uncommon at Baekrin Uiseon.
‘Even in modern times, many professors are rarely in their offices depending on their specialization.’
As long as we maintained periodic contact, Baekrin Uiseon covered the research expenses.
I organized my instructions and immediately sent a letter through Noeji.
In this era without communication devices, Noeji was invaluable.
Chirp!
Especially after the transformation, his speed surpassed even that of a diving hawk.
Noeji immediately soared upward at tremendous speed.
Pleased with himself, he created sparks with his wing tips.
Crackle!
Lightning streaked across the clear sky in a horizontal line.
I waved at Noeji as he vanished in an instant, then immediately moved toward the next city.
‘There are about three cities before reaching the capital?’
I’d say that works out well. If the Hyeolseon Sect members attacked first like they used to, that would be exactly what I wanted.
‘But this Sip Cheon-gun is being quite cautious.’
Ding-ling—
I ride across the desert on Hwang-gu’s back.
The desert wolf is massive and knows the terrain well.
If I could only tame one, a desert wolf would be better than a camel.
Though I’ve inadvertently earned people’s envy for riding what appears to be a desert wolf… it’s still just Hwang-gu, after all.
From Hwang-gu’s perspective, it doesn’t matter either way. A stroll is happiness.
Atop Hwang-gu, I pondered.
‘The Damjin Kingdom is half desert, with the remaining half split between wasteland and grassland. Agricultural areas spread along the river.’
Near the river and grassland regions, nomads raise sheep and cattle, supplementing food supplies through farming with these livestock.
Trade flourishes, and they even import grain from foreign lands.
‘The capital of the Damjin Kingdom sits on a massive rocky mountain at the boundary between wasteland and desert.’
I understand it was built beside a fairly large lake.
When the river floods, a water passage sometimes forms between the river and lake, or so I’ve heard.
I charted my route based on knowledge I’d gathered here.
‘One location where the kingdom’s largest ranch supposedly operates, one oasis trading city, and one place with the kingdom’s largest agricultural lands.’
“If I see how these three places function, I can discern the Hyeolseon Sect’s direction.”
At that, Hwang-gu barked, “Woof?”
“If I were the Hyeolseon Sect, I’d definitely meddle in at least one of these three places.”
Then I head toward the capital.
‘What exactly is happening in this kingdom… I need to see for myself.’
Especially human sacrifice.
The people here showed no hesitation toward human sacrifice.
Of course, they wouldn’t do it to their own villagers, but they believed that those who threatened their lives or criminals could be offered as sacrifice.
‘It seems similar to the Hyeolseon Sect’s human sacrifice practices.’
Though it’s still just intuition for now.
‘What exactly is Baekcheon-gun scheming?’
I began galloping across the wasteland atop Hwang-gu.
* * *
While I raced across the wilderness.
At the same time, Jasi arrived at a village.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he was looking at ‘what used to be a village’.
A small village not even marked on maps burned in flames. At the well where people once gathered cheerfully to wash, only corpses filled the space.
The naked bodies all lay with their throats cut.
Their bodies were withered like dried wood, and Jasi knew what that meant.
“Usha.”
A young man’s corpse entered Jasi’s vision.
The child bearing the same tattoo as Jasi held a flower in his hand.
His expression was unknowable. He had no neck.
Jasi grasped the young man’s hand, tears streaming down his face.
The child had once been plump and round.
Now he lay completely desiccated, not a drop of blood remaining in his body.
In that moment, a voice resonated.
-Jasi.
Jasi spun around in shock. There sat something with pitch-black eye sockets.
Something bizarre that ordinary people could not perceive. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was felt rather than seen.
-Jasi. I could not stop it.
-Usha waited for Jasi.
“Spirit, did Usha depart in peace?”
At those words, a monkey sketched in crude, childish scribbles writhed and contorted.
-It is unknowable. It was an abyss.
-Something white swallowed Usha’s throat.
-We too are decaying. But this corruption is not mine.
-Jasi. The earth itself has begun to rot. The children of the land are finished.
-Usha’s death came in an instant.
“Who dares! Who performed such a blasphemous calamity ritual here! Who conducted this curse ceremony!”
In that moment, tears of blood poured from Jasi’s eyes.
Jasi touched the corners of his eyes with pale hands. He offered his own blood as sacrifice, hearing the death cries of the spirits all the more clearly.
-Blood… They are born from blood.
-Follow the bloodstains.
-Fate awaits in the center of the crossroads.
The spirits uttered vague prophecies.
Fading away, the corrupted spirits had curses seeping into their very marrow, their minds no longer sound. At last, Jasi heard the words he sought.
-Blood… Immortality.
A guttural growl.
“…How dare you commit such atrocities upon my land!”
Jasi ground his teeth, then reached out and took the bone necklace that hung upon the young man’s corpse, placing it around his own neck instead.
The necklace bore his own name.
‘For Usha, from Jasi.’
A necklace he had given the boy long ago.
Knowing he would never have a family of his own, he had raised this child as a son. And now the boy lay dead.
“So be it. Yes. I shall have my vengeance. By my will and my resentment. For my pitiful spirits and my people. I curse them. I will tear them asunder. I will make them suffer for all eternity.”
Soon a terrible curse began to coil around Jasi’s body.
Blood Immortality.
That day, Jasi abandoned himself.
“Spirits, grant me all the curses that exist upon this land!”
The accumulation of curses.
A forbidden secret art that destroys oneself to annihilate the enemy as well.
By choosing this path, I instinctively sensed that my fate would not be a favorable one.
* * *
“Oh, a ranch!”
A sprawling ranch had taken root alongside a city and river.
Vast pastures stretched endlessly into the distance, perfect for horses and cattle to thrive, yet the unmistakable stench of cow dung hung heavy in the air, as befitted such a place.
‘A ranch, really—just herds left to graze in the fields until it’s time to bring them back.’
Herders and ranch owners, shamans tending the cattle, healers, and the blacksmiths necessary for their survival.
An inn for travelers and merchants who came to purchase cattle—it was a place where quite a number of people came and went.
As I dismounted from Hwang-gu and entered the village, I felt the weight of people’s gazes upon me.
“Is that a blind musician?”
“Could be a blind fortune teller instead.”
“Quite bold to arrive in such ominous times.”
The murmurs of the crowd seeped into my ears.
Yet this was familiar to me.
Wasn’t wariness toward strangers the same everywhere?
Even in cultures known for generous hospitality toward guests, “guests” meant a friend’s friend, a devout believer of the same sect, or at worst, a distant relative by marriage—someone with a connection. A complete stranger held no such status.
Of course, not everyone was wary.
“If you’re a blind musician, you must play the pipa beautifully.”
“Things have been so difficult lately—it would be wonderful if you could read our fortunes.”
I sensed subtle hopes as well.
A blind person wandering the desert was to them a figure imbued with folk spirituality and mystique.
I made my way toward the inn.
Tap, tap-tap—
Thanks to my qi perception, I could sense everything around me, yet I deliberately tapped my staff as I entered the inn.
A counter sat at the entrance, where a middle-aged man who appeared to be the innkeeper was seated.
Through my qi perception, I observed a clerk diligently sweeping and wiping tables. There were only a few guests, though women were among them.
Peaceful, one might say.
From the innkeeper’s demeanor—showing no signs of urgency or anxiety—this appeared to be the inn’s natural state.
That was when it happened.
“Are you a wandering musician? Or a wandering fortune teller?”
The innkeeper asked, having observed me feeling my way with my staff.
I answered with composure.
“Both, actually. Should you desire any particular music, I would be delighted to perform it anytime.”
With that, I took a seat.
The interior structure of inns in this region differed slightly from those in the Hwa Empire. The very name was different—they called them inns!
As I settled in, the innkeeper himself came over, not a clerk.
“Both, you say? Perfect. I have a job for you—would you be interested in trying it?”
“I would need to hear the details before making a decision, but…”
“I’d like to request a performance. Our village is holding a small festival in a few days, and I was wondering if you could perform there? The compensation would be quite generous.”
‘A festival? Can they really hold a festival at a time like this?’
What I observed upon arriving at this pastoral city were cattle scattered sparsely across the landscape.
I had heard that the grasslands of this region were teeming with livestock, yet now they appeared far fewer in number.
A plague was already spreading among the herds, and yet they speak of a festival?
“….”
When Jin Cheon-hee offered no response, the innkeeper grew anxious and added hastily.
“I’ll provide meals free of charge during your stay.”
“I would be delighted to perform for you.”
Jin Cheon-hee answered without hesitation.
“In any case, why do all you wanderers seem so obsessed with money?”
The innkeeper grumbled.
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee smiled gently.
Though his face remained obscured, when the smile touched his sharp jawline, all the women who had been watching him with interest suddenly flushed crimson.
“A man of peculiar charm, it seems.”

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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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