Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 748

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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 748
Time had passed. Yeo Ha-ryun looked down and spoke.
“This place seems safe.”
At his words, everyone climbed up.
My eyes stung from the light.
As my vision adjusted and I looked around, three stone houses came into view. No people, and the houses had been abandoned long ago.
In the distance, I could see King Namchu of Hwa.
“This must be a passage even they don’t know about.”
“Right. Since the foundation is an underground ruin, the passages are incredibly convoluted. There seemed to be many hidden facilities too.”
“What will you do from here on?”
I scratched my head vigorously.
“About that Golden Masked Person—they never removed their mask until the end. Which means they have no intention of revealing their identity to me. They don’t want to damage diplomatic relations.”
“Is that their nature? Handling underground matters underground?”
“More like calculation than nature. Either way, the Hwa Empire is ruthless. I’m hardly one to talk, being caught up in it myself.”
I laughed bitterly.
Their only envoy was dispatched and died. Even if they disguise it as an accident, it’s uncertain how much the Emperor will accept.
Rather, if they use that as an excuse to seize territory, it becomes troublesome for them if the Suksin Tribe brings out siege cannons like those used before.
So they’d want to pretend nothing happened and send me back as quickly as possible.
‘Our ruthless King is quite reliable.’
I continued speaking.
“For now… I’ll rendezvous with the military unit and finalize the trade agreement. Then I’ll send all the doctors back and pretend to return myself, but slip away alone later. Then I’ll meet up with you.”
“You’re trying to keep the military unit uninvolved?”
“Even if the Hwa Empire is ruthless, they can’t actually start a war, can they? This nation is already at its limits.”
“And you hate war the most.”
“Right. We’ll handle things through underground maneuvering. They have no choice but to leave me alone ‘officially.'”
“But they’ll attack from the shadows.”
Clang!
Hwang-gu raised his head stiffly as if to say, let them come.
Sometimes even he gets embarrassed by the concealment of supreme masters, but Hwang-gu is still Hwang-gu.
He’s still a great help.
I crossed my arms and fell into thought.
“But it’s complicated… so complicated. The Hyeolbulsa, the royal family orchestrating human sacrifices to command shamans. And the Hyeolseonggyo on top of that.”
“At least the North Sea Ice Palace Master knew she was wrong.”
“Right. But these people don’t suspect for a moment that they’re wrong. In a situation like this, is there a path where everyone can be happy?”
I laughed bitterly.
Even in children’s fairy tales, there’s no happy ending where the princess and the witch live together.
“Well then, let’s part ways for now. I’m hungry.”
“Understood. Make sure to replenish your strength, hyeong.”
I nodded.
“You eat well too. Then, Ilkana Cheonsa and everyone else, please take good care of my younger sister.”
As he said this, he offered a deep bow.
“Hyeong, surely you don’t need to do that for a mere subordinate like me…”
Yeo Ha-ryun felt a bit embarrassed.
* * *
Upon my return, I handled numerous matters.
With the work concluded, I safely sent the Doctors back. Traveling with the garrison soldiers, we arrived at the Geum Empire without incident in no time.
I also informed the Geum Empire’s cavalry that everything was resolved.
The final meeting was with the King.
“The plague has nearly lifted now. I’m truly grateful. I shall reward you handsomely.”
He chuckled warmly and expressed his gratitude to me.
‘Does the King not know what happened in the underground ruins? Or does he know and is simply acting this way?’
Based on his facial expressions, he didn’t appear to be lying. Of course, there were masters skilled enough to deceive even that.
“You are too kind.”
It was quite possible he simply hadn’t witnessed the incident for whatever reason.
‘If I had conversed with the Golden Masked Person longer, I could have obtained more information. What a shame.’
However, my counterpart was someone with their own schemes.
Hadn’t they minimized their words to avoid giving me any information whatsoever?
The King spoke.
“But I’m afraid I must ask a favor of you, one renowned for integrity and a sage who has lifted the plague.”
My eyes widened slightly.
‘Hmm?’
“What might that be?”
“A strange plague has broken out in the capital. Since we cannot determine its cause…… I wish to ask you to uncover it and provide treatment.”
A strange plague? A strange plague indeed.
My eyes narrowed.
“I gladly accept.”
“Ah, thank you. The Prince shall accompany you.”
“In exchange, I would like you to increase my mining shares.”
A scheme is a scheme, but one must extract what can be extracted.
‘Master, your disciple is earning money. Just wait a bit longer.’
* * *
Haven’t I already extracted everything there was to extract?
Even the old King’s roundabout criticism about how much more I intended to extract didn’t faze me.
No matter what, one must eat, after all.
Especially to extract the medicinal herbs, spices, and specialty products of the Damjin Kingdom, I must spare no effort.
And there is one more thing.
‘Glass. The glass-working technique is remarkable.’
Using shamanic arts to craft glass—that technique was difficult even for the Central Plains to replicate.
After all, the spirits in this world were like district chiefs, so it wasn’t a matter of simply kidnapping shamans to bring them in.
‘If I involve merchant guilds, they’ll take too much in the middle. I want to independently develop distribution networks with the glass shamans here.’
This wasn’t merely about obtaining a beautiful glass vessel.
‘Better lenses.’
The possibilities of what glass could accomplish were endless.
Thus, I arrived at the location of the plague alongside the Prince and his escort.
“The nearby residents are developing the same symptoms—it’s absolutely devastating.”
“Hmm?”
At that moment, Hwang-gu barked frantically near the oasis.
Without even touching his tongue to it, the water appeared to be contaminated.
‘A waterborne disease?’
Common in this world. And deadly as well.
I examined the patients first, taking their pulses and observing their conditions while inquiring about their bowel movements.
Diarrhea with bloody stools and mucus, accompanied by fever and abdominal pain.
Fortunately, there was a clear common symptom among the patients.
I conducted prolonged vital energy pulse readings, observing meticulously.
‘It appears to be bacterial dysentery…’
I knew this well. It was a common epidemic in Gangho.
In Korean terms, it would be classified as a Class 1 notifiable infectious disease, transmitted through feces from patients or carriers.
Some might think, ‘Do you get it from eating feces?’ but typically infection occurs through contaminated water or contaminated hands.
Even minute quantities can cause infection, and due to bloody stools, dysentery is also called red dysentery.
‘Even Buddha passed away from dysentery.’
The transmission power of dysentery is terrifying.
People say you can catch it just from a morning greeting.
Antibiotics that inhibit protein synthesis itself work better than penicillin, which blocks bacterial cell wall synthesis.
‘Streptomycin exists.’
The Golden Tiger Divine Elixir.
But naturally, since this wasn’t Gangho, supplies were scarce.
And if I forcibly administered small quantities in this situation, I’d only be breeding resistance.
‘Symptomatic treatment will be the primary approach.’
While I was contemplating this, the Prince approached my side.
“What is your assessment? The order and peace that were maintained through the sacrifice of a few—this calamity occurred because you burned the roots of the Sacred Tree, preventing the purification of the water.”
In that instant, a chill swept around me.
Shhhhh—
Frost formed around me in an instant. A realm transcending even the level of intent-based qi.
I was radiating cold through sheer rage alone.
“Saint Jin Cheon-hee. Can you save us and them?”
“…It seems masks suit you better when removed than worn.”
The Golden Masked Person.
“As expected, you’re not surprised. I didn’t expect dramatics, but I had hoped you’d be somewhat shocked.”
“There were only three suspects.”
Prince Radan.
He was the one who personally received Jin Cheon-hee when I first arrived as an envoy.
“I was curious how the purification system operated as we descended into the underground city, but surprisingly, the answer was quite simple.”
“The shamanism involved in it is complex. Though human sacrifice may seem straightforward, it’s actually quite intricate.”
So far, I had encountered four heretical sects.
Hyeolseonggyo, the Demonic Sect, the Blood Buddha Cult….
“It seems to deviate quite far from the teachings of traditional Lamaism. What do you call it?”
“We call it the Mireuk Sect.”
And finally, the Mireuk Sect.
‘No wonder those demonic ghosts came rushing over like surround speakers were blaring that Mireuk had arrived.’
That was right. These four were friends I had met as soon as I arrived in this land.
In a place where human sacrifice operated like some traditional culture, the Demonic Sect had become the weakest among the Four Heavenly Kings.
‘It would be better if the Demonic Sect ruled instead. Dark world, dark and dark.’
Perhaps that’s why the Demonic Sect carried itself with such stiff pride.
By Central Plains standards, they were heretical sects that should have been eradicated, yet in this region they were a relatively conscientious and powerful religious organization.
It felt somewhat like being a milk deliveryman version of Al Capone, but anyway.
“Large-scale human sacrifice. And you even trapped their souls and drained them to purify the water. It wasn’t merely a purification facility.”
Using trees grown from human sacrifice as a water purifier? What kind of cost-ineffective horror novel was this?
“Yes, that’s correct. However, the fact that purification did occur is the truth.”
Jin Cheon-hee thought to myself.
‘I sent the chicks away well. I don’t have the courage to tell them how the water they’ve been drinking all this time was purified.’
It was better to bear such shock alone.
The Demonic Sect members would probably listen with blank expressions, but my chicks were raised delicately—they would vomit the moment they heard such a story.
“I’ll be borrowing some of the kingdom’s medical staff.”
“Ho, I thought you were going to execute me on the spot?”
“If you do that in broad daylight, you’re asking for war. Be careful on the night roads. Oh, and if you die, who will perform the human sacrifices next?”
At those words, the Prince burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, kekekekek. Ah, I see. I know that killing me alone won’t end this. So….”
….
Jin Cheon-hee simply looked at him without answering.
The Prince spoke.
“You don’t trust humanity. Rather, you gaze directly at darkness itself. Yet why did you become the Divine Physician?”
The Prince’s cold blue eyes stared intently.
Now there were no masks between us.
Why was it? I could not fathom the depths of the man called a saint before my eyes.
He sought to save humanity yet did not trust them.
He loved humanity while simultaneously believing in the banality of evil.
“…It’s bothersome.”
Surprisingly, these were the words that came from the Divine Physician’s mouth.
Soon after, I spoke thus.
“Since the King entrusted it to me, I’ll be drawing quite a substantial budget. And manpower too. It’s not my country anyway. I just need to fix it.”
“Ho, you say you can fix it without human sacrifice?”
“Will you give money? Or just talk?”
I don’t give a definitive answer. Yet, why is it?
There was no wavering in my blue eyes.
The Prince laughed with a metallic edge.
“Even if you give money and manpower, nothing will change. This land is neither as abundant as the Central Plains nor a place where wood is plentiful. However….”
He fixed his gaze upon me.
“…Very well. I grant you full authority. If you fail even then, you will come to know that my way is correct.”
That too is not without merit. Despair walks hand in hand with faith.
When he falls into despair, Mireuk will bloom in his heart as well.
The Prince spoke to me.
“Shall we make a wager?”

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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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