Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 759

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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 759
“Ah, that story. Hmm… Well, since the Governor himself acknowledged you as an honored guest, I suppose it’s fine to tell. It’s common knowledge throughout the city anyway, so there’s nothing particularly secretive about sharing it with an outsider.”
I was relieved. He continued.
“We have received an extraordinary blessing.”
“A blessing?”
“The Patriarch of the Maitreya Sect transformed us into Abuddhas!”
“Abuddhas?”
Literally translated, it meant a Buddha-like being—a lesser or derivative Buddha.
In any case, it was clearly something different from an ordinary Buddha.
“What exactly does that mean?”
“Even if we eat very little, we never feel hungry. We’re always full of vitality. It’s wonderful! We only need to eat one-tenth of what we used to, yet we’re always satisfied and brimming with energy.”
He smiled brightly and flexed his arm.
His bicep was quite plump.
“Would it be alright if I took your pulse for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Even after examining his pulse, it didn’t show the characteristics of a starving person.
‘His stomach is empty of food, but his vitality is identical to that of a healthy person.’
I asked.
“You haven’t consumed any strange meat, or used sorcery to transform rotted meat to appear freshly slaughtered, have you?”
“No, not at all. I simply eat a little bread whenever I feel like it, and that’s sufficient.”
It was truly a bizarre story.
“Then I shall take my leave. Please rest comfortably, honored guest.”
The soldier bowed and left to search for the young master again.
Watching him depart, Jasi spoke.
“If that’s true, it really is a tremendous blessing. Being able to survive on eating just one day out of ten—isn’t that the paradise people dream of?”
“But humans aren’t tardigrades. How is this even possible…?”
I couldn’t comprehend it.
“This place is twisted. Especially that child—he possesses resistance to shamanism. This is no ordinary matter. And Abuddhas, no less…?”
Jasi spoke thus, falling into thought.
I gazed at Jasi for a moment, then retrieved a Wannung biscuit from my belongings and handed it to him.
“It seems you never run out of things to eat.”
“Eating is what I do best.”
I didn’t mention that my body was inefficient and required constant consumption to function.
Yeo Ha-ryun spoke.
“Let’s begin our investigation once night falls.”
Jasi agreed with that suggestion.
“That sounds good. Besides, Cheon-hee, that Rakshasa creature you heard about from the Governor is also problematic. Something from ancient Indian legends appearing here of all places.”
I shrugged.
“We’ll find out once we investigate.”
“How is it you’re not surprised at all?”
Demonic ghosts and shamanism.
I had witnessed the depths of human darkness.
I didn’t think anything else could shock me at this point.
‘But I’m worried about Ilkana.’
* * *
As the sun set, I prepared various items and shared them with everyone.
I wanted to light a fire, but since I couldn’t enter the kitchen, I had to warm things with a heat-generating tool.
While I was at it, I placed unnamed medicinal pills, syringes, and transparent glass bottles into the Golden Blood Hall’s vessels, then rolled them up in a leather belt for preparation.
“You certainly prepare thoroughly.”
“The foundation of medicine is first equipment, and second equipment. What can you do without medicine, syringes, or disinfectant?”
Watching me carefully prepare bandages as well, Yeo Ha-ryun was astounded.
“How does all of that even fit?”
I showed him the wrist guard that wrapped around my hand.
“This contains acupuncture needles and needles for breaking things. My Master spent some money to have it made from the same materials as the Sichuan Tang Family’s hidden weapons.”
“That alone would provide tremendous protection.”
“It’s like having the Sichuan Tang Family’s hidden weapons packed densely in rows and columns. The downside is it’s quite heavy. The wrist guard alone weighs about a hundred jin, even if not quite a thousand jin.”
“How can that Master get away with this? The more a Master protects a disciple, the weaker the disciple becomes.”
Jasi coughed disapprovingly at Jegalling’s overprotection.
I answered.
“It’s a master-disciple relationship as a doctor. It’s quite different from the master-disciple relationships of shamans or martial artists in Gangho.”
“Even apprentices don’t get pampered like this.”
“Haha, I’ve heard much from the glass workshop craftsmen. They said their Masters beat them until tears flowed during training.”
“That’s all love.”
“True enough… but my Master rarely uses violence except during sparring matches.”
Though those sparring sessions are brutally exhausting.
‘Come to think of it, my Master is somewhat unusual in Gangho.’
Perhaps that’s why we get along so well.
Yeo Ha-ryun spoke.
“He’s your lifesaver, so he should do at least that much. And unlike other doctors, you don’t just stay in safe places.”
“Right?”
“If that worries him, Hyeolrin should send you to the demonic sect.”
Why does the conclusion always lead there?
I finished that thought and began transferring supplies to Hwang-gu’s neck and back as well.
Clang!
“Having Hwang-gu really does make things convenient.”
Some time passed like that.
Beyond the window, dusk was falling.
After sitting there a while longer, even the guards protecting the poison chamber disappeared somewhere, and only the sound of insects filled the quiet surroundings.
Beyond the window, occasional houses with lit candles were visible, but that was all.
Unlike other cities, there seemed to be almost nowhere doing business late into the night.
“Shall we head out?”
With those words, the three of us stepped outside simultaneously.
“Jasi, if it becomes too difficult to keep up, you can ride on Hwang-gu.”
“No need for that.”
Could spirit magic truly enhance the body to such an extent?
I had a sense of how dangerous the golden technique Jasi was employing truly was, yet I could not readily think of a way to break it.
After all, every form of shamanism came with a price, did it not?
I still vividly remembered how Prince Radan had died.
To dispel that memory, I shook my head vigorously and stepped into the street.
‘Worrying serves no purpose. I must continue thinking of a solution.’
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong and the Yangui Singeong allowed me to contemplate multiple matters simultaneously.
‘Do not give up. Think, and think again, and think once more—the answer will come.’
Was that not precisely why the Gae Pa Josa Jegal Ryang of the Jegallim Family had created this technique?
Yeo Ha-ryun gazed upon me, upon my blue eyes filled with such determination.
‘What conclusion is my brother trying to reach?’
It had always been this way.
So Ui-seon was always an entity that transformed the landscape.
Even in the depths of hell itself, this remained true.
He blooms flowers toward the light.
Even if his roots wither in the process.
* * *
“No matter how much we search, there are no traces of the Ilwol Singyeo’s followers.”
“Not only that. Whether it’s the Maitreya Sect or the Hyeolseonggyo, we see no sign of them whatsoever.”
“That’s right. We haven’t even seen any livestock.”
Though it was night and we heard no roosters crowing, we would ordinarily hear dogs barking.
In this silence where even that was absent.
The three of us walked through perfect darkness. I spoke.
“I think it would be faster if we split up and search separately.”
So the three of us dispersed in different directions.
I headed toward the inn with Hwang-gu, drawn to the only place with lights on nearby and where I could sense human presence.
Upon entering the inn, I found several people drinking.
‘Still no side dishes.’
Everyone was merely tilting their cups.
I worried about their stomachs, though these were people who ate only once every ten days to begin with.
‘Have they truly become something like Buddhas?’
Jasi had said so.
If such a thing were possible, it would be the paradise of dreams itself.
‘Could it truly be so?’
The innkeeper, recognizing me, spoke.
“Ah, so you’re the outsider who came by earlier. I heard you were a guest of the Governor…”
The innkeeper, with a kind expression, greeted me with a hollow laugh.
“Word travels fast, does it?”
“Outsiders barely come through anymore. In the old days, at least cultivators would pass through, but ever since the plague spread, even that stopped completely. Because of it, my business has dried up—I’m practically starving. Though I suppose it doesn’t matter much anyway, since there’s nothing to sell even if outsiders did come.”
A city where everyone had become Arhat.
A place where no one needed to stake their life on food.
The people’s hearts appeared more at peace than anyone’s.
The innkeeper asked.
“So what should I serve you? All I have is alcohol, I’m afraid.”
“It seems you have plenty of alcohol left?”
“You can’t fill your belly with alcohol alone. Besides, this is a mining town. We originally stocked a lot of it. The food ran out in about two months, though.”
The innkeeper joked grumpily that the miners wouldn’t work without alcohol.
“I’ll take a cup of alcohol then. Is there absolutely nothing to eat?”
“There is, but it’s expensive.”
“How much?”
“One gold coin. And that’s just two pieces of dried meat and some dried vegetables.”
An absurd price.
‘Not silver—gold?’
The gold coins here held similar value to those in the Central Plains.
In a world based on the gold standard, gold maintained consistent value everywhere.
‘What kind of outrageous markup is this…?’
Still, this was for investigation purposes. I needed to verify if the meat was genuine.
“A cup of alcohol, and the dried meat as well.”
I flicked a gold coin across the table with my finger.
“This isn’t local currency. Is it gold?”
He bit into it once, then nodded.
“It’s genuine gold.”
“Yes.”
“Ah, so you’re an envoy of the Hwa Empire. Quite generous. Are you safe traveling around? Even with that dog of yours, be careful not to run into bandits. Though I suppose there aren’t any shameless thieves in this city trying to rob people.”
This time, I pulled out an iron note and flexed it between my fingers.
Watching the iron note crumple like paper, the innkeeper asked.
“Hmm… is that sorcery?”
“It’s something like chakra control.”
“A warrior, then. You looked so delicate I didn’t realize. Wait a moment.”
As I sat down, Hwang-gu quietly settled beneath my feet.
The innkeeper set down a cup of alcohol, two pieces of dried meat, and some dried carrots.
Whine!
Hwang-gu immediately begged for some.
“How much do you eat? You’re always hungry.”
I sniffed it. Ordinary dried meat.
I shared it with Hwang-gu, and sure enough, it was just regular dried meat.
Beef jerky made from cattle.
‘At least it doesn’t seem to be human flesh…’
Every time I ate, I had to worry about human flesh instead of poison, which made me feel a bit melancholy, but this jerky was indeed normal.
I fell into thought.
‘No, there are no clues here either. So where am I supposed to find the Ilwol Singyeo people? I still need to find the Hyeolseonggyo too.’
Just then, the tavern owner plunked himself down in the chair across from me.
“So, outsider and guest of the Governor. How are things in the outside world these days?”
He seemed eager to hear news from beyond.
‘This works out well. Let me get friendly with this owner and extract some information.’
Thinking thus, I shared some appropriate stories about the outside world.
The capital had been restored to normalcy, and with the plague ended, they were purchasing grain and livestock from the surrounding areas while the royal palace worked to restore the nation to order.
Things like that.
I deliberately omitted stories about the prince and underground ruins.
“My, what a blessing to hear how the world turns. Thank you kindly.”
The innkeeper expressed his gratitude to me repeatedly.
Where there is giving, there is receiving. This time, I turned the tables and asked the innkeeper a question.
“Do you know anything about Guron?”
What I’d heard from the guards wasn’t enough.
I needed more information.
“Ah yes. The Patriarch of the Maitreya Sect bestowed a miraculous elixir that allows one to become a Buddha without ascetic practice. Since it falls short of being a true Buddha, they call it a pseudo-Buddha.”
“A pseudo-Buddha… And you say it’s an elixir?”
By taking medicine, this pseudo-Buddha state becomes possible?
“Indeed it does.”
“Hmm.”
“The Buddha taught that affliction is what blocks enlightenment and causes one to wander through the cycle of rebirth, did he not?”
“That is so.”
“Therefore, the Patriarch of the Maitreya Sect freed people from hunger, one of the afflictions.”
To eliminate affliction, they removed hunger itself. It was a novel idea.
‘Yes. The doctrine seems to fit together reasonably well… in a way. Just hearing about it makes it sound like they’re bringing heaven to the world.’
But if that were all there was to it, what exactly was the problem?
Why here?
He continued.
“Those who take the elixir need only eat one-tenth of what they normally consumed and feel neither hunger nor any lack of health.”
Eating once every ten days is sufficient.
“Did everyone in the city become like this?”
“Indeed. If they hadn’t, people would already be dying of starvation en masse by now.”
Those eyes—I know them well.
The eyes of one gazing upon a savior.

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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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