Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 766

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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 766
Meow!
The Heukseolmyo perched on Yeo Ha-ryun’s shoulder let out a pleased sound.
“My subordinates must be lying in ambush somewhere. Heukseolmyo, tell them to come here.”
It was fortunate.
Jin Cheon-hee added a word as well.
“If you spot Noeji returning after delivering the message, come here and just delay the Rakshasa army’s advance. All you need to do is drop lightning from the sky.”
Noeji would normally take longer to return, but after his rebirth, his flight speed had increased, so I made the request just in case.
Meow—
The Heukmyo responded as if speaking like a person, then leaped from Yeo Ha-ryun’s shoulder and dashed into the darkness.
Woof?
Hwang-gu looked up as if asking what I would have him do.
And his face was full of discontent—wondering if I would separate him again this time.
Jin Cheon-hee sighed.
“You come with us.”
Bark bark!
“But if things get dangerous, you head back immediately.”
Pant pant pant pant!
Hwang-gu bolted away, worried I might cancel the order.
Watching this, Yeo Ha-ryun spoke.
“Brother, Hwang-gu is stronger than Gangho masters. Such treatment is not fitting.”
“But Hwang-gu is cute!”
Bark!
If something is cute, that settles it.
Jin Cheon-hee thought so and followed Hwang-gu.
Running like that, they rushed toward the mine.
Finally, the three people and one dog arrived at the mine.
* * *
Upon entering the mine, Hwang-gu transformed himself to the size of a large dog.
“Somehow it looks more like a salt pond with stepped terraces than a mine.”
Jin Cheon-hee answered Yeo Ha-ryun’s remark.
“I’m not entirely sure what principle is at work, but the natron mines in this area originally looked like this.”
Jin Cheon-hee said so and looked around, then used internal energy.
Boom—
As Jin Cheon-hee stomped his foot, vibrations rippled outward in all directions.
His refined profile closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, he walked somewhere with purpose and opened the floor door.
Creak—
What lay there was a long tunnel.
A hidden place.
“Let’s go.”
I descended first, gesturing as if to guide them down the passage.
Yeo Ha-ryun watched me in silence before following in my footsteps.
Inside the mine, no people were visible.
Strange tools merely hinted that someone had been here recently, but the Rakshasa was nowhere to be found.
“No traps either. This is strange.”
After descending further with such thoughts, we heard it.
A singing voice echoed from deeper within.
“At least they didn’t flee.”
Yeo Ha-ryun spoke.
The group began descending deeper still.
The secret passage had transformed into what resembled a natural cavern.
Like the hidden passage from before, stalactites hung in succession, and the path grew increasingly treacherous.
The deeper we ventured, the more perilous the terrain became.
Hwang-gu crouched lower and followed me forward.
And then, at the end.
A colossal space appeared, vast enough for a dragon to descend upon.
In the white expanse lay a skull the size of a house, its luster unsettling.
‘It’s certainly not human… Is this a snake? But it has horns.’
The massive skull was half-buried in gray sand.
Atop that enormous skull, a figure—neither clearly male nor female—sang and danced.
Remarkably, the dance possessed a grace and splendor surpassing even a first-rate performer, captivating the eye.
“An eerie voice. It could entrance people.”
At Jasi’s words, Yeo Ha-ryun spoke without emotion.
“Is that the one you mentioned? An old acquaintance.”
“Yes. That’s right. Seems they visited you as well.”
“They’ve certainly evaded us well all this time…”
In that instant, Jasi lunged forward.
“Usha! How dare you mock Usha’s blood!!”
Before I could stop him, the wolf pelt swelled and expanded.
Jasi immediately mounted the wolf and attempted a charge.
But.
Ssshhhhh—
The gray sand rose as if alive, striking Jasi and hurling him down.
Crash!
“Jasi!”
I rushed to Jasi’s side.
Upon the gray sand, it continued to pulse as though alive.
From the impact, Jasi’s wolf pelt lost its power and reverted to its original form.
‘Defeated in a single strike?!’
While Jasi’s combat prowess didn’t match mine or Yeo Ha-ryun’s, he exceeded the level needed to dispatch ordinary Demonic Ghosts or Rakshasas.
To neutralize even Jasi with a single strike—that was truly the power of an unparalleled master.
Baekcheon-gun stopped dancing.
“Oh my, oh my. So you’ve finally come. I did warn you not to….”
“Baekcheon-gun. What scheme are you plotting?”
At Yeo Ha-ryun’s cold voice, he laughed with evident delight.
“You mean transforming the people of this city into Rakshasa? That’s no scheme. They chose it of their own will, and I merely provided them with what they desired in exchange for payment~”
“In exchange for payment?”
“Yes! A perfectly fair transaction♪”
In that instant, waves of frigid energy surged around Jin Cheon-hee.
Crack—
The same realm my Master had once demonstrated.
The qi responds to the heart’s intent, achieving perfect harmony.
Yeo Ha-ryun felt his skin prickle at the sight.
‘He truly is….’
A profound enlightenment that his body could never contain.
Yet Jin Cheon-hee was so consumed by rage that he didn’t even notice his own transcendent state.
“A fair transaction?”
Dark qi seeps from his low voice.
Jin Cheon-hee’s words pierced through the air like a blade, reaching far into the distance.
Yet Baekcheon-gun showed no fear.
Rather.
“A picture is worth a thousand words. Shall we see?”
As Baekcheon-gun waved his hand, the sand twisted together of its own accord, forming an arch-shaped gateway.
“More illusion magic….”
As black protective qi manifested in Yeo Ha-ryun’s hands, Baekcheon-gun spoke.
“Ah, but it’s not enchantment. The seeds of Banson—you would know, wouldn’t you?”
“….”
Jin Cheon-hee did not answer.
Instead, he didn’t even draw his blade. And finally, a vision began to appear within the arch-shaped gateway.
It was a memory.
The Governor’s memory.
* * *
The Governor gazes into a mirror.
The figure reflected was gaunt and skeletal.
A peculiar sight. The mirror was adorned so lavishly with jewels and pearls, yet the one reflected within was starving more than anyone else.
Yet he was undoubtedly the Governor of Natron.
A lineage that had ruled this mining city for generations, a cadet branch of the royal house itself.
With his withered frame, he wrestled endlessly with documents and sent requests for aid elsewhere.
He struggled to use the natron and funds he possessed to purchase grain.
Yet, alas, alas, alas.
The cattle died, and the harvest failed.
The farmers turned into bandit hordes and attacked merchant caravans.
When I read the letter saying that the provisions I had purchased fell into the hands of the bandits, it felt like chewing sand.
Hell.
Life withered away like a boiled cow.
I eventually pushed aside the letters saying I couldn’t help and the ones asking why I hadn’t received the provisions I sent.
Among them, just one.
A blood-red letter.
Hyeolseonggyo.
I read through that letter. And pushed it away again.
I wanted to eat.
But I couldn’t.
I was still the Governor, after all. Responsible for all these people.
With a heavy heart, I went to inspect the city.
Starving people lay along the roadside.
“Haven’t we even managed to clear away all the corpses of the dead?”
“We lack the manpower, Governor. Besides, the soldiers are starving too.”
“In fact, people are even asking to be allowed to eat the corpses of the dead.”
In the grip of severe famine, some people had begun eating human flesh. I had heard of such things happening in the past, but I never thought it would occur in my time.
‘Corpses, yes. If I permitted them to eat the corpses of the dead… no, but…’
If that happened, wouldn’t they cease to be human?
At first they would eat the corpses of the dead, but next they might crave the corpses of the living.
Was that excessive imagination?
I didn’t think so.
“What do the Shamans say?”
“They say to sacrifice a few people and save everyone. After all, with sorcery they can make rotten beef look fresh.”
“Now it’s only a few people, but later it could become dozens, then hundreds.”
“But people are dying anyway. Rather than everyone dying, we just need to choose a few.”
The Soldier spoke with desperation in his voice.
“Who will do it?”
The Soldier couldn’t answer that question.
But it was clear that I wouldn’t be among them. Instead, the Soldier said this:
“I will… call for volunteers. After all, there must be those who think it’s better than everyone dying.”
It was strange.
Having money but unable to eat.
Wasn’t this exactly like wartime?
‘Sigh, I’m so hungry.’
Hunger is truly terrifying.
From some point on, I can think of nothing but hunger.
Morality and faith disappear, leaving only hunger, hunger, and more hunger.
I could only struggle against hunger, not even knowing if this path had an end.
Truly, a realm of asura unfolding in this mortal world.
‘What am I to do?’
The Governor returned home.
“Governor! Governor!”
The servants came running. Their bodies were all skeletal and gaunt.
A fortress that could not provide even a single proper meal.
Though they could have fled, they still served him with loyalty. Yet even they came rushing forward, weeping bitterly.
“What has happened?”
“The Young Master… The Young Master has passed away!”
The Governor closed his eyes.
His body, worn down by hunger, could not overcome the anguish and collapsed.
Darkness. Darkness.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw my son’s corpse first.
His body had only his entrails protruding.
“They say the greatest suffering in this world is the pain of starvation to death. Through my own lack of virtue, I have sent my son to this fate. Through my lack of virtue…”
No matter how much I held and wept, the dead child did not return.
I was hungry. So hungry.
Suddenly, my dead son’s withered fingers caught my eye.
They were the marks left by madness.
“Why must humans consume something to survive?”
Instead of biting my son’s fingers, I bit my own arm.
Where did such strength come from?
In this moment alone, blood pooled in my arm.
It was affliction.
Today I triumphed over affliction and preserved my humanity, but what of tomorrow?
I could not be certain. No one could be certain.
* * *
The scene changed.
Baekcheon-gun stood in the temple of the Mireuk Order.
And before him stood the Governor as well.
The skeletal Governor’s eye sockets were filled only with darkness. Merely three days had passed since that incident.
In just that time, all light had vanished from the human’s gaze.
“Is it truly possible? To resurrect my son and create a future where no one goes hungry?”
“It is possible. First, the resurrected one will not truly be your original son. Ah, the memories and physical structure will match your son, but whether that person is truly him… well, that depends on how you define it♪”
Baekcheon-gun shook a bottle with a spinning smile.
A crossroads of choice.

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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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