Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 8

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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 8
“That little brat certainly has luck on his side.”
“Do you really think so? Is it truly luck?”
“Then do you believe the child possesses such keen senses to detect mountain poison without having learned any martial arts whatsoever? His body hasn’t cultivated a single technique.”
The sky hung heavy with clouds. Like watercolor bleeding across rice paper, the moon faded gradually behind the murk.
It was one of those nights where even an inch ahead remained shrouded in darkness.
Three figures stood atop the highest pavilion of the Yunlong Courier Bureau’s branch headquarters.
Jegalling of Baekrin Uiseon, his snow-white silver hair dancing in the wind. Yoo Ho, the chief administrator of Baekrin Uijak who served as his retainer. And Woon Ji-sang, the towering master of the Yunlong Courier Bureau, with a sword at his waist.
“Your eyes truly see differently, it seems. I myself found nothing remarkable about that young fellow… even his martial potential appeared ordinary.”
“Then why do you covet him?”
“….”
Woon Ji-sang offered no reply, merely closing his mouth.
To such silence, Jegalling drove his point home with gentle but unmistakable force.
“Master Woon. Allow me to speak plainly now. That child will become my disciple. Who was it that detoxified him from the mountain poison?”
At those words, Woon Ji-sang exhaled deeply.
“Sigh… How could I ever oppose your will? Does the child truly appeal to you so?”
“As much as he appeals to you, Master Woon.”
“Tsk. There’s no helping it. That he lacks the karmic connection of a true disciple…”
“Hmm… You considered taking him as a disciple despite his lack of martial potential?”
“Despite his youth, he possesses profound wisdom and unwavering resolve. And that medical skill of his… Is he not a talent worth coveting? Surely you understand that a courier bureau cannot operate on martial prowess alone?”
“Indeed. Which is why I too find him desirable. But it seems… they are beginning to arrive.”
At Jegalling’s words, Woon Ji-sang’s expression turned fearsome.
Both men saw a group gathering from the darkness in the distance.
“How dare they attack this bureau…”
A dragon-like aura flowed from his body.
“I cannot allow our guests to be troubled. I would be grateful if you two would wait here.”
“Go with our blessings.”
Woon Ji-sang leaped from the pavilion roof. Simultaneously, the Masked Persons scaled the walls of the Yunlong Courier Bureau’s branch headquarters in the distance.
All wore masks across their faces, their blades darkened so moonlight would not reflect off the steel.
To any observer, it was clearly a night raid.
The branch headquarters lay silent.
Even the servants seemed absent, lost in sleep.
“Master, I sense demonic energy…”
“Those who have cultivated demonic arts… With numbers like these, could they be from the Demon Sect?”
“Likely so. I wonder if you’ve stumbled into troublesome affairs.”
“Yet I have you at my side, do I not?”
“Hehehehe, my word. For one who could slaughter all of them with a single sword stroke to speak thus… I find myself at a loss.”
Jegalling answered only with an impudent smile. It was the laugh of a dragon concealing its claws.
Yoo Ho scratched his head.
“Master, you haven’t forgotten that your time grows short, have you?”
“I understand. But isn’t it human nature to burn brightly like a flame, however brief that time may be?”
“I simply wish to remain by your side for a long time, Master.”
“There’s no helping fate. In any case, it has begun.”
Where Baekrin Uiseon Jegalling’s gaze fell, a blood battle was erupting.
* * *
Jin Cheon-hee crouched beside the bed of the future Heavenly Demon Yeo Ha-ryun. Outside, shouts echoed. The sounds of screams and clashing blades pierced through.
Thinking that it had begun, I glanced at Yeo Ha-ryun’s closed eyelids.
‘That bastard still hasn’t woken up.’
Considering the life that lay ahead for him, perhaps it would be better if he remained asleep.
‘Isn’t it strange? That so many people have come to kill you.’
A child. Just a child.
A small boy with merely a secret in his birth.
So many had prepared themselves to end this child’s life.
Yeo Ha-ryun’s hands were still pale. Hands that had never been stained with anyone’s blood. The world had moved to kill this child.
‘The Yunlong Courier Bureau is strong. Even if I hadn’t told them, they would have won somehow.’
Even if the upper-ranked warriors were poisoned by mountain toxin, there were lower-ranked warriors. The Yunlong Courier Bureau’s foundation was far from weak.
But they would have had to shed much blood, and that would have been a fatal blow to the Yunlong Courier Bureau.
If that happened, countless courier bureaus would rush to fill the void left by the Yunlong Courier Bureau’s dominance over the Yangtze River, and that would become the beginning of future calamities.
“Sleeping so soundly even in all this. Well, I’m not trembling much either.”
I gazed intently at my own hands.
Outside, people were dying.
A normal person should be trembling with fear.
After all, a swordsman could appear at any moment and kill him.
Yet somehow, I felt no fear.
‘Come to think of it, was it like this when I distinguished the living from the corpses back then…’
I judged that something had changed within me. Otherwise, I couldn’t have become like this. Perhaps it was because I had already died once.
‘Well, getting shot to death by rebels isn’t a common experience.’
At that moment, a moan escaped from Yeo Ha-ryun’s lips.
Was he having a nightmare?
The bestial moan—something I couldn’t believe came from a child—made me flinch in surprise.
‘Should I wake him? No, he wouldn’t wake up even when I tried before.’
From what I’d observed, the sound alone hadn’t caused nightmares. Perhaps it was the scent of blood from outside instead.
After deliberating, I rummaged through the shelf and lit another incense stick.
I didn’t know what fragrance it was, but I hoped it was strong enough to mask the stench of blood.
After lighting three incense sticks, Yeo Ha-ryun’s expression gradually began to settle once more.
Watching the moans slowly fade, I let out a small sigh.
‘Be good to me, you bastard.’
You’re still the protagonist, after all—I’d like you to make a good impression from now on.
‘Since you’re still young, there’s room to train you.’
Outside, the fighting continued. I kept watch over Yeo Ha-ryun’s night.
* * *
The battle at Woonryong Pyoguk’s Buntta did not last long.
Once the Masked Persons realized the Mountain Poison was not working properly, they retreated while sustaining casualties.
Finally, the sun rose.
Throughout the night, I had kept my eyes open without sleep.
Even though I had fallen into the heart of the Gangho, my mind remained that of an ordinary Korean—still fundamentally unchanged.
I didn’t possess the nerve to sleep peacefully while people were dying outside.
Not that I was fearless, but I wasn’t callous enough to ignore it either.
Outside, I could hear the sounds of corpses and wounded being carried away, and guards arriving to stand watch.
‘It’s over.’
The battle had ended. Woonryong Pyoguk’s Buntta was safe. And an incident that should have claimed many lives had been altered.
‘So then… what should I do now? Should I remain a bystander or lend my aid? I have to choose one or the other.’
With slightly hollow eyes, I stared at the door.
‘If I stay out of it, my abilities won’t be revealed. That would be safer. Besides, the other physicians already seem curious about the emergency treatment methods I used on him.’
I glanced sideways.
Yeo Ha-ryun lay sleeping.
‘If I step forward to treat them, people who might otherwise die could live. Baekrin Uiseon isn’t using a body-splitting technique, and there must be limits to how many he can save. But that’s not more important than my own safety.’
The answer was already decided.
‘My medical skills are definitely strange and unusual. I could even be mistaken for a spy. Yes. Let’s do that. I’ll just stay here and leave later. Then I’ll work at Woonryong Pyoguk and live as a physician in this world. That’s it. That will work. When that time comes, I can save many people then…’
As I continued this line of thought, looking at the sleeping Yeo Ha-ryun, I suddenly recalled a face.
The face of a small child, startled by rebel gunfire.
A child I had shielded and protected from bullets.
Did that child survive?
-Why should people be saved? Why did I have to save them at such cost?
-Why didn’t I abandon them in the mountains?
-I don’t know. I truly don’t know, Director.
“Damn it. I really…”
Only then did I rise from my seat.
That was right. Back then, I couldn’t turn away either. So how could I possibly turn away now, rationalizing my inaction?
I approached Yeo Ha-ryun.
I intended to check the patient’s condition once before leaving the room.
‘What? Why is he suddenly like this again?’
This time, he seemed pressed down by nightmares even more severely than before, cold sweat beading on his skin.
He exhaled in ragged breaths, and then his breathing stopped.
‘Sleep apnea…?’
One second, two seconds… thirty seconds… one minute.
He hadn’t breathed for a full minute.
At this point, I reached out to grab his shoulder and shake him, wondering if this was alright.
At that moment.
Crack—!
Her white hand wrapped around my wrist.
Soon after, his eyelids slowly opened.
They were crimson.
In a murky voice like rusted metal scraping against stone.
“…Who sent you.”
Killing intent radiated outward from Yeo Ha-ryun.
Crrrk—
‘Damn it. This little brat’s killing intent is already so….’
I smiled, thinking to calm this future Heavenly Demon child.
“I am….”
“Enough.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll kill you and ask the corpse instead.”
In that moment, Yeo Ha-ryun’s other hand strangled my throat.
Crunch—
My neck was seized as if being pulled in helplessly.
Under the crushing pressure, I gasped out a strangled sound.
‘Damn… it. I never imagined he’d be this unhinged.’
I knew this.
One of the reasons why Yeo Ha-ryun becomes the Heavenly Demon later in the novel.
The blood of the Heavenly Slayer Star.
In modern terms, you might call it the temperament of a serial killer? No, it was more than that.
The Heavenly Slayer Star is fundamentally described as a genius at killing people, and the more people he kills, the stronger he becomes.
That’s not all. He possesses innate talent in learning martial arts, giving him the characteristic of becoming stronger than anyone else.
Truly, a killer sent from heaven.
With such tremendous talent comes a drawback, of course.
Eventually, he succumbs to the madness of the Heavenly Slayer Star and goes insane, but true to his role as the novel’s protagonist, Yeo Ha-ryun controls and completely overcomes his madness to become the strongest under heaven.
‘An ability that puts modern science to shame… No. This isn’t the time for such idle thoughts. My throat is blocked and my head is starting to hurt, so….’
Perhaps it was because of the chaos. The blood that had been sleeping until now seemed to have awakened.
But I couldn’t just accept this.
Even if I wanted to call for help, my throat was being strangled and no sound would come out.
I twisted my body. And with that movement, the incense stick I had lit earlier fell to the floor.
‘Perfect!’

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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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