Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 828

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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 828
It seemed paradoxical—like oil and water—that a Kang Ho-in, who must always remain emotionally detached, could skillfully care for an infant. Yet Cheonwoo was managing both with practiced ease.
The baby, delighted by Cheonwoo’s display of skill, burst into another round of cheerful laughter.
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Our little customer seems quite satisfied.”
“Yes, it appears so. Cheonwoo.”
I felt a touch of genuine emotion stirring within me.
The childcare skills displayed by such a massive frame were truly remarkable.
Cheonwoo felt a bit embarrassed.
“So who did you come looking for?”
“I heard there’s a man named Jeong Seok-yeong living here. A master craftsman of peach wine, I’m told.”
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Jeong Seok-yeong… that’s the name of Jeong Gajangju.”
“Oh, now that I think about it, I heard the Jeong family has been lay disciples of the Mudang School for generations… So fate has brought us together like this.”
Suddenly, Sama Hyeon’s earlier words came to mind.
How terrifying fate could be when dealing with information about Gangho.
Cheonwoo spoke.
“This child is the great-grandson of the man named Jeong Seok-yeong.”
“Great-grandson? Not even a grandson?”
At my words, Cheonwoo scratched his cheek.
“Yes, so…”
As I listened to the story, it was quite a tragic tale.
Jeong Seok-yeong’s son had trained as a lay disciple in the Mudang School, and his martial prowess was said to surpass even his father’s.
Perhaps because of this, he ventured into Gangho and perished in a conflict with a silver grudge.
And Jeong Seok-yeong’s grandson.
The grandson also trained in martial arts under the Mudang School.
Following his father’s path, he became quite formidable.
He worked for Pyo Guk but died in battle against bandits.
A truly tragic tale of Gangho.
Yet also a common one.
“Then this child is…?”
“While working as a messenger, he caught the eye of a woman in Gangho. That woman came to the Mudang School with the child… but… she passed away from illness not long after.”
It was a heartless story.
“…”
Silence settled over the room.
Then came a crashing sound, and I turned to see the child had knocked over a pile of books.
“Oh dear, oh dear.”
Cheonwoo rushed over and scooped the child into his arms.
“When you’re traveling with a child, you don’t have time for such sorrowful thoughts.”
“True. If even a master of Hwakyeong like you say so, there’s nothing more to say.”
I suddenly realize the greatness of my parents.
Cheonwoo placed the child back on his lap and played with him, bouncing him gently.
“Actually, in such cases, it’s customary to take direct disciples through the main sect. But when I checked the registry, it said there was blood relation here. If there’s blood relation, it’s also customary to ask them first.”
“So you came in person?”
“Yes. It’s now time for me to take disciples as well. If the blood relation here refuses, they would become my disciple. Of course, not formally, but in a temporary capacity. According to the sect’s rules, the Nine Bows of Respect to establish a formal master-disciple bond would be done when they’re older.”
‘The Wudang Sect operates quite rationally.’
Depending on the sect, many would forcibly make someone a master if they raised a child from a young age, but the Wudang Sect had no such practice.
‘That makes sense. Selective transmission of knowledge is the Wudang Sect’s principle.’
Just as a child chooses their master, the master also chooses the child.
One cannot transmit martial arts to a child of poor character.
‘Perhaps this is why the Wudang Sect has remained a pillar of Gangho until now.’
I spoke.
“Still, it’s remarkable. You’re already at the stage of taking disciples. How extraordinary. Cheonwoo becoming a father figure.”
“No, hyeong. Father figure? Though master and disciple are compared to a father-son relationship, I didn’t give birth to them.”
Sama Hyeon added a comment.
“You’re surprised at strange things, hyeong~ You have disciples too. Ga-won, wasn’t it?”
“That’s more like a student than a disciple. They’re not direct disciples, and I’m not transmitting the Jegallim Family’s martial arts to them.”
Sama Hyeon nodded.
“That’s true. I teach a few people at the Golden Blood Hall too. Compared to that, Cheonwoo hyeong’s responsibility is much heavier.”
Cheonwoo spoke with difficulty.
“Please don’t say it that way. It’s not a formal master-disciple relationship. The children I’m raising now are still very young.”
“Cheonwoo has grown well.”
I fell into contemplation once more.
It was true.
The fact that a child I had saved grew to adulthood and now transmits something to the next generation gave me a special feeling.
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“By the way~ I was worried about how to persuade the Jeong Gajangju. But a good reason has appeared? It seems that old man isn’t dying yet after all.”
Cheonwoo tilted his head in confusion.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, it’s like this….”
I explained everything that had happened to Cheonwoo.
“Kee-ah!”
Meanwhile, the baby had escaped from Cheonwoo’s lap again and started crawling toward the corner of the room.
* * *
I headed toward the Jeong residence again, carrying the child.
As expected, Jin the Elder came out to greet us.
“What brings you here again? The Jangju has forbidden outsiders from entering.”
Jin the Elder alternated his gaze between Cheonwoo and the baby.
It was quite a sight—a man with a massive build holding a baby.
Then his eyes widened slightly. From his expression, it seemed he recognized that Cheonwoo was from the Wudang Sect.
That’s true.
For three generations, he has worked at the Jeong estate as a lay disciple of the Wudang Sect.
There’s no way members of the Wudang Sect haven’t visited this place during that time, and naturally he would recognize their robes.
Moreover.
Cheonwoo’s appearance is so renowned throughout Gangho that there’s no way he wouldn’t recognize him.
But then he closed his mouth.
It was an act of pretending not to see, even though he had recognized Cheonwoo from the Wudang Sect.
And that action meant only one thing.
‘Ah, so we won’t be accepted either.’
It seemed he had completely resolved himself to die after that conversation.
I occasionally encounter patients like this.
When they suffer from an incurable illness and lose their will to live for some reason.
Since suicide would bring shame upon their ancestors’ graves, they cannot bring themselves to do it, so they seclude themselves like this instead.
When that happens, in an agricultural society, all the relatives come to visit and weep, begging our grandmother and grandfather to please take heart.
Even a five-year-old child who knows nothing cries and embraces the elderly person’s thin shins.
Then the elder finds strength.
It’s truly strange.
With mountains of wealth piled in the house.
With fame in Gangho that everyone knows.
Yet humans lose their strength and despair.
And what pulls them from that despair is invariably these small ones.
I didn’t understand it in my youth, but having lived two lives and contemplated existence for so long, I think I finally understand why.
‘I just hope Jangju finds his strength again…’
But for that to happen, we first need to meet him.
I spoke.
“He won’t even see the Medical Officers from Baekrin Uiseon?”
“Yes… He has strictly forbidden anyone to enter. He said he would cut the throat of anyone who lets someone in.”
“If that’s the case, the next thing to cross this gate will be Jangju’s corpse. Is that acceptable?”
I spoke firmly.
The old man seemed to make a decision and pressed his lips into a thin line.
“…It is the master’s command.”
Then I heard something shatter.
A sweet fragrance burst forth in all directions. This scent was strong enough for not just me, but also Sama Hyeon and Cheonwoo to smell.
“That’s the smell of alcohol? Did he break a peach wine jar?”
At Sama Hyeon’s words, I asked back.
“With severe diabetes, is he drinking alcohol?”
“Yes. After the Doctor left, it seems he resolved himself and has been continuously drinking the liquor he had been making.”
This is dangerous.
If he were young, it might be different. But an elderly man with severe diabetes deliberately drinking alcohol?
No matter how strong his constitution from birth, this is simply a death wish.
“The Jangju clearly stated he would not receive treatment. And you said you wouldn’t force it either, didn’t you? I’ve heard that the Baekrin Medical Guild doesn’t follow the path of forcibly abducting and treating patients like the Black Heaven Medical Guild does.”
“….”
Despair flickered across my eyes for a moment.
Cheonwoo and Sama Hyeon witnessed the swelling despair.
I had treated too many patients and witnessed too many forms of death.
Perhaps if it were the younger and more naive Ha Uiwon, he might have pushed harder.
That would be strength born of ignorance.
A strength like shoes not yet broken in. But I was different.
Already worn shoes that had traversed countless difficult paths.
They no longer raised blisters or calluses on their owner’s feet, but instead had become worn and weathered.
I bore responsibility for everything and faced the weight of my words directly.
That was what it meant to be an adult, to be elderly.
Then Sama Hyeon opened his mouth.
“That’s the doctor’s path~ but this is different, you see?”
Saying so, he gestured to Cheonwoo with his eyes. Cheonwoo immediately caught his gaze and spoke.
“I am Cheonwoo of the Mudang School.”
“The Mudang School! So you’re from the Cheon-u Dojang. I’ve heard much about you from the Jangju.”
Only then did the Elder Jin pretend to understand, but it was a very dry gesture.
He was clearly intent on obeying the Jangju’s orders.
“My brother may have come as a doctor, but I’m here on a matter of the sect. So…!”
He didn’t ask for permission.
Cheonwoo cradled the baby in one arm while gently extending his other hand.
A miraculous movement, as if clouds drifted leisurely across the sky!
And then. His palm made contact with the gate.
Mudang Absolute Technique
Taiji Surface Palm
Thud—
At first, a small sound rang out.
And what followed was an unbelievable sight.
Crack!
Cracks spread across the entire wooden gate, and it soon shattered and scattered into pieces.
By striking it with the Mudang School’s absolute technique rather than mere brute force, it was a kind of courtesy shown to Jeong Gajang, a fellow sect member.
The Jeong family’s massive and ancient gate flew apart under Cheonwoo’s hand.
Fresh wind rushed through the now-open gate.
Cheonwoo spoke.
“What are you doing? Brother. Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
I looked at Cheonwoo in surprise.
My younger siblings accomplished so effortlessly what I, as a doctor, had never done.
They were young shoes, still fresh.
I wound myself and wound others, yet despite this, I do not fear the treacherous path.
Jin Nonya spoke urgently.
“Ah, we cannot! The Jangju…”
In that moment, Sama Hyeon draped his arm around Jin Nonya’s shoulder and spoke.
“Come now~ Elder, you’re worried about the Jangju too, so why not just let this one slide? Let’s pretend we can’t overcome this and move on~”
Cheonwoo extended his hand toward Jin Cheon-hee.
“Brother…!”
Was it startled by that momentum?
The child who hadn’t cried even when the gate was smashed suddenly burst into tears.
At the baby’s cries, Jin Nonya and Jin Cheon-hee’s senses returned.
The old shoe finally realized it was time to move forward.
“Let’s go. Yes!”
Jin Cheon-hee grasped Cheonwoo’s hand. Cheonwoo dashed forward rapidly.
The two who had mastered the supreme footwork technique glided forward in an instant.
They arrived without difficulty at the place where Jeong Gajangju was smashing the wine barrel.

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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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