Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 866

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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 866
Gluuugh—
A second cough of blood.
In response, countless voices rang out simultaneously.
-The End Times means exactly what it says—the end of the world. But also a beginning.
-The children of Jin Ju-eonga have given everything to ensure they can pass beyond the End Times.
-The body is merely a vessel to contain the soul. We strengthen that vessel.
-Whether the heart beats or not is of little importance.
-No hunger, no pain, no aging.
-Loneliness is acceptable. Because they are alive.
-And with family beside them, they will not feel so alone.
-Our children will survive. So we will forge a bell.
-A bell that rings beyond the End Times.
The simultaneous voices sound like a chorus.
Had I not fractured time with Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, it would have been impossible to hear this properly.
That I made contact with her and did not lose my mind is also thanks to Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong.
Listening to the layered, overlapping voices, I reflected.
‘Ah, why is she so compassionate.’
Even while committing cruel acts, her voice was warm.
She genuinely worried for her children.
For the children who would suffer in some distant future.
That is why she created this place with knowledge now lost, and why she herself dwells within it.
‘Why are you doing this?’
-Why? Because I love the Jin Ju-eonga clan. Enough to protect even their future.
The End Times were approaching.
Within her compassion, I felt worry and fear about the End Times intertwined.
‘Ugh….’
Blood trickles from my ears.
Merely sensing fragments of that emotion churns my brain.
Did Gaju Eon-gwon experience this?
I asked again.
‘They did not want this. None of them wanted to become like this! And the explanation… no one knew it would come to this.’
-I told my children to ring the bell when the clan faces crisis.
-My children could never face crisis. Not unless it is the End Times.
-At least something related to the End Times.
-In this world, no being exists powerful enough to threaten my children.
Beyond pride, I sense a kind of arrogance.
She loved the children of Jin Ju-eonga.
She loved this land.
She loved with terrible devotion the future that would flourish upon this earth.
It was strange.
Why was the path toward despair so warm and radiant?
It was like the dying light of shattered glass.
Though it wounded and killed, its brilliance was so luminous, so captivating that one could be mesmerized.
And people would be pierced by it, bleeding out their lives.
‘I must persuade her. But how…?’
Her words might not be entirely wrong.
That it would open when the end times came, regardless.
I am the one who disturbs the heavenly mandate, and in the original work, when Yeo Ha-ryun arrived, one could say it was right before the end times…
Nothing is certain.
The novel ends with Yeo Ha-ryun ascending to immortality.
Hyeolseonggyo was still alive.
‘Why would she do such a thing….’
-Because I love.
Soon she repeated herself like a broken record.
-Because I love. Because I adore. Because it’s cute. Because it’s pitiful. Even so, because I love. Because it’s the most precious thing in the world. Because it matters. Because I adore it. Because I want to protect what I love. Because I love.
Then.
I realized the person I was conversing with was not in a normal state.
I grasped it instinctively.
‘Ah, what remains here is this person’s corporeal soul.’
Hun and po—the ethereal and corporeal souls.
The hun ascends to heaven while the po remains, wandering until it scatters.
The po holds memories, but without the hun, it can only imitate, they say.
Like a jiangshi that has money placed in its coffin but cannot spend it.
Yet because that existence was so immense, it was difficult to recognize immediately.
An ordinary person would cough blood seven times and go mad to death just from conversing like this.
But one who lived centuries in ancient times and finally ascended to immortality—such a being would be different.
But can one persuade a corporeal soul?
‘Stay calm. At least communication isn’t entirely impossible. And an ordinary person’s hun and po are far beneath this.’
After all, this being manages this very ruin.
Moreover, she manipulated Gaju Eon-gwon to faithfully conduct rituals distributing “blessings” to everyone.
‘But she might not listen to lengthy explanations.’
What should I say?
Then I opened my mouth.
‘The end times have not yet arrived.’
-No. They’re already coming. I felt it. If the end times weren’t coming, the bell wouldn’t ring so luminously right now.
A sort of safety mechanism, then.
But the fact that it rang now meant the end times were coming, just as she said.
‘Even so, we must know if these people want this. People have died without any consent whatsoever!’
-Heaven doesn’t seek the world’s consent before executing its destruction. That’s how it is.
Everything was blocked.
Persuasion was impossible.
She genuinely believed this state was right, and that it was a gift for Jin Ju-eonga’s children.
Soon, I opened my mouth.
‘I don’t believe this is the path to the future.’
-Hmm?
‘Because I will prevent the apocalypse.’
-You?
‘If the apocalypse doesn’t come but my body becomes a corpse, wouldn’t that be pitiful?’
I spoke simply, as if persuading a young child, one point at a time.
-….
Her hun remained silent.
Soon, she opened her mouth.
-How exactly will you prevent the apocalypse?
‘Well! Well! I will!’
A surge of emotion—blood tears flowed from my eyes.
But there was nothing I could do about this.
A mortal does not know how or in what manner the apocalypse will come.
That creature called Heavenly Fortune never speaks of it.
Humans are like blindfolded horses, driven forward only by the whip of the coachman.
-Well? Hahahaha! How amusing.
‘Wait? It actually worked even though I was just being stubborn?’
I felt the oppressive atmosphere surrounding us loosen slightly.
She seemed to prefer honest answers over clever scheming.
I spoke.
‘Eungryong told me to come in the year when the apocalypse arrives.’
-Hmm? That person….
Good. She also seemed to know about Eungryong.
There was something Eungryong, who had been sleeping beneath the imperial palace in the past, had once told me.
-It is to grant one final chance. However, even if you possess that final chance when the time comes, will you truly be able to survive?
At those words, she clearly showed signs of agitation.
She gazed toward me.
Of course, I could not see her form with my eyes.
I only felt her gaze upon my skin.
Soon, she opened her mouth.
-How strange. You are the same kind of being as us, yet why do you fear the end times?
‘The same kind of being? I don’t understand what you mean.’
-Your flesh already belongs to ■, and your soul clings to it, does it not? How is that different from our ■■?
At that moment, a sharp headache crashed down upon me.
Soon, she spoke.
-You don’t have to force yourself to listen. It’s fine. You don’t need to think too deeply about it.
I feel her hands.
She covered both my ears.
I can’t see them, but I feel the touch of her fingers.
She hums a melody, calming me down.
Strangely, the headache began to fade gradually.
-I think I understand what kind of being you are. Just as a guest shouldn’t see behind the stage. Normally, you shouldn’t have come this far. But then… this too might be inevitable.
Soon she slowly withdrew her hands.
-If your essence and the power accumulated in this ruin come together, we can restore it to its original state.
‘Restore it?’
She answers softly with a hum.
Then she speaks words I had heard before in her own way.
-Time or space. Which one?
Hearing those words, I suddenly gasped for breath.
As I cough up blood again, she pats me gently.
Though I cannot see her form, that tender touch is unmistakable.
She continues speaking.
-If you choose space, the ruin will be destroyed and you all will be able to ascend to the surface.
‘What about time?’
-I can revive all the dead. Those who became jiangshi will return to being human. I’m simply rewinding their time.
‘Such a convenient ability….’
-Yes. It’s possible. With this ruin, my hun, and you.
‘What’s the price…?’
-You already know, don’t you? You’re not naive. That’s right. It should be that way. A being like you should be exactly like that.
She smiles softly and opens her mouth.
-One of your arms. Give me an entire arm as the price.
At that moment… something stirred within my embrace.
It was Yoo Ho Toyong.
The ugly toyong came to mind, and a voice flowed out.
-That price, I believe I can contribute to it.
Yoo Ho’s voice.
-Ah, it’s you. You were still alive.
She seemed to know Yoo Ho for some reason.
-I’m afraid not. He is mine. My only divine servant.
With those words, the toyong shatters.
Crash!
The crimson energy within the toyong began to burst outward in all directions.
‘What is this….’
-It’s ‘support’. You damned young master.
* * *
‘Yes. I know.’
‘Right. If I turned away from people and chose space instead, it would become easier.’
‘But Yoo Ho knew he couldn’t make that choice.’
‘No. If the price had been cheap, he wouldn’t have chosen it.’
‘Really? Would he truly have done that?’
‘I don’t know. Either way, he must have done his best.’
‘What price do you think that bastard places on his arm?’
‘He might think it lighter than human lives.’
‘No. He might think his own arm weighs more than human lives.’
‘Would he really? I don’t think so.’
The small Jin Cheon-hees each whispered one by one.
‘If he had such a nature, he couldn’t have twisted fate.’
‘He wouldn’t have come this far.’
‘Yes. The current ■ is different from us. He’s the most brilliant ■ we can imagine.’
‘But he’s also the most foolish ■.’
Is this a dream?
Or is it reality?
I cannot tell.
Through the haze of consciousness, I hear the small Jin Cheon-hees whispering to one another.
As I slowly opened my eyes, the small Jin Cheon-hees were gathered there, conversing about something.
‘Wait? Aren’t you voices born from my Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong?’
In an instant, all the little Jin Cheon-hees turn to look at me.
Blue and dark irises are visible.
And among them, the children.
Golden irises.
Meeting that gaze sent chills down my spine.
Soon the little Jin Cheon-hees looked at each other and grinned wickedly.
‘Are we frightening?’
‘Perhaps. It’s instinct after all.’
‘It’s fine. Everyone fears the memory of ■■.’
‘But this isn’t your memory.’
At that moment, I understood the final words.
■■.
Fai■.
Failure.
‘Failure? Me?’
I try to speak further but my throat closes.
Cough, cough. I spit blood again.
‘It’s because of the seal, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. It’s because of the seal.’
The small Jin Cheon-hees spoke.
‘You did not fail.’
‘It is not you. You are fine. ■■ is carrying that burden.’
The smaller Jin Cheon-hees drew closer.
‘We are the ■■ remaining in your flesh.’
‘And yet, we are also the words you must never reach.’
‘We are ■.’
For some reason, I felt as though I might lose my mind. Countless Jin Cheon-hees approached.
Golden irises.
Had I ever possessed such a color?
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong was surely azure in radiance….
Deep thought became difficult.
As if panic had seized me, terror flooded my mind.
I wanted to scream, yet even that became impossible.
Dying. Dying. Dying….
And then, in that moment, a voice rang out.
-In all my years, this is the first time I have seen someone’s own sense of self collapse on its own like this.
Yoo Ho? Yoo Ho?
It was Yoo Ho who gave me the Toyong in the first place.
-I even paid the price in your stead, so you should at least have the audacity to hold your head high and live.
Yoo Ho. Uh, uh, something feels wrong with me.
-Of course something is wrong. Normally, merely making mental contact with that ruin should have driven you mad already. To finish speaking and complete your tasks before your mind finally gives way—that is something else entirely.
Yoo Ho. Do you know what I saw?
-I do not. So simply forget it. Madness is merely madness, after all.
In that moment.
A large hand pulled Jin Cheon-hee.
A great, solid, muscular arm.
This was definitely Yoo Ho.
-By the way, regenerate the blood and the ends of your hair with the Cheonryong Gong. It should not take you long.
Huh?
-Be grateful that your arm was preserved. Human.
With those words, Jin Cheon-hee slowly opened his eyes.
As consciousness returned, I was startled by the sight that unfolded before me.

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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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