Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 889

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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 889
Qingdao.
A famous port city in Gangso Province, and simultaneously renowned as a tourist destination for its breathtaking scenery.
Naturally, such a place was lined with the villas of wealthy merchants, and many of them had established permanent residences in the region.
Beyond that, there existed various heterodox and righteous factions of small to medium scale that made their living in this area.
However.
Strictly speaking, this region was the territory of Hwangbo Sega.
When one spoke of the most famous martial schools, martial families, and sects in Gangso Province, there were two that stood out.
The Hwangbo Sega and the Shandong Akga.
The reason “Shandong” was attached to Akga’s name was simple.
In the perception of martial artists, Akga was stronger than Hwangbo Sega in terms of martial prowess.
However, in terms of influence and power, Hwangbo Sega was far more formidable and expansive.
Shandong Akga had strong military school tendencies, and due to their unique family traditions, they never engaged in expanding the family’s interests or influence.
This was why Gangso Province was perceived as Hwangbo Sega’s domain.
But the real problem lay in their manpower and organizational structure.
This was precisely why Hwangbo Sega could not maintain tight control over all of Gangso Province the way Baekrin Uiseon did.
Hwangbo Sega was a martial family and simultaneously a powerful aristocratic clan.
Their organizational system was not the revolutionary one of Baekrin Uiseon, but rather one inherited from ancient times.
Moreover, unlike Jegalling, the master of Baekrin Uiseon, they had not been granted a fief, so they could not even touch governmental administration.
Therefore, while Gangso Province was perceived as Hwangbo Sega’s domain, in reality they had not secured complete control over the entire province.
At best, they controlled perhaps forty percent.
The remaining sixty percent of territories were managed by local strongmen, heterodox factions, and righteous factions who kept a wary eye on the tiger that was Hwangbo Sega.
While Hwangbo Sega could not directly govern and control every area, overturning any given region would be a simple matter for them.
In a sense, it resembled a feudal system.
One might say it was like having smaller martial schools and sects holding fiefs under the king that was Hwangbo Sega.
This was unavoidable.
Hwangbo Sega’s household consisted of roughly three thousand martial artists.
Since most great martial schools and powerful aristocratic clans had between two and three thousand martial artists, the numbers were comparable.
Of course, if one included branch families of Hwangbo Sega and martial artists connected to them, the total number of martial artists belonging to Hwangbo Sega could increase two to three times over.
Yet even so, it was impossible for Hwangbo Sega to completely control all of Gangso Province, where millions of people lived.
There simply weren’t enough people.
Therefore.
Across all of Gangso Province, while not reaching the level of a great martial school, there were quite a few heterodox factions, and several bandit strongholds of the Green Forest Way existed as well.
Compared to Kangso Province, the public order was merely average.
I had to go to such a place and conduct an investigation.
To do so, I could not draw attention to myself, and both Hwang-gu and Noeji were far too conspicuous.
In the past, I had even disguised them as alpacas, but how could an alpaca, a creature from beyond the known lands, possibly go unnoticed?
So I had no choice but to leave Hwang-gu and Noeji behind this time.
And I implemented special measures for Cheonwoo, who insisted on coming along.
“This… my body feels creaky all over, hyeong.”
“Hold on.”
That massive frame had become quite lean.
It was only possible because I hastily mastered Muscle Compression and used it to reduce my physique!
Of course, “quite lean” was only by Cheonwoo’s standards—even now, I remained sufficiently tall and broad-shouldered.
If I was a polar bear before, I’d say I’m now more like a sun bear in build.
Still, after reshaping my physique and refining my appearance, I transformed from looking like a horse demon into an elegant righteous faction warrior.
“Let’s skip the eye patch and hide it with hair instead.”
This completed the look of a righteous faction warrior with a mysterious past.
I also used Reverse Technique.
I changed my face to something ordinary, and Sama Hyeon dressed as a woman for the first time in ages.
‘In an instant, we’ve become an inspector and guard of the Hao-mun Golden Blood Hall.’
The inspector is Sama Hyeon dressed as a woman.
Though dressed as a woman, she wore martial robes.
In fact, martial robes themselves are unisex attire, so at first glance, we simply looked like three people wearing identical martial robes.
Only because she used Muscle Compression to create curves and slightly refined her features did she appear female.
Yet even this much made us look nothing like my group.
“This should work. Cheonwoo, your original appearance aside, your bearing and demeanor were always quite dignified anyway.”
Was that an insult or a compliment?
Cheonwoo smiled.
“Haha, no matter how frightening my appearance is, it’s different from the ‘real heterodox faction.'”
“Oh, what’s a ‘real heterodox faction,’ Cheonwoo? You seem to know quite well?”
Ah, both of them have sharp tongues.
They’re fighting again. Fighting once more.
* * *
The three of us disguised ourselves as an inspection team from the Hao-mun Golden Blood Hall.
Sama Hyeon took the lead first.
“There are six establishments of Hao-mun in Qingdao, each belonging to different factions~”
She explained one by one in a languid voice.
There was a sense of rhythm and appropriate humor—much like contemporary Peking Opera.
“First, the Hong Lu-gak tavern we all know, then the labor agency, the Gambling Faction’s gambling house, the Golden Blood Hall’s bank and inn, and the Tudo School’s general store for fencing stolen goods. That’s six~”
It was surprising, though.
Sama Hyeon is both the Golden Blood Hall’s proprietor and the Hao-mun Rumor Master.
Normally, a Rumor Master wouldn’t be so thoroughly familiar with the detailed operations of establishments in other regions.
Cheonwoo seemed surprised too, letting out a small exclamation.
However, Sama Hyeon thought it obvious and continued naturally.
“But the Osalji Faction operates assassination, so they don’t run these ordinary(?) establishments!”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“Yes. Meeting the Osalji Faction requires special methods. So it’s best to exclude them from consideration.”
“And since we’re now inspectors of the Hao-mun Golden Blood Hall, we can only involve ourselves with the Golden Blood Hall’s establishments among these five?”
“As expected, hyeong. You catch on quickly.”
Sama Hyeon spins around with a flourish.
“Still, information is shared among all five establishments. That’s what the Hao-mun network does. Especially since the Golden Blood Hall controls the money flow, even secrets that people try to hide tend to reach our ears eventually.”
As he speaks, Sama Hyeon flashes a glance toward a passing martial artist.
The warrior’s face flushes, captivated by Sama Hyeon’s beauty.
Indeed.
The three of us had arrived at the main establishment of Hong Lu-gak—the Qingdao branch of Hong Lu-gak.
The performers here, regardless of age or gender, all possessed exceptional beauty.
This was what they called a pleasure house of the refined arts.
While different versions of martial arts novels handle this differently, in the Jicheon Cheonma, we adopted the distinction between the pleasure house and the refined arts house.
The pleasure house sells laughter. The refined arts house sells music and dance.
This is why connoisseurs engage in such classic gossip.
‘So is Yu Rang-hu from the refined arts house or the pleasure house?’
‘Ju Wang was so captivated by her beauty that he demanded she attend to him—surely she’s from the pleasure house?’
‘They say her musical and dancing skills are exceptional, so she might well be from the refined arts house.’
This is conversation that would warrant the extermination of three bloodlines if the imperial court heard it, yet they discuss it without hesitation.
People curse the king when he’s not around—criticizing the prince’s consort is far easier.
The distinction between the refined arts house and the pleasure house is indeed profound.
And truthfully.
Contrary to common expectations, the refined arts house is actually far more expensive.
Given that Hong Lu-gak originated from the pleasure house, this is quite the irony.
At the refined arts house, one can engage in simple conversation with a designated performer, but touching her body is strictly forbidden.
She doesn’t even pour drinks.
At most, she brews tea and performs music.
This naturally creates a vast difference between the two establishments.
Rather, when a performer gains devoted patrons, martial artists arrive with enormous sums of money, waiting for performance days.
Only a select few earn the privilege of hearing a private performance in a special chamber.
Of course, since patrons can touch her or make indecent requests, a server stands beside the performer… or rather, a waitress remains at her side.
They even keep track of the remaining time.
‘Underground idol? Or a maid café?’
Naturally different from the modern world, but a profession known only to those in the know.
And while they don’t perform “moe moe kyun☆,” they do perform “May this humble melody ensure the tea the great heroes drink is all the more delicious.”
Added to this is the ruthless system of charging per musical piece.
The martial world is not a place where one can simply plug in earphones to hear music.
Playing music is labor, and it is skill.
Naturally, it’s expensive.
Popular performers are said to be so emotionally moving that in just two hours, they can squander enough wealth to purchase an entire house.
Sama Hyeon was heading toward the refined arts house.
“Hyeon-a, is there really a need to stay at the refined arts house?”
Watching the performer carry an enormous pipa of unknown purpose and an equally massive drum across her shoulders, I felt tension rise within me.
The performer’s back muscles were honed by years of dance and drumming.
That frame too belonged to a tall man, standing eight feet in height.
Beside him passed a performer so delicate she seemed she would snap at the slightest touch, and a ornate sword was sheathed across her back as if she danced with blades.
It was a ceremonial sword without an edge—useless for actual combat.
They glanced past the three strikingly beautiful women without lingering.
Their eyes showed a moment of suspicion—were these competitors?—before relaxing upon spotting the Golden Blood Hall uniforms.
That brief glimmer of wariness told me everything about how fierce the competition in this pleasure house truly was.
Sama Hyeon answered.
“It’s not about saving money. It’s intelligence gathering. As you know, Hao-mun’s pleasure houses are also places where information is collected, right? That’s why we operate both the pleasure house and the broker’s office.”
As we entered the pleasure house, servers were already bustling about below the stage, preparing for the performance that would soon begin.
The martial artists all sat in their seats, waiting for their favorite performers to arrive.
They began competing with each other to order the most expensive wines.
“One cup of Hundred Flower Wine, please!”
“For us, among the premium wines… yes! Golden Flower Wine!”
Cups of wine were placed on the tables one after another.
Once they grew sufficiently drunk, they would loosen their tongues and spill all manner of secrets.
And whoever spent the most would be able to request songs in the private room.
They would surely be given time to converse with the performers there, however briefly, and much would be revealed.
I spoke in a voice only the three of us could hear.
“Of course, no madman would reveal top secrets in such a place, but even this much should yield considerable information.”
Amid the noise, I controlled my voice through inner energy techniques so skillfully that even the servers passing by couldn’t catch a single word.
Sama Hyeon answered with an amused smile.
“No, hyeong. People don’t think that hard about things. You’d be amazed how many fools reveal top secrets just to catch a performer’s eye once.”
…So they do exist!
More than that, I found it remarkable how quickly he had adapted the technique I’d just demonstrated, speaking softly with such precision.
I had taught Sama Hyeon some inner energy techniques, but I hadn’t expected him to master them this quickly.
I asked him.
“Fine. I understand why we came to the pleasure house, but why the broker’s office?”
At my question, Sama Hyeon’s eyes lit up with excitement.
‘Oh, Sama Hyeon’s caught the scent, hasn’t he?’
Explaining worlds unknown to his hyeong was his greatest joy.
‘Especially since my hyeong, despite knowing things no one else in the world knows, sometimes understands nothing about these heterodox matters—less than a child.’
“Hyeong, first, the broker’s office itself—when written in Chinese characters, it’s like this.”
Sama Hyeon dipped his finger in water and wrote characters on the table.
Geogan (居間).
Originally, it meant to broker negotiations between buyers and sellers.
This broker’s office could be compared to a modern labor market or employment agency.
“Why here?”

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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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