Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 891

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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 891
Sama Hyeon whistled.
“Cheonwoo, once you start talking to people instead of killing them later, you’ll see all sorts of characters.”
“Perhaps so.”
Surprisingly, Cheonwoo agreed readily.
Though for something said to the Righteous Faction, it was rather grim.
Cheonwoo was of the Black Blade.
He was one who hunted down the sword masters of the Mudang Faction who had fallen into depravity through the Black Way.
He wouldn’t need much conversation for that.
Sama Hyeon changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, you’re thinking of the ‘mushroom’ too, right?”
“A panacea that transcends medicine itself. And the changes that occurred after taking that medicine… It certainly feels similar. But does the Ilwol Singyeo not have such a drug?”
Cheonwoo answered.
“I’ve heard the Demonic Sect has similar elixirs.”
The Demonic Sect and the Hyeolseonggyo.
They were certainly different religions, but on the surface, they shared similarities.
‘After all, the Jin Ju-eon family also had troubles arise because of the Jin Ju-eon family ruins.’
Still, if it’s connected to the Goe-eo-in, wouldn’t the probability of it being Hyeolseonggyo be higher?
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Let’s visit the Golden Blood Hall and the Golden Blood Inn tomorrow as well.”
“They should have separate information?”
Sama Hyeon nodded.
“Right. We need to observe the flow of money and the nature of outsiders coming to the inn. Actually, these pleasure houses attract the most outsiders. Do you know why?”
“Right. Because they come to see performers that only those in the know are aware of. If a performer were good enough to be known outside the Qingdao region entirely, they’d usually try to go to bigger places like the capital, Nanjing, or Hangzhou.”
Qingdao wasn’t a small place, but it couldn’t compare to those three.
A performer would want to perform at a larger pleasure house.
“Oh, you figured it out that far? That’s right. The money they make is no joke. The lower-tier performers at the bottom of pleasure houses don’t earn a single coin, but once you move up, they rake in as much as a small to medium merchant guild.”
Jin Cheon-hee asked in surprise.
“By themselves?”
“Yes. They earn it themselves. The distribution is good too. After the Hong Lu-gak takes thirty percent, the rest is all theirs. There are no overhead costs like a merchant guild or workshop would have. Once they start becoming famous, it’s no laughing matter. That place.”
“Wow…”
Jin Cheon-hee trailed off in amazement.
“There’s a sky above the sky.”
“Right. So the pleasure houses in Qingdao tend to attract more local people, while the inns, conversely, attract more outsiders.”
“Because they’re lodging guests?”
“Right. Many messengers pass through there too.”
So they were visiting specifically to gather that information.
“We need to see where the money came from for the wealthy man whose incurable disease was cured and those local tyrants. And we need to see where that money flows to next.”
Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
“Good. There’s a lot to investigate.”
Cheonwoo clenched and unclenched his fists.
“If we’re digging that up, then surely there are those who’ll try to attack us?”
Indeed, that was Cheonwoo for you.
He grasped the crux of the matter like a true Kang Ho-in.
In the end, the logic of the blade would inevitably intertwine with everything.
Truth, after all, can only be uncovered by those who survive.
Sama Hyeon shrugged his shoulders.
“Of course. With some inspector poking around everywhere, would I really leave such a suspicious character alone?”
He was gathering information while simultaneously making himself bait.
I agreed as well.
“If they attack us, that’s perfect. We can capture them and extract information.”
Cheonwoo stroked his chin.
“Then… we’ll need to move about diligently.”
Was that even a question?
* * *
The three of us visited the Golden Blood Hall and the Golden Blood Inn as soon as dawn broke.
Obtaining and reviewing materials from that place wasn’t particularly difficult.
“Oh my! Inspector, you’ve arrived!”
They rubbed their hands together eagerly, not even knowing who Sama Hyeon was.
‘Hmm. So this is the difference between those belonging to Hong Lu-gak and those directly under the Golden Blood Hall?’
I felt the terror of power.
Even before Sama Hyeon asked for anything, premium refreshments and the finest medicinal tea appeared.
And beneath that teacup sat a golden frog nestled snugly inside.
“Hey, this is a bribe…”
“Gaga, what sin did this little frog commit~ ? It didn’t choose to be born golden, did it~? Sigh… poor thing. Cold, isn’t it? Come inside where my sleeve is warm.”
Sama Hyeon flicked his middle finger rapidly, slipping the golden frog into his sleeve.
Truly the Golden Blood Hall.
The incompetent cannot survive here.
“It really does feel different from the Righteous Faction.”
Cheonwoo answered my remark calmly.
“The Righteous Faction exchanges bribes too. Has there ever been a time in Martial Arts Alliance history without corruption?”
A mad world indeed.
Then again, Gangho is where people kill and die without hesitation.
If murder is easy, bribery is even easier.
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Oh, and~ if you don’t accept this, I’ll send assassins next time.”
“What? You’re still an inspector. You’d do this to an inspector? What if you get caught?”
“People don’t live thinking about the future as much as you do. They can kill and disguise it as an accident. If an investigator comes down, they can just bribe them too. And besides, I don’t even need to commit actual corruption. An inspector in a foul mood can frame someone with false charges, can’t they?”
“…You actually do such things?”
My eyes widened slightly.
“Normally, they don’t. But it does happen, and it’s become a sort of convention to do so in order to look good to the inspectors. As for my brother, his personality is already well-known, and Baek Rin-ui-seon is standing behind him with such a fierce glare that everyone just naturally keeps their distance.”
Sama Hyeon hummed as if singing a song.
“Catching and killing assassins in the dead of night isn’t a problem, but going through the trouble of tracking down the masterminds behind them, destroying their dantians, severing their meridians—even righteous heroes find that tedious, you know~”
That’s why a world equipped with household hellfire and household mortars is such a mess.
Jin Cheon-hee came to understand why Gangho could never truly know peace.
Not through martial prowess, but through literature.
Thus, our group
grasped approximately two years’ worth of financial flows, and separately gathered information about the people involved.
Along with the documents recording all of it, we took it all in at once.
“Times like these make me envious of Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong.”
“Yeah. I’m just grateful to my Master.”
Jin Cheon-hee said so while absorbing the characters into his eyes as if consuming a meal.
Watching me embed everything into my mind, Sama Hyeon spoke.
“Isn’t Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong a bit strange, though?”
“Hmm?”
“Usually, martial arts ultimately achieve righteousness through the sword, fist, spear, or bow, and reach the Way at the end. That’s why even Gae Pa Josa left such testaments, or Seolhwa did.”
“That’s true.”
“For example, Cheonwoo’s Mudang Faction and Jang Sambon’s story are famous. Or Seolhwa, who created the Taiji Quan.”
Since that was also correct, Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
Sama Hyeon’s eyes blinked.
“But Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong is different, you see~ The Jegallim Family has Taeul Danseonggeom, but the real core is ultimately Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong. And Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong is about having an exceptional mind, but that alone seems different from other martial arts, doesn’t it?”
The perspective of someone from Gangho.
‘Sama Hyeon’s viewpoint is certainly unique.’
Jin Cheon-hee scratched his chin.
A modern person would simply accept that the Jegallim Family in wuxia novels always appears that way.
However, hearing Hyeon speak from a Gangho perspective made me think this was indeed strange.
“If we consider only the essence, wouldn’t it mean reaching righteousness through the mind and attaining the Way?”
“Exactly. But it’s not a weapon.”
“As you said, Taeul Danseonggeom only assists. Same with Cheongi Miribu.”
Jin Cheon-hee fell into thought before speaking.
“Perhaps they judged that unwavering rationality in any circumstance is the ultimate way to reach true righteousness.”
The ancient ruins of Jin Ju-eonga.
For a moment, I had touched ‘her’.
That I could maintain my sense of self was thanks to Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong.
Had I touched ‘her’ without Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, my sense of self would have shattered and been swept away like Eongaju’s.
Accepting ‘her’ gift as a true gift,
my sense of self would have scattered without a trace.
Moreover, surprisingly, ‘she’ was purely bestowing ‘gifts’ upon mortals out of goodwill.
Mortals could only be swept away by such distant benevolence.
“Protect yourself in any situation. That’s probably what she intended.”
“Why does your tone sound so similar to when you were defending Master…?”
“No, it’s not wrong though, is it?”
Sama Hyeon replied.
“It’s just. I smell something a bit off, you know~ Of course, I know that Gae Pa Josa left behind tremendous accomplishments and many remarkable things. I know, but… I wonder if never going mad at any moment is truly a blessing.”
“Hmm?”
Sama Hyeon furrowed one brow.
“For example, suppose everyone but you went mad and you alone remained sane. Like being the only one who can see in a village of the blind. Is that really good?”
“…Isn’t it good? You can help those who are blind.”
“Maybe it could be good. But people might point fingers at you too. ‘He calls that red. Red? Where does such a thing even exist?’, ‘Isn’t he just spouting madness?’, ‘Ilgwang is a liar.’ Things like that.”
It was a story I’d heard often since the days when I embraced massive jars claiming to make penicillin.
Though lately, with my reputation built up, such incidents have decreased.
‘Yes. That’s what being an outsider must be like.’
Jin Cheon-hee felt a profound loneliness.
‘To others, I’m always just a madman.’
Of course, I’d long forgotten the days when my hair grew long and I’d spin my tied hair like a propeller.
I’d also momentarily forgotten the times I’d burst into wild laughter while grinding lightning in the fields.
On the day I completed solid toothpaste, I’d forgotten how I’d clutched old Sang Ui-won’s legs, weeping and asking how soon I could use it to brush.
‘Ah, to be an Earthling is truly lonely.’
…Professor Jin had fallen into self-pity.
‘Yes. This is the fate of an outsider from another world. To live pointed at as a madman by everyone—such is my destiny.’
This solitude, this sorrow.
I missed Earth.
There, surely, were those who would understand me.
Sama Hyeon watched his brother’s face shifting by the moment and found it somewhat amusing.
‘Wow, our brother’s thinking up another crazy idea~’
Sama Hyeon pretended not to notice and continued speaking.
“Anyway, speaking as someone with thick bones from the Heterodox Faction, there’s a whiff of deception about it. So there’s a golden ratio hidden within—seventy percent truth and thirty percent falsehood~”
Then Cheonwoo spoke with a bright smile.
“Ah, brother. I think his heart thinking of posterity is one hundred percent.”
Thus he turned Sama Hyeon into a dog eating scraps while cursing someone else’s Gae Pa Josa.
The killing intent from Sama Hyeon felt sharp against the back of my neck.
Yet Cheonwoo seemed delighted.
At this point, weren’t they like real brothers?
Not sworn brothers of Gangho, but rather just household register mates, that kind of relationship.
‘Unexpectedly, Cheonwoo seems quite fond of Hyeon.’
I knew that not many people joked with Cheonwoo like this.
Conversely, I also knew that not many people let Hyeon get away with needling them like this.
I was included among those two people.
‘Truly, we’re brothers.’
It was pleasant.
Even as I pursue this dark trail stained with blood, being with these two people makes me smile constantly.
What is Yeo Ha-ryun doing right now, and where?
‘It would be reassuring to have him here at a time like this.’
I voiced this thought.
“Gae Pa Josa has no obligation to pass everything down to his descendants. If his intentions have survived and been transmitted until now, that itself speaks to how remarkable Gae Pa Josa was.”
I answered coolly.
Then I found the problematic section and immediately pointed to it with my finger.
Haeseon Pharmacy.
A medicine shop and medical establishment that has been operating in Qingdao for over a hundred years.
“There are many medical establishments in Gangho that try to solve everything through medicine, just like Hwaju Medical Institute. Especially among the various methods to become an immortal, elixir cultivation techniques are widely spread throughout Gangho, you could say?”
“Oho, did you discover something here? Gaga~”
Sama Hyeon cracked his knuckles with a sound.
Just that alone was enough for killing intent to seep through.
To exude such sticky murderous aura, just how much blood must he have stained his hands with?
Such thoughts crossed my mind, but of course I didn’t voice them.
Right now Sama Hyeon is my cute (?) younger brother…
And he wants to thoroughly hide such an appearance in front of his older brother.
Cheonwoo spoke.
“Isn’t it rare to find a medical establishment that doesn’t use elixir cultivation techniques? Hwaju Medical Institute is praised as the finest in Gangho for medicine precisely because they are masters of elixir cultivation.”
“Though now the reputation has spread that ‘Baekrin Medical Guild’s medicine is also the best!’ Ahem~!”
It’s Baekrin Medical Guild that’s thriving, yet somehow Sama Hyeon is the one putting emphasis in his voice.
“Anyway. Still, there are many places where regional medical establishments are the finest. This Haeseon Pharmacy is one of those places too.”
It’s called the premier medical establishment of this Qingdao.
Such mid-sized, prestigious medical establishments exist everywhere in Gangho,
And sometimes they cooperate with Baekrin Medical Guild, while other times they independently discover new medical techniques.
‘Of course, they also feed unverified dangerous medicines to patients.’
After all, elixir cultivation techniques in this era contain mercury.
“So?”
“Yes. Recently, there are traces of large sums of money flowing into Haeseon Pharmacy from the households of those who were cured of incurable diseases or regained sexual function despite being eunuchs.”
Unlike modern Earth, account tracking isn’t possible, but merchant promissory note tracking is.
When a wealthy family’s promissory note is exchanged for cash at Haeseon Pharmacy, a record remains in their ledgers.
“Yes. They couldn’t hide this much~”
The tail was caught.
“Running a medical guild, I’ve come to realize that unless someone is already wealthy and generous with money, they typically only donate when they have a sick patient.”
“In other words, Haeseon Pharmacy sold miraculous medicine~ Is that what you’re saying? Gaga?”
Sama Hyeon’s voice takes on a playful tone as he continues cracking his knuckles.
Crack, crackle.
The expression is cute, but the hands are sinister.
It seems he plans to snap the traitor’s neck and spend the remaining time playing with his older brother.
I made every effort not to look at Sama Hyeon’s hands.
Now it was time to pull the thread I’d caught.
“The name itself is ominous to begin with. Sea Immortal. It differs from Hyeolseonggyo by just a single character, doesn’t it?”
“The character for ‘immortal’ does appear frequently in medical texts, though.”
“True. So suspecting based on that alone would be excessive. But given that they’ve consumed medicine and donated substantial funds, we should pay them a visit, shouldn’t we?”
Sama Hyeon laughed with a crimson gleam in his eyes.
“A few conversations with the Sea Immortal Hall members should suffice.”
“Hyeon-a. Well… this time, we’re going to have a peaceful conversation, understand?”
“But wouldn’t it be better to nip them all in the bud like mushrooms~? Gaga?”
It seemed she wanted to abandon this detective game and fulfill her duty as a true martial artist.
‘That’s true. No matter how noble a person is, they’ll spill the truth if you drive a blade through their intestines. But…’
As a doctor, or rather as a modern person, conducting interrogations through disembowelment didn’t sit right with me.
That’s when Cheonwoo spoke.
“Let’s go to where they received treatment. That would be better.”
“Hmm?”
“One of the Mudang Faction’s lay disciples is among the patients there.”
Cheonwoo smiled brightly.
That was right.
When Cheonwoo moved, it meant the Mudang Faction’s network scattered across various regions also moved.
So this was the information the Mudang Faction had provided.
‘Ah, but Cheonwoo is a dark path hermit…’
Wasn’t his mission to eliminate members of the Mudang Faction tainted by the dark path?

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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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