Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 904

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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 904
The garrison soldiers and guards armed themselves with spears, swords, and crossbows at strategic points throughout Qingdo.
With such thorough preparations in place, the atmosphere itself radiated a formidable, razor-sharp intensity.
The enemy was a demon that devoured humans.
In my childhood, I had heard tales of demons and ghosts in folklore, but I had never heard stories of such beings actually existing and tearing people apart to consume them.
Yet surprisingly, the commoners did not panic and instead made their own preparations.
Cheonwoo spoke.
“Commoners in Gangho have experienced bloodshed before. Whether it’s large or small, whether it happens in an alley or on a main street—it makes little difference.”
Whether the enemy was a black swordsman or a demon, the distinction was minimal.
The only difference was whether they killed and tore flesh from bones, or refrained from doing so.
Wasn’t it said that residents in dangerous neighborhoods in America experience something akin to war PTSD?
Gangho exists in such a state perpetually.
Even before the Hwa Empire was established.
Since this world was founded on yin-yang and the five elements, since individuals could run across water and tear boulders apart with their bare hands.
Unless one lived in a place with security as exceptional as Baek Rin County, everyone had to live like this.
If one disliked it, they had to learn martial arts themselves.
Of course, even if one learned martial arts, unless they lived as a hermit, they would inevitably become entangled in the grievances of Gangho.
The commoners skillfully barricaded their doors and windows with wooden planks, then hid with their families somewhere safe, or headed toward the government office.
I had used my authority to allow the commoners to evacuate to the government office.
However, some commoners who didn’t trust even the government office went to places they trusted most.
‘Yes, that makes sense. In a world like this, the government isn’t particularly trustworthy.’
Even if the current Emperor ruled better than his predecessors, the principle of non-interference still held true unless one was going to exterminate all Kang Ho-in.
Trusting no one and seeking survival through one’s own means could be considered a virtue in such an era.
‘I wonder how weak modern people like myself would survive in such a world.’
Yet somehow, people do survive.
Because they survive, they have children, farm, and live on.
‘Of course, because it’s so difficult, the average lifespan barely exceeds thirty years.’
The streets were completely empty—not even an ant could be seen.
The Kang Ho-in and garrison soldiers didn’t converse like oil and water, yet they exchanged knowing glances.
Even Jin Ju-eonga’s corpse puppets.
No matter how righteous the corpse puppet technique was claimed to be, with animated corpses bouncing about, not a single person showed disgust.
Rather, there was a clear hope that those bouncing corpses would catch and kill even one more Goe-eo-in.
When I mentioned this, Cheonwoo answered.
“Through investigation, the garrison soldiers also came to understand the severity of the Goe-eo-in. They realized these weren’t just commoners hallucinating from opium, but actual threats.”
With so many reports, how could they not investigate? That’s dereliction of duty.
I gritted my teeth, thinking I would have to report this fact to the Emperor later as an inspector.
Sama Hyeon spoke.
“They’re scared too. These people are here because they’re guards and have no choice, but~ isn’t the unknown more frightening than the known~?”
“Yes.”
“This thick sea fog is rare even in this area.”
Cheonwoo nodded.
“When someone encounters Sama Oedo, they can’t focus on anything else. The terror itself is overwhelming.”
Sama Oedo.
I observe Cheonwoo.
He offered a small smile.
“I’m fine, hyeong. My hands and feet are warm now.”
Cheonwoo had witnessed Sama Oedo, and his limbs had frozen solid as ice.
It was only natural.
It was a malice he had never experienced before, not the kind humans inflicted upon each other.
It was the manner in which non-human entities inflicted suffering upon humans.
That malice, that madness.
No ordinary human could endure it.
Especially Cheonwoo, who understood the warmth between humans. And Gwon Je had—
‘Though seemingly indifferent, he gave his disciple considerable affection in his own way.’
Though he had driven his disciple in the manner of a martial artist, one could not deny that he loved Cheonwoo.
“Whether it’s a non-human entity or Sama Oedo, there won’t be any more heart demons. What I just said means I understand the garrison soldiers’ feelings… Hyeong, don’t worry.”
I nod.
“But how do you manage it, hyeong? You’re a doctor.”
“Perhaps it’s the profession. Gory films don’t really scare me much.”
“…?”
Cheonwoo couldn’t comprehend what I meant.
I correct myself.
“As a doctor, I see things I should and shouldn’t see. Even when blood arts seem impressive in the martial world, from a medical perspective, the patterns of death are surprisingly similar. And doctors see death often.”
After blood arts conclude, the first to rush in are doctors and undertakers.
Perhaps that’s why Jin Ju-eon’s family and I get along so well.
Sama Hyeon subtly changes the subject.
“Speaking of which, does the Jin Ju-eon family perform funerals for demons too?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Can you even turn a goe-eo-in into a corpse puppet?”
The Jin Ju-eon family creates corpse puppets only with consent from bereaved family members or the deceased themselves, but occasionally.
Very occasionally, I’ve heard they use them on villains deserving of universal condemnation without consent.
The reasoning being that since they committed those sins while alive, they should repay them even in death.
‘Hmm. If Eongaju saw the secret dark temple underground, he’d probably attempt to turn all the goe-eo-in into corpse puppets.’
That’s the kind of sight you’d see in the black markets dealing in human flesh.
Though they say modern black markets don’t do that anymore.
Then.
A garrison soldier spoke.
“Is that… clouds rolling in?”
I had thought the sea mist already filled Qingdao completely, but denser mist was approaching from the distance.
It crept over the horizon, dampened the beach, and gradually began to swallow the houses one by one.
“It feels like something’s in the water.”
Sama Hyeon muttered under his breath.
No one dared to refute his words.
Water droplets continued to seep into my nostrils, again and again.
Everyone felt as though their entire bodies were being filled with mist.
It was not poison. Merely water.
Everyone witnessed the waves of sea mist so thick that even fish could swim through them.
By itself, it accelerated humanity’s primal fear.
The garrison soldiers’ body hair stood on end.
The Kang Ho-in gritted their teeth and silently chanted their incantations.
The incantation was the Koran of the Kang Ho-in.
Whether in joy, in battle, or even in death, the Kang Ho-in recited their own incantations.
From ancient times, passed down through generations from Gae Pa Josa himself, blood flowing through blood, those incantations continued on.
Even if the body had already mastered them completely and forgotten them, the sword path would follow along.
Within inescapable fear, they recited the incantations.
Then.
Weeeeooooooo–!
A sound that human vocal cords could never produce vibrated every drop of moisture in the air.
The very belly of those inhaling that water resonated with the sound.
Splash!
Along with the sound of water falling, something was crawling up along the coastline.
The sea mist obscured it from view.
Though invisible, the distinctive fishy stench of the sea could be detected.
And.
How close had it come?
Black silhouettes began appearing through the sea mist.
Human limbs were attached to them. But they were far larger than humans.
And the shape of gills and the shape of webbed feet.
Something with a form utterly inhuman approached in groups.
“Dem-demons! Goe-eo-in!”
“It-it was real!”
What the garrison soldiers had seen were Goe-eo-in hybrids or mutations with forms relatively similar to humans.
They had never encountered those who had completely shed human form and wore proper armor.
The General commanded, drowning out the screams.
“Fire the crossbows!”
The garrison soldiers responded immediately to his order.
Separate from their fear, their hands cranked the crossbows.
Ratatatat!
This was the reason for their existence, practiced thousands upon thousands of times, tens of thousands of times, and among them were many who had directly encountered the Suksin Tribe.
Humans performed what they had learned even within fear beyond comprehension.
After that, the regular archers also began firing arrows alongside them.
Ping ping ping ping!
Tears streaked the faces of several archers.
They groaned, suppressing their terror.
“How can such creatures even exist!”
Yet they did not stop drawing their bowstrings.
Their families stood behind them, after all.
Thousands upon thousands of arrows filled the sky in an instant, tearing through the sea mist before embedding themselves.
However.
“Damn it… too shallow.”
The moment my words ended, the Goe-eo-in began thundering forward.
The largest among them, their bodies exceeding ten feet, led the charge.
Arrows pierced their massive frames, yet they foamed and sealed their wounds, regenerating.
Then they wielded enormous tridents—weapons that seemed like siege equipment—and thrust them forward.
Whoooosh!
Crash crash crash crash crash!
The front lines shattered in an instant.
“Ahhhhh! What monstrous strength!”
“The arrows don’t penetrate at all!”
“Do not retreat! Fight from behind the palisades!”
The Goe-eo-in that burst through the sea mist collided with the humans in moments.
“Some of the Goe-eo-in aren’t wearing armor?”
“Right. By their standards, they’re commoners. They conscripted them like humans would in war. Or rather… comparing them to humans might be meaningless.”
I had no idea how long these creatures had lived.
But tales of the Goe-eo-in had been passed down in drawings even before writing was invented.
Yet even the common-class Goe-eo-in possessed tremendous strength.
Dressed in ordinary clothes and wielding only a trident, their power was so immense that ordinary soldiers were pushed back in moments, impaled on the spears, and met their end.
Crash crash crash crash!
“Hold the line! Everyone hold!”
“Our families are behind us. We must fight!”
When line met line, chaos erupted.
I neutralized the stench of the battlefield with my pipe.
Whoosh—
The senses of a strategist returned, tingling from my fingertips.
‘This is truly an absurd battle. A mere garrison must respond to the unknown, and I must form formations with soldiers who have never coordinated before.’
There was no time for preliminary drills.
Unlike when facing the Suksin Tribe, the generals here could not move with practiced formations.
‘If only I could deploy the Eight Trigram Formation like then… but it’s impossible.’
A few might manage it.
But most of the garrison soldiers gathered here knew nothing beyond basic formations.
As for the Kang Ho-in… they still refused to listen even now.
The Suksin Tribe refused to obey orders in their grotesque way when they attacked, and they showed the same defiance against Sama Hyeon as well.
All I could do was decide when to throw myself into the chaos of battle.
I allowed myself at least that much control.
‘By the standards of everything I’ve learned, this is absolutely a fight I should never engage in.’
Yet, in a strategist’s lifetime, how many opportunities arise to choose one’s own battlefield?
Still, what lay behind me was the foundation of my life.
Family, fields, memories, roots.
Treasures that could not be exchanged for anything else.
The moment I raised the flag, a voice infused with inner energy rang out sharply.
“Deploy the Seven Star Sword Formation!”
Though Hyeong Gajangju had fled in the dead of night, his son steadied himself with composure.
Like true disciples of the inner sect, they drew upon the Seven Star Sword Technique learned from the Mudang Faction.
They deployed the Seven Star Sword Formation and began to engage the Goe-eo-in in combat.
A vicious miasma.
Against fear, humans strike back.
Voices infused with inner energy rang out sharply through the miasma.
“생문(生門)을 열어라—!”

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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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