Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 939

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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 939
Sama-hye, who had been pondering my question for a long time, finally shook her head.
“I’m not sure.”
Sama-hye couldn’t answer easily either.
The scent of burning cigarettes drifted from beside me.
I extinguished it and waved my hand through the air, then created a breeze to scatter the smoke far away.
No secondhand smoke.
The message was clear.
Sama-hye seemed somewhat displeased.
“People really do die so fleetingly, don’t they?”
“Indeed….”
Listening to my hollow voice, Sama-hye thought it was strangely pleasant to hear.
The heavy weight in her mind seemed to lighten slightly.
“You’ve seen much of this, haven’t you? Eun Gong?”
“Well. Yes.”
This time, I at least answered.
“How do you endure it?”
“It’s not so much enduring as… becoming accustomed to it.”
Becoming accustomed.
I truly believed that.
“So… one becomes accustomed to this.”
“Yes. You become accustomed. The martial artists of Gangho do the same.”
“I don’t think I could ever become accustomed to it….”
The human heart is, in a way, like stone.
We think stone is hard, yet nothing is carved away quite so easily.
It rolls and shatters.
It’s worn away by currents.
The stone that rolls and rolls eventually becomes pebbles the size of a fist, growing rounder and rounder until
it finally becomes a grain of sand.
Common grains of sand.
All were once lava, once layers of earth, once stones.
Suddenly, I recalled a handful of sand.
So small, so tiny they’re invisible to the eye.
How many stones had been contained in that single handful?
Thousands upon thousands of abrasions eventually transform stone into sand.
‘How far has my heart worn down by now?’
Yet it wasn’t all suffering.
So I opened my mouth.
“Still, it’s worthwhile.”
“Worthwhile?”
“There are those I couldn’t save. But because of me, there are also those who can live again, aren’t there?”
“Ah….”
“It’s the nature of a martial artist doctor—the negative aspects weigh heavily. One word of hatred hurts more than ten words of praise. But you see, it’s not as though there are no good points at all. Sometimes you have to take those out and look at them too.”
The hollow eyes slowly returned to life.
Broken and empty, yet mended and filled again.
It was the wisdom of an adult.
When I went to Oh Dok-mun, in that place where I was with Sama Hyeon.
The people there stood up for me against the Demonic Cult members.
In the Damjin Kingdom too.
People gave me a grand farewell as I left, asking me to return.
Before that, in the Dadu Kingdom as well.
Before this Baek Rin became Baekrin Hyeon.
Even in the village where I brewed peach wine.
When Gungwi Wang Chae-baek came to stay at the Baekrin Group after treating his daughter Wang Gak-yeon.
When I cured the Emperor’s twin Pung Ha-eun’s large intestinal cancer.
When I cured Ga Wan’s daughter Ga-won.
When I saved Tugoe’s granddaughter.
The previous Gaebang Bangju, Yeo Ha-ryun, Sama-hye, Cheonwoo, the people of the North Sea Ice Palace, those suffering from smallpox, those groaning from plague.
Regardless of the order of time.
Memories flooding back indiscriminately.
I recalled all those countless people I had saved.
My hollow eyes finally curved into a small smile.
“Each and every one of them is my treasure.”
“Treasure….”
“And Hye-a. You’re one of my treasures too.”
“Me?”
“Yes. My treasure that I saved. That you lived, and grew like this to become a doctor by my side…. That’s a great treasure to me.”
Sama-hye turned her head upward with a slightly dazed expression.
Still languid, yet the adult standing there now showed vitality and color more than before.
It was like a shining star, she thought.
Sama-hye thought to herself.
“I see. So I’m… Eun Gong’s treasure….”
“My Master is, and so is Hyeon, and so is Cheonwoo. As for Ha-ryun…. Actually, he’d do fine even if I hadn’t saved him.”
I chuckled.
Yeo Ha-ryun. The protagonist of Jicheon Cheonma.
Perhaps the only part where I felt I’d committed fraud—my first medical brother.
Then a voice suddenly interjected.
“What about Commander Yoo?”
“Huh?”
Why did Yoo Ho come up there?
Looking down, I see Sama-hye gazing at me.
“Isn’t Commander Yoo a treasure?”
“Commander Yoo is the greatest treasure of all. Look at today—without Commander Yoo, there’s no one to perform suction therapy… Sigh. I miss Commander Yoo.”
At those words, Sama-hye bursts into laughter.
“What is that? If Commander Yoo heard that, he’d try to kill Eun Gong.”
“No, he wouldn’t try to kill me. Well… he might just caress me roughly with his loving hands…”
“You mean that Chui Gung and Hyeol technique?”
“That’s right. It’s really effective…”
Only then.
Life returns to both our voices.
Small jokes pass between us, soothing our exhaustion.
Perhaps it was merely how adults compose themselves.
And so one day passed.
Countless people lived.
And countless people vanished as that day wore on.
* * *
Near the fishing village stood a small rocky mountain called Seokdosan.
A mountain barely thirty zhang in height.
Yet from its peak, one could see the entire fishing village spread out below.
Upon the summit of Seokdosan stood a single figure wearing a mask divided into black and white.
And behind that figure stood six more wearing masks of pure black.
The Heart-Soul Ghost Spirit Sect.
Those who had proclaimed themselves the Demonic Six Families of the Namgung Clan’s demonic faction.
Why did they stand here?
“What a fortunate coincidence. To think Cheonhailgwang would be here of all places.”
The figure in the black-and-white mask opened their mouth and spoke aloud.
From those words alone, it seemed this person was plotting something here.
What scheme could they possibly be devising?
“Hehehehe. How delightful. After all, Hyeolrin won’t be able to stop this either. For the demon within human hearts is desire itself. How could one possibly prevent that?”
Hyeolrin.
They speak of my master.
Could it be that the Heart-Soul Ghost Spirit Sect is plotting against Jegalling?
“Come. Let us depart now. We need only withdraw and observe from a distance. May the Cheonma be pleased.”
“May the Cheonma be pleased.”
“May the Cheonma be pleased.”
The monstrous figures chant in unison.
It was a sight that fit the word “fanaticism” all too perfectly.
* * *
I made my way to Baekrin Medical Guild feeling utterly worn and tattered.
My body, however, remained vigorous.
Having mastered the Five Elements Divine Art and entered the realms beyond, it was only natural.
Moreover, the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong prevented forced loss of reason, making demonic possession impossible.
I could even compress the agonizing stress and push it into a corner of my mind.
In truth, my experiences on Earth, in the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly, operating an emergency ward during the war with the Suksin Tribe,
and the struggles over Oh Dok-mun’s secret manual and the Pulsing Heavens Formless Divine Art—having endured such hells, I’d grown quite seasoned in these matters.
Still.
‘I’m dying…. Truly.’
Familiarity meant it wasn’t intensely painful,
but that didn’t mean I wasn’t exhausted.
In such a state, when I reached the vicinity of the city where Baekrin Medical Guild was located,
the city seemed unusually bustling.
There were always crowds, but that was the vitality of prosperity.
This felt different somehow.
“Hye-a. Have you heard any news of trouble at our Medical Guild?”
“Nothing like that. Why do you ask?”
“The city seems unusually busy.”
“I don’t see it that way….”
“Well. Let’s go check it out.”
Leading the group, I entered the city.
And I could soon understand why it seemed so bustling.
The inns were packed with people, and the proportion of martial artists walking about was considerable.
And most of them were wounded.
‘What is this? Why are there so many patients….’
Furthermore,
matching the number of martial artists were constables and guards.
And commanders were patrolling about.
‘Something about this situation feels wrong.’
There was no active conflict, yet an eerie tension hung in the air.
So I hurried toward the Medical Guild.
Even climbing the mountain, I saw countless patients passing along the path.
Arriving at the Medical Guild,
I could see it teeming with patients on all sides.
“Soggakju! Welcome back!”
The gatekeeper greeted me.
“What on earth has happened? Why are there so many patients?”
“That is… there has been a war, they say.”
“A… war!?”
Not a blood sect incident?
My eyes widened.
* * *
Tap—
Jin Cheon-hee walked through the Medical Guild with barely a sound.
His attire was not that of someone who had just returned.
Somewhere along the way, he had changed into surgical robes, his hands raised toward the heavens.
Five Elements Divine Art swirled around him, self-sterilizing his body!
Moreover.
He was using a qi membrane to completely isolate his entire body from external contact.
The perfect state of preparation for surgery!
In the old days, I could never have dreamed of reaching such a level!
Some might mock me for using martial arts of this caliber merely to prepare for surgery, but I felt nothing but pride.
Any surgeon would feel the same.
This is fantasy—what else could it be!
Must one slay a dragon to experience fantasy!
‘My, how far I’ve come.’
Indeed, whether one is a doctor or a housekeeper, one must first become a master. That is the truth.
And.
Yoo Ho walked beside me.
“Currently, fifty-five martial sects within Gangso Province are either destroying each other or in the process of doing so. Patients are flooding into the branch halls throughout the region. And only the most severely wounded who are difficult to treat are being transported to headquarters.”
“That’s probably because they can sustain life for a few days using inner energy or healing pills. They should go to the branch halls instead….”
“It’s mainly those with severed limbs doing that. Even though the branch halls are capable of surgery for such injuries, human foolishness is unavoidable, it seems.”
“Sigh…. So Master is also performing surgery right now?”
“Yes.”
Indeed. The moment I arrived at the Medical Guild, I changed into surgical robes and was about to throw myself back into the frontlines of surgery.
“Yoo Ho doesn’t need to help Master?”
“At this point, managing personnel is more efficient for me. Muwol Naechongwan alone cannot handle the workload.”
Yoo Ho now possessed medical skills that surpassed even ordinary senior physicians.
The dignity of an all-purpose nursing graduate student, one might say?
But at this very moment, Yoo Ho’s personnel management abilities were more valuable than such skills.
It was unavoidable given the flood of incoming patients.
Without a middle manager acting as lubricant, patients could die before even reaching the surgical table.
“I see. Thank you for your hard work, Yoo Ho. I appreciate it.”
“Please take care of yourself as well, Young Master.”
Yoo Ho said this and walked away in another direction.
Watching his retreating figure for a moment, I took a deep breath and opened the surgical room door with a gesture, stepping inside.
Creak—
Someone’s help, automatic doors?
Ha ha ha! Such things are unnecessary.
The era is one of gestural manipulation.
‘Now that’s style.’
One doesn’t need to slay some sect elder with a sword technique to look cool.
I push open the Pusul Hall door with a casual wave of my hand.
Striding in with such confidence, the nursing staff already standing by, along with the Pusul Hall middle physicians and medical assistants, simply bow their heads in greeting as they see me.
“Well then. Is everyone prepared? You all look quite grim~ very much so.”
I make sure not to forget speaking as cheerfully as possible.
I am the leader of this Pusul Hall.
I know that if I collapse, everyone else will fall with me.
The road ahead is long.
So it’s best to minimize emotional exhaustion as much as possible.
“What are you doing? Let’s finish this up quickly and get some food.”
Not a blood battle, but a war-level conflict.
I cannot know how many more patients will come flooding in.
Still, I steel my resolve.
‘That’s what Gangho is.’
This is truly the beginning of an emergency war.

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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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