Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 999

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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 999
Now it was humanity’s turn to eat.
Sama-hye’s eyes gleamed with delight.
“I humbly partake!”
With those words, she cut the sausage with a spoon and placed it in her mouth…
“Wow! What is this juiciness!”
Overcome with happiness, she waved her arms about wildly.
Amused by her display, Dang-a spoke.
“So you’re Sama-hye. My rival has brought an amusing friend. Or is she a disciple? Her aura feels different from my rival’s, yet similar in some way…”
That was likely due to the direct influence of Sama Hyeon’s teachings.
“A medical disciple. We’ve already been introduced, but she is Sama-hye, the Regeneration Sect Head.”
“Ah, I see.”
Dang-a removed her mask as she spoke.
Even without the mask, Dang-a remained Dang-a in this place.
A wanderer who loved blood and darkness.
People called it a game, but it remained sincere to her.
And those who loved such Dang-a had gathered here.
Dang-a placed the curry that Jin Cheon-hee had made into her mouth and closed her eyes gently.
“Yes. This is the taste. Mmm.”
“This is the second happiest day of my life! Eun Gong!”
The first must have been when her illness was completely cured…
‘…Hye-a. Are you happier seeing Dang-a than becoming the Regeneration Sect Head?’
It seemed to be the case.
Once everyone had happily satisfied their hunger, Jin Cheon-hee brought out real chocolate for dessert instead of curry this time.
He then snapped the chocolate bar with a sharp crack and prepared cocoa.
He used milk powder instead of fresh milk.
This was easier to store, and it had a different flavor from regular milk.
One might call it more of a camping taste.
“Hmm, I prefer alcohol to such things.”
“I don’t particularly enjoy alcohol myself. If you truly desire it, you may add some as you wish.”
With those words, he produced Cheonilchwi liquor.
“Eun Gong, do you carry all of this with you?”
“Rival. Where exactly do you pull all these things from?”
Jin Cheon-hee answered the questions from Sama-hye and Dang-a.
“I carry and store everything. With sufficient strength, there is nothing one cannot do.”
My Master calls me a “master of storage.”
I describe myself this way.
‘A merchant of the Gangho.’
Everything proved necessary.
I once thought such things were unnecessary, but they all proved essential.
I stuff everything into my sleeves, inner jacket pockets, medicine pouches, and the inside of my belt—which is perpetually overflowing.
Hwang-gu travels with me as well, carried along.
‘Ah, if only a spatial compression bag would appear!’
Is this such an unreasonable request in the Gangho world?
People run across water, achieve enlightenment and become immortals—so why don’t spatial compression pouches exist?
The traveling merchants grew melancholy.
Still, cocoa tastes wonderful.
The three of us camped together, watching the stars and drinking cocoa.
“Um… when did you decide to become the Hyeolpyeon-wang?”
“Ah, from the moment I was born into this world, I felt the presence of evil.”
“Wow…”
Sama-hye’s face flushed crimson.
This moment was something she wouldn’t trade for all the gold in the world.
I quietly sipped my cocoa, allowing the two to continue their conversation.
‘This is good.’
Wounds heal, and the warmth of the campfire is felt.
I retrieved the seven-stringed zither that Sama Hyeon had gifted me and played it softly.
Listening to that music, Sama-hye and Dang-a’s conversation continued in hushed, intimate tones.
“How do you maintain the weapons you use?”
“Ah, the secret workshops of the Sichuan Tang Family handle that. Not just maintenance—the researchers there assist with enhancement as well. The secret bracelet that fires poisoned needles, and this hairpin that sometimes serves as a key, are all creations of the secret workshop.”
“Wow!”
“If you find it so fascinating, would you like to touch it? The whip is difficult, but I can let you handle the hairpin.”
“R-r-really? Truly? Am I… allowed?”
“….”
Today was the happiest day of Sama-hye’s life.
The day when legend came alive.
‘Dang-a seems excited too.’
Though Namgung Yeon visits occasionally, the path Dang-a walks is one where iron and blood clash.
It’s not easy to meet peers her own age.
Seeing someone who has admired you for so long warms the heart deeply.
‘Ah, I should brew more cocoa.’
They’ve already emptied it during their conversation.
* * *
After finishing dinner and dessert, it’s time to sleep.
I deployed a formation to ensure safety and moved about diligently.
A secret technique I use every time we camp.
An instant makeshift ondol!
I retrieve the stones I’d placed in the campfire used for cooking, level the ground, and lay the stones down.
Cover them with soil again, then spread a blanket over it—complete.
Even this much retains warmth for several hours, allowing us to sleep comfortably with our backs warmed.
Though Sama-hye might not have known, Dang-a had already reached the realm of Eternal Frost Immunity, so cold held no sway over her anymore. Yet warming one’s back was a matter of comfort and sensation.
The feeling of one’s body relaxing into languid ease.
Once you’ve tasted it, you cannot resist it.
“An ondol heating system at a campsite… Ahhh… how wonderful this feels.”
Dang-a was savoring the ondol with the contentment of an elder.
“When I become the Gaju, I shall have the entire estate fitted with ondol heating.”
Sichuan was a warm region where ondol was unnecessary, yet it seemed she had taken quite a liking to it regardless.
Jin Cheon-hee closed his eyes as he listened to Dang-a’s murmuring.
‘Somehow, I feel I shall have pleasant dreams tonight.’
Though the day had been like a nightmare, it was bearable.
Even amidst hellish combat.
I had shared delicious food and joyful conversation with those I cherished.
‘Is life not made perfect by merely such things?’
And that is the reason we are able to continue living.
It was also the reason the Doctor prepared his meals.
* * *
Morning arrived. We began organizing our belongings for departure. There was scarcely anything to organize.
The campsite could be left as it was without need for dismantling. We only needed to repack our supplies.
I gathered the pot fashioned from Heukgapoong’s shell, along with the kitchen knife and cutting board.
The blankets were rolled up and fastened to Hwang-gu’s back, and that was that.
It was then that Sama-hye spoke.
“Oh? The offering vessel has disappeared.”
It was true.
The large bowl that had clearly been resting atop the boulder had vanished as though it had never existed.
“What in the world…?”
Looking closer, I could see cracks in the boulder and fragments of the shattered vessel.
“It appears something pecked at the bowl and consumed it entirely.”
“Yet I heard no sound while sleeping?”
As Jin Cheon-hee turned to look back, Dang-a, Hye-a, Hwang-gu, Noeji, and the Seven-Colored Envoy all nodded in agreement with the same expression.
Hye-a might not have noticed, but Jin Cheon-hee himself had already reached the level of a master approaching Hyeongyeong, and Dang-a was accustomed to sleeping outdoors—either would have awakened at such a sound.
The same held true for the spiritual creatures.
‘An approach undetected by all of us? Such a thing is possible?’
There were indeed entities capable of such feats.
As one could discern from Mu-jon in the past, a master who had reached Hyeongyeong could manage it.
And there were also spiritual beings approaching divinity.
The Six-Horned Venomous Snake, and Chimjo…
‘Could Chimjo have actually consumed the poisoned curry?’
Afterward, I made my way to the location where Chimjo’s feathers lay.
Toxic energy still overflowed from the spot.
“Hmm, the feathers seem to have taken on a more vibrant appearance, don’t they?”
I hadn’t noticed because I’d only seen it at night.
Each feather seemed to shimmer with vitality, as if alive, and glowed faintly.
‘As if welcoming those who came here.’
That couldn’t be. They’re just feathers.
I spoke.
“Could we possibly obtain this from the Tang Family?”
“Even I don’t know that. However, we will find a way. With a main family that has thousands of years of history, they should be capable of handling it.”
Dang-a said this and blew a whistle.
Wheeeee!
A hawk appeared from somewhere, snatched Dang-a’s letter, and vanished.
It was a letter describing this situation.
“I’ve written plenty of warnings, so you’ll handle it appropriately.”
Indeed.
Even the Sichuan Tang Family had to be cautious.
The feathers of Chimjo, the Poison Immortal. Its toxicity was truly formidable.
The area of blackened earth had already expanded compared to last night.
“Wait.”
I approached the toxin-laden ground and felt the poisoned soil with my hands.
When I touched it with my right hand, it stung.
Even I, who possessed near-complete poison immunity, felt this.
Truly Chimjo’s poison. Not just the feathers themselves, but even the soil tainted by their toxicity was this potent.
‘Even my left arm’s Black Dragon couldn’t handle this.’
At that moment.
Shudder, shudder, shudder.
My left arm, and my left hand, suddenly trembled on their own.
‘What…?’
This wasn’t my left arm convulsing. The poison sleeping within it—Hyeongyeong’s Poison—was moving on its own!
‘Why suddenly…? Could it be upset because I said it was impossible?’
No, how could an arm develop consciousness and do such a thing?!
While I was having this absurd thought, the Hyeongyeong Poison in my left arm suddenly burst out from it.
It touched the ground like a spider.
It was as if a shadow had gained consciousness and begun to move on its own.
Strangely, Chimjo’s feathers also fluttered without wind, as if alive and moving.
‘Am I losing my mind?’
Whoooosh!
And then something extraordinary happened.
The toxin in the ground began to be absorbed!
At that moment, a certain will was conveyed to me.
-Tribute, it was delicious. Bi as well, and poison cuisine too.
-Gift, I’ll give. Strange one who transcends the sky, human.
‘Chimjo?’
For Chimjo, the Bi that I had slain yesterday was a tribute offered by humans.
The poisoned curry too had been openly placed upon the rocks according to the customs of this region, so it was indeed a tribute.
Just as the Six-Horned Venomous Snake had once repaid those humans who offered it alcohol.
Chimjo was likewise an ancient entity.
Having been given precious sustenance, it would repay the humans in kind.
“What!? What in the world is happening, my rival!”
“Eun Gong!”
“Don’t come closer!”
I stopped the two who were rushing toward me. Cold sweat dripped down my face.
‘This is repayment? An ordinary person would have died from a single wave of that toxin?’
Yet that ‘repayment’ was only repayment from their perspective.
Chimjo too resembled those massive ‘entities’.
Whether a human could withstand a gift from a god was unknowable.
No, to be precise, merely touching this ‘gift’ would cause that human to melt down to their very bones, and this entire region would become barren wasteland.
‘Why is this called a gift… Ugh!’
For a gift, it was far too cruel.
Only entities like the Six-Horned Venomous Snake would appreciate such a gift.
‘I must survive and leave behind records for posterity warning never to feed Chimjo!’
In that moment, the Hyeongyeong Venomous Snake began to rampage wildly once more!
‘Kugh! This… it’s suddenly drawing in the toxins…’
Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong at maximum output!
Coupled with the Five Elements Divine Art deployed at full power!
Toxins accumulated in my arms. The remaining poison then began to penetrate my body.
I decomposed it again with the Five Elements Divine Art.
Decomposing, decomposing, decomposing with all my strength while accumulating it within my body.
Once I made the toxins my own, I stored them in my body and used them to decompose new toxins again.
Like the rotation of a typhoon, all the divine arts began to circulate through my Ren and Du meridians.
The Immortal Divine Art, the Celestial Dragon Art, and portions of the Reverse Muscle Scripture.
A multitude of divine arts and secret techniques interlocked without the slightest error, rotating in perfect harmony.
The Yang Divine Art fully deployed, and my consciousness split into dozens of fragments, each one completely manifesting the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong and performing their respective tasks.
‘Waaaaah! This is terrible!’
‘Everyone stay focused! If we fail here, we die!’
‘Bring out the Heart Demon! Let’s spin that one too!’
It was like a person juggling while wielding a sword and doing a handstand—an impossible feat of skill.
Uuuuuuung—
And I was pulling it off.
And then.
The Hyeongyeong Venomous Snake devoured all the toxins from the earth, and now extended its claws toward Chimjo’s feathers.
It consumed.
The poison of Chimjo.
The poison of the Venomous Bird devours Chimjo’s poison.
I could feel such intent. And in an instant, it sucked in and consumed all that toxic energy.
Whoosh!
Finally, the Hyeongyeong Poison that had absorbed all the toxins fell silent.
My left arm felt as though it had transformed into something incomprehensible.
That strange oppressive sensation I had felt from Chimjo was now emanating from my left arm.
-A gift, human… the finest poison….
With those words, I could no longer sense Chimjo’s will.
‘What on earth just happened?’
And more than anything….
‘My left arm swallowed all five feathers of the Legendary Bird?!’
It had consumed all five of these precious feathers without permission.
Feeling apologetic, I looked around only to find Dang-a and Sama-hye’s eyes gleaming with excitement.
“Ohhh! Rival! Has the darkness of your left arm gained consciousness!”
“Ah, no Dang-a. That’s not it….”
As I tried to explain, Sama-hye suddenly spread her legs wide and crossed her arms, striking a pose reminiscent of a Demonic Sect leader.
“An uncontrollable power. A greed that devours even legendary poisonous creatures!”
Dang-a responded to those words.
“Even the feathers of the legendary Venomous Bird become his own, and the madman advances forward!”
The two of them looked at each other. Their eyes met.
No lengthy words were necessary. No secret transmission was needed.
Their hearts already understood each other.
The two nodded as if they had made a decision.
Both stretched their arms into a Y-shape simultaneously. Dang-a took throwing stars in both hands and leaped into the air.
Then, using the mysteries of the Phantom Bi technique, she climbed onto Sama-hye’s fingertips.
With the weight lost through the Phantom Bi technique, Dang-a could stand on a tree branch. The same applied to Sama-hye’s fingertips.
Snap!
“This is the madness called forth by darkness!”
“This is the madness called forth by darkness!”
The throwing stars Dang-a hurled exploded like thunderbolt bullets from all directions.
Boom-boom-boom!
“!”
Damn it…. Dang-a had become two people.
* * *
First, I apologized to Dang-a.
“You saved my life, so this is a bargain. Don’t worry about it, Rival. More than that, could I touch my left arm just once?”
“….”
I was fortunate she was so understanding.
Similarly, after sending a letter explaining the current situation again, our party returned to the Sichuan Tang Family.
When I arrived at the entrance, the Lord of the Tang Family stood before the gate with his arms crossed, waiting.
‘What…? Why?’
I had expected a grand welcoming crowd befitting a hero’s return, but there was no one here except the Lord of the Tang Family.
‘Could he be planning to hold me accountable for consuming Chimjo’s feathers?’
It would have been reasonable.
Though it wasn’t my intention, I had devoured what was supposedly a martial arts secret manual.
Then the Lord of the Tang Family spoke.
“You have returned. My daughter, Hyeolpyeon-wang!”
He paid no attention to me whatsoever.
His voice was even remarkably serious.
The moment I saw the Lord of the Tang Family’s jade-green eyes, I understood.
‘Ah, my provocation last time was too excessive. While establishing my martial arts with my daughter’s life in danger, I ended up consumed by a heart demon.’
Yet this ‘heart demon’ was different from the kind that leads to demonic possession.
Rather…
‘Ah, he has rejuvenated.’
It meant the Head of Sacheon Tang Family’s poison technique was reaching an even newer realm.
Dang-a had already put her mask back on and spoke.
“I have successfully completed my mission and returned, Father! Kkhahaht! No matter how legendary the poison, this Hyeolpyeon-wang cannot be overcome. I have shown what true darkness and poison truly are.”
“Splendid! And you, Jin Cheon-hee of the Blue-Eyed Divine One! I am delighted to witness the results of your provocation!”
‘Ugh… ugh… Is this why the other household members aren’t visible?!’
And on the other hand.
‘Thank goodness he didn’t mention the feathers.’
It was one of two possibilities.
Either he considered saving Dang-a’s life sufficient payment, or he didn’t know that Chimjo’s feathers were a martial arts secret manual.
The latter seemed more likely.
Logically speaking, how could a poison that melts human bones upon contact be a martial arts secret manual?
Even I, who absorbed it, couldn’t tell what changed within me.
‘Well, I wouldn’t have known either if the little Jin Cheon-hees hadn’t whispered it to me.’
It probably appeared as just a single line I glanced over in the Imperial Palace Secret Records.
‘Anyway, it’s fortunate. No, more than that, the Lord of the Tang Family’s current state…’
Dang-a had been like this since childhood, after all.
The Lord of the Tang Family had settled down as an adult when the heart demon(?) subsided, but now at this age, having ascended to the position of family head, wasn’t he recreating his dark history?
‘This is driving me mad. What do I do?’
While I was contemplating this…
“…What a beautiful father-daughter bond. Don’t you think so? Eun Gong?”
Sama-hye was so moved that she wiped tears from her eyes.
“Y-yes. Hye-a, thank goodness.”
Dang-a spoke.
“Father, look. This person is Sama-hye, the Regeneration Hall Master of Baekrin Medical Guild, who has admired me for a long time.”
“Hmm… Dang-a. Do not trust people carelessly. Trust easily, and you will be betrayed just as easily—such is the way of this dark Gangho…”
“But Father, look at that hair ornament!”
“Isn’t that the Hyeolpyeon-wang hairpin we crafted ourselves in the Sichuan Tang Family? Back then, we were trying to squeeze money out of the Golden Blood Hall… *cough*. No, I mean, this accessory we created to commemorate our mutual exchange—and someone is actually wearing it!”
…Even that ‘Heart Demon’ failed to conceal her true feelings.
Yet Sama-hye was happy.
“I’m delighted you recognize it.”
With those words and a respectful bow, the Head of the Tang Family fell into thought.
“Yes. Dang-a. I can feel your sincerity. If you would go so far as to obtain that… even if you are the younger sister of the Vice-Lord of the Golden Blood Hall… yes, if you wear that accessory…”
‘…Just how much of a markup did you put on it, Lord of the Tang Family?’
And did Sama Hyeon create it knowing her younger sister was being overcharged?
For the sake of that mutual exchange between the Sichuan Tang Family and the Golden Blood Hall (feat. getting played)?
Jin Cheon-hee realized something.
It wasn’t that he realized how sincere Hye-a was about the Hyeolpyeon-wang.
He had already understood that long ago.
Rather, he realized just how terribly devoted Sama Hyeon was to his younger sister.
‘Hyeon… Hyeon actually let himself be swindled… For his sister’s sake, he willingly accepted being played for a fool…’
Though he was counted among the most dangerous enemies in Gangho, he was the best older brother to Hye-a.
So much so that even this money-obsessed man would willingly be a sucker for her.
‘Wow… Hye-a!’
Thus Sama-hye won the hearts of both the Head and Vice-Head of the Sichuan Tang Family.

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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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