Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 169

‘Cheon-woo is truly a martial artist.’

In modern terms, it’s a life similar to that of a Catholic priest or a monk.

Even in modern times, this would turn a family upside down.

Going forward with this, knowing all the implications, carried a significant weight.

‘That too is the charm of martial arts novels.’

Jin Cheonhee decided to support Cheon-woo’s choice as his brother.

“So what’s your Taoist name?”

Cheon-woo smiled brightly, mismatching his huge build.

“It’s Cheon-woo.”

“The same as your current name.”

“Yes. It happened to be the ‘Cheon’ (天) character in our generational naming order. And I really liked the meaning of Cheon-woo that you gave me. The elders gave it to me after much deliberation.”

“I see.”

“I’m glad I can keep the name you gave me, Brother.”

“Any name is fine as long as it has a good meaning.”

He patted his younger brother’s head.

Cheon-woo seemed even happier and said:

“Since we’re here, Brother, shall I show you around Wudang Sect?”

“Sounds great! You guys too, right?”

At Jin Cheonhee’s words, Hwanggu and Noe-jin answered simultaneously.

Woof woof, Chirp chirp!

Cheon-woo couldn’t understand what they were saying, but he could tell the two spiritual beasts were in a good mood.

“Oh right, Brother. I brought some jerky. You said they like jerky, right? You told me.”

Saying this, he gave one each to them with a well-practiced motion.

Jin Cheonhee said:

“You’ll be good at social life, kid.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Chomp chomp! – Good human. Master!

Hwanggu had already fallen for him.

***

They went out to tour Wudang Sect with Cheon-woo.

Of course, it would be difficult to show the internal areas of Wudang Sect to an outsider, so it was more like touring the nearby attractions.

The most famous among them was the Golden Hall temple on Tianzhu Peak, a large building covered in gold leaf.

“Outsiders are forbidden from entering the temple, Brother.”

Instead, there was a Taoist-style setup in front where worshippers could offer prayers.

“So many people come up here despite the height.”

Mount Wudang was famous for being steep and high since ancient times. Moreover, the Golden Hall temple was located at the highest point of Mount Wudang, making it difficult to climb with ordinary stamina.

It’s not like they could travel by car.

It was even more challenging in an era without roads or cable cars.

“I wonder what kind of wishes people pray for after coming all the way up here.”

“Mostly for health or family peace. Some for passing the imperial exams too.”

“Isn’t Wudang a Taoist sect, but also a martial arts sect…?”

“That’s true, but people want to pray wherever they think is efficacious, you know?”

It didn’t seem like something a Wudang Sect Taoist should say, but Jin Cheonhee found himself nodding.

‘Even if you’re a Taoist, you can’t ignore reality.’

Looking around, Jin Cheonhee said:

“It’s surprising that no one steals the gold leaf.”

“That’s one of the advantages of being a martial arts sect.”

In the martial arts world where qinggong and sword qi actually exist.

It seems there are no fools brave enough to steal gold leaf from a temple managed by a martial arts sect.

‘It’s not like Wudang Sect is particularly more merciful than others. Nope.’

As a martial arts maniac, Jin Cheonhee was well-versed in the countless different types of Wudang Sects. That was the conclusion he had drawn from reading them.

Taoists are human too, and it’s impossible to completely detach from the mundane world.

Jin Cheonhee liked such realistic aspects.

Happily looking at the clouds spread out below the Golden Hall temple, Jin Cheonhee took out two rice balls from the medicine chest on his back.

“Want to eat?”

“Did you make these, Brother?”

“Yeah. It would be a shame not to eat with this scenery in front of us.”

For Jin Cheonhee, ‘tourism = eating’.

When going to a new place, you had to eat the local food, and when seeing beautiful scenery, you had to eat while looking at it.

That was travel.

If you didn’t eat, it wasn’t travel.

Cheon-woo received a rice ball from Jin Cheonhee, took a bite, and his eyes nearly popped out in surprise.

“Oh, Brother. This is really delicious, how did you make it?”

“I mixed soy sauce, butter, and flaked sea bream, then shaped it.”

“Butter?”

“There’s such a thing.”

There was butter here too, made by nomads using sheep’s milk. However, since it was made by shaking milk in leather pouches, it didn’t have the taste of modern conveniences that Jin Cheonhee wanted.

So he made it himself to suit his taste.

“It’s delicious.”

“Soy sauce and butter is the truth. And the sea bream was nice and plump.”

Originally, you’d mix it with canned tuna. But since that wasn’t available, he substituted with this.

“What about seaweed…?”

“Seasoned seaweed, of course.”

He made it with Korean-style seasoned seaweed.

Sometimes when he missed Earth, he would cook like this.

“Want some marsh clam soup too?”

Jin Cheonhee pulled out a long container from somewhere and poured marsh clam soup into a bowl.

“There’s no meat?”

“I was mindful since we’re coming to Wudang Sect. Taoists eat a lot of fish anyway, right?”

“Hahaha, that’s true. But there are some who eat meat too.”

Fake monk… no, fake Taoist.

But it didn’t matter.

“You’re still growing, so you should eat a lot.”

At Jin Cheonhee’s words, Cheon-woo tilted his head.

“The senior brothers tell me to stop growing.”

“Well, with your height, you’ve probably already surpassed most of your senior brothers. Still, having a big build is always an advantage. Longer limbs mean that much more advantage.”

By local standards, he was already an adult. But by Earth standards where Jin Cheonhee came from, he would still be a high school student until this year.

“Eat a lot of everything while you can. Martial artists don’t often get lifestyle diseases anyway, so eating a lot is all gain.”

“Alright, Brother. But this is so delicious that I can’t stop eating even without you telling me.”

Jin Cheonhee gave his portion to his younger brother.

Then he also gave lunch to Hwanggu and Noe-jin.

The two beasts and one Taoist ate like starving wolves.

‘It feels good to see them eating well.’

From an uncle’s perspective, it was a shame that Cheon-woo had given up on marriage.

Tall, full-body muscles, and even wearing an eye patch – he had the disadvantage of not looking like an orthodox sect’s swordsman at all, but the kid was so polite and even gentlemanly by modern standards.

‘Cheon-woo would be popular anywhere…’

Plus, with his smooth jawline and handsome eyes, he was well-suited to set hearts on fire.

‘He’s talented too. At such a young age, not even in a martial arts sect, he managed to grasp qi cultivation to survive.’

Cheon-woo, who was eating Jin Cheonhee’s rice ball, suddenly asked:

“Brother, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just feeling a bit regretful. The life of a Taoist is good too, but I wonder if it’s too early to decide at your age.”

That was purely modern sentiment.

In this era, it was normal to decide one’s entire future path in their early teens.

Still, Cheon-woo seemed to understand Jin Cheonhee’s words to some extent and nodded.

“Hahaha. I didn’t expect to hear such words from you, Brother. I’ve heard a lot of people say I don’t look like I fit in because I look like an evil sect’s demon lord.”

It seems his impression was the same back then too.

‘Is it because of the eye patch after all?’

Ever since great Xia Empire, an eye patch has been a symbol of coolness and ferocity.

“Still, you’ve grown up well.”

Cheon-woo chuckled.

“Whose brother am I? Of course I’ve grown up well.”

‘Still a baby. A baby.’

This ahjussi is happy to see his well-grown younger brother. Then Cheon-woo abruptly asked:

“By the way, Brother. Who’s Yeo Ha-ryoon? I don’t understand why he dares to talk about a test, what kind of guy is he? Heheh.”

He was laughing playfully, but his voice already carried a competitive spirit.

“Well… he’s strong. He’s also the first brother I swore brotherhood with.”

“Ah, I see. So if I meet him and have a martial arts match, I’ll officially become your brother, right?”

“I don’t know when that will be…”

“I don’t think you’re intentionally putting it off, Brother. I can wait.”

Jin Cheonhee felt a pang in his chest.

Since receiving the competitive replies from his brothers, he had been continuously postponing the date for the “World’s Best Brother Martial Arts Competition”.

“I’ll talk about it later when the opportunity arises.”

“Okay. I’ll wait, Brother!”

Cheon-woo was smiling gently with his sharp face wearing an eye patch.

‘He really looks more like an evil sect leader than a Wudang Sect member…’

Rather than ‘a good brother listening to his older brother’s words’, he looked more like ‘an evil sect master plotting to take an enemy general’s head’.

‘You’re amazing, Cheon-woo, with that handsome face.’

Just looking at his visuals, it seemed like he had already taken dozens of lives.

After finishing their lunch, the two came down.

Suddenly, they saw a group of Wudang Sect members blocking the stairs in the distance.

‘Hmm… they’re blocking it rather unnaturally.’

Sure enough, one of them saw them and said:

“Well, look who it is. It’s that brat Cheon-woo.”

The voice carried a sense of wariness towards Cheon-woo.

“Hello, Senior Brother!”

In contrast, Cheon-woo calmly responded and greeted the group.

Seeing this, Jin Cheonhee sensed:

‘Cheon-woo isn’t stupid, so responding like this means… he’s just pretending to be oblivious.’

In human relationships, sometimes you need to pretend to be oblivious… no, often.

‘I’ve felt it since the Golden Hall temple, but our Cheon-woo is quite good at social life.’

Jin Cheonhee immediately cupped his fists towards the Wudang Sect swordsmen.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Jin Cheonhee.”

“So you’re Little White Dragon. We’ve heard of your reputation.”

What’s this?

These people also emanated a slight hostility.

‘Could they be jealous of our Cheon-woo’s talent?’

Isn’t this common in martial arts novels? Senior brothers from the same sect who are jealous of the outstanding protagonist’s achievements!

‘Is our Cheon-woo suffering such persecution?’

If so, Jin Cheonhee was ready to help as an older brother.

At that moment, the one who seemed to be the strongest in the group stepped forward.

Contrary to expectations, he smiled brightly and said:

“I’m Cheong Yeong. We’ve been waiting because we heard Little White Dragon had arrived.”

A patient?

His doctor self stirred.

The attitude of these people was a bit confusing.

Jin Cheonhee calmly asked:

“I’m not sure why you’ve been waiting. Is it because of the matter I mentioned when I announced my visit?”

If it was that, he could understand.

Cheong Yeong said:

“No, it’s not that. We’ve been waiting to witness the martial arts of the Zhuge Clan.”

“Witness” didn’t just mean to see. In this situation, “witness” meant a martial arts match.

‘Why are they picking a fight with me…?’

Looking closely, it seemed they did indeed dislike Cheon-woo, but their goal appeared to be Jin Cheonhee himself.