Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 189

He could feel his aching bones, muscles, and organs recovering.

The swelling in his wrist had also started to subside.

This was the result of lying motionless all day, recovering with the Five Elements True Qi.

‘Is this how all martial artists live?’

He himself was a doctor and knew how to treat his body in the worst case. However, martial artists, especially elders like the Wudang Fist Emperor, don’t listen well to doctors.

And then they recklessly throw themselves at even stronger opponents.

For martial artists, martial arts must be something infinitely close to madness.

That’s why they fearlessly risk their lives to gain even a fragment of Realm of the Mind Sword at the boundary between life and death.

He repeated sleeping and waking.

When he woke up screaming in between, Hwanggu whimpered and burrowed into Jin Cheonhee’s arms.

‘The bracelet is damaged.’

When Jin Cheonhee’s wrist was shattered, the bracelet was also damaged. It would be stranger if anything had remained intact after that battle.

He needed to focus more internal energy than before to communicate with spiritual beasts.

Still, since he was already in tune with both Hwanggu and Noe-jin, there was no problem communicating even without using the bracelet.

Naturally, he had been using it less and less.

‘Well, I can still talk as much as I want when necessary, considering the internal energy consumption.’

Jin Cheonhee thought this as he lay down again.

Whine.

Hwanggu rested its chin on Jin Cheonhee’s stomach.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

His whole body was damp from the nightmare he just had. Still, the number of times he woke up had decreased compared to the first night.

As his body recovered, his mind must be recovering too.

No one goes uninjured.

Life is a process of constant damage and regeneration.

When we can no longer regenerate, we accept death.

‘If I rest a bit more, my mind will recover too.’

Of course, scars would remain. But the soul in its forties self-deprecatingly thought that was also life.

“I feel grimy, so I should wash up.”

Woof!

“You want to wash too?”

Woof, woof!

“Alright. Come along.”

While Noe-jin was the type that needed its own time, Hwanggu had no time of its own.

For this guy, happiness in life was being attached to its owner.

That must be due to the instinct of dogs that have evolved alongside human history.

Even without thinking that far, he always loses to those kind and innocent eyes.

Jin Cheonhee gathered clothes to change into and opened the door.

Thud.

“Hm?”

It was locked.

Looking for a lock, there wasn’t one. It was a structure locked from the outside.

Thud, thud.

He tried to open it a few more times, but it was certain. This sound. It was blocked by something quite solid.

Then he heard something turning outside.

Click-

Cheon-woo came striding in after unlocking the lock outside.

“Oh, Brother. Are you going out?”

“Cheon-woo. Why is this locked?”

At Jin Cheonhee’s words, Cheon-woo smiled savagely.

“Hahaha. It’s so you won’t work, Brother. You can’t go out until you’re fully healed.”

He didn’t expect him to say that so boldly. But it’s hard to spit in the face of someone smiling.

“I think I’m fully healed at this point?”

“We’ll decide that after the doctor comes in the morning and gives his opinion. Anyway, you can’t go out, Brother.”

Cheon-woo said firmly.

“What about bathing?”

“There’s a bath in the annex, so use that. It’s where honored guests stay, so it has everything.”

Was there such a thing? I hadn’t grasped the structure because I’d just been lying down.

“Well, I know you could go out if you wanted to, even if I lock it like this. I know. But I’ve seen you collapse once, and I don’t want to see it twice. You know what I mean, right, Brother?”

Cheon-woo’s tone was more adult-like than usual.

Jin Cheonhee scratched the back of his head and looked around the annex.

He hadn’t noticed because he’d just been lying down, but the annex was quite large.

Jin Cheonhee had made great contributions to Wudang.

They couldn’t treat him poorly, so it seemed they had given him the best annex.

“If you need water, they’ll bring hot water anytime. When Wudang elders are sick, they recuperate here.”

Cheon-woo had called training disciples to prepare in advance for Jin Cheonhee to bathe.

Going inside, a steaming bath was prepared.

It was quite large, enough for several people to enter.

‘I see why they said the elders enter when they’re sick.’

It’s quite luxurious to have such a large bath all to oneself.

Moving water is labor. Heating it is also labor.

Medicinal herbs good for recovery were floating in the bath.

He tried to calculate how much these herbs cost but gave up.

Perhaps because he had just recovered from a major battle, his head wasn’t working well.

As soon as he entered the bath, his muscles began to relax one by one.

Woof! Grr!

Hwanggu jumped right in.

Splash!

Enjoying the hot water, it swam doggy-paddle style and followed Jin Cheonhee in.

Indoors, it had reduced its size to that of a regular dog using the Shrinking Muscle Technique.

Jin Cheonhee hugged the soaking wet Hwanggu.

“Cheon-woo, do you want to come in too?”

“Is that okay?”

“You carried water too, didn’t you?”

“Of course I had to help. It’s for you, Brother.”

Jin Cheonhee wanted to help carry water too, but Cheon-woo adamantly refused.

It wasn’t just Cheon-woo.

The training disciples also gasped loudly, saying it wasn’t proper to make a patient work.

In the end, he waited feeling like a squatter until everything was prepared and he could enter.

‘It must be a long time before plumbing is invented.’

It’s not like the hot spring area where the White Dragon Medical Pavilion is located.

In this era, warm water was an extremely precious resource.

At his brother’s invitation, Cheon-woo entered the bath together.

Perhaps because he was so large, the water overflowed.

“You take off your eye patch in the bath, huh.”

“Yes. If it gets damp, it might smell strange, so I have no choice.”

“I’ll make you a new one.”

Cheon-woo’s left eye was a faded color compared to his right eye.

When Jin Cheonhee looked at him with pitying eyes, Cheon-woo shook his head.

“I’ve said it many times, but I’m fine, Brother.”

“It would have been good if we could treat it.”

“I said I’m fine.”

Jin Cheonhee couldn’t help but smile at Cheon-woo’s serious expression.

“I’m glad you grew up healthy anyway. And I’m glad you survived this time without major injuries.”

“…”

Cheon-woo stared at Jin Cheonhee like that, and seemed to have something he wanted to say, but he hesitated and eventually swallowed it.

“You’re being sappy.”

At Jin Cheonhee’s words, Cheon-woo replied.

“I hope you get better soon too, Brother.”

“I’m already better.”

“Next time, I’ll become stronger so you won’t get hurt, Brother.”

“Alright.”

Woof!

Hwanggu panted and licked Cheon-woo’s face.

“Hwanggu really likes you a lot, you know.”

Saying this, he laughed loudly on purpose. As he laughed, he felt his heart getting better.

That day, Jin Cheonhee finally slept until morning without nightmares.

It was the first time since the bloody incident.

***

The next morning. The doctor finally declared that the Surgery Hall Master had fully recovered.

The next thing he said was something Jin Cheonhee often said himself.

“Refrain from alcohol and tobacco. Avoid dangerous places as much as possible. No matter how heavy the grudges in the martial world are, your body is the most important, Junior Pavilion Master.”

It’s disheartening to hear the words he always said to others being said to himself.

‘What should I do now?’

It would take at least a week from the White Dragon Medical Pavilion to here, even at the fastest.

It would take even longer with pirates rampant. If he was going to run away, now was the only time.

At that moment, Cheon-woo grabbed Jin Cheonhee from behind.

“I believe you’ll wait until White Dragon arrives, Brother.”

“Kuk… Cheon-woo. You’re sharp, aren’t you?”

To sense Jin Cheonhee’s signs of escape and grab him.

He was no ordinary master.

Sure enough, the voice of a training disciple was heard saying that his master, Zhuge Rin, had arrived.

‘Already…?!’

Jin Cheonhee’s face turned pale.

***

As soon as he saw his disciple, Zhuge Rin grabbed his wrist to check his pulse before even greeting him.

His stern expression softened after a moment, and the master sighed.

“You have indeed fully recovered.”

“Of course, who do you think I am? I wasn’t seriously injured in the first place, Master.”

“Your wrist will still ache when it rains for a while.”

‘Ugh…!’

As expected of Master. To discern even that from just a brief pulse check.

“By the way, you arrived early. I thought it would take at least two more days.”

“Yoo Ho is faster than this master for long-distance travel. So I received his help.”

Yoo Ho spoke from behind Zhuge Rin, as if spitting out the words.

“I’m suffering because of the young master.”

He didn’t forget to add a word filled with fatigue and hatred.

Jin Cheonhee paid no attention to Yoo Ho’s hatred.

‘Can Yoo Ho use something like teleportation? Hmm… Good information. I should remember this.’

The hateful young master nonchalantly added one more function to Yoo Ho.

Master went out for a while to meet the branch pavilion master.

Only Jin Cheonhee and Yoo Ho were left in the room. Just the two of them.

In the meantime, Jin Cheonhee quickly asked.

“By the way, how’s the research?”

“Nothing will happen just because it’s left unattended for a short while.”

“…”

When Jin Cheonhee just rubbed his face dryly instead of answering, a vein popped on Yoo Ho’s forehead.

“No, is that damn bacteria cultivation more precious than your own life?”

“Of course my life is more precious. It’s precious! But! Cultivation is cultivation, isn’t it!”

He couldn’t understand what nonsense he was spouting.

He could only feel an infinitely obsessive madness.

Jin Cheonhee continued.

“I trust them too. I trust our senior doctors! I trust them!”

“…Then please trust them a bit. If it fails, will you be the only one beheaded? I’ll be beheaded too. I’m sick of the thought of pulling all-nighters with you again, just the two of us.”

“I agree, Yoo Ho. But I felt sincerity in that voice.”

Jin Cheonhee’s expression brightened considerably.

Even if he couldn’t trust the senior doctors, he trusted Yoo Ho’s hatred.

If it fails, it means all-nighters.

All-nighters with the most hateful person, no less.

Neither Yoo Ho nor Jin Cheonhee would welcome that.

“I think I’ve grown a bit fond of you, Yoo Ho.”

“…”

At those words, Yoo Ho made an extremely disgusted expression.

Professor Jin was hurt by his lab assistant’s expression.

“That’s too much. We’re doing research like this! Discovering new knowledge for humanity!”

“As if I care whether humans die or not…”

At that moment, the door slid open. Master and the Wudang Fist Emperor entered together.

“So you’re nagging at me. Nagging! Yeah! A martial artist can roll around a bit too, can’t he? Little White Dragon ended up living and getting stronger, so it’s all good, isn’t it?”

Elder Fist Emperor grumbled towards Zhuge Rin.

Zhuge Rin was about to say something to Fist Emperor, but then Jin Cheonhee caught his eye.

Unable to show his true nature in front of his disciple, he finally sighed.

“Haah…”

Elder Fist Emperor continued.

“Listen. A disciple is ultimately like a seed. Raise it like an orchid and it becomes an orchid, raise it like a weed and it becomes a weed. What you’re trying to do is make it an orchid. It will be beautiful, but it will wither quickly.”

“…”

“How long do you think he can live coddled in the White Dragon Medical Pavilion? The disciple must live on even after you’re gone. One who has only lived as someone’s orchid can only live that way for life. Then they will die.”

“Is that from personal experience?”

Fist Emperor’s expression hardened at Zhuge Rin’s sharp remark.