Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 110

Jin Cheon-hee leapt across areas without paths and over rocks.

Then he saw a clearing suitable for camping.

“Hand over all your valuables!”

“We’ve already paid the passage fee!”

“Aaargh!”

Bandits, clearly identifiable as such, were attacking a escort group.

Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes fell on corpses. They were civilians, the kind you might see in any village.

At the same time, the smell of blood and the stench of intestinal contents assaulted his nostrils.

The number of dead already exceeded twenty.

Grind.

‘Ah… really…’

It was inevitable to clench his teeth involuntarily.

As a former doctor, it would be stranger not to be angered by the reality of this world without human rights.

“Please, please spare us. We have no more money.”

“Don’t say such ridiculous things. Aren’t merchants the type who always have more when you shake them down? Or… hehehe… hand over the people.”

The bandit looked at the civilians with lustful eyes. There were women and children mixed in with the merchants. It seemed it wasn’t just a simple escort group.

The bandits had already surrounded the people.

Nine escorts and thirty-two civilians remained alive.

In contrast, there were thirty-two bandits. And there was one who looked quite strong at a glance.

‘It seems they were people traveling or moving to relocate.’

In this era, whether traveling or relocating, leaving one’s original residence meant risking one’s life. That’s why they always hired escorts to cross mountains.

However, even such escorts aren’t omnipotent.

Escorts skilled in martial arts are too expensive for civilians to hire.

When hiring within their budget, situations like this inevitably unfold.

Jin Cheon-hee took a step towards them and said,

“Won’t you stop this?”

“What?”

The bandits all turned to look at Jin Cheon-hee. From their perspective, it seemed as if Jin Cheon-hee had suddenly appeared.

“What’s this now?”

“Hey! I told you to watch for anyone coming from behind! These bastards never listen. Ptui!”

A large man exuding qi shouted and spat.

This was the one Jin Cheon-hee had been eyeing from the start.

He appeared to be at least a peak expert.

“Hey, brat. Judging by what you’re carrying, you seem to be some wandering doctor. Come here and hand over all your money too. And that dog next to you, I’ll use it for my health tonic today.”

“Sigh…”

Jin Cheon-hee let out a sigh.

“I guess asking you to stop and leave won’t work, will it?”

This was Jin Cheon-hee’s final offer. But the bandits burst into laughter as if they couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Hahahaha! Look at this guy. He must think he’s some hero from a famous sect. But now that I look closely, you’re quite good-looking, aren’t you? I’m in a good mood. You, come to my bed.”

It seems that was his preference.

“You crazy bastard…”

Jin Cheon-hee cursed and stomped the ground.

Bang!

The Heavenly Energy Bewildering Step was deployed at its extreme.

His body became blurry like an illusion and instantly leapt over five jang (15 meters).

In that split second, the bandit leader could only widen his eyes in surprise, unable to react otherwise.

Slap!

Jin Cheon-hee’s hand, which had approached like a ghost, struck the bandit leader’s cheek. Blood sprayed and several teeth flew out. His skull rattled and his head whipped around.

But that wasn’t all.

His vision darkened and his body swayed unsteadily.

Jin Cheon-hee then kicked his feet hard.

Thud! Crack!

It seemed his ankle broke. The bandit leader’s body fell face-first onto the ground.

Jin Cheon-hee stepped on his head firmly.

Anger boiled up from deep within his chest.

If he infused internal energy into his foot now, this filthy bandit’s life would end here.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to kill him?’

‘Keeping someone like this alive won’t do any good for the world.’

‘Look at the people who have already died.’

Two Jin Cheon-hees within him shouted different things.

The doctor Jin Cheon-hee and the martial artist Jin Cheon-hee clashed.

He felt his patience disappearing like a burning candle.

“Haaah.”

However.

Jin Cheon-hee removed his foot. Then he lowered his head and moved his hands quickly.

Pat pat!

Having sealed his acupoints, he wouldn’t be able to move now. Only then did Jin Cheon-hee raise his head and look around.

The bandits were looking at Jin Cheon-hee with pale faces.

Jin Cheon-hee took a step towards them.

They flinched and took a step back.

“Drop all your weapons. Before something gets smashed.”

“Will… will you spare us?”

“If I were going to kill you, I wouldn’t be saying this.”

Clang. Clatter.

The bandits all started dropping their weapons.

***

“Benefactor. Thank you for your help. Thanks to you, all the people of our Gong-woon Escort Agency and those we were escorting have been saved. How can we ever repay this kindness…”

“It was just a coincidence, so don’t worry about it.”

Jin Cheon-hee said this while looking back at the bandits.

They had all had their acupoints sealed by Jin Cheon-hee. However, this was merely because they were intimidated by Jin Cheon-hee’s strength and lost their will to fight.

Behind them lay the corpses of civilians.

‘So this is reality.’

It wasn’t like this when he was dealing with those who attacked him because of the Hao Sect.

Back then, he only had to save his own life.

He didn’t have to witness others dying before his eyes. But seeing the reality, an uncontrollable anger burned Jin Cheon-hee’s heart black.

Non-killing.

It was a principle he had set for himself. But was there a need to keep it?

If Jin Cheon-hee showed mercy, these were men who would go out and kill again.

Was there any need to keep such people alive?

Jin Cheon-hee craved an answer that no one could give him, with his blackened heart.

He simply continued speaking calmly.

“Those who are injured, raise your hands. I’ll treat you.”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, everyone’s faces brightened.

Doctors are rare.

The chance of meeting a doctor during a long escort journey, especially in the mountains, was extremely rare.

People looked at each other, eager to be the first to step forward.

The oldest among the escorts spoke.

“It’s hard to find anyone uninjured. The kindness you’ve already shown us is more than enough.”

At those words, everyone let out a regretful sigh.

But it was difficult to ask for more when their lives had already been saved.

Treating people wasn’t an easy task, and they felt sorry to keep him any longer.

Jin Cheon-hee shook his head.

“No. I’ll at least check for any emergencies. I can provide first aid.”

At those words, everyone expressed their gratitude to Jin Cheon-hee.

As the tension eased, some sat down and began to cry.

In this journey between life and death, Jin Cheon-hee was truly a thread of hope.

“Thank… thank you so much…”

“Thank you…!”

***

Jin Cheon-hee provided first aid to those wounded by swords and prioritized treating injured children.

The medicine box Yoo Ho had prepared contained many useful items.

‘So many things can fit into a medicine box just the size of a backpack.’

It turned out to be very useful when actually used. In turn, the escorts and civilians were amazed at Jin Cheon-hee’s treatment skills.

‘We thought he’d just prescribe some medicine.’

He stopped bleeding through acupressure, applied adhesive to wounds and dressed them, or stitched longer wounds before telling them to go to a medical clinic affiliated with the White Dragon Medical Pavilion.

For fractures, he set the bones and applied splints.

While the pain during the setting process was unavoidable, his speed was remarkably fast.

“I’ve heard that you’re the famous Little White Dragon in the martial arts world.”

How did they know when he hadn’t mentioned his name yet?

Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes widened slightly. Then he understood.

‘Is it because of the qilin pattern engraved on the medicine box?’

It’s the symbol of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion.

Of course, there were other doctors in the White Dragon Medical Pavilion, but he was the one becoming known for his martial arts, and he was also known to be young, so he thought they might have guessed based on that.

The escort said,

“Among the escorts, there’s someone who saw you treating poor civilians from afar before.”

“Ah. I see.”

To pass time and to practice his medical skills, he often treated poor people for free.

It seems someone who witnessed that was among the escorts.

“Today, this head escort Gong Il-sang has seen with his own eyes that the rumors were not false.”

Head Escort Gong.

During their conversation, he learned that Head Escort Gong belonged to a small escort agency called the Gong-woon Escort Agency.

Gong-woon Escort Agency.

It was a small escort agency that had never appeared in the novel, established by a lay disciple of the Putuo Sword Sect.

It was unclear whether this escort agency would survive or perish during the Heavenly Demon’s rampage, but judging by how they struggled against even bandits, their future didn’t look bright.

‘They might have been wiped out this time if not for my intervention.’

If Jin Cheon-hee hadn’t intervened, all the escorts would have died and the civilians would have been taken away.

The Gong-woon Escort Agency was a very small escort agency run by the Gong family.

Head Escort Gong was the eldest son of the Gong family.

It wasn’t like they had encountered some extraordinary expert, just bandits.

Yet so many escorts were wiped out and the escort mission failed.

That alone was enough for the escort agency to potentially collapse.

‘In the end, they’re extras.’

Just as there are extras in a cast, there are extras in groups too.

Jin Cheon-hee treated everyone up to the last person.

Head Escort Gong expressed his gratitude and took out silver coins.

The pouch was quite heavy.

Jin Cheon-hee never refused money given to him.

‘I should save this for future travel expenses.’

What Jin Cheon-hee had done was already worth more than their lives.

“What will you do with the men you’ve captured, benefactor?”

He was referring to the bandits.

Jin Cheon-hee gave the answer he had been pondering for a long time.

“I’ll destroy their danjeon and hand them over to the authorities. As for the leader, I’ll make sure he can never hit anyone again.”

He couldn’t become a Buddha after all.

Even if he spared all their lives, he couldn’t bring himself to forgive them.

Jin Cheon-hee decided to just let them live this time.

Just live.

“So you’re not killing them.”

“As a doctor, I found it difficult to go that far.”

Head Escort Gong nodded at Jin Cheon-hee’s words.

“That’s right. Sometimes, living can be more arduous than dying.”

For some reason, Head Escort Gong and his companions seemed more pleased with Jin Cheon-hee’s decision to destroy the bandits’ danjeon and let them live.

While breaking arms and legs might be one thing, destroying the danjeon would make it impossible for them to oppress people like before ever again.

‘Even if they’re handed over to the authorities, there might be those who want to take revenge with their own hands.’

From there on, it would be the bandits’ karma.

Among those who had died, there were surely someone’s father or mother, son or daughter.

Having finished his thoughts, Jin Cheon-hee stood up.

“I’ll accompany you to the nearest city.”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you so much!”

Woof!

Hwanggu acted cute towards Jin Cheon-hee.

Jin Cheon-hee handed Hwanggu some beef jerky and started walking.