Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 34

What she felt in her danjeon was a larger amount of true qi than before. And it was similar to the true qi she already possessed.

It was from the same sect. And there was only one person from the same sect who could give her true qi.

Wang Gak-yeon realized that her father would never again display the same martial prowess as before. And for some reason, she herself had become stronger.

“Are you alright? You’ll never be able to hold a bow again.”

Perhaps it was because he had used even his innate true qi. Her father looked older than when she had last seen him. However, there was a smile on his face.

“What more could I ask for when my daughter is alive? That’s all I wanted.”

Master glanced at Jin Cheon-hee.

‘Cheon-hee, will you be alright? It seems he was meant to be under you…’

While ordinary qi could be recovered, innate true qi was different.

He could still use internal energy, but it wouldn’t be the same as before.

If he had been a peak master before, now Phantom Archer would only be able to show martial prowess equivalent to a third-rate warrior at best.

‘Our Cheon-hee is such a kind child, he might find satisfaction just in saving someone’s life, but…’

The master had a big misunderstanding(?) about his disciple.

Reading his master’s expression, Jin Cheon-hee nodded.

Jin Cheon-hee thought.

‘He’s in just the right state to be useful.’

In martial arts novels, there are numerous villains. Among them, there are some villains who play particularly significant roles. There are several conditions for this…

A wealthy villain?

They play the role of trying to bully the protagonist and eventually getting stripped of their wealth.

The way they get stripped depends on whether the protagonist is from a poor or wealthy background, or if the genre involves reincarnation, regression, or possession.

But in any case, getting stripped is a given fact.

A strong villain?

There are always strong villains in martial arts stories.

These guys show tremendous martial prowess in the beginning but ultimately become the fertilizer for the protagonist’s enlightenment. It can be called a truly selfless attitude.

Using these guys as fertilizer, the protagonist reaches the Life and Death Realm, breaks through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians while fighting, his sword qi transforms into sword intent, and he reaches the realm of sword mastery.

They can be called living medicinal ingredients. They provide enlightenment that even the protagonist’s master couldn’t give.

But that’s as far as it goes. A ‘strong villain’ who is defeated by the protagonist is no longer a villain.

They either die, repent and reform, have their danjeon destroyed and never appear again.

‘In the end, the best is the weed villain.’

No matter how many times they’re killed, they come back stronger, becoming enemies at times and allies at others, continuing the story.

They can literally be called the weed-type.

Phantom Archer can be said to walk a middle path between the strong villain and the weed villain.

He’s a character that seems… annoying, but sometimes cool.

Combined, ‘annoyingly cool’.

In the novel, Phantom Archer loses his family, becomes a villain and goes berserk, and there’s a scene where he exhausts all his power after fighting with Heavenly Demon.

The enlightenment he gained at that time was only possible in such a physical state.

‘That’s perfect.’

While everyone else was sad, only Jin Cheon-hee smiled with satisfaction.

‘Moreover, he’s lost his martial arts, so he’s in a good state to be persuaded.’

People’s lives are all the same.

Someone who treats you well when you’re struggling and down on your luck is more touching than when you’re doing well.

Moreover, he had bestowed upon him the favor of saving his family.

Judging by his personality, he would never forget this favor for the rest of his life.

Phantom Archer continued speaking.

“Moreover, I hear my daughter’s martial prowess has become stronger than before. As a father, what could be more joyous than this?”

Before being Phantom Archer, he was a parent.

A parent who foolishly lived only for his child.

“Let me check your pulse.”

As Zhuge Rin reached out his hand, his daughter, Wang Gak-yeon, who was on the sickbed, offered her arm.

After checking her pulse for a while, the master said.

“All three meridians are open.”

Surprised by those words, Phantom Archer shouted.

“The three meridians?! All of them?”

For fifteen days, she had been on the brink of death, sustaining her body with elixirs, true qi, and various great techniques.

And in Zhuge Rin’s energy formation, she had endured to the last limit and even received her father’s innate true qi.

She too seemed surprised, her eyes wide open for a while.

Zhuge Rin said.

“However, they’ve only opened temporarily. If left as is, they will close again.”

“Does that mean…”

“From now on, for the next ten days, you must circulate your internal energy and send it to all three meridians while practicing internal cultivation. The medical pavilion disciples will assist with acupuncture, so if you endure for ten days, you’ll be able to maintain the open state of the three meridians from then on.”

Internal energy flows through numerous meridians in the body.

Jin Cheon-hee doesn’t know whether qi moves along blood vessels or nerves.

It’s not something visible to the eye, and there are no medical instruments from Earth here.

Just seeing that after Cleansing-Washing Marrow Process, the turbid qi becomes essence and is expelled outside, he guesses it might be closer to blood vessels than nerves.

For a martial artist, having all the body’s meridians open is significant.

It means internal energy can be manipulated and accumulated more easily in the desired form, so even when using the same martial technique, the destructive power and adaptability are different.

Wang Gak-yeon said with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you… Thank you so much. Dad, really… thank you.”

“No, no. This grudge ultimately started because of this incompetent father, didn’t it? It’s these people you should be thanking.”

Zhuge Rin coldly replied.

“There’s no need to thank us. And to begin with, it’s those villains who tried to settle a grudge by beating such a young child who are the bad ones.”

He’s also from the righteous faction. The master didn’t pursue that matter further, but he couldn’t understand what was entangled that made them do such an evil deed to this child.

In fact, Jin Cheon-hee couldn’t imagine it well.

That might be why Phantom Archer went even more insane.

Because the patient before his eyes was a child about Jin Cheon-hee’s age.

Phantom Archer bowed deeply again.

“I don’t know how to repay this great kindness.”

His daughter, though not fully recovered, tried to get up from the sickbed to bow deeply along with her father.

Zhuge Rin stopped her in surprise.

“You shouldn’t move yet.”

“But…”

“It’s alright. In fact, I didn’t do much there.”

He looked at Jin Cheon-hee.

Wang Gak-yeon said.

“Actually, I heard from Dad. If it weren’t for Young Hero Jin, I would already be dead. And…”

She hesitated for a moment.

Phantom Archer’s expression wasn’t good.

Jin Cheon-hee asked.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded and then grinned.

“Yes. Dad is just Dad, you know. I’ll carry out the righteous deeds Dad couldn’t accomplish. Well, hehehe!”

With eyes reddened from tears, the daughter laughed heartily.

She continued speaking.

“I knew. Dad is a fool who only knows one thing and not two. I always thought I should learn martial arts diligently just in case. So I trained really hard.”

Zhuge Rin nodded.

“Yes. The fact that your body could endure that time, and that your three meridians have opened, can all be attributed to the effort you put in beyond your years.”

It seemed even a miraculous opportunity had to be seized through effort.

Wang Gak-yeon said to her dad.

“So stop crying, okay? It’s alright. I’m alive and well, aren’t I? Dad. I’m fine now.”

“…”

Phantom Archer didn’t answer.

He couldn’t answer.

He just hugged his daughter.

Jin Cheon-hee then thought, ‘To be so composed even in this situation, she might really be called Phantom Archer or Archer Goddess later.’

As they say, you can tell a great tree from its sapling, her capacity is already extraordinary from the start.

To begin with, the fact that she fought and survived her first real battle against adult villains presumed to be from the righteous faction means she’s already not ordinary.

Then that’s a good thing too. She’s about the same age as Jin Cheon-hee, and if she grows up just like this, she’ll often be on the lips of martial artists.

‘I’ve killed two birds with one stone.’

With one good deed, he’s earned the gratitude of both Phantom Archer and the future Gung-shin.

Jin Cheon-hee asked, pretending to be innocent.

“Um… so everything’s resolved now, right?”

Of course not. The next problem remains.

Now that the bait has been scattered, it’s time to collect.

Sure enough, Phantom Archer’s expression darkened.

‘He asked. Now, shall I pull?’

His hands are itching.

Jin Cheon-hee felt like Kang Taegong (Jiang Taigong)^[1] as he pulled the line.

***

As it wasn’t something to be said in front of the patient, Jin Cheon-hee went outside with Phantom Archer Wang Chaebaek.

His master, Zhuge Rin, still needed to rest, so he went inside.

The evening wind is cold, he said.

In effect, it meant he was leaving what comes next to Jin Cheon-hee.

“To be honest, I don’t know what to do next, Young Hero Jin.”

Even if he wants to take revenge, he no longer has the strength to achieve it.

Even if he wants to go out to work, he’s likely to die an unnatural death due to the grudges he’s accumulated over time.

The adult and the child walked like that through the bamboo forest in the backyard.

“I’ve often heard that bamboo groves are always lush in medical pavilions, but the bamboo grove of White Dragon Medical Pavilion is particularly beautiful.”

Bamboo is an indispensable material for medical pavilions.

The roots are used as medicinal ingredients, and the sap is used to mature herbs.

The trunk becomes bamboo slips, saving expensive paper.

It’s also perfect for making boxes to contain medicinal pills.

The leaves are used as tea leaves, and the bamboo shoots are finely chopped, thoroughly boiled, and added to patient meals.

Bamboo doesn’t require much in terms of soil quality, and as long as it rains well, it grows abundantly on its own, so medical pavilions always have lush bamboo groves.

“Don’t medical clinics also create bamboo groves these days?”

“They do, but it’s not comparable to the ones in medical pavilions.”

As the wind blew, the bamboo swayed. The leaves collided, making a sound like rain falling.

There was one more advantage to the bamboo forest.

Sound doesn’t travel far.

If it were a completely quiet place, one could focus their hearing, but the bamboo forest is quiet yet full of sound.

Moreover, if someone approaches, you can immediately notice from this side, making it perfect for having secret conversations.

This was a crucial matter for medical pavilions that often have to deal with the secret affairs of the martial arts world.

‘Looking closely, even the bamboo seems to be arranged like some kind of formation.’

It’s a forest created by Zhuge Rin, a master of energy formations.

It was clear that there would be principles embedded that ordinary people wouldn’t understand.

When they reached the center of the bamboo forest, Phantom Archer Wang Chaebaek said.

“I’ve often seen first-class warriors become third-rate warriors while taking on numerous requests from the martial arts world. I’ve also seen their endings. I’m prepared for it.”

He spoke calmly.

The wind blew through the bamboo forest again. The sound of rain rushed in.

He continued speaking.

“Thanks to Young Hero’s kindness, I can say my situation is a bit better. My daughter, Gak-yeon, has overcome a barrier at such a young age. As a parent, what greater satisfaction could there be than seeing your child surpass you?”

A small smile appeared on his lips.

It was the expression of a man prepared for death.

1. Jiang Taigong, also known as Jiang Ziya, was a legendary Chinese military strategist and advisor to the Zhou Dynasty in the 11th century BCE. He’s famous for an anecdote where he fished with a straight, baited hook held above water, saying he waited for the fish “meant to come.” This odd method symbolized his patient wait for the right ruler to recognize his talents. The story led to the idiom “Jiang Taigong fishing, willing to be caught,” representing a mutually beneficial partnership.[↩]