Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 102

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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 102
Fire
Where in the world did this man hide it?
I lifted the blanket from the bed where Namgung Un lay.
Whoosh!
There was no alcohol there.
“Please tell me where you’ve hidden it.”
“Now, didn’t I tell you not to eat greasy or salty foods? I said to consume plenty of fluids.”
“That’s right.”
“Alcohol is a fluid too.”
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was coming from a man in a doctor’s robes?
“Do not consume alcohol.”
“Al… alco?”
“No, I mean don’t drink alcohol! Just drink water! Water!”
Whether it’s elderly people in modern times or martial artists, they all refuse to listen to doctors.
As I rummaged through Namgung Un’s belongings, I discovered a small flask hidden beneath the bed.
When I opened the stopper, the fragrance of rose wine rushed out.
“The Medical Guild should have inspected your luggage when you arrived. Where on earth did you bring this from?”
“Heh, a bit of sleight of hand. This too is a refined pursuit.”
‘A pursuit that’ll freeze you to death!’
I confiscated the rose wine and thoroughly searched for any other bottles.
From his expression, it seemed there were more, but he wouldn’t say.
I decided to resort to my ultimate technique.
“Hwang-gu! Where are you, Hwang-gu!”
Woof!
Hwang-gu, who had attached himself to me, had not returned to the Dog Pavilion.
I had sent a letter to the Dog Pavilion asking about Hwang-gu’s whereabouts, and their reply was remarkably simple.
‘Hwang-gu is the prized disciple of the previous Pavilion Master Il-geol, and no one can make decisions regarding Hwang-gu’s whereabouts without the previous Pavilion Master’s orders.’
Usually, messenger dogs were private property used by each sect. However, at the Dog Pavilion, dogs were treated differently.
Hwang-gu was truly a member that comprised the Dog Pavilion itself.
Given Hwang-gu’s intelligence, it wasn’t strange at all.
In any case, Hwang-gu proceeded to find every hidden bottle of alcohol at my command.
I asked in disbelief.
“In all my years, I’ve never seen someone hide alcohol bottles under an orchid pot. Why didn’t you just put it in your clothes?”
“Because you keep coming in and washing my patient robes before I can even change. There’s no way… Ah, Little Brother, you’re really taking all of it?”
“Do you want to die from kidney stones? Shall I let you experience that agony again?”
“But I didn’t eat any side dishes, so it should be fine, right?”
‘You can’t drink alcohol at all! Why do you only hear what you want to hear!’
Just then, Hwang-gu barked sharply at something—Namgung Un’s belt.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
“Now, now, what man puts his hand on another man’s belt….”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Your language has become quite rough, junior brother.”
What emerged from the belt was dried meat—precisely what a kidney stone patient should never consume.
“You’ve been enjoying your snacks quite well, I see. And with so little remaining, it appears you’ve consumed quite a lot.”
“Ahem. Junior brother… that’s not quite right.”
I sighed at Namgung Un’s attempt to make excuses.
“I’ll proceed with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. If it fragments and passes through urine, that’s fortunate. If there’s no response, we’ll need surgery.”
I confiscated all alcohol and snacks. Additionally, I had Hwang-gu ‘patrol’ this ward three times daily.
“Yoo Ho, keep giving the patient Namgung Un water continuously.”
“Understood.”
“Hwang-gu will catch any outside food or alcohol being smuggled in, but if anything slips through, report it to me immediately.”
Namgung Un was a frightening patient. But Hwang-gu was even more frightening.
Hwang-gu had even discovered mutton jerky that Namgung Un had hidden away somewhere and confiscated it by eating it himself.
* * *
The day of the procedure.
I had Namgung Un lie down.
The Medical Assistants gathered around him in a circle.
“I feel like I’ve become an example, junior brother.”
I replied.
“Think of it as karmic retribution. Since it’s come to this, I’ve decided to use Namgung Sohyeop as a teaching tool for medicine.”
“In other words, for educational purposes?”
“Yes. The other Medical Assistants need to learn kidney stone treatment techniques as well.”
I slowly pressed on Namgung Un’s lower abdomen in front of all the Medical Assistants.
“The best outcome is natural expulsion through urination, but if that’s difficult, this is the method we use. First, we must identify the shape and location of the stone. What to be careful about before the procedure….”
I continued with my explanation.
Scratch, scratch—
The Medical Assistants diligently took notes following my words.
What was remarkable was that instead of the typical brush, they were using a writing instrument made from sharpened graphite wrapped in cloth.
It seemed convenient since it required no ink or inkstone and allowed for quick notation of only what was necessary.
“In Namgung Sohyeop’s case, the stone is lodged between the kidney and ureter—one of the common locations for kidney stones. More precisely, there are two locations. Depending on the person, stones can form in multiple places. In such cases, multiple procedures are necessary.”
“Junior brother, the stone isn’t in just one place?”
“I never said it was in just one place. Are you beginning to feel inclined to distance yourself from alcohol and meat now?”
I then gave all the Medical Assistants the opportunity to palpate Namgung Un’s lower abdomen to diagnose the stones themselves.
“So because I hoarded some alcohol and meat, I’m being used as an experimental subject?”
I answered calmly.
“If you hadn’t shared with the patient in the adjacent ward, I wouldn’t have gone this far. Thanks to that, I performed an emergency surgery successfully. There was some risk, but the patient is safe.”
I smiled brightly.
All the Medical Assistants completed their palpations and wrote down their findings earnestly.
“Now comes the external shock phase. We’ll fragment the stone through powerful shock waves. Some patients experience a tingling sensation depending on their constitution.”
I clenched my fist gently.
“I combine wind and water from the Five Elements Divine Art to generate shockwaves. Since I’m using the subtleties of the Penetrating Palm technique, a proper strike would rupture the intestines. That’s absolutely unacceptable, isn’t it?”
“Little brother. You won’t use the Penetrating Palm against my kidneys as a demonstration, will you?”
I ignored Namgung Un.
“Metal and earth must not be mixed in. You need to use a pushing sensation rather than a striking sensation. You must recall the subtleties of flow.”
I opened my fist and pressed my palm against the affected area.
Whooooom—
As I concentrated, Namgung Un felt his lower abdomen trembling.
A sharp, pricking sensation washed over him.
“While maintaining this state, I shatter the calculi. The fragmented stones are then expelled through urine.”
Surgery without placing a blade against the body.
Exclamations naturally escaped from among the Medical Assistants.
Lying there as an experimental subject, Namgung Un felt oddly peculiar.
‘I’ve heard that Seo Baek-ryong is remarkable, but I never knew he was this skilled.’
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.
A new treatment method had appeared in the Medical Guild like this.
* * *
My Master, Yoo Ho, and I found our way to Namgung Un’s ward.
It was to observe his condition after the procedure.
I placed my hand on Namgung Un’s lower abdomen one last time and took his pulse.
‘The fragmented calculi have been safely expelled through urine as expected. Thank goodness.’
Seeing the desired result, I smiled faintly.
Healing a patient’s illness brought me joy.
It was an important driving force for me.
“You may be discharged tomorrow.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Still, be careful with alcohol and snacks going forward. Quite a few people experience recurrence.”
“I can’t tell you how fortunate I am to have met you, little brother.”
On modern Earth, such hospitalization procedures wouldn’t be necessary. But here, there was much to prepare, and to guard against unforeseen accidents, the Medical Guild managed his recovery progress.
Once the treatment method stabilized further, physicians who had cultivated inner energy could perform the procedure at medical clinics, and if that happened, many martial artists could be saved.
‘Now, how should I handle this man?’
According to the original work, he dies at the hands of Yeo Ha-ryun.
I wanted this man to survive by any means.
As I was organizing my thoughts one by one, Dang-a, who had been watching, spoke up.
“Seo Baek-ryong. Spar with me.”
“I know nothing of poison techniques.”
Just as I was about to refuse again, she spoke urgently.
“I want a martial arts match!”
“Hm?”
It was unexpected. But aside from a first meeting, I had much to do today.
Just as I was about to refuse, Jegalling spoke.
“Accept the match.”
“Master?”
“The Dang Clan’s secret martial arts are rarely offered as sparring partners. It will aid your progress.”
With my master speaking so earnestly, I had no grounds to refuse.
Jegalling added one more thing.
“Lady Dang is the Dang Clan’s rising star and is considered the most exceptional poison master of her generation. She will likely be quite different from the Hao-mun trackers you’ve faced.”
I knew that heterodox and orthodox martial arts differed.
Certainly, the orthodox method of education involved training from childhood through meridian cultivation and blood refinement, conditioning one’s physiology to match the sect from the ground up.
Even among masters of equal skill, Lady Dang and Samsalchuseo would fight in distinctly different ways.
I found myself curious.
* * *
Two figures stood facing each other in the training grounds.
My master, Gungwi, and Yoo Ho observed from the sidelines.
As I reached for a wooden sword, Dang-a spoke.
“Given the nature of the Sichuan Dang Clan, we would prefer the match to be conducted with real blades.”
Jegalling smiled with a grin.
“Very well, Lady Dang. However, should either of your lives come into danger, I or another will intervene. Is that acceptable?”
“It is. Our family elders do the same.”
The Sichuan Dang Clan apparently conducted real blade matches as standard.
‘After all, it would be tedious to carve poison needles from wood one by one.’
Dang-a spoke.
“However, I will only use paralysis poison. I will provide the antidote to Baek Rin-ui-seon.”
She handed a small vial to Jegalling. He spoke.
“Understood. Yoo Ho, that sword…!”
Yoo Ho, as if waiting for this moment, threw the Bing Jing Blade to me.
Ping-gururu—
Tak.
Without even turning my head, I caught the blade.
Srrung—
Through the descending scabbard, the steel emerged with a cold gleam.
Dang-a spoke.
“It certainly appears to be a peerless treasure blade.”
“…”
I took a martial stance instead of answering. Dang-a then smiled coldly at me.
“No need for lengthy words before a match? I like that.”
‘If you like it, why insist on fighting?’
I thought the nature of martial artists was still difficult to comprehend.
At the same time, moments ago she had been unmistakably a young girl, yet in her martial stance she carried an oppressive presence like a mountain—it was remarkable.
‘Wang Gak-yeon was like this too.’
It was a stance as natural and fluid as flowing water, as if practiced thousands upon thousands of times.
At first glance, there was not a single opening to exploit.
‘This will be difficult to contend with.’

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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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