Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 30

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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 30
The Treatment Room.
Ordinarily, it was a place where medical techniques employing acupuncture and moxibustion were practiced. But today was different.
A girl lay upon a bed in the center of the room—spotlessly clean, not a speck of dust, disinfected with potent spirits.
And standing over this girl were Baek Rin-ui-seon and Jin Cheon-hee.
Yoo Ho, as always, stood quietly behind Jegalling.
“Can you manage it with the medical knowledge you possess?”
“…I cannot give you a definite answer.”
This was a world without X-rays, CT scans, or MRI machines. Without various pharmaceuticals, without even IV drips or syringes.
‘If the descriptions I read in novels are accurate, then perhaps….’
Jin Cheon-hee spoke.
“First, I need to
examine
the condition of her abdomen. Is that possible, Master?”
Baek Rin-ui-seon nodded.
“You want to know more details than what pulse diagnosis would reveal?”
“Yes. I cannot yet perform qi pulse diagnosis myself.”
One of the things that had astonished Jin Cheon-hee most since arriving in this martial arts world was precisely that.
Qi pulse diagnosis.
The ability to diagnose the body’s interior using qi.
It was similar to ultrasound in a way, but far more precise.
Because of qi sensitivity.
To use an analogy, one could channel qi and feel the inside of the body as though touching it with one’s own hands.
Jegalling brought his hand to the child’s abdomen.
Thump—
A sound seemed to ring out, but the vibration transmitted to the abdomen was barely perceptible.
A faint inner force that an ordinary person could not detect passed through the abdomen
like
a sound wave.
‘No matter how many times I see it, it’s still remarkable… I have sufficient inner force, so with more effort I should be able to use it too, right?’
Jin Cheon-hee already possessed ten years’ worth of inner force. However, the manipulation of that qi was still not refined enough to perform qi pulse diagnosis.
With higher achievement, such diagnosis would soon become possible.
While Jin Cheon-hee thought this, Jegalling closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensations at his fingertips.
Sensing the returning wavelengths of inner force, he began sketching the patient’s condition onto rice paper.
At this astounding technique, Jin Cheon-hee could only stare in a daze.
‘…Is this the level one must reach to hear the voice of divinity in the martial arts world?’
Jegalling spoke.
“What I’m about to say must remain known only to the three of us. Do you understand?”
Yoo Ho, as if accustomed to such matters, did not even respond.
Only Jin Cheon-hee nodded heavily.
“The one who attacked the child employed a rather severe internal energy technique. And quite a distinctive mark has been left behind. This is only possible if one has mastered an original martial art.”
At those words, I recalled the martial arts novels I had read.
The answer was singular.
“Then the culprit belongs to a specific sect?”
“Yes.”
In those novels, martial arts leave characteristic wounds according to their lineage. Wounds that appear as if inflicted by a tiger’s claws, or marks that look as though made by a saw.
Upon seeing such marks, characters in those stories would cry out: ‘Aha! This is the △martial art of the O sect…! Such viciousness!’
‘My Master is one of the three great sages of Gangho. Deducing martial arts from wounds is naturally within his purview… In terms of twenty-first century Earth, it’s similar to identifying the type of gun from bullet striations.’
Jegalling continued with difficulty.
“A member of Jeongpa, the Baekdo faction.”
Jeongpa.
No matter what grudge existed, attacking the family of an opponent—especially a child—was something I could never imagine.
That was the work of the evil sects, and the worst sort at that.
‘So it was all tangled together.’
In the novel, Gungwi ultimately failed to find the culprit.
Jegalling spoke.
“Hee-ya, I’m sorry for showing you such things.”
“The world is wicked, not you, Master. And we can only act if we know the truth.”
Humans cannot be defined by a single category.
Among the righteous sects, there may be those worse than the evil sects, and among the evil sects, there may be those more noble than the righteous.
Doctors were no different.
Some clung desperately to money under the guise of treating patients, and some performed surgery while drunk, causing medical accidents.
They did not hesitate to lie to bereaved families, saying the illness was too severe to save.
Some sniffed anesthetics like drugs in the bathroom.
Conversely, there were those who accepted not a single coin and volunteered to make house calls to the slums.
There were those who saved lives without anyone’s recognition, working as hard as they could. Some even saved lives until death from overwork claimed them.
Whether righteous or evil sect mattered not.
Groups were merely mud pits composed of people.
I considered this.
‘If this spreads incorrectly, it will become troublesome.’
If the culprit was from Jeongpa, they would do whatever it took to silence him.
I spoke.
“That grudge belongs to the man Gungwi. It’s not our concern.”
There was a callousness in my words that could not be attributed to a child.
My focus was entirely on saving the patient.
Jegalling sensed that I resembled his own darker aspects. Yet that was also an essential quality for a Gangho doctor.
‘Ordinarily, I would not have accepted this patient.’
I had felt it from the first pulse diagnosis.
That I could not save this child. And that even if I did, it could become exceedingly troublesome.
The me of old would not have taken even a single step forward.
“Then let’s proceed.”
If not for my disciple, I would never have agreed.
* * *
‘The intestinal rupture has caused necrosis internally. The fact that he’s still alive must be due to his qi and the existence of spiritual medicine.’
I agreed with the assessment that he could die at any moment.
Yet seeing him still breathing made me realize how fascinating this world’s qi truly was.
‘Fortunately, the surgical method itself seems feasible. The problem is whether the patient has enough physical stamina to endure the procedure.’
There was no guarantee of success.
This was something even I couldn’t promise with certainty.
After conveying all of this to my Master, I said:
“I believe we’ll need family consent.”
“Quite systematic of you.”
At those words, I flinched.
‘Wait, how would surgery proceed without guardian consent? Ah… but this is the Gangho. According to Gangho’s laws, if the patient dies, would they just kill the doctor with a sword? That’s something the evil sects would do. But looking at this person, the righteous faction doesn’t seem to have much structure either…’
Having thought this far, I spoke immediately:
“I think you should explain even more thoroughly.”
“Very well. Will you tell them?”
I shook my head.
To others, I would only appear as a young disciple, not as a physician in my own right.
In times like these, tact was essential.
“I’m asking for your help, Master.”
At my words, Jegalling smiled bitterly.
“You’ve changed me quite a lot.”
* * *
Jegalling explained as simply as possible to Gungwi, who had been waiting.
After listening, Gungwi spoke.
“So there are two methods. One is a peaceful death—with the Uiseon’s acupuncture, there would be no pain as breathing ceases, and with huihobanjo, consciousness could be awakened for brief conversation. The body of the deceased would also remain intact. Is that correct?”
Jegalling nodded.
“That is correct.”
“The other method is to fight the illness to the end. Today is the critical moment, and we will use surgery, so if it fails, the body of the deceased will be damaged, and my daughter may suffer greatly…”
This was an era without modern medicine. There was no way to know if surgery would succeed as desired.
Gungwi’s expression twisted.
Perhaps he was remembering his wife, who had gone painfully.
“You are the Uiseon. Why can’t you guarantee success?”
“…”
At those words, Jegalling’s expression turned bitter.
In the silence, Gungwi spoke.
“Still… you’re a hundred times better than that first doctor who promised he could cure it perfectly.”
The man’s hands trembled.
“Are you asking me this because even if it fails later, it’s my fault and I shouldn’t resent you?”
Jegalling answered.
“No. I cannot arbitrarily decide the patient’s fate when I am a stranger seeing them for the first time today. You know the patient best, after all. You would know what they truly wish for.”
“….”
Gungwi stared blankly, his thoughts drifting to his daughter. Long ago, she had told him this.
-Disguises? That’s fine! I’ve always liked that sort of thing! I’ll make sure those bad guys never catch on, so you just have to defeat them all for me, okay Dad?
His daughter had been braver than anyone. He could never bring himself to tell her what he was truly doing.
-These days, wandering knights earn a lot of money. There must be a lot of good people out there. Bodyguards? Do we really need those? It’ll be hard to see my friends. That’s okay though. They can come visit me. And I’m good at playing by myself.
He had lied to his daughter.
That he was a wandering knight of Gangho, that he earned money through righteous deeds. So she shouldn’t worry, and should spend freely the money he earned.
The child had innocently believed him until the very end.
-Tell me stories about Gangho. Dad.
His daughter would pester him before falling asleep.
Listening to tales of magnificent wandering knights of Gangho, she believed she too could become one. She said she would learn martial arts following him and perform righteous deeds together with him.
She said she wanted to become a great and noble knight.
-Why did you come so late? Dad… Dad… I couldn’t become like you. But I still fought well against those bad guys… didn’t I…?
At that moment, his daughter was colder than usual. Her body temperature was like his wife’s.
Blood seeped from between her clenched teeth.
He was a liar. And a coward.
Someone who hated suffering from poverty but feared being looked down upon by his daughter.
The man spoke in a suppressed voice, as though shouting.
“Then please let her go gently. Without any more suffering.”
Jegalling asked at the sound of Gungwi’s voice.
“Are you truly certain of this?”
“If she dies like this… if she dies like this, just like my wife….”
He could say no more.
The man’s face was etched with agony. With trembling lips, he spoke thus. It could not continue like this.
Jegalling sent a glance toward Jin Cheon-hee.
Jin Cheon-hee sighed and nodded.
‘Yes. That too is a choice….’
The moment Jegalling began to rise, the man cried out.
“…Please save her! Just save her…please…!”
It was a father’s anguished cry, unable to accept his daughter’s life extinguishing.
He grasped at Jegalling’s sleeve.
He had chosen.
It was something raw and human that no words could adequately express.
“Please, just save her. I would rather suffer in her place. I wish I had died instead… Why does that child have to die when this foolish father still lives…!”
A parent’s cry, thought a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times over.
It should have been he who died. It should have been the liar that he was.
Jegalling did not answer.
He simply bowed deeply to the man’s choice and stepped outside.
Then he asked this.
“Cheon-hee. Do you think the child will survive?”

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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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