Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 579

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 579
Gongseon Yeong cleared his throat with a theatrical cough before shouting.
“Come! Come everyone!”
Clap clap clap clap!
Despite merely clapping his hands together, the sound rang out with impressive resonance.
“The founder of ondol heating systems has arrived as a guest at the North Sea Ice Palace! The divine healer who cures all manner of ailments!”
He spoke fluently in the Aisha Kingdom’s language, capturing everyone’s attention.
The prince behind me stripped off his upper garment and struck a pose.
“Hnngh! Behold these muscles!”
As his muscles bulged and tensed, everyone erupted in cheers of “Ooooh!” with their eyes fixed upon him.
There was a specific reason for this performance.
According to Gongseon Yeong’s experience, there must always be someone to showcase strength beside a Gangho master.
‘Sister… have you actually done this before? Why are you so skilled at it?’
Could my sister Gongseon Hyeon have orchestrated this?
Perhaps she hadn’t merely worked as a bounty hunter.
As I began to suspect her true background, a middle-aged man emerged carrying his mother on his back.
His mother’s mouth was twisted to one side.
The man spoke with a trembling, desperate voice.
“I once showed her to a doctor from the Middle Kingdom, and he diagnosed her condition as facial paralysis.”
Facial paralysis.
A condition causing facial nerve paralysis.
When the facial nerve becomes paralyzed, the muscles around the mouth and eyes become distorted.
The causes vary, but it’s broadly divided into peripheral and central types depending on whether the problem originates in the brain or the nerve itself.
There are various causes including skull fractures from trauma, brain tumors, cerebrovascular disease, or conditions like otitis media and viral infections.
Yet more than half of cases have unknown origins.
Named after the doctor who identified it, it’s called Bell’s palsy.
Traditional medicine calls it facial paralysis.
If it’s a brain problem… the patient typically dies before reaching the medical guild unless they’re a Gangho master.
Since this world doesn’t have vehicles, even reaching a village clinic requires crossing mountains and taking considerable time.
‘Even in ancient Korea, children had to cross three mountains just to get to school.’
Back then, infant mortality was high. When a child developed a fever, the fastest person in the household would carry them on their back and run by bicycle to the hospital.
This was an era without personal vehicles.
The Middle Kingdom faced the same situation.
Places like Hangzhou were mad towns where at night the black bandits would punch holes in each other’s boats, and during the day everyone gathered at the medical guild for casual meetings—such places had many clinics and guilds.
But in villages just slightly removed from such centers, having even one clinic made it a desirable place to live.
Facial paralysis appeared in such a place?
It didn’t seem like a case of unknown origin—it seemed like a fatal problem had occurred in the head.
Why does the world keep spinning around me?
‘…This is exactly why I keep establishing clinics under the Baekrin Medical Guild.’
Whenever I had spare manpower, I expanded them like a convenience store chain, and this was precisely the reason why.
Still, it’s not enough.
And in times like these, medical clinics rarely fail completely—it’s like plucking stars from the sky. There are periods when business is slower, but total collapse is nearly impossible.
As long as the patient arrives alive at the Baekrin Medical Guild clinic, I can buy time by quickly inserting needles and arranging transport to the local medical guild.
After carefully taking the pulse from the patient’s head and ears and asking various questions, the cause remained unknown.
More than half of all patients were experiencing the common condition of facial paralysis.
In a way, it was fortunate.
‘In Western medicine, we typically treat with medications and observe the progress.’
We also apply electrical stimulation.
Usually, with this approach, patients gradually recover.
In traditional medicine, acupuncture is often used for treatment.
Of course, combined with cupping or moxibustion.
‘It’s fortunate that this is treatable.’
I inserted the needle with inner energy while speaking.
“Phew, at least there’s no stroke, so that’s a relief.”
With elderly patients, stroke can sometimes be the cause, so the family’s hearts were pounding.
The son carrying his mother asked urgently in the Aisha language.
“The mother improves only when the needle is in and returns to the original state when it’s removed—will she recover?”
“Usually, yes. However, quite prolonged treatment is necessary.”
As soon as I inserted the needle, the mother’s muscles returned to normal function.
Wow!
‘If I just say she’s cured now and send her away, I’d be a quack.’
I spoke.
“I’ll write you a prescription first, and you must decoct it daily. Acupuncture alone isn’t sufficient, so I’ve also applied pressure to the acupoints using inner energy techniques. Come back to this place tomorrow.”
Acupuncture enhanced with inner energy techniques is naturally far superior to ordinary acupuncture.
That’s why Gangho doctors are valued one notch higher than ordinary physicians.
And why masters like my teacher could ascend to the position of Medical Sage.
“Thank you. Thank you so much!”
“This improvement is only temporary. If you don’t receive treatment tomorrow, she’ll return to her original state.”
As I emphasized this several times, the son nodded.
“And for this type of illness, keeping the body warm is important… You don’t have an ondol heating system, do you?”
“…No, we don’t.”
What should I do?
In this world, heat is a precious resource.
“Let’s try to manage with acupuncture and herbal decoctions for now.”
Saying so, I had water brought over.
When I boiled water using the heat-gathering device, the onlookers cheered again.
Among those gathered here, there’s surely no one who doesn’t know how to boil water.
It’s something everyone can do.
However, hot water is a resource. Firewood has value too.
“Now, bring me water and I’ll boil it for you. Since I’m using the heat-gathering device, it will stay hot much longer than water boiled with firewood. And bring all the patients as well.”
Waaaaaaah!
Seeing this, Gongseon Yeong transmitted her voice.
“You’re only using a thermal cooker just to boil water? Do you have that much inner strength to spare?”
[It’s for saving lives, sister. Saving lives!]
Water is brought and heated in a heating device right away, and it doesn’t cool down easily.
Only Gongseon Yeong, who understood how remarkable and valuable such mastery was, looked at me with eyes that said ‘Is this insane?’
[You really are always surprising. Always surprising.]
[Kehehehe…!]
* * *
Treating people in harsh conditions had become routine for me now.
As word of mouth spread considerably, I set up a tent and began treating patients.
“So Ui-seon is treating people directly!”
“Wow, is that really true? The actual So Ui-seon?”
“You know, that handsome young man who looked like he was from the Middle Kingdom? The one who moved around with that huge dog. The bird would wander around, but when it got cold, it would burrow into its master’s robes.”
“Ah, I didn’t see it myself, but my daughter went and saw him. This is fortunate. Very fortunate.”
Many poor people began flooding into the relief tent.
However, what was different from Hangzhou was this:
In Hangzhou, many doctors worked together and treated patients collectively, but here I was alone.
And Gongseon Yeong hadn’t let go of her ambitions.
“The ultimate flame technique, flame itself!”
Whoooosh!
As Prince Han-bing sprayed oil from his mouth, a massive flame erupted.
Clap clap clap clap!
“Impressive! You can do this without even using fire powder!”
“If you’d come earlier, we could have seen the fire-eating technique too. What a shame.”
The people who didn’t know that the person performing the fire show right before their eyes was a prince of the Aisha Kingdom were busy clapping enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, I treated patients.
The line was long, but being able to enjoy entertainment while waiting was a tremendous merit.
People flocked in eagerly.
And not long after….
‘As expected, it came. Typhus.’
A patient with high fever and a rash entered, though they still had the strength to walk around.
The patient was young, but the guardian who came along out of concern was quite elderly.
They said it was a father and son relationship.
Since a newborn young grandchild was waiting at home, I needed to resolve this quickly.
‘Hmm…. Should I do some public education here.’
I deliberately spoke loudly.
“This is! A plague! And one caused by insects! The insects carry bacteria, which then attack the human body!”
My version of public education(?)
“…?”
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion before turning their attention back to the fire show between Gongseon Yeong and Prince Han-bing.
‘Sigh, that’s right… should I start from the concept of bacteria?’
There’s no point in complicating future knowledge unnecessarily.
At that moment, Gongseon Yeong spoke in a theatrical tone.
“Ohhh! So it’s true that insects carry evil miasma and cause illness!”
Bacteria had transformed into evil miasma, but the people’s attention became more focused.
I spoke in the same theatrical tone.
“Indeed! Insects are the very hosts that carry evil plague! Only by eliminating them can we cure the chaos fever!”
Here, they call it ‘chaos fever.’
So I should match the terminology.
“Chaos fever! Its cause lies with lice! Lice spread the chaos fever!”
The people asked at this.
“Are you saying lice receive orders from the plague deity?”
“….”
I answered without changing my expression.
“I know nothing of such things. However, the dirtier the house, the more likely one is to contract chaos fever. Here, if you use the fumigation charcoal I’ve prepared, you can escape the evil miasma. Come now, follow me!”
I went to the patient’s house and, using my inner energy, quickly washed the clothes and bedding, then lit the fumigation charcoal.
And I caught all manner of insects bursting forth from the smoke and showed them to the people.
From a single small house, an enormous number of insects came pouring out.
Prince Han-bing and Gongseon Yeong were shocked, but the people were not particularly surprised.
After all, living together with insects was simply their natural way of life.
When I explained that insects were the cause of chaos fever, only then did the people gasp in astonishment.
Watching these people, I let out a sigh.
‘Ideally, they should bathe…’
For now, I disinfected the entire family using the fire-life device.
As I traveled around, I discovered one thing.
‘Even if they want to bathe… firewood is expensive.’
This is the harsh northern land. There are trees that grow even in such cold, but since they grow quite far away, it’s difficult to cut and bring them back.
There are those who specialize in selling firewood precisely because of this, but it’s quite expensive.
So for these people, hot water is quite a luxury.
The fortunate thing is that there are hot springs.
The only problem is that the North Sea Ice Palace monopolizes those water veins.
The region where hot spring water flows properly is the northeast of Baekho City.
That is, the lower slopes of an even greater snow mountain.
The North Sea Ice Palace forbids commoners from entering that place.
If we could draw that hot spring water…
Or at the very least, if we built a massive bathhouse there that commoners could also access, the problem would be solved.
The water from the well currently in use and the water drawn from the lake were only lukewarm, so it cooled quickly, making it impossible to bathe in.
In this cold region, bathing in cold water could mean freezing to death.
‘If I distribute the fumigation charcoal and develop the hot springs to build at least a simple bathhouse… something might come of it.’
I’ve successfully gained the support of the commoners in the North Sea Ice Palace.
But what remains is ultimately.
‘…Civil engineering.’
Would civil engineering projects even be possible here?
Even if they were, whether the North Sea Ice Palace would approve such an undertaking gave me a headache.
‘Ah, so that’s why Prince Han-bing said it was doomed the moment he heard the preventive measures.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————