Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 823

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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 823
046. There Is No Diabetes for the Elderly
“Let me see here… Ack, fortunately the wound isn’t deep. The bone and tendons are intact. I just need to be careful about infection. Grandmother?”
“Really? It’s going to be okay?”
“Your joints move so smoothly that once this heals, you’ll be flying around.”
“This boy never runs out of things to say! Kkhkhkhkh!”
Grandmother laughed and slapped my back with a resounding smack.
She had gone out this morning to gather medicinal herbs and taken a fall.
Usually when someone stumbles on a mountain, it leads to death, but the other grandmothers who came with her helped her down.
She had been very worried whether her leg was broken.
‘If you’re a child, you just brush yourself off and get up, but when you’re elderly, you can break bones even falling on your backside.’
Especially in old age, osteoporosis was common, making it even worse.
And in this world, if you can’t move your legs, even if everything else is fine, it usually leads to wasting away, making it all the more dangerous.
In that sense, you could say this grandmother was fortunate?
I skillfully applied pressure point techniques and proceeded with the treatment.
“Does it hurt, Grandmother?”
“Not at all. It’s amazing. Do all Gangho doctors do this?”
“The injury location was fortunate. That’s why the pressure point technique worked so well.”
This world lacked anesthetics, relying instead on pressure point techniques.
But just as anesthetics weren’t a cure-all, neither were pressure point techniques.
It varied by location, and depended on how severe the wound was.
Even the pain relief could be stronger or weaker depending on the martial arts sect.
‘That’s what makes it harder.’
To become a proper doctor, there was so much to study.
That’s why there were so many quacks.
After finishing the grandmother’s leg treatment, I took on the next patient.
Sama Hyeon moved between the other doctors, transporting necessary supplies.
“Phew, just moving things over a short distance, but it’s quite difficult. Hyeong~”
“That’s surprisingly exhausting. Even decent porters get worn out after half a day.”
“How on earth do the Ganho Party doctors manage this?”
“The Ganho Party doctors also use Muryeok Party warriors when it’s urgent.”
After saying that, I suddenly sent a sound transmission to Sama Hyeon.
[Are you really okay? I thought you’d stay with Hye-a.]
[Ah, don’t worry. I’m more concerned about you, Hyeong.]
Why was that?
Usually when something like that happens, shouldn’t one be out of their mind with worry for their younger sibling?
Especially since Sama Hyeon had the memory of nursing the sickly Sama-hye when they were young, and even as an adult, he took care of her like she was precious.
But after learning that Baekcheon-gun was himself from another world, he seemed rather reassured about Hye-a.
‘I definitely probed Sama-hye about Baekcheon-gun, but there was nothing to it.’
-Ah, my brother? He didn’t say much. We ate, looked around the marketplace a bit. Made some of his usual silly jokes. Asked if I needed anything, if anything hurt. That was all.
-Strange points? Were there any? Why are you asking about that? That’s suspicious~ Did you two fight? That shouldn’t be possible.
-Well…. Nothing much happened. If I had to point something out, it’s that he kept staring at me intently while eating? And he kept trying to feed me. My brother, I mean? He just kept feeding me. Really, constantly. And then while we were eating together, he suddenly started staring at me eating. Hmm…. He ate a lot too, so that’s… should I even call that a strange point? There’s really nothing to it. Eun Gong.
-….
-So you two did fight, didn’t you? My brother did something wrong again, didn’t he?
Conveniently, Master wasn’t there, Yoo Ho wasn’t there, and Jin Cheon-hee himself wasn’t there either.
For Baekcheon-gun, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to infiltrate the Baekrin Medical Guild.
All he did when he came to the Baekrin Medical Guild then was ask about Sama-hye’s wellbeing, feed her, give her sweets, take walks with her, feed her again, give her sweets again, and buy her things she wanted.
That was all.
I thoroughly examined whether he’d sabotaged the medical techniques, but he hadn’t even touched anything.
Yoo Ho guaranteed that much, so there’s nothing more to say.
I wondered if he’d cast some strange sorcery, so Jasi and Isha, who had become a spirit, examined it together, but there was nothing like that either.
‘Did he really risk his life for this precious opportunity just to see Sama-hye’s face once?’
This was a terrible deal. Really.
-Oh, come to think of it, he went back and slept when the sun set. Now that I think about it, doesn’t my brother stay up late?
It seemed to be the influence of becoming a Rakshasa.
I wasn’t sure if this one also transformed into a tiger’s head or deer’s head like other people, but from the way Jasi controlled himself, it didn’t seem like this one couldn’t do it either.
When I told this story to Sama Hyeon, his answer was ridiculous.
-Of course. Hyeong. Of course I’ll exercise good restraint, but there’s still a tiny chance of a mistake, right? I absolutely won’t go out together at night until I’m completely certain.
After learning that Sama Hyeon was another world’s version of himself, he became an authority on Baekcheon-gun studies.
-That guy will never touch Hye-a. He’d rather die with a sword in his mouth. But you’re the problem, Hyeong. He’s going to touch you.
Since he had a purpose, he must have met Hyeong.
I don’t think the meeting between Hyeong and that guy at Saeoe was mere coincidence.
While saying such things, he warned Jin Cheon-hee to be careful.
‘What kind of existence is Hye-a to Sama Hyeon?’
A certainty that no matter how he goes mad, he would never forget.
In a way, it might be close to madness itself.
However, it was also true that I couldn’t deny Sama Hyeon’s words.
‘If Baekcheon-gun had intended to harm Sama-hye, there would have been plenty of opportunities….’
During times when he was just watching his younger sister eat and staring blankly.
Fortunately, Sama-hye hadn’t noticed.
‘An older brother from another world. Of course, if I tell anyone, I’d be lucky not to be treated like a madman.’
“Are we done with the patients in this village? Ugh-”
Jin Cheon-hee stretched after thinking that far.
About two months had passed since I began medical volunteer work.
Days spent conducting medical activities, traveling through remote villages without medical clinics.
Since there were no medical clinics, naturally the population wasn’t large either.
Each village had only about fifty to at most three hundred people.
Of course, even with that many people, it wasn’t enough for a doctor to settle and live there.
So in these villages, when someone gets injured, leaving it to natural recovery is the norm.
Then it worsens and many die.
“Grandmother!”
“Oh my, our little puppy. Didn’t you just get home? Here again?”
“Father told me to bring some pancakes, persimmons, and food to the doctors!”
“Oh dear!”
As expected.
The small basket the child carried was brimming with appetizing food. Among them were boiled potatoes.
‘Ou, the potato distribution is going well.’
Potatoes that had been refined and improved repeatedly as a famine relief crop.
They weren’t as large as modern potatoes, but they were still quite substantial.
They were hardy even during droughts and grew well as long as excessive moisture was avoided.
“Hehe. Everyone says thank you. Thank you so much, Doctor!”
“Not at all. Don’t mention it.”
I had changed my appearance and was conducting medical volunteer work.
If titles like Magistrate or Provincial Governor were involved, the local officials would inevitably become uncomfortable.
In a world without phones or CCTV, the officials only knew I was doing medical volunteer work and had no idea which villages I passed through.
‘Medical volunteering and inspection without it being an inspection.’
Hwang-gu and Noeji kept their forms appropriately small, moving about as a neighborhood dog and bird.
Even so, there were certainly people who recognized me as So Ui-seon… but.
‘Not many people know I became the Provincial Governor.’
Perhaps it was because this was such a remote village.
It wasn’t quite at the level of asking whether the First Emperor of China was still alive like some ghost story, but it was true that this place was disconnected from the wider world.
“Alright then. Shall we all share? Would our young friend like to eat too?”
“Yes yes yes!”
As the child bounced excitedly, Sama Hyeon spoke.
“How is it that you’re so popular with kids no matter which village you visit?”
“When you’re with me, delicious food appears. At that age, the person who gives you tasty things is always the best.”
I flashed a double peace sign.
After finishing today’s medical consultations and preparing to organize the tent, villagers came running one by one.
“Oh my, Doctors! Please let us help you.”
“It’s fine. We can manage.”
“No, it’s not easy for you to treat us for free…”
I answered.
“Ah, it’s not completely free. We take some medicinal herbs with us.”
“That’s free, hyeong.”
“No, it’s compensation.”
I corrected Sama Hyeon’s words.
Of course, if someone had difficulty moving, I would treat them completely free of charge, but otherwise, I needed to receive even small medicinal herbs.
Otherwise, the doctors who would come here next time could face troublesome situations.
How wonderful it would be if everyone received goodwill as goodwill, but reality was often different.
‘And medicinal herbs don’t burden those who gather them too much.’
Sama Hyeon spoke as he looked at the meal the villagers had prepared.
“Wow, there’s meat in the side dishes? And plenty of eggs too.”
“That’s how much life has improved.”
At those words, the child spoke.
“Mother says she doesn’t go hungry even in spring anymore, so life feels worth living. She says it’s all thanks to the Emperor.”
It was a good thing.
Sama Hyeon looked at the child with eyes that said ‘it’s not the Emperor’s grace, it’s my brother’s grace,’ but I deliberately ignored him.
After all, the one working me like an ox is that very person.
* * *
After treating one village, I moved on to the next, and then the next.
Truly a journey like that of a traveling merchant.
Soon I felt like I’d be possessed by Heo Saeng-won, a wandering merchant from the time of buckwheat blossoms.
‘If buckwheat flowers were scattered like salt, it would be perfect.’
A journey like duckweed, never staying anywhere long and constantly moving about.
This time, I arrived at a village called Doju.
It wasn’t a village belonging to Baekcheon-gun.
It was a village of a different county, famous for peach liquor so sweet it could melt your tongue, or so they said.
“Ah, so that’s why it’s peach and liquor~”
“It’s quite common for village specialties to become the village name.”
“I should grab some to give to Hye-a. She drinks well, you know. She’s a bit frustrated because she can’t drink inside the Medical Guild.”
“What? You told me I couldn’t drink alcohol?”
At those words, Sama Hyeon chuckled.
“That’s social etiquette, Patriarch~ A subordinate’s drinking capacity is naturally determined by their superior, after all.”
“But Hye-a is already the Master of the Regeneration Hall. Why does she care about my opinion? The Chuna Dangju always hides alcohol somewhere and drinks it.”
“Hye-a might do the same when she gets older~ But for now, she just didn’t want to.”
That made sense.
Come to think of it, there were people who used to pester Sama-hye to have a drink with them, weren’t there?
‘There were plenty who looked down on her as a young, naive woman.’
Fortunately, such things rarely happened these days.
Sama-hye’s position was what it was, and her brother was the Patriarch of the Golden Blood Hall and the Rumor Master of Hao-mun.
There weren’t many bold enough to pester the younger sister of such a person… but there might not be none either.
‘There are as many madmen in Gangho as grains of sand.’
How many patients have I wanted to ask, ‘What on earth were you thinking doing such a thing?’
In any case, Sama-hye ‘officially’ didn’t drink.
“She drinks a lot in front of friends~ Some people say she’s tough because of it, but well, you can’t reach that position without being tough~ You can’t climb to a position like Bundata Master or Dangju with just outstanding medical skills alone.”
“Right. From that point on, you have to deal with people, so political skill is naturally necessary.”
At those words, Sama Hyeon bared his teeth and grinned widely.
“Truly amazing~ Hye-a is.”
Sama-hye is Sama Hyeon’s pride.
It seemed he was going to buy the finest liquor from Doju village and present it to Sama-hye.
Douju Village was a place with considerable scale, befitting a town with such specialty products.
The population was nearly a thousand people!
Compared to Namgyeong, one would naturally sigh “how modest,” but I had just come from a village with fewer than a hundred people.
Thinking of it as ten times larger made the difference seem enormous.
“I heard the Jeong Gajang family serves as both the village chief and local magistrate?”
“If I want to get good liquor, I’d better make a good impression~”
Sama Hyeon rubbed his gloved hands together cunningly.
“You handle that yourself. I’m going to treat patients.”
Jin Cheon-hee drew the line with those words.
Sama Hyeon lamented that his older brother really didn’t drink alcohol, but it seemed he was preparing an extra bottle anyway.

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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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