The Genius Doctor of the Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 27

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

Huashan Sect Medical Prodigy, Chapter 27

The cloth wrapped around the patient’s calf was filthy beyond measure.
Layered thick and wound tight in that condition.
Baek Hyeon bit back a curse that nearly escaped his lips.
Instead, he turned to the beggars gathered nearby.
“When was he bitten?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“Was the wound cleaned?”
The Beggar Gang members exchanged uneasy glances.
“There was so much bleeding… we just wrapped it with cloth.”
“Unwrap it now.”
“But if the bleeding starts again—”
“The bleeding isn’t the problem right now!”
Baek Hyeon cut the knots himself.
As the cloth fell away, deep fang marks appeared alongside turbid discharge oozing from the wound. A foul stench spread through the room.
The flesh surrounding the injury was an angry red, swollen and mottled, with a thin crimson line creeping up the calf.
Baek Hyeon’s eyes grew cold and distant.
‘They never washed it and wrapped it this tight.’
Animal saliva and dirt had been trapped inside the wound for a full day, rotting away.
‘Another few hours and the infection would have spread through his entire body.’
Even now, time was running short. Without immediate treatment, the man might lose his leg entirely.
“What I’m about to do will hurt considerably. I’ll need you to bite down on something. Please make it as clean as possible.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And bring me clean boiling water. Plenty of it.”
The beggars obeyed his words as if under a spell. Though he was far younger than any of them, the voice he used once treatment began carried a power that commanded obedience.
“Bite down on this.”
Baek Hyeon placed a clean cloth between the patient’s teeth.
“I’m going to reopen the wound now.”
“Nngh?!”
The man with the cloth in his mouth stared at Baek Hyeon in alarm. But Baek Hyeon remained resolute.
“If I leave the surface sealed like this, the inside will continue to rot. Left untreated, the infection will spread deeper into your body. You could die.”
“Then… what do we do?”
O Seong asked urgently. Rather than answering, Baek Hyeon raised a Medical Knife.
“Cut it open. I need to drain all the pus and filth first.”
“Won’t that cause a lot of pain?”
“Isn’t living better than dying?”
Fortunately, Baek Hyeon’s Medicine Box contained Numbing Medicine.
He unstoppered the jade bottle resting inside.
Click.
The Jade Bottle held a liquid the color of poison, suffused with a faint blue luminescence. It was Numbing Medicine—a substance that dulled sensation wherever it touched.
He soaked a clean cloth in the medicine and carefully cleaned the area around the wound, then applied the liquid repeatedly to the fang marks and swollen flesh.
“There’ll be a sting.”
The patient gritted his teeth.
At first a burning pain flared, but moments later the sensation around the wound began to fade and grow numb.
Baek Hyeon didn’t stop there. He inserted fine needles at four points around the affected area.
Sealing key acupoints that transmitted pain signals.
“Can you feel it? If you’re all right, nod for me.”
The patient nodded. Baek Hyeon collected the needles and retrieved Fire Tongs, then sterilized the Medical Knife over the flame.
“Why the heat?”
“It eliminates any microscopic toxins inside. I’ll disinfect with strong alcohol as well.”
Fortunately, both were items he carried in his Medicine Box. After completing the disinfection, Baek Hyeon made a shallow incision across the wound.
“…!”
The patient’s eyes flew wide with pain.
But he endured, teeth clenched against the anguish.
Baek Hyeon opened the wound fully. Dark blood and yellowish discharge poured out.
Along with it, the sickening stench intensified.
“Ugh…!”
The Beggar Gang members surrounding them grimaced.
The smell was unfamiliar even to them, who routinely carried the reek of filth on their bodies. Yet Baek Hyeon, if anything, grew calmer.
“Look. This was trapped inside.”
He pressed the swollen area slowly from top to bottom. Murky discharge that had pooled deep in the wound continued to seep out.
“Ugh!”
The patient groaned.
Baek Hyeon steadied him with a voice of remarkable composure.
“Just a little longer. We need to get it all out.”
As the turbid liquid diminished, Baek Hyeon removed dirt caked into the wound, scraps of cloth matted with blood—everything that didn’t belong.
If such things remained, even the finest medicine would fail to prevent infection.
“Is the wound deep?”
O Seong asked with concern, but Baek Hyeon shook his head.
“The dog’s fangs reached the muscle, but no major blood vessels or bone was damaged. A narrow escape. If a tendon had been severed, he’d have had trouble walking.”
If that had happened, the treatment would have been far more difficult.
The likelihood of lasting complications would have been considerable.
As he was thinking this, another beggar brought hot water.
Baek Hyeon checked that it had cooled sufficiently, then poured it slowly over the wound.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Murky water tinged with blood ran off to the side. Baek Hyeon did not stop the irrigation until the runoff ran clear.
Only finishing with Wall Detoxifying Water at the end.
‘The cleansing is done….’
What remained was the work of debriding dead tissue.
Baek Hyeon confirmed the effect of the Numbing Medicine again, then thinly excised the darkened tissue with the Medical Knife.
Then, after stanching the wound with clean cloth once more.
“Why are you doing that?”
“I’m identifying the boundary between dead and living tissue. When blood seeps out cleanly, that’s where the tissue can be saved.”
Once the bleeding stopped, Baek Hyeon withdrew the Frost White Silver Needles.
He placed needles at the outer edge of the swelling, at the Pool at the Bend and the Leg Three Miles points.
Simultaneously, a cool force spread outward.
The heat that had flushed the skin red gradually subsided.
The patient’s breathing eased considerably.
“These needles suppress heat and reduce swelling. But using them too long can impair recovery, so I won’t leave them in long.”
Baek Hyeon felt the pulse briefly before removing the needles.
Now came the final stage.
He applied medicine to a thin, loose gauze pouch, then loosely inserted it between the wound edges.
This was a precaution in case any discharge remained.
‘If I sealed the wound prematurely, the discharge still inside might cause it to fester again.’
Baek Hyeon took the pulse one last time and exhaled.
“It’s finished.”
“Ohhh…!”
The beggars nearby marveled.
What Baek Hyeon had just shown them seemed nothing short of the legendary physician Hua Tuo reborn.
“But we can’t be certain yet. Since he was bitten by a dog, there’s a good chance toxins remain.”
Baek Hyeon retrieved medicinal ingredients and placed them in the decoction pot.
The necessary materials were coptis, scutellaria, honeysuckle, forsythia, and licorice.
‘Really, a few more ingredients would be ideal….’
He didn’t have them on hand, so there was nothing for it. After steeping the medicine, he explained to O Seong.
“It’s called the Swelling Suppressing Toxin Draining Decoction. It reduces the heat and swelling of the wound and expels the toxins that have spread through the body.”
“If he drinks this, will he be fine now?”
“I can’t guarantee it. We need to watch him through the night.”
Baek Hyeon spoke firmly.
“Call me immediately if his fever rises or if he begins to shiver. The same if a red line appears above the wound.”
He looked around at the gathered members of the Beggar Gang in turn.
“Most importantly, don’t touch the wound with filthy hands. Under no circumstances. Do you understand?”
“Yes, we understand.”
“This is Plum Blossom Cleansing Elixir that I made. When the gauze pouch becomes soaked with blood, wash your hands thoroughly with the elixir and replace it with a fresh one. Don’t reuse the old one out of thrift—burn it.”
Normally they would discard it anyway, but with beggars, one couldn’t be careless. Even such details required strict warning.
Baek Hyeon sighed deeply.
“Still, it’s fortunate he received treatment in a single day. If we’d waited even a few more days, we’d have had to amputate the leg—and even then, I couldn’t have promised his life.”
“……!”
At those words, the beggars held their breath.
O Seong gazed at the patient on the bed, then slowly bowed his head.
“I’m truly grateful.”
“I’ll accept your thanks once he’s fully recovered.”
Baek Hyeon spoke with a sigh.
“The wound needs to be washed repeatedly over the next few days, and I’ll need to monitor the healing process.”
“Still, accept at least this token of gratitude. You are a benefactor to the Beggar Gang.”
In truth, O Seong’s words were somewhat exaggerated.
Calling him a benefactor to the entire Beggar Gang simply for treating one ordinary member was pushing it.
But it was pleasant nonetheless. Baek Hyeon grinned and nodded.
“Is there anything you’d like in return?”
“Anything I’d like…….”
It seemed unlikely they could offer him money.
What could one expect from a gang of beggars?
But they did have their specialties.
Information, above all.
“Then would you spread word that I helped the Beggar Gang this time?”
“You mean your exploits?”
“I need a reputation.”
What had his purpose been from the start?
‘To revive the Huashan Sect, which grows weaker by the day.’
Baek Hyeon had chosen to wield his medical skills as the means. He lacked the martial prowess of Cheong Jin, so he decided to compete with what he did best. And for the Huashan Sect to flourish, his own name had to gain weight in the world.
For the sect to prosper, his reputation had to rise.
“I’ve never met a physician who asks for rumor as compensation.”
“Isn’t spreading word of a skilled physician also a way of saving lives?”
As Baek Hyeon spoke with a grin, O Seong nodded in agreement.
“Understood. I’ll contact the gang leader myself and make sure it’s known.”
These were not idle words—they came from an elder of the Beggar Gang himself.
He could trust them.
“Then I’ll visit again tomorrow.”
Baek Hyeon bowed in farewell and left the hideout.
He needed to return to the Huashan Medical Clinic.

* * *

Several days later.
“Whew.”
Baek Hyeon was practicing the forms of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique alongside Cheong In.
‘It’s not easy.’
This was altogether different from when he’d learned the Six Harmony Sword Technique, which he already knew well. The Plum Blossom Sword Technique was treated as an advanced martial art unique to the Huashan Sect, so the difficulty of mastering it had increased dramatically.
‘Still, it’s enjoyable.’
At least the silver lining was that learning martial arts brought him joy.
It seemed he had been deeply influenced by Baek Hyeon’s love of the martial ways.
The original Hwa Seo-myeong had little interest in martial arts themselves, but living in Baek Hyeon’s body, he’d come to cherish the Huashan Sect’s techniques.
“You’re truly remarkable. If you continue training like this, you’ll reach the First Class level in no time.”
The body’s talent was exceptional besides.
Cheong In spared no praise for Baek Hyeon. In his eyes, Baek Hyeon possessed talent among the foremost in the Huashan Sect—perhaps not quite matching his master, Cheong Jin, the Huashan Blade First, but close.
The two were absorbed in their training when——
“Master! Master!”
A woman came hurrying toward them from afar, breathless. It was Yu Cheong Ah, Baek Hyeon’s junior disciple.
‘What’s wrong with her?’
She looked unusually flustered.
“Junior sister, are you alright? What’s happened?”
Baek Hyeon offered her a bowl of water as she caught her breath.
Yu Cheong Ah drank it gratefully in one gulp, then gripped Baek Hyeon’s shoulder.
“Master, is it true that you treated a Beggar Gang member whose leg was nearly severed?”
“Yes. I was planning to check on his progress again today.”
Baek Hyeon nodded without making much of it. Yet Yu Cheong Ah’s tone was urgent. She spoke with evident alarm.
“It’s causing a stir right now!”
“What?”
“The Beggar Gang must have spread the word. People are calling you the Huashan Medical Dragon!”
Baek Hyeon’s mouth fell open.
The Huashan Medical Dragon?

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