The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 23

“Knife needle?”

Jin Yongho frowned and examined the knife needle I handed him.

“What is this? The traditional Korean medicine clinic I went to before never mentioned anything like this.”

That would make sense.

Unlike the old days when various needles like lancet needles and round needles were used, modern South Korea almost exclusively uses filiform needles.

Though I heard there are quite a few traditional Korean medicine clinics that use knife needles, apparently the place Jin Yongho went to wasn’t one of them.

​

As for me… this is actually much more comfortable.

The martial arts world didn’t have the technology to mass-produce needles as thin as modern filiform needles.

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“Regular needles are made of soft iron and bend but don’t break. In contrast, this is made of steel and forged like a blade so it can make incisions with the tip. Like a scalpel or syringe needle.”

​

In terms of safety, regular filiform needles are naturally better. If you insert them slowly, they can avoid blood vessels and nerves.

But they were nowhere near capable of penetrating Jin Yongho’s rock-hard shoulder.

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“So you’re saying you’ll cut with a blade?”

“I’ll make small holes in the adhered soft tissue. It’s much less invasive than surgery though. Seeing is believing, so why don’t you try it once.”

He alternately looked at the ice-like frozen tendons on the computer screen and the knife needle in my hand.

Perhaps interested in this new treatment method, life returned to his dead eyes.

“Let’s try it, Dad. Okay?”

“Let’s give it a try.”

Jin Yongho nodded as if unable to resist his son’s encouragement.

He quickly pulled off his short-sleeved shirt and turned to face me with his shoulder exposed.

I felt for a spot where I could go straight to the tendon without dangerous structures, and lightly disinfected with an alcohol swab.

“I’m going to insert it now.”

Scritch. Scritch.

I could clearly feel the sensation of the knife needle penetrating skin and fascia.

Clean tendons have elasticity, while inflamed ones are sticky. And Jin Yongho’s shoulder was frozen solid like the nickname “frozen shoulder” for his fifty-year shoulder condition.

In this state, there was no need to precisely target acupoints.

I cleanly cut through the tissue, focusing on the areas with the most severe adhesions.

“It’s less painful than I thought and feels refreshing.”

“Right? Try lifting it once.”

“Is it already finished?”

Since I declared the treatment complete in less than a minute.

Jin Yongho looked bewildered.

He carefully moved his shoulder, thinking his arm would stop at about 90 degrees with pain just like before.

“…?”

But contrary to his expectation.

Just as I predicted.

“A, a divine physician?”

His arm shot up.

A full 180 degrees toward the ceiling.

“Wh, why is it lifting?”

“Wowwww!”

His son screamed with pure joy, but Jin Yongho seemed to feel other emotions before happiness.

“Hehe, surprised?”

An indescribable expression. The word “surprise” wasn’t enough.

“Uh, uhh… You said it was a knife needle?”

“Yes.”

“It’s so anticlimactic, no, amazing. If anything, it got worse over time, but for 2 years this damn arm never went up any higher than that…?”

It was absolutely unbelievable.

Was he dreaming?

He blinked and slapped his cheek, but his senses were perfectly fine.

“Now that I’ve loosened it up like this, stretching will be much easier. Start exercising again and come back for treatment.”

“Yes, yes.”

Even though he came into the consultation room thinking he’d humor me, he probably never expected to be cured in one go.

For quick results, knife needles are great, and for slow and gentle treatment, thread lifting is really good – I don’t know why these aren’t more well-known. Well, I guess it’s beneficial for me to hear some divine physician praise?

“I’ll record the angles. From now on it goes up 180 degrees, and about 150 degrees to the side. Rotating backward is still difficult.”

“That’s… right.”

“The front joint is originally the last to loosen up. Now that I’ve confirmed you respond to knife needles, with consistent treatment like this, you’ll soon be able to cook again.”

I emphasized that he wasn’t 100% cured and needed additional visits, but Jin Yongho couldn’t collect himself.

Perhaps amazed by the simple fact that his shoulder could move, he couldn’t stop raising and lowering his arm.

“Really?”

“Of course. You’ll be able to run the restaurant and play actively with your son again.”

* * *

At the confident traditional Korean medicine doctor’s words, daily life from several years ago flashed by like a panorama.

Ordinary days of running the store all day long and going around with his son on holidays.

There were joyful days of reading books together with his son, having sword fights, and going to amusement parks.

Unable to use his arm, his daily life shattered into pieces.

At first, he endured the pain and continued working. It’ll get better. It’ll be fine soon.

But cruelly, his shoulder only grew stiffer, and he had to hire a head chef. He didn’t want to let someone else into the kitchen he had cherished for decades, but he had no choice.

After swallowing his pride like that. Customers left saying the taste had changed, and eventually it became a loss.

Jin Yongho thought he was wandering through hell at that time.

But it wasn’t the end.

One month after deciding to close the restaurant after discussing with his wife. He learned for the first time that you can’t just close whenever you want to close.

He realized day by day how lucky he had been, how happy he was, but there was no way back for him.

“How is it, Father? You did well to come, right?”

Yunho said, sticking out his chest proudly.

In fact, Jin Yongho had been a bad father who would get angry even when his son just tried to talk to him for the past few months.

Just yesterday… hadn’t he screamed in shock when his son said he got his stomach pain treated for a thousand won?

Even when entering this Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic, irritation had filled him to the top of his head.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Now it was moving.

“You’ll go to the treatment room for physical therapy, and you’ll also receive regular acupuncture. If you wait outside for a moment, they’ll guide you.”

After that, the Clinic Director said something more.

And when he came out, the staff said this and that, but none of it remained in his memory.

Jin Yongho simply received the rest of his treatment overwhelmed with emotion.

“Your arm moves? Really?”

“I told you to go. I did well, right, Mother?”

“Thank goodness, such a relief…!”

At the news that his shoulder had improved, his wife, who had been working at another restaurant and taking care of their livelihood alone for nearly a year, was also very happy.

“How is it, when can you start working?”

“Well… I’ll have to ask again tomorrow.”

“Yes, yes. Let’s focus on treatment for now.”

“I’ll massage your shoulder!”

He hugged his grateful and beloved family tightly.

Maybe it was rather fortunate that the lease didn’t go through. If he starts business again, will his regular customers come back?

Jin Yongho received his son’s massage while dreaming of a bright future.

“Ah!”

Jin Yongho, who had been lost in thought for a while, suddenly remembered something and clapped his hands.

“What’s wrong, Father?”

It wasn’t a big deal.

He suddenly realized that he had been so moved that he forgot to say thank you.

“You said you found that place through YouTube, right? I should at least leave a comment.”

He would also bring some fruit tomorrow and greet them once more, but he wanted to do something before that.

“Okay, just a moment.”

His son entered the YouTube app and searched for ‘acupuncturist’ in the search bar.

The title is too ordinary. Is it acupuncture sound ASMR?

“…”

But the video that unfolded before his eyes was miles away from ASMR, let alone Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic promotion.

“Wh-what is this. Ten Thousand Heavenly Flower Rain?”

“What did you hear when I told you yesterday? I said I learned how to throw rain from the Clinic Director!”

“…Did she come from the Martial Arts World or something?”

“They say the video is composite!”

“Of course it would be. Wh-what is this exactly…?”

Like that, Jin Yongho took one step toward the truth, then turned back around.

* * *

After treating Jin Yongho, the number of patients noticeably increased.

Lee Jini brought three patients, and among them, Grandmother Heo Sunnam introduced 5 people, but Jin Yongho brought a whopping 9 people.

Among them were Jin Yongho’s acquaintances, but there were also people who came after watching YouTube.

[I received frozen shoulder treatment at this Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic and my arm that wouldn’t go up for 2 years can now go up]

Like Jin Yunho, there were those who recognized the neighborhood fountain, and after watching several of Seo Inae’s videos, it wasn’t difficult to deduce the Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic.

“Isn’t Teacher Inae’s personal information being revealed too much? Is it okay?”

“Oh, all the nearby restaurants already appear in the vlogs I usually upload anyway. Don’t worry about it! More importantly, let’s make a blog too! We have to row when the water comes in!”

We simply made a sparse blog that only had treatment hours and location written on it.

Should I serialize treatment cases I experienced in the Martial Arts World later?

When we added the link, a few comments appeared asking if it was Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic promotion all along.

But such negative reactions were completely buried and unnoticeable among the exclamations of amazed foreigners and comments from those engaging in heated debates.

[No way, does this make sense? Just looking at that fountain statue, it’s clearly stone, so how does acupuncture pierce through stone?]

[It must be composite]

[The green light is obviously graphics, but how do you create the piercing effect with compositing?]

[Is it magnetic? Is there a separate hard needle that goes in?]

People arguing that it’s physically impossible, this and that.

‘…That’s right. Without infusing internal energy, it would bend and just fall off.’

Did I get too carried away from drinking and thoughtlessly tell them to film…? Fortunately, Seo Inae, who saw it with her own eyes, wasn’t particularly interested, but there are always people who get heated up and debate about all sorts of things.

Hmm, wouldn’t it be even more ridiculous to edit the video now? Major programs like “Amazing Stories of the World” have absolutely no interest in small-time YouTube!

[You have cultivated excellent internal energy. May I ask which sect you are a disciple of?]

I was enjoying watching the chatter and scrolling through the comments when

something strange caught my eye.

[Hahahaha]

[Concept tryhard]

[It’s raining so that’s probably why they added green screen CG lol]

Everyone thought it was a joke and spammed ‘ㅋ’ in the replies, but it bothered me a little.

[I have no companions to train with, so there is no way to ease my loneliness. Meeting you, young lady, I wish to converse about martial arts, so I leave this message that may never reach you. Young lady, please send me an email.]

Hmm, well~! Hmmmm.

When I clicked on his profile, his channel even had videos demonstrating the Four-One Sword Technique and Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

‘It’s quite different from the spear techniques and Mount Hua sword forms I know.’

There were also several other videos claiming to be techniques from his sect… something seems unusual?

It seems like there might be internal energy in them. Or maybe not.

Maybe it’s because I’m watching through video, but it’s really confusing.

What could it be. Are there people who practice martial arts in modern times too?

Just searching the internet brings up things like dantian breathing techniques, so it’s not impossible. But for some reason, the qi in the air is significantly lower compared to the martial arts world, so even with proper breathing and circulation methods, the efficiency is less than a third.

And with the methods floating around on the internet… maybe after about ten years you’d feel just a tiny bit?

[Hello. I’m emailing you after seeing the comment you left on the video.]

Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I decided to contact him, thinking of it as being fooled.

[I am a mere physician who stayed as a guest of the Sacheon Tang Sect and learned martial arts through observation. If my humble knowledge can be of help…]

After writing the email, it was a whopping 5,500 characters. Might that have been a bit overwhelming?

If he’s not really a martial artist, he’ll think I’m crazy. I scratched my head and sent the email.

And the next day.

“Good morning. Oh, you don’t look good. Is something wrong?”

“Ah, I got a scammer call first thing in the morning. This voice phishing criminal doesn’t even change their methods – it’s already the third time. I don’t know where they got my phone number from. As if anyone would fall for it.”

“That must be really frustrating.”

I exchanged morning greetings with Seo Inae and entered the examination room to turn on the computer.

When I unconsciously logged in, I saw there was already a reply to the email I had sent the day before.

A man’s detailed story introducing himself as a martial artist who received instruction from his grandfather and was training in Gyeongju.

Oh, compared to this reply, my email wouldn’t even qualify as TMI.

In the lengthy text, only one sentence caught my eye.

[I have a real secret manual.]

Various scenarios played out in my head.

Did his grandfather go to the martial arts world and come back like me? What does the expression “real secret manual” mean? Could there be a separate training method suited for modern times?

[I’ll come to Gyeongju.]

Unable to contain my curiosity, I sent a reply.

Until I accidentally uploaded that video, I had thoroughly hidden the fact that I was from the Martial Arts World. What else would I get but misunderstandings about being crazy?

But hearing this story made my heart race with the thought that perhaps there might be someone other than me who had learned martial arts.

Even if that were true, nothing would change, but still, the desire to have a conversation came first.

‘Well, so what! If that person’s secret manual happens to be effective… that’s right, I should teach it to Lee Jini too!’

I exchanged contact information with the mysterious man and immediately set up an appointment.

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