The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 267

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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 267

Master was truly excellent at treatment.

He could naturally treat all the common, easy patients, and frequently cured patients who couldn’t be healed anywhere else.

Having mastered all contemporary medicine and not being bound by modern diagnostic names, there were many patients he could treat that others couldn’t.

But there was actually something even more remarkable than that.

He was better than any doctor in the world at guiding patients’ lifestyle management after treatment.

For example, let’s say there was a Dang Family warrior who injured his back during ordinary sparring.

– Please rest in bed until I say you’re okay. I’ll have you better in 2-3 days, so just rest until then.

If you said this like you would to modern patients? There’s a 100% chance this guy would start training the moment he left the Medical Institute.

And the next day he’d come back groaning that it hurt even more.

Patients who could have been cured in three days with rest and treatment would often take ten days because they wouldn’t listen.

At first, I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t listen to the doctor’s words to that extent.

But what if Master had seen this patient?

– I’ll treat you daily for three days, and training is forbidden until you’re healed. If you don’t do as I say, you’ll be seeing me for a long time.

Even saying this casually was fine.

Even the most unruly patients would tremble before Seomjeon Doksu’s fearsome reputation and would never train without permission.

Amazingly, there was never a single case where treatment periods were extended due to patient negligence.

You think Dang Family warriors were uncomfortable because of hierarchy? Other family warriors and commoners were all the same.

How diligently they all managed their health, determined never to come back!

It wasn’t that he inserted needles painfully.

Actually, it was painful at first, but after I emphasized that using very thin needles had similar effects even when inserted painlessly, and standardized them throughout the Medical Institute, the entire Dang Family’s Medical Hall began inserting needles painlessly.

Did he give bitter medicine? Of course not.

Unless the patient absolutely needed bitter taste, there was no reason to do so, and it shouldn’t be done.

He only gave necessary medicine.

So what, did I occasionally intimidate patients on purpose, imitating Cheonma when needed?

Absolutely not.

Did he get angry shouting “Scram!” like Kim Chunsik used to?

I had never once seen Master raise his voice.

He always treated patients gently and kindly.

– Th-thank you so much. S-Seomjeon…

– Doctor is sufficient.

– Thank you! Doctor!

But timid patients would often tremble even while expressing gratitude after being completely cured.

Even proud warriors couldn’t completely hide their fear.

– We’re so delighted that the Divine Physician has come!

Ah, how happy the Dang Family members were when I first settled in the Sichuan Dang Family!

Hazing? There was none of that at all.

Now I can confidently say I treat patients well! But when I first entered the Dang Family, didn’t I have far more shortcomings than now?

Under Master’s guidance, I might have had worries like Lee Ahreum’s… but from the very beginning, patients wanted to be treated by me.

Even in situations where Master could cure them in one day using internal energy for qi-related problems, while my treatment would take several days.

Still, they would often come to me, someone of lower skill level, saying it was fine as long as they were getting better.

“It really might be talent…”

“Sigh, I guess so?”

Lee Ahreum was discouraged. Hwang Sanghun’s expression wasn’t very good either.

They must have really wanted to imitate my style.

“But isn’t the talent that Doctor Lee has also quite remarkable? Actually, it’s hard to even compare them. People naturally want what they don’t have.”

Be grateful for what you have!

How difficult this is. Since it doesn’t come naturally, it’s something emphasized by all kinds of sages and even religions.

Human beings are naturally drawn to what they don’t have, what they lack.

“Actually, I sometimes envy Doctor Lee too. I wasn’t born with Doctor Lee’s social skills. Rather, I’ve polished them through effort to be kind and personable.”

“Huh?”

Hwang Sanghun was startled.

“Right? When we were university students, I wasn’t the type who could quickly become friends with anyone like Doctor Lee, or someone people enjoyed talking with.”

“Really… now that you mention it, that’s true.”

I changed to survive.

Even when I fell into the martial arts world, I was a senior in Korean medicine school, so I knew how to diagnose and treat to some extent.

But in that place, ‘inserting needles’ and ‘writing prescriptions’ were only a tiny part of treatment.

‘You have to start by finding a blacksmith to make needles and getting acquainted with herb gatherers!’

Ah, how nice it would have been to have talent like Lee Ahreum’s then?

I had become smooth by being thrown into a world… no, a much harsher world than South Korea.

“What was Doctor Han like as a university student?”

“Of course he was admirable back then too. Good at studying, always working hard. But um, he definitely wasn’t as approachable as Doctor Lee. Actually, I wanted to become friends with him in university too, but he was hard to approach.”

I was a kid who only studied at school and only played games at home. I had almost no friends except Hwangseoyeong.

Senior Student was someone who took care of all the kids in our department… she had similar aspects to Lee Ahreum.

“Haha, after going to China, and then opening my own practice and experiencing various things, I gradually developed.”

“Right. You also went to China for hospital training, didn’t you? I should have gone too.”

No, that’s not it.

I shook my head firmly and returned to the original topic.

“I won’t tell you not to be envious. I think it’s good that the Director has an ideal form in mind and is making efforts to get closer to it.”

“Yes.”

“However, there are also many doctors who don’t have the same talent as this Director. I hope you’ll keep in mind that there are quite a few patients who seek out the current Director. Because there are things only this Director can do.”

There are patients who seek only Hwang Sanghun, and patients who seek only Lee Ahreum.

Among them, there are naturally patients I could have treated smoothly even if I had seen them for the initial consultation, but there were also patients who would have wandered around looking for other hospitals because they wouldn’t have clicked with me if I had treated them alone.

It would be good to put a little more meaning in the fact that there are patients who can get better because they consistently come to the Oriental Medicine Clinic to see Lee Ahreum.

‘Master wasn’t particularly dissatisfied with his talent for… instilling fear.’

He believed without doubt that I was exceptionally good at treating patients.

Since patients made every effort not to come back, naturally the return visit rate dropped.

Would the eccentric genius of the Sichuan Dang Family cling to such statistics like an ordinary private practitioner? If they didn’t come back, he thought it was because he had treated them well.

‘Well, he did have an unrivaled specialty.’

In fact, even if previous patients didn’t come back, he just had many patients.

In the vast Central Plains, no, even from outside regions, when accidents related to poison occurred, they had no choice but to seek Master.

“Something only I can do…!”

Lee Ahreum fell into thought.

Even I could think of several patients. Perhaps Lee Ahreum was thinking of the same people?

Even though Jo Hwasun preferred me, there were plenty of patients who were the opposite.

“I hadn’t thought about it that way, but as expected, Hanyewon, your depth of thinking is different.”

Embarrassingly, Hwang Sanghun praised me again.

I never would have thought this guy was someone who could say such things back in university.

“Even if you weren’t born with it, they say position makes the person, so as you practice medicine, you’ll acquire what you want to some degree. If you open your own practice and struggle through it, you’ll learn faster, and if you stay as a vice director and build up slowly within the framework, that’s fine too. It’s the Director’s choice.”

Lee Ahreum nodded vigorously.

“You’re right. I was too… focused only on my shortcomings and became discouraged. Just being able to work beside the Director and see and learn is a grateful opportunity.”

“Uh, that’s not what I meant.”

“Thank you for counseling me! I’ll work hard from now on too!”

I had meant that opening her own practice really wouldn’t be bad either.

Anyway, should I call it consolation? I seemed to have provided some direction.

Lee Ahreum organized her thoughts in her own way and renewed her determination to work hard.

I suppose I’ve done my job as head director.

* * *

A few days later on a holiday, I briefly stopped by the Oriental Medicine Clinic.

Even though Seo Inae was there, wouldn’t there be places that needed the CEO’s eyes and hands?

We had reached some conclusion about Lee Ahreum’s concerns during our dinner gathering, but I wanted to see how she was doing.

“Dr. Ahreum~ I’m here!”

A patient who had been consistently receiving treatment from Lee Ahreum for six months.

“Ma’am~ How have you been? Why has it been so long since you came!”

“Thanks to the Director, I’ve gotten much better~. Actually, I went on a Hawaii cruise trip. I left macadamia chocolates at the front desk, so please have some later. Director, do you happen to like coffee too?”

“I love it~ I’ll enjoy them. Thank you! But how was your elbow? You took quite a long break from treatment?”

“It was fine since I wasn’t working~ My son carried all the luggage too! But there was more walking on the island than I expected? I got a lot of leg cramps. Can you treat my calves today instead of the elbow?”

When I see return patients, I briefly discuss symptom changes and put in acupuncture needles quickly.

“Of course, of course. I’ll treat you well! Oh my, your legs are quite swollen. You must have had a hard time while enjoying your trip. I’ll give you acupuncture and three days’ worth of Oryeongsan insurance medicine to take together.”

“Oh, thank you. It wasn’t really hard~ I was just having fun. The cruise was so nice? Director Ahreum, have you been to Hawaii?”

“I haven’t! I don’t think I’ve been on a boat except when I was very young.”

“Ah~ You should definitely go sometime! When you dress up and have a formal dinner, it’s really the best. It was the top trip I’ve ever taken. The best!”

“Wow, is it like parties in movies?”

Lee Ahreum chattered endlessly even while treating.

That she wasn’t forcing herself to do this.

The fact that she genuinely asked out of curiosity and enjoyed it herself was an area I couldn’t match.

‘She put in the acupuncture well and even prescribed Oryeongsan formula.’

Whatever the style, as long as patients get better, that’s what matters.

Honestly, I don’t think there’s any reason to accumulate experience painfully.

If you can enjoy it while growing, wouldn’t that be the best?

I came out of the treatment room with a pleased heart.

And I was wandering around the front desk, checking if the new staff had adapted well.

“Oh, Director. You’re not busy right now, are you?”

Seol Yuhui spoke to me.

“I’m not busy? I came to replace the lights, but since I finished everything, I was looking around. Do you have something to ask?”

Is it related to clinic work?

Or maybe she has something she’s curious about while studying at school?

Perhaps like Lee Ahreum, Seol Yuhui also has a problem to discuss!

“Yes yes, it’s nothing major, but patient Kim Jinsang and… well, the few people he goes around with started Taekkyeon and their mental health and bodies have improved a lot, right?”

“That’s right…?”

But Seol Yuhui unexpectedly brought up the story of the Kim Jinsang trio.

Even if you call that improvement… Ah, if you ask whether it got better or worse, it’s naturally on the better side.

Anyway, everyone is enjoying their lives much more than before.

I nodded reluctantly.

“So I was thinking of trying Taekkyeon together with you. What do you think? The gym is good too, but I wanted to try learning something like martial arts. It has low injury risk and should be fine, right?”

“No way!”

And immediately, before I could even think it through, my opposition burst out.

No, this isn’t right.

‘No matter what, Seol Yuhui doing Taekkyeon is absolutely not acceptable! It’s character destruction!’

If you’re born with Guumjeolmaek, learning the martial arts of the Ice Palace is the way of the martial world.

Taekkyeon? That’s heresy!

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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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