The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 303

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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 303

When I came to the store and checked on the patient, it was the same man who had been watching Roberto just last week.

Surveillance? Protection? Observation? I couldn’t tell what his exact purpose was, but in any case, he was manpower sent by Roberto’s father out of concern that rival organizations might target his son.

“Seoyeong, I’m sorry you must be tired. Thank you for coming too, Hanyewon.”

“Not at all! I was just resting anyway. Where is the patient?”

“That person sitting over there. He’s been coming frequently since I first opened the store, so I’m worried about him.”

“Someone from your hometown?”

“Well, hometown… He is from Florence.”

While Hwangseoyeong was talking with Roberto, I approached the man first and spoke to him.

“You know me, right?”

He had been glancing at me since he came in, and when I spoke to him, he was startled.

Hmm, didn’t he greet me warmly when we made eye contact before?

“I heard from the Consigliere. That you’re one of our people…”

I hadn’t done anything, but strangely he seemed frightened.

Wasn’t he just like a bandit whose feet went numb at the sight of the Sichuan Dang Family’s insignia?

What does he mean by ‘one of our people’?

Is that how he refers to the people who agreed to secretly protect Roberto and Hwangseoyeong?

Well, this man’s native language isn’t English either, so he might speak a bit strangely.

I let his words slide and got to the point.

“I heard you were in a car accident. Are you okay? Is there a reason you can’t go to the hospital?”

Whether he’s a Consigliere or whatever, he must be someone sent by that not-so-ordinary Italian lawyer I met before, but surely he didn’t bring him into the country illegally?

“Oh, no. It wasn’t a big accident, just a slight bump.”

“Just a slight bump? I heard you got hit and thrown.”

Roberto wouldn’t have called Hwangseoyeong over just a slight bump with a side mirror.

When I looked suspicious, the man explained the situation.

“I just got lifted slightly when I bumped into a reversing car. I landed properly. Just a very slight impact to my back.”

“With car accidents, you usually don’t feel the pain on the day itself, but it gets worse the next day. Looking at how you’re holding your back now, you must have at least a sprain.”

“It’s just a little bothersome, I don’t even have bruises. It’s not very painful…”

What strange pride is he showing? Anyway, he’s admitting he got thrown even a little after being hit by a car!

“If there’s a problem, I’ll help you, so please tell me. Can’t you take your eyes off Roberto? I think there was one more female companion, is it difficult for her to substitute?”

“It’s not like that. We judged the danger level to be extremely low anyway, and we don’t need to watch 24 hours. It’s just that if I handle the accident, I’d have to report it upstairs, and I don’t want to do that.”

Is he embarrassed that as a mafia member, he couldn’t nimbly dodge a car?

Of course, if a warrior got hit by a carriage and fell ill, I’d laugh, but cars are unavoidable.

“Stand up for a moment. I’ll check if you really don’t need to go to the hospital.”

Since Hwangseoyeong and Roberto were gradually approaching, I stopped whispering quietly and made the man stand up.

The nameless mafia soldier reluctantly stood up and straightened his back as I instructed, then bent it.

“When I’m still, it’s fine. It just stings once in a while when I move.”

“Try turning.”

“Ugh!”

Just stings?

When I made the man tilt his body slightly to the side and turn, he grabbed his pelvis and screamed.

“Looks like a quadratus lumborum sprain?”

“That’s right.”

I agreed with Hwangseoyeong’s diagnosis.

The spot he was holding was exactly the quadratus lumborum, located right above the pelvis, between the back and the side.

“If you miss the treatment timing and it becomes chronic, it’ll continue forever. Where did that stinging sensation just go?”

“Over here.”

From the side of his back to his buttocks, and… even to his abdomen?

“The neuralgia goes that far? It seems like there’s stimulation toward the lumbar plexus.”

Quadratus lumborum sprains vary, and if it’s slightly damaged from twisting it alone, it heals quickly with two or three acupuncture treatments to release the nodular areas.

But this stinging or tingling sensation is a neurological symptom.

“Ugh, argh.”

Indeed, when I felt the patient’s back, not only was the muscle tension distinct, but nerve compression was obvious.

This guy isn’t feeling pain right now because he’s shocked.

“Tomorrow morning you’ll have trouble even getting up.”

It was obvious that enduring it would only increase the pain.

I warned him firmly.

“You’ll feel a twinge when trying to put on pants too. You remember which position hurt earlier, right? To avoid that, every time you sit down and get up, you’ll end up holding your back like this. Today, tomorrow, and for the next 3-4 days it will get worse. If you treat it well even then it’ll be fine, but if it becomes chronic back pain, your pelvis will gradually twist.”

With each sentence that followed, the man’s face contorted more.

I’m not deliberately cursing him.

I can’t say there’s not even 1% exaggeration mixed in, but I’ve actually seen several patients who’ve been living with chronic conditions for decades after lumbar sprains from falling off bicycles or ladders became chronic.

“adjfkajfodsfpqwe. akfjdosfjasdofjaoa. ljkljfdsoai.”

Roberto, who had also become serious listening to my words, persuaded the patient in Italian.

“Ah… I understand. I’ve finished the gelato anyway. Um, I’ll go to the hospital.”

I don’t know what Roberto said, but the man glanced at me and reluctantly accepted as if he couldn’t resist.

Yeah, that’s a good decision.

Anyway, if the pain gets worse tomorrow and he can’t follow around, he’ll have to report it, so wouldn’t it be better to just start treatment quickly and return to work even a day sooner?

As I sat down with relief, Roberto chatted with the patient about something for quite a while longer.

“Seoyeong, when do you start working at the hospital you signed with today?”

“I have to go there right from March.”

“Ah, then it would be better to tell him to go to that hospital?”

Oh, he wants to receive traditional Korean medicine treatment?

He’s a Westerner who probably isn’t very familiar with acupuncture treatment, and since it was important to get some kind of treatment first, I didn’t particularly recommend it.

“He says he wants to get acupuncture? Have you ever had it before?”

“No, but when I told him we’re both Korean medicine doctors, he became interested.”

Really?

Of course, if he gets acupuncture directly on the quadratus lumborum, it would be much more effective than physical therapy that attaches to the skin and mainly stimulates the outer muscles.

“If he’s thinking of getting acupuncture, tell him to get just one treatment right now before leaving. It might get worse on the way to Goyang.”

“Here, without even a treatment bed?”

“I felt a slight nodule earlier. Even just loosening it once with a long needle would make moving his back or walking much more comfortable right away.”

Hwangseoyeong looked puzzled, but I also wasn’t planning to have him lie on a bed and treat him thoroughly like at a clinic.

When Roberto conveyed my words, the man’s eyes widened greatly.

“Long needle…?”

Oh, it’s just a slightly long needle, but saying it in English makes it sound strange for no reason.

The man seemed a bit scared, but when he met my eyes and flinched, he said he would get the acupuncture.

“Do you carry long needles around?”

“Well, I have everything with me.”

Taking out a 10cm needle from my sleeve… would look strange.

I pretended to search my pockets and naturally pulled out a medical acupuncture needle.

“It won’t all go in, at most only about 7cm will go in. About this much? I need to insert 5-7cm to reach the quadratus lumborum.”

Of course, usually 3cm or 4cm needles are used, so it was somewhat on the long side.

In the martial arts world, many physicians used 6-8cm needles as standard, but I only use long needles when necessary.

Anyway, it’s true that inserting too deeply and touching organs in the abdominal cavity would be a big problem.

“It hurts here.”

The patient pointed to a specific location, and I confirmed once more with my hand where the blood stasis had accumulated.

If possible, it would be best to have him lie on his side and insert the needle into the quadratus lumborum, but given the situation, having him lean against the wall while sitting in the chair was the best option.

Anyway, with my fingertip sensitivity, I can roughly distinguish which muscle is which and how far they extend.

Since I planned to insert the needle briefly and remove it right away, there wasn’t much worry about his posture collapsing during treatment.

I disinfected and the needle pierced the skin.

One was a lateral approach.

The moment the needle tip reached the twisted muscle fibers of the quadratus lumborum, passing through the external oblique, internal oblique, and transverse abdominal muscles.

“Oh!”

De-qi came to both the patient’s side and my hand.

I slightly withdrew the needle as it was, then reinserted it slightly upward and performed lifting and thrusting several times.

“Feels refreshing, doesn’t it?”

“My needles are pretty cool. I’ll also try a posterior approach near the lumbar vertebrae once.”

Since the nerve plexus could become more painful if directly touched and damaged by the needle, I inserted the needle very slowly.

This should have stimulated the erector spinae as well, and probably sent some signal to the tendon damage where the quadratus lumborum attaches to the spine.

After quickly removing the needle and finishing disinfection, when I said it was done, the patient jumped up and moved his body.

“Oh, earlier it hurt around here when I tried to turn, but now it’s fine. Amazing!”

The man was very surprised and felt around his back.

Natural movement was good, and even pressing slightly was fine… but when he tried to take a side stretching position, Hwangseoyeong stopped him.

“Avoid all movements that might cause pain and go straight to the hospital. This friend will take care of you from now on.”

“That’s right! If Goyang isn’t too far, come until you’re completely healed. All the other directors are good too!”

I had only met and greeted the other directors for the first time today, but they definitely gave a good impression.

“I’ll do that. Thank you.”

He stopped stubbornly insisting he wouldn’t go and spoke to Roberto again.

Was he asking for directions? Roberto took his phone and even bookmarked it in the map app for him.

After exchanging a few more words with Roberto in Italian, he bowed in the Korean style to greet us.

“He says he’s going right away?”

“Yeah. Fortunately, he also has a taxi calling app. I gave him my contact information in case he has any difficulties with insurance registration or hospital treatment processes.”

“Well done! It might have been difficult for him to go to the hospital because his Korean is poor…!”

Of course, I knew that wasn’t the reason.

Wow, I thought he was just secretly watching, but he’s been coming as a customer every day to make his presence known, and now even exchanging contact information?

At this rate, won’t he end up becoming friends with the spy soon?

* * *

The patient registered at the hospital successfully, and Hwangseoyeong and I waited for Roberto to close his business and had dinner together.

I had cleared my schedule for the next day’s treatment, but there was still a lot to do.

I had to inform the branch directors that the contract was successfully concluded and a hospital was established, and there were many things to ask Seo Inae to review.

Of course, I didn’t forget to mention that the PowerPoint presentation Seo Inae had improved was a great help in this contract.

I was able to hear news about the patient around afternoon, through Roberto and Hwangseoyeong.

“The X-ray showed no bone abnormalities, so he got treatment and went home for now, but when he woke up today, it seems putting on pants was difficult just like you said. It hurt a lot and daily life was hard, so he decided to be hospitalized.”

“Ah… I thought it wouldn’t be good. But it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t get up?”

“It was only manageable because you gave him acupuncture right away yesterday and he went straight to the hospital.”

So that’s how it turned out. What do you mean he didn’t need to go to the hospital?

He almost wouldn’t have been able to walk in on his own.

Maybe it wasn’t a pride issue but fear of getting scolded by his superior?

‘He did seem terrified of something…’

The superior would probably be Mario Moretti, who I had discovered watching Roberto before, and after exchanging a few moves, we had introduced ourselves and exchanged contact information.

Is he strict enough to make it hard to report an injury?

I thought about contacting him separately to ask him not to scold the guy too harshly, but decided against it.

I don’t even know his name, and we’re not that close. I don’t particularly want to get involved in the mafia world either.

Since he’s hospitalized, the attending physician at the Oriental Medicine Hospital will treat him well.

I treated him because I couldn’t ignore a patient in front of me, but there’s no need to get involved further.

It would be best to gradually forget about that person.

This time I really returned to daily life and focused on my patients who visit dozens at a time each day.

However.

Soon after, a message arrived from an unknown phone number.

[Hello. This is Mario Moretti, whom you met the other day. Could we talk briefly?]

What’s this? Spam?

I did receive his contact information last time, but it was naturally an unfamiliar Italian number format.

And naturally, we’d never contacted each other until now.

As soon as I replied “That works,” a call came in.

“Doctor, have you been well? It’s been a while.”

“Yes. I’ve just been, you know, around.”

I couldn’t ignore the greeting, so I answered reluctantly.

I don’t really want to become the type to exchange pleasantries.

“My subordinate will be in your care for a while. I heard he improved a lot after receiving your treatment. Thank you for taking good care of him.”

“No, it’s only natural. Well, you didn’t need to contact me about something like this. He was hospitalized at Seoyeong’s hospital too… But what’s this number? Are you using a Korean number from Italy?”

“Ah, I happen to be in South Korea right now, so I’m calling about that matter as well.”

“…?”

Isn’t this person quite high up in that organization?

Roberto’s running away is one thing, but he came all the way here because one organization member got injured?

“The damn boss is making a fuss about wanting to secretly drop by his son’s shop and try gelato. With a small group handling interpretation and security, personnel selection isn’t easy.”

What kind of crazy talk is this?

So a mafia boss is currently in South Korea?

“Haha, I’m glad to hear you’re staying healthy. I’ll come visit you soon.”

When are you going back, are you really just eating gelato and leaving right away?

I had many things I wanted to ask, but Mario Moretti wrapped up the call simply.

What does he mean by visiting? Where is he planning to come?

Italy probably has casual greetings like “Let’s grab a meal sometime!” too, right…?

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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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