The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 305

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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 305

After hearing the story Mario translated, Vittore’s face also became serious.

As he pressed down his fedora to cover more than half his face, an ominous atmosphere emanated from him.

Could an ordinary doctor have endured this situation one-on-one in an examination room?

“What kind of alcohol do you drink? Whiskey?”

Of course, I casually asked what I was curious about.

Whiskey always appears in gangster movies. Oh, maybe since he’s from the Italian mainland Mafia, does he drink wine?

“That’s correct.”

Oh no, both aren’t great, but high-proof whiskey is even more problematic.

“If you keep drinking that, heat will inevitably accumulate in your body. Is there a saying in Italy about giving disease and then medicine? It’s like continuously repeating the cycle of igniting fire with alcohol and cooling it with medicine.”

Since he never told me exactly how much he drinks, I mentioned the WHO standard for appropriate alcohol consumption first.

For men, a maximum of 20g of pure alcohol per day is recommended, and given his age, he should be even more careful.

Whether whiskey or soju, he shouldn’t exceed one glass.

“That’s ridiculous! If I’m going to end with just one glass of whiskey, it’s better not to drink at all.”

“That’s exactly why that would be best.”

Mario was shocked, and Vittore fell into anguish.

“Then you’ll quit drinking. That’s fine, right?”

I looked straight into the anguished Vittore’s eyes and spoke. Since we were continuing our previous conversation, no translation was needed.

Vittore looked back into my eyes with the same intensity.

Soon he closed both eyes first.

“Si.”

I suppose that means he roughly understands.

Well, that settles the alcohol issue.

“Long-term, you need to reduce alcohol to prevent heat toxins from accumulating in your body, but cigarettes are the bigger direct cause of bad breath. You already know that tar from cigarettes causes bad breath, right?”

The problem is cigarettes.

“Mio Dio!”

I don’t know exactly what he’s saying, but he seemed to be calling on God while suffering.

He took out his cigarette pack and tapped it repeatedly, saying that was absolutely impossible.

“Authority doesn’t come from smoke. Even if you have nothing in your hands, no one would dare look down on the Boss.”

I attempted to persuade him again using refined vocabulary similar to what Vittore had used.

Ah, I’m not just saying this—it’s true.

Presence doesn’t come from such superficial things.

I don’t even need to mention Cheonma.

Even our Master doesn’t smoke cigarettes. He’d be scary even wrapped in burlap, wouldn’t he?

Moreover, even without cigars, doesn’t Vittore’s speech… clothes… atmosphere… every element that comprises him prove his status?

“Even so, I can’t completely quit cigars… There are times when that smoke is necessary.”

Mario shook his head.

I also fell into contemplation.

‘…Right, even without quitting, I can mostly cure it with medicine.’

But his stubborn insistence bothered me for certain reasons.

First was the fact that no doctor in Italy had been able to cure this until now.

Second was that despite Vittore talking quite a lot since entering the examination room, his bad breath didn’t seem that severe to my sense of smell.

‘It does exist. It’s not 100% psychosomatic. Still.’

What if psychosomatic factors are involved, and Vittore himself thinks cigarettes are the cause of his bad breath but can’t quit?

“Then how about electronic cigarettes? The smoke looks even cooler than regular cigarettes.”

If that’s the case, some kind of change is necessary.

“Electronic cigarettes…”

The two discussed with very serious faces.

Their expressions looked as if they were talking about annihilating a rival organization.

“Even electronic cigarettes don’t involve combustion, so no tar is produced. The indirect effects aren’t zero, but they’re much better than regular cigarettes.”

“Really, must it absolutely be done that way?”

Mario asked back.

“Get yourself a stylish one.”

“Huh!”

We finally reached a dramatic compromise.

Mario let out a deep sigh.

At the same time, Vittore’s face became strangely relaxed.

The tense state between Vittore and me was instantly resolved.

“Korean Mafia are scary. Who would have thought the Boss would be pushed back.”

By the way, this person was speaking Korean just fine until now, so why did he make that strange mistake?

My mouth was itching to point it out, but since I had just gotten my way, I didn’t bother to correct him.

Anyway, isn’t it fortunate that he’s quitting regular cigarettes?

“If you do this, there won’t be any worries about treatment. As long as you prevent more toxic substances from accumulating and take your medicine properly, you’ll definitely get better.”

I smiled brightly and lightened the atmosphere cheerfully.

“Then shall we talk about the medicine?”

“Yes…”

Mario nodded reluctantly.

“I’ll prescribe a month’s worth of medicine. It’s a prescription that cools the heat in the upper burner, that is, the chest and diaphragm, combined with medicine that can remove alcohol toxicity. The medicine will reduce the heat, and if nothing more accumulates in the future, the fundamental problem will be cleanly resolved.”

A prescription combining Lianggesan with Daijinyinzi.

Forsythia becomes the sovereign herb to clear heat, while rhubarb and mirabilite unblock constipated stool to remove heat toxins downward. Gardenia and scutellaria are also herbs that extinguish heat in the upper burner.

Daijinyinzi smooths gastrointestinal movement and greatly moves qi.

I briefly mentioned that I would discharge the heat and alcohol toxicity from the chest through urine and stool, and that diarrhea might occur during the adaptation process.

“Yes.”

Compared to the alcohol and cigarette debate, that wouldn’t be a problem at all.

And here’s another important thing.

“For immediate bad breath relief, gargling with water decocted from an herb called phellodendron is very good. I’ll prepare it separately from the herbal medicine, so do it three times a day. It’ll be troublesome to use so much, but it can immediately remove oral inflammation and reduce tongue coating.”

That is, brushing teeth with water decocted from phellodendron.

I cured most of the bad breath patients I met in the martial arts world with this method.

Is it a bit much to call them bad breath patients?

Actually, since it wasn’t a culture sensitive to mouth odor, few people came to me specifically for bad breath.

There were more people I forcibly treated because I couldn’t stand it.

Even there, the habit of gargling with salt was quite common.

In the case of the upper class, they also used tooth powder mixed with ginger, cloves, cinnamon, mint, and salt.

‘Salt does have antibacterial effects, but… when it comes to oral inflammation, it’s somewhat lacking.’

When using water decocted from phellodendron in such cases, effects would appear within 1-2 weeks.

Of course, there were also patients who ran away without completing the full treatment, saying it was too bitter.

“Good. Something bitter shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

I trust this gentleman will gargle with a stern expression.

“Changes will appear as early as one week, or at most within a month. First, try taking the medicine and gargling together for one month, and then we’ll decide whether to continue medication based on treatment goals.”

“Yes, I understand. It’s reassuring that you speak so confidently.”

I finished the medication guidance, and there were no additional questions.

The two people stood up from their seats, and Vittore pressed down his hat and nodded.

“I’ll do my best to ensure your complete recovery.”

I smiled brightly while hiding my true feelings as I saw off Vittore and Mario.

I hoped they would be completely cured with one month of treatment.

And with the sincere wish that they would become very, very healthy and never come back again.

“What were those people, exactly?”

“I wonder…”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer Seo Inae’s question and trailed off.

They say pain shared is pain halved, but sometimes there are things you must endure alone.

* * *

Vittore Cervini and Mario Moretti returned to their country immediately after the medical consultation.

I thought they would see their son at least once more before leaving, but was the medical consultation also one of their main objectives?

However.

Before I could feel relieved that the dangerous individuals had left South Korea.

Mario Moretti contacted me after just two weeks.

[He’s changing day by day. Every morning used to start with that terrible smell, but now he only thinks about that painful yellow water.]

[That means he’s getting better, right?]

[Very good. He says it feels like the stagnant filth that had been accumulating damply is being washed away.]

That good already?

Regardless of my confidence in the treatment, one week was much too early.

‘There must have been some psychological influence after all.’

Apart from quitting cigarettes being critical.

The water decocted from phellodendron was also powerfully effective in this area.

It actually has antibacterial effects, so it’s good for treating bad breath.

It helps in various ways for people who strongly perceive their own bad breath.

The bitter taste not only meets the patient’s expectation that treatment requires this level of intensity, but also actually numbs the hypersensitive sense of smell.

[How is his stomach? What about the dry mouth and constipation?]

[The flames that used to rise from his chest have subsided.]

Ugh, I’m asking about the symptoms.

As I was feeling exasperated, another message arrived.

[He says his bowel movements are good, and he’s still habitually craving water so he keeps drinking it.]

[That’s good. Did he quit alcohol properly?]

[Cut it off like a knife. Cigarettes too.]

Oh… seeing that he quit cigarettes immediately, was he inwardly concerned about the harmful substances from there?

Perhaps the doctors in Italy couldn’t bring themselves to demand smoking cessation from the boss of the Cervini Family.

Anyway, it was impressive. Is this the discipline of the mafia?

[No withdrawal symptoms from cigarettes?]

[He’s managing well with electronic cigarettes. Thanks to the boss, even the soldiers are puffing away on electronic cigarettes.]

Yeah, that’s much cooler.

[Let’s keep it up. Fighting.]

Since the treatment progress was good, I encouraged him to keep it up until the bad breath completely disappeared.

Very fortunately, there were no more messages after that.

When he was about to finish the medicine, I contacted them for additional medication consultation.

Since he said he was fine, we should probably wrap things up.

To check his complexion and say final goodbyes, I started a video conference with Vittore as well.

– By any chance, would it be bad for the body to use that herbal water when there’s no more bad breath?

But the two of them asked an unexpected question.

“There are side effects from excessive consumption, but using it for gargling isn’t particularly harmful. It’s also possible to use it preventively. How much bad breath remains? In rough numbers.”

– It’s almost completely better. He says about 2%. But starting each morning with the bitter water seems good for mental cultivation… Could you possibly send us a large quantity? To recommend to subordinates, um, Director, could you please say no?

“…?”

It’s harmless to the body, sure, but the bitter taste would cause considerable mental suffering, right?

There are even people who run away after less than a week of gargling because it’s too bitter.

“Please refrain unless you’re planning to use it for torture.”

– I see… That’s unfortunate.

Perhaps he had tried gargling together at Vittore’s recommendation, as Mario’s face brightened.

Since brewing too much might cause it to spoil, I said I’d send a month’s worth first.

If needed, they could make additional requests.

– It would be nice if we could obtain this herb in Italy too.

“You should be able to get it easily enough, right? There’s also phellodendron tea. Though it probably won’t be as good as our medicinal herbs.”

– Exactly.

“We have plans to expand to Italy around next year, so it’ll be more convenient then.”

It’s still early in the year so there’s a full year left, but time has passed quickly so far, so won’t it be soon?

Sandro opening a branch in Rome is completely different from the Saudi Royal Hospital situation, so we’ll transplant the herbal decoction system there too.

– Expansion? To Europe?

“To Rome.”

– My goodness! I’ve never seen such news in any article.

“We haven’t made it public yet…”

– I’ll keep that in mind.

Mario was strangely delighted by that news.

Did he want to receive treatment? I’ll tell him when he comes.

After that, there was talk about repaying favors, so I waved my hands frantically.

“What repayment is needed when a doctor treats a patient? If you want to do something, maybe spread word about our Rome branch later…”

Wait, won’t this just result in mafia patients swarming the place?

“…There’s no need to give me anything, I only wish for everyone’s health.”

I hastily changed my words, but it seemed too late.

I had made not only Mario but even Vittore look forward to the Rome branch of Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic.

Sorry, Alessandro. At least you’ll be able to treat patients without knowing they’re mafia.

Probably… except for the boss who reveals his identity with his whole body.

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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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