The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 345

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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 345

After the Work Supervisor left, the shadow lifted from Jeon Byeongho’s face.

Though he had said it was fine and to think positively, there must have been parts that made him anxious and frustrated deep down.

“I had a drink with the supervisor yesterday and talked things through openly. I don’t think I need to worry about the company anymore.”

“You drank alcohol?”

“Oh! …Is that not allowed?”

“Once in a while is fine. But alcohol lowers immune function and amplifies inflammatory responses, so drinking too often will slow your recovery.”

“I’ll be careful from now on!”

I had pointed it out half-jokingly, but Jeon Byeongho nodded very seriously.

Anyway, thanks to having an open conversation with the Work Supervisor, his mental stress had eased considerably.

And since the supervisor said he would speak well of him to the company, the practical problems would likely be resolved soon.

“How is your wrist feeling today?”

“Similar to yesterday. It still aches. Oh, but it’s much better than at the beginning!”

The treatment effects weren’t appearing as dramatically as in the early stages.

It was inevitable since we had entered the slower phase.

I encouraged Jeon Byeongho that it would continue to improve, and he approached the treatment with patience.

Little by little, though changes weren’t noticeable on a daily basis.

After a month of treatment like that, the pain had clearly decreased.

“What would you rate your current pain intensity out of 10?”

“I think about 2 remains.”

That’s good.

I recorded the NRS change in his chart.

“Now daily activities and lifting most objects are fine. But when I bend it in certain directions, I still get that ‘agh!’ feeling.”

“You still need to be careful. We’re at a crossroads between recovering close to 100% or having lingering aftereffects.”

Jeon Byeongho naturally said he would do so.

Since he was originally a patient with abundant treatment motivation, it was an expected response.

“The problem is… we need to extend the industrial accident treatment once more.”

I couldn’t very well write the pain intensity as 6 or 7 when it had actually decreased to 2 just to extend treatment.

While it was clear that more treatment was needed, looking at the current chart showing good improvement progress, I couldn’t predict how the Industrial Complex would judge it.

Unlike last month when anyone, even the Work Supervisor, would have been shocked at his condition, he had actually improved a lot now.

And the injury was just a contusion after all.

Since the basic principle was to provide only ‘necessary treatment,’ if I just wrote that pain persisted ambiguously, treatment termination could easily result.

“Let’s look at the ultrasound again.”

“Ah, yes.”

To emphasize the necessity of treatment with the most objective evidence possible, I carefully searched for structural problems.

Unlike the previous examination when everything was a mess with swelling and inflammation, the overall condition was normal.

However, fortunately or unfortunately, when I placed the probe on the ulnar side of his wrist, I could see parts that hadn’t fully healed yet.

“Ah, the TFCC (Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex) area is cloudy. The pain from certain angles can also be attributed to this.”

The heterogeneous hypoechoic shadow suggested degeneration or microtears in the cartilage and ligament tissue.

I could also describe the soft tissue edema invisible to the naked eye as inflammation becoming chronic.

“Ah. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, but it was this area.”

“Given the patient’s work characteristics, I’ll write that there’s high risk of re-injury if you return as is. That’s actually true, so please be careful for now.”

“Haha, yes. I don’t even lift water bottles these days.”

I wrote detailed findings again and submitted them to the Industrial Complex.

Jeon Byeongho also conveyed the story to the Work Supervisor with a somewhat relieved mind.

“The supervisor said even if the extension is rejected, he’ll arrange sick leave for me, and told me to just trust him.”

“Oh… that’s wonderful.”

“I’m just grateful.”

Fortunately, an approval response came back this time too.

We decided to focus the final treatment direction on tonification.

By infusing energy every time I placed needles and even using deer antler pharmacopuncture, he would recover soon.

Perhaps moved by his wrist getting better, Jeon Byeongho referred many other patients.

His Wife and Daughter also came for simple consultations, and I was able to meet two more of his workplace colleagues.

“Our nephew has really improved a lot, hasn’t he? If it weren’t for Teacher, he almost wouldn’t have been able to work again.”

“He’s stagnating near the very end, so once the remaining part improves, we should be able to conclude treatment. I’m also happy that the progress is good. How is your back, An Myeongja?”

An Myeongja also mentioned her nephew’s wrist once.

Jeon Byeongho was one thing, but actually, he was a patient I was somewhat confident I could treat as long as he followed through.

Personally, I was more surprised by An Myeongja’s improvement.

The stagnation accumulated over decades had cleared out, and even the body heat in her hands and feet had stabilized.

“Ah! The medicine is truly miraculous. I thought my lower body was almost paralyzed, but it’s completely revived, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t actually paralysis, but the sensory abnormalities had recovered.

“That’s fortunate. It’s medicine you can keep taking safely, so let’s manage it by taking it consistently. Are you drawing well?”

Not only were the outward symptoms improving, but she seemed to be alleviating her loneliness considerably by attending Lee Hiwon’s art class.

When I mentioned drawing, An Myeongja took out her phone as if she had been waiting.

I waited for her to enter the photo app while placing needles in her back.

“I’m drawing flower vases these days.”

She’s drawing still life.

The form seemed to be captured reasonably well, but the color sense was quite unique.

“Among the people who started together this time, I seem to draw the best. Jeongseun is drawing her Husband.”

Even if her name was Jeongseun, she was a stranger to me.

Was she a patient being treated by Hwang Sanghun like Lee Hiwon? Or maybe just someone she met at the art academy.

“I see.”

Honestly, this one seemed much better drawn, but I didn’t bother saying so.

More than that, the person drawn as the husband looked strangely familiar…

“At seventy years old, isn’t it embarrassing? Oh, this is what her husband drew.”

“I guess the couple goes to art academy together?”

“He said this was the clinic director.”

“What? Me?”

Since it was about people I didn’t know, I was just making conversation while inserting needles.

But An Myeongja said something completely out of the blue.

Why would I appear there?

Even if her husband was my patient, there would be no reason to go to an art academy to draw the clinic director.

I looked at An Myeongja’s phone with confusion.

“…”

In the picture, I was really there.

More precisely, in a drawing that couldn’t properly capture human form, only a giant fist appeared.

The main character of the drawing was Kwantaesik, who had been hit by a punch and sent flying into the wall.

“He should have taken a photo, but he was disappointed he couldn’t show it to me and Jeongseun, so he drew this for us. Did you really hit Master Gwanungjang like this?”

“…Of course not.”

I wondered what kind of people they were, but it seemed like some acquaintances from those who used to attend Unjangdogwan together had joined the art academy.

I passed it off with the most oblivious expression I could manage.

Very fortunately, An Myeongja didn’t seem particularly suspicious.

Haha, this unnamed elder too.

They could have drawn nice portraits of each other, but instead they leave something like this as a drawing!

‘Fine, as long as there’s no video footage.’

However the drawing turned out, it had nothing to do with me.

A drawing is just a drawing, and imagination is the same thing, isn’t it?

* * *

“But don’t you really want to appear in my music video?”

Just when I thought I was fortunate that the incident at Unjangdogwan hadn’t been left as video footage.

Sasha Rian asked this question as soon as she came to South Korea.

“Why would I appear in that…?”

Didn’t I refuse once before?

Sasha Rian came all the way to our house and kept clicking her tongue in disappointment.

She had mentioned coming to South Korea before, and we had made plans.

But I thought she would bring a whole crew and do some filming.

I figured I’d just help briefly when the animals needed to appear.

But she said the filming team would come later and visited our house first.

She said she wanted to get close to Cheongsori, Songgol, and Vanilla, and seeing that she even brought Hasha, she probably just came to hang out.

She said she’d show me the storyboard, but instead she was saying this nonsense.

“Ah! I think we could include amazing action scenes!”

“It would be really cool if you appeared in it.”

Even Hasha, who hadn’t said much before, joined in.

Neither Sasha nor Hasha had ever seen me use martial arts, right?

The most they had properly seen when they were around was at best when I hit the paparazzi with a date.

We don’t even have date palms in our country… Are they planning to include a trick where I throw acorns and Cheongsori catches them?

“We have to film next week. What are you talking about? Don’t you already have everything planned out for how to shoot?”

You prepared a storyboard, and there are directors and producers and such people, right?

When I looked puzzled, Sasha puffed out her chest triumphantly.

“We change things impromptu during filming anyway. I’m the director, so if I say we’re doing it, we’re doing it!”

She said it was completely fine since she personally leads everything from concept to script, direction, performance, and editing direction.

…She really is incredible when you think about it.

But having me appear would be too out of place.

“Sasha should do the amazing action. What do you call martial arts moves in English? Ah. I’ll help with creating choreography if needed.”

“Wow, really?”

Fortunately, that seemed to be fine too, as Sasha Rian brightened up.

“Can I do this too?”

Sasha turned her laptop toward me.

What she had opened was the original source of the Mancheonhwa-u video that had now spread everywhere… Seo Inae’s YouTube.

“That would be impossible.”

Even if it wasn’t the true Mancheonhwa-u, to throw needles like this, you’d need to understand the mysteries of Heogongseommul.

If you could at least emit sword energy, you might be able to imitate it, but it would still be difficult.

“Swoosh! Isn’t it like this?”

Hasha stood up and stretched out both hands, moving her fingers like in the video.

But Sasha shook her head gloomily.

“I also bought needles and tried to copy it, adding CG effects. But it doesn’t feel right at all.”

“That’s a part that requires a lot of training. Ah, this much is possible.”

When I can’t even implement handling that many needles at once in my mind’s eye.

What could be achieved by just wiggling fingers along with the movements?

Rather, making big, exaggerated movements looks more convincing when just copying the appearance.

I showed her the martial arts forms that I had uploaded in the early days of Seongsumoorim Traditional Medicine Clinic’s YouTube channel.

“Since Sasha has good motor skills, she might do better than these clinic directors?”

“Ooh! Did you teach them this, Director?”

“Something like that.”

Sasha stared intently at those videos for quite a while.

Does she like them? No, but is there a place to use that stuff?

“Oh… Ooh…”

She alternated between watching various videos from Seongsumoorim Traditional Medicine Clinic and my Mancheonhwa-u videos.

Then she opened a folder and stared intently at the videos of Cheongsori and Songgol that I had filmed and sent her before.

“Hmm, ah! This like this!”

It seemed like she got some kind of inspiration.

Sasha looked around searching for the storyboard book she had brought, then frantically flipped through it while pulling at her hair.

Click. Click.

She also looked at the scenery of Taejongdae Cliffs that she had in mind as a filming location.

Then she played a completely European-style Celtic druid video.

With Korean historical drama sword dances layered on top of that, the sounds from multiple videos playing simultaneously overlapped.

“Sasha?”

“Shh.”

I covered Hasha’s mouth.

I couldn’t understand what exactly had caught her attention, but artists were originally like that to some extent.

There are people who get inspired even while receiving acupuncture, so couldn’t she get inspiration from watching martial arts forms too?

We decided not to disturb her and waited quietly.

And after a moment.

A familiar intro flowed out among the symphony of various background music.

A song I hadn’t heard for quite a long time and had almost succeeded in forgetting.

“Oh, this song!”

Perhaps Sasha had played it for her before, as Hasha also knew the song.

“I have a good idea.”

Sasha pressed the space bar to pause before the first verse came out.

Her eyes shone with a brilliant and clear light I had never seen before.

“It’s a concept change. Director, can you get in touch with Melon Soda Horizon by any chance?”

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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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