The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 367

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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 367

Jidamdaesa was hospitalized at the Sichuan Dang Family’s Medical Hall and received intensive treatment.

Acupuncture treatment was twice a day.

In the morning, needles were placed on the painful areas of his hands and feet, and in the evening, they were positioned to facilitate the circulation of qi and blood even slightly.

The prescription naturally considered the main symptoms and secondary symptoms to correct the imbalanced parts of the overall body.

As treatment accumulated through these standard methods.

Systemic symptoms and pain improvement began to appear gradually.

However, Jidamdaesa was not satisfied.

His hands were still stiff in the morning, and when he made a fist, it didn’t feel as comfortable as before.

Since treatment had begun after joint deformation had already occurred.

When he practiced martial arts with force, that area would often swell up immediately.

Thinking that deterioration would be inevitable if he stopped treatment and resumed full-scale training, Jidamdaesa kept looking for strange methods.

“You said the problem is excessive vital energy. How about injecting poison to lower this thing called immunity?”

“You’d end up soaked in poison and suffering constantly?”

“Wouldn’t it be worth trying? Whatever it is, try everything possible.”

Since he was so proactive, despite my dissuasion, he even experimentally injected poorly refined poison.

Slowly destroying his body with weak poison did have some effect.

But it wasn’t enough that only his fingers didn’t hurt.

Jidamdaesa also acknowledged that he couldn’t practice martial arts this way anyway.

“This really isn’t right.”

I took this opportunity to chase away all the Dang Family members who were gleaming with excitement to test various poisons on a master.

“I see…”

Let’s go back to the starting point and think.

What is autoimmunity?

“Immune excess is ultimately also a broken balance. Harming with poison would only break the balance further, never lead to stability.”

Developing a treatment that researches poison to target and suppress only specific immune systems is impossible anyway.

The poisons of the Sichuan Dang Family are far more diverse than those existing in modern times.

Many are mysterious and terrible.

But they have developed in a different direction from medicine.

The foundational technology is woefully insufficient to produce effects similar to modern treatments, and even if possible, that wouldn’t be a complete cure either.

“What is the goal of curing this disease? Isn’t it to live as a martial artist?”

“That’s right.”

Commoners are usually satisfied if they’re not in pain.

When told not to do things that would make them hurt more, they try to comply within possible limits.

But Jidamdaesa’s desire to cure this completely is ultimately to see the ultimate secrets of Shaolin martial arts.

This requires completely changing one’s thinking.

“Though all streams may not truly return to their source, martial arts and medicine touch at their ends.”

“I don’t understand what the Divine Physician wants to say.”

“Though its truth is unclear, there was a medicine immortal hundreds of years ago who was said to compete for supremacy under heaven with elixirs alone after mastering medicine. And when one reaches the end of martial arts…”

“Ah.”

Unlike Jidamdaesa, Master immediately understood what I was trying to say.

“Come to think of it, I’ve seen records of an elder among our ancestors who suffered from dementia recovering his reason along with rejuvenation.”

“Is that true?”

If one undergoes complete transformation to become a body most suitable for learning martial arts, everything eventually finds its proper place.

Though it’s not a method anyone can use.

For Jidamdaesa, who was within reach of that level, it was worth setting as a goal.

“…Good. I prefer that to endlessly enduring poison.”

Abandoning all the strange experiments, treatment returned to standard methods.

Simultaneously, Jidamdaesa devoted himself to training with bone-cutting effort.

He sought out masters to request sparring and enlightenment, and sometimes secluded himself somewhere alone for periods.

All medical measures were implemented to enable him to train to the maximum extent.

I was able to observe Jidamdaesa’s cultivation right beside him while continuing acupuncture treatment.

Though I had learned martial arts from Master and acquired some skill, and built up considerable internal energy by consuming elixirs well.

The concept of enlightenment remained vague.

The words that Master Jidam casually dropped during treatment were of tremendous help to my own achievements.

“I’m truly grateful.”

“It’s what you accomplished yourself, Master.”

When he finally reached his goal.

Jidamdaesa expressed his gratitude with all sincerity.

Though he had found the path to complete transformation alone, and it had to be that way.

“That’s not so. I only thought I could no longer continue martial arts with these hands. But the Divine Physician enlightened me, and it was also the Divine Physician who enabled me to practice. Until coming to the Tang family, just enduring the pain was asceticism enough – I couldn’t do anything.”

Jidamdaesa spared no praise for me.

And for a while.

Since the master who had left Shaolin to treat his hands returned after undergoing complete transformation.

There was a commotion of various martial artists seeking me out, asking to be taught the secret method.

“If such a secret method existed, I would have used it on myself first!”

I managed to fend them off with this excuse for several years, hmm.

* * *

‘The situation is opposite from back then. I can’t teach the enlightenment of complete transformation.’

Not only can I not teach martial arts to Jo Yura, but even if I did teach her, wouldn’t the patient refuse?

Ordinary people would choose conventional treatment rather than endure ascetic practices that might take decades.

Martial arts training is… basically something you need to be a bit crazy to do.

“Sigh, they said it’s rheumatoid arthritis. I got the medication and decided to try taking it for 4 weeks.”

Jo Yura had a complicated expression after hearing the test results.

While she felt relieved to know the cause, on the other hand, her future seemed bleak.

“I see. Methotrexate is a drug that shows effects slowly, so it’s normal to evaluate after taking it for 3-4 weeks. How were the inflammation levels?”

“They’re on the high side. I kind of expected that even without testing.”

Jo Yura handed me the test results she had photographed.

“But there’s no joint deformation yet, so it’s still early stage, and now is the most effective time for treatment. They said some people go into remission and stop medication, so I shouldn’t be too pessimistic.”

Fortunately, the doctor seemed to have spoken hopefully.

I also encouraged Jo Yura to think positively.

“That’s right. The medication will first calm the overactive immune system to prevent damage. During that time, we can treat to reduce inflammation and help your body find balance.”

“Yes. I’ve only been getting acupuncture so far, but I think it’s getting somewhat better.”

Two weeks until the test results came out.

During that treatment period, small changes were becoming visible.

The swelling was slightly reducing and movement was becoming more comfortable.

“Keep focusing on those improving aspects. You’re resting well without using your hands, right?”

“Yes.”

“Rest absolutely until the swelling goes down and inflammation reduces.”

I tried to help her focus on positive aspects rather than frustration about the chronic disease and resistance to medication.

She could actually improve significantly, and thinking that way helps recovery even more.

“Understood. We’re doing herbal injection today too, right?”

“Yes. I’ll insert it right away.”

“Ugh.”

Jo Yura squeezed her eyes shut and received the herbal injection.

Still, she must have gotten used to it over the past few days, as she soon relaxed her body and smiled.

“Um, Clinic Director. What’s the difference between remission and complete cure? Is it because there’s a possibility of recurrence that they can’t call it a complete cure?”

“You can think of it that way. Remission is a state, and complete cure is… a result, I suppose. When the immune system finds stability and all functions recover without inflammation, it’s called remission, but there’s no way to prove whether the immune system still retains the wrong memory of attacking one’s own body, right? That’s why they can’t declare a complete cure.”

Unless pathogens are completely killed or localized problems are surgically removed, the medical field generally doesn’t use the term complete cure.

It would be a different story if one were reborn through complete transformation, though.

“Then… it’s possible to not hurt anymore and return to normal life, right?”

“Of course. I’ll do my best.”

Jo Yura gained hope and set reasonable goals.

I proceeded with standard treatment accordingly.

Taking immunosuppressants and anti-inflammatory drugs while combining herbal injections and acupuncture treatment, changes in blood test values soon appeared.

One month after starting Western medicine, six weeks after beginning treatment with me, inflammation levels had dropped considerably.

“Just looking at it, the swelling is definitely less. The aching and stinging pain is much better too.”

The doctor also said it was a very good response and decided to maintain the medication without increasing the dose.

“How are your appetite and fatigue?”

“The whole-body lethargy and fever I had before are fine now.”

“Ah, that must have been a systemic inflammatory response.”

“My appetite is just so-so. I think I’ve gotten used to eating less… Actually, my stomach feels a bit sore and I keep getting mouth sores.”

“That seems like side effects from suppressing immunity with medication.”

Still, this level isn’t severe for immunosuppressant side effects.

I recommended taking herbal medicine, which Jo Yura had initially inquired about.

While fatigue improved as inflammation decreased, care for minor symptoms and treatment to balance the overall body were necessary.

Checking her pulse, her spleen was deficient making her digestive system sensitive, and she also showed a wiry pulse, perhaps due to stress from the illness.

“Please take good care of me.”

Of course, even with the best treatment, she didn’t improve every single moment.

“It’s been about the same lately.”

“You’ve improved a lot compared to the beginning. Even if it’s not noticeable, changes are continuously appearing.”

She struggled when progress stagnated.

“Ah, today the stabbing pain came back. I cried from the pain at dawn…”

“On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate the pain intensity?”

“4…? *sob* Actually, rather than it hurting terribly, I was sad that it keeps hurting like this.”

“When that happens, take painkillers and sleep well. Treatment naturally has ups and downs. Just because symptoms reappear doesn’t mean you’ve returned to square one, so don’t worry.”

She despaired when deterioration appeared.

“This morning when I woke up and was typing, I was surprised because I was fine, you know?”

With consistent treatment, both the peaks and valleys of the fluctuations gradually improved.

When the morning stiffness that seemed like it would last forever decreased, Jo Yura was very happy.

As time passed, the treatment improvement also gained momentum.

“I had another blood test this time and they said the inflammation levels are in the normal range too. My movement is almost natural now.”

“That’s really fortunate.”

“The doctor said the improvement is very good, and suggested stopping the painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. They said I should take immunosuppressants for about 6 more months even after symptoms disappear, but… if things go well, I might be able to stop them, right?”

When determining remission of rheumatoid arthritis, indicators consider the number of painful joints, number of swollen joints, and degree of pain.

Even with Western medicine treatment alone, arthritis inflammation levels usually improve, but cases where patient-perceived pain and physical dysfunction improve to a satisfactory level are not common.

However, Jo Yura’s condition had reached remission by any measure one could apply.

“Thank you, Clinic Director. Ah… if it weren’t for Miseun and you, I would have just endured it and still wouldn’t have gone to the hospital.”

“It’s because you diligently came for treatment, and we were lucky too.”

Though management still needed to continue, I cautiously offered my congratulations.

“Oh, right. Has Ms. Miseun been busy lately?”

Since the topic came up, I asked about Park Miseun’s well-being.

On the first day of treatment, the two had come together, but after that, Jo Yura had been coming to the Oriental Medicine Clinic alone for treatment.

“She probably is, right? I heard she has another performance coming up. I don’t contact her super frequently either.”

“Ah, then I’ll tell her separately next time.”

I nodded.

Jo Yura said she would pass along the message.

Well, it wasn’t anything that urgent anyway.

“It’s nothing major, but Sandro—you know, that Italian doctor Teacher that Ms. Miseun met before—his graduation thesis got approved. It looks like the Rome branch he’s been waiting for will soon take shape.”

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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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