The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 98

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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 98

“I’m truly sorry for bothering you on your day off! I thought you might refuse if I asked in advance, so I came here without any notice!”

“Ah…”

So that’s why she came without contacting me first.

She’s not young enough to not know that prior contact is proper etiquette, and if she’s been active in the newspaper club, she must have done many interviews by now.

“It’s fine. These things happen. Actually, it worked out well. If you had come on a working day, I would have been busier.”

“Thank you so much for saying that. I really, really wanted to meet you.”

I avoided Lee Ahreum’s burdensome gaze and asked the front desk for two cups of tea.

“Please sit comfortably and let’s talk. Have some tea.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

I haven’t done anything yet, so why does she keep thanking me.

Lee Ahreum’s eyes sparkled as she took out her notebook.

She seemed to have a lot to say and was itching to speak, but I satisfied my curiosity first.

“By the way, what specifically did Professor Lee Minseok say about me?”

What on earth did he say to make a student come all the way to Busan despite the impropriety?

“I heard so many different things! That you were exceptional even as a student! He told me about how you treated a tinnitus patient thanks to your senior, and that you once diagnosed a dyspepsia patient on an airplane? He said a doctor even wrote an article about chest pain treatment because of you… Oh, and the recent incident with actress Hyeon Jumi! He also told me that some clinic director he introduced opened a third branch and it’s doing really, really, really well!”

Then Lee Ahreum poured out her story as if she had been waiting for this moment.

Rather than wanting to conduct an interview, it seemed like saying those words was her original purpose, as her mouth wouldn’t stop.

“I, I see.”

There were a few things mixed in that Professor Lee Minseok didn’t need to know about.

Did he hear about the airplane from another professor? Did he deliberately search for our clinic’s name regarding the surgeon mother’s chest pain?

“The other professors always praise you too, saying you’re someone who will accomplish great things!”

“Cough!”

I nearly choked on my tea.

Great things, what great things. I’m only thinking about fulfilling my personal desires!

“So, what did you want to ask me when you met me?”

I quickly wrapped up the professors’ talk and changed the conversation topic.

This is too embarrassing. It would be better to just get the interview over with quickly.

“Oh, um.”

Only then did Lee Ahreum flip through her notebook.

This… isn’t this an official newspaper club interview?

I don’t have any close friends in the newspaper club so I’m not certain, but most fourth-year students preparing for the national exam seemed to be excluded from club activities.

…Did she use the club’s name because she wanted to see me?

“How did you study when you were a student? I know it’s only been two years since you graduated, but how did you develop skills that surpass experience?”

But aside from simply wanting to see me, she seemed to have genuine curiosity, as the question came quickly.

She must have done other interviews before.

‘Hmm, she’s hitting the mark right from the first question.’

How did I surpass experience in just two years?

I never did. In reality, it’s skills accumulated through 22 years of countless successes and failures.

“I don’t think I’ve surpassed anything. I acknowledge that I lack experience and just do my best in areas where I can. There’s no royal road to studying either.”

“Aha! I thought so! What prescriptions do you mainly use for medicine? Classical formulas? Later formulas? Four-constitution formulas?”

When I gave a model answer, Lee Ahreum now asked about specific prescription methods.

The term “classical formulas” literally means old prescriptions, but actually refers to prescriptions from the Treatise on Cold Damage and Synopsis of Golden Chamber, which became the foundation of Korean medicine prescriptions.

Prescriptions that developed through about 1,800 years of history after that are collectively called “later formulas.”

“Four-constitution formulas” refer to prescriptions from the medical text Donguisusebowon by the late Joseon medical scholar Lee Jema.

“Personally, I don’t really like dividing them that way. If I had to choose, I’d be closer to later formulas, but I use all of them when necessary. For study order, classical formulas, later formulas, then four-constitution formulas would be good, right?”

The foundation is later formulas.

No! Is it strange to collectively call prescriptions recorded in medical texts during the 1,800 years of history after the Treatise on Cold Damage, or the general method of adding and subtracting medicinal materials according to symptoms, “later formulas”?

Sometimes there are Korean medicine doctors who insist only on classical formulas, but following a book from around 220 AD at the end of the Han dynasty exactly as is… I think that’s a bit wrong.

It must have been great enough to be preserved for posterity to remain as a book, but old martial arts manuals aren’t necessarily the strongest, just like that.

But there are definitely things worth taking.

For example, the Gardenia and Prepared Soybean Decoction that I used to treat Mun Yeonghui, Park Yeonggil’s mother, is also a prescription from the Treatise on Cold Damage, and sometimes the classical formula method using such a minimal number of medicinal materials produces effects superior to later formulas.

And four-constitution formulas… actually, I don’t use them much either.

The four-constitution medicine theory that divides people’s constitutions into Greater Yang, Greater Yin, Lesser Yang, and Lesser Yin was actually created quite recently.

Donguisusebowon was published in 1894 in Joseon.

The martial arts world doesn’t have the concept of four constitutions.

However, I’ve felt several times that there are constitutions where general prescriptions don’t work at all according to four-constitution medicine theory, and Greater Yang prescriptions often worked in such cases.

“Ooh, I see.”

After hearing my opinion on prescription methods, Lee Ahreum nodded as if greatly impressed.

There’s nothing special about it, and it’s probably what most Korean medicine doctors who mainly use later formulas think.

“How do you do acupuncture?”

“It’s ordinary. For musculoskeletal disorders, I basically target muscles and ligaments based on anatomy, and for internal medicine diseases, I place needles on corresponding meridians and directly where it hurts.”

“Yes. As you said, there’s no big difference from general treatment methods! But what’s the secret to doing so well?”

Hmm.

This was quite a difficult question.

Since I can read energy, I do have the advantage of faster healing when doing acupuncture treatment.

But even without accelerating the speed like that, patients who will heal with just regular acupuncture do heal.

The reason patients bring referrals isn’t really about ‘treatment speed’ either. Far from being fully cured, they very often bring friends right after their first consultation.

“Hmm, maybe it’s because my sincere desire to heal them gets through? I do all the studying I can in my daily life, and I try my best to help each patient understand their treatment. Of course, I’m also tenaciously dedicated to the treatment itself.”

“Ohhh! That’s amazing!”

“Oh, and you need good physical stamina. Other doctors probably feel the same way, but once you have more than a certain number of patients, the mental and physical exhaustion reaches its limit.”

I suddenly thought of the disciples I had at the Medical Institute.

I haven’t met many other Korean medicine doctors in modern times, but back then, when my disciples saw about 50 or 60 patients a day… they’d get dead fish eyes.

Physical limitations determine how many patients you can see with proper care each day.

For reference, when I had those guys focus only on external energy training for a hundred days without seeing patients, their eyes came back to life.

“Yes! I’ll work hard on physical training too!”

“Exercise, exercise. I even make all my staff do PT. I nag the directors of branches 2 and 3 to train whenever they have time.”

“Wowwww…”

Still, it’s a bit embarrassing to see her write ‘stamina’ in her notes and draw five stars next to it.

“What motivated you to establish branches 2 and 3? What do you hope to achieve through network management?”

…Money?

Working leisurely while earning automatically?

Only seeing interesting patients?

Well, I think I had those goals, but the last two failed.

Getting caught up in the incident at branch 2… no, jumping into it myself only increased the number of patients.

“Hmm, I’d say it’s about continuing academic exchange that focuses on treatment and supplements what’s lacking. I thought I could complement the needs of those who share similar goals and want to work together.”

“Ooh! Then, what are your expansion plans after branch 4?”

“If the connection is there, I’d welcome it anytime.”

Was I too honest?

Can’t help it. I never had any grand business philosophy.

I thought she might be disappointed by that.

“Wow! People who focus on treatment… that’s amazing! If excellent people like you build a network for better treatment, so many patients could receive the best care anywhere.”

This girl threw out exclamations every time I said anything.

As if imagining all of South Korea covered with Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinics, Lee Ahreum’s eyes took on a somewhat dreamy light.

Does position make the person? Being looked at with such admiring eyes, I can’t help but say cool things too.

“How can I connect with you to be in charge of branch 4?”

Pfft!

This time I almost really spit out my tea.

So you had ambitions in that direction.

“Since you came here and we’re having this conversation, I’d say we’re already connected.”

“Kyaaaah!”

Lee Ahreum was very pleased.

I didn’t dislike her either.

While it’s nice to meet people through introductions like Kim Chunsik, I actually don’t have such connections and had to seek out the people I needed on my own.

If you need connections, shouldn’t you have the boldness to create them yourself?

“I’ll definitely come after graduation! If there’s a position then, please make me a vice director too! If not, I’ll gain vice director experience elsewhere and come back to open branch 4… or maybe branch 5 or 6!”

“Sure. If your mind doesn’t change after graduation, anytime.”

Lee Ahreum asked various other things after that.

She covered everyday topics suitable for a newspaper article, like how I became a Korean medicine doctor and what studies I recommend for students, as well as personal stories about becoming friends with Hyeon Jumi.

“If you have time tomorrow, please observe the clinic before you go!”

In good spirits, I even suggested she observe tomorrow’s clinic.

Lee Ahreum immediately canceled her train ticket and booked a motel for the night.

“Thank you so much!”

But isn’t it the middle of the semester? Tomorrow’s Monday – is it okay to skip classes?

She’s as reckless as I am.

What would she have done if I hadn’t met with her, coming all the way to Busan without even making an appointment?

Well, maybe she calculated that coming so boldly would make me meet her out of appreciation for her sincerity.

“Come to think of it, it’s already May.”

I was startled when Lee Ahreum said it had been two years since graduation.

It’s been just under two years since I opened my clinic, but it’s been quite a while since I connected with Busan.

“May means… Teacher’s Day.”

Parents? I don’t have any. Children? I don’t have kids either.

The only thing I have to observe is Teacher’s Day. Is that why Master appeared in my dream?

Unfortunately, going to the martial arts world to see Master was impossible.

Just coming back was incredibly difficult, right?

I used the Soul Return Technique on a day when lunar energy was thick during a lunar eclipse, pouring out all the internal energy of a peak master, but how could I gather such internal power in this world?

Unless I discover about thirty Heavenly Pine Poria or meet that old man who threw me into the martial arts world again, it’s impossible!

[Seoyeong, want to visit the school?]

I should at least meet some other teachers as a substitute.

The professors are all teachers too, right.

Thinking of school gave me a very good idea.

I’ll confront Professor Lee Minseok about what exactly he’s been telling students.

I should also meet Hwangseoyeong’s supervising professor.

That person who’s a professor of herbal formulas might introduce me to someone I’m looking for.

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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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