Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 101

While waiting for guests at the entrance of the tea room, Jin Cheon-hee saw the Namgoong siblings and a girl who appeared to be from the Tang family coming up.

She was wearing a black martial arts uniform with red embroidery, which caught the eye even from afar.

‘The Tang family’s youth wear stealth suits even in broad daylight. That’ll make them stand out more during the day, not less. Is that okay?’

Sichuan Tang Clan.

The red characters were striking.

This outfit is given to Tang family children during their teenage years when they’re in a not-so-good state of being consumed by darkness. Most wear it voluntarily.

The previous generation’s head of the family personally commissioned it from the clothing department during his youth.

The few martial arts uniforms made then have been passed down and given to children of the same age with similar symptoms(?).

Children of that age were captivated by the magic of that outfit, dark as night and red as blood, and wore it voluntarily. The elders of other martial arts families would see the uniform and understand, accommodating them.

She stared up at Jin Cheon-hee.

Her black eyes resembled those of a small animal.

If Namgoong Woon resembled a large dog and Namgoong Yeon a cat, Tang Ah resembled a small white puppy.

‘Ah, what was it called? Something I saw on Earth… Pomeranian!’

She resembled a Pomeranian.

With black fur and intense eyes, she looked overall fiercely cute.

‘I wonder if she likes tangs. What do kids that age like? Rice cakes? Pumpkin taffy? Would she like dried persimmons?’

The uncle instinct within Jin Cheon-hee was ordering him to hurry and feed these children lots of food.

‘I want a daughter like that too.’

An old dream he had given up on was subtly raising its head.

Jin Cheon-hee fumbled in his sleeve for something to eat.

He wanted to give them lots of delicious things quickly.

At that moment, she spoke.

“Are you the Little White Dragon?”

Her voice was quite loud.

Jin Cheon-hee answered.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I am Tang Ah of the Sichuan Tang Clan. I request a duel!”

‘Oh… A duel right after making eye contact. I’ve heard there are wanderers in the martial world who request duels like this, but…’

He had touched the bones of those who came at him for the bounty, but a duel was different.

Jin Cheon-hee had never received such a duel request before.

‘This is fresh.’

Is this the fragrance of the martial world?

Have I now reached a position where I experience such things?

Jin Cheon-hee recalled the romance he had cherished and hidden in the past.

Tang Ah said,

“It’s a pharmaceutical duel! Let’s compete by poisoning each other and seeing who can detoxify first!”

At those words, Jin Cheon-hee’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘That’s not the kind of duel I was thinking of.’

It was a poison duel conducted between those who had cultivated poison arts.

However, Jin Cheon-hee had never learned poison arts, and his specialty was breaking things, not detoxification.

“I don’t want to.”

His voice must have become a bit sharp without him realizing it.

Tang Ah’s face reddened, seemingly not expecting to be rejected so bluntly.

“How dare…!”

Ignoring Tang Ah, Jin Cheon-hee spoke to Namgoong Woon.

“Please, come in, everyone.”

Jin Cheon-hee guided everyone to the reception room.

After they had settled in their seats, Jin Cheon-hee said to Namgoong Woon,

“Young Master Namgoong, give me your wrist.”

Namgoong Woon obediently extended his wrist.

When Jin Cheon-hee took Namgoong Woon’s pulse, Tang Ah’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit.

“What? How can he let an outsider take his pulse so easily? Does this mean brother Woon trusts this guy that much?”

At those words, both Jin Cheon-hee and Namgoong Woon felt like laughing.

“Ahem, please don’t laugh. It’s difficult to take your pulse.”

“A-ahem, right. I’ll stay still for a moment.”

Namgoong Yeon wrapped her arms around Tang Ah’s neck and hugged her from behind.

“You’re heavy. Sis Yeon, you’re heavy!”

Jin Cheon-hee kept suppressing his laughter that kept trying to burst out. Namgoong Woon seemed to feel the same, as his pulse fluctuated, then steadied, then fluctuated again.

After finishing the pulse diagnosis, Jin Cheon-hee said with a serious expression,

“You didn’t follow my advice, did you?”

“You mean about drinking lots of water and avoiding salty and greasy foods?”

“Yes.”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, Namgoong Woon averted his gaze.

“Well… lately, the elders and friends keep inviting me to drinking sessions, and I couldn’t refuse.”

“The stone has grown larger. Its position is still okay for now, but if it had been a little longer, it would have started.”

“What would have started?”

“The torment of hell.”

At those words, Namgoong Woon’s eyes widened.

Then Tang Ah spoke up.

“I don’t understand. Are you saying you can tell if someone has kidney stones just from taking their pulse?”

Indeed, finding kidney stones through pulse diagnosis is difficult.

I can find internal or external injuries by tracing the flow of qi through pulse diagnosis to outline the affected area, but small kidney stones are challenging.

Especially stones that are still small before causing problems.

Usually, stones are only detected after they’ve grown large enough to start damaging the urethra or kidneys.

‘If I say it’s easier to find because of my surgical knowledge of urolithiasis, will it just raise more questions?’

When Jin Cheon-hee didn’t answer, Tang Ah said confidently,

“I’ve never seen a doctor who could predict urolithiasis in advance through pulse diagnosis! Surely this must be a scam!”

‘Well, if we’re only considering the medical knowledge of this era, that’s not wrong.’

In this world where surgical medicine hasn’t developed, the cause of urolithiasis hasn’t been clearly identified.

They don’t know why stones form, but when the lower abdomen hurts like crazy and by the time they can take a pulse, it’s too late or they have to pray while putting a knife to the belly.

It was that dangerous of a disease that could lead to death at the time.

Especially in this period when the cause of infection was unknown and antibiotics hadn’t been invented, lithotripsy was that much of a risky treatment method.

“First of all, it’s easy to detect urolithiasis in its current state.”

“What do you mean?”

“Young Master Namgoong, can you endure a bit of pain?”

“Brother Jin, I’m fine with that sort of thing, so just treat me directly without doing that.”

However, Tang Ah had a different opinion.

“If you’re a doctor, show us right now!”

“Ugh… I’ll at least hear what you’re planning to do. It is my body after all.”

Jin Cheon-hee calmly replied.

“It’s nothing much. I’ll just gently press on the area where the stone is in Young Master Namgoong’s body with some internal energy to move it slightly. Even though it’s small, its edges are as sharp as a blade, so that alone will be quite painful and you’ll be able to tell.”

“Brother Woon! This is a good method! This way, we can avoid being swindled out of money with our eyes open!”

“It’s my body, kids. Yeon, you…”

Namgoong Yeon’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh, ch-checking if there’s a stone in my brother’s body is an important matter… I-I assure you it’s not revenge for how much my brother teases me.”

Jin Cheon-hee laughed cheerfully.

“It’s 2 to 1, then. So, I’ll press…”

“W-wait a moment!”

Jin Cheon-hee firmly pressed the area below the back where the stone was located.

After applying some internal energy and feeling around a bit more, he sensed the stone.

“Huh… huk!”

Urolithiasis.

Patients brought to the emergency room said it hurt like being shot.

They said it felt like being stabbed with a knife, or like being torn with an awl and then gouged.

Jin Cheon-hee had never experienced urolithiasis himself, but he knew well how excruciating the pain was.

Namgoong Woon couldn’t even scream, just gasping and choking for 3 seconds.

Jin Cheon-hee quickly withdrew his hand.

Tang Ah said,

“It’s not… an act. That’s a genuinely pained expression. I felt brother Woon’s soul screaming.”

“Tang Ah, and Yeon. You two… consider yourselves without snacks for three days.”

Namgoong Woon growled lowly.

Even from that momentary pain, cold sweat ran down his hands.

“You see, Brother Jin. I don’t know if I’m taking care of two girls or two demons right now.”

Yeon looked off into the distance, pretending not to hear.

Jin Cheon-hee thought,

‘So this is what real siblings are like.’

They might take revenge after death, but they’d still take shots at each other when given the chance – just like on Earth.

‘People living their lives are all the same, I guess.’

“Young Master Namgoong, you should be kinder in your daily life. You tease Young Miss Namgoong so much, that’s why you get payback whenever there’s a chance like this.”

“Urgh… But teasing my sister is my joy. It’s not for an outsider to meddle in.”

At those words, Jin Cheon-hee asked,

“Young Miss Namgoong, shall I press once more? One time isn’t enough to be sure, right?”

“Spare me! Please spare me!”

***

Namgoong Woon decided to be admitted for a short while to undergo lithotripsy^[1].

During that time, Namgoong Yeon and Tang Ah would also stay with him.

The two seemed to be extremely close friends, never apart for even a moment.

Namgoong Yeon, who was usually very shy and stuttered, would smile brightly when with Tang Ah.

Although Tang Ah had entered puberty and was a bit odd like other Tang family members, she had such a good nature that she was well-regarded even within the medical pavilion.

She only engaged in eccentric behavior to the extent of taking bandages from the medical pavilion to wrap around uninjured arms, claiming she was practicing a new martial art technique.

When a medical pavilion member taught her the correct way to apply bandages, she learned with shining eyes.

Meanwhile, Jin Cheon-hee closely examined Namgoong Woon’s condition.

‘Natural expulsion is absolutely impossible.’

He’s a man who lives on alcohol and meat.

It’s amazing how such a wastrel becomes the leader of the martial arts alliance and is discussed as having the world’s greatest sword.

Fortunately, while admitted to the White Dragon Medical Pavilion, he could prohibit alcohol, greasy foods, and salty foods.

‘According to the original work, even though the kidney stone eventually grew, he somehow managed to resolve it…’

Jin Cheon-hee rubbed his chin.

‘Surely he didn’t somehow manage with internal energy like Master while carrying the stone…’

Setting aside inflammation or obstruction, the pain is beyond what a person can endure.

Suddenly, Jin Cheon-hee changed his mind again.

‘This is the martial arts world. The people here really do anything.’

Even Imperial Prince Consort Yoo-rang pulled out the half pin fixing his leg to stab Juwang when he said he would commit suicide.

These are people who clench their teeth and endure even when subjected to torture that tears living flesh, just to keep a secret.

‘This place… is a surgeon’s hell.’

When it comes to matters of belief, patients won’t even fully disclose their symptoms, and for any little thing, they’ll risk their lives outside due to their beliefs, or resolve to die because of grudges.

‘How Namgoong Woon resolved his kidney stone isn’t mentioned in the novel anyway. From the protagonist Yeo Ha-ryoon’s perspective, Namgoong Woon is just an extremely strong opponent.’

Jin Cheon-hee came to a clean conclusion.

‘I’m a doctor, so I should do a doctor’s work. Let’s focus on the patient in front of me.’

Jin Cheon-hee took Namgoong Woon’s pulse for a long time before opening his eyes.

“Why has the stone grown so much in the meantime… and how on earth did you manage to drink alcohol? Don’t tell me you drank the medical alcohol?”

“Does that show up in the pulse diagnosis too?”

1. Lithotripsy involves the administration of a series of shock waves to the targeted stone.[↩]