Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 58

‘Whew.’

As sweat trickled down Jin Cheon-hee’s forehead, Yoo Ho wiped it with a cloth.

It was fortunate, as his eyes were about to sting.

‘To do it even before I say anything, he’s quite perceptive.’

He’s not even an experienced nurse, but just a fledgling. Yet to be this good, Jin Cheon-hee liked Yoo Ho more and more.

Of course, Yoo Ho’s own wishes were not reflected in this at all.

‘Our Yoo Ho is really high-performance.’

Praising Yoo Ho as if complimenting a hard-working ox, he continued with the debridement.

‘This is a situation other orthopedic surgeons would envy, isn’t it?’

It needs to be an experienced surgeon, not just one with deft hands.

In the past, it was thought that the faster the better in emergency situations. But now, opinions are leaning towards the view that taking a bit more time to thoroughly prevent infection is more helpful for patient survival.

That’s how crucial debridement is to survival.

And Jin Cheon-hee was breezing through it using the Five-Elemental Divine Technique.

Plus, there was the excellent nurse, Yoo Ho.

This guy was doing low-pressure irrigation, changing instruments, and wiping sweat even before Jin Cheon-hee could say anything.

‘He’s an excellent AI.’

The debridement was cleanly finished.

Awe frosted the eyes of the watching medical pavilion members.

The next thing Jin Cheon-hee would do is external fixation.

It’s a method used for such severe open fractures.

Temporary external fixation.

It’s a method of temporarily fixing with half pins.

After that, metal is inserted into the medullary cavity to fix it…

‘Is there a need to split the surgery into two? If we do all the treatment at once this time…’

Jin Cheon-hee shook his head.

‘No. Let’s not be greedy. I’ve already benefited from the Five-Elemental Divine Technique. I’ll do the rest according to the manual.’

The debridement alone is already groundbreaking.

Plus, with appropriate measures, the risk of complications has been greatly reduced.

‘Surgery isn’t done alone. It’s done with the patient. No matter how excellent the technique, if the patient’s body can’t keep up, it’s too much.’

Jin Cheon-hee pointed out to his master where to insert the pins.

As he indicated areas where soft tissue wasn’t damaged, the master began inserting pins using internal energy.

Without the usual unpleasant noise, he inserted the metal pins as easily as poking tofu with chopsticks.

Jin Cheon-hee whistled internally.

‘He does that so easily.’

Usually, it’s an arduous carpentry session with hammers and drills. But he’s doing it so simply with minimal damage.

Jin Cheon-hee came to a conclusion.

‘At this rate, we can maintain temporary external fixation while monitoring the soft tissue condition, then move on to the second surgery later.’

His mood improved as things were going better than he had worried.

A smile spread across Jin Cheon-hee’s lips.

As the part he thought would be most difficult was resolved peacefully, the expressions of the medical pavilion members also relaxed.

That’s when it happened.

The patient’s fingertip moved with a twitch.

A very small movement.

Zhuge Rin was the first to see it.

“Hee-ya. The patient’s finger is moving.”

“It can happen once or twice during anesthesia. Oh, is acupuncture anesthesia different?”

Then, another twitch.

Jin Cheon-hee’s pupils contracted.

A medical pavilion member spoke urgently:

“The pulse is rising!”

“The patient’s consciousness?”

“Still absent!”

What on earth is going on?

***

The patient’s body convulsed, bouncing on the operating table.

Yoo Ho quickly grabbed and fixed the patient’s arms.

Strangely, Yoo Ho’s shadow, as if alive, simultaneously grasped the patient’s legs and shoulders.

It was unclear what martial art it was, but it was certainly not from the righteous sects.

“Young Master!”

It wasn’t the time to be amazed at Yoo Ho’s skills.

Jin Cheon-hee quickly recalled possible complications.

‘This doesn’t happen with acute compartment syndrome. Is it acute pulmonary embolism due to fat? No, such a reaction isn’t possible with pulmonary embolism… Or is it the heart…?’

The patient’s limbs were bouncing up like an epileptic patient. It was even stranger that he was still unconscious during all this.

At that moment, the master spoke in a calm voice.

“It seems to be a martial arts world illness. It’s natural that you don’t know it with just knowledge from outside the world.”

“What?”

The master picked up a long needle and placed his other hand on the patient’s solar plexus.

Jin Cheon-hee only then realized that the patient’s solar plexus was strangely protruding.

The master closed his eyes, took the pulse, and then stabbed towards one spot.

Thunk!

“Hee-ya, we need to cut quickly. Hurry!”

There was no time to ask questions. The patient started vomiting blood. At this rate, the blood would block his airway and he’d drown in his own blood!

Jin Cheon-hee quickly cut open the patient’s solar plexus.

And what she saw inside was a perforated stomach. And a strange, writhing life form.

‘Can a parasite grow this big in the stomach?’

The fact that it was alive made it even more grotesque. Moreover, its mouth was attached to the stomach.

When the master stabbed with a second needle, it seemed to be in pain and detached its mouth.

At that moment, the master instantly pulled out the creature’s body and put it into a bottle.

Clack-

Yoo Ho’s shadow immediately closed the bottle’s mouth.

The convulsing patient’s body stopped as if by magic.

Jin Cheon-hee immediately started cleaning up and began suturing.

The master spoke:

“It’s called gu. It’s set to go berserk inside the body if a specific medicine isn’t taken once every ten or twenty days.”

“Is it like the blood gu used by the demonic sects?”

Blood gu.

It’s the parasite that Little Heavenly Demon would eat.

He was well aware from reading novels about the story of the demonic sects feeding blood gu during initiation ceremonies to control people like puppets at will.

However, the removal method wasn’t like this.

Plus, its characteristics were different from blood gu.

While some of its body fluids burst from the master’s acupuncture, it couldn’t dissolve the stomach.

If it were real blood gu, the stomach would have already been irreparably damaged.

Zhuge Rin said:

“It’s far inferior to those of the demonic sects. This is from the unorthodox sects. It’s used by some branches of the Hao Sect when planting spies.”

Spies.

The final suture was done. Jin Cheon-hee said:

“We should report this to Her Imperial Highness.”

“Yes. Keeping this secret would be treason.”

It was strange.

Clearly, it was a troubled voice, but the corners of the master’s mouth were slightly curled up.

“This is why it’s better not to delve deeply into imperial family matters. If we hadn’t known at all it would be one thing, but now that we know, this happens.”

Jin Cheon-hee said:

“This is the first surgery. The patient needs to recover before receiving a second surgery.”

There’s a reason for doing the surgery twice.

It’s to buy time for the damaged soft tissues to recover.

Because the contaminated soft tissues were cut away through the surgical method of debridement, the lost soft tissues need to regenerate.

If we finish everything in one surgery without doing a second surgery before the soft tissues regenerate, there’s a high probability of sequelae and complications. It puts a great burden on the patient’s body.

The problem was that since the patient had learned martial arts, it was impossible to predict the speed at which soft tissues would fill up.

Recovery ability varies greatly depending on the sect and level of internal energy cultivation methods.

Moreover, it seems there are many secrets not revealed even to the medical pavilion.

It was impossible to measure the recovery speed in the same category as modern people.

It could take a week, ten days, or three weeks.

The faster the recovery, the lower the probability of secondary infection. Plus, we need to start the main surgery as soon as the temporary external fixation device is removed. That’s the only way to save both the patient’s life and leg.

“We don’t know if Her Imperial Highness will allow it.”

Zhuge Rin admired Jin Cheon-hee’s expression as if looking at a precise work of art.

“What a lovely expression.”

Eyes shining with a sense of mission as a doctor while being flustered.

Zhuge Rin seemed to quite like his disciple’s eyes.

Jin Cheon-hee said:

“Let’s wake the patient and ask what happened first. That’s the order of things.”

“Order… What is the right order, what is right? Can you be sure, Hee-ya?”

Zhuge Rin spoke to his disciple in the gentlest and most mild voice:

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

***

The master headed to report to Wangya Ju.

Conversely, Jin Cheon-hee sat by the Imperial Prince Consort’s bedside.

He intended to organize his thoughts while waiting for him to wake up.

‘What was the novel, after all?’

Novels are never equal.

No matter how much it’s a third-person omniscient author’s perspective, everything eventually revolves around the characters who drive the narrative.

What Jin Cheon-hee knew was only the Imperial Prince Consort’s position from Wangya Ju’s perspective.

‘But at least everything described in the novel is true.’

Hadn’t he confirmed this several times since coming to this world?

It just thoroughly reflected only Wangya Ju’s perspective.

Imperial Prince Consort, Cheon Yoo-rang.

Wangya Ju’s husband.

The so-called martial arts world Cinderella who seized the position of Imperial Prince Consort with the lowly status of a tavern entertainer in an imperial court rife with political marriages.

Before Wangya Ju ascended to the throne.

When she was still Princess Feng Juha, the two met.

At the time, Wangya Ju was fed up with the corrupt imperial court and incompetent emperor. On top of that, other Imperial Princes and Princesses were desperate to keep her in check.

The biggest problem in this situation was that she herself had no desire to become emperor at all.

At that time, Feng Juha was going through a veritable storm and stress period.

At night, she beat up corrupt officials while wearing a mask, and during the day, she drifted from tavern to tavern in a drunken stupor.

It was futile. Futile and futile.

No matter how many corrupt officials she beat up, it didn’t even amount to one ten-thousandth of the people’s resentment.

Even if she killed them, someone just like them would take their place.

-What good is being a Princess? What good is being a Princess who can’t even save one starving capital?

That’s when the future Imperial Prince Consort, Cheon Yoo-rang, appeared.

-What’s that in your hand?

-It’s the people’s bedbug. Its belly is swollen from sucking their blood.

She shook the unconscious official by the collar.

Since she was wearing a mask, she must have looked quite terrifying.

Suppressing his fear, Cheon Yoo-rang said:

-Are you going to kill him?

-I’m going to beat him. He hasn’t been beaten enough.

She was so scary, really too scary, but Cheon Yoo-rang gathered his courage.

-If it’s not too presumptuous, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.

-What is it?

-May I join you in beating him?

And so, the two relieved their stress by kicking the official thoroughly.

-What’s your name?

-Cheon Yoo-rang.

-Where can I see you again?

-I’m an entertainer who dances at the Namcheon Tavern. As a low-class entertainer, I’ll always be there.

-What’s your relationship with this pig?

-He threatened to cut off my legs so I can never dance again if I don’t serve him in bed.

She raised her head and looked at Cheon Yoo-rang’s face.

Even in the dark night, the man’s face shone white. She thought he had a pretty face, befitting a dancing entertainer.