Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 70

“You’re enduring well despite the pain. If you can’t go to the medical pavilion, can you wait until I call more medical staff here? If I treat you here…”

Grrrr!

Hwang-gu wrinkled his muzzle threateningly at Jin Cheon-hee.

It meant absolutely no calling more people.

That was expected. Jin Cheon-hee asked again.

“Is it also not okay if we deliver the letter for you?”

Grrr!

Absolutely not, he says.

Jin Cheon-hee said seriously,

“You can’t go to the medical pavilion for treatment, can’t let me call medical staff here, and won’t let us deliver the letter for you. You’ll die like this. And it’ll be an extremely painful death.”

Grrrr!

Hwang-gu was adamant.

Jin Cheon-hee sighed.

‘Even if it’s a spiritual beast, a dog is still a dog. It thinks of its master as its life.’

Why do dogs follow humans like this?

Without even knowing what kind of person its master is, the dog is just blindly loyal.

‘Dogs are such fools.’

This ill-tempered dog had already resigned itself to death.

Now there was only one thing to do as a physician.

‘Sigh… I guess there’s no choice. I never thought I’d enter the martial arts world like this…’

“I’ll do emergency treatment and then run to the Beggar’s Sect branch. I don’t know if I can deliver the letter, and there’s no guarantee you’ll be alive until I deliver it. It’s a dog’s death.”

Woof!

The dog answered.

Jin Cheon-hee bit his lip.

“Alright.”

‘Our medical pavilion is one of the important sects to the Beggar’s Sect too. That’s why their branch is within a 3-hour walk from our medical pavilion.’

After a brief calculation, Jin Cheon-hee quickly came to a conclusion.

‘It’s about a 6-hour distance from this mountain, but if I use lightness skill, I can barely make it in about 2 hours. The problem is transporting this guy itself. Then…’

Jin Cheon-hee looked at Hwang-gu seriously.

***

Jin Cheon-hee poured another bottle of disinfectant alcohol onto a clean towel. Then he applied it to the external wound.

Yelp!

It must have hurt more than expected, as Hwang-gu tucked his tail between his legs and trembled.

It was brave of him not to run away.

‘I’d like to do acupuncture, but I don’t know how to do it on dogs.’

Like most medical pavilions, while they might experiment on dogs with medicines meant for humans, research on meridians wasn’t conducted separately.

In the end, Jin Cheon-hee could only do what he knew.

“I’ll start with manual reduction first.”

Manual reduction means aligning bone fragments by hand.

For a compound fracture, the sooner it’s done, the better.

Because the cut ends of the bone fragments are sharp, they could pierce blood vessels or nerves, or damage soft tissues and cause embolism.

If shock occurs during transport, it would be irreversible.

To prevent that, he plans to align the bones through manual reduction and fix them with a splint.

‘Originally, I was planning to just apply a splint now and do manual reduction and external fixation at the medical pavilion, but…’

The situation doesn’t allow for that.

Jin Cheon-hee said to Wang Gak-yeon,

“Hold him still. But not too tightly.”

“Like holding a bow?”

“Probably?”

Wang Gak-yeon held Hwang-gu firmly but gently.

Jin Cheon-hee applied a pain-relieving medicine to cotton and brought it to Hwang-gu’s nose.

Just smelling it greatly alleviates pain. But it’s nothing compared to acupuncture.

“It’s going to hurt a lot. You might even faint. This level of painkiller won’t be enough.”

Grrr!

“Are you really going to do this?”

Woof!

“Damn, even human patients can barely endure this.”

Crack!

Hwang-gu’s muzzle opens wide.

He can’t even groan properly due to the pain.

But since he shouldn’t thrash about here, Wang Gak-yeon held Hwang-gu firmly but gently.

She had been practicing martial arts longer than Jin Cheon-hee from the start.

Hwang-gu’s body didn’t shake until the bones were properly aligned.

After finishing the reduction, he applied a splint and wrapped the whole thing with soft cloth.

‘How tight should I make it for a dog? Ugh, I’ll have to go by feel for now.’

Temporary cast.

After emergency treatment of all external wounds to prevent additional infection, he took out a small wooden box from his bosom.

Wang Gak-yeon asked in surprise,

“Is that… the White Dragon Divine Pill?”

“That’s right. It should work well.”

Penicillin is one of the most widely used antibiotics in surgical treatment.

It’s excellent for treating skin, soft tissue infections, and osteomyelitis infections.

In modern times, we’re struggling with resistance issues, but not here.

“Wow, all the medical pavilion members were excited about the White Dragon Divine Pill. They say it’s as good as a spirit medicine? It’s incredibly precious, isn’t it?”

‘That’s right. Why did penicillin become a spirit medicine in this world?’

Jin Cheon-hee opened the White Dragon Divine Pill and cut it into small pieces.

Dogs have different liver metabolism from humans and weigh less, so the dosage would be different from humans.

‘Is this enough…? I’ll give a little and watch, then give more if it’s not enough.’

Jin Cheon-hee clicked his tongue.

If Hwang-gu had given up his stubbornness and come to the medical pavilion, he would have started with an antibiotic reaction test.

By injecting a small amount of diluted penicillin subcutaneously, then watching for 30 minutes to 2 hours to see if a rash develops.

Although the probability is low, penicillin allergies definitely exist, and dogs would have them too.

‘It’s an emergency, so there’s no choice.’

The probability of a penicillin allergy versus the probability of death from the current injury.

There was no comparison.

He placed the White Dragon Divine Pill in front of Hwang-gu.

“Can you eat it yourself, or should I feed you?”

Woof!

As if his pride was hurt, Hwang-gu took it in one bite.

He didn’t even make a gesture of sniffing it.

‘Well, if he could track Wang Gak-yeon using lightness skill in the forest by smell, he must have already figured out the smell of a spirit medicine and more.’

“What if it’s poison?”

Chomp, chomp.

As if it wasn’t worth answering, Hwang-gu swallowed the White Dragon Divine Pill right away.

“Ah, that’s something even humans can’t eat easily…”

Wang Gak-yeon let out a groan, as if regretting it.

Jin Cheon-hee said,

“We can’t just leave him to die.”

‘It’s also a chance to gain favor with the Beggar’s Sect.’

The oral administration of antibiotics was also complete. If possible, he’d like to take him to the medical pavilion and give an intravenous injection, but what can he do when there’s such opposition.

Jin Cheon-hee said,

“This human is sorry.”

Woof?

“You’re a spiritual beast, so you can endure for a long time, right? Don’t die until we reach the Beggar’s Sect branch.”

Woof!

With those words, Hwang-gu turned his head.

Until now, Hwang-gu’s behaviors had been easy for anyone to understand.

But this time, neither Jin Cheon-hee nor Wang Gak-yeon could understand what that gesture meant.

***

First, they had to make something to carry Hwang-gu.

Jin Cheon-hee used the bag he brought to make a baby carrier.

“I’ll carry him on my back. Gak-yeon, you cover us. Your martial arts are stronger, so you need to protect us.”

Wang Gak-yeon tightened the knot on her quiver.

“You think trackers will come.”

“You think so too, right? Isn’t that why you secretly asked only me?”

“That’s right. No, actually only half right. I was careful about trackers until we got here, but there was one more person I asked for help besides you. An adult.”

“Chief Yoo?”

“That’s right. But he didn’t move.”

“With that guy’s personality, as if she’d move. It’d be fortunate if she didn’t mock us for doing this just for a dog.”

Wang Gak-yeon shook her head.

“No, it wasn’t like that. He really regretted it. He said he’s the only one who can protect the medical pavilion now, and if he moves, it would go against the medical pavilion head’s orders. He said he must protect White Dragon Medical Pavilion with his life in any situation. He spoke very politely.”

“Politely? Not sarcastically?”

Jin Cheon-hee suddenly realized.

‘Don’t tell me this bastard only treated me with hostility?’

Wang Gak-yeon said,

“Instead, he recommended me to you, Surgery Hall Master. She said, ‘The Surgery Hall Master happens to be present, and his medical skills are befitting of a hall master, so he will be of help.'”

The Surgery Hall Master of White Dragon Medical Pavilion.

“Me?”

Suddenly, Jin Cheon-hee realized that the inner pocket of his leather bag was heavy.

Looking inside, there were pills wrapped in paper.

The White Dragon Divine Pill, and various internal injury medicines that White Dragon Medical Pavilion boasts of.

All of these should have been kept in precious wooden boxes, so why were they packed like this?

‘Could it be…?’

I don’t know. Didn’t he hate me?

Or did he sincerely pity this dog?

Since even Wang Gak-yeon didn’t know what kind of dog it was, Yoo Ho wouldn’t have any way of knowing either. At most, just that it’s a dog related to the Beggar’s Sect.

Wang Gak-yeon said,

“Chief Yoo trusted you more than anyone else.”

“He must have some other scheme.”

“I don’t know much about what’s between you two. At least in terms of skills, he believes in you.”

Jin Cheon-hee clicked his tongue.

‘What do I care? When I get back, I’ll just have to roll more. Instead…’

Jin Cheon-hee’s lips straightened.

‘Instead, I’ll definitely save Hwang-gu.’

Woof!

Just before the two children left, Hwang-gu pointed to a spot with his muzzle.

It was the night pearl that had been illuminating the earthen cave’s ceiling.

“Why? Oh, are you giving it to us?”

Woof! Woooof!

As if to signal yes, Hwang-gu wagged his tail.

“You really can’t live with owing a debt, can you?”

In this world without light bulbs and electricity, the price of night pearls is incalculable in gold.

Jin Cheon-hee said,

“Alright. I’ll take it. The price of your life.”

Looking closely, it feels a bit bigger and brighter than ordinary night pearls.

Whatever it was, it was precious, so there was no need to refuse.

‘By the way, there’s no change. Beggar’s Sect Leader.’

Jin Cheon-hee is the one who swallowed the Thousand-Year Ginseng given by Gong Son-hyeon without hesitation.

He has no intention of returning it even if the owner asks.

***

When they came out of the earthen cave, the sun had already set.

The night in the winter mountains is long and harsh.

Gak-yeon let out a small breath.

White clouds formed and dispersed with her breath.

‘Can I protect these two?’

This is her second real battle.

She failed in her first real battle.

Of course, her father, the Divine Doctor Baek Rin, and Jin Cheon-hee all said she was amazing for her age, but to herself, it was a failure.

She had to protect herself and block the assassin.

This is why perfectionists suffer.

They unconsciously raise their standards and torment themselves when they can’t reach those standards.

That’s why she physically tormented herself with harsh training.

The only happy times for her were when she played with her friend Jin Cheon-hee and the neighborhood kids.

Other than that, she had been solely focused on training.

And now. That time has come.

The time to protect her friend’s life.

‘I will definitely protect them.’

Jin Cheon-hee asked,

“Do you know the direction?”

“I can walk through this forest with my eyes closed. Do you know?”

Jin Cheon-hee calculated the direction by looking at the position of the constellations in the night sky.

“Not as well as you, but I think I can follow if you guide me.”

Sniff!

Hwang-gu barked softly, just enough for the two to hear. Then he pointed in one direction with his nose.

“Hwang-gu will guide us.”

“One Hwang-gu might be better than the two of us.”

The two children let out small laughs.

The tension eased a little with the cold wind.

Gak-yeon said,

“Cheon-hee. Can you entrust your life to me?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Would her heart have been more at ease if he had hesitated even a little in his answer?

The girl put strength into the hand holding her bow.

“You run. I’ll shoot.”

With those words, Jin Cheon-hee ran towards where Hwang-gu was pointing.

Gak-yeon was slightly surprised by his movement, which was more like a precise inanimate object than a person.

Her body began to move following such a Jin Cheon-hee.

It was a quiet and fast cloud step, as if treading on the wind.