The Secret of the Ancient Medical Text
A spring of water, trapped within a bladder, sloshing and trembling. To drive a needle precisely into its source...
'Here!'
He channeled the heavy, dull sensation ringing in his head toward the tip of the needle.
Swoosh—
His senses became hyper-acute. It felt as if the spring had burst open from the needle's stimulation, surging through the meridians without restraint.
Kyungwoo stopped the flow of energy at a precise moment. He was certain that this exact amount of stimulation was the correct answer.
Twitch—
Park Baedong’s body shuddered.
'A cool sensation spread from the acupuncture point, washing away the pain all the way from my arm and shoulder up to my head.'
"...Huh?!"
While he was distracted by that feeling, his headache had already subsided.
Park Baedong turned his head toward Kyungwoo in surprise.
"Please, don't move."
"Director, my head suddenly hurts less. This is because of the acupuncture, right?"
"Unless you took a Tylenol thirty minutes ago, it’s definitely the acupuncture."
"Right. But... wow, how can a single needle do this?"
Park Baedong was speechless. Having been frail since childhood, he had frequented Oriental clinics, and as he grew older, he even learned hand acupuncture. Since customers buying medicinal herbs often showed him their sprained ankles, he had even thought he was better than most Oriental medicine doctors.
"I don't understand. Does acupuncture have such an immediate effect even on chronic illnesses?"
"If you apply the correct stimulation to the correct spot, it does have an effect."
Anyone who had performed acupuncture on the fundamental acupoints with precision would have seen a decent reaction. The problem was that doing so was extremely difficult.
"Also, even though it is chronic, it has the characteristics of poisoning, so it responded quickly to the detoxification points."
The village head chimed in at Kyungwoo’s explanation.
"Don't try to understand our doctor with common sense. Can you compare a local diner to a three-star Michelin restaurant?"
Park Chunsik, a man in his 70s who subscribed to YouTube Premium, showed off his insight with a modern analogy. Park Miyoung, standing beside them with her arms crossed, was huffing with pride.
"So, you must not go around telling everyone!"
"It’s because my nephew is lucky. A doctor like him isn't someone you can see easily."
Kyungwoo quieted the two of them and spoke again.
"There is a reason for the composition of the original formula, so you must be careful about changing the ingredients arbitrarily. It is best to receive a prescription after an accurate diagnosis."
"Yes. I was short-sighted. Since my job is handling medicinal herbs, I thought something like Sipjeondaebo-tang was nothing special..."
There was a reason medical and Oriental medical schools took six years. While skills varied wildly after graduation, the meaning of a license was, at the very least, possessing the basic knowledge to ensure one did not harm the patient. Park Baedong added.
"You said earlier that I need to take a detoxifying herbal medicine, right? Please write a prescription and have it brewed. If you need them, I will bring you the medicinal herbs I have kept in my private collection."
At that moment, Miyoung pointed out a significant problem.
"We don't have a decoction room."
"Oh..."
"It's fine. We can just order from an external decoction center!"
"An external... decoction center."
Mr. Park Baedong muttered, looking somewhat unconvinced.
Until now, Kyungwoo had not prescribed herbal medicine unless it was absolutely necessary. He usually gave insurance-covered medicine, so he didn't need a decoction room, and whenever a decoction was strictly required, he commissioned an outside facility.
'But wouldn't it be different now?'
He felt he needed to check what kind of secret technique the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok would pass on to him. The thought made him impatient.
Kyungwoo quickly placed needles into the remaining acupoints.
'I must have passed the test, so it shouldn't matter if I add more needles.'
Just because a single needle produced a remarkable effect didn't mean he couldn't use two or three. After placing needles in the detoxification points, points good for headaches, and points to nourish the liver, Kyungwoo gave a quick instruction.
"Fifteen minutes."
"Yes, Director!"
He then ran to the director's office, grabbed the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok, and shook it vigorously.
"Hey, that was the right answer, right?"
[......]
"I had to sweat because it was a complicated case. I passed the test, didn't I?"
After a brief silence, the ancient medical text finally began to output(?) the results.
* * *
The Gamshin-tongmaek-rok was surprised.
Resonating with the pain of a thousand people. The persistent healer who had broken through that arduous task also possessed an extraordinary medical talent...
-How can this be?
First, the composition of the acupoints. While previous practitioners had learned the appropriate acupoints during their training, this practitioner had constructed the correct formula from the very first time he saw a patient. Of course, he hadn't matched the order of treatment or the amount of stimulation, but even those were gradually falling into place.
Also, the sensation of acupuncture. No matter how much it was taught to be felt, those with "clumsy hands" by nature often took forever to grasp the exact location and depth of the acupoints. Yet, this practitioner had only struggled on the first day, and the number of trial-and-error attempts was decreasing. Just the day before, he had perfectly needled the Yifeng point of a facial palsy patient in one go.
-That is why I granted his request...
Originally, the next chapter was scheduled to open only after a grueling process of deeply exploring hundreds of different diseases. Kyungwoo had gnashed his teeth, complaining that the test's difficulty was excessive, but from the perspective of the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok, merely giving him the chance was an excessively generous decision.
Grasping the source points. Needling them correctly. Perfectly controlling the supernatural abilities acquired so far. These were qualities one would basically possess after exploring hundreds of diseases. However, at the current stage, it was a realm that should have been impossible to reach.
Hyun Kyungwoo had truly passed the test that was presented as if to say, "Let's see you try." Even against a rare and difficult pathology.
-Could it be... the makings of a Master... again...!
Among the healers it had led through fate, it had witnessed this realm only once. Seeing that glimmer of possibility, the medical text resolved to push Kyungwoo even harder, but...
You have passed the test.
Now, it was time to acknowledge his skill and effort.
"As expected! I had a feeling!"
Seeing him act so smug was somewhat unpleasant, but...
Shoop-ah!
A dazzling light burst from the book. The pages flipped rapidly and settled on both sides. On the revealed page, the characters that had been blurred like code began to squirm and move like ants.
'The next chapter is opening!'
Kyungwoo endured the glare and stared intently at the paper. The title of the fourth chapter that finally revealed itself was...
<The Method of Transferring Pain into Medicine (Jeontong-ipyak-beop)>
It was explaining the secret technique Kyungwoo was about to acquire very intuitively.
* * *
"In restoring the original place of the yin and yang of a distorted body, one borrows the power of medicinal herbs, but if that energy is weak, how can one expect efficacy?"
"Pain, too, is a force resulting from the body's distortion. If one governs this and infuses it into the medicine to restore its peak nature, the herb will finally manifest its true properties. This is the secret of the miraculous technique passed down through the ages."
'No wonder it kept making me save on stimulation.'
When he touched a patient's body, an equivalent amount of stimulation energy was generated in Kyungwoo's body. However, it was rare to use all that energy for treatment. So, the stimulation energy left over after use until now had just felt like it was flowing out of his body.
Kyungwoo had actually been of the mind that it didn't matter if the acupuncture hurt a little as long as the patient got better, but...
'I understood it as "minimize the pain during treatment," but now I know the reason.'
Spaaat—!
The light flowing from the medical text seeped into Kyungwoo's right hand.
You have been taught how to store the excess of pain within your body rather than letting it flow into the void. This is the first secret technique of the Jeontong-ipyak-beop: Nakgi-geukseong (Storing Energy to Peak Nature).
Effect: The stored extreme nature is like dew held in a jade bottle, becoming the source that infuses herbs and doubles their efficacy.
The headache that had tightened his head when he treated Park Baedong earlier. The sensation left over after being used for acupuncture stimulation swirled around Kyungwoo's body and was stored in his right hand.
'Oh!'
Kyungwoo was marveling when the next sentence appeared.
"If sensing the patient's discomfort is the realm a needle-healer must reach, then sensing the energy of medicinal herbs is the realm a medicine-healer must reach. This is the second secret technique: Gam-yak-jeung-hyo (Sensing Medicine to Increase Efficacy)."
"It will discern the nature, taste, strength, and weakness of the herbs and supplement their lacking energy with peak nature."
The light that burst out this time seeped into his left hand.
'That means... if I touch a medicinal herb, I can feel its energy!'
If so, that was a truly tremendous ability. It meant he would know the nature and efficacy of an herb just by touching it... He couldn't even guess how it would feel yet.
'No wonder the test was difficult.'
He had vented his frustration, asking if the difficulty was insane, but now that he knew such an ability was at stake, he understood.
'How exactly does it feel?'
Kyungwoo was staring blankly at his two hands when Miyoung poked her head into the director's office.
"Director, didn't you hear the call? Mr. Park Baedong's acupuncture treatment is finished..."
Hearing that name, Kyungwoo recalled a certain fact.
'Wait, Mr. Park Baedong said he was a medicinal herb merchant!'
He hurried to the treatment room. Park Baedong, who had finished his treatment and was adjusting his clothes, bowed his head upon seeing Kyungwoo.
"Director, thank you. It's been a long time since my head felt this clear."
"But I'm sure your headache isn't completely gone."
"It's become bearable, which is enough. I'll have to continue treatment consistently."
"Make an appointment for that through Ms. Miyoung, but I have a question."
"Yes, please tell me anything."
"Can you show me the herb shop you operate?"
"Right now?"
"Yes. The clinic is closed for the day anyway."
"I don't mind, but why our herb shop..."
"You said you'd show me good medicinal herbs earlier, right?"
"Yes. Oh...!"
Park Baedong marveled for a moment.
'Is it the greed of a medical student who wants to confirm with his own eyes because I said I have good herbs!'
"You must have had a lot of interest in medicinal herbs from the start."
"That, and if the herbs are good, I want to brew your medicine right away."
"...!"
'It wasn't greed for herbs, it was greed to heal the patient. Truly a master healer!'
This time, it wasn't simple admiration, but deep respect. Park Baedong willingly let Kyungwoo into his car.
"Village head, you come too."
"You're taking me too?"
The village head, whose butt had been twitching at the prospect of seeing something interesting, readily followed.
There was a reason for taking him along. In the backseat of the car, Kyungwoo grabbed the wrist of the village head sitting next to him.
"Let me check your pulse."
"Eh? I'm fine with that."
Even if his ankle was healed, there was no way a man in his 70s doing farm work wouldn't have aches and pains. The stiffness of his old lower back. The stiffness of his finger joints. The discomfort of his sluggish digestive system was transmitted clearly.
"You have indigestion. What did you sneakily eat?"
"You're a ghost. My wife is a good cook, you know. I overate a bit yesterday."
"Get some digestive medicine when you go back later."
Kyungwoo stored the village head's pain and discomfort in his right hand. Meanwhile, the car arrived at the foot of Mt. Songnisan.
"Here it is."
[Songnisan Baekchodang]
Shops for tourists at the entrance of the national park. Entering the shop at the end, the scent of medicinal herbs wafted out.
"Are there still herb gatherers left on Mt. Songnisan?"
"Gathering is prohibited in the national park, so there aren't many. Most of the herbs are grown on nearby private land."
"Then where do you get wild ginseng?"
"Since it's my trade, I have connections with wild ginseng diggers."
Kyungwoo asked.
"Can I see the ginseng you took?"
Park Baedong went into the back of the shop and came out carefully holding a wooden box. When he opened the lid, a clear and deep fragrance spread out. There were three roots of wild ginseng of similar size.
"This is Cheonjong-sansam (wild ginseng grown in a natural state) over 50 years old. Twenty-four roots were discovered at once on Mt. Baegun, and I won the bid for five of them. I've already used two."
It was Kyungwoo's first time seeing real wild ginseng.
"They are similar in shape and size, but to me, who has lived with medicinal herbs all my life, I can see subtle differences. Since you are also very interested in herbs, Director, would you happen to know which of these three is the best one?"
Kyungwoo stared intently at the wild ginseng. His heart pounded.
'Will I... really be able to feel the energy of the herbs?'
Without realizing it, Kyungwoo held his breath and placed his hand on the first wild ginseng root.