Chapter 181
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: Bone-Knitting Decoction
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There were countless patients who came looking for me, hoping for the bone-knitting decoction.
"Divine Physician! Do you perhaps have a remedy good for fractures?"
"Of course. You've heard the tales of the Sichuan Tang Family's secret bone-knitting decoction, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"I'll prescribe it for you. So, how did it happen?"
"I was sparring a bit..."
"Haha."
Sometimes friends would spar together and show up with their bones broken side by side.
"Urk! This young master of the Mo Clan can't stoop to relying on a clinic for something like this!"
"It's shattered! Straight to the reduction room!"
Others would return from escort missions in such a battered state that surviving was a miracle, carried in on stretchers.
I'd tie down patients insisting on self-healing through qi circulation therapy, perform surgery, and force medicine down their throats.
"Divine Physician! My son's bone is broken...! Please save him!"
"Waaah!"
"What happened? Did he bump into something? Fall from a height?"
I figured some accident with a four- or five-year-old boy they'd brought in, but...
"He was sparring with a wooden sword under Father's guidance, and..."
"Did Father break it?"
"Sob! I didn't know a child's bones were this fragile!"
"Die!"
"Madam, that's too much!"
"Waaah!"
"It's really swollen and bruised. Forget the bone-knitting decoction for now; start with angelica and cyathula."
There were even cases where a martial artist playing with his son misjudged his strength.
Fracture patients were truly numerous and varied.
Numerous... way too many.
Unlike those days, after opening my own clinic, I only saw two or three fracture cases a year.
Surgical fixes went to orthopedics, and otherwise, standard treatment was immobilization and waiting for union.
"The recovery process for fractures goes through the inflammation stage, repair stage, and remodeling stage in sequence."
I first explained bone union to Yi Sora.
"In Korean medicine, we treat based on promoting blood circulation and removing stasis, reconnecting bone and sinew, then supplementing qi and blood while strengthening muscles and bones. Simply put, reduce inflammation and bruising, knit the bone, then use tonics to boost recovery."
"Ah, yes."
"The swelling and inflammation have subsided a lot now. Delayed union... well, we don't usually call four weeks delayed, but the goal is to speed up union, so the bone-knitting decoction is perfect."
"Yes, please do that. Even a little faster would be great!"
I nodded.
The bone-knitting decoction formula was straightforward.
"There's a commonly known prescription called the bone-knitting decoction. Angelica activates osteoblasts, cnidium dispels blood stasis, and then we supplement qi with deer antler, ginseng, astragalus, and so on."
Papers mostly used known formulas, with clinics tweaking herbs based on experience.
Of course, I'd use the secret formula passed down from my master, after setting thousands of bones.
"If the extra cost is okay, I'd like to add a generous amount of calcified deer antler."
Calcified deer antler uses deer horns too, but differently from velvet antler.
Deer horns grow yearly and shed naturally.
Harvested soft before calcification: velvet antler.
Fully calcified, hard, and shed naturally: calcified deer antler.
Naturally, calcified was easier to obtain and cheaper.
It lacked the hormones and nutrients of velvet for yang tonification, so not a full substitute.
But for direct muscle and bone treatment like this, large amounts of calcified deer antler were effective.
"Whatever it takes! Load it up with the best!"
Yi Sora readily accepted the recommendation.
"For real! Please! I want to recover even a week sooner!"
She pleaded earnestly, wanting to play properly for her team before season's end.
"It'll happen. Take the medicine diligently. You're using a partial cast, right? We'll do acupuncture too."
"Yes, Director. Please take good care of me!"
Yi Sora clasped her hands in prayer.
Then she crutched back to the treatment room.
"Ijin, hold on a sec?"
I stopped Kim Ijin, who was helping her out.
The prescription was routine, but Kim Ijin looked too downcast.
"Go talk! You came all this way!"
Yi Sora patted her shoulder, saying she could walk alone.
"What's wrong?"
I asked as she sat back down.
She'd been sulky once or twice, but usually looked at me with respect and affection.
Her default blank face didn't hide emotions well; her gloom was obvious.
"Well... it feels like the captain got hurt because of me."
"Pardon?"
She detailed exactly how Yi Sora tripped and got injured.
It wasn't even a collision with Kim Ijin?
"I'm worried I'm disrupting the team balance."
She answered promptly when I asked.
Her stiff face revealed an unexpected worry.
"Since high school basketball, I've lacked in teamwork and leadership. I heard a lot that I stood out too much alone and couldn't lead the flow."
"Hmm?"
"Back then, I was the best on our team, so everyone adjusted to me, and with a leader, balance worked. Now I can't do that, so since joining BUK, I've tried hard to fit in... but this happened."
"What are you talking about? You mean Sora tried matching your pace and messed up?"
"If I'd just supported as usual, the captain wouldn't have overexerted."
"That's not your fault."
I flatly denied her anguish.
"I know... but."
"She didn't go wild despite warnings. It was a position planned with captain, coach, everyone agreeing, right? Going offensive was the best strategy for the game. The injury was just bad luck."
"Right."
Kim Ijin nodded, but didn't look convinced.
Hmm, geniuses are lonely, but she was overdoing responsibility?
The captain might get mad if she knew.
"Just bad luck. Let it go."
"Luck..."
"If you play perfectly, can you win every game this season?"
"No."
"Can't prevent all injuries. It's natural. ...Of course, take every precaution, but as an athlete, you can't avoid it entirely."
Martial artists caused all sorts of mishaps; as a doctor, it was frustrating.
So many ridiculous injuries that could've been avoided with care!
But no matter the rhetoric, martial arts meant wielding blades offensively.
Sliced, stabbed, broken—happens in training or battle anytime.
Honestly, injuries were constants, not variables.
I'd lost count of my training injuries.
Fear that, and you can't practice at all.
Sports aren't real combat, so minimize risks.
But risks lurk everywhere, same vein.
"Did you resent starting exercise when your ligament tore, or the coach who ordered training?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Does matching a top player's pace cause overexertion every game? Everyone trip turning? All trips fracture?"
"No..."
"Even with small risks, can you avoid it?"
Games heat up, athletes charge without holding back.
Kim Ijin probably knew that thrill.
As one who'd lost herself throwing flying knives, I could say it boldly.
And in the past, I couldn't tell injured martial artists to hold back. ...Except the idiots ignoring advice.
"You're right, Director."
"Captain said no one's to blame. Probably won't self-blame much?"
"Yes. She said my judgment wasn't wrong."
Kim Ijin's face finally relaxed.
I took her hand, relieved.
"Fracture happened; now do what we can. You brought her to me, so trust me on treatment."
Kim Ijin beamed.
"Yes, I will. Thank you."
"Tough before season starts, but basketball runs to spring, right? You'll rejoin mid-season. Till then, rack up the best win rate. That's for the team, captain, and you."
"Yes."
Kim Ijin bowed 90 degrees and left.
Wondering if she was okay, I peeked out; she paused in the hall, clenching her fist.
"...I'll do it."
The Busan BUK team doctor plaque in the waiting room.
Kim Ijin stroked it, resolving something.
Yi Sora diligently took her medicine and treatments for a month.
Then, with pounding heart, went for an X-ray.
"Oh, it's united a lot."
"Really?"
Hearing words totally different from before, Yi Sora nearly cheered.
"These are eight weeks ago, four weeks ago. Today's frontal view—no hairline, right?"
The line had indeed faded.
"Lateral shows a bit left posteriorly, but progressing well."
"Not 100% yet?"
The doctor flinched at her words, waving hands.
"Three of four sides united is radiologically union, but no intense exercise."
She hadn't planned to play right away anyway...!
"Time to start rehab soon."
"Yay!!"
"Four weeks ago it looked stagnant, worried me, but good news. Minimum eight weeks I said, average 12-16; this is very fast."
Yi Sora grinned.
Just joint stretches for now, but having something to do thrilled her.
She rushed straight to the clinic.
Well, heart-wise; she drove, didn't run.
"That recovery-boosting tonic you mentioned? Keep prescribing it! And since I might play in Ho-ok-si, avoid doping-risk herbs."
"No worries. Ephedra, pinellia—not in tonics. And playing in a month..."
"Not expecting that!"
A bit impatient, but what did these docs think she was?
Yi Sora grumbled through treatment.
"It'll keep improving smoothly."
"Yes, I'll trust only you, Director."
She continued treatments and meds diligently.
X-ray would confirm, but it felt united well.
Even ligament contact while walking felt better.
Soon after.
Hoping to play a few games before season's end, she watched her first from the stands.
At game's end...
"Kim Ijin! Kim Ijin! Kim Ijin! Kim Ijin!!!"
"Waaaaah!"
From stands front, back, left, right—her junior's name echoed like a comet.
Bow.
She bowed to cheering fans.
Wow, born star too?
Soon, broadcasters naturally requested interview with game's MVP, Kim Ijin.
Kim Ijin showed no fatigue.
Excited face, like waiting for this moment.
Of course, as winner of opener, natural—but Yi Sora felt odd.
'What're you gonna say?'