Chapter 161: Chapter 34

“We need to carry him inside, first. Dolsok, Makbong!”

“Yes, master.”

Dolsok and Makbong had much larger build than the guys who carried the wounded man.

‘I can’t rule out that the man had other injuries in his neck and other areas, given his head injuries like that…’

So, it was pretty dangerous to move the patient up or down recklessly.

“Hey, Makbong, you hold him by the head, and Dolsok, you hold him by the legs. Let me hold his waist and neck. Carry him inside the room.”

“Like this?”

“Good.”

Three of them carried him inside quickly.

Kanghyok laid him down on the bed cautiously, while Dolsok quickly closed the door.

‘He is unconscious.’

That was not a good sign.

“Dolsok, check his blood pressure.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Yoni, boil some water.”

“Got it.”

Fortunately, both of them could carry out Kanghyok’s orders well. Thanks to their assistance, he could check the patient’s condition closely.

‘His head was not injured… How about his eyes?’

Kanghyok inspected the patient’s two eyes with a penlight.

His pupillary reflex was working, but the surface of his eyeballs was rough. There was no sign of black and blue coloration around his eyes.

Without a CT scan machine, the best he could do was to infer from the patient’s specific symptoms.

“His intraocular pressure went up. This indicates he had a stroke. Looks like he had no fractures on his head.”

Kanghyok used strange medical tools and terminology.

Joon Huh stood there with an embarrassed look. It was the first time he saw a doctor make a diagnosis like that.

“Sir, what are you doing now?” Joon Huh asked.

He was asking not in a rebuking manner, but out of pure curiosity as a doctor.

“Well, I don’t have time to explain at length, but what’s certain is that he will die if left uncured like this.”

“What can I do for you?”

There was no question that Joon Huh was an excellent doctor, but now, it was Dolsok and Yoni who were more helpful to him.

“As I have learned from you so far, it’s time for me to pay back,” said Kanghyok.

“Oh, I see.”

Joon Huh mourned for a moment, but then continued to watch him perform.

“Get up! What’s your name? No response. He’s in a coma right now,” Kanghyok was shouting, pressing on the patient’s heavage strongly.

“Give me scissors!”

Then he was shaving the patient’s hair completely.

“How come you are shaving his hair?” asked Dolsok.

“Do you want me to let him die like this?”

In Joon Huh’s eyes, Kanghyok’s treatment looked like a barbarian act.

Blood was coming out of his scalp now.

‘Dang it. I can’t scorch it…’

He couldn’t do it, either, because the wounded area was too big.

Kanghyok handed over several gauze strips to Dolsok and said, “Now, hold onto it with this.”

“I think my hands are going to get stained with blood.”

“You put on gloves, right?”

“I still feel uncomfortable…”

“Hey, you’ll see lots of bleeding from him today. So, stay alert. Yoni, are you okay?”

Though Dolsok said it like that, he had some experience before. He assisted Kanghyok with doing the surgery on Soonsin.

But Yoni felt nervous as she previously helped him only with simple medical aid. Given her strong resolve, however, Kanghyok was not worried.

“Yes, I can do it.”

“Great. Let’s start now.”

Kanghyok held a scalpel. Instead of his usual relaxed and carefree attitude, Kanghyok seemed quite serious with a tense look.

‘Can I do it?’

No matter how good he was at doing the surgery, it was just unthinkable for him to do an operation on a patient’s head in a thatched house.

He opened the broken wounds on the patient’s scalp.

“Open it like that. Yoju, you could draw me doing this, if you can.”

“Huh? Okay, master.”

“Yes.”

Yoni opened the wounds on both sides with the tweezers he gave her.

In order not to disturb them, Yoju quickly moved her hand in the background to draw him.

When else could she seize the moment to draw his blood gushing and his flesh opened like that?

“Now, give me the hammer and chisel.”

“Oh, do you really want me to give this tool to you?”

As Dolsok pressed on the bleeding area, the strong gushing of blood was staunched.

He began to see the white bone between the patient’s scalp. It looked like his master was going to strike it down.

“Give it to me now!”

“Yes, sir.”

Dolsok handed the hammer and chisel to him on impulse.

“Are you not listening to me carefully, Dolsok?”

“Sorry, master.”

“Hold it tightly. If it is shaken, he might get into big trouble.”

“Good heavens!”

“Yoni, help him!”

“Yes, sir.”

With his eyes closed, Doslok held the patient’s head tightly. Yoni helped him on the side.

Yoju was drawing Kanghyok’s every move.

“Now, I’m hitting it.”

Dolsok began to moan as if he was going crazy.

He felt something like bone waste falling on the back of his hands. His hands shook, thinking that his master was a merciless man.

“Hold it properly! He could die if you don’t.”

Once again, a terrifying noise was heard around the room.

White and rough bone waste was flying all around.

Even Yoju, who was usually so calm and patient, turned her head.

“Good. Hold it for a little longer.”

“Yes, master.”

Though Dolsok could not figure out what he meant by ‘Good!’, he just followed as instructed.

“Wow, look at his terrific medical skills,” Joon Huh exclaimed in admiration.

Though Dolsok and Yoni could not see Joon, he could clearly observe what Kanghyok was doing.

Once Kanghyok stroke down with the hammer, he moved the chisel a bit.

Definitely, those were some superhuman skills.

Puck!

Kanghyok finally drilled a hole into the patient’s scalp.

It was in circular form, as if he drew it with a compass.

“Good. Let me open it now.”

Kanghyok pulled a round bone chip. The moment he did so, the red blood pooled inside gushed up. The brain pressure that had been going up became stable all of a sudden.

‘As expected, this is subdural hemorrhage.’

He could see a fresh red stream of blood between the old and black blood clots. If the bleeding started from inside the cerebrum, he could not do anything about it.

“Now we’re halfway through the surgery. Dolsok, keep holding his head. Yoni, help me now.”

“Yes, yes.”

“You see bleeding here, right?”

“Yes.”

“You see it, too, Dr. Joon?”

“Yes, I see that. This is the first time I see a man’s brain inside.”

That’s true. Joon had never seen it before.

“Fortunately it’s a vein, not an artery.”

“What is that?” Joon asked, blinking eyes.

‘Oh, he might not understand.’

This common medical knowledge in the 21st century was not available in the 16th century Joseon.

“Let me explain to you in detail later. I need to stop the bleeding first.”

“Oh, got it.” Joon instantly understood his position.

Kanghyok now cast a glance at the patient’s head.

‘Cerebral vein in the upper head… I think I’ll have no problems stitching it closed.’

If it was the artery, the patient’s condition would be pretty much dangerous.

“Give me threads.”

“Yes, master.”

Yoni gave him black threads.

She also didn’t forget to open the wounds, so he could easily stitch them.

“Great, Yoni.”

“Thanks.”

Kangkyok made the most of his medical skills just like the best surgeon in modern Korea.

The patient’s bleeding stopped, and his status became stable quickly.

‘Now is the real beginning.’

Surgery of a patient without general anesthesia was like assault and battery.

That’s why traditional medical books put more priority on the development of anesthesia than on that of surgery itself.

‘As soon as the patient wakes up, he could try to move.’

That would be the most dangerous thing that could happen to him.

Before he did that, Kanghyok had to stitch that opened head completely or hold him tightly, so he could not move at all.

‘Holding him is the best option for now.’

Fortunately, he saw a big and stout guy idling away in the yard.

“Makbong, just hold this patient tightly!”

“Oh, yes, master.”