The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

Poria cocos. A fungal body parasitic to pine trees. The part closest to the pine roots is specifically called Fushen.

In China, it was called an elixir of immortality, believed to be the overflowing essence of pine seeping out beyond its roots. Even in ancient Greece and Rome, it was known as the “food of the gods.”

Its effects are impressively varied. It calms the mind and body, acts as a diuretic while strengthening kidney function, prevents aging through antioxidation, aids in cancer treatment, and so on… I often used it for patients with insomnia or cystitis. In the martial arts world, it was a precious ingredient that required a premium to obtain.

‘Actually, not many people know about it these days.’

If you ask whether it’s expensive or cheap, it’s still on the pricier side, but it’s not as well-known as deer antler or ginseng. In modern times, where cultivation is possible, you can buy it anytime, anywhere with just a few mouse clicks.

Of course, that’s only for ordinary Poria.

‘Wow, if I had discovered this before the exam, I could have memorized a whole book in a day.’

The ordinary Poria you buy from herb shops barely emits any energy on its own, like other medicinal ingredients. It only creates a certain flow or effect as its components are digested.

But this…

‘Beyond Spirit Grass. Not only does it restore vitality, but it could even cure dementia.’

In fact, it was almost embarrassing to call it Poria. You can’t call millennium snow ginseng just ginseng anymore, can you?

If I were to name it, hmm, Thousand-Year Pine Poria?

I swept all the fungal bodies containing the numinous energy into my bag.

And what will I do with this?

“I guess I’ll have to eat it myself.”

Ordinary people can’t digest energy that’s so distinctly biased it can be felt from the medicinal ingredient. It’s an elixir for me, but if a normal person ate it whole, it would just be poison.

If it had fallen into the hands of that scammer earlier? It would have been a disaster.

His grandfather seemed lucky enough to gain some inner force, but that won’t always be the case.

Well, to prevent innocent people from falling into qi deviation, I have no choice but to take it all, right?

“Whew~ The bag’s about to burst.”

After collecting all the Poria, the eerie pine tree from earlier suddenly looked beautiful.

If my master had seen this sight, he would have composed a poem, but alas, my literary skills are lacking.

I made do by taking a selfie with my smartphone, using the withered pine tree as a backdrop.

“Hehehe.”

Unlike the angry climb up, my steps down the mountain were incredibly light.

The more conscious I became of the Poria in my bag, the better I felt, and I returned to the city grinning through the entire 10km walk.

Ah, feeling good is one thing.

Of course, I didn’t forget to stop by the police station to submit evidence.

◆◇◆◇◆

After a short trip that yielded a harvest completely different from my expectations, I returned to Busan.

“Another~ joyful~ day at work~”

“Doctor, you’re full of energy from Monday morning.”

“Hehe, should I prepare some tonic for you too, In-ae?”

“Really?”

It was just a casual remark, but Seo In-ae’s eyes sparkled as if she’d been waiting for this.

“Okay, wait a moment. I’ve acquired an extremely precious ingredient.”

Strictly speaking, it’s not allowed to prescribe herbs picked from the mountain as medicine, but I can give it as a gift to a friend, right? Hmm.

Giving it as is would lead to qi deviation, so it needs a little… no, a lot of processing.

“You obtained the ingredients yourself, Doctor?”

Her face was full of curiosity, wondering if Korean medicine doctors do such things, but I didn’t satisfy her curiosity.

If I told her this long-winded story, her trust in me as a doctor would plummet.

Fortunately, there was only one patient at the moment.

As soon as consultation hours began, I applied acupuncture to Grandma Heo Soon-nam and headed straight for the decoction room.

“Let’s make~ some Gyogamdan~”

This Thousand-Year Pine Poria is too potent to use on its own. The best approach is to grind it into powder and add just a tiny bit to a herbal medicine with various ingredients.

When you think of Poria and Fushen, the first medicine that comes to mind is Chongmyeong-tang. Then there’s Bokryeongbosim-tang? Actually, there are countless prescriptions. It’s even used in insomnia treatments like Guibi-tang.

But if you want to make it simple, Gyogamdan is the way to go.

“Just grind everything into powder, knead it, and you’re done.”

First, I cut out the effective parts from the Poria and filtered out the portions containing the most essence.

I’ll eat this myself. Only someone like me, who can easily handle even real poisons, can deal with this.

“Let’s grind~ the rest~”

It’s so convenient to have blenders in modern times.

I took a handful of nutgrass, great for stress relief, from the drawer and blended it together with the Poria.

The whirring sound was so cheerful.

“Done, finished!”

I kneaded the powder into pills with honey and wrapped them in gold leaf to finish.

Looking at the final product, it seemed quite impressive.

“In-ae, here’s a gift!”

With all her jobs, she must be stressed and have a lot on her mind. I gave her one Gyogamdan as a gift.

“Are you going to start selling these?”

“No, I’ll only prescribe them when absolutely necessary. Just keep it in the fridge!”

The remaining task was to absorb the essence from the cut Poria. I practiced qi circulation in my office, absorbing the energy of the elixir in between seeing patients.

Ah, I’m overflowing with power!

I couldn’t contain the surging energy even while treating patients.

Originally, I only adjusted qi with acupuncture sparingly when absolutely necessary, but now I could pour it out abundantly without worry.

“Yoo Minha-nim~ Did you have a good week?”

“Yes, thanks to you, Doctor.”

“Any good news?”

“Actually, I sent out a bunch of resumes, and guess what? I got called for an interview! I passed and I’m starting work next month!”

“Oh my, congratulations!”

“Thank you so much. If my menstrual pain hadn’t improved, I wouldn’t have even thought about applying for a job that requires standing.”

I paid special attention to adjusting the energy for people like Yoo Minha who needed mental and physical stability.

“If you get stressed at work, let me know. I have a very good medicine.”

“Alright! My condition is really good now. The acupuncture today feels especially refreshing.”

People with slightly sensitive qi perception felt it immediately, and even those who weren’t showed reactions within a few days.

“My headache has completely gone away. Can I get the same acupuncture as yesterday one more time?”

After all, I had digested it and passed on just enough to be helpful.

Though I considered individual constitutions, it was very useful for most office workers and elderly people.

“Doctor, Yijin’s skills have improved surprisingly. She was always physically talented, but now her situational judgment has improved too.”

“Come on, that must be thanks to your good coaching.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Doctor.”

“What gift have you brought again! I told you it’s okay!”

“It’s just a small cake.”

Among them all, Kim Yijin benefited the most.

“I’ve gotten 20 years younger after getting treatment here!”

Grandma Heo Soon-nam, who followed my instructions for acupuncture, needle-knife therapy, and even herbal medicine, was no slouch either.

After tearing the hypertrophied yellow ligament caused by spinal stenosis and treating her long-standing insomnia, she regained her vitality day by day.

It wasn’t just a figure of speech; her skin wrinkles actually decreased.

“Hehe, you flatter me.”

“Today I brought this gentleman to ask for some tonic. He’s my new boyfriend I met when I started tango. These days, they call boyfriends ‘namja chingu,’ right?”

“Nice to meet you. Is there anything bothering you?”

“Nothing’s bothering me. It’s just… you know! Something good for that!”

“I’ll do my best to prepare it for you.”

It seems like just yesterday that I was frustrated by the lack of patients, but suddenly one day, I realized all ten beds in the treatment room were occupied.

‘Whew, at least I don’t have to worry about going bankrupt now.’

Word had spread to some extent among the elderly. Thanks to gradually developing the blog, young people looking for a Korean medicine clinic could quickly find information too.

I think it’s fair to say we’ve reached some level of stability.

At this rate, in just six more months, I’ll be able to pay off all the loans I took out to open the clinic!

[Yeowon, how have you been?]

As I was busily going back and forth between the clinic and home seeing patients, I received a message from an unexpected person.

‘Who could this be?’

The chat name says “Internal Korean Medicine Senior Lee Yujin,” so it must be a university senior, but coincidentally, I couldn’t remember at all.

It had been over 20 years by my standards, so it wasn’t strange that I’d forgotten anyone I wasn’t very close to or didn’t dislike.

[I’m doing well, haha. How about you, sunbae?]

[I heard you opened your own clinic. Jieun was worried, but I’m glad it’s going well. It’s nothing special, but I thought I should let you know about my wedding news. If you have time, drop by for a meal.]

After carefully composing a neutral message, what I received in return was a mobile wedding invitation.

“Ah, so that’s what this is about.”

Just a standard cash gift request? I should just say I can’t go because I’m in Busan and get it over with.

[Yeowon, are you going to Yujin’s wedding?]

Just as I was about to send a congratulatory message and be done with it, I received a message from Hwang Seoyoung.

[Was I close with this sunbae?]

[? lolololol]

[I’ve been so busy with the clinic that my student days feel like a past life, I really can’t remember.]

[Hmm, it’s been over two years since we last contacted, so it is a bit awkward? But we owe her a lot from our third-year clinical practice, so I’m planning to go.]

Hwang Seoyoung listed the names of classmates who were coming. Though besides the class president and Hwang Seoyoung, I didn’t have any classmates I could call friends.

[You should come too! Let’s see each other’s faces!]

Hmm. Responding to such an obvious cash gift request isn’t really my style. If I had really received such a favor, I wouldn’t have forgotten.

[You must have made a lot of money since opening your clinic, so come dressed in luxury brands! Let’s show those who said a nerd like you couldn’t succeed in running a clinic!]

…Were there people like that?

I can barely remember my classmates, but she sure pays a lot of attention to others.

Anyway, since a friend who sincerely worried about me wants to see my face, I changed my mind.

I’ve settled in now. It’s about time I took a trip to Seoul.

[I don’t have fancy clothes, but I’ll come ㅇㅇ]

[The clinic is closed on weekends, so I think I can come in person to congratulate you! Sincere congratulations, and I’ll see you at the wedding!]

I expressed my intention to attend the wedding to both Hwang Seoyoung and Lee Yujin sunbae.

After going to Gyeongju once, I feel less burdened about traveling far? Besides, Seoul is even quicker by KTX, so!

◆◇◆◇◆

Some time later, at Korea University Affiliated Korean Medicine Hospital.

“Dr. Hwang, are you on duty today?”

“No. Dr. Lee Yujin is on duty today.”

The hospital closes at 6 PM, but regular work hours don’t mean much to interns. Still, finishing the remaining charting work by 9 PM was considered an early finish compared to the usual routine of pulling all-nighters half the time.

“On your way home then? You look very tired, sorry about this. I have a favor to ask.”

“Yes. Is it urgent work?”

But a professor caught him. If the professor was working overtime too, was there something urgent?

Calls come even on days off at home anyway.

“Well. I have a conference presentation this weekend, and it needs to be done in English. You studied abroad, right?”

“…I went for a short time in elementary school.”

“Ho ho, then you’ll get through it quickly. Could you review the PPT and manuscript by tomorrow morning to check for any awkward parts?”

But it wasn’t hospital work. The professor made an unreasonable request with an extremely apologetic face.

When he was in school, he thought this professor was just an ordinary academic more interested in research than teaching, but working as a colleague revealed him to be quite adept at pawning off his own work.

“I understand.”

But what can an intern do? If told to do it, he has to do it.

‘I need to get work done in advance to go to the wedding… I’ll have to nap for an hour and then start.’

Hwang Sanghun lay down on his bed at home. But his heart felt too heavy.

Was it because of the manuscript the professor had entrusted to him? But it had been quite a while since he couldn’t sleep properly even when nothing was wrong.

Though it feels like there’s never a day when nothing’s wrong.

“……”

He lay down, literally just closing his eyes, then got up.

‘I’m sleepy.’

He’s tired. Deathly sleepy. But sleep wouldn’t come.

When did this start? When he first started working at the hospital, he used to catch some sleep whenever he had free time. But now he felt uneasy all day long, and even when he had the luxury of 6 hours to sleep, he simply couldn’t.

Not being able to sleep in the on-call room was one thing, never knowing when a patient might come in, but not being able to sleep even at home was serious.

‘I should go back to the hospital.’

Not long after coming home, Hwang Sanghun changed his clothes. Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, it would be better to go to work early and review the manuscript.

In reality, though he was called someone who studied abroad, he hadn’t graduated from high school or university in the U.S., so he lacked the skills to read quickly at a native level.

After wrestling with English for a few predawn hours, it was almost time to start work.

‘It’s 5 AM.’

He tried to close his eyes tightly to sleep even for 30 minutes, but falling asleep was impossible. For months, the fog in his head had been interfering not only with his work concentration but even with his ability to fall asleep.

‘I hope I don’t make any mistakes like this.’

He should have slept today. He was on duty yesterday and tomorrow, and the day after that was a colleague’s wedding.

So far he’s managed to keep his eyes open and walk around, but if he goes this whole week without a wink of sleep, what about next week?

Hwang Sanghun put on his gown and looked in the mirror.

“At this rate, patients will think I’m the Grim Reaper.”

Truly, it was a haggard appearance he didn’t want to show anyone.