"No, no. I can't go back until I give this to my grandson."
Of course, that was the story of the martial world, and this grandmother didn't care about it.
Jin Cheon-hee sighed.
At that moment, he noticed that the hem of the grandmother's clothes was stained dark red.
Surprised, Jin Cheon-hee grabbed the grandmother's wrist.
"You rascal! How dare you grab an elder's wrist!"
"Grandmother, your elbow is all scraped! You fell while coming up the stairs, didn't you?"
"Quiet! You rascal!"
Unless one had mastered martial arts, it was not easy for an ordinary grandmother to climb the stairs of the medical pavilion.
"Look at your knees too."
"You, you rascal?"
"Oh dear, please let me see."
The grandmother didn't show her knees until the end, but it seemed she had fallen badly.
Judging by the wounds on her hands, it wasn't just once.
'The food must be really heavy too...
Oh dear...'
It seemed she had come all the way up to feed her grandson, who never showed his face.
Jin Cheon-hee realized.
'It's not about feeding him.
She just wants to see her grandson's face.'
If delivering the food was the goal, she could have asked the medical pavilion at the foot of the mountain to deliver it.
This grandmother must have missed her grandson terribly.
Falling several times on the long and high stairs.
Jin Cheon-hee said, "You need treatment first, so come in."
He planned to take her to the Bamboo Grove Hall, which welcomes outsiders.
There, he could treat her and call her grandson.
'I'll get permission from Yoo Ho, the head.'
Even if he was flexible, it had to be within the rules, which was Jin Cheon-hee's principle.
The grandmother said, "My grandson's name is Joo Do-hwa. He's in the Acupuncture Hall."
The Acupuncture Hall was known for being busy, as it was the department responsible for acupuncture and moxibustion within the medical pavilion.
Jin Cheon-hee offered his back to the grandmother.
"Here, let me carry you."
"I can walk on my own!"
"You're bleeding a lot, grandmother. I listened to your stubbornness, so please listen to me too."
The grandmother was small enough for Jin Cheon-hee to carry.
As they entered the medical pavilion, they quickly encountered Yoo Ho.
He seemed to have come out in a hurry, as he was out of breath.
"Who is this...?"
Afraid that she might be kicked out, Jin Cheon-hee quickly said, "She brought food for her grandson for Ipchun. Her grandson's name is Joo Do-hwa."
"Joo Do-hwa?"
At those words, Yoo Ho's brow furrowed.
The grandmother shouted, "Why are you just standing there?"
Yoo Ho said, "... Alright, I understand. Please take good care of her."
Normally, Yoo Ho would have checked twice or thrice, but today he was unusually lenient.
He even added that they should take good care of her, which was unheard of from the Yoo Ho Jin Cheon-hee knew.
'Does Yoo Ho have a grandmother back in his hometown too?'
Well, he got permission, so it was fine.
Just then, a group of people was coming up behind them.
"The White Lotus Pavilion is still the same."
Turning around, he saw people dressed like doctors speaking.
However, the letters on their chests were not from the White Lotus Pavilion.
'Hwajoo Pavilion.'
What business did they have at the White Lotus Pavilion? Jin Cheon-hee's gaze lingered on them for a moment before heading to the Bamboo Grove Hall.
The grandmother's treatment was the priority.
Jin Cheon-hee told a passing servant that a grandmother had come looking for someone named Joo Do-hwa in the Acupuncture Hall.
"I'll pass the message, but the Acupuncture Hall is never in one place, so it might take a while."
It was a time when they were wrestling with patients.
Moreover, the period before Ipchun was when more patients came.
'The cold has eased, and the weather is nice, so it's the time for young martial artists to fight outside.'
Unlike winter, it's easier to find prey, so there's no worry about starving, the wind is calm, making it perfect for boating, and even better for martial arts duels.
There's no better season for outings.
And all those injured young martial artists were gathering at the White Lotus Pavilion for a meeting.
Thanks to that, the medical pavilion staff were overwhelmed with treating injured patients.
Among them, the Acupuncture Hall was the busiest.
"Grandmother, since you're here, let's treat everything before you go."
"No need. It'll heal quickly if left alone."
"Come on, we promised. I'll listen to your stubbornness, so you listen to mine."
Jin Cheon-hee, finding it impossible to persuade her, finally used his secret weapon: charm.
The smile of a noble-looking young man was enough to sway the grandmother's heart.
"What a cute and handsome boy. Alright, I give up."
"Thank you!"
"What's there to thank? I'm the one who's grateful. Oh dear, you're so gentle..."
The grandmother clicked her tongue and took out some sweets she had prepared from her bundle.
They were flower-shaped pastries fried in syrup, and just looking at them, a sweet aroma wafted over.
'Grandmother, you prepared something that takes a lot of effort.'
Jin Cheon-hee put the sweets the grandmother handed him into his mouth.
"Hehehe."
When he laughed like a child, the grandmother's wrinkled cheeks twitched, perhaps reminded of her grandson.
"What's your name?"
"Jin Cheon-hee."
"Even if you're that kind, you shouldn't be too naive. Understand?"
The grandmother showed her knees.
Jin Cheon-hee was shocked when he saw them.
"Grandmother, didn't it hurt?"
It was terrible.
For an ordinary person, it looked painful enough to make them cry and go back down after falling just once.
"How long did it take you to come up?"
"I don't know."
'This is serious.
I wonder if her knee cartilage is okay.'
Jin Cheon-hee carefully examined the grandmother's knees to see if there was any problem with the bones.
Fortunately, her knees were fine, even better than those of an average person.
'How strange.
She fell so badly, yet her cartilage is intact.'
It was odd, but it was a good thing.
He only needed to treat the torn wounds.
Since there was no pus or infection yet, simple treatment would suffice.
Jin Cheon-hee took a needle and pressed the acupoints to attempt anesthesia.
Jin Cheon-hee had now reached a level where he could proudly call himself a doctor of the martial world.
If anyone knew he had gained such skills in less than a year since coming to this world, they would be astonished.
"Grandmother, does it hurt?"
"It's amazing. I don't feel anything."
It worked.
Jin Cheon-hee sprayed disinfectant made from medicinal alcohol on the wound.
Then he took out adhesive glue instead of sutures.
'After using sutures in Wang Gak-yeon's surgery, it became famous.
But there's no need to use it now.'
Sutures.
At first, Jin Cheon-hee thought he would have to make natural sutures using the intestines of cows or sheep, as ancient humans did.
However, since the main component was part of an animal's internal organs, there was no way to prevent infection or inflammatory reactions in the body.
'A material that is harmless to the human body, maintains at least 60-80% of its tensile strength in the body, and dissolves naturally over time.'
Yoo Ho achieved that.
It was a spiritual elixir.
Spiritual elixirs were forms of qi in the shape of substances.
They existed in the form of medicine and transformed into qi when absorbed into the body.
He had the medical pavilion staff use the Five Elements Divine Qi Metal to weave it into threads.
This was something even Jin Cheon-hee hadn't thought of.
'And the cost of surgery skyrocketed.'
The first thing they wove was a monofilament, a thick single strand of thread.
It had a smooth surface and low tissue reactivity, so it had fewer side effects but was less stable.
It was also called a single strand.
Jin Cheon-hee improved it into a multifilament.
A multifilament is made by braiding several thin threads into one.
It's strong enough to be used as fishing line, but because bacteria can easily get between the filaments, it's less hygienic than monofilament.
Moreover, braiding thin threads that are barely visible requires a lot of skill.
It's called a composite thread.
While one medical pavilion staff member wove the monofilament, it took six to improve it into a multifilament.
'But what was needed was the multifilament.
I couldn't be sure how long the tensile strength would last, and I had to suture inflamed tissue.'
Yoo Ho said so.
Depending on which spiritual elixir was used as the material, the price varied greatly, but even the cheapest one, when made into sutures, was more expensive than weaving threads out of gold.
"Don't they just stitch it up? I heard the White Lotus Pavilion is good at that."
Did she hear it from her grandson? She knew quite a bit.
The sutures made this way were saving many lives even at this moment.
But because of this insane manufacturing process, they couldn't be used recklessly.
"Are you going to practice martial arts or something?"
"How could I do that?"
"Then this much is fine without it."
Medical expenses in this world are expensive.
Moreover, if it's not a medical pavilion affiliated with the White Lotus Pavilion, they might not know how to remove the sutures, and there's a high chance that a quack might step in to do it.
Surprisingly, this world is full of unlicensed doctors who haven't been verified.
It's a downside that arises because medical skills are passed down as secret knowledge.
Although the establishment of the medical pavilion has somewhat reduced this downside, the number of unlicensed doctors at a level incomprehensible in modern Korea was still enormous.
This is because the system where the state checks the quality of education, conducts exams, issues licenses, and regulates is not yet in place.
It's true that patients have no way to verify whether the medicine is effective or not.
On the other hand, fortunately, this much could be attached with adhesive glue, and it would naturally fall off when the skin healed.
Most importantly, there was no need to visit the medical pavilion again, saving money.
"Grandmother, but if I attach this, you shouldn't move too much for a while."
The problem was that the wound was just below the knee.
The wound was imprinted horizontally like a staircase.
"Can I move a little?"
Jin Cheon-hee fell into thought.
The invention this time, based on Jin Cheon-hee's opinion, was this medical adhesive glue.
It was necessary to partially replace sutures for such external injuries.
After repeated improvements, something usable was finally created, and thanks to the special herbs from the Sichuan Tang Clan, it had quite good adhesion.
If it were a complete knee, it might be different, but at this position, it seemed okay.
'Actually, the best thing would be for the grandson to come and remove the sutures.'
But if he forgot because he was busy like this time, the grandmother's heart would be very hurt.
Things in the world never go as planned.
Jin Cheon-hee exercised adult wisdom.
"Um, after you meet your grandson and when you go down the stairs, I'll carry you down later. And no climbing the medical pavilion stairs until it's fully healed, okay? Promise me. At least don't walk for a day or two."
"Alright."
Jin Cheon-hee deliberately got the grandmother's promise in a nonchalant voice and began to treat her lightly.
Then, using bandages and gauze, he skillfully started dressing the wound.
The grandmother watched Jin Cheon-hee's actions intently without saying a word.
Just a moment ago, she had an ordinary grandmother's face.
But now, her eyes held a mysterious light.
Unaware of this, Jin Cheon-hee continued his treatment with care.