The master asked, "Can you check his pulse?"
Jin Cheon-hee clenched his teeth.
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed the master was also leaning toward amputation.
However, he wanted to confirm his disciple's opinion one last time.
Jin Cheon-hee used the Five Elements Divine Technique to examine the patient's internal condition.
A pure stream of water-based energy flowed into the patient's body.
After a while, Jin Cheon-hee slowly opened his eyes.
"We can save the leg."
"What? What did you say?"
The physicians from the Hwaju Medical Hall shouted in disbelief, their faces filled with panic.
They quickly clasped their hands and spoke urgently.
"Your Highness, you must not fall for the sinister tricks of the Baekrin Medical Hall, who are only trying to gain merit."
Yu Ho spoke up, "Did you just call it sinister?"
"How is it not sinister to claim that a patient who can only survive through amputation can be saved without it?"
The king fell into deep thought and then turned to Jin Cheon-hee.
"Can you really save the leg?"
Jin Cheon-hee replied, "I believe my master shares the same opinion. With the medical techniques of the Baekrin Medical Hall, it is possible. However, I cannot guarantee it with absolute certainty."
After checking the pulse, Jin Cheon-hee determined that the patient's condition was a Type 3 open fracture, with contaminated wounds and severe muscle damage.
The bone fragments were severely misaligned, and the only fortunate thing was that the artery was relatively intact.
However, the surgery would still be extremely risky.
Despite the excruciating pain, the patient, the king's son-in-law, was enduring it with incredible mental fortitude, far beyond what a modern person could imagine.
"See! He admits it's not certain! This is a scheme to deceive us!"
At that moment, Zhuge Lin grabbed Jin Cheon-hee's shoulder.
He looked at Jin Cheon-hee gently, his actions conveying, "Leave it to me, Cheon-hee."
Zhuge Lin spoke, "No medical hall would dare to deceive His Highness, the king. The decision lies with you, Your Highness. Amputation would ensure survival, but he would lose the use of his leg for life. Saving the leg, however, would require taking a risk."
"..."
"But if successful, he could dance again, though it would be difficult to reach his former level."
The king's son-in-law pleaded, "Your Highness... please... I beg you. Do not cut off my leg."
"Lang Lang..."
"If you must cut off my leg, then cut off my head instead."
"Lang Lang... how can you say such things to me? You are so cruel. How can you say such things to me..."
"..."
The son-in-law did not respond.
He simply stared at the ceiling.
"You are so cruel. You are tearing my heart apart..."
"Your Highness..."
"In all your life, you have never asked me for anything. I have offered you countless treasures, but you never accepted them."
"This is my only request..."
"So this is the first and only request Lang Lang has ever made to me."
She gently stroked the son-in-law's head.
After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Cut it off."
"Your Highness! Your Highness! Just kill me instead! Your Highness! Ugh!"
At that moment, the son-in-law tried to sit up, but the intense pain caused him to groan and nearly fall off the bed.
The king rushed over and held him tightly, as if cradling the most precious glass bead in the world.
Her touch was incredibly careful.
"What do you want me to do! Lang Lang! I cannot abandon you. Even if it is your only request, I cannot grant it!"
The king laughed like a madwoman.
The heavy atmosphere pressed down on the medical hall.
No one dared to speak, the tension in the air was palpable.
Finally, the king made her decision and spoke.
"There is no other way. If you are willing to die for this request, how can I refuse? Do not cut it off."
The son-in-law grabbed the king's hand, but she shook it off.
"Lang Lang, you are such a bad son-in-law."
Her voice was deeply emotional.
The king left without looking back.
Once the king was gone, the atmosphere lightened slightly.
Jin Cheon-hee let out a small sigh.
"The guardian has made her choice. And the patient strongly desires it. We must save his leg."
If cutting it off would lead to death, and not cutting it off would also lead to death, then there is only one answer.
We must save him using methods beyond the ordinary.
At that moment, the oldest physician from the Hwaju Medical Hall spoke.
"I cannot forgive this. Baekrin Medical Hall... risking a patient's life just to gain merit. Jin Cheon-hee, was it?"
Jin Cheon-hee looked at the physician.
"Yes, that's me."
"I will not forget you. I will report this to the Medicine Sage. I will make sure your three-inch tongue pays for what it has done!"
Even though the king had left, the son-in-law was still present, so the physician could not say anything harsher.
However, the venom in his words was clear, and everyone frowned.
Jin Cheon-hee calmly accepted it.
He then grabbed his master's sleeve, signaling him not to intervene.
'Even if I told them I know the future, they would just think I'm crazy.'
That was a secret he could never reveal.
'Saving a person is so difficult.'
The feeling he had when treating Wang Gak-yeon, the daughter of a noble family, came rushing back.
Indeed, performing surgery on a person was always a terrifying act.
But Jin Cheon-hee knew the outcome of this story.
'I cannot back down here.
I am the only one who knows the patient's future.'
Once the decision was made, the patient was his responsibility.
Jin Cheon-hee looked at the patient's face.
The son-in-law looked at them with a somber expression.
It was the face of someone prepared for death.
Perhaps he thought that dying here would be an honorable death?
'That's not the expression I like to see.'
It shouldn't be like this.
He preferred the face of someone clinging to life.
Such patients endured better and recovered well.
- Smile.
Just enough to be annoying.
The voice of a senior from his younger days echoed deep within Jin Cheon-hee's mind.
It was advice from someone who was no longer here.
But Jin Cheon-hee pulled his facial muscles as hard as he could and smiled shamelessly.
As the senior had said, it was important to pull it off just enough to be annoying.
"Can the Hwaju Medical Hall save him?"
"What?"
"I asked if there is a way to save the leg and the patient's life."
"Just cut off the leg and be done with it!"
"... So there is no way, then."
Jin Cheon-hee's words were like a blade aimed at the physician's chin.
When the physicians from the Hwaju Medical Hall hesitated and could not respond, the members of the Baekrin Medical Hall looked at them with expressions that said, "See?"
The battle was over.
Since they could not propose an alternative, Jin Cheon-hee had won.
Zhuge Lin spoke, "All outsiders, please leave. We need to prepare for the treatment now."
It was an order to clear the room.
The physicians from the Hwaju Medical Hall gritted their teeth and had no choice but to leave.
Jin Cheon-hee looked at the patient's expression.
The face twisted with anxiety came into view.
'He is anxious because he has seen hope.'
It was a better expression than before.
Jin Cheon-hee clenched and unclenched his fist.
Saving a person was always a fearful task.
But it was also important not to let that fear spread.
Jin Cheon-hee said, "Let's get the emergency treatment done quickly. Hahaha."
The son-in-law struggled to speak.
Fortunately, the pain had lessened slightly due to the quick acupressure.
"I heard you were a disciple of the Divine Doctor, but I didn't expect you to be like this."
'Oh, you still have the energy to talk?'
That was a good sign.
"How do I seem?"
"I suppose you could say you're quite shameless. A bit annoying."
As he said this, his twisted expression relaxed slightly.
A cold flame spread across his retina.
Despite the extreme pain, the patient was holding on, preparing for the battle ahead.
'Hmm, that's a good expression.'
Jin Cheon-hee thought.
To prepare for the emergency surgery, the master arranged for the formation to be set up.
If you don't have teeth, you use your gums—when it came to sterilization, it was more reliable than modern medicine.
The Five Elements Formation purified everything that entered the area.
Jin Cheon-hee infused energy into the acupuncture needle and pressed it into the patient's acupoints: Qimen, Xuehai, and Liangqiu, in that order.
In a way, this could be considered anesthesia, and it was superior to modern methods.
Although modern medicine also uses acupuncture for anesthesia, it would not be used for a patient with an open fracture like this.
'But we will still need to put him to sleep for the actual surgery.'
During surgery, the body moves, and with it, the energy and blood flow are disturbed.
Therefore, before the surgery, the patient would be given a medicinal broth, and the acupoints at the back of the neck would be pressed to induce anesthesia.
Jin Cheon-hee examined the patient's condition in detail.
'Upon closer inspection, it's clear.
The blood vessels are not severely damaged.
The nerves seem fine too.'
The speed of bone recovery depends on the extent of blood vessel damage.
One might wonder why hard bones are related to blood vessels, but in fact, it is the blood vessels that facilitate bone recovery.
Imagine a situation where a leg is broken in a skiing accident.
First, the broken area swells up.
Blood gathers, causing an inflammatory reaction.
This is called edema.
This is the inflammatory phase.
As the swelling gradually subsides, fibroblasts form new tissue.
Over time, a soft callus forms at the broken site.
The soft callus is, in simple terms, a soft bone tissue.
It gradually hardens.
This is the hard callus.
However, it is still a false bone.
Hence, it is called a callus.
It cannot yet be considered a proper bone.
This is the restoration phase.
Depending on the location, a simple fracture would take about four weeks to reach this stage.
After that, the remodeling phase begins, where the excess callus is absorbed, and the bone marrow cavity regenerates.
The bone returns to its proper form.
Therefore, if the blood vessels are damaged, bone regeneration naturally slows down.
In this patient's case, fortunately, the peroneal artery was intact.
Jin Cheon-hee thought that there was still some luck involved.
"You are continuously feeding him this precious elixir."
Open fractures start and end with antibiotics.
Especially since osteomyelitis, a complication, is difficult to treat, antibiotics should have been administered as soon as the patient arrived in the emergency room.
Due to the earlier arguments, they were only now administering antibiotics intravenously.
The IV solution that Jin Cheon-hee had previously pressured Yu Ho to create was now considered the hottest item in the medical hall.
They were using it to administer penicillin intravenously, and since it was cultivated using energy, it also served as a stamina-preserving elixir for the patient.
Moreover, thanks to the excellent qinggong of the king's martial artists, the patient had not been shaken, and not much time had passed since the injury.
In addition, Jin Cheon-hee's appropriate initial response had bought them time to prepare for the emergency surgery.