Chapter 47: This Time, a Monk [5] Gulp.
The Busa kept swallowing dryly.
He had called Kanghyeok a great physician and all that, but this was the first time he had actually seen one of Kanghyeok's procedures.
He had heard he used somewhat strange tools.
And indeed, his reputation was no exaggeration.
"Hoo."
From the moment the blade went into the mouth, the Busa could barely breathe properly.
Yeoju, on the other hand, had moved even closer.
She observed from the nearest possible distance without getting in Kanghyeok's way.
At the same time, her hands never stopped moving, and to the head monk, that seemed even more remarkable.
"All right, now I'm making the cut."
"Yes, Young Master."
"You've got the cotton swab ready, right?"
"Yes, yes."
Dolseok waved the small cotton swab.
Once the inside of the mouth was cut with a scalpel, bleeding was inevitable.
Even if it were not Kanghyeok but Kanghyeok's grandfather making the cut, that part could not be helped.
The only difference was whether the amount of blood required wiping with gauze or whether a cotton swab would be enough.
"Good."
In truth, even for Kanghyeok, it was his first time actually putting a scalpel inside someone's mouth.
This was the kind of surgery handled by otorhinolaryngology, not general surgery.
Come on. I opened up a skull before.
Had he opened a skull because he had already done it before?
No. He had simply opened it according to what he had studied.
In fact, doctors in Third World hospitals were said to have YouTube as their teacher.
In that sense, Kanghyeok was better off, since he had at least seen operations with his own eyes.
—Sliiick
The sharp scalpel split the mucosa.
To put it more medically, the opening of the duct through which saliva from the left submandibular gland flowed out was incised.
At the same time, red blood welled out and obscured the field.
"Wipe it, wipe it."
"Yes."
Dolseok hurriedly moved the cotton swab.
"That's enough now."
"Yes, Young Master."
Dolseok immediately pulled the swab away.
Blood began to flow again from the same spot.
The amount had lessened, but it was still not a situation fit for surgery.
"Hey, it's bleeding again. Wipe it some more."
"Uh... yes."
"Does the bleeding stop just because you wipe? Press on it."
"Ah... yes."
From Dolseok's point of view, it was an outrageously unfair scolding.
His only crime was doing exactly as he had been told.
And what he got in return was a rebuke.
If Kanghyeok had not been his master, he might have charged at him.
"There you go. Good, you're doing well."
"Really? Heh-heh."
But just one word of praise, and Dolseok's heart melted right away.
"Now this is the important part. Watch carefully and learn."
At Kanghyeok's words, Dolseok opened his eyes wide.
Not that they were the sort of eyes that could grow very big.
"Watch closely."
Kanghyeok took a fresh cotton swab and gently drew it near the incised area.
Some of the pus and rotten saliva pooled inside began to flow out.
Dolseok muttered with a pleased face,
"It's coming out, it's coming out. Those filthy bastards."
"This isn't the end."
"It isn't?"
"That's right."
Why would pus have built up in the salivary gland in the first place?
Every illness had its cause.
The pus was merely the result.
"All right, this may hurt."
With that warning, Kanghyeok put force into the hand holding the swab.
—Pop
With a somewhat frivolous sound effect, something shot out.
It was almost as large as the nail of Dolseok's index finger.
After that, the saliva and pus pooled in the duct began to pour out in torrents.
The force was so strong that the smell filled the whole room.
"Ugh."
The weak-stomached Busa immediately opened the door.
"What's going on—ugh."
Yeoni, who had come over because of the sudden commotion, clutched her nose.
It was an extraordinary stench.
The only ones remaining completely unfazed were Kanghyeok, Dolseok, and Yujeong.
"Forceps."
At Kanghyeok's short command, Dolseok moved at once.
He threw aside the bloodied cotton swab and rummaged for the forceps.
"Is this the one?"
"No, the toothed one."
"The toothed... where was that again?"
"There, there it is."
"Ah, yes, Young Master."
Kanghyeok took the forceps Dolseok handed him and picked up the thing that had popped out.
Then he set it down on a piece of gauze.
"Wipe away the blood and pus."
"Yes, Young Master."
Dolseok absentmindedly began wiping the thing with gauze.
"Huh."
"Th-this is!"
As the substance became cleaner, the expressions on the head monk's and the Busa's faces turned strange.
Dolseok's movements also became more and more careful, as though he were in awe of it.
"What's wrong with you? Wipe it hard. That thing won't break."
"N-no... Young Master. This... what in the world is this?"
Dolseok pointed at the object, now showing its completely white true form.
"What do you mean what? It's a stone."
"Exactly. Why is a stone coming out of a person's body?"
"Oh."
In Kanghyeok's opinion, this was quite an academic question.
He was pleased that Dolseok had thought of such a question and had even found the courage to ask it.
In twenty-first century South Korea, students who asked questions were rare.
No matter how smart they were, they usually just listened in silence.
From a professor's point of view, this was exactly the kind of student he had always longed for.
Yeah. He's definitely the kind of guy who makes teaching worthwhile.
It had been a long time since Kanghyeok had thought about why stones formed in salivary glands.
For one thing, it can happen when saliva production drops... and the submandibular gland is also prone to it because it pushes saliva against gravity...
He was in the middle of thinking up several careful explanations.
But why does everyone look like that?
Looking around, something felt off.
Dolseok looked almost ready to bow to the stone.
The Busa and the head monk behind him had both risen halfway from their seats, unable even to remain sitting properly.
Even Yeoju had stopped drawing.
The only calm people were the patient, Yujeong, and Kanghyeok, who had removed the stone.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Relic... a relic."
Dolseok could no longer even touch the salivary stone.
Instead, he kept looking back and forth between Yujeong and the stone.
His face was full of boundless reverence.
"A relic? What kind of nonsense— huh?"
"He is a living Buddha. Truly, he is a living Buddha!"
Kanghyeok could not continue speaking.
Starting with Dolseok, the head monk and the Busa began bowing.
Dolseok was even still wearing gloves and a mask, but Kanghyeok could not bring himself to rebuke him.
His expression was too serious. If Kanghyeok interfered, it felt like he might cause a full-blown scene.
Have they all gone insane? No, wait... a relic?
Kanghyeok looked at Yujeong and the stone that had popped out of his salivary gland.
A monk. A stone. Ah.
When a monk entered nirvana, they cremated the body, did they not?
Sometimes stones that had not burned up remained there, and those were called relics.
In Kanghyeok's view, those relics were probably calculi.
Whether they had been in the gallbladder, the kidney,
or, as now, in a salivary gland.
So they're saying a living person just produced a relic.
From Kanghyeok's standpoint, it was absurd, but he understood how they were thinking.
Still, their reaction is way too extreme.
The Busa looked as if he intended to finally let out all the Buddhist devotion he had secretly nurtured.
Kanghyeok had not counted exactly, but just by rough estimate, he had already bowed more than ten times.
"He is the Buddha!"
At this point, it felt like the head monk ought to stop him.
But he was in no better state himself.
—Tok, tok, tok
At some point, he had picked up a moktak and was tapping it.
No... they're bowing to a man whose bleeding hasn't even stopped yet.
Shouldn't they stop the bleeding first?
He had cut open the saliva duct quite a bit, so that area needed to be narrowed somewhat too.
And for that, an assistant was essential.
"Dolseok."
"Oh, Buddha."
"Dolseok."
"Oh, a living Buddha has appeared."
"You little bastard."
"Ugh."
It was somewhat irreverent, but it could not be helped.
He still had to finish treating the "living Buddha."
"Assist me. The monk's treatment isn't over yet."
"Ah. Yes, yes. What should I do?"
He was far more eager than usual.
Though his hands were not actually touching much.
"Hold the mouth open like before. What are you doing?"
"N-no... how could I dare?"
"Honestly."
The one who extended a hand of salvation was Yujeong.
"Nothing has changed from before, so you may proceed as you please."
"But..."
"I am neither a living Buddha nor a great monk. I am merely a patient in need of treatment."
"Ah, yes, yes. I'll do as you say."
Only then did Dolseok open Yujeong's mouth.
Yujeong truly behaved exactly as he had before.
With the head monk and the Busa causing such a disturbance beside him, it would not have been strange for him to be shaken.
And Yujeong himself would have had no way to distinguish whether it was really a relic either.
He really is someone with tremendous self-discipline.
If not a living Buddha, he at least seemed to be a true eminent monk.
Without realizing it, Kanghyeok spoke in a gentler tone.
"It's almost finished now, so please bear with it just a little longer."
"Yes, patron."
With that, Yujeong opened his mouth again.
Inside, blood, pus, and saliva were still pouring out.
Even from the outside, the swelling of the submandibular gland was visibly going down because of the force with which it drained.
It's really severe. How did he manage to give a sermon like this?
Medically, it made no sense.
If Kanghyeok had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have believed it.
In any case, it was best to finish quickly.
There was never any benefit in dragging out a surgery unnecessarily.
"Dolseok, keep it open."
"Yes, Young Master."
"It'll be over in a moment."
Kanghyeok placed small sutures above and below the area he had cut.
Between the two sutures, a hole still remained.
In size, it was about 0.5 cm.
From now on, the saliva would flow out through there.
That should be enough.
Even if another stone formed, it would come out quickly.
Though it would be troublesome if this kind of uproar happened every time.
The Busa had by now gone so far as to lay out a cushion and continue bowing.
If Changgwon had seen him, he might not have cut off his sangtu—he might have cut off his head.
Good grief.
Kanghyeok turned his gaze away from the Busa and looked at Yujeong.
Yujeong still looked calm and comfortable.
"All right, we're done now. There's still some inflammation left, so it would be best for you to keep taking medicine."
"Thank you, patron."
Yujeong swallowed the medicine Kanghyeok handed him without a word of complaint.
The head monk, still tapping the moktak, asked carefully,
"Is he fully healed now?"
"No."
The inflammation had been so severe that he would need to take medicine for several more days.
"Then... would it be possible for you to stay a little longer, until he recovers?"
The head monk's eyes were almost pleading.
Yujeong was a living Buddha, and Kanghyeok was the one who had treated that living Buddha, so the reaction was understandable.
The government office is nice and spacious, but...
It was too far from Chiljangsa.
There was no way he could commute there every day.
And when else would I ever stay at a temple?
It felt like it would be a unique experience.
And even if he tried to leave, it did not seem likely Dolseok would listen.
Even now, he was still bowing and tumbling over the Busa.
"I'll stay here for a few days and continue checking the wound."
"Thank you very much. Monk Yujeong said today that an honored guest would come. It seems that guest was you, Scholar."
"An honored guest?"
"That is so."
At that, Dolseok, who was already flattened on the floor, practically jumped.
He had remembered the conversation he had heard before entering the room.
"How marvelous, truly marvelous."
"What is?"
"I heard the monk say today that an honored guest would come."
"Really?"
At that, the head monk added a word as well.
"He had never said such a thing before in his life. It seems he meant you, patron."
That was a little strange.
His voice during the sermon, the way he had behaved during surgery.
Surely he was not an ordinary man.
He might even have been a great historical figure.
One Kanghyeok simply had not yet recognized.
"That's remarkable. What did you say your name was again?"
"I am called Yujeong. Or, if you prefer, you may call me Samyeongdang."
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