Chapter 97: He Even Reconstructs Wrists [4] "What?"
Heo Jun did not dare answer and could only blink.
Anyone could understand his bewilderment.
Kanghyeok had just said he was looking for a way to teach him surgery, only to suddenly ask where people went to die.
Still, he did not leap in shock or think about running away.
From past experience, he already knew that although Kanghyeok was an unusual sort of person, he was not cruel.
"Where people die? Why would you ask that..."
Even so, he needed to make sure.
It would be a problem if the answer was because he wanted to kill someone and find out.
Fortunately, Kanghyeok was not that far gone.
Instead of answering right away, he led Heo Jun out of the palace.
"This isn't the kind of thing to talk about here, so let's go outside first."
"Ah, yes, yes."
It was not yet really time for Heo Jun to leave work, but he followed Kanghyeok anyway.
After all, he had just finished treating Gwanghae.
"We're almost outside now. Let's hurry."
"Let's."
Kanghyeok was practically dragging Heo Jun along.
If someone saw them, they might think he was being kidnapped.
Because they were moving so fast, the others were starting to fall behind.
"Young master, please slow down a little."
Dolseok panted under the heavy load of bundles on his back.
As usual, Kanghyeok waved a hand carelessly.
Of course, without slowing down in the slightest.
"All right, all right."
"Good grief."
Since Dolseok kept groaning like he was dying, Makbong took the baggage from him.
"You're built like a mountain, but you've got no strength."
"Hey, you slept the whole time. I was assisting the whole time..."
"Yeoni's perfectly fine."
"She's..."
Dolseok started to say something, then shut his mouth.
No matter how hard he thought, he could not come up with a convincing excuse.
Yeoni was a woman, and only half his size.
The weight of what they were carrying was different, sure.
But once you actually picked it up, the difference was not all that dramatic.
Even Dolseok had enough pride not to bring that up.
"Ah, whatever. Let's just go. Who knows what the young master thought of this time."
"How would I know? We're just following."
"Yeah. You're right."
Was this not the kind of age where if a superior moved, those below simply followed?
Dolseok chased after Kanghyeok as though he had attained some great enlightenment.
They finally stopped at the mouth of a deserted alley.
Not only Dolseok, but even Kanghyeok himself had never been there before.
I just kept heading for someplace empty, and I ended up all the way here.
Even after stopping, Kanghyeok looked around for a long while before speaking.
Only after confirming that there was not a single passerby.
"Whew. This should be fine."
It was not just Dolseok and the others who had come in a frantic rush.
Heo Jun, who had been personally dragged along by Kanghyeok's hand, was the same.
Panting for breath, he finally managed to speak.
"Good grief. How can you walk this fast?"
"What? Have you been neglecting taekkyeon these days?"
"Taekkyeon? Haha. Ever since I entered the Royal Medical Office, it's been hard to find the time."
Heo Jun pointed at the lower belly that had begun to sag.
It looked like a symbol of middle age, and also like sorrow itself.
Both were sights Kanghyeok did not particularly want to dwell on.
So he turned the topic at once.
It was the thing he had meant to say from the start anyway.
"I see. In any case, what I asked earlier was this: where in Hanyang do people die most often?"
"That's exactly what I'm asking. Why do you want to know that..."
Kanghyeok once again checked that there was no one around except his own group.
Then he lowered his voice as far as it would go and spoke.
As if he were plotting treason.
"Teacher Heo, you said earlier that you wanted to try performing surgery, didn't you?"
"I did. But I cannot exactly practice on patients. All the more not on His Highness the prince..."
Exactly.
That was the normal reaction.
No matter how much it might be for the sake of medicine,
how could one possibly practice on a living person?
Even using speechless beasts left a bitter taste in one's mouth.
"Right. So... what if we practiced on corpses?"[2]
"What?"
Heo Jun stared at Kanghyeok with a face of utter shock.
Kanghyeok covered his mouth with a hand the size of a pot lid and whispered,
"Shh. What if someone hears you?"
"No... this is just too shocking."
To practice on human corpses.
At least for Heo Jun, such a thought had never once crossed his mind.
Of course, the same went for Dolseok, Yeoni, and the others.
Yeoju, who had grown up comparatively sheltered, squeezed her eyes shut as if even the thought repulsed her.
Kanghyeok, however, wore an extremely calm expression, as though he had expected exactly this reaction.
"It is shocking. But think it through step by step. It would be something worth doing."
Kanghyeok muttered as he recalled his own experience.
Dissection practice was not something limited only to student days.
Even professors who had long since become specialists sometimes volunteered for anatomy lab from time to time.
Despite the foul formalin smell and the grim atmosphere.
Because the value of it far exceeded the trouble involved.
Even for me... the first time I ever did things like vascular anastomosis and bone shaving was in the anatomy lab.
Kanghyeok had not been born a surgeon.
Surgeons were made through relentless training and practice.
He had been no exception, and it was through countless repetitions that he had gained the skill he now possessed.
Among those methods, the most effective by far had naturally been anatomy lab.
Heo Jun fell into thought under Kanghyeok's quiet, persuasive gaze.
"What do you think? Are you interested? I have no intention of forcing you."
In truth, he very much did intend to force him.
But at least that was what he said.
And after waiting a bit, Heo Jun finally spoke.
With a slight nod.
"If it really would help me practice, then yes, I would like to try it."
"As expected. I knew that would be your answer, Teacher Heo."
It seemed that his medical curiosity had managed to surpass the Confucian values his era had instilled in him.
Thinking that he truly was a born physician, Kanghyeok smiled in satisfaction.
Emboldened, Heo Jun finally answered Kanghyeok's earlier question as well.
"The place in Hanyang where people die the most is... probably the slums. But there are no such places inside the Four Great Gates."
"There aren't?"
That came as a shock.
From Kanghyeok's point of view, Joseon at present was peaceful enough, but also extremely hard to survive in.
The fact that a city like Hanyang had no proper slum within its walls was surprising.
"But if you go outside Dongdaemun, to a place called Bojewon, the poor are swarming there."[3]
"Bojewon?"
It sounded vaguely familiar.
Heo Jun did not give Kanghyeok time to think about it.
"Yes. It is a place that provides relief for the poor coming from the Gyeonggi area. They even distribute rice, so there are always many poor people there."
"Then a lot of people must die there too."
"That's right. There are epidemics as well..."
"Mm."
Kanghyeok let out a short groan.
Education would be good, but... do I really have to go all the way to a slum?
The Chungmu Hospital where he had worked had been built by the Chungmu Group, a company regarded as one of the best in South Korea, as part of its social contribution efforts.
Naturally, it had many volunteer activities.
And one that could not be left out was overseas medical volunteer work.
Doctors would go into the slums of various countries and provide medical care, and Kanghyeok, naturally, had never once gone.
I don't like it... but strangely enough, I kind of want to try it.
Since falling into Joseon, how many things had he done for the first time?
And this would not even be just volunteer work.
If someone died during treatment, then he could also use the body for anatomy practice.
Right. When else would I ever do volunteer work?
Money was already rotting away from how much he had.
For one thing, the clinic income brought in by Dolseok and Yeoni running things for him was enormous.
And ever since those strange rumors spread that he was somehow close with Jeong Cheol and Yi Hang-bok, the gifts pouring into his house had not been few either.
And did he not also have a capable, wealthy father back in Suwon?
Thinking it all through to the end,
Kanghyeok finally nodded.
"Then let's go there, do some medical volunteer work, and... if someone dies because it can't be helped, we'll try practicing."
"Ah. You're even going to do volunteer work? Truly, I can't hope to match Scholar Baek's passion."
"No, it's not really..."
Did people not say that what one sees depends on what is in one's own eyes?
It seemed that in the eyes of a truly admirable man like Heo Jun, even someone like Kanghyeok looked admirable.
Kanghyeok scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
"Then I will send word to Bojewon. They should know Scholar Baek's name by now, so they won't be able to refuse. I'll also instruct them to prepare lodging."
"Oh. Lodging too?"
"Yes. It's a fair distance to travel back and forth from here every day."
"That's good. Understood."
And so Kanghyeok's trip to the slum was decided.
At the same time, the schedule of Dolseok, Yeoni, and the others was also forcibly decided.
Everyone looked miserable, but what could they do?
Just as thread follows the needle, when the superior goes somewhere, those below follow too.
Dolseok glanced at Heo Jun's retreating back and grumbled,
"No, young master. Corpses and slums?"
"Mm. Even I know it's kind of sudden."
"Why are you doing something like that? And so suddenly too..."
Just moments ago, they had been walking out of the palace like men of consequence.
And now, they were suddenly heading to a slum they had never in their lives expected to enter.
It was no wonder Dolseok let out a sigh.
"Still, this is the fastest way. How long do you think you lot are going to spend just lancing boils and stitching wounds? It's time you started doing real surgery too."
At that, Yeoni jolted in surprise.
"What? We're doing it too? With co— with corpses?"[2]
"Call it dissection. Don't leave a perfectly refined word alone and try to make it sound weird."
"So we're doing it too...?"
"You're doing it too. What, you think I'm only teaching Teacher Heo? You're the ones I'm actually raising as disciples."
"Ah... being your disciple is certainly an honor, but..."
Yeoni trailed off, clearly still troubled by something.
Naturally, Kanghyeok did not like that attitude much.
"You keep talking back."
"No. I'll do it. I will, but... suddenly talking about corpses. That's what scares me."
"What? You're someone who cuts people down without blinking, and you're scared?"
"That's different... touching a dead person is still frightening."
"It's fine. You get used to it once you do it a while. I'll help you."
"Mm... yes. If you're helping, young master, then..."
He made it sound as though they would leave immediately, but things could not move that quickly.
First, they had to confirm that Gwanghae's illness was fully cured.
No matter how badly he wanted anatomy practice, he could not exactly abandon a prince.
So for now, Kanghyeok still had to report to the palace today as well.
I feel like I come here more often than Lord Yi Hang-bok does.
At this point, it did not look all that different from actually holding office.
Suppressing the bitterness, he examined Gwanghae's wrist.
Fortunately, the recovery after surgery was going extremely well, and because of that, the smile never left Gwanghae's face.
"It's strange. It doesn't hurt at all."
"That is good news. From what I can see, everything looks excellent. Even where the stitches came out is clean."
"Then I should be able to start moving it a little, right?"
Kanghyeok glanced toward the rock visible behind Gwanghae as he joked.
The surface was smooth and polished, which made it obvious that he had already done at least one round of painting on it.
Pretending not to notice, Kanghyeok nodded.
"Of course. That's fine."
"Excellent. I heard from Heo Jun that you'll be going to Bojewon for volunteer work for a while?"
"Ah... yes. That's right."
"Well now, that's impressive. Someone like you ought to be serving in office."
Only because Gwanghae did not know what Kanghyeok was really thinking could he say such things so freely.
Kanghyeok lowered his head to hide his embarrassment.
"It's nothing, Your Highness."[4]
"In any case, I specifically told them to pay close attention to your lodging. If there is anything inconvenient, tell them all of it. I'll resolve whatever I can."
"Thank you."
"Good. Then... I suppose it will be a long while before I see you again."
"If anything feels uncomfortable, please send word. I'll come at once."
"Very well. I'll do that. Take care of yourself."
"Yes, Your Highness."
And with that, Kanghyeok left the palace.
Soon enough, an out-of-season divine physician would descend upon the slums.
All while keeping his darker intentions buried deep in his chest.
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