“You want me to lie on my back like this?” Sungryong said with a tense look, which was unusual for him.
Kanghyok, Dolsok, Yoni and Yoju were in his room.
“No, push up your hips a bit upward.”
“Like this?”
“Yes.”
“Do I really have to push up my hips like this?”
To put Sungryong’s position in one word, ‘shameful’ was the most appropriate expression.
Little did Sungryong expect that he would have to take this kind of humiliating hip position as a nobleman.
“Yes, you should.”
“Oh my god….”
Sungryong was letting out a deep sigh of remorse.
“Are you sure you can cure my hemorrhoids completely if I follow your direction?”
“Yes, sir. It won’t recur if you do as instructed.”
“That’s nice to hear!”
Though his whole body was tied up for the operation, Sungryong was still nodding with joy, which suggested that he had been going through extreme pain up to now.
Kanghyok heard from Soonsin that Sungryong could not carry out the king’s order due to his pain. King Sonjo told him to go on an inspection tour of provinces, but he had to be sick in bed.
“Now, let me take off your pants…”
“Gee…”
Thinking he had to remove his pants, Sungryong felt he had better go to sleep while Kanghyok was doing the surgery.
“Can I take that medicine you mentioned earlier?”
“Sure”
Kanghyok gave him the herbal decoction with the right dosage.
In fact, he tested it several times.
For the past several days the five members of the bandit had to fall asleep and wake up several times during the day.
Thanks to this intensive testing, Kanghyok could find out the right dosage that was very safe and effective.
Watching Sungryong taking the medicine, Kanghyok nodded, thinking ‘They deserve the credit.’
“As the saying goes, bitter medicine is good for one’s body, but this medicine doesn’t taste nasty,” said Sungryong.
“I’m glad to hear that it didn’t taste bad.”
“Now, what should I do?”
“You will soon fall asleep if you stay still.”
“Really? I’m still sober…”
When Kanghyok counted up to seven, he immediately fell to sleep.
The anaesthetic effect of the medicine that Sungryong took was powerful enough to make patients anesthetized in a modern hospital.
‘That doesn’t disturb his breathing at all.’
Of course, Sungryong was not completely insensitive to pain, but Kanghyok could deal with it by applying a local anesthesia.
“Now, remove his pants.”
“Yes, master.”
But Dolsok was still cautious because a commoner like him had to take off a nobleman’s pants.
“Hey, do it quickly!”
“What? I want to do it politely…”
“Treating, not manners, does matter!”
“Got it, master.”
When Dolsok took off his pants, Sungryon’s anus was a mess.
‘Oh my god… how could he put up with it so far?’
His hemorrhoids couldn’t be worse.
His condition left Dolsok and Yoni slack-jawed with surprise, who didn’t know anything about it.
“Are these his hips?”
“Yes. This bulging thing is called a hemorrhoid.”
“Hemorrhoid?”
“Yes, it is supposed to be inside his anus, but it has been pushed out like that.”
Kanghyok was grateful for the fact that he didn’t let Yoni out because he needed at least two assistants to help him with this type of surgery.
“You should stay alert during the surgery. This is pretty difficult.”
“Yes, master.”
Kanghyok seemed to experience the most tense moment since he was thrust into Joseon.
‘Let me give him an injection of local anesthesia first…’
He had to do the surgery in a way that could minimize his bleeding as there was no way of getting blood transfusion. Worse, Sungryong was suffering from anemia.
“Give me the syringe.”
Yes, master.”
Kanghyok began to give him an injection several times.
In Dolsok’s eyes he did it dozens of times in a clear contrast with the mayor of Ansung who had the same disease.
“Master?”
“Why?”
“It looks like you’re taking special care of this nobleman.”
“Well, I always pay special attention to patients.”
“Did you forget the mayor of Ansung?”
“Oh, that nobleman? Hahaha.”
Kanghyok laughed awkwardly at Dolsok’s unexpected reminder.
“You have made special medicine for this man, along with many shots…”
“He deserves such a special care. Just wipe off the blood.”
“Yes, sir.”
How could Dolsok understand Kanghyok at this moment?
Kanghyok was now treating one of the most famous premiers in Joseon.
He wanted to use all available methods to cure Sungryong’s hemorrhoids.
If he could have his way, Kanghyok wanted to replace Sungryong’s with the healthy anus of someone else.
“Yoni, apply disinfectant there once more.”
“Yes.”
Yoni skillfully cleaned his dirty anus.
“I feel strange as I apply it on his anus.”
“Don’t talk like that. He’s a big shot.”
“I see…”
Dolsok and Yoni learned the skill up to that point through intensive practice.
And the subject of their practice was Dorikke, who had to be a guinea pig for Kanghyok’s hemorrhoids surgery.
“You guys’ practice are paying off. Hahaha,” said Kanghyok, praising them.
“Thanks, master,” said Yoni, appreciating his praise.
In fact, she felt miserable when she took part in the practice.
She had to open Dorikke’s anus with an iron stick, which was so weird to her.
As she became skillful enough, however, she realized she needed to practice for real.
“Good. Hold it steady like that.”
“Yes, master.”
Kanghyok looked inside Sungryong’s anus which was opened about 3cm wide.
There were clusters of big hemorrhoids inside.
‘Now I have to cut and remove them first.’
Hemorrhoids were a disease long enough to compare with human history. Naturally, various therapies have been constantly developed.
But Kanghyok had no proper tools in his bag.
He had to be content with a scalpel and suture device.
Right before he put the tweezes before Sungryong’s anus, Kanghyok let out a sigh.
Fortunately the medicine that he had was effective.
“Now, let me start. It will bleed a lot, so don’t be embarrassed. Just do it as you have practiced.”
“Got it, master.”
“Let me incize it now. Do you that order, right?”
“Of course.”
Actually, Yoni and Dolsok did the same thing to Dorikke and his members when they were practicing. There were very few in Joseon who didn’t have hemorrhoids in Joseon at that time. Thanks to their repeated practice, Kanghyok formed a good teamwork with Dolsok and Yoni.
Kanghyok cut open the swollen hemorrhoids swollen.
Dark red blood gushed out ,along with the blood crust inside.
“Good job. Now, take off your tweezers.”
“Yes, master.”
As the blood was pooled inside hemorrhoids, it was not difficult to stop bleeding.
Once the bleeding was stopped, Kanghyok quickly began to stitch.
‘I see remnant blood clots inside.’
So, he removed them with the suture tool.
“Okay, I’m done here.”
Kanghyok then cut open the adjacent hemorrhoids.
“Dolsok?”
“Yes, master.”
This time Dolsok stopped the bleeding while Yoni made sure Kanghyok could see inside clearly.
“Whew! I think I could not have done this without your help!”
“I’m glad we were helpful, master.”
Dolsok made a bright smile right before Sungryon’s anus, as if he was moved by Kanghyok’s compliment.
“We’re not done yet, so stay alert.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yoju, is he breathing well?”
“Yes, he is sleeping very well.”
“Good. If he starts moving his body, let me know immediately.”
Yoni was opening up the anus while Kanghyok was at it.
If Sungryong woke up in the middle of Kanghyok’s operation, he would be in big, big trouble.
‘Let me hurry up.’
Kanghyok’s surgery picked up speed, which made Yoni and Dolsok busy as well.
The ugly cluster of hemorrhoids began to decrease.
Of course, the condition of Sungryong’s anus was much better than before, with only a couple of external hemorrhoids visible.
“Great. We’re almost done now.”
“Wow, I did it, master!” said Dolsok with an emotional expression on his face.
Yoni was as much excited as him.
“It’s like a dream, that we have done it.”
“Yea, now it looks like a human anus.”
Though their conservation about Sungryong’s condition was pretty blasphemous, given his high status in the government, Kanghyok didn’t go to the trouble of blaming them.
As someone who participated in the successful surgery, they had the right to comment on their own.
“By the way, how can we wake him up?”
At Dolsok’s asking Yoni began to roll up her sleeves as if she was ready to hit him.
Waving his hand urgently, Kanghyok stopped her.
“No, no. Just let him wake up naturally.”
“Let him wake up with his pants off?”
“Oops… Just cover him with something.”
“Yes, master.”