Chapter 118: A Disciple Is Best When You Can Work Him Hard [2] Alcohol.
Alcohol was considered a very precious foodstuff in Joseon.
Just think about it.
People were already dying because there was not enough rice even to eat as food, and yet they were going to use it to make alcohol?
Because of that, the state was forever issuing prohibition orders whenever it had the chance.
There was, however, one single exception among alcoholic drinks, and that was the alcohol used for ancestral rites.
In a Confucian state, they could hardly place restrictions even on the alcohol used for rites.
So in quite a few noble households, they would deliberately say it was for ancestral rites and brew generous amounts of it.
Part of the surplus alcohol was then released into the market at fairly high prices, and wealthy people like Kanghyeok could buy it in large quantities.
Since it had been made for use in ancestral rites in the first place, it was strong and contained fewer impurities.
Dongpa had made lavish use of that alcohol to create a kind of museum.
"Huh. So this is why you asked whether it would be all right to use some alcohol."
"Yes. There are records in old books saying that corpses were preserved with this alcohol... It is expensive liquor, and I am sorry for using so much of it without restraint."
"No, no. If you can make it like this, it's excellent."
Looking thoroughly impressed, Kanghyeok slowly began examining the works Dongpa had made.
Wide-mouthed bowls had been filled with alcohol, and inside them, organs had been placed one by one.
Of course, because of Dongpa's lack of anatomical knowledge, the classification of the organs was a complete mess, so in many cases, "one by one" was not quite the right expression.
These are all from older corpses anyway... Pulling the organs out like this is probably why the bodies stayed relatively intact.
Among the early dead, some had already been dead more than five days.
If they had simply been left as they were, flies and maggots would have swarmed over everything by now.
But the storeroom was in reasonably good condition, and now it was clear that Dongpa had played a hidden part in that.
Though he probably drained the blood out too.
With a satisfied smile, Kanghyeok pulled on his gloves.
It had been a very long time since he had last had a subordinate, or disciple, who did things on his own without being told, and the situation pleased him so much that he even began humming.
Kanghyeok alone was so delighted he barely knew what to do, but to everyone else, it was a terrifying sight.
To wear such a happy expression while walking through a storeroom full of corpses.
"Ugh."
At last, even Heo Jun turned his head away with a sickened face.
That was because Kanghyeok had taken out one of the organs preserved in pottery.
Since the blood had been thoroughly drained and it had long been steeped in strong alcohol, the organ had shriveled badly.
It was almost impossible to tell what its original shape had been.
But Kanghyeok still managed to identify it and set it down on the table where everyone had gathered with a heavy thump.
"Now this... is the stomach. Dongpa, come here."
"Yes, yes, Master."
"Actually, what we call the stomach only goes from here to here. But because Dongpa is still unfamiliar with dissection, he cut out part of the small intestine and the pancreas along with it."
"I am sorry."
"No, it actually makes it easier to explain."
The way they were speaking to each other made them look like a master and disciple who had spent at least ten years together.
It was hard to believe they had been snarling at each other only a few days earlier.
Though to be precise, Kanghyeok had mainly ignored him, while Dongpa had been the one raising all the fuss.
"All right, everyone put on your gloves and touch this once."
"Touch it?"
Dolseok, one of the sturdier-stomached ones among them, asked with a face full of fear.
Naturally, Kanghyeok had no concern at all for Dolseok's feelings.
Instead, he forcibly took Dolseok's hand and pressed it against the stomach.
"Oh lord."
"What are you so startled for? Before long, every one of you is going to split open a belly and take this out yourselves."
"Good grief..."
"Anyway, can you feel the difference between this 'stomach' and the small intestine attached below it?"
"Uh..."
Though unable to hide his bewilderment, Dolseok soon began kneading it with his fingers.
After tilting his head a few times, he finally looked as though he understood something.
"Ah... The stomach is very thick, but the small intestine is thin."
"I told you, you really do have some talent."
"Hehe. Thank you."
"You just touched your hair with the hand that was touching this."
"Blech."
Leaving Dolseok retching by force, Kanghyeok began lecturing on the stomach.
After that came the large intestine, liver, spleen, kidneys, and pancreas.
The abdominal organs Dongpa had pulled out haphazardly were arranged in neat order.
By now the others had almost shaken off the shock from the beginning.
Even Makbong, who used to do nothing but vomit all the time, was now standing beside Dolseok with a pale face.
These two were usually at each other's throats whenever they were together, so seeing them now holding onto each other for support warmed Kanghyeok's heart.
And because of that, he was able to decide to drive them even harder.
Good. Shall we move on to actual practice now?
As it happened, the number of corpses still left intact was eight.
If he included the bodies from which Dongpa had removed the organs but left the limbs whole, there were more than ten.
And there were only eight people altogether, including Kanghyeok, so there were more than enough for practice.
Probably not even a single medical college in South Korea could have prepared this many cadavers.
Is this the will of heaven?
After looking up at the god he did not even believe in, Kanghyeok opened his mouth.
"All right. Everyone move to a corpse."
"Uh... yes."
At Kanghyeok's words, everyone began moving at once in orderly fashion.
Even Dolseok, who would normally have grumbled about something, said nothing now.
And no wonder. At this moment, Kanghyeok looked every bit like a professor at a medical college, authority overflowing from him.
Ideally, the best thing would be to teach them all with the exact same curriculum...
But if he did that, there was no telling how many years it would take to teach them all.
Where muscles began, where they attached, and how they moved as a result.
Of course, it would be good for them to know such things.
But it would take too long.
It was troublesome enough to teach all that, and besides, the corpses would all rot before then.
At most, they'll probably start rotting in another five or six days.
At least the weather was turning a little chilly.
If this had been midsummer, they would all have rotted already, and instead of lectures he would have had to burn the whole storeroom down.
Forget all the theoretical stuff and teach them surgery first. Yeoju is drawing everything diligently anyway... There'll be another chance to teach the rest later.
So Kanghyeok decided to teach them in a Spartan, and somewhat rough-and-ready, way.
It's not as if they're going to cut open hearts, is it? At most it'll be appendicitis. How to pull and set fractures... how to treat trauma... Good grief, even just those are plenty.
After roughly organizing what he intended to teach, Kanghyeok raised his head.
The others stood before the corpses, looking only at him with tense faces.
Among them, the ones practically shooting lasers from their eyes were, as expected, Heo Jun, Heo Im, and Dongpa.
And, quite unexpectedly, Dolseok as well.
That brat really is earnest. And talented too.
Wiping the smile from his face, Kanghyeok spoke.
"All right. Everyone pick up a knife."
"Yes."
Thanks to Heo Jun, the scalpels that had been mass-produced were now proving their worth.
True to Daeroya's reputation, the quality of the scalpels was excellent.
They reflected even the poor light in the storeroom with dazzling brightness.
"Place your hand on the lower right abdomen. If you don't know where it is, come and look at where I place mine one by one. You cut here, in this direction. Try it."
"Yes, yes!"
Soon the sound of flesh splitting filled the storeroom.
Neither Dorikkae nor his men, who were standing guard outside, could have imagined what was happening in there.
Kanghyeok had merely said it was "research," and had even warned that anyone who came inside would die.
"Good. You're all doing fairly well. Ah, Heo Im... if you cut like that, you'll only make a wound. Deeper. Like I did."
"Like this?"
"Yes. Mm. This is all too easy for you, isn't it? That's because the blood has already been drained. Normally, you'd have to wipe away blood or hold vessels as you cut, so it's harder than this."
"Yes, I will keep that in mind!"
"Don't shout too much. If this gets found out, every one of us is going to the Uigeumbu."
"Ah, yes, yes."
The Uigeumbu.
It was a place that made the backs of knees go weak just from hearing its name.
Especially for Kanghyeok, who had gone there himself and even carried out torture, it was the last place he wanted to think about again.
Roasting people, scorching them, grinding them down...
It was not a place that merely beat and tormented people. It broke them thoroughly.
A place that made them confess even to crimes they had never committed.
That was what the Uigeumbu was.
And what if they were dragged there for the crime of mutilating corpses?
Then the chances of surviving would be very slim indeed.
Well... there shouldn't be a problem, since everything is being done in secret.
Surely no one in here would go and report it.
If they did, they would be as good as dead themselves.
Since the thought had occurred to him, Kanghyeok reviewed the entire process by which they had brought in and handled the corpses.
No matter how he thought about it, there were no holes in it.
To begin with, the director of Bojewon had not suspected a thing.
If anything, he had even sent gifts in thanks.
For all Kanghyeok knew, he had probably received high praise from the local magistrate for successfully stopping the epidemic.
"Good. Earlier, you all saw where the large intestine is, and where the cecum is among it, right?"
"Yes."
"Now grab it the way I am and pull it slightly outward."
As though performing magic, Kanghyeok reached deep into the abdomen, caught hold of the cecum, and drew it out through the incision.
The appendix, sticking slightly out beside the cecum, seemed to give a dainty little greeting.
"Easy, right? That's all you do."
Kanghyeok smiled brightly, like the painting teacher on an educational broadcast show from his childhood.
To him, this really was absurdly easy.
Because he was a genius so far outside the average, he had never really experienced what difficulty was.
"Mm..."
"Hah..."
To the others, on the other hand, it was incredibly difficult.
Certainly, they knew roughly where the cecum was supposed to be.
But to find it by feel alone, when they could barely even see it, seemed almost impossible.
"No, why can't you do something this simple?"
"Could it be that my corpse doesn't have one?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
"Yes..."
"No one leaves until you find it. Understood?"
"Ha..."
Only then was Dongpa's face slowly beginning to return to what it had once been.
The strange high he had ridden because of Kanghyeok's overwhelming performance was gradually subsiding.
But by then it was already too late, and the water had long since been spilled.
Thus Kanghyeok's lecture, like something straight out of hell, continued for a full five days.
According to Dorikkae's later testimony, throughout that period the only person who ever went in and out of the storeroom was Kanghyeok.
"Hoo..."
Heo Jun, dazzled by sunlight he had not seen in a long time, shed tears.
Dolseok and Heo Im stared blankly at the ground.
Yeoni and Yeoju clasped both hands together and glared at Kanghyeok's back.
Makbong and Dongpa, wearing expressions that said they had burned every last thing, began setting the storeroom on fire.
"What's so hard about this that you're all making such a fuss?"
Meanwhile, Kanghyeok was overflowing with energy, as though he had secretly taken some kind of stimulant.
He clapped his hands together sharply and called everyone over.
"All right. Practice has gone on long enough now."
"Practice...?"
Dolseok tilted his head, utterly unable to understand what he was hearing.
The others wore much the same expression, but Kanghyeok did not so much as glance at them.
He simply poured out whatever he wanted to say.
"Now it's time to move on to the real thing. Dorikkae!"
"Yes, Young Master."
"Is the clinic in Hanyang ready?"
"Yes."
"Four rooms, right?"
"Yes, we secured four rooms."
"Good. Spread word all over today that we're starting consultations at once. Let's see what kind of skill my disciples have."
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