Chapter 1416: The Ghost Doctor Is Unyielding

The master and his two disciples spent the entire night examining the collected samples before finally finishing.

Early the next morning, Yuan Se personally visited their quarters and asked how things were going.

The Ghost Doctor pushed forward three bottles and jars, each labeled with a name. “As expected, those who cultivate the same art as Sacred Venerable show significantly higher compatibility. We have already found three that will do in a pinch.”

“Do in a pinch?” What did that mean? Was this really something one could simply make do with? Yuan Se gave a smile that did not reach his face, picked up the three containers, and looked at the names written on them one by one. After setting them down, he asked, “In other words, these three are not the best possible matches?”

The Ghost Doctor nodded. “At least they would work somewhat better than ordinary mortals.”

Yuan Se turned to Consort Yuan. “Have everyone currently in the Sacred Land been summoned and examined?”

“Yes. The rest are all outside the Sacred Land. I’ve already sent word to Huo Kong and the others. They should all be able to arrive within three days.”

Yuan Se nodded slightly.

Unexpectedly, the Ghost Doctor spoke up. “Consort Yuan’s statement is not accurate. In front of Sacred Venerable, things should be stated clearly. I don’t want anyone later saying this old man failed to do his utmost.”

Wuxin’s heart leapt. He could more or less guess what his master intended to say and realized that his master was staking everything on this.

What he did not know was that the Ghost Doctor had no other choice. Just as he had told Wuxin, once Lan Ming set his sights on them, they had already taken one wrong step and had no road back. If they failed, they would still come to a bad end. All he could do was try his utmost.

And with Consort Yuan refusing examination, if he did not raise the matter in front of Yuan Se, he had no way to force her to submit. Then there would be no way to act against Consort Yuan, which meant no way to fulfill Lan Ming’s demand. The outcome would be just as disastrous.

Consort Yuan’s expression chilled slightly.

Yuan Se looked at the Ghost Doctor’s reaction, then at Consort Yuan’s, and sensed something wrong between them. He chuckled. “Hei Li, if you have something to say, say it directly. There’s no need to hide anything in front of me.”

The Ghost Doctor said, “This old man does not dare say too much about this matter. It still depends on Consort Yuan’s own attitude.”

The implication was clear: ask Consort Yuan.

Yuan Se immediately looked at her with interest. “You’re both speaking in riddles. What happened?”

A trace of resentment flashed through Consort Yuan’s eyes as she glanced at the Ghost Doctor. Then she said calmly, “Sacred Venerable, it’s nothing much. Hei Li included me among those he wanted to examine. I felt it was unnecessary.”

She knew that once the Ghost Doctor had exposed the issue, Yuan Se was too shrewd to be fooled, so she simply spoke plainly.

Yuan Se understood. He gave a meaningful “Oh,” his single eye flickering slightly, then nodded. “That truly isn’t necessary.”

Seeing this, the Ghost Doctor immediately realized something was wrong. Yuan Se was plainly partial to Consort Yuan.

But how could he let the matter drop? If he simply stood aside now, Lan Ming would never spare him afterward. He immediately said, “Sacred Venerable has Sacred Venerable’s reasoning, of course. But this old man is a physician. When facing a patient, I have always dealt with the medical facts and refused to hide behind empty words. Empty words do nothing to cure illness or heal injury. In this old man’s judgment, Consort Yuan may very well be the most compatible person of all with Sacred Venerable!”

The moment he said this, Wuxin scarcely dared breathe. His master had directly dug in his heels and confronted the matter head-on. Such an unyielding approach seemed almost excessively fierce.

Consort Yuan’s expression darkened on the spot. She snapped, “Hei Li, what do you mean by this? Are you determined to make trouble for me?”

The Ghost Doctor replied, “Consort Yuan makes it sound too serious. This old man has already said that when dealing with a patient, I concern myself only with the matter at hand.”

Consort Yuan pointed at him. “What matter at hand? You’re talking utter nonsense! You plainly dislike me and want to seize this opportunity to settle a private grudge!”

The Ghost Doctor’s face darkened as well. “Consort Yuan, I don’t care to hear that. This old man has already said that empty talk is useless when treating illness and injury. I am only speaking the truth. You and I have neither grievance nor enmity. How has this become revenge over a private grudge?”

Consort Yuan shot back without yielding an inch. “If you can tell merely by looking whether someone is compatible, why have you spent so much time and effort examining people one by one? You could simply walk through a crowd and finish the matter! If you truly possess such ability, why have you dragged this out until now? Explain that!”

Yuan Se’s gaze flickered. His single eye narrowed slightly as he stared at the Ghost Doctor. This was also the doubt in his own mind.

Wuxiang and Wuxin both grew secretly anxious. The other party had struck straight at the weak point, and neither knew how their master would answer.

Bang!

The Ghost Doctor slapped the table, as though a physician’s temper had finally erupted, and flew into a rage. “Consort Yuan, that is the talk of a layman. You don’t understand medicine, so I won’t argue with you over it. If you refuse to be examined, then forget it. There is no need to insult this old man like this! If you believe Sacred Venerable’s injury is beyond my ability to treat, then by all means invite someone more capable!”

He turned and shouted at his two disciples, “What are you still standing around for? Pack everything up. We’re leaving!”

Wuxiang and Wuxin exchanged a look, then immediately began gathering the bottles and jars.

Consort Yuan gave a cold laugh. “Hei Li, do you think Dayuan Sacred Land is your home? That you can come when you please and leave when you please?”

The Ghost Doctor immediately rolled up his sleeves and said furiously, “This old man has practiced medicine for many years and has never met anyone as unreasonable as you. What do you want? This old man is ready whenever you are!”

Consort Yuan was enraged. No one had ever dared act so arrogantly in Dayuan Sacred Land. She was just about to make a move when Yuan Se raised a hand to stop her. “Enough! If there’s something to say, then say it. If there’s reason to debate, then debate it. None of you bear any grudge against one another. Drawing blades and killing over a few disagreeable words would only make people laugh if word got out. Calm down, all of you. Whoever dares act rashly again should not blame this Sacred Venerable for being impolite!”

Consort Yuan’s face remained taut. She gave a cold snort and glared at the Ghost Doctor but said nothing more.

The Ghost Doctor glared back, beard bristling, as though his temper were still up.

Yuan Se then turned to him with another genial smile. “Hei Li, what Consort Yuan said is not entirely unreasonable. If you really could tell by sight, why would you need to go to all this trouble? Since you say she is a layman, then explain it in a way an expert would. Once you explain it clearly, won’t the matter be settled? Quarreling and making a scene solves nothing. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The Ghost Doctor kept a stern face, his anger seeming to subside gradually. At last he said slowly, “Ordinary physicians cannot depart from the four diagnostic methods of inspection, listening and smelling, inquiry, and palpation. I likewise rely on inspection to distinguish symptoms. What a physician can discern by sight depends on that physician’s own experience and foundation. But visual examination is only an auxiliary method. It is not enough to establish a final conclusion. That is why this old man previously hoped Consort Yuan would allow me to examine her further and confirm my judgment.”

Consort Yuan sneered. “Mystification and trickery.” She plainly did not believe him.

The Ghost Doctor replied, “If you cannot understand even so simple a principle, then the more profound things would be even further beyond you. If you think what this old man says makes no sense, that is easily settled. We can prove it with facts. How about this? Consort Yuan may find several pregnant women from the secular world. I will neither touch them nor use spiritual power to investigate. Let this old man merely approach and inspect them by sight. I will tell you whether the child in each woman’s belly is male or female and how many months pregnant she is. If I am wrong even once, Consort Yuan need say nothing further. This old man will willingly offer the head upon my shoulders, without a single complaint!”

The words left Consort Yuan speechless. Almost unconsciously, she glanced at Wuxiang beneath his conical hat.

Yuan Se also glanced instinctively at Wuxiang. They both knew who this man had originally been. The Ghost Doctor had taken him from the Inspector’s residence in Jinzhou, back when Jinzhou belonged to the former State of Zhao. At the time, there had already been the astonishing incident of the Ghost Doctor taking one look at Hai Ruyue and recognizing that the child in her womb was male.

Hai Ruyue had deliberately concealed her pregnancy then. Outsiders had not even known she was with child, and she was not yet visibly showing. Yet the Ghost Doctor had not only seen through the pregnancy at a glance, he had even determined that the fetus was male. When the child was eventually born, it truly was a boy.

Such diagnostic eyesight was extraordinary enough to make anyone marvel.

If the Ghost Doctor had not brought up this method of diagnosis, nearly everyone present would have forgotten about that old affair. Now that he had mentioned it and stirred their memories, they no longer had much doubt about his skill in the method of “inspection.”

What else could Consort Yuan say? Calling it mystification and trickery no longer seemed defensible. The old man plainly did possess real skill. If she pressed the point too far, she might end up humiliating herself.

Wuxiang and Wuxin, however, knew that their master’s argument relied entirely on the others not understanding medicine. Perhaps he really could tell at a glance whether a pregnant woman carried a boy or a girl. But claiming he could determine by sight whether an eyeball was compatible for transplantation was far too exaggerated.

If he truly had that ability, there would have been no need for him to obtain an eye from the Qi capital that matched Yuan Se.

In plain terms, the eyeball for Yuan Se’s transplant had already been prepared.

“All right, all right. We’re only discussing reason. Talking about offering up your own head is a little excessive. Forget examining Consort Yuan.” Yuan Se waved a hand, playing the peacemaker and setting the matter aside. Then he turned to Consort Yuan. “How many of the relevant people are still outside?”

“A little over a dozen. They should all be here within three days,” Consort Yuan replied as calmly as possible.

Although she had heard that she would not have to undergo examination, the heart that had been hanging in suspense did not settle. The Ghost Doctor had said that, by sight alone, she appeared to be the most compatible.

Yuan Se said, “When they arrive, make the arrangements.”

“Yes.”

Yuan Se exchanged a few more polite words with the Ghost Doctor before turning to leave.

As Consort Yuan followed him out, she looked back once. The resentment in her eyes was obvious.

Once no one else remained, Wuxiang warned in a low voice, “Master, nothing is more venomous than a woman’s heart. I’m afraid this woman will retaliate later.”

“Retaliate?” The Ghost Doctor was utterly unconcerned. He likewise lowered his voice. “What do you know? This old man has seen far more patients and knows their mentality far better than you do. She may be acting fierce now, but the day will come when she softens. She isn’t injured or ill yet. If the day truly comes when she is, and one of her eyes really has to be removed, she’ll be too busy begging me to think about revenge. Retaliate? She wouldn’t dare even if you gave her ten times the courage! If your master did not have at least that much confidence, how would I have dared agree to help your senior brother so easily, much less glare and quarrel with that woman?”

Understanding dawned on Wuxiang. He nodded slightly and relaxed considerably.

Wuxin, standing beside them, added quietly, “Master, Yuan Se won’t allow Consort Yuan to be examined.”

The Ghost Doctor said, “You still lack experience of the secular world. Once you’ve treated enough people, you’ll understand. Beauties all want eternal youth. Emperors all want never to die. Patients all want to be restored exactly as they were. Whatever fine words he says now are useless. If I say a certain medicine is necessary, then he’ll have to use that medicine. That bitch dared shout at me. Since we’ve already offended her, I’m determined to take that eye of hers now. Otherwise, none of the three of us master and disciples will come to a good end!”

[End of Chapter 1416]