Chapter 715 — Beyond Cure

Li Dilei flushed crimson on the spot. He really had been far too cautious — to be duped like this was utterly humiliating! If word of it got out, how would he ever show his face in the underworld again?

"Sorry about that, brother — put you through all this trouble..." Li Dilei said awkwardly, then turned to Dr. Wang. "Dr. Wang, I hope you'll keep this matter confidential..."

"Rest easy. A doctor is duty-bound to keep his patient's confidence — all the more so for a man like Boss Li." Dr. Wang was only too happy to play dumb; none of this had anything to do with him anyway.

"All right, enough standing around making a spectacle of yourself. Why don't you pull out the rest of those needles yourself?" Li Cihua shot Li Dilei a glare.

"Yes, yes!" Li Dilei nodded repeatedly, and made to use his left hand — now free of needles — to pluck the silver needles from the rest of his body. But the moment he raised his arm, he discovered to his astonishment that his left hand would not obey him! He tried to pinch the needles with his fingers, but his fingers had no sensation at all — in fact, the entire hand was utterly numb!

"What are you doing?" Li Cihua saw Li Dilei frozen in place and had no idea what had come over him now.

"Brother, my hand... my hand won't move!" Li Dilei stared at his left hand in horror. His left hand felt nothing at all! His arm could still move, but from the wrist down it was completely beyond his control!

"Won't move? What do you mean?" Li Cihua asked, taken aback.

"Brother, my left hand won't move — it's like it isn't mine. There's not the slightest sensation in it!" As he spoke, Li Dilei swung his left arm about, yet his left hand still felt nothing whatsoever!

"How is that possible?" Li Cihua frowned and examined Li Dilei's left hand closely, but found nothing amiss. So he turned to Dr. Wang. "Dr. Wang, what do you make of this?"

Dr. Wang was no less baffled. Before the silver needles were removed, Li Dilei's left hand had been perfectly fine — so how had it lost all feeling the moment they came out?

"It's not just numbness, is it? Let's wait a bit and see?" Dr. Wang had never encountered anything like this either.

"No, it's definitely not numbness! If it were numb, I'd still feel the numbness. Right now I feel absolutely nothing — it's as if this hand isn't mine at all!" Li Dilei shook his head again and again.

"Could it have something to do with those silver needles from before?" Li Cihua eyed Li Dilei's hand with some suspicion.

"That... it's hard to say." Dr. Wang had no idea whether there was a connection; in any case, he had never seen anything like it.

"Then what now..." Li Cihua could only hope Dr. Wang had a solution.

"For now, all we can do is get an X-ray first. If nothing shows up, we'll run a full examination and wait for the results before deciding anything." Dr. Wang suggested.

"All right!" Li Cihua nodded and had Dr. Wang take Li Dilei off for the examination. As for the other silver needles still stuck in Li Dilei's body, he dared not pull them out either — they would just have to stay where they were for the time being!

They looked a little odd and drew stares, but who could guarantee that pulling those needles out would not produce another loss of sensation in the left hand? Whether the two were connected was still impossible to say!

Before long, Li Dilei's examination results came back — and those results turned both Li Dilei and Li Cihua ashen-faced!

Necrosis of the nerve tissue in the hand?

Staring at the examination report, the Li brothers' eyes went wide.

"This is only the nerve aspect, but according to the systematic examination, the muscle tissue in the hand also shows a tendency toward necrosis..." Dr. Wang found it baffling too. A prick from a silver needle, and both nerves and muscles were necrotic? Wasn't that a bit too absurd? Strangest of all, there had been no poison on the needle at all — it was nothing but an ordinary silver needle.

"So what should we do now? Can it be cured?" Li Cihua asked.

"We can try, but it would be best to amputate the left hand immediately, to keep the necrotic tissue from affecting the arm..." Dr. Wang said.

Li Cihua frowned, his heart pounding with alarm. Just who had this Li Dilei provoked, to be persecuted like this? He turned toward his cousin and demanded, "What kind of background does the other side have? Who exactly did you provoke?"

"I don't know either... they were just here for a meal..." Li Dilei was scared half to death himself. Hearing Dr. Wang say his palm might have to be amputated, he went blank with shock. This was far too terrifying!

"Here for a meal? Think carefully. Any details at all? What was his name? What did he look like?" Li Cihua pressed.

"The other person... oh, I remember now. Among that group, there seemed to be a woman named Tang Zhi!" Li Dilei had a sharp memory for beautiful women, so the name Tang Zhi had stuck in his mind.

"Tang Zhi?!" Li Cihua's expression froze. It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it? Tang Zhi? Wasn't she Wei Zhao's girlfriend?

"Yes, that's her name. As for the man who attacked me, I can't quite recall what he was called... I think his surname was Lin..." Li Dilei paid no attention to his cousin's expression. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, straining to remember.

"Surname Lin? Do you mean Wei Zhao?" Li Cihua drew a deep breath, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

"Yes, Wei Zhao! Brother, do you know this man? If so, can you get him to save me?" Hearing that his cousin seemed to know the person, Li Dilei brightened at once and hurriedly begged.

"I know him..." A complicated light flickered through Li Cihua's eyes. "But he won't come to save you."

"He won't?" Li Dilei's face went slack with despair. "Why not? Brother, beg him! Whatever money he wants, I'll give it. Even if he wants me to hold a banquet and apologize, I'll do it. I don't want to lose my hand!"

"Our grudge runs deep!" Li Cihua sighed. "No wonder he wasn't afraid after hearing my name, and went all the harder at you. You shouldn't have thrown my name around. You've only brought trouble on yourself."

"What? A deep grudge?" Li Dilei was dumbstruck. How was he supposed to know that Wei Zhao and Li Cihua had bad blood between them? In the past, every time he had trotted out his cousin's name, people had always given face. Li Dilei had never imagined he would run into one of Li Cihua's enemies.

"At this point, our only option is to beg Bing Shao." Li Cihua was out of ideas. Once he learned that Wei Zhao was behind the attack, he abandoned any thought of keeping Li Dilei in the hospital. Wei Zhao was at the very least a master of the Xuan tier — how could a run-of-the-mill hospital undo what his needles had done? Staying here any longer would be nothing but wasted time, and would only delay Li Dilei's condition. Better to go beg Bing Shao and see whether he could persuade the Medicine King to act.