Chapter 844 — The More It's Treated, the Worse It Gets

"Naturally I've heard of such things. A relative of the Zhen family is a fine hand at the Mystic Rank as well..." Zhen Dazhou nodded as he spoke, though there was no small amount of boasting in it. That Mystic Rank expert was no relative of his at all—he had once hired the man to deal with an enemy, a matter of mutual profit and nothing more.

"Mm, if you've heard of it, then this will be easy!" Yao Wang continued. "Wei Zhao used true qi to seal Zhen Yingjun's meridians, causing a blockage, and that is how his present condition came about. On the surface it looks like the aftereffects of a stroke, but in truth it is not. It is far more complicated than a stroke!"

"So that's how it is!" Hearing Yao Wang's explanation, Zhen Dazhou grew even more anxious. "Then how is he to be cured?"

"Only by my acupuncture, combined with my true qi, dissolving them one by one. But that consumes a good deal of my power, and it cannot be cured in a single day or night—so the process is rather involved as well." Yao Wang sighed. "To be frank, this patient is not an easy one to take on!"

"Yao Wang, you must save my boy, you simply must! If you wash your hands of him, what is Yingjun to do from now on? His crooked mouth and lame leg may not affect his daily life, but to go out in public—people will laugh themselves sick at him!" Zhen Dazhou was frantic. "As for consultation fees and the like, all can be discussed! I beg you, have a heart!"

"It so happens that Wei Zhao and I have a bit of a grudge between us, and your son is the first patient I've taken since hanging out my shingle. So I shall strain myself and treat him!" Yao Wang said. "But let us agree on one thing beforehand: I am no charitable institution. I must charge a set fee, and this fee for each visit I shall fix at one million."

"Yes, yes!" Zhen Dazhou nodded hurriedly. Hearing that it was a million per visit, he did not think it excessive. His son's ailment was altogether too complicated; were he to seek others, ten million would not buy a cure!

"Good. Since you agree, then today I shall first shift this strand of true qi within your son's body—from the leg to the hand, from the mouth to the ear. Thus he will merely have one crooked ear and one hand that will not obey him, and to outward appearances he will be like any normal man! As for the ear and the hand, I shall dissolve those slowly, bit by bit," Yao Wang said.

"Very well, nothing could be better!" At the news that the true qi could be shifted, and that once shifted it would scarcely show, Zhen Dazhou was delighted. The ear and the hand could be restored slowly in future—so long as his son looked normal on the outside, that was enough!

"Good. Since you agree, I shall begin the treatment now!" Yao Wang nodded, brought out his silver needles, and made ready to begin.

In truth, Wei Zhao had meant only to administer a light punishment. He had never intended to fashion a baffling and incurable disease, so Yao Wang could break it with ease. And what Yao Wang called "shifting" was simply curing Zhen Yingjun's mouth and leg, then using the same method to seal the meridians near his ear and hand!

It sounded like a transfer, but in fact it was nothing more than manufacturing an opportunity to earn money again next time. Otherwise, that one million really was a bit too little! Yao Wang had already set his target: he would squeeze at least ten million out of Zhen Yingjun.

Swiftly, under Yao Wang's needles, Zhen Yingjun's mouth and leg both returned to normal—only one ear was left deaf, and one hand without feeling.

But these defects were hidden ones, invisible to outward view. Zhen Yingjun and Zhen Dazhou were naturally overflowing with gratitude toward Yao Wang; they paid the fee, fixed a time for the next visit, and took their cheerful leave.

Watching the backs of the Zhen father and son as they departed, a cold sneer slid across the corner of Zhao Qibing's mouth. "Two fools—just wait there and hand me your money!"

"Young Master Bing, my preliminary plan is to wring ten million out of the Zhen father and son. What do you think?" Yao Wang told Zhao Qibing his idea.

"Ten million? That little?" Zhao Qibing frowned. "I hear Zhen Dazhou is rolling in money—assets in the hundreds of millions. At the very least we ought to take half. Let's say fifty million!"

"Hiss..." Yao Wang was startled, thinking to himself, Young Master Bing is a ruthless one indeed! Far more ruthless than I am. I thought ten million already a great deal, and Young Master Bing opens his mouth for fifty million straight away? Yet try as he might, Yao Wang could not work it out—how could a trifling ailment like Zhen Yingjun's be worth fifty million? He could not help asking, "Young Master Bing, one million a visit, ten visits makes ten million—is that not already plenty?"

"Are you thick or what?" Zhao Qibing glared. "When you're treating him, can't you conjure up a few other ailments? That's no hardship for you, is it? Do I have to teach you this too? One look and you can tell that Zhen Yingjun is a fellow steeped in wine and women. Make him impotent, and see whether he comes begging with gold in hand. Or if you fear suspicion, work on Zhen Dazhou directly—make the old bastard's functions wither away!"

"I understand, Young Master Bing!" At Zhao Qibing's words, Yao Wang's mind was suddenly opened. He thought to himself, even a black-hearted doctor like me is not as black as Young Master Bing—Young Master Bing is simply too black!

Word that Zhen Yingjun had fallen prey to a strange illness had reached nearly every notable in Songshan City. The commotion had been considerable at the time, and Zhen Dazhou had engaged Zou Tiandi to seek physicians far and wide—no secret, that! But that Zhen Yingjun's illness had been cured by a newly emerged "Zhao Yao Wang"—that piece of news gave these people a tremendous shock!

In the past, everyone in Songshan City knew Guan Xuewen as the miracle doctor; who would have thought that now another Zhao Yao Wang had appeared, who seemed even more formidable than Guan Xuewen! After all, everyone had seen Zhen Yingjun's condition—crooked mouth, lame leg—and the hospital examinations had found no remedy. Yet under a few strokes of Zhao Yao Wang's needles, a miracle had come to pass!

Zhen Yingjun's leg was no longer lame, nor his mouth crooked; and as for the deaf ear and the hand without feeling, Zhen Dazhou was unwilling to speak of them abroad, saying only that his son was cured! In this way, it served as an advertisement for Zhao Yao Wang! For a time, everyone knew that a Zhao Yao Wang had risen in Songshan City, a man of most brilliant medical skill, who surpassed even Doctor Guan. And so Zhao Yao Wang's fame was made in a single stroke!

Thereafter, whenever the wealthy and fashionable of society wished to see a doctor, the first name that came to mind was Zhao Yao Wang. After all, Zhao Yao Wang had a proven cure to his name—Zhen Yingjun was now indeed skipping about, lively as could be...

Through Lai Pangzi and Guan Xuewen, Wei Zhao learned the news at the earliest moment, but he paid it no mind. That Zhao Qibing had begun treating patients and making money had little enough to do with Wei Zhao; and as for whether Zhen Yingjun had been cured, Wei Zhao cared even less. He had never intended to put Zhen Yingjun to death in the first place—if the man was cured, then so be it.