Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 281 - 275 at a loss

"That kid... he doesn't even know to complain to his elders. How foolish." Although Xu Changqing called Wang Jian foolish, there was no disdain in his voice.

Old Chen naturally understood. "That kid never wanted to be part of this in the first place. Now that he has a legitimate excuse, of course he won't tell you."

"Not an ounce of ambition," Xu Changqing muttered. "It was the same last time he was bullied at Beijing Hospital. He treats us elders like we're just decorations."

"What?" Old Chen chuckled. "So, you've finally decided to stand up for your disciple?"

"Stand up for him? What are you talking about? Don't be ridiculous," Xu Changqing said. "It's obvious that someone in the organization has their priorities skewed, and I'm just planning to help them straighten things out. How is that standing up for my disciple? Say that again and I'll sue you for slander."

"..." Old Chen couldn't be bothered to bicker with the old coot, so he simply ignored him.

But when it came to Wang Jian being bullied, even if Xu Changqing did nothing, he would take action himself.

However, neither of them expected the consequences to arrive so swiftly. They wouldn't even need to lift a finger. The very people who had blocked Wang Jian from joining the National Medical Group were about to face the repercussions.

Halfway through the ceremony, an urgent task came in, forcing the event to an abrupt halt. All the doctors present were then loaded onto several buses and taken to a large building—the Pangu Hotel.

"Is there anything you can do?"

Inside a top-tier suite, the chief members of the National Medical Group, including Xu Changqing, all frowned at the question. Standing opposite them was an elderly man in a military uniform, venting his anger at the members of the National Medical Group. He was Zhang Cheng of North China. In this room, no one dared to say a word back to him.

Even Old Chen sat silently on a stool, his gaze fixed on the bed.

"Why is everyone silent?" Zhang Cheng reprimanded. "The man lying there is a national hero! What does it say about all of you that you're just standing here watching? What's the point of having a National Medical Group?"

On the large hotel bed to the side, a man lay breathing steadily. He looked perfectly normal, yet he showed no reaction to their words, like a man who was alive but dead to the world.

Standing beside Xu Changqing was a white-haired man in a gray Zhongshan suit, the very picture of an old-school Chinese medicine practitioner. He and Xu Changqing were both chiefs of the National Medical Group. However, Xu Changqing only cared about medical matters and was hardly involved with the group itself. He was more of a free agent who wandered around outside, only called in when they faced a problem no one else could solve. The man in the gray Zhongshan suit, on the other hand, was Xu Changqing's equal in rank and held administrative power over the entire National Medical Group. His authority and influence were far greater than Xu Changqing's. His name was Sun Fu, and the sudden disqualification of Wang Jian had his fingerprints all over it.

Seeing Zhang Cheng's anger, Sun Fu maintained a faint smile. Deftly redirecting the pressure toward Xu Changqing, he said, "With Lao Xu present, it's not our place as juniors to speak, General Zhang. Why don't we let Lao Xu assess the situation first?"

Zhang Cheng glanced at Sun Fu, then turned to Xu Changqing. "Sun Fu is right. Lao Xu, you just arrived. Please, take a look."

His tone softened considerably. He was well aware of Xu Changqing's skill and knew he wasn't like the others who were merely chasing fame. Now that he was asking for a favor, his tone naturally improved. His earlier rage had been entirely directed at those useless doctors.

"Lao Xu, this way..." Zhang Cheng led Xu Changqing to the side where they could speak privately before asking, "Are you also at a loss, Lao Xu? I noticed you were silent earlier."

Xu Changqing didn't rush to give an answer. Instead, he asked, "Who has he been in contact with recently?"

"Does this have something to do with his illness?" Zhang Cheng asked. "Is that necessary for the treatment?"

"Yes," Xu Changqing nodded. "The others have already examined him and said he isn't sick, correct? But people don't just fall into a deep sleep for no reason. Therefore, someone he came into contact with must be the cause. We have to know the cause to treat the illness. Without understanding the cause, we can't prescribe blindly."

Since Xu Changqing had put it that way, Zhang Cheng certainly couldn't continue to hide the truth. He glanced at the man on the bed, then pulled Xu Changqing even farther away.

"Actually, he was on an overseas mission. The mission itself was a perfect success, but he suddenly fell into this state just two or three days after returning."

"He wasn't in contact with anyone out of the ordinary," Zhang Cheng recalled.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. After returning from a mission, they always recuperate with the team for a few days to debrief and rest. So the only people he saw during that time were our own. If it were a contagious disease, others would have been affected. But right now, he's the only one."

After listening to Zhang Cheng's description, Xu Changqing nodded. "I'll examine him again. If I'm not mistaken, this is beyond the capabilities of anyone here."

"Including you?"

"Including me."

Zhang Cheng's heart tightened. Within the military, Xu Changqing had a reputation as a true Immortal, someone who could pull a man back from the brink of death with a single needle. For him to suddenly say there might be no solution... didn't that mean the problem was immense?

Worse than being near death? Does that mean he's certain to die?

Xu Changqing walked to the bedside to take the patient's pulse, and the other doctors watched intently. Like Zhang Cheng, they had heard of Xu Changqing's reputation to varying degrees, but unlike the general, they had never seen him in action. Naturally, they stared with eager anticipation.

Xu Changqing first pried open the patient's eyelids to check his pupils, then began to take his pulse, sensing the flow of vital energy within the patient's body.

It's just as I suspected. No wonder none of the Chinese or Western Medicine practitioners in the National Medical Group could find the problem. There's nothing wrong with the man's vital energy or his physical body. A person's health is founded upon a trinity: the soul, life essence, and flesh. 'Life essence' is one's vital energy, 'flesh' is the physical body, and 'soul' refers to the spirit and psyche. The current level of medicine, both Chinese and Western, can only address problems concerning vital energy and the physical body. The realm of the soul and spirit remains a complete mystery; it would be a miracle if they could detect a problem there. He himself had only identified the issue through a process of elimination, aided by his near-mastery of Yin Yang Power, which allowed him to faintly perceive such things. But he was old now. He no longer had the kinds of opportunities Wang Jian did. A further breakthrough in this lifetime would be difficult, if not impossible, without some new fortuitous encounter.

Shaking off these stray thoughts, Xu Changqing confirmed his diagnosis, then stood up and told Zhang Cheng, "It's just as I said. This is not a problem we can solve."

"Lao Xu, what are you trying to say?" Zhang Cheng asked anxiously.

Old Chen, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. "What Lao Xu means is that he knows someone who *can*."