The sharp sound of soone banging on the iron door shattered the evening quiet, loud enough to be heard clearly from the village entrance. Instantly, the whole village knew soone had co to see Wang Jian for treatnt. The village had just settled down for the night, but the commotion drew many people from their hos, all watching the events on the distant hillside.
Wang Jian and Xu Qian froze mid-al when they heard the noise. Only when they made out the sound of a cry for help did they put down their bowls and chopsticks and go out together.
As soon as he stepped into the yard, Wang Jian’s sharp eyes spotted Heizi. Even though it was dark and Heizi wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, Wang Jian recognized him at a glance. He didn’t know the man who was knocking, but he could tell he was young, probably just over twenty. The two had arrived together, so Wang Jian roughly guessed what was happening. He furrowed his brow and sighed softly.
Seeing Wang Jian erge, Heizi pulled Hu Ziyuan’s arm. "Stop knocking. He’s here."
Following Heizi’s gaze, Hu Ziyuan saw Wang Jian imdiately. "That’s Doctor Wang?"
Heizi nodded, confirming his guess.
As Wang Jian opened the door, Hu Ziyuan lunged forward and grabbed his arm. His face was a mask of grief as he cried out, "Doctor Wang, you have to save my dad!"
Hearing this, Wang Jian looked around, but he couldn’t see the young man’s father anywhere.
Seeing his confusion, Hu Ziyuan quickly explained, "My dad is in the city’s Central Hospital. He’s been placed in the ICU and issued a critical illness notice. The doctors there are out of options."
Wang Jian’s expression hardened. "This happened because you gave him the Ginseng King, didn’t it?"
Hu Ziyuan nodded frantically, his voice cracking. "I only steeped one of its whiskers into a cup of tea. I never thought this would happen."
He was blaming himself.
Wang Jian shook his head. He had sent a warning with Heizi specifically to prevent this kind of situation. Now that it had happened, there was nothing more to say. He could only continue his inquiry. "Can you tell what illness your father had before this?"
"Uh..." Hu Ziyuan hesitated, but he knew the diagnosis. "When he was abroad, the doctors diagnosed him with lung cancer."
"Cancer?" Wang Jian’s face fell. "What stage?"
Hu Ziyuan’s face was deathly pale. "Stage four."
"Ridiculous!" Wang Jian rolled his eyes and said with a sense of resignation. "I’m just a village doctor, as you both know. Your father is already in stage four of lung cancer. Why would you co to ?"
It all made sense now. He finally understood why a single cup of Ginseng tea was enough to push the man to the brink of death. He’d already been handed a death sentence. At this stage, not even chemotherapy could save him. How could a re plant possibly work miracles? And now this. Being supplented by the Ginseng King only served to excite the cancer cells. It wasn’t a cure; it was a death warrant.
Wang Jian could only apologize. "Gentlen, my dical skills are limited. I am powerless to help here. Unless an Immortal descends from the heavens, no one in this world can snatch a life back from stage four cancer. If it were stage one or two, I might have been able to try and stabilize his condition. But now that he’s consud the Ginseng King, it’s as if King Yan has already claid him. Even the Immortals can’t save him now. And I... I’m just a village doctor."
Wang Jian didn’t hold back, laying the situation bare. His Ancient dical Skills were formidable, but they hadn’t completely transcended the frawork of dicine. Against mutated cells like cancer, the Qi he currently possessed was useless.
Suddenly, Wang Jian recalled sothing Xu Changqing had once mused about. The two of them, master and disciple, had been watching a sunrise in the mountains. Xu Changqing had asked Wang Jian if he ever read web novels and what he thought of the people who pursued Immortal Cultivation. He’d wondered if such beings could truly exist. At the ti, Wang Jian had just started his Qi Cultivation and had naturally scoffed at the question. He never expected Xu Changqing to gaze at the rising sun and murmur, "But what if it’s true?" It wasn’t until Wang Jian consud the human pill and felt the Qi inside him begin to mutate in all sorts of ways that he finally understood what Xu Changqing ant by "what if." But even as his Qi continued to transform and grow to an unbelievable degree, he was still a far cry from the concept of an "Immortal" his master had spoken of.
After hearing Wang Jian’s verdict, Hu Ziyuan’s face grew another shade whiter.
"Is there really no hope?" he muttered, his gaze fixed on Wang Jian’s expression.
Heizi stood beside him, worried he might suffer a breakdown and do sothing rash, for which Wang Jian would inevitably be blad. Fortunately, Hu Ziyuan just stared, making no sudden moves. He watched until he saw a flicker in Wang Jian’s expression—a trace of conflict, hesitation, and even regret. It was as if he had grasped sothing.
Hu Ziyuan dropped to his knees directly in front of Wang Jian.
The gesture left both Xu Qian and Wang Jian stunned for a mont. This was the 21st century. While people still knelt to beg for dical treatnt, it was rare to see soone as young as Hu Ziyuan do so.
"What are you doing?" Wang Jian said, deeply troubled. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to save the man. "Kneeling won’t..."
Before he could finish, Hu Ziyuan interrupted, "Doctor Wang, I saw you hesitate just now. Is there a way? Sothing you’re reluctant to say?"
Wang Jian was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Hu Ziyuan to be so perceptive. At his words, even Heizi shot him a sideways glance. Xu Qian was also astonished, shocked at the possibility that Wang Jian might actually have a solution.
Before Wang Jian could answer, she pulled him aside and whispered urgently, "Xiao Jian, don’t you dare do anything rash. That’s cancer, and it’s in the final stages. You’ve never had a single mishap since you opened the clinic. No matter the disease, you’ve been able to cure it completely, with no side effects. But this... this is cancer. That thing isn’t an illness, it’s a monster. If you could cure it, that’d be one thing. The whole world would know your na. But if you fail, people will call you a quack who preys on the desperate. A village doctor daring to treat a terminal cancer patient? What’s the difference between that and murder?"
Her words were harsh, but her eyes shone in the darkness, and her intensity stirred sothing deep within him. He knew, of course, that she was only trying to protect him. And he also knew that what she said was terrifyingly, absolutely correct. This young man’s father could die, but he absolutely could not die under Wang Jian’s care. He couldn’t afford those consequences.
In an instant, Wang Jian made his decision. He gently patted the hand Xu Qian had clenched so tightly, giving her a reassuring look. "Don’t worry," he whispered. "I know my limits."
He then turned back to Hu Ziyuan, glancing first at Heizi, then at the kneeling man. "What I told you before wasn’t a lie. I truly have no way to treat cancer.
"However, if you insist, I can go with you to take a look. But I need to be perfectly clear about this upfront: I cannot cure cancer. My going with you is only to assess the patient’s condition before deciding if anything else can be done. Do not get your hopes up. Don’t think for a second that I can actually accomplish anything. To be honest, I have no hope myself. I’m only offering to go because I pity your situation."
Wang Jian, like Xu Qian, was brutally honest. For a mont, both Heizi and Hu Ziyuan were stunned into silence. Finally, unwilling to let go of this last lifeline, Hu Ziyuan spoke. "Doctor Wang, please don’t worry. No matter the outco, I will never forget your willingness to help. I promise I will not bla you for anything afterward..."
Seeing his resolve, Wang Jian gave a slight nod. He was about to set off with them when he realized Xu Qian, still worried, was determined to follow along. Seeing Xu Qian’s resolute expression, he didn’t try to dissuade her.
The four of them then headed for the hospital.
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