Chapter 844 — The More He Treated, the Worse It Got

"Naturally I have heard of such things. A relative of the Zhen family is himself a skilled Mystic Rank practitioner..." Zhen Dazhou nodded as he spoke, though there was no small amount of boasting in this. That Mystic Rank expert was no relative of his at all, but someone he had once hired to deal with an enemy — a matter of mutual interest, nothing more.

"Mm, since you have heard of it, this will be easy enough to explain!" the Medicine King continued. "Wei Zhao used true qi to seal Zhen Yingjun's meridians, causing a blockage in the channels, and that is how his present condition came about. It looks like the aftereffects of a stroke, but in truth it is not — it is far more complicated than a stroke!"

"I see!" Hearing the Medicine King's explanation, Zhen Dazhou grew all the more anxious. "Then how is it to be cured?"

"Only by using my acupuncture together with my true qi to dissolve each blockage one by one! But this consumes a great deal of my internal power, and it is not something that can be cured overnight — so the process is rather complicated as well!" The Medicine King sighed. "To be honest, this patient is not an easy one to take on!"

"Medicine King, you must save my son, I beg you! If you wash your hands of him, what is to become of Yingjun? His crooked mouth and lame leg may not affect his daily life, but when he goes out in public, think of the mockery he will endure!" Zhen Dazhou was frantic. "As for the consultation fee, everything is negotiable! I beg you, have mercy!"

"Because I have a bit of a grudge with Wei Zhao, and your son happens to be the first patient to come to my newly opened practice, I shall make an exception and treat him!" said the Medicine King. "But let us be clear beforehand — I am not a charity. I must charge a certain consultation fee. For each visit, let us set it at one million!"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Zhen Dazhou nodded hurriedly. A million per visit — that was not much at all, he thought. His son's illness was far too complex; even ten million would not buy a cure elsewhere!

"Good. Since you agree, then today I shall first transfer the true qi within your son's body — from his legs to his hands, from his mouth to his ears. That way it will become merely a crooked ear and a useless hand, and on the surface he will appear as normal as anyone else! As for the ear and the hand, I will slowly dissolve those for you in time!" said the Medicine King.

"Fine, that would be more than wonderful!" When Zhen Dazhou heard that the true qi could even be transferred, and that after the transfer it would hardly be noticeable, he was delighted. The ear and the hand could recover slowly later — so long as his son looked normal on the outside, that was enough!

"Good. Since you agree, I shall begin the treatment now!" The Medicine King nodded, took out his silver needles, and prepared to begin.

In truth, Wei Zhao had merely administered a light punishment. He had never intended to create some baffling and incurable ailment, so the Medicine King could easily undo it. And what the Medicine King called "transferring" was simply curing Zhen Yingjun's mouth and legs, then using the same method to seal the meridians near his ears and hands!

It sounded as though he had transferred the ailment, but in reality it was all to create an opportunity to fleece him again next time! Otherwise, that one million really was a bit too little! The Medicine King had already set his goal: to squeeze at least ten million out of Zhen Yingjun.

Very quickly, under the Medicine King's acupuncture, Zhen Yingjun's mouth and legs returned to normal — only one ear had gone deaf, and one hand had lost all feeling!

But these defects were hidden ones, invisible from the outside. Zhen Yingjun and Zhen Dazhou were naturally overflowing with gratitude toward the Medicine King. After paying the consultation fee and agreeing on a time for the next visit, they took their leave in high spirits.

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

"Young Master Bing, I have tentatively decided to wring ten million out of the Zhen father and son. What do you think?" The Medicine King told Zhao Qibing his plan.

"Ten million? That little?" Zhao Qibing frowned. "I hear Zhen Dazhou is very rich — assets over a hundred million. You should at least get half of that, shouldn't you? Fifty million!"

"Hisss..." The Medicine King was startled. He thought to himself, Young Master Bing is truly a ruthless man! Far more ruthless than I am. Ten million already seemed like a lot to me, and Young Master Bing casually opens his mouth with fifty million? Still, the Medicine King truly could not fathom how Zhen Yingjun's trifling ailments could be worth fifty million. He could not help asking, "Young Master Bing, one million per visit, ten visits makes ten million — isn't that already plenty?"

"Are you stupid or what?" Zhao Qibing glared. "When you treat him, can't you conjure up a few other ailments? That shouldn't be difficult for you, should it? Do I really need to teach you this? One look at that Zhen Yingjun and you can tell he's steeped in wine and women. Make him impotent and see whether he'll pay a fortune for help! Or, if you're afraid of suspicion, then go straight for Zhen Dazhou — make the old bastard's sexual function fail!"

"I understand, Young Master Bing!" Hearing Zhao Qibing's words, the Medicine King was suddenly enlightened. He thought to himself, even a black-hearted doctor like me is no match for Young Master Bing's blackness. Young Master Bing is simply too ruthless!

News that Zhen Yingjun had contracted a strange illness was known to nearly all the notables of Songshan City. The commotion back then had been considerable, and it was no secret that Zhen Dazhou had entrusted Zou Tiandi to seek physicians far and wide! But that Zhen Yingjun's illness had been cured by a newly emerged "Medicine King Zhao" — this news dealt these people a tremendous shock!

Previously, everyone in Songshan City knew that Guan Xuemin was a miracle doctor, yet they had never expected another Medicine King Zhao to appear, seemingly even more formidable than Guan Xuemin! After all, everyone had seen Zhen Yingjun's condition — crooked mouth, lame leg — and he had been examined at the hospital with no remedy found. Yet after a few needles from Medicine King Zhao, a miracle occurred!

Zhen Yingjun's leg was no longer lame, and his mouth no longer crooked. As for the deafness and the numb hand, Zhen Dazhou was unwilling to speak of them outside, saying only that his son had recovered! In this way, it served as an advertisement for Medicine King Zhao! For a time, everyone knew that a Medicine King Zhao had emerged in Songshan City, a physician of extraordinary skill who was in no way inferior to Dr. Guan — indeed, perhaps his better. And so Medicine King Zhao's fame was established with a single resounding shot!

From then on, whenever the wealthy notables of society wanted medical treatment, the first person they thought of was Medicine King Zhao. After all, Medicine King Zhao had a proven case of cure — Zhen Yingjun was indeed now lively and sprightly...

Wei Zhao learned the news at the earliest moment through Fatty Lai and Guan Xuemin, but he paid it no mind. Zhao Qibing had begun treating patients to make money, and that had little to do with Wei Zhao. 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 he was cured, then so be it.

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