Chapter 134: Task Complete

Outside the resuscitation room, Evan can only wait. Online, Clara is running out of answers.

“Director Du.” Leo Cao hurried to meet him and gave him a quick, quiet explanation.

David Du nodded slightly, then walked over. He greeted Guo first, laughing. “Director! Welcome. We're glad to have you here to offer your guidance.”

Guo held out his hand without smiling. “Hello, Director Du.”

Du shook it. His tone was especially courteous. “Director Guo, I didn't expect this patient to have brought you here too.”

Guo nodded. “I just happened to be here, that's all. Director Du, this patient is extremely important to the police. You must do everything you can to save her.”

Du immediately grew serious. “Rest assured. We'll do everything possible.”

He went to ask a nearby nurse about the patient's condition.

Evan Xu stood outside the door too, his brow tightly furrowed.

Whether a patient sought Chinese or Western medical treatment, earlier intervention always offered an advantage. The sooner treatment began, the better the results. Once things had deteriorated beyond a certain point, no doctor could be confident.

But there was no way Evan could join the emergency treatment now.

They all waited outside.

Du stood there a while, thinking, then came over. “Dr. Xu, have you read the medical records?”

Evan shook his head. “No.”

Du turned to the nurse beside him. “Please bring Dr. Xu a copy.”

The nurse brought the records over.

Evan began reading. The patient had spent years on the run, and no earlier treatment records could be found. There were only the records from the county Chinese medicine hospital. Its diagnosis was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with cor pulmonale. Both her heart failure and her respiratory failure were already extremely severe. This was unquestionably an advanced, critical case.^[1]

They had tried all sorts of treatments without success. She had been semiconscious when she was admitted. Then, unexpectedly, the organ failure had worsened sharply that morning. She had been taken for emergency treatment before there was time to transfer her to a higher-level hospital.

Evan looked through the clinical findings and conclusions. It really was serious…

Seeing that he had finished, Du asked, “Dr. Xu, if you were treating her in there, what would you do?”

Marcus Cao looked over.

So did Guo.

Evan thought for a moment. “It's hard to say when I haven't seen the patient. But in a critical case like this, with heart failure and respiratory failure, her body must be surrounded by layer upon layer of yin cold.

“She urgently needs a large dose of fuzi to break through the yin cold and restore yang. Only then would she have a chance. If yang returns, she lives; if it leaves, she dies. We also need to prevent collapse. Poge Jiuxin Tang in large doses should fit the pattern. As for the fuzi, I doubt we could use less than 150 g in a single batch of the decoction.”^[2]

Guo drew in a sharp breath. He was stunned. Only a short while ago, he'd praised Evan's caution for using just 10 g. Now the dose had shot through the roof.

Du glanced at Guo's face and said nothing.

Marcus couldn't help asking, “Dr. Xu, are you confident?”

Evan shook his head. “I can't say. With a patient this close to death, no one could claim to be sure of saving her. It's best to start treatment sooner. The earlier we can intervene, the more confidence we'll have and the better our chances.”

“Can Dr. Xu help with the emergency treatment?” Marcus asked.

Du looked at Guo, then gave Marcus a slight shake of his head.

It seemed that Guang'anmen Hospital in Beijing was the only hospital in the country with a Chinese medicine emergency department. Other hospitals wouldn't let Chinese medicine doctors take part in emergency treatment. This hospital, in particular, had neither procedures nor a precedent for it. There was no possibility of letting Evan in now.^[3]

Evan sighed softly. He wasn't very confident either. With a critical patient poised between life and death, he had only a forty percent chance of saving her. If Dr. Li were handling the case, his experience would give him a sixty percent chance or so. Evan was still far behind him.

Marcus watched the resuscitation room anxiously too.

Before long, it was noon.

Guo's wife had finished one batch of medicine. A nurse reported that her pain had stopped and she was sleeping peacefully.

The chapter's NovelPhoenix publication was copied here without the author's consent, while reading it there supports their work.

Guo was greatly relieved. He looked at Evan differently now. In the end, doctors had to prove themselves through results. A Chinese medicine doctor who could produce results after a single batch had demonstrated his ability.

Evan found time to check on her too. The pain had indeed stopped, though the surging qi hadn't quite settled. The yellow tongue coating, a sign of false heat in the upper burner, had disappeared. Since the formula was working, there was no reason to change it. He told Leo to prescribe another three batches.^[4]

After seeing her, Evan returned to the resuscitation room. He didn't dare go back to the clinic yet. If the doctors decided there was no hope, perhaps he might get a chance to try.

He only hoped the patient could be brought out of immediate danger… If he could take over then, his chances would be better. As things stood, he had little confidence himself.

The wait stretched past noon.

Evan had been at the Chinese medicine hospital for a long time now. Guo hadn't left. Neither had Director Du.

Every so often, a nurse came out of the resuscitation room with an update. None of the news was good.

Their hearts sank as they listened.

So did Evan's. Dr. Li really had saved many patients whom modern medicine had given up on. But that was Dr. Li. With a patient this close to death, he might have a sixty or seventy percent chance. Evan had only forty percent.

If they really did conclude there was no hope, even letting him try wouldn't give him much of a chance. He might still be unable to save her!

Now saving one person really could save ten thousand others. This bastard's life had become terribly precious.

Evan was so anxious his scalp tingled.

That afternoon, the battle on Weibo was still raging. DrXuChineseMedicine's account had been completely overwhelmed. Dr. Cinnamon had won outright. The outcome had seemed settled, with no further changes to come.

At home, Clara Zhang was utterly dejected. She'd spent hours arguing with people attacking Chinese medicine, but there were far too many of them. She was so angry she wanted to uninstall Weibo. She really didn't know what else to do.

At precisely 1:00 p.m., the major WeChat public account for women, “Undimmed Starlight,” published its article for the day: “Women, No One Will Care for Your Body but You—Not Even Certain Medical Bloggers.”^[5]

The article was about the bullshit Dr. Cinnamon had been spouting.

The Abbess had made her move. A professional digital media company like hers wasn't limited to Clara's baiting tactics and lone efforts. They had an entire publicity network.

The online storm gathered force again.

At the county Chinese medicine hospital:

Congratulations, Inheritor. You have completed the task of using your knowledge of Chinese medicine to debunk Dr. Cinnamon's claims, making a substantial impact online. You will receive a special reward.

The system's sudden notification left Evan stunned. What had Clara done this time? How had he suddenly completed the task?

Special reward issued: one session in the Clinical Training Room. The Inheritor may choose the type of illness and the treatment environment.

Evan's pupils contracted slightly. He abruptly turned toward the resuscitation room door.

Reader Notes

Reader Notes

1. ↩︎ The diagnosis in the records. As in the previous chapter, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis means lung scarring of unknown cause. Cor pulmonale concerns failure of the right side of the heart associated with disease of the lungs or their circulation. Respiratory failure means that the lungs cannot provide adequate support for oxygen delivery. These are related problems, but none of the names means that the heart has stopped. The records establish this particular patient's reported condition; Evan still has not examined her. Sources: NHLBI — Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; MedlinePlus — Cor pulmonale.
2. ↩︎ Restoring yang and preventing collapse. Yin cold and yang describe a traditional functional framework. Evan proposes warming treatment to restore failing yang and secure vital function; “collapse” here is not simply bleeding or cardiac arrest. Poge Jiuxin Tang is a named decoction formula used in this tradition. Fuzi is a processed aconite lateral-root medicine. Aconite can cause serious poisoning, including heart-rhythm disturbances, and processing and preparation affect its toxicity. The 150 g figure belongs to Evan's hypothetical plan. Neither the sources nor the chapter establish it as a safe dose or show it being administered. Sources: WHO — TCM terminology, entries 2562 and 2845; Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine journal — Formula background, §2.1.3 (in Chinese); Hong Kong Department of Health — Aconite identity and toxicity (in Chinese).
3. ↩︎ Chinese medicine and emergency departments. The nationwide claim is retained from the novel, including its tentative “it seemed.” It is not a verified account of hospital practice. Guang'anmen's own history dates its emergency department to 1980; Longhua Hospital in Shanghai describes an emergency department founded in the 1970s and an approach combining Chinese and Western medicine. Those histories do not support the claim of a single institution. This fictional county hospital's lack of procedures and precedent remains the immediate obstacle in the scene. Sources: Guang'anmen Hospital — Emergency department (in Chinese); Longhua Hospital — Emergency department history (in Chinese).
4. ↩︎ Pain relief and the remaining pattern. The surging qi recalls the previous chapter's bentun: a sensation of upward rushing from the lower abdomen. The upper burner is the upper division of the traditional three-burner functional scheme. “False heat” means heat-like signs interpreted as masking an underlying cold pattern, rather than imaginary symptoms. Evan considers the vanished tongue coating and remaining surging sensation separately. His decision to continue the same formula follows that partial response; relief of pain is not presented as the disappearance of every symptom. Source: WHO — TCM terminology, entries 207–210, 408–411 and 2170.
5. ↩︎ A public-account article. WeChat public accounts let individuals and organizations publish content for followers. This is an article intended for a readership, rather than a private message to Evan. The shift from Clara's Weibo arguments to an established publisher with a publicity network matters to the reversal. “Undimmed Starlight” continues the serial's translation of the fictional account name; it is distinct from the company's name, Starlight Culture and Media. The scale and effect of its campaign come from the novel. Source: Tencent — Weixin Official Accounts.