Chapter 2823 - 2885: Fraudster?

There’s no shortage of Master Physicians in Traditional Chinese Medicine; in Huaxia’s thousands of years of medical history there are bound to be many treasures, and of course plenty of dross as well. But when it comes to treating cancer, even if people take medicines that may or may not work, or even toxic drugs, Li Yifei wouldn’t say much. To use fire needles to scorch patients who are already in unbearable pain all over again—that is just... utterly vile.

You have to understand, cancer patients—especially those in the middle and late stages—are extremely fragile. The after?effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy are also serious. Often all the indicators in the body drop, and the immune system sinks even lower. Let alone large?area burns, which consume a huge amount of the body’s energy and cells—sometimes even a small wound can lead to infection, and even death.

On the way, listening to the little girl’s father talk, Wu Shuwei kept showing deep distress. She also couldn’t figure out how something like this could be happening. She couldn’t help saying, "Are these people still doctors? With so many patients and families, hasn’t anyone exposed them?"

"There must have been, but most of the patients are from out of town. He promises that if he can’t cure them, he’ll refund half of the treatment fees. That way many families probably can’t make trouble," the little girl’s mother said.

"What if someone dies? Cancer patients can die at any time," Wu Shuwei asked.

"Then there’s even less of a problem. The patients who come here are already in despair, completely out of options, just like we were back then. Compared with the hospital’s treatment costs, the fees he charges are really very low, so people generally just come with a ’let’s just give it a try’ mindset!" the little girl’s father said.

Li Yifei nodded, agreeing with him, and added, "We’ll know once we get there. If it’s fake, then this person is truly disgusting."

When Li Yifei treated the little girl, he introduced himself as a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. So?called Traditional Chinese Medicine is the medical art of Zhonghua, the crystallization of countless generations of medical practice over thousands of years. Li Yifei himself believes in the medical skills of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He also hopes to promote the genuine medical arts, not all kinds of scams and frauds.

The car pulled up in front of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic that claimed it could treat all kinds of cancer. After Li Yifei and the others got out, they saw two rows of long benches placed at the entrance. A few elderly men and women were sitting on them, dressed very thinly, completely motionless, faces turned up to the sky, arms posed with their palms facing upward, fingers still making pinching gestures. People passing by on the street seemed used to the sight, didn’t even glance over. It was the first time Li Yifei and Wu Shuwei had seen anything like this, and they found it very strange—what were these people doing?

"They’re receiving treatment!" the little girl’s father said in a low voice.

Perplexed, Wu Shuwei asked, "How is this treatment? Sunbathing?"

"Yes. Supposedly it has something to do with Yin Yang. At noon the sun is at its peak—seems that’s the idea," the little girl’s father replied.

"But they’re dressed way too lightly. Elderly people already have poor blood circulation; their limbs and bodies tend to feel cold. And they’re doing this in weather this chilly?" Wu Shuwei couldn’t help feeling a bit shocked.

"I don’t know," the little girl’s father said honestly. So Wu Shuwei looked to Li Yifei. He patted her hand and said, "Let’s go in and take a look first."

Those old folks were clearly of advanced age. As sons and daughters, watching your own parents suffer like this—who knows what they must be feeling...

This was a Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic, two stories high. The ground floor was where they did all kinds of Traditional Chinese Medicine Physical Therapy. Well, the term "physical therapy" was basically something they invented. The upper floor was specifically for treating cancer. Usually there were too many cancer patients seeking treatment, so you had to make an appointment in advance; otherwise coming here was a waste of time. And Doctor Dan had a quirk: once you booked a slot, you had to show up at that exact time. If you were late, he wouldn’t see you—even if he wasn’t busy.

This nasty temper meant that any patient wanting cancer treatment had to show up precisely on time. Since Li Yifei and the others didn’t have an appointment, they ran into some resistance as soon as they went in. Two female "doctors" in white coats blocked them and asked why they were there.

"Doctor, my daughter was treated here!" the little girl’s father said.

"Treated here?" The female doctor looked at them suspiciously, her gaze finally landing on the little girl. The doctor beside her quickly said, "Oh, it’s you. I remember when we did our follow?up a few days ago, you said your daughter’s illness was cured? That’s wonderful!"

At this point she couldn’t help raising her voice, calling out, "Folks, look at this little girl. She’s one of the patients we treated here. Cancer, right? Late stage cancer. Once she was treated by our Doctor Dan—see, how long has it been? And she’s already completely better."

The little girl’s father was about to explain, but Li Yifei gave him a look, signaling that there was no need. He smiled and said, "That’s why we came back, to have Doctor Dan do a follow?up check."

"Great, I’ll go report to him right away. Doctor Dan is treating a patient right now," the female doctor said, beaming, clearly very pleased. With that, she turned and headed upstairs. Li Yifei used voice transmission to speak to the others, "It’s fine, let them say whatever they like. We’ll observe first."

The others nodded. Wu Shuwei looked around and saw that the first floor had more than ten beds. On them people were either lying down, crouching, or holding some strange posture; all the beds were occupied. There were also some family members accompanying them. Some had shiny needles stuck in their bodies, while others had fire cups attached to their bodies, heads, or certain areas. Correction: they should be called Blood Cups, because those cups were all filled with bright red blood, looking like chunks of blood tofu. Some were even completely full, obviously having drawn a lot of blood.

A trace of pity showed on her face. Although she wasn’t trained in medicine, in her view this kind of method couldn’t possibly cure illness. Consider this: most of the people in the room were elderly. Their blood vessels, skin—every function was already compromised; their ability to produce blood was weak. To draw this much blood in one go, and forcibly at that—she really couldn’t believe that this could treat disease.

Looking at the patients under "treatment," they seemed to be in great pain. Some were even groaning; it was hard to tell whether it was their original suffering or pain caused by the treatment. Wu Shuwei tugged on Li Yifei’s sleeve. He nodded, indicating he’d seen it too. A strong burnt smell filled the air, like food scorched in a pan. Mixed in was a faint smell of meat, but that part was very light; mostly it was smoke.

The smell was drifting down from upstairs, so it seemed that this Dan Guimin was currently "treating" cancer patients.

"Doctor Dan says you can come up, but he’s in the middle of a treatment right now. You’ll have to wait a bit; he’ll be done soon," the female doctor came down, her face wreathed in smiles. Then she turned to the patients around her and said, "Doctor Dan’s medical skills are beyond question, as you can all see—the results speak for themselves. So, if any of your relatives or friends have cancer that regular hospitals can’t cure, you might as well try it here. There’s always a chance of failure... but there’s also hope."

Hearing this, Li Yifei gave a faint smile and nodded to the female doctor. Then he started up the stairs. Soon he reached the upper floor, where the smoke was even thicker. In a box that appeared specially made, many wooden sticks were stuck upright. These sticks were the roots of various medicinal herbs. Li Yifei could recognize some of them. But these herbs—or woody plants—each had different effects. Merely burning them with fire until they were like charcoal, then stabbing them straight into a patient’s body—Li Yifei honestly couldn’t see how that could have any therapeutic value.

As they came up, a doctor stepped out from one of the cubicles. He looked to be around fifty, though rumor had it Doctor Dan was already sixty, yet looked quite young. As soon as he came out and met Li Yifei’s gaze, Doctor Dan broke into a broad smile and took the initiative to extend his hand, saying, "Hello there, I heard you came to give feedback. So, completely cured, right?"

As he spoke, his eyes genuinely filled with glee, fixed on the little girl.

"And this is...?" Doctor Dan remembered the little girl’s parents. After shaking their hands, he looked at Li Yifei and asked.

"This is..." the little girl’s father stammered a bit, so Li Yifei introduced himself: "Hello, I heard about Doctor Dan’s reputation and came especially to pay you a visit."

"A visit? Oh. Have a seat, I’ve still got patients to treat. We can talk when I’m done," Doctor Dan’s manner cooled noticeably as he turned back toward the room.

"Doctor Dan, may I observe your treatment?" Li Yifei asked from behind, already following him in.

"No. The treatment process is, first of all, not very pleasant to look at, and second, we have to protect the patients’ privacy, right? So you can’t watch," Doctor Dan said, coming to a stop.

It sounded reasonable enough, but Li Yifei had already seen through Doctor Dan’s true face. At the very least, he was not a Cultivator, because there wasn’t the slightest hint of True Qi Fluctuation on him. That meant he wasn’t a Cultivator. Of course, there was a tiny possibility his cultivation was far above Li Yifei’s, vastly higher, so he could conceal himself and avoid detection—like that mysterious master of the past from Zhonghua.

But was that likely? Li Yifei didn’t believe it. So he could essentially be certain that this Doctor Dan was a fraud. Whether he was cheating for money or fame, in any case he was a con artist—especially considering those elderly patients downstairs, subjected to those "treatments." If they hadn’t died, it was because their bodies were robust and they had luck on their side; accelerating death was the real outcome of those methods.

Li Yifei said, "Doctor Dan, I’m a journalist. After hearing what happened to my niece, I wanted to come do an interview with you, so more people can know about you."

"A journalist? Then absolutely not. Journalists aren’t welcome here. You lot love to make up nonsense reports. I don’t want you here. Get out!" Doctor Dan’s expression changed even more abruptly as he marched over, trying to push Li Yifei out.

Of course he couldn’t push him, and Li Yifei had no intention of leaving. He simply looked at Doctor Dan.