Lin Dong pondered for a brief moment and immediately identified the root cause of the illness.
"Sigh."
Lin Dong looked over Elder Chu and, seeing his body covered in tubes, could not help shaking his head as he said, "The approach is wrong. Come on, remove all these apparatuses."
With that, Lin Dong made to call the nurses to take away the medical equipment on the elder.
At that exact moment, Qin Ming, who had been standing to the side with an indifferent expression and had not spoken until now, suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Ha!"
"Are you saying that the treatment plan formulated by all our expert doctors after so many consultations is wrong?"
Lin Dong replied calmly, "It is indeed wrong."
Qin Ming sneered, "And you're going to unplug the elder's life support as well?"
Lin Dong answered, "When I treat patients, I don't need these things."
Qin Ming ignored Lin Dong, turning his gaze instead to Chu Wanning instead.
"Miss Chu, where on earth did you dig up this fool? Even if you're worried about Elder Chu and turning blindly to any doctor in your desperation, you shouldn't trust an idiot!"
Just then, Chu Mingyu walked in as well and chimed in viciously, "Lin Dong, why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? Are you even worthy of questioning Divine Doctor Qin?"
Chu Mingyu walked up respectfully to Qin Ming, his attitude utterly sycophantic, his voice even turning shrill.
"Divine Doctor Qin, it was my fault for letting this toad offend your eyes. Don't worry, I'll have him thrown out right now!"
No sooner had Chu Mingyu finished speaking than the bodyguards behind him surged forward.
Chu Wanning rebuked angrily, "Who dares!"
Chu Wanning's younger brother had been waiting for this moment; hearing his sister's voice as a signal, he instantly rushed in as well.
The two factions confronted each other inside the elder's room, locked in a stalemate.
Qin Ming seemed accustomed to such internal feuds in great families; he showed little surprise and made no attempt to mediate, merely looking coldly at Chu Wanning as he said, "Miss Chu, it seems you are dead set on letting the elder die."
A flicker of struggle appeared on Chu Wanning's face, and Qin Ming pressed on, "The moment he stepped through that door, he wanted to remove the life support. But you can see the elder's current condition for yourself. Do you think the elder will stand a chance if we follow what he says?"
Pointing at Lin Dong, Qin Ming said word by word, "Listen to him, and the elder won't live past today!"
Chu Wanning looked at her grandfather lying on the hospital bed and said nothing.
Although she and Lin Dong had spent over half a year together, that was perhaps three years ago. She had no idea how much Lin Dong's medical skills had advanced in these three years, or whether he could cure her grandfather.
This wasn't child's play; this was a matter of life and death!
Lifting her head to look at Lin Dong, Chu Wanning asked in a deep voice, "Should I trust you?"
Instead of answering the question directly, Lin Dong looked straight at Qin Ming, a slightly playful tone in his voice, "The Chu Family hangs on your every word, yet the elder doesn't seem to be getting any better."
At this, Qin Ming's expression shifted, and he brazenly defended himself, "This! This is because the elder's illness is too severe, and I still need time!"
Lin Dong gave a cold laugh, looking at Qin Ming as if he were an idiot, "Doctor Qin—and I use the title 'doctor' out of courtesy—may I ask if you have managed to find the root cause of the elder's illness after all these days?"
Qin Ming's brain practically short-circuited, completely unable to answer Lin Dong's question.
Over this period, how many experts had held consultations, yet none of them even knew why the elder had fallen ill—they had merely been maintaining his vital signs temporarily.
He offered a feeble, twisting defense, "I—I am still looking for the root cause, I'll find it very soon."
Seeing this, Lin Dong went on full offensive, "And you still call yourself a doctor? You can't even find the root cause, yet you dare treat patients? After bustling about for so many days and making a fortune from the Chu Family with zero results, I'd say you aren't just a quack—you're murdering people for money!"
Qin Ming blushed furiously, stammering incoherently for a long time.
Lin Dong dealt the coup de grâce, "Let me tell you: the elder isn't sick; he's been poisoned."
Qin Ming was immensely startled and instinctively turned to look at the elder, yet no matter how closely he observed, the elder showed no signs of poisoning whatsoever.
Without waiting for anyone else to ask, Lin Dong walked directly to the elder's side, drew silver needles from inside his tunic, and first sealed the elder's acupuncture points.
Then, placing both hands on the elder's chest, he pressed down firmly. The elder let out a few violent coughs, followed by a large mouthful of stagnant blood which he spewed forth.
The crowd turned pale with fright, worried that something might happen to the elder, and hastily tried to rush forward to support him. But before they could even get close, a pungent, fishy stench permeated the room.
Looking at the blood the elder had spat out, its consistency was extremely thick; this was no fresh blood—it looked almost like jelly.
No normal illness could ever cause blood to turn into such a state. Even a fool would understand now: this was definitely poisoning.
Qin Ming swallowed hard with a face full of awe; his worldview had taken a blow, and he kept muttering to himself, "How can this be? How could it be poisoning? Impossible, this makes no sense."
The crowd raised their heads in unison, all turning their gaze toward Lin Dong.
"He guessed right—the elder really has been poisoned!"
"Spot on!"
"How incredible! All those divine doctors and repeated consultations couldn't find the root cause of the elder's illness, but Lin Dong figured it out with just a single glance. What a truly miraculous person!"
At that moment, even though Chu Mingyu's skin was as thick as a city wall, he no longer dared to question Lin Dong.
Gazing coldly at Qin Ming, Lin Dong said, "Now, you can take your equipment and get lost!"
Qin Ming no longer dared to utter a word. Swallowing hard, he hurriedly waved to the nurses to carry away all the equipment and slunk away in disgrace.
Knowing that the elder was saved, light finally returned to Chu Wanning's eyes. She quickly instructed those around her, "Everyone out, stop getting in the way!"
No one dared to delay the elder's treatment, and everyone filed out of the ward in orderly fashion.
Once everything had quieted down, Lin Dong laid the elder flat once more and removed all the silver needles.
He planted a circle of needles around the elder's heart, then slowly drew out the toxic blood. Afterward, he wrote a prescription based on the elder's condition and told Chu Wanning and the others to rush and get the medicine.
Once all the toxic blood had been drained and the herbal decoction administered in time, the elder opened his eyes from his coma after less than two hours.
"Wan... Wan..."
Catching sight of Chu Wanning, he tried to call out her name, but being still too weak, he couldn't articulate it clearly.
Chu Wanning wept tears of joy, quickly clasping her grandfather's hand to soothe him, "Grandfather, I'm here, it's alright, it's alright! Lin Dong, the disciple of the old divine doctor—the very Lin Dong you arranged to be my husband—has cured your illness!"