Chapter Twelve: Redirecting Calamity Eastward

Because she was harboring resentment, as soon as she entered the emergency room, her tone was laced with complaint: “What kind of patient is this, anyway? Why did so many doctors have to be called in?”

At that very moment, a swift-moving shadow suddenly lunged at her, pinning her to the ground, then bit down hard on her shoulder.

Never before had Wang Miao’er experienced anything like this. She was so terrified that for a moment she was completely stunned, then began shrieking and struggling frantically beneath her assailant.

“What are you all standing around for? Get him off me!” Seeing the doctors and nurses frozen in shock, Wang Miao’er screamed hysterically.

Snapping out of their daze, the medical staff hurriedly dragged the attacker away. Only then did Wang Miao’er regain her senses. Clutching her wounded shoulder, she gritted her teeth and said, “Is this the patient?”

The man now restrained on the hospital bed by the doctors and nurses appeared to be around thirty years old. His face was tinged with an inexplicable bluish pallor, his eyes bloodshot and wild, pupils dilated to an unnatural size. Strange fluid dribbled from the corner of his mouth, and he ground his teeth incessantly, resembling a mad beast.

“Let me go! I want to eat it!” the man raved, babbling incoherently about devouring something.

Wang Miao’er, injured and furious, glared as a nurse hurried to treat her shoulder wound. No one had expected the deranged man’s bite to be so vicious—it had broken the skin.

“Bring the sedative, quickly!” a male doctor, seeing how dire the situation had become, ordered a tranquilizer for the frenzied patient. Meanwhile, the man’s family members huddled together, sobbing uncontrollably.

After the sedative was administered, the man finally calmed down. They ran a battery of tests, only to be astonished when the results revealed nothing abnormal.

“Honey, do you think our son could be possessed by some evil spirit?” the man's mother, eyes red with tears, nervously clutched her husband’s arm. Her lips trembled for a long moment before she uttered something that made the surrounding doctors want to laugh.

Having had her wound properly dressed, Wang Miao’er entered the ward just in time to overhear this. Her brows knitted in annoyance, she snapped at the middle-aged woman, “In this day and age, who still believes in possession? It’s ridiculous.”

“I was just saying... My son has never acted like this before,” the man’s mother stammered, cowed by Wang Miao’er’s rebuke. She lowered her head in shame, her entire bearing one of utter dejection.

At this point, an older male doctor glanced at Wang Miao’er, then addressed the patient’s parents, “The patient’s condition is unclear and will require hospitalization for observation. We’ll convene a team of doctors to discuss the case. There’s no need for you to worry.”

Hearing this, the man’s parents managed a faint smile, nodded, and remained in the ward to keep vigil over their son.

“This case is truly strange. Didn’t they say nothing like this has ever happened before? Yet after all our tests, nothing turns up. What on earth is going on?” The man’s bizarre condition was so unusual that the hospital gathered every available doctor to discuss it, but after a lengthy debate, they reached no conclusion—the test results showed nothing wrong with his body.

Despite this, the man was clearly exhibiting signs of madness and had even bitten Wang Miao’er. He was obviously ill!

A heavy silence descended upon the conference room. Suddenly, Wang Miao’er let out a cold snort. “Just now, the patient’s mother said he was possessed. If that’s the case, there’s nothing our hospital can do. Maybe the newly opened Hall of Kindness across the street could help.”

“Dr. Wang, we’re modern doctors. We believe in science. How can you talk about ghosts and spirits? Besides, that so-called Hall of Kindness has been selling fake remedies for years—how could they possibly cure a real illness?” The attending physician frowned and reproached Wang Miao’er.

Wang Miao’er had merely been venting her frustration, but after being chastised by her superior, her mood soured even further. The meeting ended without any resolution.

In the end, the hospital decided to keep the man stabilized with sedatives for now and look for other solutions.

But Wang Miao’er had other ideas. She returned to the ward, cleared her throat, and, with a gentle expression, addressed the patient’s parents: “You mentioned earlier that your son might be possessed?”

Seeing the same female doctor who had scolded her before reappear, the man’s mother hesitated, then nodded, only to shake her head immediately after.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” Wang Miao’er said, her tone suddenly sympathetic. “After a series of tests, we’ve found nothing wrong. So it’s entirely possible, as you said, that your son is possessed.”

The man’s mother froze, then burst into tears. “I told him not to go up that mountain to gather that herb, but he insisted. Now he’s come down with this strange illness—what are we to do?”

“What’s the point in talking about it now? Not even the hospital can figure out what’s wrong with our son,” the father said gloomily.

At this, Wang Miao’er spoke again: “Our hospital may not be able to help, but that doesn’t mean nowhere else can. Why not try the newly opened Hall of Kindness across the street? I’ve heard the proprietor there is quite skilled—she might be able to cure your son’s possession.”

Her words were like a beacon of hope for the desperate parents. They exchanged incredulous glances before urgently confirming, “Doctor, are you serious? The Hall of Kindness across the street can really cure our son?”

“Of course. Go see Madam Xie Qingtang—she’ll be able to cure your son’s possession. If she can’t, it just means she doesn’t want to.” Wang Miao’er’s lips curled into a sly smile.

She hadn’t forgotten how Xie Qingtang had humiliated her in public the day before. Deep down, she loathed traditional medicine. Now that they couldn’t cure this so-called possession, she was more than happy to send the case to Xie Qingtang, hoping it would ruin the Hall of Kindness’s reputation just as it was opening its doors.

With this dark thought, Wang Miao’er acted immediately. The patient’s desperate parents, full of trust, hurriedly completed the discharge paperwork.

Since the man was still unconscious from the sedative, Wang Miao’er even kindly lent them a wheelchair so they could take him to the Hall of Kindness for treatment.

“What was the name the doctor mentioned just now? Did you remember it, dear?” the man’s father muttered to his wife as they rolled their son away.