"I'll treat the patient right here, and you can verify it immediately. If I fail to heal him, you can call the police at any time!" Li Se said with full confidence.
"Oh really!"
The doctor was a bit surprised. Were scammers nowadays this brazen? Daring to let him verify on the spot? He immediately sneered, "Fine, but if you can't heal him, I will call the police for sure. You'll end up in jail then!"
"And if I do heal him?" Li Se retorted sarcastically.
"What do you want then?" The doctor didn't take him seriously at all. It was laughable, they were already preparing for the end of life, how could this kid possibly heal him? He was just wasting time. However, teaching this kid a lesson was perfectly fine. He wanted to show this kid what the true depths of human wickedness were.
"It's simple. Kneel down and apologize," Li Se said calmly.
The doctor's expression changed slightly.
"What are you afraid of? Just kneel down and apologize," another doctor said decisively. Then he turned to the first doctor and said, "Dr. Cao, he can't possibly heal him. He's just putting on a show."
Dr. Cao nodded, looked at Li Se, and sneered, "Alright, I'll see how you bring the dead back to life!"
Li Se no longer paid attention to Dr. Cao. Instead, he looked at Madam Zheng and said, "Since they have already declared him beyond saving and are preparing for the end, why don't you let me try?"
Madam Zheng hesitated.
"Mom, let him try." Zheng An'an, for some reason, felt a bit of trust towards this Li Se. She always felt that he seemed very confident. Besides, this was recommended by Imperial Physician Wen. It couldn't be that Imperial Physician Wen was trying to trick her, could it?
Madam Zheng nodded, but still warned him, "You better not mess around. If anything goes wrong, I'll hold you responsible!"
Li Se smiled, "Madam Zheng, is it? Wait until later when you'll be begging me!"
With that, he walked towards the sickbed, and several silver needles appeared in his hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Dr. Cao saw Li Se holding silver needles and immediately shouted, "You're planning to stab the patient with silver needles? Do you even have an acupuncture license? You dare to perform acupuncture on a patient just because you've studied traditional Chinese medicine for a few years? You're truly laughable. Even if this patient is beyond saving, it's not for you to trample on!"
"How can young people nowadays be so bold?"
"Exactly, they're completely messing around!"
"They probably just learned a little bit and think they're great."
"Most likely a scammer!"
"..."
These Western doctors were all sneering.
Clearly, none of them believed Li Se could perform acupuncture. This was not surprising. As Western doctors, they simply didn't believe that Traditional Chinese Medicine could treat serious illnesses. For serious illnesses, one had to rely on Western medicine.
Admittedly, some old TCM practitioners had skill, but they were definitely the ones with white hair. Since ancient times, there had never been a young TCM practitioner who was as skilled as the elderly ones. But Western medicine was different. Western medicine had been standardized. Most diagnoses relied on medical equipment, whereas TCM relied on experience.
Madam Zheng, seeing Li Se about to use silver needles, also felt a hint of anger, "Are you trying to kill him?"
"All of you, shut up!"
Li Se detested it most when people chattered around him while he was trying to treat a patient. He reprimanded, "If anything goes wrong, you can call the police. Do not disturb my acupuncture!"
"Too arrogant!" Dr. Cao was somewhat angered. How could this young man be so presumptuous, even daring to yell at them? He had no manners at all. Were all scammers this arrogant nowadays?
Li Se ignored them further and began the acupuncture. The silver needles, carrying true qi, pierced into the old man's body. The tails of the silver needles began to tremble.
At this moment, a Western doctor who recognized the technique cried out in surprise, "The silver needles are trembling... This... This is Qi manipulation of needles?"
"What is Qi manipulation of needles?" Many white coats were bewildered.
"It's when, during acupuncture, there's a subtle fluctuation of qi, causing the silver needles to tremble. This is used to communicate with the patient's meridians and achieve the purpose of healing. I'd only read about it before and always thought it was fake. I never expected to see it today!" that doctor exclaimed in astonishment.
Dr. Cao and the others' expressions changed. Could this kid's medical skills be that profound? But soon they felt it was unlikely. This was definitely a trick. Even if Li Se was truly skilled, he couldn't possibly heal this old man!
This was after their precise diagnosis. Since they had already diagnosed him as beyond hope, then he was definitely beyond hope. No matter how skilled TCM was, how could a few needle insertions bring him back? That was absolutely impossible!
Thinking of this, Dr. Cao completely relaxed, sneering repeatedly, "I want to see how you heal this dying man!"
Initially, he used a few ordinary silver needles. Later, Li Se took out golden needles. He hadn't used these golden needles for some time. He performed the Returning Yang Needle Technique.
This old man was indeed close to death, showing signs of pseudo-heavenly decay. However, this pseudo-heavenly decay was still treatable. But even if he was successfully treated, he wouldn't live much longer, perhaps at most two more years.
After a set of Returning Yang Golden Needle techniques were performed, the old man's face visibly became much more rosy, and he was no longer in so much pain. He looked at Li Se with some excitement and said, "Tha... Thank you very much!"
"Grandpa!"
Zheng An'an was extremely excited because she could see her grandfather visibly recovering.
Madam Zheng was also astonished, almost disbelieving, her eyes even turning a little red.
"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible. I need a full examination!" Dr. Cao genuinely did not believe it.
"This is definitely a last burst of energy before death!" one doctor asserted confidently.
Li Se sneered, "Then you all check him thoroughly!"
Soon, Dr. Cao and the others went to examine him. As they checked, their faces turned pale. The patient's condition had clearly improved significantly, at least much better than when they had declared him beyond saving and prepared for the end. It was as if he had come back to life.
"This must be the effect of our initial treatment. After all, many medications take time to work!" Dr. Cao immediately took the credit for himself.
"You are truly shameless!" Li Se mocked.
Madam Zheng was not a fool. She immediately knelt before Li Se, thanking him profusely, "Thank you, thank you. If it weren't for you, my father..."
Li Se had originally intended to make things difficult for Madam Zheng, but since she proactively knelt down to thank him, he had nothing more to say. He quickly helped Madam Zheng up.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cao and the others had extremely unsightly expressions.
Li Se smiled, looked at Dr. Cao, and said word by word, "Can you kneel down and apologize now?"