"How shall we compete?" Li Se asked.
"It's simple, best of three. Find any three patients, and we'll compare diagnoses, prescriptions, and acupuncture techniques to see whose traditional Chinese medicine is truly superior," Zhao Xinze said confidently.
"Agreed!" Li Se nodded decisively.
"Doctor! Doctor, someone has fainted here!" someone in the crowd shouted at that moment.
"Bring them over!" Zhao Xinze said quickly.
Immediately, someone carried over the person who had fainted. It was a man in his twenties, with a slightly swollen and red face.
"You first," Zhao Xinze said, gesturing.
"No need," Li Se replied after just a glance. "I already know the symptoms."
Zhao Xinze and the others were quite annoyed by Li Se's arrogance. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasized observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking. For Li Se to claim he knew the cause without even taking the pulse was clearly bragging.
"Heh, I think you don't know anything!" Gao Han taunted.
"Fine, we'll know soon enough whether you know anything or not," Zhao Xinze said, deciding not to argue with Li Se. He then proceeded to take the man's pulse. After a moment, he declared, "I have a diagnosis."
Gao Han and Wu Lin also took the pulse. They exchanged glances and then nodded.
"Write the prescription," Zhao Xinze instructed.
The three of them wrote down their prescriptions. However, when they saw Li Se standing still, showing no intention of writing a prescription, they all frowned.
"What, not even writing a prescription?" Zhao Xinze sneered. "As expected, if you don't know the condition, how can you know what prescription to write? Oh, no, with your medical skills, even after taking the pulse, you probably wouldn't know the condition."
Many people saw Li Se standing there without writing a prescription and began to agree with Zhao Xinze.
"He didn't even take the pulse, looks like he can't pretend anymore!"
"After all, writing a prescription requires skill. He probably doesn't even remember the medicinal herbs."
"Defeated in the first round!"
"..."
In everyone's eyes, Li Se was destined to lose, as he didn't even know why the man had fainted.
Li Se, however, was unfazed. "There's no need to write a prescription. If I'm not mistaken, your diagnoses are all for dizziness caused by insufficient blood supply to the brain, right?"
"How did you know?" Zhao Xinze and the others were astonished. That was indeed their diagnosis, but the question was how this guy knew their diagnoses.
Li Se smiled and continued, "I can even guess your prescriptions. They should be for ingredients like Sanqi, Ginkgo biloba, and Salvia miltiorrhiza, all of which have blood-invigorating properties to improve cerebral blood supply."
"You..." Zhao Xinze was speechless, unsure how to refute. His prescription was exactly what Li Se had mentioned.
Gao Han and Wu Lin also looked astonished. How could Li Se know so much? Had he peeked? But that was impossible; with so many people watching, if Li Se had peeked, he would have been discovered immediately.
"Let me tell you the truth, your prescriptions are useless," Li Se stated.
"Then tell us what the situation is," Zhao Xinze challenged, still not believing that Li Se could know the reason for the man's fainting without even taking his pulse.
Gao Han scoffed, "Go on, tell us. Or perhaps you don't know at all?"
Li Se ignored them. He took out a silver needle and approached the man. He pricked a finger, drawing a small amount of blood. Within a minute, the man regained consciousness.
"How can this be?" Zhao Xinze and the others' expressions changed.
"This is anaphylactic shock!" Li Se said calmly.
"You knew it was anaphylactic shock without even taking his pulse?" Zhao Xinze found it hard to believe.
"Don't you believe me? Then wait five minutes. In five minutes, his allergic symptoms will appear," Li Se said, unhurriedly.
Indeed, after five minutes, red spots appeared on the man's skin. This time, Zhao Xinze and the others were certain it was an allergy. What they couldn't comprehend was how Li Se could diagnose it at a glance.
"Did you eat seafood today?" Li Se inquired.
"Yes!" the man nodded. "Doctor, did I faint because I ate seafood?"
"Yes, you have a mild allergy to seafood. Eating a little occasionally might not cause much, but you ate a significant amount of seafood today, didn't you?" Li Se said with a smile.
The man scratched his head. "I really couldn't resist, so I ate a bit more today."
"You should eat seafood in moderation in the future," Li Se advised. He then took out his silver needles and performed acupuncture on the man's Renzhong, Zusanli, and Neiguan acupoints. The spots on the man's body quickly disappeared.
"Thank you, doctor!" the man said gratefully.
Li Se then turned to Zhao Xinze and the others. "In the first round, you lost!"
Zhao Xinze and the others looked extremely displeased. They had never expected to lose the first round so decisively, so easily, and almost completely.
"Lost the first round?"
"Is this report false? Look at Divine Doctor Li, he's handling it with ease, and these so-called eight major schools can't even get the diagnosis right."
"It seems we've mostly been deceived."
"..."
Many people began to doubt the authenticity of the news reports, as Li Se's medical skills were truly on display at that moment.
"There are three rounds in total, and you haven't won yet!" Zhao Xinze said grimly.
Gao Han and Wu Lin looked quite uncomfortable.
"Hahaha!" Old Huang couldn't help but laugh. "Zhao Xinze, with your medical skills, you're still far from being able to compete with Divine Doctor Li."
Zhao Xinze snorted and didn't argue. He then looked out at the crowd and called out, "Does anyone have any health issues? Feel free to come forward. Today is a free clinic, no charge!"
"Doctor, I've been vomiting and having diarrhea recently, and I'm completely exhausted. What's going on?" At this moment, a woman with a pale complexion walked out, her steps unsteady as if she might fall at any moment.
"This time, we'll let you go first!" Li Se gestured.
Zhao Xinze and the others naturally didn't refuse. They could see that Li Se had some skills. After examining the woman, the three exchanged glances, and it seemed they all had a diagnosis.
"This is also an allergy!" Zhao Xinze declared his diagnosis.
Gao Han and Wu Lin both nodded.
"It's your turn," Gao Han said.
Zhao Xinze nodded and took out a very exquisite box. The box contained his acupuncture needles, which gleamed with golden light.
"Is that the Huanyang Gold Needles?" Li Se asked, somewhat surprised.
"You know good quality!" Zhao Xinze said with a proud expression. If it weren't to win this round, he would never use these Huanyang Gold Needles on an ordinary person. The only ones he would use these gold needles and the Huanyang needling technique on were the dignitaries.
"With the Huanyang Gold Needles out, this round is won!" Gao Han and Wu Lin said with full confidence.
Zhao Xinze immediately performed the Huanyang needling technique. However, after five minutes, not only had the woman not improved, but she had worsened, even starting to convulse.
"How can this be?" Zhao Xinze's face changed drastically. How could she have worsened after he performed the Huanyang needling technique?
Li Se frowned. "Because your diagnosis is wrong!"
Zhao Xinze and the others' faces darkened.
Another wrong diagnosis?