Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Dying? No way.

Shen Huaizhi hadn't had his fill of the good life yet—no way was he accepting an early death now.

"Boo-hoo, Mother... I don't want to die... Quickly... quickly find my mother... summon the imperial physician..."

Shen Huaizhi clutched his aching stomach and started hollering for his mom.

He looked genuinely pathetic and kind of funny at the same time.

Han Zhang silently turned his face away, pressing his lips together hard, barely holding back the grin that was about to burst out.

Meanwhile, Pan Taining and the others, unaware of the truth, genuinely believed their brother was at death's door, so worried that sweat broke out on their foreheads and they had no clue what to do.

Pan Taining rushed to the bedside in a single bound, quickly trying to soothe him:

"Old Shen, you've got to hold on! We've already sent word to your mom, and Old Zhao—Old Zhao's gone home to beg his own mother too. With him on that errand, the imperial physician will definitely be here soon. You're gonna be fine!"

Wu Xuelin, with red-rimmed eyes, wiping his tears and choking out:

"Old Shen, hang in there! You can't abandon us—we promised we'd pass the imperial exams and become officials together... Boo-hoo... If something really happens to you, the rest of us can barely take care of ourselves as it is. We can't even feed ourselves, let alone take care of your wife and kid..."

Pan Taining nodded and chimed in to encourage him: "Xuelin's right! Old Shen, you have to persevere. If you really go, with how we're doing right now, there's no way we can protect your stuff for you."

"Everything you've worked so hard to save will end up in your big brother and his wife's hands. Your wife and kid would be like that poor little cabbage—yellowing in the field, barely three years old, losing their daddy..."

Shen Huaizhi felt like he was about to cough up blood: "..." Is that supposed to be comforting?

Fortunately, though Pan Taining and the others weren't the best with words, they came through when it really mattered.

Before Shen's mom could even get there, Zhao Yongchang had already returned with the imperial physician.

Unfortunately... the imperial physician also went at it like a tiger, all flash and fury, but it did absolutely no good.

"You'd better start making funeral arrangements."

The imperial physician gave the same verdict.

This sent Shen's father and mother, who had just arrived, along with Shen Qinglan and Li Huilan, staggering. Their vision went dark—they nearly fainted on the spot.

Madam Shen let out a hoarse wail: "My boy!"

Shen Qinglan burst into tears: "Second Brother!"

Li Huilan was crying too: "Husband!"

Beside them, Shen's father couldn't help his eyes reddening, tears streaming down his aged face, fingers clenched white. He seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.

He'd always favored the eldest over the second son, sure, and put the family's interests first—but this was his own flesh and blood. How could he not be affected?

Besides, in recent days, he'd noticed the eldest didn't seem cut out to be the head of the household. But the second son was starting to step up, learning seriously from his brother-in-law. He'd already been thinking about switching his backing to the second son.

But who could've guessed something like this would happen out of nowhere...

Was Heaven really going to cut off the Shen family's good fortune in this generation?

This was the fortune he'd busted his ass to build!

No.

The second son couldn't die.

The Shen family absolutely needed a strong heir. Otherwise, within two generations, the family's fortunes would decline, and the Shens would sink back to being common folk, with descendants unable to climb back up for who knows how long.

The sons from the concubines were all mediocre. Besides the eldest, only the second son, who'd recently started showing promise, was worth a second look. He could not let the second son die.

In Shen's father's heart, family and profit came first.

Appeal to his emotions, and he'd think it over for ages. But when it came to profit, Shen's father's decision was always a no-brainer.

The moment he pictured a future where no one could carry the family and the Shen name would crumble...

Shen's father gritted his teeth and asked urgently: "Imperial Physician Tian, I've got a seven-hundred-year-old ginseng king in my private stash. If we use it in medicine, can it save my son's life?"

"A seven-hundred-year-old ginseng king!"

At that, everyone was shocked.

Sure, a seven-hundred-year-old ginseng wasn't as rare as a thousand-year-old one—the imperial pharmacy had plenty—but it could still be called a "ginseng king." Only big, wealthy families could have something like that; few minor officials could pull it out.

They hadn't expected Shen's father to have something like that stashed away.

At that moment—

Shen Huaizhi forgot even the pain in his stomach, springing up from his sickbed like a man rising from the dead, glaring at his father and shouting:

"Father, you actually had such a treasure stashed away in your private storehouse?!"

Madam Shen and Shen Qinglan also looked deeply resentful: "..."

So that's it. No wonder when they'd cleaned out Father's/Husband's private storehouse back then, he'd only scolded them a few times—the real treasures were still safely hidden away. He'd just been toying with them.

What an old fox!

The accusatory looks from the mother and her two sons made Shen's father flush red. Saving face, he said: "What kind of time is this for you to be worrying about that? Right now, saving Huaizhi's life matters more..."

Only then did everyone's attention return to Shen Huaizhi's intestinal abscess.

Shen Huaizhi felt the pain again, clutching his belly and crying out: "Father, Mother, Huilan, Lan Geer... it hurts... it hurts so much..."

The imperial physician sighed heavily: "Though the old ginseng king is a life-prolonging tonic, it is not all-powerful. Master Shen's intestinal abscess has struck too suddenly and violently. At this point... alas, unless Hua Tuo or Bian Que were reborn, no medicine can cure him."

Those words fell like icicles striking the ground, and Shen Huaizhi was instantly plunged into despair.

Madam Shen and the others went limp, collapsing to the floor, their vision darkening.

Shen's father also staggered as if about to fall, crying out in anguish: "My son... Heaven has no eyes!"

Just as the atmosphere reached its peak of despair, Han Zhang finally stepped forward.

"Let me try."

"What?"

Everyone turned to look at him in unison.

Han Zhang took a deep breath, as if making a momentous decision, and said in a heavy, solemn voice:

"Have any of you ever heard of the Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles?"

The crowd: Never heard of it, but it sounds pretty badass.

Imperial Physician Tian, the one who actually knew his stuff, was shaken to the core. He blurted out in shock, "The Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles?! Could it be the legendary technique that the divine physician Bian Que used to save the Crown Prince of Guo, snatching a life back from the King of Hell?!"

At this, everyone turned to look, their eyes practically screaming "explain!"

Imperial Physician Tian didn't drag it out and immediately launched into the story with a grave look:

"According to legend, during the Warring States period, Bian Que traveled to the state of Guo, where he arrived right as the Crown Prince had suddenly dropped dead, throwing the whole country into mourning. After asking detailed questions about the illness, Bian Que flat-out declared: 'The Crown Prince can be saved!'"

"Everyone thought he was crazy, but Bian Que, with a set of mystical needle techniques, literally yanked the Crown Prince back from the gates of hell—hence the name 'Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles.'" (Don't overthink it; it's a made-up story from Baidu.)

"Ancient texts say this needling art can 'bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh on bones,' but unfortunately, it's been lost for centuries. We practitioners have only caught glimpses of it in torn scrolls and stray stories... Young man, do you happen to know someone who inherited this art?"

By the end, Imperial Physician Tian was staring at Han Zhang like a man possessed.

Shen's mother and the others suddenly lit up with hope, grabbing Han Zhang's arm: "Son-in-law, do you really know someone like that?"

Han Zhang wasted no more time and nodded solemnly: "I'm no great talent, but when I was young, I met a strange master who taught me this art."

"What?!"

Everyone's eyes went wide in shock.

Shen Huaizhi and the others suddenly understood.

No wonder Brother Han could tell at a glance that Kang Zhanxun had been poisoned with something weird—so he was a true heir to the divine physician's legacy.

They'd thought Brother Han only knew a little medicine, but it turned out he knew a whole hell of a lot!

"Waaah, Brother Han, save me, you've gotta save me..."

Shen Huaizhi immediately latched onto his leg, not giving a damn about crying with snot all over his face in front of everyone.

He was about to die; who cared about saving face now?

As for why Han Zhang hadn't offered to treat him earlier, he couldn't be bothered to think about that now.

But Han Zhang wasn't about to leave himself open to questions.

With a serious face, he kept spinning his story: "Second Brother, of course I'll do everything I can to save you. But this needling art, while it can snatch life from heaven's grasp, has a lot of restrictions."

"First, it can only be used seven times in a lifetime; any more than that, and it's trading one life for another. Second, if you mess up even a little during the procedure, the patient becomes a living corpse—can't live, can't die, just suffering forever."

A living corpse—can't live, can't die—what kind of hell is that?

"I'm young and inexperienced, and I've never actually performed this art before..."

Han Zhang hesitated, trailing off, but everyone got the picture.

He was so young and had limited experience, so the risk of failure was naturally higher.

If it worked, great; but if he messed up and the patient became a living corpse, that'd be worse than dying.

"Then... what the hell do we do..."

Shen's mother and the others were completely lost.

In the end, Shen Huaizhi gritted his teeth and made the call: "Do it! Even if I end up a living corpse... I'll take it!"

The splendor of this world, the wealth, the warmth, the smiles of his loved ones—he couldn't bear to give up any of it.

"Alright, Second Brother, don't worry, I'll do everything I can."

Han Zhang nodded gravely, then held his breath and focused. A silver glint flashed between his fingers—and he started needling with practiced ease.

And yeah, his technique was seriously smooth.

After all, to play the part of a divine physician, one needed real skill; an expert could tell at a glance if it were fake.

So Han Zhang did, in fact, know some acupuncture.

Because in his past life, in the apocalypse, medicine was scarce, and most injuries meant survival depended on sheer luck.

He valued his life greatly, so he used his authority as base leader to summon a few old Chinese medicine practitioners and forced himself to learn some emergency techniques.

Nothing grand, but knowing acupoints, stopping bleeding, and easing pain was enough to handle the situation.

Besides, he could also create special effects—his power could emit light...

So Imperial Physician Tian, though puzzled that the points Han Zhang needled didn't seem to have therapeutic effects, quickly rationalized it to himself, thinking that perhaps this needling method required a matching inner energy technique, like in the storybooks.

Otherwise, how could ordinary acupuncture produce such divine radiance?

Shen's mother and the others also watched in awe: "This, this is truly miraculous..."

Two quarters of an hour later.

Shen Huaizhi was cured, lying limp on the bed in a cold sweat, looking at Han Zhang with eyes full of gratitude and relief after surviving a disaster.

"This time, it's all thanks to Brother Han's intervention—you've saved your brother from dire straits again!"

"Second Brother, no need for thanks," Han Zhang said sincerely. "Since you are Lan Geer's close kin and also my sworn brother, how could I stand by and watch you die?"

His expression was open and upright, radiating a noble and candid demeanor.

Anyway, regardless of how those "dire straits" came about, the point is, did he save him or not?