Volume Two: Blood on the Bodhi Tree, Chapter Ten: The Divine Physician, Part Two

“How is he?”

The woman asked in alarm.

She Qianqian said nothing. Frowning, she only examined the burly man’s features and checked his condition.

“Hmph. I knew you were a fraud!” the old woman snorted coldly. “My son isn’t sick at all. He’s been possessed. I’m going to find a master to deal with this... None of you try to stop me.”

But just as she stepped closer, the burly man suddenly reacted. He sat up, then convulsed violently, foam spilling from his mouth.

“W-what... what’s wrong... my son...” The old woman hurried forward, clutching him and breaking into heart-wrenching sobs.

The woman’s hand trembled as she slowly reached for the burly man’s nose. Her face changed at once, and her eyes flew wide open.

“He’s not breathing...”

“Get away from him! Murderer!” The old woman shoved the woman aside.

At that very moment, a young monk pushed the door open and walked in.

“What’s going on... So noisy... Don’t people sleep around here...” he muttered.

“An incompetent quack is killing people! You’re all murderers! You killed my son! I’ll fight you to the death!” The old woman seized a wooden stick from the table and swung it at She Qianqian.

Xiao Yan lunged forward in a flash, caught the stick, and flung it aside.

“What are you doing...?”

Frowning, Xiao Yan walked over. One look at the room was enough for him to guess what had happened.

“I’ll take a look.”

He bent down beside the old woman and began examining the burly man.

“Get lost! Where did this wandering monk come from? You murderers... I only had one son left... and now he’s dead too... Are you satisfied?” There was a note of despair in the old woman’s eyes.

“Maybe there’s still a chance to save him,” Xiao Yan said, still frowning.

“He’s not breathing... He’s already dead...” said the woman who had just been shoved aside, her voice trembling.

She Qianqian sighed, shook her head, and clearly gave up as well.

What could be done for the dead? Even if the legendary miracle doctor Hua Tuo himself returned, it would be impossible.

“Stop pretending... You... I’ll make you pay with your lives!” the old woman said through clenched teeth.

“First aid! Hurry! Move!” Xiao Yan no longer had the time to worry about anything else. He shoved the old woman aside and laid the burly man flat on the ground.

“You! My son is dead, and you still want to do something to him?” The old woman was furious. She rushed forward, ready to strike Xiao Yan with her fists.

“Enough!”

Xiao Yan suddenly turned his face toward her. His expression was terrifying. He stared at the old woman with fury and shouted, “What are you worth? What are you and your son worth? Do you really think people have nothing better to do than spend all day scheming to harm you? Have you ever thought that the one who killed your son might be your own ignorance?!”

Before his transmigration, Xiao Yan had been a psychiatrist. He could quickly tell that this old woman probably suffered from persecutory paranoia.

At Xiao Yan’s shout, the old woman was so frightened that she collapsed onto the floor, her expression wilting.

Only then did Xiao Yan reach out to check the burly man’s breathing. He quickly loosened the man’s collar, and his brows instantly tightened.

No heartbeat. No breathing.

She Qianqian turned her head as well, her face full of confusion. In this kind of situation, even she was powerless to reverse death. What was this little monk trying to do?

“Ah... I can only try...” Xiao Yan had no confidence himself, but as a modern man, he still knew the most basic first-aid measures.

Still, it could only be an attempt. He had no real certainty.

“You. Come here...” Xiao Yan looked around and pointed at the woman.

“Oh?” The woman seemed to still be trapped in the fear of losing her husband and could not react for a moment.

“Come quickly. Like this: use your left thumb and index finger to pinch his nostrils, use your right hand to support his jaw and lift it so that his mouth opens. Take a deep breath, seal your lips over the patient’s mouth, and blow as much air as possible into his chest. The speed of your breaths should be about the same as normal breathing...”

Xiao Yan pulled the woman over, gestured with both hands, and had her perform artificial respiration.

Her movements were awkward, but she managed it.

After two breaths, Xiao Yan signaled for her to stop. He placed his hands on the lower middle part of the sternum, extended the index and middle fingers of his right hand together, set them vertically on the left side of the ribcage, moved upward along the ribs to the xiphoid process, and began compressing the burly man’s chest in a steady rhythm.

“What... what are you doing! My son is already dead, and you still won’t let him rest? You’re torturing his body too! I... I’ll fight you!” The old woman’s face changed at the sight, and she again tried to rush forward.

Xiao Yan was performing cardiac resuscitation and had no time to deal with her. He could only shout, “Big Biao! Stop her!”

Though the words were not loud, they carried an unquestionable force.

“I...” She Qianqian hesitated for a moment, then instantly rushed forward to block the old woman.

“You... you...” The old woman was so enraged that her eyes bulged. She was completely speechless.

By then, Xiao Yan was covered in sweat, yet the burly man still had not reacted at all.

“Come on, keep breathing for him!”

Xiao Yan motioned to the woman.

Time ticked by one second at a time, while the candlelight flickered in and out.

*Cough, cough...*

Suddenly, a fit of coughing shattered everyone’s thoughts.

At last, Xiao Yan released the pressure on the burly man and took deep, gasping breaths.

That kind of emergency treatment was exhausting...

Under everyone’s gaze, the burly man opened his eyes.

“Ah...” Apart from Xiao Yan, the woman had been the closest to him. At that moment, her face turned deathly pale with fright.

She had personally checked her husband’s breathing just moments ago and confirmed that he was gone—that he was dead...

How, then, had he come back to life?

People of this era had never heard of first aid. To them, once someone stopped breathing, that meant death was certain.

“Son... you...” The old woman’s face lit up with delight at once, a smile born of losing and then regaining something precious.

She Qianqian frowned and stepped over. She took the burly man’s pulse, and her expression soon became strange as she stared fixedly at Xiao Yan.

Though the poison in his body had not yet been removed, he had nevertheless been brought back...

In She Qianqian’s eyes, this was the legendary reversal of life and death—something every physician dreamed of accomplishing, yet could never achieve.

“You... who exactly are you?” Only after linking this with Xiao Yan’s earlier remark about disinfection did She Qianqian realize that this little monk was not simple at all.

“It was nothing. The main thing is still to figure out what illness he really has... I’ll leave that to you.” Xiao Yan gave her a thumbs-up.

Just then, the old woman suddenly rushed over and stood protectively in front of the burly man. “We don’t need you anymore! I’m taking him to find a master right now...”

“He’ll die if you do that. If someone is sick, they need treatment. Those so-called masters are just lying to you...” Xiao Yan shook his head and said.

The old woman said nothing. Supporting the burly man, she walked out.

“Mother...”

The woman remaining behind looked from Xiao Yan to She Qianqian, bowed, and hurried after them.

The room was left with only Xiao Yan and She Qianqian.

It fell silent in an instant.

“Heh...” Xiao Yan yawned. “I’m going back to sleep. Good night.”

But She Qianqian frowned and asked, “Wait. What... what are bacteria?”

In truth, She Qianqian had many questions. What exactly had Xiao Yan just done? Why had he done it? Was there truly a way to bring the dead back to life?

She could not ask everything at once, but her impression of Xiao Yan had changed quite a bit.

Xiao Yan only smiled faintly. “Bacteria are little devils.”

“...” She Qianqian paused. “Then are you a miracle doctor too?”

“If I were a miracle doctor, I wouldn’t have to come looking for you with Li Bai on my back,” Xiao Yan said with a smile.