Liu Zhu was also confused, but he still followed Zhao Yuan's instructions. He took a few steps forward and lifted the cloth curtain.
The scene inside the Curtain House was revealed to everyone.
A chair, a small boy, and nothing—or no one—else.
Zhao Yangqiu turned to Zhao Yuan, pointed at the little boy, and sneered, "Didn't you say the patient was pregnant and in labor? Where's the pregnancy? Where's the labor? You also said the patient was disabled. Look, all his limbs are intact. Where's the disability?"
Zhao Yuan smiled. "I said 'the afflicted,' not 'the patient.'"
Zhao Yangqiu raised an eyebrow. "Is there a difference?"
Zhao Yuan replied, "Of course, there is. A 'patient' is a person. But 'the afflicted' isn't necessarily a person!"
Zhao Yangqiu scoffed at his words. "Not a person? Then who were you performing a pulse diagnosis on? A Ghost?"
Zhao Yuan's composure was excellent. He still didn't get angry and simply pointed. "Mr. Zhao, take a closer look. Is the red thread tied to the little boy?"
"Hm?"
Stunned, Zhao Yangqiu quickly turned to look at the Curtain House again. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the red thread, which should have been tied to the little boy's wrist, was actually tied to the chair's armrest.
"What's going on? Why is the red thread tied to the armrest?" Zhao Yangqiu was very surprised.
Li Heping was equally shocked. He had tied the red threads for both patients. He clearly rembered tying the little boy's thread to his wrist. How did it end up on the chair's armrest?
Under everyone's questioning, the mischievous little boy timidly revealed the truth. "The red thread felt uncomfortable on my hand, so I secretly took it off and tied it to the chair."
Hearing this, the crowd didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Zhao Yangqiu shook his head and said, "Heping, please tie the red thread on this little fellow again."
He planned to have Zhao Yuan diagnose the little boy's pulse again.
Zhao Jingrou wouldn't have it. She protested, "Great-Granduncle, there's no need to let this punk compete again. He's already lost! Even though the boy tied the thread to the chair, he was talking about pregnancy, labor, and a disability. That's obviously nonsense. He can't even tell if the thread is tied to a person or an object, yet he has the audacity to claim he knows the suspended silk pulse diagnosis technique?"
Zhao Yangqiu thought about it and felt that Zhao Jingrou had a point. But before he could voice his agreent, Zhao Yuan spoke up first. "Miss Zhao is right. There's indeed no need to compete again."
Seeing Zhao Yuan seemingly back down, Zhao Jingrou was triumphant. She nodded in satisfaction. "So you do know your place. Good that you're admitting defeat."
"Who said I was admitting defeat?" Zhao Yuan walked into the Curtain House, asked the little boy to stand up, and pointed to the chair's armrest. "I said there's no need to compete again because my diagnosis of the afflicted is already complete."
Everyone, whether on-site or watching the livestream, was montarily stunned.
'It's just a chair's armrest. Where's the patient?'
Zhao Yuan ignored their astonishnt and said to one of the Jinling Zhao Clan mbers nearby, "Excuse , could you find a hatchet?"
The Jinling Zhao Clan mber was taken aback, not understanding why Zhao Yuan wanted a hatchet. He instinctively turned to look at Zhao Dezhu.
"Give it to him!" Zhao Dezhu said in a low voice. He also wanted to know what trick Zhao Yuan was trying to pull.
The Jinling Zhao Clan mber turned and left. A few minutes later, he returned with a cleaver and said to Zhao Yuan, "There were no hatchets, I could only find a cleaver. Will this do?"
"It'll do." Zhao Yuan took the cleaver and turned to Zhao Dezhu. "You don't mind if I split this chair open, do you? Don't worry, I'll pay you back for however much it costs."
Zhao Dezhu snorted coldly. "No need. It's just a chair. We're not that stingy."
"Then I thank you in advance."
As he spoke, Zhao Yuan raised the cleaver and brought it down. With a CRACK, he chopped the armrest off the chair. He followed up with a horizontal chop, then grabbed both sides of the split wood and pulled hard, breaking the armrest into two halves.
Looking down, Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "The afflicted I diagnosed is right here."
Ma Guotao rushed to Zhao Yuan's side in a few steps and peered at the half of the armrest in his hand.
One look left him dumbfounded. "This... How is this possible?!"
People imdiately grew curious.
'What exactly was the afflicted thing Zhao Yuan diagnosed? What did Ma Guotao see that shocked him so much?'
Renowned dical experts like Li Heping and Qiao Zhixue could no longer stay seated. They got up, walked into the Curtain House, and crowded around Zhao Yuan. Zhao Yangqiu also squeezed his way in.
Everyone's gaze fell on the piece of armrest in Zhao Yuan's hands.
On the fractured surface of the armrest lay an insect as thick as a human finger. At a glance, the bug looked like a maggot. But a closer look revealed that only its abdon resembled a maggot; its front had a head and legs similar to an ant's.
"That's a termite queen," soone identified the insect instantly.
"That's right, it's a termite queen. Look, it's still laying eggs," another sharp-eyed person chid in.
This casual exchange between the two made everyone's face change.
Pregnancy... Labor...
'Don't tell Zhao Yuan was talking about this termite queen?'
'Is that even possible? Could suspended silk pulse diagnosis actually determine the condition of a termite queen? And one hidden inside a chair's armrest, no less!'
As Li Heping stood there in shock, he suddenly rembered sothing and quickly shouted, "Quick, check if the termite queen is disabled!"
Hearing his words, the few people closest to Zhao Yuan imdiately bent down to examine the termite queen, wishing they could press their eyes right up against it.
A mont later, these people started shouting as if they'd gone mad.
"This termite queen has a broken appendage on its left side!"
"It's disabled! The termite queen really is disabled!"
"Holy crap, Zhao Yuan... he actually used the suspended silk pulse diagnosis technique to diagnose the condition of a termite queen hidden inside a piece of wood? This is too incredible! How on earth did he do it?"
After their words spread, a deafening wave of gasps and shouts erupted from the crowd.
'Is this still suspended silk pulse diagnosis? Did you use an X-ray machine to scan this armrest or sothing?'
Soon, the broken half of the armrest was passed through the crowd.
Everyone cradled the piece of armrest carefully, afraid of disturbing the termite queen inside, which was still continuously laying eggs.
Only at this mont did they finally realize that Zhao Yuan hadn't been fooling around or just showing off. He had truly completed the suspended silk pulse diagnosis!
And he had done it in such a stunning fashion!
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one present would have believed it was real!
It was simply mind-boggling!
User Comments
0 comments from readers