Chapter 60 — Why Aren't You Dead Yet? (Please Vote, Please Bookmark — Today's First Update)
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Don't make it sound so mushy." Wei Zhao was joking aloud, but his heart was growing heavier and heavier. Yang Huaijun's pulse was very poor. He could sense that although the man had recovered on the surface, the internal injuries were severe; several of his organs had not fully healed, and some even showed signs of continuing to fail.
"Well? My body's not in bad shape, is it?" Seeing that Wei Zhao really was taking his pulse, Yang Huaijun asked, a little puzzled.
"You've been dealing with your troubles with nothing but painkillers?" Wei Zhao answered the question with another.
"That's right. Is something wrong?" Yang Huaijun asked.
"Then how are you not dead yet?" Wei Zhao frowned.
"..." Yang Huaijun was speechless for a moment. "Damn it, are you cursing me to die?"
"It's not a curse. It's that your condition is very bad. Your injuries from last time never healed completely at all — they've kept getting worse. I don't know how you've held on this long on painkillers, but generally speaking, anyone else would have died of the pain long ago." Wei Zhao spoke with great gravity. He was not trying to frighten him; he was stating a fact. And with a man like Yang Huaijun, there was no need to deceive him either. Men who had been to war had long since put life and death beyond their concern. Even if Wei Zhao told him he would die tomorrow, Yang Huaijun would not react much.
"An old Chinese doctor told me the same thing before — said I wouldn't live past half a year. And look, here I am, alive and well, aren't I?" Yang Huaijun indeed was not shaken by Wei Zhao's words; he stretched his arms and legs with easy nonchalance.
"He was right. Half a year was flattering you." Wei Zhao nodded.
"Eagle, can you not jinx me? Do I look like a dying man to you?" Yang Huaijun glared at Wei Zhao, somewhat displeased.
"My name is Wei Zhao. Don't call me Eagle anymore." Wei Zhao glanced at Yang Huaijun and went on: "So the fact that you're alive today is a miracle. It may have something to do with your tenacious willpower."
"And what's wrong with that?" Yang Huaijun pressed.
"You can still use painkillers to ease the pain in your body, but from now on... it will only get worse." Wei Zhao said. "You've probably noticed already: the frequency and the dosage of your medication are both greater than before."
"You... really do know medicine?" Yang Huaijun was astonished that Wei Zhao had hit upon his condition exactly.
"What do you think?" Wei Zhao released Yang Huaijun's hand. He had already gained a rough understanding of the man's illness. Yang Huaijun's situation was extremely complicated. As the saying goes, every medicine is three parts poison; every herb will damage the organs in the body to a greater or lesser degree. That is to say, if Wei Zhao prescribed a remedy for the heart, it might affect Yang Huaijun's spleen or liver; but if he treated the liver, it might affect the heart or kidneys. In short, no matter which part he treated, it would cause side effects in the others. In that case, treating him would be worse than not treating him at all — it would only hasten his death.
Seeing Wei Zhao sink into thought, Yang Huaijun could not help asking: "What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"
"Your condition." Wei Zhao sighed softly. "It's very complicated. With conventional Chinese herbal treatment, whatever I do will affect other organs. It might help one particular organ, but it would accelerate the failure of the others. And if I treat them all at once, it amounts to no treatment at all — or death by poisoning outright."
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