Climbing The Ranks As The Best Doctor

Chapter 5: Saving the clan's Head

The black, sleek car rolled into an exquisite estate. It was vast; wealth was splattered and poured out like the numerous fountains that could be seen. 

 It felt like a quarter of the entire wealth in the East could be found here.

Rosa and Shen got out of the car, and, sure enough, the woman began walking very fast as she led the way. 

As the Han family heiress, panic was a luxury she couldn’t afford—her every step demanded poise. Yet inside, fear clenched her chest like an iron fist.

Her grandfather’s life was slipping away.

Shen, on the other hand, looked quite amazed at the art, the sculptures that seemed handmade, and how gorgeous the estate was.

Shen was a lover of art; anywhere he went, he deeply appreciated it and sought meaning in it.

But sadly, he couldn't engage in his hobbies right now, due to the fast pace set by the heiress 

With a pout , he followed Rosa into one of the Mansions, clearly the largest one by far.

They ran up the stairs where no eyes could see them, and on the highest floor, a huge golden door stood at the extreme end; it was the only door on this floor.

“Here we are,” Rosa said, steadying her breath.

“Finally. Let’s get this over with—I’m so hungry I’m seeing steaks dancing in front of my eyes,” Shen grumbled, stretching his arms with a dramatic yawn.

Rosa rolled her eyes but composed herself, pulling a hand through her straight hair and taking a deep breath. 

The she pushed open the golden doors.

“Come on.” She said briskly before leading the way once more. 

Shen groaned, very put out, then followed.

As he walked Inside, Shen felt his jaw drop.

You see shen was stunned for one very glaring reason: The entire room was bathed in gold—walls, ceiling, even the furniture. 

He blinked, then rubbed his eyes as if to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. 

He was known as THE GOLDENMASTER, yet he had never seen a reason to do something as absurd as this. 

“Is this... gold? Like, all gold?” he muttered, eyes wide as he turned in a slow circle, trying to soak in the ostentatious majesty. “Who even needs this much gold? What the hell?” he finally stopped circling, eyes wide as he stared at Rosa in disbelief.

But the heiress simply rolled her eyes, then faced a group of three elders who watched them approach with increasingly furious faces.

"I greet the elders of the Han family!" Rosa bowed respectfully when they came to a stop before them.

 Shen was still lost in thought, gazing around the room and ondering if the gold plating improved the acoustics.

It was fascinating….

Rosa coughed loudly, pointedly.

Shen's eyes snapped towards them immediately, "Ooh, yeah, right! Uuhm... I greet the elders," Shen repeated the same motions as Rosa, though his bow was a little less graceful.

 He gave them a sheepish grin, waving a little, "Sorry, still processing all this gold."

Amongst the three men, the tallest man glared at Shen intensely, looking at him like he was shit on the bottom of his shoes before he turned to Rosa. "Who do you think you have you brought into the chambers of the Clan Head! How disrespectful of you, Rosa!" The old man shouted at her, his voice booming through the hall.

But Rosa kept her head bowed, her features expressionless. "I mean no disrespect, but I have brought him here to save grandfather's life," she said firmly. 

The man turned red at this.

"Such insolence! You dare bring a peasant here? You must be foolish to have been scammed by a con man," the elder stomped his feet, enraged.

But she didn't let him cow her, rosa straightened her shoulders, seeming to grow taller as she spoke.

"His skills shall speak for themselves. He has healed me of the disease that has plagued me for years, so please, Elder Yin, allow me this chance," she finished sharply, looking up at the old man with a stern face.

They matched each other's gaze for a while before the elder looked away, and with a brief exchange of glances, so did the other two... 

Stiffly, they bowed to rosa before taking their leave, the heavy golden doors closing behind them.

As soon their footsteps faded, Rosa felt herself relax. It had been a tense standoff but it seemed that they had passed the first obstacle. 

Speaking of they, where was…

"Shen?" Rosa called out, looking beside her and not seeing the weird doctor.

Where the hell was he?

"Here!" Shen suddenly called out.

Rosa turned to see him already standing meters away from her, by her grandfather's bed. 

The eccentric man had a troubled look on his face as he gazed down at the figure on the bed.

"When did he...?" Rosa was startled, then shook her head.

She wouldn't ask, it wasn't worth it.

With a sigh of exasperation she moved to join the man.

Just as she arrived beside her grandfather, she immediately noticed that his condition had far gotten worse. 

His skin had blackened, losing its vitality; several sutures could be seen on his body, blood seeping out of the garish lines, and even the blood was a mixture of red and black.

And worse of all, the smell coming from her grandfather's body was repulsive – like a something rotten. Like death. 

She nearly covered her nose but managed to stop the motion with a grimace.

Shen, on the other hand, squatted low, observing his body and mumbling to himself. 

He gently poked a pressure point on her grandfather's chest, and the elder's hand twitched slightly.

"Hmmm... This..." Shen was cut off by the doors banging open.

 There, a man clad in a white robe, glasses half way falling of his red face and a stethoscope wrapped round his thick neck marched in.

He was clearly the doctor kept in charge of the Han Family Head, and he looked about as happy to see shen crouching beside his patient as a mosquito in the desert.

"What the hell are you doing!?" The man rushed over to them, quickly pushing Shen away from the Han Family Head.

"I'm trying to save his life," Shen snarked from his place on the floor. He didn't appreciate being pushed around, so he calmly shoved the man's hand away.

Rising to his feet with a grunt, shen towered over the doctor with his new height but the man was too incensed to care.

"And who let him in here?!" The doctor yelled, nearly frothing at the mouth.

"I did! Is there a problem?" Rosa spoke up, glaring at the doctor. 

The doctor paused, then stuttered, like a broken record stuck on repeat.

"L-Lady Han, it is improper to just bring in anyone into the inner chambers of the Family Head, moreover, some... quack who says they can heal your grandfather," the doctor said slowly, as if understanding her predicament, but with a clear undertone of judgement.

But Rosa scoffed. "Watch your tongue! I trust this man with my life, and so will I with my grandfather's," she said firmly.

The doctor sighed.

Doctor Mark, although a western doctor, was the vice president of the medical association. 

He knew too much about medical ailments, and as such, he knew that the Han Family Head wouldn't see the next day.

Doctor Mark turned to watch Shen; Shen simply looked like a pretty boy with no value for life, no knowledge of the medical arts; he just looked exhaustingly plain.

The man figured he probably peaked in high school.

"I know that look," Shen said, smiling at the doctor. Shen walked closer, his smile widening, like a shark sizing up a particularly tasty seal. 

He leaned in close to him, his voice dropping to a near whisper, making it so roas couldn't hear. "Yellow eyes, slowed pulses, delayed reaction, constantly dilated pupils, slight shaking in your right leg, early signs of balding..." Shen paused, his smile becoming almost predatory. "It seems you're taking medicine to help stop your premature ejaculation."

Doctor Mark visibly startled, his eyes widening in disbelief, like Shen had just revealed his deepest, darkest secret. 

“W-what?.” he croaked in shock but Shen continued, his voice still a low murmur, "The side effects are showing; you need proper treatment.”

Pinning the man with a icy gaze, he said, “I might even offer up my services but that will be another day.”

Leaning back, he wiped the menacing look off his face and increased the volume of his voice, “Now, move aside so I can save the old man's life!"

Doctor Mark stood stunned, the color draining from his face like someone pulled the plug. 

It was all true, exactly as Shen had described. He felt a wave of shame and embarrassment wash over him.

Nodding in approval at the man's cowering form, he sat down beside the Han family Head. "It's poison, a very potent kind. I can sense traces of the Immortal yellow toadskin toxins; I'll detoxify him with The Golden Ten Piercings." He said it with confidence.

"Impossible! You fake! That technique has been lost to time itself for the past hundred years; not even Doctor Fang, who far surpasses me, can perform such!" Doctor Mark, seemingly recovered from embarrassment, shouted in disbelief.

"I demand that you stop this farce at once!" 

Shen ignored him, then brought out a golden case from his vest. In it were golden needles, his personal needles, unlike the ones he had used to cure Rosa. 

These tools practically glowed with ancient power.

With no time wasted, he placed his right hand upon the Family Head's chest, breathed out, and performed the Yin Yang body balancing technique. 

It was a simple technique used to keep the body in a state of complete balance and stasis, but when Shen did it, the air practically crackled with energy, and a faint breeze stirred the room.

The family head's body jerked once, then Shen picked up the needles, his movements becoming a blur as he quickly placed exactly ten needles in the old man's ten pressure points, each precisely one centimeter deep. 

Shen clasped his hands together and murmured a few words – words that seemed to vibrate the very air in the room, resonating with energy that made the floor the ceiling windows shake. 

Suddenly, the tops of the golden needles began to burn off slightly, giving off a very sweet scent, like a thousand blooming lotuses. In mere moments...

The Family Head's eyes darted open, glowing with an unnatural light, as he threw up a fountain of black blood from his mouth. 

He couldn't move, and as such, the blood splattered all over his face and neck, but his eyes were open! 

He looked less like a dying man and more like someone who had just come back from a very bad trip....

"Grandfather!" Rosa shouted as she rushed to his side, tears falling down her eyes in a torrent. She held one of his hands gently and looked at him. 

His voice was weak and unstable, barely above a whisper, but there was a spark of life there that hadn't been before, a flicker of the man she remembered.

"Rosa... how..." He croaked.

With teary eyes, she pointed at Shen. "It's all because of him, Grandfather. He has brought you back to us, back to me," she cried some more.

The Family Head looked at Shen with a grateful smile on his face, a genuine smile that reached his eyes, like he was seeing the sun for the first time in years. "I thank you deeply, young one."

Shen smiled and bowed respectfully, then stood up and stretched, cracking his back with a series of loud pops that echoed through the room. "Ah, that's the stuff. That took a lot out of me. I'll be going to rest for some time."

He looked at Rosa and Doctor Mark, who was still standing there, looking like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Also, for the next three hours, DO NOT! And I mean do not remove the needles and where I've placed them, no matter what happens!," Shen warned them, then turned to Rosa with a casual wave. "Ta~ See you in three hours. I'm going to find a nice, quiet corner for a nap."

Rosa, her attention completely focused on her grandfather, just grumbled, "Yeah, yeah, whatever," and waved him off absently, her eyes never leaving the old man's face.

 She was too relieved to argue with his eccentricities.

Shen grinned, then strolled out of the room, leaving behind a gaping doctor and a overjoyed rosa.

***

Two hours later, the golden doors swung open again. 

Another doctor in white robes entered, eyes widening as he saw the Clan Head alive and breathing.

“What’s going on here?” the new doctor demanded.

“Doctor Fang!,” Doctor Mark gasped, rushing forward.

Coming to a stop infront of the man, he claspw5his hands together and bowed deeply in respect, his face a mask of strain.

“This one greets you Sir.” He intones reverently but the other doctor just waves him aside irritably

“If he’s already healed, why did you call me to waste my time? He looks far better than you said!” Doctor Fang questioned sharply.

Doctor Mark was at a loss for words.

How did he tell him that some young charlatan healed the richest man in the east when nothing they did worked?

But before he could defend himself...

The Han Family Head's body instantly jerked heavily as he vomited a lot more blood.

 This time the blood was a bright shade of red.

Then the man fell limp as he passed out, again.