Supreme God Reborn as the Disgraced Son-in-Law

The Diagnostic Bet

"How did you know the stone was poisoned?" Su Qinghan asked. 

Her icy CEO persona vanished. She looked like a terrified granddaughter desperate for answers. Her hands shook visibly as she gripped the premium leather seat.

"I study ancient unorthodox medical texts." Ye Tian lied. "The corpse jade has a very specific energetic signature. It mimics healing Yang energy while silently devouring the surrounding life force."

"Can you heal him?" She pleaded. Her voice cracked with genuine emotion. "The best specialists in the country are failing."

"I would be honored to try." Ye Tian replied calmly. "But a text cannot show me his exact meridian flow. I must diagnose him in person first."

The Maybach passed through iron gates and parked in front of a sprawling mountain estate. Dozens of armed guards patrolled the perimeter.

Su Qinghan led Ye Tian through the grand entrance and into the main parlor. The room was opulent. Rare orchids bloomed in crystal vases.

A middle aged couple stood near a roaring fireplace. Su Zheng was the acting head of the family. His wife Madam Su wore a pearl necklace. They both turned to face the new arrivals.

"Qinghan, you caused a scandal tonight." Madam Su stepped forward. She did not look at her daughter. Her judging eyes locked onto Ye Tian. "The rumors from the banquet are already spreading across the city."

"The Zhao family tried to assassinate my grandfather." Su Qinghan argued. "Mr. Ye exposed the plot. He saved my life yesterday and he saved grandfather tonight."

Madam Su scoffed. She looked Ye Tian up and down. She noted the custom charcoal silk suit but her eyes held only deep disdain.

"I know exactly who he is." Madam Su crossed her arms. "Lin Ruoxue made sure the whole city knew his face. He is a discarded house husband. He washed floors and cooked soup for three years."

"Do not disrespect my guest mother." Su Qinghan raised her voice in defense.

"You put a stray dog in a tailored suit and bring him into our inner sanctum." Su Zheng sighed and rubbed his temples in exhaustion. "We are grateful for his warning about the jade. We owe him a debt for that."

Su Zheng pulled a leather checkbook from his tailored jacket pocket. He quickly signed his name and tore out a slip of paper.

"Here is five million yuan." Su Zheng held the check out to Ye Tian. "Thank you for your service tonight. Now leave. A man of your low status has no business inside this estate."

Ye Tian looked at the fluttering piece of paper with boredom.

"Keep your paper." Ye Tian said. His voice was a calm rumble. "I came to look at a patient. I did not come to collect a tip."

"You are not looking at anyone beggar." A loud arrogant voice echoed from the hallway.

Uncle Su Ming walked into the parlor. He wore a velvet smoking jacket and carried a silver flask. A smug grin stretched across his face.

"My brother is far too polite to you." Su Ming pointed a thick finger at Ye Tian. "I do not care what trick you pulled at the banquet. You are a street rat looking for a bigger payday."

"Uncle, please." Su Qinghan stepped between them. "Mr. Ye understands the Yin poison. He can help grandfather."

"We do not need a vagrant playing doctor." Su Ming laughed loudly. "I already took care of the situation. I flew in the best medical minds in the province."

Su Ming took a slow sip from his flask.

"Doctor Sun is upstairs right now." Su Ming boasted to the room. "He is the head of the Provincial Medical Association. He is already making incredible progress. The Patriarch will be healed by morning without the help of a peasant."

Ye Tian remained perfectly calm. He did not feel insulted by insects buzzing around his head. He smiled. It was a cold sarcastic expression.

"If your doctors are so brilliant it would not hurt to let me watch them work." Ye Tian looked directly at Su Zheng. "Perhaps I could learn a thing or two from such legendary masters."

"I said no." Su Ming barked. "You are not going near the Patriarch."

"Let him observe." Su Zheng spoke up. His voice carried the weight of a desperate son. "He spotted the corpse jade when no one else did. If he wants to watch from the corner he can watch."

"Brother, you cannot be serious." Su Ming protested loudly.

"I am the acting head of this family." Su Zheng glared at his younger brother. "My word is final. He is strictly allowed to observe. If he speaks out of turn the guards will throw him into the street."

They climbed the grand staircase and entered the heavily guarded master bedroom.

Four space heaters glowed bright red in the corners but the air remained bone chilling.

An old man lay in the center of a four poster bed. His skin was a terrifying shade of pale blue. He shivered violently under three layers of thick wool blankets.

Doctor Sun stood beside the bed. He was an elderly man with a long white beard and a medical coat. Three assistants scrambled around him adjusting modern heart monitors and intravenous drips.

Doctor Sun carefully extracted a long silver needle from the old man's chest.

"The treatment is complete." Doctor Sun wiped sweat from his wrinkled forehead. "I have sealed the primary chill using the Nine Palace Acupuncture method. His temperature should stabilize soon."

Ye Tian stood in the corner. He watched the medical monitor. He watched the flow of frozen energy beneath the old man's skin.

"You just signed his death warrant." Ye Tian said. 

Doctor Sun spun around. His face flushed bright red with sudden outrage.

"Who let this arrogant child in here?" Doctor Sun shouted at Su Zheng. "How dare you question my life's work."

"You sealed the Shaoyin meridian." Ye Tian stepped away from the wall. He pointed at the dark purple bruising on the Patriarch chest. "You trapped the cold energy inside his body. You are pushing the frost directly into his heart."

"I am insulating the vital organs." Doctor Sun sneered. "I have practiced advanced medicine for fifty years. You are speaking pure nonsense."

"Look at his fingernails." Ye Tian commanded.

Su Qinghan rushed to the bedside. She lifted her grandfather's hand. The fingernails were turning pitch black.

The shivering stopped suddenly. The old man's chest barely moved.

"His heart rate is dropping fast." An assistant yelled in panic. The medical monitor began beeping a frantic warning rhythm.

"Push two milligrams of epinephrine." Doctor Sun panicked. He grabbed a plastic syringe with shaking hands.

"Chemicals will not thaw a frozen heart." Ye Tian pushed past the assistants and stood at the bedside.

Ye Tian ignored the yelling doctors. He pressed two fingers against the Patriarch wrist. He felt the sluggish icy pulse fighting a losing battle against the Yin energy.

"This is Frost Vein Blockage." Ye Tian announced to the panicked room. "The cold is not a virus or a common fever. It is a manifestation of stagnant Yin energy. Modern medicine cannot cure this."

"Then what can?" Su Zheng asked. The father rushed forward with tears forming in his eyes.

"He requires a specific custom brewed medicinal potion." Ye Tian dropped the old man's wrist. "It will burn the frost out of his veins. I need to go to the herbal market to buy the ingredients immediately. If we wait two hours he will die."

Doctor Sun let out a harsh mocking laugh. He tried to hide his own medical failure behind loud arrogance.

"A witch doctor soup." Doctor Sun mocked. "My advanced modern techniques failed but a vagrant thinks boiling some leaves will save him. You are a clown playing a dangerous game."

"He is a thief." Uncle Su Ming pointed an accusing finger at Ye Tian. "He just wants us to hand him a pile of cash for fake herbs. The moment he steps out of this estate he will vanish into the night with our money."

Su Zheng looked at his dying father. He looked at the panicked doctors trying to stabilize the monitors. He then looked at the cold unshakeable confidence burning in Ye Tian's eyes.

Su Zheng pulled a black bank card from his wallet. He shoved it directly into Ye Tian's hand.

"There is no limit on this card." Su Zheng said with a tight jaw. "Buy whatever you need to save him."

"Are you insane?" Su Ming grabbed his brother's arm. "He will steal the money and run."

"I will not take that risk." Su Zheng turned his sharp gaze toward the old doctor. "Doctor Sun. You will accompany Mr. Ye to the medicinal market."

Doctor Sun frowned deeply. "You want me to follow this charlatan around like a stray dog?"

"I want you to verify every single herb he buys." Su Zheng ordered. His voice left no room for argument. "You will ensure he does not flee with family funds. If he saves my father I will reward you both. If he fails he answers to me."

Ye Tian pocketed the black card. He did not care about their petty suspicions. Mortal doubts meant nothing to a god. He only cared about gathering the rare resources he needed to build his new foundation.

"Try to keep up, old man." Ye Tian walked past Doctor Sun and headed for the door.