KCha! A leaf was broken in the air.

Another meridian was unblocked. w.a.n.g Yao's internal Qi was moving throughout his body without stopping. He felt he had endless strength, which was linked to his surroundings. w.a.n.g Yao couldn't explain why he felt like that.

What is this?

Chen Ying opened her eyes wide and couldn't believe what she had seen.

How can this be possible?

w.a.n.g Yao's movement just now made her realized that w.a.n.g Yao had reached a legendary level of Kung Fu.

At his age?!

She wished she was wrong.

Breathing out, w.a.n.g Yao stopped practicing. After strenuous exercises, w.a.n.g Yao was not short of breath at all.

Unblocking all the meridians in the body is really good for me! thought w.a.n.g Yao.

He was full of energy and Qi, and he was also extremely fit and healthy.

He wouldn't even feel tired after staying up for three days and nights given his current condition. But he would still rest properly, so he went to sleep just a little past 10 pm.

However, Chen Ying couldn't sleep.

She thought of a lot of things, and only she knew what they were.

w.a.n.g Yao got up early the next morning. He didn't leave his room. Instead, he sat straight up on his bed to do breathing exercises, which was described in the Natural Cla.s.sics as the method of inducing Qi. It was the basic method of breathing exercises.

He sat on the bed and forgot about the outside world and himself. Slowly, he entered a wonderful mental status. He could hear the sound of the wind, the sound of leaves dropping on the ground and birds singing. Then suddenly all those sounds were gone. He was fused together with the universe, and then the sounds all came back. He could hear pedestrians talking outside, people shouting, Chen Ying making sounds in the kitchen. All the sounds were clearer as if those people were next to him.

w.a.n.g Yao knew his practice of internal Qi had entered into a higher level.

He was not sure what level he had reached at the moment. On one hand, he didn't have a teacher. He purely followed the instructions in the scriptures given by the system. His Kung Fu skills were taught by Zhou Xiong. He also learned Chinese boxing from Quan Jing given to him by Zhou Xiong. On the other hand, he didn't have anyone to practice with. He didn't know whether he was doing better than the average person or not. Anyway, Kung Fu was just one aspect of w.a.n.g Yao's capacity.

"I need to go out today," said w.a.n.g Yao while having breakfast.

"Where are you going?" asked Chen Ying.

"You don't need to come with me. I've got someone to go with me," said w.a.n.g Yao.

"Okay." Chen Ying didn't ask any questions.

He Qisheng came to the cottage a little past 10 am.

"h.e.l.lo, Dr. w.a.n.g," said He Qisheng.

"h.e.l.lo, I'm ready. Let's go," said w.a.n.g Yao.

He Qisheng drove w.a.n.g Yao to a residential complex in Beijing. The place was considered luxurious. w.a.n.g Yao met He Qisheng's mother, an elderly lady in her 70's.

As soon as w.a.n.g Yao saw the old lady, he knew she had health issues by observing her face. Her face and eyes were dark, which was probably caused by blocked Qi and blood vessels. She looked tired and was short of breath even when she was sitting in a sofa.

"Hi, Mom, here is Dr. w.a.n.g. He's here to see you," said He Qisheng.

"Good morning, Ma'am," said w.a.n.g Yao.

"Good morning, Dr. w.a.n.g. Thank you for coming to see me," said the old lady softly. Her voice was low as if she didn't have the strength to talk. w.a.n.g Yao noticed that she took more breath in than out.

"You are welcome," said w.a.n.g Yao.

He checked her pulse straight away.

What is this?!

w.a.n.g Yao lifted his head up to look at the old lady, then took a look at He Qisheng.

"Ma'am, you need to rest well," said w.a.n.g Yao.

"Well, I have been feeling extremely tired as of lately," said the old lady.

w.a.n.g Yao didn't say another word; he just smiled at He Qisheng.

"Mom, you sit here, and I'll speak to Dr. w.a.n.g," said He Qisheng.

"Okay," said the old lady.

w.a.n.g Yao followed He Qisheng to another bedroom.

"Qisheng, don't tell me you don't know your mother's condition," said w.a.n.g Yao.

After checking the old lady's pulse, w.a.n.g Yao was certain that the old lady had a malignant tumor, otherwise known as cancer. Everyone knew that cancer was not curable. It was the most difficult condition to treat, more difficult than treating most of the tricky illnesses. At the moment, w.a.n.g Yao didn't know how to treat cancer. 

"I know. But I still have hope. After all, you are a wonderful doctor," said He Qisheng.

"I'm flattered, but I can't cure cancer," said w.a.n.g Yao.

Cancer was still the most difficult-to-treat medical condition for both Western medical pract.i.tioners and Chinese medical pract.i.tioners. w.a.n.g Yao was just a junior Traditional Chinese Pharmacist at the moment. He was not yet a master pharmacist who could cure all sorts of medical conditions.

He Qisheng looked sad. Although he was prepared for bad news, there was a silver lining in his heart as he mentioned to w.a.n.g Yao. He had witnessed w.a.n.g Yao's ability to create miracles. He had seen w.a.n.g Yao bring back a patient who almost died. He thought maybe w.a.n.g Yao could save his mother.

"Thank you anyway," said He Qisheng.

"That's alright. Does your mom know about her illness?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

"No, I haven't told her yet. But I will take her to the hospital for treatment next month," said He Qisheng.

"What treatment?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

"Surgery," said He Qisheng.

"My suggestion is not to have surgery immediately. Try conservative treatment first," suggested w.a.n.g Yao.

Although He Qisheng's mother had cancer, her current condition wouldn't allow her to tolerate any surgeries. All surgery was traumatic and could hurt one's vitality. Major surgeries were even worse; it would take a long time to recover from major surgeries. Even if the body recovered, it would not be the same as before.

He Qisheng's mother was very weak. She would be even weaker after the surgery. How would she fight cancer?

"What is your suggestion?" asked He Qisheng.

"My suggestion is to have conservative treatment first," said w.a.n.g Yao.

"How?" asked He Qisheng.

"I thought you were also a doctor?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

"Yes," said He Qisheng.

"Did you learn Chinese medicine?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

"I learned Chinese medicine first, then learned Western medicine," said He Qisheng. He was very attracted to Chinese medicine once but changed his mind due to an incident. He then started to learn Western medicine. After witnessing w.a.n.g Yao's extraordinary medical skills, he recently picked up Chinese medicine again.

"Get your mother to try Chinese medicine," suggested w.a.n.g Yao.

"Do you have any suggestions of herbal formulas?" asked He Qisheng.

"Sorry, not at the moment," said w.a.n.g Yao after thinking for a moment.

He really hadn't had any idea of how to treat cancer.

"I'll let you know if I have any sort of treatment," added w.a.n.g Yao.

"Okay, thanks," said He Qisheng.

He was very polite to w.a.n.g Yao, too polite, and it made w.a.n.g Yao a bit uncomfortable. So, w.a.n.g Yao declined He Qisheng's invitation to have dinner together.

After returning to the cottage from He Qisheng's mother's house, w.a.n.g Yao also doc.u.mented He Qisheng's mother's medical condition in his notebook. He had two notebooks at the moment. One was to doc.u.ment common medical conditions. The other one was to doc.u.ment medical conditions which were hard to treat, such as the ones he was treating at the moment.

Cancer could develop extremely fast to the damage it caused to normal body tissues and organs. Cancer was not called cancer in Chinese medicine—it was a type of sore or ulcer.

Conservative treatments for cancer included unblocking blood vessels, soothing Qi, regulating the flow of vital energy, promoting blood circulation to dispel blood stasis, and balancing Yin and Yang energy.

"h.e.l.lo, Dr. w.a.n.g?" said Chen Ying outside w.a.n.g Yao's room.

"Yes? Please come in," said w.a.n.g Yao.

Chen Ying pushed the door and entered the room.

"What can I do for you?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

"I need a favor," said Chen Ying after some hesitation.

"What is it?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

"I would like you to see a patient," said Chen Ying.

"Who do you want me to see? A friend of yours or...?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

w.a.n.g Yao normally wouldn't see any patient randomly unless the patient was his family member. Even if the patient was a friend and reliable, he would turn down the request.

"I would like you to see my brother," said Chen Ying.

"Is he in Beijing?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

"Yes," said Chen Ying.

"Okay, I can see him this afternoon," said w.a.n.g Yao.

"Great! Thank you so much! I'll call the hospital immediately," said Chen Ying happily.

"Now your smile is much nicer," joked w.a.n.g Yao.

Chen Ying's smile just now was different from the way she smiled normally. Her smile was from the bottom of her heart and genuine, not perfunctory.

Chen Ying drove w.a.n.g Yao to the hospital in the afternoon.

"Why did you never mention you had a brother?" asked w.a.n.g Yao curiously.

Chen Ying actually didn't want to keep it from w.a.n.g Yao. She had her reasons.

"Because of the rules?" asked w.a.n.g Yao again.

"Sort of," said Chen Ying after keeping silent for a moment.

"Do you like your job?" asked w.a.n.g Yao.

He knew there were a lot of people like Chen Ying working for prominent families and providing special services.

"I won't say I enjoy it. But I'm luckier than most people career-wise. Don't you agree?" said Chen Ying.