Long Tianmo was awake?
It was hard to determine an unconscious person's identity, but much easier to do so when the person was awake.
"Lead the way, this prince will know if he's the real one after a few questions!" Qinwang Rong was very worried. As the person who knew Long Tianmo better than anyone else present, he was the one who had the most right to talk. Everyone hurried towards the consultation hall. When the consultation had been delayed, Long Tianmo was sent to a room in the back courtyard of the hall. But they'd hardly reached that courtyard before they heard Long Tianmo's agonized screams. Everyone was shocked and quickened their steps except for Han Yunxi, who came to an abrupt halt.
Seeing this, Gu Beiyue stopped as well and asked quietly, "What is it?"
Han Yunxi didn't reply, but stood with her eyes lowered as if wholly absorbed in something. It was unknown what she was thinking about.
"It's nothing," she said, before continuing on her way.
Inside the courtyard, Qinwang Rong had already pushed the doors aside and charged into the room. Long Tianmo was tossing and turning on the bed, his sweat soaking through the white robes on his body. His face was pale and bloodless, his expression ferocious and filled with horror. It seemed like he was suffering some unimaginable pain.
"Mo'er! Mo'er!" Qinwang Rong suddenly strode towards the bed. But no matter how much he shouted, Long Tianmo didn't react. He didn't even seem to notice that Qinwang Rong was by his side.
In truth, he wasn't truly conscious. His eyes would fly open at random intervals before squeezing shut. He kept on wailing mournfully, his cries gradually weakening from lack of energy, not despair.
"What's going on?" Lady Lianxin asked the medical assistant sternly.
"He started saying that it hurt not long after he woke up, before he ended up like this. The pain became too much for him to speak properly," the attending assistant said hurriedly.
Pain?
At this point, it didn't matter whether the person before them was real or a fake. Saving him was more important! Besides Qinwang Rong, everyone else present at the scene was a doctor. Though they couldn't diagnose his specific ailment, they could tell his situation was pessimistic. There was a limit to how much pain the human body could take. It wasn't unknown for people to simply die from too much pain. Without a word, Third Elder stepped forward and prepared to take Long Tianmo's pulse.
With Third Elder taking the lead, everyone else behind him could relax. As a seventh-ranked Sage Doctor and one of only three such doctors in the medical academy and Cloud Realm Continent, he was far ahead of Luo Zuishan and Xi Yubo despite being only one rank higher. Silence descended upon the room as everyone watched on anxiously. Han Yunxi stood at the very back, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she leaned against the wall. Ever since she came into the room, her line of sight had been fixated on Long Tianmo's body without a break. Unknown to her, Gu Beiyue had kept his gaze on her without shifting the entire time as well.
Heaven knew how much pain Long Tianmo was in. Just then, he'd been tossing and turning uncontrollably while his hands thrashed, but now his movements were getting smaller and smaller. It seemed that he was running out of energy. Still, when Third Elder pulled over his hand, he suddenly whipped it out of the way and started writhing about with renewed strength. Third Elder clasped his hands together and stopped.
Seeing this, Qinwang Rong hurried forward and pressed down on Long Tianmo's arm. But this seemed to touch a tender spot, because Long Tianmo suddenly thrashed out with his hand with enough force to push Qinwang Rong back a few steps. Qinwang Rong came from a military background and had quite the hand strength, but Long Tianmo was plenty strong as he was a practitioner of martial arts, too. Qinwang Rong was about to try again when Third Elder ordered with a serious face, "Don't touch him anymore. Prepare a large dose of Numbing Soup1, quickly!"
A Sage Doctor was still a Sage Doctor. Mere medical assistants lacked the qualifications to work as his helpers, so the fifth-rank Divine Doctor, Lady Lianxin, personally prepared the decoction. But it was at this moment that the silent Han Yunxi spoke up.
"Third Elder, that's wrong! You mustn't!"
All heads looked over at the one who said those words. Third Elder didn't seem pleased at being rejected, but he was a person of noble character and high prestige who commanded universal respect. No sign of his feelings were shown on his face as he looked upon Han Yunxi with interest.
Lady Lianxin was far less well-tempered, her gaze filled with loathing as she demanded impatiently, "Han Yunxi, what nonsense are you spewing? Can't you see this is an emergency? Why are you adding to the chaos?"
Only then did Han Yunxi walk over, her face serious. "Numbing Soup won't give him any peace, much less stop the pain. He's been poisoned with an extremely strong toxin."
Her profession made it customary for her to be cool with her tone when talking about an ailment. Her entire being was filled with authority, emanating a serious air that was difficult to counter. Gu Beiyue was long used to this type of Han Yunxi. In fact, he liked it best when she was self-confident and solemn. But everyone else at the medical academy had turned stupefied, including the little medical assistant on the side.
What did this woman say?
Was she rejecting Third Elder's decision? Where did she get the guts?
"Poisoned? You haven't even examined the pulse yet, what nonsense are you spewing?" Lady Lianxin immediately denounced her. Han Yunxi's self-confident gaze grated on her nerves. She'd only knew of two cases of diagnosis where a pulse reading wasn't needed. One was with commonplace illnesses, such as a cold, or injuries from falls and fractures. Even those doctors with minimal experience could accurately make such a diagnosis after a few questions and prescribing some medicine. The other type was something she'd seen from the head of the medical academy. As an eighth-rank Empyreal Doctor, the head could diagnose quite a few diseases, all accurately, without reading the pulse. In Han Yunxi's case, she hadn't even asked the patient any questions, much less taken his pulse.
"I'm not spewing nonsense. Third Elder, if you don't believe me you can touch his wrist joint and see." Han Yunxi skipped Lady Lianxin entirely to look at Third Elder, her eyes crystal clear.
She wasn't being arrogant, but the situation had coincidentally fallen into her field of expertise again. If one was judging from medical skills alone, she'd be a third-rank Medical Adept at most, the lowest ranking amongst the lot. But when it came to poisons, she was the authority here. Even if the head of the medical academy was standing here right now, she'd still be that authority! Her detox system had sensed the poison long before she even entered the courtyard, scaring her half to death. That was because the poison had been found in the bones!
Bone Poison, that was a name she'd christened herself and only because it was a completely new poison. The poison pond in the detox system had cultivated its own version. The frightening thing about this poison was that it targeted the victim's bones and joints. Once poisoned, not an inch of the body's various joints could escape. When she first discovered this new poison, Han Yunxi had broken out into a cold sweat. She never expected that someone would actually use it.
The poisoner was absolutely ruthless, and the poison, absolutely violent!
Han Yunxi knew the victim had to be Long Tianmo before she even stepped through the door. She too, was certain that his identity was the real thing. That was because Jun Yixie was the only other person in the world who could use such a poison. It looked like he had gotten some of the liquid from the poison pond in the Medicine Forest after all. Long Feiye's reminder was apt, Jun Yixie wouldn't release someone so simply. He'd done something to Long Tianmo.
Third Elder was looking at Han Yunxi, but he didn't take her words to heart. In his eyes, Han Yunxi wasn't even worthy of being called a doctor. Still, her aura of authority had caused him to hesitate. It resembled the air of a doctor, her posture similar to something he'd only seen from the medical academy head. He never expected a girl like her to possess it as well. Just then, Lady Lianxin had said this girl's mother was Lady Tianxin. Why did 'Lady Tianxin' sound like a familiar name?
Seeing that Third Elder still hadn't replied, Han Yunxi added, "Third Elder, Just because they can't feel it doesn't mean that someone isn't in pain."
For example, when a person got injured, inflammation around the wound would cause pain. Perhaps a person suffering from paralysis wouldn't feel anything from their nerves, but if left untreated, the inflammation would continue and worsen the victim's condition all the same. Numbing Soup could ease Long Tianmo into slumber until he didn't feel any pain, but his joints would still be in agony. If this was just ordinary pain or inflammation, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but Long Tianmo had been afflicted with an extraordinary poison. Just because he wouldn't feel pain wouldn't mean that he wasn't in pain…
Third Elder finally listened to one of Han Yunxi's sentences. Now he stroked his beard thoughtfully, a prudent expression appeared on his face as he remained as silent as before. Lady Lianxin couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up. "Han Yunxi, haven't you had enough? Can you afford to delay the diagnosis of a patient?"
"He'd been poisoned with Bone Poison. As soon as Numbing Soup is used, the medicine will react with the poison and change the nature of the toxin. Can you afford to shoulder the burden if nobody can cure the poison anymore?" Han Yunxi held no trace of politeness in her tone.
"You…hehe, how are you so sure he's poisoned?" Lady Lianxin really couldn't believe it. Heaven knew where this girl got her self-confidence from.
Right now, Lady Tianxin was the type of person Han Yunxi least wanted to acknowledge. Her manner was serious and sincere as she spoke. "Third Elder, touch the crown prince's wrist joints and you'll know the truth of the matter."
Although Third Elder wasn't a poisons doctor, he could still notice any peculiarities if he touched a joint so deeply poisoned. Unfortunately, Han Yunxi had thought things through too simply. Though this wasn't a public consultation, there were still plenty of people present. How could Third Elder listen to her so easily!? Suppose he really did touch this wrist joint and confirmed it was poison. Where would Third Elder's face go then?
Was he supposed to admit that his previous decision was wrong? That he, as a proper Sage Doctor of the present age, couldn't even be compared to a slip of a girl? Of course, Third Elder was still inclined to medical ethics. Long Tianmo's condition was urgent and couldn't afford to be delayed. Yet as he prepared to speak up, the silent Fourth Elder abruptly opened his mouth.
"Second Elder's the authority on orthopaedics, why don't we invite Second Elder over?"
This…
Fourth Elder's words were undoubtedly calling Third Elder's words into question. Moreover, Second Elder and Third Elder had never gotten along, so if Second Elder was invited, would that be one more person who was present to see the joke? Third Elder was preparing to yield a step until he had heard those words. Anger poured into his heart and showed on his unhappy face.
"Heh, this old man's practiced medicine for so many years. I've never needed anyone else to stick their mouths in. Lianxin, why aren't you hurrying up with that Numbing Soup yet?"
"You can't!" Han Yunxi grew angry as well, her face turning as cold as ice.
1. Numbing Soup – mafei tang, most likely derived from the famous Numbing Medicine of the legendary doctor Hua Tuo and known for its numbing properties.