Hearing Shen Xingkong's words, the man seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon. He mumbled something, but it was too quiet for anyone to make out what he was saying.
Shen Xingkong patted his thigh and stood up, giving the man one final, regretful glance before turning to head toward the Affiliated Hospital across the street. However, he hadn't taken more than a few steps when he heard the man call out from behind him.
"Hey, Doctor, wait a second!"
"Didn't I make myself clear just now?" Shen Xingkong turned around, frowning.
"I understand, I understand!" The man hurried over, nodding vigorously. "You just want money, right? I have some."
"Where is this money?" Shen Xingkong asked, holding out his hand.
"I don't have it now, but when my dad left, he gave my sister the house. It's old, small, and a bit run-down, but if we sell it, it should fetch a few thousand at least. Would that be enough?" The man gritted his teeth, clearly willing to give up everything to help his sister.
"Hahaha..." Shen Xingkong laughed, his face breaking into a wide grin as he patted the man's shoulder. "Got some time tonight?"
"Yes, yes, of course!" The man nodded eagerly.
"Alright, we'll meet back here, and you can take me to see your sister. If her condition isn't too complicated, I'll take the job." Shen Xingkong finally agreed to take a look at the man's sister.
"Job?" The man blinked, confused.
"I mean, I'll treat your sister. Now, I don't have much time. I'll see you later." Shen Xingkong waved him off, then crossed the street and entered the hospital.
That morning, Professor Shi had a class to teach at the medical college, so he wasn't at the hospital. Shen Xingkong, holding the notes he had made the previous week about the patients in the inpatient department, found a quiet spot to study. However, it didn't take long for his thoughts to drift back to the "job" he'd just agreed to.
Sleepwalking was a mental illness, and this was a brand-new challenge for him. In the past, he had used his acupuncture needles to treat people with clear physical symptoms and diagnosed ailments. This, however, was different. Mental illness remains a significant hurdle in the medical field. Physically, there are no visible signs of the condition.
If the human body were hardware, then the mind would be software. Physical illnesses are easier to treat because you can identify the issue and prescribe the appropriate medication. But mental illnesses are a different story. No one knows which circuits in the brain have gone haywire. It's like repairing a computer. Even if the CPU burns out, you can always replace it. But if the system is corrupted, you usually need to reinstall everything—repairing it isn't really an option.
Computers can have their systems reinstalled, but how do you reinstall a human brain's system? That's a task only God could handle.
Shen Xingkong had felt genuine sympathy when he heard the man's story at the tea shop earlier. He didn't have any siblings himself, but he had his good friend Chang Le. If Chang Le ever fell ill, Shen Xingkong would do whatever it took to save him, even if it meant risking his own life.
People share the same feelings, and Shen Xingkong wasn't cold-hearted. It wasn't just about money—he wanted to see if the man was truly willing to sacrifice everything for his sister's sake.
Now, the real challenge lay with Shen Xingkong. How was he going to cure the man's sister's sleepwalking? This wasn't going to be easy, and to be honest, he had no idea what to do. He was just a second-year medical student who hadn't exactly been top of his class before gaining his special abilities. And now he was dealing with a mental illness that even international experts struggled with.
But Shen Xingkong had a determination to not back down. He believed that if it was an illness, it could be cured. The real question was how. Unable to focus on the patient records any longer, and with Professor Shi tied up in meetings at the medical college, Shen Xingkong decided to sneak out of the hospital and head to a nearby internet café to research sleepwalking.
He spent the entire morning in the café, combing through information until his head was spinning, but he found no promising leads. According to standard practice, mental illnesses like sleepwalking are usually treated with a combination of psychological and pharmaceutical approaches. Psychologically, the focus is on calming the patient and helping them avoid negative emotions like fear or anxiety. Medically, drugs like chlorpromazine—typically tranquilizers—are used, along with supplements that nourish the mind.
However, no matter what approach is used, treatment for sleepwalking can only help manage or suppress the symptoms. True recovery is exceedingly rare. From what Shen Xingkong read online, the few cases of recovery seemed more like flukes—like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat. And tranquilizers often come with dependency issues and unpredictable side effects.
After lunch, Shen Xingkong went to wait outside Professor Shi's office, hoping to consult with him in the afternoon. Maybe this renowned professor had some insights into treating sleepwalking. However, a meeting at the medical college ran long, so Professor Shi couldn't make it to the hospital in the afternoon either.
Left with no other options, Shen Xingkong decided he might as well go see the patient in person.
After work, Shen Xingkong called Chang Le, asking him to drive over to the hospital. He also mentioned that they had some "business" to attend to. Chang Le, knowing what "business" meant, eagerly agreed, even skipping his usual girl-chasing to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Once there, Shen Xingkong filled him in on the poor brother's story.
Chang Le listened, his face contorting as if he'd just swallowed a hundred flies.
"Old Shen... Are you sure about this?"
"What do you mean, 'sure'?" Shen Xingkong shrugged, pretending to be confident.
"Come on, I'm talking about the sleepwalking thing. Does your grandpa's secret remedy even work for that? What if the girl pulls a knife on us in her sleep? She wouldn't even be held legally responsible. We'd be the ones in deep trouble." Chang Le shuddered, thinking of the horror movies he had watched.
"We'll take a look first. Are you really going to turn down money?" Shen Xingkong said as they headed toward the tea shop across the street.
"Money is great, but my life's a bit more important, don't you think?" Chang Le grimaced, regretting not staying behind to chase after girls instead of dealing with some sleepwalking patient.
The two of them waited in the tea shop area until the sun began to set, and finally, the man from the morning came running up, out of breath. Seeing another person with Shen Xingkong, the man hesitated, his eyes darting back and forth, still unsure if someone as young as Shen Xingkong could really be a doctor.
"Stop worrying. He's my assistant. He's coming with me to see your sister. Get in the car." Shen Xingkong read his mind and waved him toward the Audi parked nearby.
"Man… you're incredible," Chang Le said, clapping the guy on the shoulder as he followed Shen Xingkong into the car.
Seeing that they even had a car, the man's trust in them grew. That was one reason Shen Xingkong had asked Chang Le to come along. The man jumped into the back seat, sitting beside Shen Xingkong, and then offered his hand in a friendly gesture.
"Hi, I'm Bai Tao."