Chapter 384

Hu Xiaotian saw she was unmoved, couldn't help reminding her again: "Hey, I need light! Help me out, lend me light, lend me light!"

Murong Feiyan then reacted, stumbled to get the bronze mirror, with difficulty focused the light on the blood hole on Wan Ting Sheng's head. Although she is usually bold, having killed many villains while punishing evil, she now dare not look closely at it.

Hu Xiaotian looked at Wan Ting Sheng, whose skull was gaping, and indeed saw a hematoma; he delighted: "Indeed an epidural hematoma, fortunately not serious."

Murong Feiyan sighed inwardly, not understanding what an epidural hematoma was—isn't the skull hard anyway? Whose skull is soft? Now the Wan family's second young master has such a large blood hole knocked into his head; what to do? Hu Xiaotian used the light to examine Wan Ting Sheng's head injury, confident that cerebral contusion and subdural hematoma were not combined, so he should wake up soon. However, judging by the hematoma's location, this nearly fatal injury is unrelated to me; I struck his forehead with a stick, yet the hematoma is on the temporal side, indicating someone else also struck his head. How hated is this Wan family second young master, having so many enemies even in his own home—who exactly is the person who took advantage to strike him secretly?

Next task: completely remove the hematoma and stop bleeding. Lacking modern surgical equipment like suction devices, the difficulty and time naturally increased, but this posed no problem for Hu Xiaotian. During the surgery he monitored the patient's vital signs and found no anatomical difference. Yet the people of this continent seem to have greater endurance than those in the previous world; their vitality is more tenacious.

After successfully removing the hematoma and stopping bleeding, Hu Xiaotian began suturing; the bone flap that was knocked out was not repositioned, to avoid secondary infection.

After finishing the final suturing, Hu Xiaotian let out a long breath, turned to Murong Feiyan who was assisting him, only to see her face pale, drained of color, obviously shocked by the bloody procedure. Hu Xiaotian smiled: "It's alright!"

Murong Feiyan nodded, then a strong urge to vomit surged; she turned and ran out.

Hu Xiaotian washed the blood from his hands in a bronze basin, glanced at Wan Ting Sheng on the bed—though still unconscious, his breathing was even, pulse stable; today's surgery was fairly successful.

Coming outside, the Wan family swarmed up, surrounding Hu Xiaotian. Wan Boping said: "How is my son?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "The intracranial hematoma has been removed; he will gradually recover." He waved the white object in his hand—a piece of skull pried from Wan Ting Sheng's head. Seeing the skull, most people covered their mouths and fled; Hu Xiaotian did this deliberately to disgust them.

Among the Wan family, the one with the best psychological fortitude is Wan Boping. Although he is rich but unkind, at critical moments he shows the bearing of a great general; in this era, it is uncommon to let a stranger, a young doctor, perform craniotomy on one's beloved son—of course this is related to Wan Ting Sheng's critical condition; if Hu Xiaotian did not intervene, he would surely die. The notion of treating a dead horse as alive played a big role.

After obtaining Hu Xiaotian's permission, Wan Boping followed him inside to look at his son, confirmed the son's breathing and pulse were present, his heart eased considerably. At least his son is still alive.

Wan Boping gazed at his sleeping son, unable to help feeling worried: "I don't know when he will wake up."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Soon, within a day; at most, two or three days."

Wan Boping, hearing him speak with such confidence, finally relaxed a little.

Hu Xiaotian shifted tone: "Although I removed your son's intracranial hematoma, treatment is only the first step; further treatment is still needed."

"Follow-up treatment?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded: "You should know humans have seven souls and six spirits; the souls and spirits reside within the body. Opening a window on his head to remove the hematoma was unavoidable, but I cannot guarantee the souls and spirits won't escape through this opening." Hu Xiaotian was just talking nonsense. Yet in today's society, his words are quite believable—this continent's science and technology are far underdeveloped, people's understanding of life limited, and the notion of souls and spirits prevails, giving it strong persuasive power.

Wan Boping, somewhat flustered, asked: "What should we do then?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "We must summon the soul!"

"How to summon the soul?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Since I promised to help cure your son, I naturally want to see the good deed through to the end."

Wan Boping said: "Then I must trouble you, Mr. Hu!" He now trusts Hu Xiaotian eighty percent.

Hu Xiaotian said: "I always keep things clear—ding is ding, mao is mao!"

Wan Boping understood: this guy is raising the price! "Damn, so crafty—how can a youngster be this deceitful? Just now he clearly said two hundred taels of gold, now he adds a soul-summoning business." Wan Boping gritted his teeth: "Mr. Hu, just say it plainly—how much does the soul summoning cost?" No need to beat around the bush; it's just money. For my son's life, I'll spare no expense.

Hu Xiaotian chuckled, extended one finger: "One hundred taels of gold, a friend's price!"

Now Wan Boping can only let him have his way, thinking resentfully: "Whatever, I'll agree first and talk later; after my son wakes, I'll decide. Then I'll send you to the officials and accuse you of extortion—one hundred taels? I'll make sure you don't get even a single tael, you'll have nowhere to cry." He didn't know Hu Xiaotian is the newly appointed county magistrate; without a diamond drill, he wouldn't dare take on this porcelain job.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Soul summoning has its rites, Wan Yuanwai; I must first inspect the layout of your residence to decide where to perform the ritual." This guy even laughs at himself—he knows nothing about soul-summoning arts.

Wan Boping nodded repeatedly, having no doubt about this. He personally led Hu Xiaotian around inside and out; Hu Xiaotian finally arrived at the southeast corner of the east wing, which happens to be the courtyard where Le Yao lives.

Originally intending to enter, but Wan Boping stopped him: "This courtyard is where my third daughter-in-law lives; my third son recently died, and the widowed young wife resides here—entering would be inconvenient."

Hu Xiaotian inwardly laughed: "I've come and gone countless times; now you say it's inconvenient? If it's inconvenient, why do you three father and son shamelessly come to disturb others?" He paused, nodded, pointed to the adjacent bamboo garden: "This is the most suitable place for the ritual."

Wan Boping staggered, half-believing, half-doubting Hu Xiaotian's words. Seeing his hesitation, Hu Xiaotian deliberately said: "I don't know whether I should say this or not."

Wan Boping said: "Mr. Hu, please speak freely."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I am originally a physician; geomancy is not within my purview, I shouldn't speak, but if I don't say it I feel uneasy." This guy's bullshitting skills are improving day by day.

Wan Boping knows this guy might be fooling him, but hearing this, his curiosity is aroused; if Hu Xiaotian truly refuses to speak, he fears he'll never sleep again. Wan Boping said: "Mr. Hu, go ahead; I'm all ears."

Hu Xiaotian turned and left: "It's not my duty; better not to say."

Seeing him leave, Wan Boping grew anxious, hurried after him: "Mr. Hu, how much do you want?"

Hu Xiaotian stopped, inwardly cursing: "This old bastard is too blunt; even if he sees I'm trying to extort him, he needn't say it so plainly—you're shameless, I still want face." He put on a stern face: "Wan Yuanwai, you're mistaken; you think I care about money?"

Wan Boping shook his head, already mentally cursing Hu Xiaotian's ancestors eight generations: "You don't care about money? If you didn't care, you wouldn't seize the chance to squeeze me hard. You want to be a whore and also erect a memorial arch—do you think I'm a sucker?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled, eyebrows raised: "Actually, nobody in this world is indifferent to money; money isn't omnipotent, but lacking money is absolutely impossible. What do you think, Wan Yuanwai?"

Wan Boping, dazed by this kid, laughed and cried: "Mr. Hu, please name your price; since you're willing to help me with geomancy, paying you remuneration is appropriate."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I originally wanted to do you a favor, but since Wan Yuanwai is so enthusiastic, I really can't refuse. Usually, healing saves one person; yet reading geomancy changes the fate of an entire family. By the way, how many people are there in your household, Wan Yuanwai?"

Wan Boping was taken aback; the Wan family, counting servants, gardeners, maids and old women, totals over 150—but he couldn't say that, since just treating his son already cost 200 gold; if he told the truth, this guy would demand 30,000 gold. Thinking this, Wan Boping replied: "Fifteen people, young and old." This number excludes all servants.

Hu Xiaotian said: "I mean including the servants and maids."

Wan Boping said: "Then it would be over 150 people." Going around in circles is pointless; he figured out this kid isn't easily fooled. He felt uneasy, fearing that if the kid lion-heartedly demanded 30,000 gold outright, it would be like taking half his life; he could not agree to anything.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Wan Yuanwai, actually your residence is a haunted house!"

Wan Boping's heart sank at his words; normally, if anyone dared say that to his face, he would have reacted, but today is different—Hu Xiaotian's performance has left him stunned. He forced a smile: "Impossible; when I built the manor, I specifically invited the most famous geomancer of Xichuan, Zhu Kuiyong, to inspect it."

Hu Xiaotian snorted: "Many in this world are frauds who deceive for fame; have you ever wondered why the Wan family keeps suffering one misfortune after another?" (To be continued~^~)