If you cure it, I will marry you. If you fail to cure it, I will kill you!

"I'll do my best," Suo said.

Li curled her lips in a sneer and said, "You doctors always love to say 'do your best.' Doing your best actually means you have no confidence at all."

Suo smiled and replied, "I really don't have much confidence."

Li froze for a moment, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to constantly offer encouraging words to bolster her adoptive father's confidence. Yet, in her eagerness to put Suo down, she had gone completely against her own intentions.

Although she still wanted to snap back at Suo with a few more retorts, she worried that this fellow might simply refuse to treat him on the spot. She had no choice but to swallow her mounting anger and stand quietly to the side.

The knife in her hand spun rapidly, whistling through the air as if she were venting her inner dissatisfaction.

Seeing that the woman had finally stopped talking, Suo turned his head toward the Dragon King and said, "During my first acupuncture session, I used the Five Dragons Acupuncture Technique of the Needle King's family, and you showed no reaction at all. For the second session, I switched to the Burning Mountain Fire technique from the *Canon of Supreme Mystery*, and your arm still had no sensation whatsoever. It wasn't until I used the Piercing Cold technique that you felt a chill—which proves your body naturally possesses a fiery constitution. If I stimulate you with the Piercing Cold technique every day, it might just awaken some of the dormant neurons in your body."

"Of course, this is just my preliminary projection. Whether it will be effective requires further verification. Aside from acupuncture stimulation, I will set aside half an hour every day to come and give you a massage. Massaging can also promote blood circulation throughout the body, which plays a very good role in physical recovery."

Suo looked down at the Dragon King's abdomen and said, "There is poison accumulated in your abdomen. You can have Western medical experts study and analyze this part to figure out what kind of poison it actually is. Although too much time has elapsed, it is not entirely impossible to expel it. Once the toxins are completely cleared out, the subsequent treatment will yield twice the results with half the effort."

Suo pointed to the basin of warm water and said to Li, "Help the Dragon King wash his feet."

"There's no need. Just have the servants come in and wash them," the Dragon King said, still deeply fond of his adoptive daughter and speaking up to shield her. He could clearly see that this young man and woman seemed to harbor some hostility toward each other.

"Why bring in servants? Isn't it only natural for a daughter to wash her father's feet?" Suo said with a smile.

While that sounded logical, in reality, how many children would actually wash their parents' feet?

Li shot Suo a fierce glare, then turned to the Dragon King with a smile and said, "You're right, Adoptive Father. Why bother with servants? Washing them myself is the same thing."

With that, she tucked the knife back into the leather sheath at her waist, removed the black leather glove from her right hand, and picked up a towel to carefully wipe the Dragon King's large feet.

It was then that Suo noticed a long, slender scar on the back of Li's right hand. It slanted downward from her palm joints all the way to the center of her fingers, making her originally delicate and crystal-clear hand look somewhat twisted and terrifying.

Suo immediately thought of his own Golden Chrysalis Skin-Nourishing Powder. Although her wound was severe, if the scar tissue were opened up and the powder applied a few more times, it could still be healed.

However, remembering this woman's attitude toward him—

"Such a pretty woman, and what does she have to play with? She has to play with knives. I simply won't help her," Suo thought pettily.

Once Li finished wiping the Dragon King's feet, Suo raised his silver needles and began applying the Piercing Cold technique to the Yongquan acupoint on the soles of the Dragon King's feet.

This was a restorative acupoint, which would greatly aid in the Dragon King's recovery.

After treating all of the Dragon King's major acupoints and performing half an hour of acupoint massage, Suo finally concluded the first day of treatment, completely exhausted.

Still, the Dragon King's physical constitution was remarkably good. During the acupuncture, he had clear tactile sensations, which gave Suo a bit more confidence in a successful treatment.

If the man had felt absolutely nothing at all, then Suo truly would have been helpless.

Because Suo had needled his slumber-inducing acupoint, the Needle King sank into a deep sleep once the treatment was finished.

Suo packed up his needle case, washed his hands, and said to Li, "Can I leave now?"

"Did you actually expect to move in and live here?" Li retorted, taking the lead and walking ahead to guide Suo back by the way they had come.

"I certainly wouldn't dare live with you," Suo said. Living with a woman like this made it entirely possible that someone might slit your throat in the middle of the night.

"What do you mean by that? Am I a man-eater?" Li turned around, her face full of fury.

"You don't eat people. You kill people," Suo said with a bitter smile. This girl apparently still had a very high opinion of herself, completely oblivious to the fact that she was an utterly savage and violent terrorist.

Li grabbed Suo by the collar, shoved his back against a tree trunk, pressed the blade of her knife against his neck, and raged, "Do you think that just because you can treat patients, I wouldn't dare do anything to you? Believe it or not—believe it or not, the moment you cure my adoptive father, I'll slice your throat off?"

"Let go. Quickly let go. You're a young lady, stop drawing knives and guns at every turn," Suo said.

"So what if I draw knives and guns? Is that any of your business?"

Seeing that the woman was about to fly off the handle again, Suo hurriedly said, "Actually, you look quite pretty when you smile. You should smile more often."

Li's expression froze, but she quickly straightened her face again and snapped, "What are you to me? Why should I smile at you?"

"You don't have to smile at me. But you could smile at others. Who can ever be sure when some man might be captivated by your smile?" Suo cajoled her with a touch of artistic flair.

"Pfft. I have no need for men," Li said ungraciously.

"Every woman who says that ends up marrying a man," Suo replied.

Li stared intently at Suo's face for a moment, and then actually smiled at him. That smile was so sweet and lovely that she looked remarkably like a cartoon magical girl from an anime.

"Can you really cure my adoptive father?" Li asked, her breath brushing softly against Suo's face like orchid fragrance. He had no idea what brand of toothpaste she used, but her breath was exceptionally fresh and pleasant.

"I will try. There is certainly a chance," Suo said, pulling his head back slightly, feeling rather unaccustomed to this woman's sudden gentleness.

"Good," Li nodded. "If you fail to cure my adoptive father, I'll kill you."

"——In the history of medicine, there has never been a one hundred percent guaranteed chance of a successful cure," Suo labored to explain, trying to reason with this woman from a scientific standpoint.

A woman without education truly was terrifying.

"That's your problem. I don't care. I only want to see results," Li said imperiously.

She tapped Suo's face lightly with the cold blade of her knife and added, "If you can cure my adoptive father, I might even consider giving you some kind of reward."

"What kind of reward?" Suo's expression brightened with anticipation.

"For instance——I might consider marrying you as a reward."

"This——" Suo was outraged. Was there any bullying worse than this?

If you fail to cure him, you get wiped out. A dead end.

If you cure him, you have to marry her. A fate worse than death.

What difference was there between the outcome of curing him and failing to cure him?

Was there any justice left in the world? She might as well just stab him to death right now.

"What? Do you have an objection?" Li asked, watching Suo's expression shift through a myriad of changes.

"——If he can't be cured, could we perhaps change the form of punishment?" Suo asked cautiously.

"No way."

"Then you absolutely must change the reward for curing him. Otherwise, I won't treat him at all," Suo declared with a resolute expression.

"——"

When they returned to the small building where Suo had first arrived, Qiaomu was already waiting there. Seeing Suo return safely, Lin Qingyuan and Wang Xiushen finally let go of the heavy stones hanging in their hearts.

They had many questions they wanted to ask, but with Qiaomu present, it wasn't convenient to speak freely. After exchanging a knowing glance with Suo, they quietly remained in their seats.

Li swept her gaze over the doctors present and said to Qiaomu, "From now on, only Suo needs to come over. The rest of them can be dismissed."

Hearing this, the doctors in the room felt a complex mix of relief and disappointment.

What relieved them was the old saying that serving a ruler is like sleeping with a tiger. The environment here made them feel deeply oppressed, and if they failed to treat the patient, goodness knows how these people would deal with them.

Of course, opportunity and danger coexisted. If they were fortunate enough to cure the patient, the massive rewards that would follow could certainly be anticipated. At the very least, the state would not treat these medical experts unfairly.

Yet now, all the glory and benefits had been monopolized by this fellow named Suo, leaving them feeling somewhat deflated.

Furthermore, their professional pride had been wounded. In literature there is no undisputed first, but in medicine there is no second. By choosing Suo alone, didn't it imply that this young, wet-behind-the-ears kid possessed far superior medical skills than all of them combined?

Consequently, the looks they cast at Suo were not particularly friendly.

"I feel we should discuss our medical case records further. The crystallization of so many people's wisdom must surely have some merit? Doing so would also ensure the patient's safety more comprehensively. I'm not doubting Dr. Suo's medical skills, but leaving him here all by himself—isn't that a bit too rash?" a relatively senior doctor stood up and argued.

"I have already made up my decision," Li said expressionlessly. Standing before others, she reverted entirely to her cold, merciless, tough-girl persona.

"Not everyone needs to stay here. We could work in shifts to keep watch. That way, if anything comes up, we can respond in a timely manner," the veteran expert still tried to persuade Li to change her mind.

"I said, I've already made my decision," Li said impatiently.

"He's an expert. You should be polite when speaking to experts," Suo said from the back. This girl was simply too lacking in basic upbringing.

Li scoffed disdainfully, "Only those who actually cure the illness are experts."

She turned back to look at Suo and asked, "What time are you coming tomorrow? I'll drive to pick you up."

"No, no, absolutely not," Suo waved his hands frantically. "Just give me the address. I can come by myself."

Li narrowed her eyes and smiled, her gaze flickering with mischief. She gestured with the knife in her hand and said, "I just love doing what people don't want me to do. I'll come pick you up tomorrow."