Physician's Odyssey Chapter 101

Chapter 101 - The Winner Takes All
In just less than half an hour, it was shocking to let a vegetative patient move his fingers. It could be considered a miracle in the medical world, and Wang Guofeng was genuinely suitable for being a genius in medical studies and ended his performance first in the finals.
However, Wang Guofeng felt extremely uneasy and was feeling restless.
Su Tao was a deep and unfathomable opponent, and no one knew how far he had gone to.
For him, it was his limit to use acupuncture to show symptoms of vitality in the patient in such a short period. Amongst all those he knew, only his Master could achieve that step.
Wang Guofeng felt restless because he was afraid that all his efforts would be suddenly seized by someone else.
At this moment, Su Tao was still performing acupuncture. But compared to his competition with Bai Fan, he had used another style. Right now, he looked like an old researcher who's filled with wisdom and was currently researching on the knowledge that he had an interest in.
It had been a long time since Su Tao felt this joy. He had forgotten that this was a match and found the feeling when he just started to study TCM and acupuncture. Although every single needle didn't contain much Qi, it gave Su Tao a splendid sense of performing acupuncture for the patient.
It was a unique rhythm and anyone with knowledge of acupuncture would be able to sense the splendid feeling when Su Tao performed acupuncture on the patient.
It was akin to the feeling of eating crabs. By breaking the crab's legs and opening up the claws to gently take a bite, with the tender and creamy taste in your mouth. It was also akin to seeing a peerless beauty, liking her every frown and smile. When she gently lifted her hair, one would exclaim in admiration.
Su Tao had entered into the Anatta state, and his mind was empty at the moment. Like the words in Buddhism, he was experiencing a moment of enlightenment, like how Sakyamuni obtained his wisdom under the tree, enlightened with the true essence of Buddhism.
In fact, Su Tao's medical skills had yet to reach perfection. He had his own bottleneck as well. The highest realm in TCM studies was merely two words, 'calm' and 'gentle'. With calm as the cycle and gentle as weight. Upon reaching a balance, one would be able to achieve the marvelous effect of treating akin to spinning silk.
With all his attention focused, Su Tao had found the method to break through the bottleneck. With the help of the silver needles, he constantly searched for the balance to allow the patient to be stabilised. He and Wang Guofeng might be using the same technique, but they're fundamentally opposites.
Wang Guofeng used the Rising Dawn Qi in his body to stimulate the patient, allowing the patient to have feelings and a reaction.
On the contrary, Su Tao was akin to a firefighter, extinguishing the fires in the places where they appeared and mending the ground if there's a landslide. He's trying to get the patient into a balanced state.
The reason why the vegetative state would appear was that the patient's body was suffering from a unique disaster. Thus, the patient's basic instincts chose to shut off everything to reduce the harm to himself.
Analysing it from psychological studies, the vegetative state was akin to a self-defense mechanism. When the cells in the body felt the approach of death, they would put up a barrier to isolate any contact with the outside world.
So when the patient felt comfortable and strong enough to deal with all the obstructions in the outside world, then he would naturally choose to open up the link with the outside world.
It had been half an hour since Wang Guofeng's treatment, and some of the audience members were starting to get restless, which was normal. They felt that Su Tao was struggling since he wasn't willing to lose to Wang Guofeng; thus, he's trying to drag time on purpose.
However, the judges and Wang Guofeng included, were all waiting patiently. They're all looking forward to seeing if Su Tao could bring a greater miracle and surpass Wang Guofeng's achievements.
Finally, Su Tao firmly placed the last needle on the Fengchi Acupoint below the ear.
A few seconds later, the patient reacted. First, the patient moved his fingers on the left hand before the same situation occurred on the right hand. After that, the patient raised his eyelids with great difficulty, and when the light shone into his eyes, the patient closed his eyes back with exhaustion.
The patient had been on the vegetative state for two years, so he wasn't accustomed to the surrounding environment. Thus, the few actions had already exhausted all his energy. However, since he could make fine eye movements, that meant that if he had enough time in the future, he would be able to recover fully!
A miracle had occurred, and the outcome was evident to watch!
Su Tao started later and bore the pressure after Wang Guofeng had concluded his treatment, and patiently acted according to his plan to conduct the procedure.
Wang Guofeng's patient had only moved his fingers, but Su Tao's patient not only moved his fingers, he even opened his eyes.
The duration of the treatment couldn't be factored into the skills of a physician; only the efficiency of the treatment to the patient's recovery was factored in the judgment.
Song Sichen already couldn't contain the excitement in his heart. He forgot his manners and charged towards Su Tao and examined the patient's condition first. The pulse was beating with power and the inner breath that nearly died out turned strong. Most importantly, the patient's muscular state had also taken a turn for the better. That meant that not only did Su Tao wake the patient up, he even used acupuncture to nurture the patient's body and lay the foundation for the patient's complete recovery.
The other judges had also come up and surrounded Su Tao's patient to examine him. Wang Guofeng, who was initially the focus of attention, had been instantly turned into a passerby. As a physician, he also had the urge to charge up and examine the miracles that happened on the patient's body, but his ego had stopped him from doing so.
After a short examination and discussion, Song Sichen took the mic from the host and declared, "Through a unanimous decision of the judges' panel, the winner for this tournament will go to Su Tao of Hanzhou's Jianghuai Hospital! In the finals, Su Tao used an ingenious method to treat a vegetative patient who has been in a deep slumber for years. This will be forever recorded in the history of TCM from this moment onwards!"
Song Sichen's words had caused a smile to appear on Qin Wude's face as he stood up and gently clapped. Although the insider knew the ropes, while the outsider just came along for the ride, and he did not know TCM, he also felt his blood boiling like others.
This was not a magic performance, nor a well-plotted stage performance. It's the competition between two physicians, relying on their medical skills to perform a medical miracle!
If Wang Guofeng's performance was perfect, then Su Tao's performance was akin to a miracle taking place!
More importantly, Qin Wude knew that the key figure, Mrs. She, had been sent to the hospital for a check-up. He had also just received the information that she was already out of danger — bringing Mrs. She back from hell's gate was done by the victor of this finals, Su Tao.
In just half a day, Su Tao had saved the lives of two people, and both were incurable!
Seeing the smile on the corner of Yan Jing's lips, Yan Wujin sighed. As one gets older, one's eye would also become sharper. Throughout the finals, although Yan Jing seemed calm, it was just an act, since she was worried about the outcome of this tournament, worried about that young man.
"Are you assured now?" Yan Wujin coughed as he smiled.
Yan Jing knew that it couldn't escape from the eyes of Yan Wujin, so she smiled. "Senior Yan, you're the first person that I felt to be unfathomable, and he is the second. Both of you have reached an unimaginable height in your fields."
Yan Wujin sighed as he shook his head. "I am already old, but he is still very young."
Yan Jing suddenly popped the question, "Will it be too late for him to pick up martial arts?"
After a brief stun, Yan Wujin smiled. "You want me to take him as my disciple?"
Yan Jing flung her lips aside and wittily said, "Just a thought of mine. His medical skills don't equate to his martial arts."
Yan Wujin smiled. He knew that Yan Jing was probing him on purpose. But as a person well acquainted with the ways of the world, how could he fall for it so easily?
"Senior Sister, how is that possible? He actually used acupuncture to wake a vegetative patient!" Mo Sui'er was looking at this scene in disbelief. As a physician, she knew the limit of a person. The vegetative state belonged to one of the incurable illnesses, a world-classed problem, and amongst those she knew, even the top-tiered geniuses throughout the various sects might not be able to achieve this.
Liu Ruochen's eyes shone as she sighed, "What's more, he didn't use the Heavenseizing Hand throughout the treatment, but he had entered into another state."
It was a state that she had felt from her Master, the highest and most mysterious state in TCM.
Looking at Su Tao, he seemed especially exhausted right now, but his eyes were still bright, without containing any impurity. She then turned to look at Wang Guofeng. The man who was once standing high up and unchallenged looked so desolate at this moment.
Ever since Wang Guofeng had an achievement in TCM, his path had been smooth and never experienced any setbacks. After this match, whether he breaks through the cocoon and transform or falls into the abyss depended on his fortune.
Taking a deep breath, a smile appears on Wang Guofeng's face as he walked towards Su Tao and stretched his hand out. "Congratulations for winning the tournament."
Su Tao was not a gentleman, nor did he have any intentions to turn the hostility between him and Wang Guofeng into friendship. He did not shake the latter's hand and said, "Do you still remember the words you told me before the match? I am someone that remembers grudges, and I am also not a hypocrite. We can never be friends, so you can stop the fake act of yours."
Wang Guofeng's hands awkwardly stopped in the air. But he was no longer the protagonist here, so no one would pay any attention to him.
Even Song Sichen and the judges had surrounded Su Tao as they threw out invitations to Su Tao to visit their Hospitals or Clinics as a guest, a glory that should belong to him. Anger roared in Wang Guofeng's heart, but he had no way to vent them. The winner takes all, and as the loser, he had to swallow down this humiliation.
Su Tao showed no sympathy to Wang Guofeng, since he knew that if he lost, Wang Guofeng also wouldn't show compassion for him.