Chapter 365: Chapter 364 Professional
Before the consultation, Li Ang requested all the "medical records" from the doctors and Exorcism Experts who had treated the Governor’s son. After quickly flipping through them, he nodded to the Governor.
The group left the living room where the butler was already waiting outside.
Guided by the butler, Li Ang and the others followed the corridor to the top floor of the villa and finally arrived at a secure chamber.
Standing before the chamber’s heavy door, the butler and the Governor exchanged glances. After receiving a nod from the latter, the butler used a key to open it.
The chamber was extremely spacious. It had a redwood floor, and the walls were covered with thick cotton padding, much like the protective pads used in psychiatric wards to prevent patients from self-harm.
There were no candles or fires; the only source of light was sunlight refracting through a rectangular glass window.
The window was positioned at a height an average person couldn’t reach without something like a ladder. It was opened just a crack, and its exterior was covered by an all-encompassing steel grid.
The bars of the grid were so closely spaced that not even a small fist could pass through, let alone an entire person.
There was little furniture in the secret chamber. A spacious double wooden bed was placed in the center. Each of the four corners of the bed had a wooden handrail, and these handrails, along with thin lines hanging from the ceiling, supported a black, airtight mosquito net canopy.
"This is the place."
The butler took a deep breath, stepped into the room, and shook the copper bell beside the door. Li Ang noticed an identical copper bell on the bedside table next to the double bed. These bells were part of an intricate and efficient communication system embedded within the walls. Ringing one would connect to one or several others, allowing the master of the household to remotely summon servants from other rooms. It seemed that only nobles would use such a fancy method of communication, as most of them lived in villas large enough to get lost in, too lazy to step out and walk a few extra steps.
The butler’s ringing of the bell was likely a signal that someone had entered. Through the mosquito net, Li Ang could clearly see the front end of the flat blanket on the double bed suddenly lift as a figure, who had been lying flat on the bed in a spread-eagle position, sat up.
"Oh, it’s you, McCove!"
The figure spoke rapidly in a tense male voice. After seeing the Governor and his wife behind the butler, he heaved a sigh of relief, his nervous panic settling considerably. "Father, Mother, you’ve come."
Is this the Governor’s son? Even a single layer of mosquito net couldn’t obscure Li Ang’s vision. He could clearly see a youth resembling the Governor, with golden hair and a face that had sharp, clear lines yet also possessed a certain feminine softness. But now, his eyes were sunken, with dark circles and bags that no makeup could hide. His face was filled with terror, and his hair was a messy nest, greatly affecting his good looks.
"Peter, my poor child..."
Upon seeing her son, the Governor’s wife became somewhat distraught, subconsciously wanting to approach him, but her husband firmly gripped her wrist, holding her back.
The Governor glanced at the plate on the bedside table, which hadn’t been completely cleared, took a deep breath, and said to his son, "Peter, where’s the dining spoon?"
The youth known as Peter, upon hearing his father’s question, slowly produced a wooden dining spoon from under the blanket. The end of the spoon appeared to have been filed down to a sharp edge; if used as a weapon, it could serve as a small, makeshift bayonet.
Li Ang watched with interest as the butler stepped forward, silently took the spoon from Peter’s hands, and then carried the plate to the door.
As the butler was leaving the room, the Governor instructed him, "From now on, have someone watch him while he eats."
The butler left the room with the plate and spoon. The Governor coughed softly and introduced his son, "Peter, this is an Eastern Monk. He is not only an expert in medicine but also skilled in Exorcism. He can help with psychological disorders or any real evil spirits."
Clearly, this conversation had occurred many times. Peter didn’t argue about not being sick; instead, he silently turned his head to look at Li Ang and the others standing at the door.
The Governor turned to Li Ang. "Reverend Monk..."
"Understood."
Li Ang nodded, slowly lifted his hands to show he meant no harm, and steadily walked toward the mosquito net. He pulled up a chair, sat down not far from the bedside table, let out a slow breath, and said softly, "Brother Dao, don’t be nervous. The first Exorcism is always like this. You have to believe in yourself; the treatment is bound to be successful."
Peter, sitting on the bed, was startled. "I’m not called Brother Dao."
Li Ang nodded. "I know. I’m Brother Dao."
Peter’s utter bafflement almost dispelled his long-standing tension and anxiety.
"Anyway," Li Ang cleared his throat and asked Peter, "tell me what happened to you. Start from the beginning, and don’t leave anything out."
In a tone filled with exhaustion and weariness, Peter sighed. "You already know all this, don’t you? Why do I need to repeat it? Or did you come here to treat me without knowing anything? Isn’t that a bit unprofessional?"
"Asking the patient directly yields more accurate firsthand information," Li Ang stated with seriousness and sincerity. "Also, I am proficient in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, otolaryngology, dermatology, venereal diseases, and psychiatry. None of the patients I’ve treated—whether cured or killed—have ever spoken ill of me. If you were in the East, you would surely have heard of my great deeds.
"For example, helping a patient with dissociative identity disorder by fostering an Ogre personality to alleviate their symptoms; performing hemorrhoid surgery on a patient and, as a bonus, creating a beauty mark that transformed her into a beauty overnight; or injecting a patient with a weak pulse with an entire bottle of ’Pulse’ drink to help them regain their vitality.
"And I’m also skilled in cross-stitching. Patients with my finely sutured wounds have even been auctioned off to museums for up to two million upon discharge. So, please do not doubt my professional expertise as a doctor, alright?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Peter sighed, somewhat resigned, as if a weight had settled. These days, he had encountered many strange and eccentric doctors or Exorcism Experts. An Eastern Monk full of flippant talk... well, that didn’t seem so abnormal anymore.
"It all began five months ago, when I boarded the Iris No. on my return to the Rune Kingdom."