Chapter 14 - Suffering from the Ptomaine Poison

Cai Zhongpu was roughly 170cm and looked slightly plump. But upon removing his clothes, Su Tao realised that Cai Zhongpu’s muscles were sturdy, so he must have trained when he was young.

Su Tao lifted his medical box and came to the Emerald Antique Brook where he saw Cai Zhongpu’s face blacken upon laying him on the bed while experiencing seizures. White foam was leaking from his mouth with his eyes opened wide with his pupils rolled up, but vaguely seemed to have some remaining rationale.

Cai Yan’s eyes brimmed with tears as she cried, “Should I call the 120? Or should I send him to the hospital directly?”

Su Tao shook his head and rejected her suggestion, “There’s not enough time. It takes at least 30 minutes to send him to the hospital. I’m afraid that your father might not even last 20 minutes! Furthermore, he can’t be carelessly moved in his current state as it might increase his blood flow and worsen his illness!”

Hearing Su Tao’s words, Cai Yan collapsed, “Then, what should I do?”

Su Tao smiled as he replied, “You seem to have forgotten that I’m a Physician myself!”

Cai Yan glanced at Su Tao in doubt. Even if she was one of Su Tao’s patients and knew of his medical skills, Cai Zhongpu’s illness was too severe. Thus, she doubted if Su Tao could treat Cai Zhongpu.

Su Tao briefly paused before he said, “Let’s not delay time. Let’s split up; you’ll dial 120 while I try to treat him.”

“There are no other alternatives!” Cai Yan was left with no other option, but at least it was better than being helpless.

Seeing Su Tao approaching him, shock and rage flashed in Cai Zhongpu’s eyes as he blurted, “Get away from me!”

Su Tao was annoyed by Cai Zhongpu, so he jabbed him, sealing his ability to speak.

The reason why Su Tao would save him was all due to Cai Yan. If it was someone else, he would surely let the patient suffer a little even if he was to treat the patient.

An arrogant person could only learn to respect someone else through suffering.

Cai Yan lifted the phone while walking anxiously in circles and muttered to herself, “Why isn’t anyone picking up?”

But the moment the call got through, she blurted out incoherently, “Is this 120? My father is ill, can you get someone to send him to the hospital quick? Address? Baihe Region’s Old Street! How long will you guys take? Can you come faster? I’m afraid that my father won’t last that long, I can pay you more…”

“Madam, we have received your message. We require you to hang up the phone before we can distribute the task.” The operator spoke politely.

Cai Yan blankly hung up the phone and realised that Su Tao had started his treatment on Cai Zhongpu. Before she could even speak, Su Tao had placed a finger on his lips and hushed, making Cai Yan subconsciously keep her mouth shut.

Su Tao took out a small blade and cut open Cai Zhongpu’s trousers. The wound had swelled by two-fold compared to before with blood tainted in black leaking out with a stench.

Su Tao then turned his head to Cai Yan and said, “Wait outside! I will only get distracted with you here.”

Su Tao was worried that Cai Yan would be disturbed by the scene of him dealing with the wound. Thus, he asked her to wait outside. Su Tao retrieved a long silver needle and inserted it into the wound. Instantly, black mist that couldn’t be seen by ordinary people emanated from it with sizzling noises.

Just as Su Tao had predicted, Cai Zhongpu wasn’t just merely suffering poisoning from venomous insects but ptomaine poisoning, which penetrated deeper.

Cai Zhongpu probably thought that poisonous insects bit him; and thus, he wanted to buy those herbs from before. But not only would they not be useful, but there might also be side effects from those herbs, triggering the spread of ptomaine poisoning even faster. Aside from Cai Zhongpu’s wound, his entire leg was encased in a black mist. Su Tao then proceeded to remove Cai Zhongpu’s shirt and noticed that the poison had spread to his abdomen.

Many novels bragged how formidable the ptomaine poisoning was, but it wasn’t that exaggerating. If a corpse had been dead for many years with their body rotten, the corpse poison would be long gone. Thus, the possibility of those tomb raiders getting infected by ptomaine poisoning was extremely low.

The corpse poison could be anywhere and could infect someone in many ways. Even a corpse could contain toxic bacteria in the process of decay.

The possibility of getting ptomaine poisoning was even higher than raiding a tomb, such as eating contaminated food. After all, there were at least 100,000 bacteria in every gram of meat and as high as 900,000,000 and even cooking at high temperature might not be able to kill all the bacteria.

He had further analysed that the ptomaine poisoning had infected Cai Zhongpu for a long time, since it has already gone deep into his body. The reason why it broke out now showed how serious his condition was, which Su Tao had figured that there might be a story behind it.

Su Tao used his fingers to squeeze the acupoint on Cai Zhongpu’s leg as he went up, sending his qi into Cai Zhongpu’s body. When his fingers reached Cai Zhongpu’s chest, Cai Zhongpu’s eyes suddenly opened. Su Tao gave it a push and a geyser of tainted black blood gushed out from his mouth.

Cai Zhongpu grasped for air before he asked in astonishment with a hoarse voice when he saw Su Tao cleaning his hands with a piece of white cloth, “What happened?”

Su Tao spoke out in a stern voice, “I’m saving your life!”

Cai Zhongpu shook his head with disbelief. “You?”

The floor was covered in a puddle of tainted black blood. He looked at his leg, and although it was still a little swollen, the black mist had already disappeared.

Since Su Tao was the only one there, that proved his words even more.

Su Tao knew that Cai Zhongpu didn’t like him, and the reason why he treated Cai Zhongpu was all due to Cai Yan. Thus, he had no intention of letting Cai Zhongpu be grateful to him, so he slowly said, “Of course, you can disregard it. But if it’s wasn’t for Cai Yan, I wouldn’t have bothered with you.”

Rage flashed in Cai Zhongpu’s eyes as he warned, “You, stay far away from my daughter!”

Su Tao glanced at Cai Zhongpu in astonishment before he bitterly smiled. “Uncle Cai, I think you have a deep misunderstanding about me. My relationship with Cai Yan is pretty good, did you think that I would harm her? Even if I want to date her, she’s a woman, and I’m a man. Isn’t it normal for men and women to fall in love?”

Cai Zhongpu forcefully propped his body upwards as he raged, “No, I will never agree to the both of you getting together.”

“If I did not save you today, you would have gone to meet King Yama by now. At that time, would you even be able to restrict Cai Yan?” When Su Tao saw that Cai Zhongpu was cured but remained so stubborn, he coldly sneered before he lifted his medical box and left.

What an ungrateful person…

When Su Tao left the room, Cai Zhongpu slowly breathed out. He didn’t want to owe Su Tao any favour, since it would land Cai Yan in greater danger. Cai Zhongpu would rather die than to see Cai Yan and Su Tao walking together.

However, Su Tao’s words had also left Cai Zhongpu to deeply ponder.

When Cai Yan saw Su Tao walking out, she anxiously asked, “Why are you here? Can it be that you’re helpless regarding my father’s situation?”

Su Tao gently patted her shoulder and assured, “Relax, your father is in no danger now. If you are still worried, you can wait for the ambulance and have him do a full body check-up in the hospital.”

Hearing his words, Cai Yan’s anxiety loosened up a little, since she knew that Su Tao wasn’t someone that would give empty promises. Since he claimed to have treated Cai Zhongpu, then there must be an improvement. Thus, she smiled. “Thank you! How much is the medical fee?”

Su Tao waved his hand as he declined, “I’ll deduct it from the clothes you bought for me.”

However, Cai Yan insisted, “That’s different. Those were my medical fees and my father’s medical fees will be calculated separately.”

Su Tao stared at Cai Yan’s beaming eyes as he teased, “Forget about money. If you want to repay me, why don’t you spend a night with me?”

“Ah?” Cai Yan widened her eyes. She was caught by surprised before cursing, “You bastard!”

“I’m your father’s life saviour.” Su Tao burst into laughter. “Furthermore, we are ordinary people with our needs, and you won’t be suffering a loss anyways!”

Cai Yan furiously pointed at Su Tao with her chest heaving up and down, “I never thought that you’re this sort of person!”

Su Tao gently moved Cai Yan’s finger away and his tone changed, “I was joking with you. I treat you as a friend; and thus, I saved your father. If you insist on paying me, then I’ll be only talking about vulgar stuff!”

When Cai Yan saw that Su Tao had fooled her, she nodded her head. “Okay then, I’ll not pay you. But don’t expect me… me to…”

Su Tao suddenly flicked his finger on Cai Yan’s forehead to disrupt her, “The ambulance is already here. You send Uncle Cai to the hospital quickly and get a full body check-up done to be more assured.”

Finishing his words, Su Tao hummed an odd melody that Cai Yan had never heard of as he left the Emerald Antique Brook.

The ambulance arrived, and the medical personnel quickly loaded Cai Zhongpu into the car.

After a thorough check was done, the doctor spoke to Cai Yan, “The patient is frail, but everything is normal. If you’re still worried, we can have him in the ICU for a night of observation.”

Cai Yan wasn’t surprised by the doctor’s words, since she trusted Su Tao’s words. “There’s no need for the ICU then. Let my father rest in the ordinary ward for a night, and we’ll discharge tomorrow.”

Cai Zhongpu quietly laid on the bed where he rested. Cai Yan walked in and used a cloth to wipe his forehead. He suddenly opened his eyes and asked, “You really like Su Tao?”

Cai Yan nodded her head, “I like being together with him. He also has so many interesting jokes that I wouldn’t be able to control my laughter even if it’s lame. Is this love?”

Hearing his daughter’s words, Cai Zhongpu responded, “You’ve already grown up, and I can no longer control your thoughts and freedom. You will decide what you want to do.”

Cai Zhongpu recalled the words left by Su Tao. If he had died today, then Cai Yan would be left alone without anyone to depend on. When the time comes, she would be left to fend for herself as he couldn’t protect her for her entire life. After all, life was too fragile.

Cai Yan was puzzled when she saw Cai Zhongpu’s sudden change of heart. “Dad, what’s wrong with you? Can it be that you’re angry?”

To protect her, Cai Zhongpu had always requested her to keep her distance with the opposite sex and restricted her; it was just him being selfish.

Cai Zhongpu sighed, “I will contact the Nie Family tomorrow, and if they’re willing to break off the marriage, then I will agree to you being together with him. But if the Nie Family doesn’t agree to it, you can never be together with him.”

Hearing his words, Cai Yan felt relieved. At least he wasn’t as stubborn as he was before. “Dad, it doesn’t matter if you agree or not. I will insist on following my own thoughts.”

But as she spoke, Cai Yan fell into silence, since Su Tao probably treated her as a friend in his heart.