《Once Upon a Time in a Foreign Land》Chapter 162 : Dongfang Zhengyi
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The wild speculation that Yixiong had just revealed left Zhengyi stunned. Things didn't seem as simple as they seemed. So many things were still mysterious. Things that even Zhengyi himself didn't know where to start.
"Now, Caihong, please share the news about the current state of Mr. Zhuge," said Yixiong.
"Thank you, Uncle! Actually, there's not much I can say about my driver's condition. This afternoon, I panicked because his condition turned out to be drastically dropped from his condition this morning. When we got to the hospital, I couldn't feel relieved either. Even after the doctor examined Zhuge, things were still unclear. They also did not know what had caused his condition to deteriorate so drastically. Moreover, the doctors still couldn't explain what happened to Zhuge. They just said that they needed more time to observe. So right now, all they could do was to stabilize Zhuge's condition. Not making his condition worse is their priority."
Hopefully, this isn't a bad sign!
"Doesn't the hospital have a record of Zhuge's health condition?" Yixiong asked.
Taking a deep breath, Caihong shook his head. "Many people think that as the largest city in the new world, everything in this city must be very sophisticated. This is not the case. For example, in the health sector. The medical records of residents here are not well documented at all. Worse than that, the hospitals here are not integrated with each other."
"Much worse than Tianjing?" asked Zhengyi.
"Uncle, please don't compare this city to Tianjing, the city that is the center of everything in this new world. Although I have only visited Tianjing a few times, I can say that things are much better there. There are many things, including the health sector, which has been running neatly and orderly. Regarding this city, I think the situation is not much different from the situation in Yuandong, the place you come from."
Zhengyi nodded at Caihong's words. He agreed. About a year of living here, he didn't feel any significant difference compared to the city where he lived in Yuandong. The city was just as much bigger, much more congested, and much more fully equipped. However, regarding the issue of regulation and order, it feels so far from Zhengyi's expectations.
"So it's only natural that the hospital where Zhuge is currently being treated has to start from scratch to collect his medical data. Besides, Zhuge is not a person from this city. Like many other people, he also migrated here. So far, he has never been hospitalized. So, indeed, in any hospital in this city, there is no medical record of him." Caihong continued with a serious expression.
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"Before this, has he never told you about his health condition? For example, has he ever had a serious illness in the past," said Yiren.
"He never said anything. The doctor also asked me about the medical history of Zhuge's family. Of course I don't know. Earlier, I had ordered my employees to notify his family as soon as possible. According to the employee records I have, Zhuge has a cousin who lives and works in this city."
"His cousin hasn't come to the hospital yet?" Yiren asked.
"Earlier, when I left the hospital, his cousin wasn't there yet. But there is one of my employees that I assigned to guard there. About twenty minutes after I left there, a message came in on my pager. My employee said Zhuge's cousin has arrived. The doctor immediately asked him to provide information regarding the history of diseases and special health conditions that exist in Zhuge's family. So far, no new messages have come in regarding this.So, I'm not aware of any recent developments in Zhuge's health condition."
"I hope the doctors can find out quickly what really happened to him," Yixiong said.
Everyone nodded.
"Now, what about the victims of the incident at the mall? Any clues to Dage's whereabouts?" Yixiong turned to Zhengyi.
Everyone also turned their eyes towards Zhengyi. Zhengyi straightened his seat. He looked around before starting to talk.
I don't know how useful the news I've got is!
"When I got to the hospital, I didn't leave that place right away. I accompanied Zhuge for a bit. I also want to know what happened to him. Caihong introduced his fellow painter to me. As you already know, I gave him the clearest possible description of the girl we saw at the mall. After the sketch was finished, Caihong said that I should start looking for information about the victims of the incident at the mall right away. Incidentally, the hospital where Zhuge was treated was one of the hospitals that accommodated the victims of the incident at the mall. I started walking around asking questions about whether there were any victims whose features were similar to Dage's."
"Were there any casualties in that incident?" Yiren asked.
"There were no victims at the hospital who died from the incident. However, there were many injured rather badly. Some of them were still unconscious."
"How bad was their condition?" Yixiong asked.
"Most of the people who were seriously injured resulted from being kicked or trampled by other people. As far as I could see, quite a number of them have broken bones.. The minor injuries, mostly just a little bruised. The most common condition is temporary blindness after exposure to dazzling light. But their eyesight later recovered. So this is exactly the same as what happened a few days ago," said Zhengyi.
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"How many victims were taken to the hospital?" Yixiong asked.
"The data is still confusing. But what is clear is that there were over sixty people," Zhengyi replied.
"That's a lot!" Yixiong said.
"I also tried asking the victims who had regained consciousness if they saw anyone who looked like Dage. After asking dozens of people, finally one person said that he saw Dage. What made me sure that the person did see Dage was that he also explained the clothes Dage was wearing. Except for minor details, his depiction of Dage's outfit was very accurate."
"What did that guy say about Dage?" Yiren asked.
"He saw Dage in the large, open hall located near the main entrance. He said Dage was like a confused person looking for someone. The man was watching Dage because Dage almost hit him. After that, he didn't know what happened because immediately after that there was an explosion of light."
"Didn't you ask the medics or the police at the hospital? Maybe they have useful information," Yixiong said.
"I've asked everyone. But they say things were too chaotic that their attention was not on specific individuals."
"Earlier, Uncle also tracked him to another hospital," said Caihong. "Is there any other information from those other places?"
"Besides the hospital where Zhuge is being treated, I visited four other hospitals. After that, I went home because it was getting late. In those other hospitals, I got some interesting information."
Zhengyi realized the last sentence he said immediately made everyone curious. Yiren even seemed to hold his breath while waiting for him to continue his speech.
"At the second hospital, someone saw Dage running down to the ground floor. At the third hospital no one said they saw anyone who looked like Dage. Maybe not none, but I didn't have enough time to ask most of them. I arrived at the third hospital just as the sun was just setting. Many victims had returned home because they had only suffered minor injuries. Then in the fourth and fifth hospitals there were people who saw Dage talking to a young girl. From her features, that girl seemed to be Miss Lüqiu, not the girl Dage was after."
"In total, how many victims were there in the five hospitals?" Yixiong asked.
"About three hundred people. I don't know how many victims there are in places other than those five places," Zhengyi said.
"Tomorrow we have to go to another hospital. The chances that we'll get any valuable information are slim, but we have to keep trying," Yixiong said.
Zhengyi nodded. "Tomorrow morning, I will visit other places. In addition to the families of the victims lying in the hospital, I also met several people whose family members have not been found. They said that their family member, whose whereabouts are unknown, previously said that they were going to the mall."
"In the other four hospitals you have visited, were there any fatalities?" Yiren asked.
"There were two fatalities. One appears to have fallen down the stairs. It seems that at the time of the incident, that person was coming down the stairs. Because he couldn't see, he probably slipped and fell. The second victim died of a heart attack at the time of the incident. I don't know if he had any history of the condition before. Because everyone was panicking and experiencing temporary blindness, no one can help him," said Zhengyi.
"Too bad for them," Yixiong said. "So, with this, we can at least be sure that at the time of the incident, Miss Lüqiu was indeed with Dage. Since most of the people weren't seriously injured either, so I'm optimistic that Dage and Miss Lüqiu weren't seriously injured either. As for why they haven't appeared until now, I can't answer that yet. I hope tomorrow morning the two of them will show up. It's possible that the two of them have some reason not to rush home."
Dage does sometimes do strange things. But he wouldn't do something like this. The timing really isn't right.
"I'm sure Biaoshu wants to tell us, but he can't," Qiuzhen said. "Instead of speculating too much, let's just wait for the truth to show itself. Of course, we have to keep trying to find them."
"I agree," Yixiong said. "There must be some reason Dage hasn't contacted us. For example, like when he was stuck in the elevator all night."
Caihong raised his eyebrows when he heard Yixiong's words. But the young man did not make any comments.
"When you said Dage couldn't tell us, what did you have in mind?" Yiren asked Qiuzhen. "Do you think Dage is unconscious because he's injured? Or is he not free to give news because he doesn't have access? For example, he's in a cage."
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