Chapter 1 Before the Diagnosis

Before the consultation, Li Ang requested all the "medical records" of the governor's son from all the doctors or exorcism experts who had treated him during this period. After quickly skimming through them, he nodded to the governor.

The group left the living room, where the butler was already waiting outside.

Under the butler's guidance, Li Ang and the others followed the corridor to the top floor of the villa and finally arrived at a certain secret room.

Standing in front of the secret room door, the butler exchanged a glance with the governor. After receiving the latter's nod, he used a key to open the heavy door.

This secret room was extremely spacious, with mahogany flooring. Scattered on the floor were some thick cotton pads attached to the walls, somewhat like the protective padding used in psychiatric wards to prevent patients from harming themselves.

There were no candles in the room. The only source of light was the sunlight refracted through a rectangular glass window.

The window was located in a position that an ordinary person could not reach without something like a ladder.

It was only open a crack, with a grid-like, fully enclosed steel fence on the outside.

The bars of the fence were very dense. It was estimated that not even a small fist could pass through, let alone a whole person.

There was little furniture in the secret room. In the very center was a spacious wooden double bed.

At each of the four corners of the bed was a wooden handrail. The four handrails, along with thin lines hanging from the ceiling, jointly suspended a black-as-ink, airtight canopy mosquito net.

"This is it."

The butler took a deep breath, stepped into the room, and reached out to shake a copper bell located by the door—Li Ang noticed that there was an identical copper bell on the bedside table next to the double bed.

These bells were embedded in the walls in a precise and efficient manner. Each bell was connected to one or more others, so the owner of the house could remotely summon servants in other rooms by ringing just one bell.

It was estimated that only nobles would use this kind of fancy communication method. They mostly lived in large mansions large enough to get lost in, and were completely too lazy to leave the house and walk a few extra steps.

The butler's action of ringing the bell was probably a signal that someone had entered.

Li Ang could clearly see through the mosquito net that the front of the comforter lying flat on the double bed suddenly lifted up, and a figure, who had been lying on the bed in a "大" (dà - "big" shape) position, sat up.

"Oh, it's you, Mycroft!"

The figure said quickly in a strained male voice. After seeing the governor and his wife behind the secretary, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense and flustered emotions calmed down a lot. "Father, Mother, you're here."

So this was the governor's son?

A mere mosquito net couldn't block Li Ang's vision at all. He could clearly see that sitting on the double bed was a young man who bore some resemblance to the governor.

This young man had blond hair. While his facial features were tough and clear-cut, they also had some feminine softness.

But now his eye sockets were sunken, with dark circles and bags under his eyes that even makeup couldn't cover. His face was full of horror, and his hair was as messy as a chicken coop, greatly affecting his appearance.

"Peter, my poor child..."

After seeing her son, the governor's wife's emotions became somewhat out of control. She subconsciously wanted to step forward, but her wrist was firmly grasped by her husband.

The governor glanced at the plate on the bedside table that hadn't been completely eaten, took a deep breath, and said to his son, "Peter, where's the spoon?"

The youth, called Peter, heard his father's question and slowly took out a wooden spoon from under the covers—the end of the spoon seemed to have been filed down by something, presenting a sharp cross-section.

If used as a weapon, it could be considered a small bayonet.

Li Ang watched with interest as the butler stepped forward, silently took the spoon from Peter's hand, and then carried the plate to the door.

Just before leaving the room, the governor instructed the butler, "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 to his son, "Peter, this is a monk from the East. He is not only skilled in medicine, but also in exorcism. Whether it's a psychological illness or some real evil, he can help solve it."

Obviously, this conversation had been repeated many times. Peter didn't argue that he wasn't sick or anything, but just silently turned his head and looked at Li Ang and the others standing at the door.

The governor turned around and looked at Li Ang, "Venerable Monk..."

"Understood."

Li Ang nodded, raised his hands slightly, indicating that he had no hostility, and slowly walked towards the mosquito net. He pulled up a chair, sat not far from the bedside table, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and said softly, "Brother Dao, don't be nervous. The first exorcism is always like this. Have faith in yourself, and believe that the treatment will definitely be successful."

"?"

Peter, sitting on the bed, was stunned when he heard this. "My name isn't Brother Dao."

Li Ang nodded. "I know. I'm Brother Dao."

"???"

Peter's bewildered emotions almost washed away the tension and anxiety of this long period.

"Anyway,"

Li Ang cleared his throat and asked Peter, "Tell me, what happened to you? Start from the beginning, and don't hold anything back."

Peter sighed in a tired and weary tone. "Don't you already know about this? Why do you have to ask me to say it again? Or are you treating me without knowing anything? Isn't that a little unprofessional?"

"Asking the patient can get more accurate first-hand information."

Li Ang said seriously and earnestly, "Also, I am proficient in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, otolaryngology, dermatology, venereology, and mental illnesses.

None of the patients I have cured or killed have said bad things about me.

If you were in our East, you would definitely hear about my great achievements.

Like helping a schizophrenic patient build an ogre personality to relieve his symptoms of multiple personality disorder;

Giving a patient hemorrhoid surgery and giving her a beauty hemorrhoid, helping her become a beauty all at once;

Injecting a whole bottle of Maidorīnu (a energy drink) into a patient with a weak pulse, helping him successfully 'Maidorīnu' back,

And I'm also good at cross-stitch. The wounds of patients who have been sutured have been successfully auctioned off to museums for up to two million upon discharge.

So, please don't question my professional level as a doctor, understand?"

"..."

Peter was silent for a while, relieved his emotions, and spat out a breath of stale air as if resigned to his fate.

In recent days, he had also encountered many strange and abnormal doctors or exorcism experts. A foul-mouthed Eastern monk didn't seem out of the ordinary.

"It all started five months ago, when I boarded the Iris, the ship returning to the Kingdom of Luen."