"Mr. Shen, what's going on?"
Seeing his niece faint, Lin Danqing's expression turned grim. He asked Shen Lang, "Old Mr. Lin, rest assured, everything is fine."
Shen Lang smiled at Lin Danqing and said, "Give me half an hour, and I guarantee she'll be as good as new."
"However..."
Shen Lang paused, a hint of difficulty in his tone.
"Mr. Shen, just name your price for the medical fees. I would sell everything I own, even my blood, without hesitation."
Lin Danqing, being a man of the world, immediately assumed Shen Lang was going to discuss the medical fees. After all, it was a common practice for doctors to first claim they could cure, then express difficulty while negotiating the price. Lin Danqing didn't blame Shen Lang; it was his prerogative.
"Old Mr. Lin, you misunderstand. That's not what I meant."
Hearing Lin Danqing, Shen Lang gave a wry smile. "Given how you protected Yu Xiao and the others back then, I won't charge a single cent for treating Miss Ning today. That's not what I'm referring to."
"Ah..."
Realizing he had misunderstood Shen Lang, Lin Danqing's old face flushed. He then asked, "Then what do you mean, Mr. Shen?"
"Actually, it's not a big deal. It's just that when I remove the蛊 (gu) later, Miss Ning will need to be unclothed."
Shen Lang looked embarrassed. "With a man and a woman alone in a room, and the woman unclothed, not only would you not feel at ease, but I likely wouldn't either. So I need someone present to serve as a witness to my integrity and to assist me."
"Old Mr. Lin, you are Miss Ning's maternal uncle. You naturally cannot be present, so please find someone else."
"So that's how it is..."
Upon hearing Shen Lang's explanation, Lin Danqing suddenly understood. "Mr. Shen, you are young but intelligent, sharp, and wise. I am truly impressed."
"Don't worry, Mr. Shen. I'll get someone to help you right away."
With that, Lin Danqing left the room. Within five minutes, he returned with an old woman in her sixties.
"Mr. Shen, this is our housekeeper, Aunt Sun. If you need any assistance later, please don't hesitate to ask." Lin Danqing introduced the old woman to Shen Lang.
"Alright. Thank you."
Shen Lang nodded at the old woman and said with a smile. Lin Danqing, seeing this, tactfully withdrew from the room but didn't leave entirely. He stood by the door. This wasn't due to a lack of trust in Shen Lang, but rather because he wanted to be close by in case Shen Lang needed his help.
The room was dark, but Shen Lang could see as if it were daytime. He had undergone special training from his old master. He carefully examined Ning Hongzhuang's body and found that the 蛊 poison had deeply infiltrated her system. If not treated promptly, she would die within three hours.
Life was at stake, so Shen Lang wasted no time. He spoke to Aunt Sun, "Aunt Sun, please help Miss Ning to remove her clothes."
"Yes, Divine Doctor Shen."
When Lin Danqing had fetched Aunt Sun, he had already explained the situation in detail. Therefore, Aunt Sun did not question Shen Lang's request. Without further ado, she quickly removed Ning Hongzhuang's pink nightgown.
"Mr. Shen, what should I do next?" Aunt Sun asked Shen Lang after completing the task.
"Aunt Sun, please help Miss Ning maintain a sitting position and keep her steady." Shen Lang instructed. "The treatment will be very painful. Miss Ning will likely wake up in agony. To prevent her from struggling excessively and affecting my acupuncture, you must hold her steady."
As he spoke, Shen Lang reached into his pocket and retrieved the black needle bag containing his Taiyi Divine Needles. He slowly opened the bag and drew out a single Taiyi Divine Needle.
The Seven-Star Fire Fox 蛊 was different from the Three-Corpse Brain-God 蛊 that Qi Xinghuo and Gu Qinghan were afflicted with. It did not reside in the central nervous system but rather beneath the skin. The objective was to stimulate the Seven-Star Fire Fox, making it move, and then seize the opportune moment to strike it dead with a single needle. Once the Seven-Star Fire Fox died, Ning Hongzhuang's strange illness would be cured.
However, the Seven-Star Fire Fox moved extremely fast, faster than a flea. Furthermore, it was a very timid 蛊 worm. If startled, it would retreat and hide again. Therefore, Shen Lang only had one chance to strike. He had to find the precise moment and kill the Seven-Star Fire Fox with a single thrust. If he missed, and the Seven-Star Fire Fox sensed external hostility, Shen Lang would lose his opportunity.
"Mr. Shen, don't worry. I will absolutely keep Miss Ning steady." Aunt Sun promised earnestly, sensing the gravity in Shen Lang's tone.
"Good. Then I shall begin."
With Aunt Sun's assurance, Shen Lang smiled and swiftly struck Ning Hongzhuang's back with his palm. The moment Shen Lang delivered the blow, a red dot appeared on Ning Hongzhuang's neck in the darkness. This red dot was moving rapidly, shifting from her neck to her back, then to her arm.
"Ah—"
As the red dot appeared on her body and moved quickly, Ning Hongzhuang's face contorted in extreme pain, and she let out a heart-wrenching scream. The reason for Ning Hongzhuang's agony was that the red dot was the Seven-Star Fire Fox 蛊 worm hidden within her body.
"Aunt Sun, don't let Miss Ning move. Keep her steady."
Every movement of the Seven-Star Fire Fox within Ning Hongzhuang's body felt like a hand tearing her flesh apart. Shen Lang knew the pain intimately. The Seven-Star Fire Fox was still moving rapidly, and he had to concentrate to find the opportunity to strike it dead.
"I... I will, Divine Doctor Shen."
Aunt Sun, though not experiencing Ning Hongzhuang's pain directly, could sense it. Facing Ning Hongzhuang's pained struggles, Aunt Sun used all her strength to hold Ning Hongzhuang tightly, preventing her from thrashing about.
At this moment, Shen Lang's eyes underwent a change. His pupils shifted, the left turning golden yellow and the right turning sapphire blue. This was Shen Lang's Dual Pupil technique. Each activation consumed a significant amount of vital energy and spirit, but once activated, his vision was enhanced dozens of times.
The instant he activated the Dual Pupil technique, Shen Lang found that the Seven-Star Fire Fox's movement slowed down dozens of times, like a turtle crawling lazily.
"Swish—"
Just as the Seven-Star Fire Fox moved onto Ning Hongzhuang's right arm, Shen Lang, with lightning speed, plunged his needle. The next second, a sound like a cricket's dying chirp was heard, and the red dot gradually dimmed, finally disappearing. As the red dot vanished, Ning Hongzhuang stopped struggling in pain, and her face slowly returned to normal.