Chapter 525
Chapter 525
“Eunuch Yeo, what are His Majesty's symptoms? What in the world has happened?”
“It's difficult for me to explain without causing a misunderstanding! You'll see when you arrive. This is extremely urgent!”
The carriage sped like an arrow, and a quarter of an hour later, Shen Lang secretly entered the palace.
*His Majesty must not be in any real danger. He absolutely must not be.*
Yeo Jun led Shen Lang straight to the rear palace. At that moment, all the eunuchs and palace maids in the entire rear palace had vanished, leaving only a few of Yeo Jun's trusted subordinates. This clearly meant something had happened that no one was supposed to know about. Great Eunuch Yeo Jun led Shen Lang into Consort Zhong's palace. As soon as they entered, they heard Consort Zhong crying beside them.
“Your Majesty, what's wrong? What's wrong? Please say something. Don't frighten me like this!”
Stepping inside, Shen Lang was stunned by the scene before him. King Ning Yuanxian and Consort Zhong were still in bed; they were even lying on top of one another. But Ning Yuanxian's body was completely still, frozen stiff. His eyes and body couldn't move at all, as if he were completely paralyzed, and his entire body trembled as if in a continuous seizure.
“Shen Lang, hurry and save His Majesty. Please, save him.”
Crying out in desperation, Consort Zhong saw Shen Lang and shouted.
“His Majesty has been staying in my chambers for the past few days, and it's because I was too greedy. Just now, His Majesty suddenly couldn't move, then he couldn't speak, and his whole body went stiff. It's all my fault, it's all my fault!”
Consort Zhong, her face streaked with tears, was not worried about her body being exposed. Of course, Yeo Jun was a eunuch and Shen Lang a subordinate, which might have been part of it, but in truth, she had no time to worry about such things now.
*It absolutely cannot be a cerebral hemorrhage. It can't be.*
A cerebral hemorrhage would require surgery to open the skull. But in this world, such a surgery would inevitably lead to death. It also couldn't be poisoning. Especially if it was a potent poison like that from Mount Fudao, the conflict among the upper echelons of the State of Yue would instantly escalate, sparking a civil war. Currently, the power held by Shen Lang and Prince Ning Zheng was too weak. If a civil war broke out, they wouldn't even be qualified to participate in this game of power, and their only chance of survival would be to flee far away.
Shen Lang quickly activated his X-ray vision to examine the king's entire body, especially his brain. To his relief, it wasn't the cerebral hemorrhage he had feared. Next, he checked for any strange, poisonous energy in the blood vessels, but finding none, he ruled out poisoning as well. Finally, Shen Lang discovered a shadow in one of the king's cerebral blood vessels—it was a cerebral infarction. It seemed a blood clot had caused an ischemic stroke.
*What a relief, what a relief!*
Shen Lang let out a long sigh of relief. For an acute ischemic stroke, the golden window is six hours. If the blocked vessel could be cleared within that time to restore blood flow to the ischemic penumbra, the patient could be saved. If treated in time, there might not even be any significant aftereffects. Nevertheless, this was an extremely deadly acute illness. Without timely treatment, it could lead not only to complete paralysis but also to immediate death. But in this world, this illness was likely considered incurable.
“Shen Lang, can you save him? Can you?”
Consort Zhong asked through her tears. She was truly frantic with worry and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. She believed that if it weren't for her, the king would not have fallen ill. For so long, she had been in a cold war with the king, enduring countless empty hours. Moreover, she was at the most mature age for a woman, and recently, the king had rekindled the flames of her desire, which were not easily extinguished. Thus, for the past two days, she had seized the opportunity to indulge in pleasure with Ning Yuanxian multiple times. She had heard that "death by passion" was basically an incurable affliction. If the king were to die from it, she truly felt that even dying ten million times would not absolve her of the sin.
Shen Lang said to her.
“Your Highness, please rest assured. His Majesty is not suffering from death by passion.”
Consort Zhong asked, crying.
“Can you cure him? Can you?”
“If I give it my all, I am seventy to eighty percent confident I can cure him.”
“Then please, hurry and do it. I'm begging you.”
“Your Highness, please get dressed quickly and move away from His Majesty's body.”
More than half an hour had passed since the king's attack, but Consort Zhong and Yeo Jun hadn't dared to move, maintaining their original positions. Only after hearing Shen Lang's reassurance did Consort Zhong move away from the king. Her trusted handmaiden brought a blanket and wrapped it around Consort Zhong's body. She did not leave, remaining where she stood. Shen Lang said to her.
“Your Highness has a rather impetuous nature. It won't help for you to remain here; it would be better if you went to another room for now.”
“I cannot leave His Majesty's side for even a single step right now. If I do, I'll go mad. Can't you let me stay? I won't speak or make a sound.”
Hearing Consort Zhong's words, Shen Lang had no choice but to nod. Then, he stepped forward and performed some simple first aid on the king. Shen Lang said.
“Eunuch Yeo, one of His Majesty's cerebral blood vessels is blocked and must be cleared immediately. If it isn't cleared within four hours, it will cause severe aftereffects, or he could become paralyzed on one side.”
“As long as His Majesty can be saved, we will do everything you say. You are in command of everyone in the palace.”
In modern society, a dangerous ischemic stroke like this would typically be treated with surgery. Of course, with technological advancements, minimally invasive surgery is now possible, but in this world, Shen Lang had no way to operate on the brain. So, how was he to treat it? The first method was to insert a special energy into the blood vessel to directly break through the blockage. Such things certainly existed in this world. For example, the lowest-grade golden-blooded ancient insects. However, as mentioned before, anyone who did not possess Jiang Li's bloodline could not withstand even the lowest-grade golden-blooded ancient insects; their body would explode and they would die instantly upon injection. King Ning Yuanxian was no exception.
That left only the second method. Use an extremely fine silver needle to precisely pierce the location of the blockage in the king's brain, then use internal energy to vibrate and dislodge the clot, thereby clearing the vessel. This was what was so incredible about this world. On modern Earth, there was no one who could even insert a needle that fine and flexible through a skull.
But there was one tricky aspect to this method. The brain is too delicate; it cannot sustain any injury. Even a puncture from an extremely fine needle could lead to dire consequences. The nerves inside the brain were extremely complex and fragile. Therefore, not only did the needle have to be inserted into the brain, but it also had to be bent within the brain to avoid touching any sensitive and fragile areas. It was an extremely difficult task.
Shen Lang calculated the needle's trajectory; it needed to be at least nineteen centimeters long and change direction at three points. Grand Princess Yingjue's martial arts were very profound; could she do it? When Shen Lang explained his treatment method, Great Eunuch Yeo Jun shook his head.
“With Grand Princess Yingjue's martial arts, it might be possible... but there's still a risk of failure. We need a master of at least the Grandmaster level.”
“I will do it...”
At that moment, a shadow suddenly detached itself from a dark corner. Shen Lang was startled by the sight.
*Has that person been there the whole time?*
It looked like he was using a stealth technique, but in truth, he had been there all along.
“Adoptive Father!”
Great Eunuch Yeo Jun stepped forward and bowed. Shen Lang knew who this was. It was Yeo Mok, known as the Ancestor, one of the six Grandmasters of the State of Yue and a legendary old eunuch. This was the first time Shen Lang had seen him. He had pure white hair but a youthful face. His eyebrows and hair were all white, but his face was smooth and radiant, without a single wrinkle, giving him a benevolent and kind appearance. He was likely the king's shadow, protecting Ning Yuanxian at all times.
“Will I suffice?”
Shen Lang replied to Grand Eunuch Yeo Mok's question.
“Yes!”
Having this Grandmaster was, of course, a great thing. Then, Shen Lang gave his instructions.
“Great Eunuch Yeo Jun, please trouble yourself to bring some clay. I need to create a model of His Majesty's skull in the shortest time possible.”
Great Eunuch Yeo Jun dashed out and quickly returned with clay. Shen Lang took the clay and created a skull model to the exact same scale as King Ning Yuanxian's.
“The blockage in His Majesty's brain is here, and the ischemic penumbra is here. Ancestor, you must insert the silver needle here, then bend it here and here to avoid the most vulnerable and dangerous parts of the brain. Once the needle reaches the blocked vessel, you must apply force with extreme precision to clear it. However, you must not damage the vessel wall.”
Shen Lang calculated all the measurements with extreme accuracy and marked them clearly on the model. Ancestor Yeo Mok nodded and said.
“I will attempt it. Is time not extremely pressing?”
“Less than an hour has passed since His Majesty's attack, so we still have about four hours left in the optimal window to save him.”
Ancestor Yeo Mok held a silver needle, thinner than a strand of hair and just as soft. For an ordinary person to pierce a skull with it would be an impossible feat, dismissed as utter nonsense.
The Ancestor channeled his internal energy into the silver needle and thrust it forcefully into a pig's skull prepared for testing. The soft, thin needle easily penetrated the pig's skull. Shen Lang couldn't help but marvel at the success of such a difficult task. After the first insertion, the Ancestor immediately switched to another needle. After practicing three consecutive times, he decided to try it on his own skull. He was concerned that a human skull might be different from a pig's.
With another thrust, he easily inserted the needle into his own skull. He now had a perfect feel for how much force was needed to pierce a skull. Next, the old eunuch Yeo Mok practiced the following step. He practiced inserting and bending the silver needle in the clay brain model Shen Lang had made. This time, even Shen Lang was truly stunned. In Yeo Mok's hand, the needle seemed to come alive. As he infused it with internal energy and guided it, it bent and swam with fluid grace. The needle could effortlessly pass through even the smallest of gaps. After practicing several times on the model, the old eunuch decided to practice on a living person.
“Yeo Jun, you come here!”
The old eunuch Yeo Mok called for Yeo Jun. He had decided to use his adoptive son, Yeo Jun, as his final practice subject. This was because Shen Lang had said that the brain structure of all people was nearly identical. The location of the king's blocked vessel could also be found in Yeo Jun's brain. It was just that Eunuch Yeo Jun had to have a needle inserted into his brain even though his blood vessels were not blocked and nothing was wrong.
Yeo Mok took a deep breath.
*Thrust!*
The thin needle in the Ancestor's hand plunged forcefully into Yeo Jun's brain. Recalling his recent practice, he deftly bent the needle as it advanced, avoiding the dangerous areas within the brain until it reached the target location.
“That's it. Right there. Perfectly accurate. However, since Eunuch Yeo Jun's vessel is normal, there's no need to pierce it.”