Journey to the West: The Mysterious Doctor - Starting with a Heart Transplant for Princess Sizi

After leaving Ganlu Hall, Zhang Zhao did not leave immediately, but stood under the corridor for a while.

Xuanzang followed him out and walked to his side.

"Is Dr. Zhang really confident?"

"No," Zhang Zhao said directly, "but I want to try."

Xuanzang glanced at him, his gaze holding something indescribable, like scrutiny or admiration: "The art of heart transplantation is unheard of. Where did Doctor Zhang learn it?"

"I didn't learn it," Zhang Zhao said. "I figured it out myself."

Xuanzang paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, "Interesting."

Zhang Zhao didn't respond directly, but asked, "What the Dharma Master just said about Buddhism being able to suppress and deconstruct the spread—what is the specific principle behind that?"

Xuanzang thought for a moment and said, "This humble monk used his original spiritual power to establish a 'contemplation barrier' at the boundary of the deconstructed area, similar to using Buddhist teachings to temporarily fix the deconstructed elements and prevent them from spreading further. But this is not a fundamental solution; it only delays the problem."

"Can this 'concentration and insight barrier' be maintained during the surgery?"

"Yes, I can. But if I need to focus on maintaining the barrier, I won't be able to cooperate with Doctor Zhang's surgery," Xuanzang said. "If I finish my work in three days, the seal will be immediately lifted."

Zhang Zhao mentally went through the timeline:

Xuanzang's seal can last for three days. Within those three days, he must complete all preparations and perform the surgery. If the surgery succeeds, Xuanzang will be done; if it fails, that's the end of it.

The time limit is strictly enforced, with no room for error.

"Regarding the materials I just mentioned," Xuanzang asked again, "Doctor Zhang, is there any progress?"

"We have a clue, but we're not sure if it's usable," Zhang Zhao said. "There's a dragon vein beneath the imperial city, and within that vein might be low-entropy minerals that could be used as heart replacements. We need to conduct an on-site investigation to know for sure."

Xuanzang nodded slightly: "I have heard a little about the matter of the dragon vein. If Doctor Zhang needs me, I may accompany you."

"No need," Zhang Zhao shook his head. "The mage should focus on maintaining the seal; I'll handle things here myself."

Xuanzang did not try to persuade him further.

The two parted ways under the corridor. Zhang Zhao walked towards the palace gate, and Jiang Jizhang followed.

"Dr. Zhang," Jiang Jizhang called out to him, lowering his voice, "a heart transplant is extremely dangerous. Are you really sure you want to do it?"

"If we don't do it, she'll die," Zhang Zhao said. "If we do it, at least there's a glimmer of hope."

Jiang Jizhang opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end he only sighed: "Do you need my help?"

"Lord Jiang knows many people," Zhang Zhao said. "If you could help me inquire whether there have been any cases of similar 'heart abnormalities' in Chang'an, or if any predecessors have ever attempted similar heart surgery—even just a record would be helpful."

Jiang Jizhang nodded: "I've got it. Anything else?"

"Yes." Zhang Zhao glanced at him. "Find me a good assistant."

-----------------

By the time we returned to Xuanhetang, the sun was already setting.

Zhang Zhao pushed open the door of the clinic and immediately saw a person sitting in the hall.

An old woman.

With gray hair and wrinkles on his face, he sat on a bench in coarse cloth clothes, his hands on his knees, looking very peaceful, as if he were sitting in his own yard waiting for his children to come home from school.

Du Zhong stood guard beside her, his body still wrapped in bandages, staring at the old woman warily, clearly not daring to approach.

"Master!" Du Zhong was overjoyed to see Zhang Zhao enter. "You're finally back! This old lady has been waiting here for almost half an hour. She wouldn't say what she wanted, only that she was waiting for you."

Zhang Zhao walked over, stopped in front of the old woman, and looked her over.

His face was calm, his breathing steady; he showed no signs of any acute illness. Yet, he stood there before her, and insight was revealed.

At a glance.

Zhang Zhao frowned.

What he saw beneath the skin wasn't the kind of insect Xiao Qing had, nor the kind of activating element Eucommia ulmoides, but something... wriggling.

It's not an insect; it's the organ itself that's moving.

The old woman's stomach, liver, and intestines were slowly contracting, relaxing, and shifting, as if they were alive, but not "normally alive." The boundaries of those organs were blurring, unlike Xiao Qing's cysts or Du Zhong's swelling—it wasn't that some foreign object had grown, but rather that their own structure was...loosening.

Three-dimensional organizations are becoming less three-dimensional.

It's the same kind of problem as Princess Sizi's heart.

The problem with the rhinoceros is localized, while the problem with this old woman is systemic.

The old woman raised her head, looked at Zhang Zhao, her eyes clear, and said calmly:

"Doctor, you can see the illness on my body, right?"

Zhang Zhao did not answer.

The old woman continued, "I've heard that Dr. Zhang from Xuanhetang is highly skilled and can cure illnesses that others can't. The doctors in the city all say they can't cure my illness and tell me to go home and wait. I don't want to wait."

She lifted her shirt, revealing her belly.

Zhang Zhao saw it.

Beneath the skin, the outlines of those organs faintly emerge, more blurred and fainter than those of normal people, like a painting drawn on paper with water, slowly being blurred by another cup of water.

The old woman put the clothes down again, her expression still calm: "Doctor, can my illness be cured?"

Zhang Zhao put down her clothes and gestured for her to sit back down.

"How long have you been lying there?"

"Three years." The old woman's voice was calm, as if she were talking about someone else's story. "At first, I just couldn't eat, but then it got worse and worse. The things in my stomach started moving around, and I couldn't sleep."

Three years. The development is so slow, unlike the case with Du Zhong. Du Zhong's case was acute, with the white worms spreading overnight; this old woman's case is chronic, with her organs gradually weakening over three years.

However, they are similar in nature, both being the degradation of three-dimensional structures.

"What about other places? Have you seen any other doctors?"

"I've seen it," the old woman said. "They all said it was a weak spleen and stomach, and insufficient qi and blood. I've taken a lot of medicine, but it didn't work. Later, an old doctor took one look and said he couldn't cure me, and told me to go home and eat whatever I wanted."

Eat whatever you want.

This is the most euphemistic way of saying "waiting to die" in traditional Chinese medicine.

Zhang Zhao paused for a moment, then asked, "Who else is in the family?"

"Son, daughter-in-law, grandson," the old woman said. "They all advise me to stop making a fuss, saying that's just how it is when you get old. But I've watched my grandson grow up, and I haven't even seen him get married yet. I'm not willing to give up."

Du Zhong listened from the side, his eyes slightly red.

Zhang Zhao didn't respond to his question, but instead asked, "How did you find my place today?"

"That's what Granny Wang, who sells vegetables at the street corner, said," the old woman said. "She said that Dr. Zhang from Xuanhetang Clinic cured a patient whose back was covered in worms a couple of days ago. His methods are really strange, and he asked if I dared to give it a try. I thought, since I couldn't cure him anyway, what's the harm in trying?"

Zhang Zhao understood.

The news spread faster than he expected. Only a few days had passed since Xiao Qing's incident, and people throughout Wannian County were already spreading the word that "Xuanhetang has a Doctor Zhang who specializes in treating evil diseases."

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.