Chapter 23

The frosty moonlight sprinkled on the ground, and Chen Ang took one step, then another, slowly approaching the pavilion.

Those who came to surround and kill him were all elite disciples of the Devil Sect, but now they looked as helpless as children. The weapons they usually cherished like their lives lay in the dust, but their former owners did not even spare them a glance.

The sword cut through flesh, and the heart cut through the soul.

The dazzling sword light not only killed four Devil Sect elders but also severed the courage in their hearts. After today, most of the people here would no longer be able to pick up their swords and knives!

Behind Chen Ang, Bao Dachu's corpse lay with its eyes wide open, gazing at the sky in confusion. Beside him, Qin Weibang, Jia Bu, and Sang Sanlang had their eyes closed, their faces calm, as if the sword light had been too blinding, causing them to squint and then never open their eyes again.

In the pavilion, Wang Cheng, the last remaining Devil Sect elder, watched Chen Ang slowly approach him, his face filled with bitterness. His beard twitched, his hands alternately clenched into fists and trembled weakly, his inner struggle intense.

He finally sighed deeply, facing Chen Ang step by step, and closed his eyes calmly.

But Chen Ang ignored him, walking past him and stopping in front of a strange man. The man had a large head, a thin rat-like mustache, and a short, plump figure, making him look very comical.

The strange man laughed strangely twice, suddenly tearing open his shirt to reveal a loose chest, and grinned at Chen Ang, saying, "Are you here to kill me? Then hurry up, stab into the gap between my left clavicle and the fifth rib, pierce my heart, and it will be the most satisfying! If you stab in the wrong place, I won't let you off even in death."

"Why do you say that, Doctor Ping?" Chen Ang smiled, looking at the first divine doctor with calm eyes, and pointed to his chest, "But your heart is different, located between the fourth and fifth ribs on the right side of your chest. If I follow your instructions, I will only miss!"

"Ha! You know this, truly impressive!" Ping Yizhi lowered his head and retied the buttons on his shirt.

Chen Ang's right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and he said calmly, "A swordsman, after killing many people, must be knowledgeable. If he doesn't understand the bodies he has killed, he is too incompetent!"

Ping Yizhi skillfully tied the belt, looking at Chen Ang slyly, "You are deceiving me! The dexterity of your hands and the sharpness of your eyes are not for killing but for saving lives!"

"But the skills used to save lives can also be used to kill without much difficulty!" Chen Ang smiled at him, his hand leaving the hilt of the sword.

To use the techniques of saving lives to kill, who could surpass the famous doctor Ping Yizhi? Saving one person and killing one person, this divine doctor might not be considered a great benefactor, but he was definitely a mass murderer.

"You should know that in the eyes of a doctor, human life is just a symbol. If one laments over life and death, they are not a good doctor!" Ping Yizhi sneered.

Chen Ang was silent for a moment, looking at the eccentric man before him, and sighed.

"But if one has no compassion and treats patients like pigs or dogs, and views life as trivial, they are not a doctor either!"

The pavilion suddenly fell silent, neither Chen Ang nor Ping Yizhi spoke. Elder Wang sat stiffly on the ground, his head lowered, not daring to move. The remaining Devil Sect disciples had already fled in disgrace. Under the moonlight, only three people and a horse remained, with the endless wind and moon.

The evening breeze blew through the hair, bringing a cool and light feeling.

Ping Yizhi struggled to show a smile, which was not pleasant and even somewhat grotesque. He said heavily, "I, Ping Yizhi, have practiced medicine for decades, curing thousands of patients, and not a single one has died wrongly in my hands. If I ever cured someone who died, I would pay with my life! The庸医 (mediocre doctors) in this world kill more people than I do by tenfold. Why can't I be called a doctor?"

"Nonsense! Nonsense!" His hair was blown about, and his face was particularly grotesque.

"The famous doctor Ping Yizhi, indeed has a great reputation in the martial world, but I've heard that in your decades of practice, you have only saved a few thousand patients, which is not in line with your reputation!" Chen Ang said calmly.

"Hehe!" Ping Yizhi sneered several times, pulling out a yellowed medical record from his chest and throwing it at Chen Ang, "The strange and difficult diseases I, Ping Yizhi, have cured are more than ten times what you have seen in your life! If someone gets a strange disease I have never heard of, I will crawl thousands of miles to cure them!"

Chen Ang picked up the medical record, spread it out in his hand, and began to read it. The conditions described included reverse pulse, yang fire burning, congenital deformities, heart replacement, and many others that Ping Yizhi had encountered in his life, some of which sounded like fairy tales, and others were shocking.

Even with Chen Ang's knowledge, he could not help but be amazed.

Seeing his surprised expression, Ping Yizhi laughed triumphantly, snatching the medical record back from Chen Ang's hand. In terms of martial arts, Ping Yizhi was not even worthy to tie Chen Ang's shoes, but Chen Ang let him take it back without stopping him, just sighing and handing over a book from his chest.

"What is this?" Ping Yizhi sneered, taking the book, but his face changed dramatically as soon as he opened the first page. He was so engrossed that he forgot where he was.

Chen Ang smiled slightly, picked up the medical record Ping Yizhi had dropped, and spread it out on his knee, reading it.

The moonlight shifted eastward, and in the pavilion, only the sound of turning pages could be heard. The shadows of the three people were stretched long by the firelight. Suddenly, one of the shadows began to tremble and dance wildly.

"External evil! Internal evil! Arteries! Veins! The chapter on wind evil, the chapter on circulation, the chapter on anatomy, this is impossible, this is impossible!" Ping Yizhi grabbed his head, crying and laughing, his hands trembling as he held Chen Ang's book, his face contorted and uglier than ever.

He carefully put down the book, his eyes full of bloodshot, and saw the medical record on Chen Ang's knee. He snatched it and tried to tear it into pieces!

Chen Ang sighed, lightly tapping Ping Yizhi's shoulder with the scabbard. Ping Yizhi's hands were too weak to hold the medical record, and it fell to the ground. But Ping Yizhi just sat on the ground, exhausted, and closed his eyes.

"Is this medical knowledge from beyond the heavens?" After a long time, Ping Yizhi asked hoarsely.

Chen Ang did not answer, but carefully picked up Ping Yizhi's medical record, cleaned it, and respectfully placed it next to his own medical knowledge.

"Why are you still holding onto that embarrassing thing? Throw it away! Throw it away! It's cleaner that way." Ping Yizhi trembled, tears streaming down his face, turning his head away, unable to bear to look.

Chen Ang was silent, then spoke.

"I have never heard of a high tower built without accumulation, nor have I heard of superior medical knowledge appearing out of nowhere. Martial arts and medicine, although geniuses can achieve the pinnacle, the pinnacle of geniuses still stands on the foundation of the masses!"

"Our medical wisdom is the beneficiary and pioneer of the great path paved by countless doctors and healers over thousands of years, the most beautiful flower that has bloomed in the field of medicine! The reason I am higher than you is because I stand on the shoulders of more people, not because I am better than you!"

"Today, by discarding it like a shoe, you have lost the heart of a pioneer who clears the way! You look at others' high towers and feel inferior, but have you ever looked back to see that the peak platform did not start from the beginning? The changes of yin and yang, the rise and fall of the five elements, are also the great path of medicine. Remember, the Chinese medical tradition is not inferior to anyone!"

Ping Yizhi looked up in surprise, seeing a brand new medical book before him. He opened it again and saw it was full of acupuncture, herbs, guidance, qi cultivation, meridians, and yin-yang diagnosis, completely different from the organs, circulation, blood vessels, and microorganisms he had just read.

He saw the fresh ink, writing about various theories he had never seen before, and several methods of diagnosis, all of which were groundbreaking. Ping Yizhi felt that everything he had learned in his life had not exceeded the scope of this book.

"Chinese medicine has a long and profound history, capable of detecting small illnesses at the earliest stage, adjusting the body before symptoms appear, strengthening the body, and preventing diseases. As Bian Que said, I use the principles of martial arts to explain the changes of the four seasons, the rise and fall of yin and yang, and aim to use Chinese medicine to make everyone strong and healthy, free from disease, and to describe the changes in the body's qi and the three treasures."

"However, such a grand vision cannot be achieved by me alone. I hope this book will be published and inspire the world, so that medicine can flourish and all things can be renewed!"

Chen Ang watched Ping Yizhi's eyes gradually brighten, and his body gradually come alive, and smiled. He loudly read a medical case written by Ping Yizhi and then dissected it with sharp words, explaining the medical principles and causes of Ping Yizhi's methods in a few words, all of which hit the mark.

Ping Yizhi gradually became engrossed, and at certain points, he could not help but comment, either agreeing or disagreeing, all of which hit the key points. He even used the theories from the two medical books he had just read to analyze and refute, and Chen Ang discussed with him, both of them excited. Unconsciously, the night had passed, and the sun rose in the east.

"Brother Ping!" Chen Ang got up, leading the horse, standing outside the pavilion, "I have a word to say, please listen carefully!"

"In this prosperous and new era, it is the golden age of medicine, a time of great change and renewal, a time of a hundred schools of thought. Brother Ping, with your extraordinary talent, should rise early and work late, be a pioneer in this golden age, clear the way for Chinese medicine, and lay the foundation for future generations, using yin and yang to describe the human body, becoming a great doctor of this golden age, not inferior to the ancients!"

"If you can surpass me and open a new horizon in medicine, I will be very happy and will bow to you to learn. As a doctor, you should not forget your初心 (initial heart) and strive for the great integrity of a doctor!"

Ping Yizhi watched Chen Ang ride away, and suddenly heard a young voice from the past, saying, "A great doctor, when treating patients, must calm the mind, have no desires or demands, and first develop a great compassionate heart, vowing to save all living beings. If someone comes for help, regardless of their status, age, beauty, or ugliness, friend or enemy, Chinese or foreign, wise or foolish, they should be treated equally, as if they were close relatives..."

He suddenly burst into laughter, picked up the three books on the ground, hugged them like a treasure, and walked away in the morning light, shouting, "One should not hesitate, worrying about one's own safety. Seeing the suffering of others, one should feel it as if it were one's own, deeply moved. One should not avoid danger, day or night, cold or heat, hunger or fatigue, and should devote oneself to saving others, without any pretense. Only then can one be a great doctor for the people..."

In the morning light, his shadow grew longer. Elder Wang looked back, and the short, plump figure seemed to grow taller. Wang Cheng stared at them as they parted ways, suddenly collapsing on the ground, looking at the dilapidated pavilion, not knowing what to think.

In the pavilion today, the famous doctor Ping Yizhi, who killed people, died at the hands of Chen Ang, and the one who lived on was the divine doctor Ping Yizhi, who saved lives.