Chapter 985 — Feng Tianlong's Request

"That is far too kind of you!" Hearing Wei Zhao's words, Feng Tianlong was so overcome that he hardly knew what to say. The importance of true qi was something Feng Tianlong understood perfectly, and he had never expected Wei Zhao to agree without a moment's hesitation.

"It is too early to thank me yet." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "As things stand now, it seems true qi will not have much effect on Xiaoxiao's illness, nor is there any chance of a cure..."

"Indeed..." Feng Tianlong sighed, and there was a bitter note in his voice. "Now all we can do is treat a dead horse as though it were alive... What other choice is there?"

"Wei Zhao, is there really nothing else you can do? Could you... could you save Feng Xiaoxiao? She is so pitiful..." Tang Zhi's heart ached with pity. She feared that Wei Zhao might hold back out of concern for her feelings, or out of his own dislike for Feng Xiaoxiao, and not do everything in his power to help.

"Yes, can you think of another way... That life-extending, toxin-expelling pill — would it be of any use to Xiaoxiao?" Feng Tianlong cast Tang Zhi a grateful glance, then spoke with equal urgency.

"That life-extending, toxin-expelling pill is of no use at all!" Wei Zhao shook his head. "But I can give you one. It will not cure her, but it will do no harm."

"Ah?" Feng Tianlong was taken aback. As he saw it, even if Wei Zhao agreed to give him one such pill, he would never do so for nothing. After all, a single pill of that kind had fetched over four hundred million at auction. However close Wei Zhao might be to him, he could not simply hand one over at random — it did cost money to make, after all.

Yet Feng Tianlong had not expected Wei Zhao to be so generous as to offer him one outright, and in that instant he was overcome with gratitude beyond measure.

"How can I accept this... one pill is worth hundreds of millions..." Feng Tianlong could not help but be moved.

"Ha, I could give you ten and it would be no trouble." Wei Zhao spoke lightly. "Friendship, once forged, sometimes lasts a lifetime — does it not?"

"You are right, I was being too fussy!" Feng Tianlong nodded emphatically.

"Tell me more carefully about her illness, and everywhere she has been treated. I will think of something." Wei Zhao pondered a moment before speaking. In truth, Wei Zhao genuinely had no solution. Feng Xiaoxiao's condition was unlike anything he had ever heard of. If he was to find a way at all, it would only be by having Feng Tianlong supply more details, and then consulting the old man of his own family. Though he had inherited a great portion of the old man's medical skill, the old man still had his superior points.

"Xiaoxiao's illness really begins with her mother. Xiaoxiao's mother also died of this hereditary family disease, and she was only twenty when she died. Even then, it was only because a divine physician fought with all his might to sustain her that Xiaoxiao's mother lasted to the limit of twenty years. The rest of the family usually reach the end of their lives at only seventeen or eighteen!" Feng Tianlong sighed. "According to the hospital's analysis, there is an unknown substance in Xiaoxiao's blood, and no one knows what that substance is. Some say it is a blood defect, some say it is poisoning... And the divine physician who treated Xiaoxiao's mother back then judged that she might have been struck by a kind of gu poison..."

Wei Zhao frowned. What Feng Tianlong had said amounted to almost nothing, for there was not a single piece of vital information in it, and Wei Zhao felt he had no place to begin. He asked offhandedly, "That divine physician — who was he?"

In Wei Zhao's eyes, for that divine physician to have sustained Feng Xiaoxiao's mother to the limit of twenty years was no small feat.

"His name was Lin Dongfang. He was once a divine physician of great renown — the older generation all know his name..." Feng Tianlong said.

"Lin Dongfang?" Wei Zhao's eyes went wide at once. He stared at Feng Tianlong. "Are you certain the divine physician was named Lin Dongfang?"

"Yes. Why — have you heard of this man too, Wei Zhao?" Feng Tianlong was startled by Wei Zhao's reaction, but then something seemed to occur to him. "Your surname is Lin as well. You cannot be..."

"Since he examined her and could find no way, then I truly have no way either..." Wei Zhao gave a bitter smile. "He is the old man of my family — the one who taught me medicine..."

"The old man? He is your father?" Feng Tianlong's eyes went wide as well, and he stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief. He had never imagined that after nineteen years he would meet Lin Dongfang's successor — and that this successor, too, would be vexed by the very same illness.

"Not my father. By age, I suppose I could call him grandfather, though he says I share no blood with him and that he picked me up..." This time Wei Zhao held nothing back. For one thing, Feng Tianlong was a man worthy of trust; for another, Feng Tianlong had known Lin Dongfang in the past, and there was no need to hide anything from him.

"Ah!" Feng Tianlong sighed. "It seems there really is no way..."

Wei Zhao spread his hands. He was powerless to help as well. Feng Xiaoxiao's illness was peculiar, with nothing to compare it to, and Wei Zhao had never seen any similar remedy in the ancient texts. So though he pitied Feng Xiaoxiao, he truly could do nothing.

"Uncle Feng, accept what must be. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the common lot of all." Wei Zhao sighed. "Still, I will do my utmost to think of something."

"Thank you..." Feng Tianlong nodded, somewhat despondent. He could only accept this reality now. That Wei Zhao had no way either left him thoroughly resigned. He did not believe Wei Zhao could devise any solution — after all, even Wei Zhao's master Lin Dongfang had found no way. What could Wei Zhao possibly do?

"Xiaoxiao is already nineteen... I'm afraid a year and a half is all she has left..." Feng Tianlong said, his voice tinged with sorrow.

"..." Wei Zhao did not know what to say either. He had seen too many people die, and so had Feng Tianlong, but when it came to his own daughter, the man would still grieve.

"Wei Zhao, I..." Feng Tianlong hesitated for a moment here. "I have a request..."

"Uncle Feng, please speak. Don't call it a request. If there is anything I can do, I will not decline it," Wei Zhao said quickly.

"I can tell that child Xiaoxiao likes you!" Feng Tianlong raised his head and looked at Wei Zhao as he spoke.

"Probably." Wei Zhao nodded noncommittally and waited for Feng Tianlong to continue.

Tang Zhi's heart, however, skipped a beat, and she too lifted her head.

"Xiaoxiao does not have much time left. From childhood to now, she has never liked any boy, never truly been in love... but I can tell that this time, Xiaoxiao really wants to have a romance, a grand and passionate romance!" Feng Tianlong said this much, then turned to Wei Zhao. "I hope you can agree to this request of mine. This is my request to you, as an old friend of mine, and as Xiaoxiao's father!"