Chapter 9: Leonidas

"You can treat this with acupuncture, too." "Whether the bleeding is before or after a bowel movement, needle LB90 Acupoint and LB80 Acupoint. When needling LB80 Acupoint, use an oblique insertion. No tonification or reduction is necessary。 Guide the energy to the point." "Is that enough? If not, I've got more." Finnley finished and looked expectantly at the crowd of patients. He wondered if another Merit Golden Thread would appear. Apollo stood there, stunned. Two unique prescriptions had already been enough to cover his office wall with gratitude banners, and Finnley had just revealed two more. And from the looks of it, he could offer even more. How could Finnley have so many unique prescriptions? Right then, another golden thread rose from the crowd and shimmered into view. "So it does work." Finnley lifted his hand and drew the drifting Merit Golden Thread in, stowing it away.  Pleased, he turned back to Apollo. His eyes no longer held disgust. They burned with fervor. If doing good could earn rewards from the same crowd over and over, then he should be able to do the same by punishing evil. Men like Apollo, pure malice through and through, were hard to find in real life. "Ready to tell me where the patient is? I can take back everything I taught you," he asked. "Huh?" Apollo almost laughed out of anger when he heard that. "You undercut me, wrecked my future, and you still want me to tell you where the patient is?" "Are you out of your mind?" "Do whatever you want. I'm not telling you where the patient is." He stopped looking at Finnley, though his heart ached. Those little treatments were nothing compared to the two unique prescriptions for hemorrhoids. "Publicize them if you want. Or don't." Apollo thought. He drew a long breath, swept his gaze over the crowded clinic, and asked, "Anyone else want to be seen?" The patients froze. They glanced at one another and didn't budge. It was a sharp contrast to the way they'd been crowding the doorway earlier, shouting at Finnley in their haste. Apollo's face darkened. He snorted and shouldered his way out of the consulting room. He had to pick up the state expert. He didn't have time to mess around with Finnley. Watching Apollo's retreating, Finnley turned and reminded the patients, "You haven't seen the doctor, so you should get your registration fees back." "Thank you, Dr. Greenwood!" In a rush, they all poured out. The corridor that had been jammed with people emptied in an instant, leaving only Isabelle at the door. "Don't compromise yourself." Finnley glanced at Isabelle and headed for the exit. In his previous life, Isabelle and Apollo's marriage had lasted only five years. After five years, Apollo married again.  Isabelle divorced him.  She mailed a letter to Finnley while he was in prison, left the country, and never returned. One day, during a heavy rainstorm, on her way to see a patient, she died in a car accident. Finnley owed her both in the past life and the current life. He wanted to help her as a friend. Since Apollo wouldn't say where the patient was, Finnley planned to search ward by ward. "Were you really framed?" Isabelle called after him. "What do you think?" He had reached the door of the sixth consulting room.  Without turning, he lifted a hand and pointed at the side wall, where gratitude banners covered it end to end, and said, "If he achieved all this with the unique prescriptions I gave him, why wouldn't I be able to do the same? Or do you think I care about a little money like that?" Isabelle fell silent. She knew how strong Finnley's medical skills were. Even Apollo, now adored by patients, hadn't matched Finnley two years ago. If Finnley wanted to make money, he didn't need to do anything shady. "Are you still going to be a doctor?" She hesitated for a while, her eyes uncertain, and asked. "I'll always be a doctor." Finnley strode away, his reply echoing down the empty hallway. It echoed again and again in Isabelle's ears. He walked out of the outpatient building and along the corridor to the inpatient wing.  He stretched lazily in the sunlight, and she stared, lost. For a moment, Isabelle felt she might have made the wrong choice. "If I'm not mistaken, the patient you're looking for is probably in the internal medicine department on the twenty-eighth floor of the inpatient wing. They recently converted a room there into a special needs ward," Isabelle called out. "Thanks!" Finnley's voice floated back from the far end of the corridor. ... At two-thirty in the afternoon, cicadas droned in the surrounding pines. A patch of ground had been roped off in front of the outpatient building at Musmeynia Hospital. On the steps, the hospital director, Leonard, his hair neatly slicked back, wore a faint smile as he smoothed the hem of his white coat for the third time. A cluster of senior administrators and key medical staff stood around him. Above the doors, the LED screen displayed the words.  "Warmly welcome, Mr. Leonidas, a traditional medicine evaluator for top-tier hospitals, to our hospital for guidance." Just then, Apollo hurried out of the building behind them. Deputy director Ezekiel noticed Apollo, arched a brow, slid one step aside without changing his expression, and made room for him. Without a word, Apollo planted himself at Leonard's side. At this, people around them shot him looks of disgust, but no one spoke. "Is everything ready?" Leonard asked in a low voice, eyes on the hospital gate. "All ready," Apollo said, pulling himself together and straightening his white coat. "Good." Leonard nodded and advised in a low, earnest voice.  "Mr. Leonidas is the former director of Skoeland Traditional Medical Hospital. His skill is unmatched. Although he retired long ago, his influence remains immense. With his backing, we'd get a big boost." "Across Skoeland's traditional medicine community, his influence is enormous." "This is a rare chance. You must show your best. I'll be there to back you up. Try to win his favor. If you can apprentice under him, that'll be your fast track to the top." "Understood." Apollo took a deep breath, full of confidence. Finnley's face flashed in his mind. He hesitated, then murmured to Leonard, "Finnley Greenwood was released yesterday. He came to the hospital just now. He seems even more skilled than before." "Oh?" The smile on Leonard's face faltered.  His expression shifted a few times, then smoothed as he said lightly, "It doesn't matter. In fourteen days, he'll be back in prison." Apollo bared his teeth in a grin. Relief washed over him, tinged with pride. So what if Finnley's medical skill was strong, so what if he had a medical license, so what if he had wrecked Apollo's future? Apollo would soon have a mightier patron. In fourteen days, he and Finnley would be worlds apart. Leonard kept smiling, eyes on the entrance. Two years ago, Finnley had been his top pick for successor. Too bad he wouldn't play ball. If Finnley had handed over his prescription to the hospital for free two years ago, would any of this have happened? The young always paid for the choices they made. "They're here." At the deputy director's low call, the group in front of the hospital snapped to attention.  Apollo in particular lifted his chin, puffed out his chest, a brilliant smile on his face, eyes full of expectation. Under everyone's gaze, a brown Toyota Coaster minibus rolled through the gate and stopped on the open ground before the outpatient building. The door swung open. An elderly man with a head of silver hair stepped down. He stood straight and tall, his face rosy with health and warmed by a gentle smile.  He looked kind and approachable. "Mr. Leonidas." Beaming, Leonard strode forward, clasped the old gentleman's hand, and said with warmth, "That must have been a long trip. We've been looking forward to this day. Welcome to our hospital for a site visit and guidance." "Not at all. It's my honor to visit your hospital," Leonidas replied, smiling benevolently. "You flatter us." Leonard hurried on, "Your presence honors us." "I'll give you a brief introduction. This is..." He introduced the group one by one. At last, he came to the one young man who stood out among them.  He drew Apollo to his side and said with a smile, "This is Apollo, a standout among our younger traditional medical physicians and our youngest attending." "Apollo?" Leonidas regarded him and smiled.  "I believe I've seen your name. If my memory serves, you're the author of the Traditional Medicine Journal, 'On Treating Hemorrhoids and Their Prognosis,' right?" "That's me!" Delight lit Apollo's face. He hadn't expected Leonidas not only to have read his paper, but to have remembered his name. He had caught Leonidas's eye before he even had a chance to prove himself.