If you don't want treatment, get out! This doctor has a terrible temper.

Chapter 112 The Silent Scream

The afternoon sun shone through the glass door onto Wang Minyu's white coat, making him look like a salted fish.

The clinic was quiet, with only the sound of Li Siyuan and Zhao Na reciting the herbal formula in the corner.

Su Qing was sitting at the counter, holding a pair of nail clippers, intently... dissecting a mosquito.

"Master, a patient has arrived," Zhao Na whispered a reminder.

A mother and daughter entered through the door.

The mother was dressed fashionably, but her brows were furrowed; the daughter, probably in her early twenties, wore a mask and a baseball cap, covering her face completely, and held tightly to her mother's clothes.

"Dr. Wang, please take a look at my daughter." The mother started wiping away tears as soon as she sat down. "She's mute. We've taken her to the hospital for all sorts of tests, and there's nothing wrong with her vocal cords or her brain, but she just can't make a sound."

Wang Minyu didn't move, still slumped in his chair: "Siyuan, go take a look."

Li Siyuan immediately sat up straight and began to take the pulse and examine the tongue in a very professional manner.

"Pale red tongue, thin white coating, thready and weak pulse... Is this liver qi stagnation and globus hystericus?" he asked tentatively.

The girl lowered her head, remained silent, and her body trembled slightly.

"Should I prescribe some medicine to soothe the liver and relieve depression?" Li Siyuan asked Wang Minyu.

Wang Minyu yawned: "Medicine can't cure all diseases, and Buddha only helps those who are destined to be saved. This disease is beyond the reach of medicine."

He turned to Su Qing: "Forensic Doctor Su, stop playing with mosquitoes and look at the living people."

Su Qing put down the tweezers, her eyes instantly turning cold and sharp.

She walked up to the girl, but instead of taking her pulse, she suddenly grabbed the girl's wrist.

The girl tried to pull her hand back in fear, but Su Qing's grip was surprisingly strong.

"There are old lacerations on the edges of her nails, caused by long-term anxiety and scratching." Su Qing's voice was devoid of warmth, as if she were reading an autopsy report. "There are three superficial scratches on the inside of her left wrist. Although they have healed, they were left by tentative cuts with a fruit knife. She was hesitating, or rather, she was crying for help."

The mother was stunned: "Xiaoya, you...when did you...?"

"Look up," Su Qing commanded.

The girl subconsciously raised her head, revealing a pair of bloodshot, fear-filled eyes.

"Your pupils contract slowly in bright light, and your eyelids tremble. You're scared." Su Qing leaned close to the girl's ear and whispered, "Scared of what? Scared of the director who locked you in the recording studio and forced you to bark like a dog? Or scared of the producer who threatened to blacklist you?"

The girl's body suddenly stiffened, and a gurgling sound came from her throat, but she still couldn't speak.

"Hysterical aphasia," Wang Minyu finally spoke, sitting up straight. "It's not that she's mute, it's that she subconsciously refuses to speak. Because in her view, speaking would cause harm."

"Then...what should we do?" the mother panicked.

"Fight fire with fire." Wang Minyu pointed to the door leading to the basement—which used to be a cellar but had been converted by Guan Shan into a well-soundproof "training room." "Take her down and turn off the lights."

Five minutes later, the girl was locked in a dark basement.

"What are you trying to do?" The mother tried to rush down, but Li Siyuan stopped her.

"To cure the illness," Wang Minyu said calmly.

In the basement, the girl huddled in a corner, the darkness reminding her of that enclosed recording studio.

Fear overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.

Suddenly, a faint green light appeared in the darkness.

That was a face.

A hideous, distorted face stained with blood—it was Guan Shan wearing the prank mask that Su Qing had bought online. Combined with his two-meter-tall frame, it was a nightmare come to life in the confined space.

"roar--!!!"

Guan Shan let out a deafening roar.

This wasn't acting; it was the "Lion's Roar" he had practiced all morning. The sound waves echoed in the enclosed space, making people's hearts stop beating.

The girl's psychological defenses collapsed in that instant.

Extreme fear overwhelmed the subconscious self-protection mechanism, and the instinct for survival took over.

"ah--!!!!!"

A sharp, piercing scream pierced through the soundproof door of the basement and soared into the sky.

In the front hall, Wang Minyu picked up his teacup and took a sip: "It's working."

The basement lights came on.

Guan Shan took off his mask and scratched his head sheepishly: "Girl, don't be afraid, it's fake."

The girl slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, her face streaked with tears and snot.

She touched her throat, her voice trembling as she uttered, "I...I can...speak?"

The suffocating feeling that had been building up for half a year vanished completely with that scream.

Back upstairs, the girl hugged her mother and wept bitterly.

"The consultation fee is three thousand." Wang Minyu tapped the table. "It includes compensation for emotional distress—for my employee. Your shout probably scared Guan Shan quite a bit."

In fact, Guan Shan was secretly laughing in the backyard because the boss had just promised to give him an extra pot of braised pork.

After seeing the mother and daughter off, Li Siyuan asked with admiration, "Master, is this the 'fear overcomes pleasure' from the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic?"

"This is called 'scare-the-out' therapy." Wang Minyu fiddled with the mask. "Modern people, sometimes they live too tensely. If you don't give them a little shock, they just can't breathe properly."

Su Qing picked up the tweezers again and continued dissecting the unfortunate mosquito: "Her vocal cord muscles just spasmed. If she hadn't shouted, they really would have atrophied from disuse."

"Sister Su is the most professional," Zhao Na flattered.

Wang Minyu looked out the window; the emotion value on the system panel had increased significantly again.

[Mission Progress: Building an All-Round Doctor Team (3/5)]

[New Clue Unveiled: Changxiang City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital is about to hold a "Difficult and Complex Diseases Exchange Meeting," with special guest Wang Minyu.]

"An exchange meeting?" Wang Minyu narrowed his eyes. "Am I to be a mascot, or a target?"

No matter what it is, since it's a field of leeks, there's no reason not to go. He put away his teacup, a faint, wicked smile playing on his lips.

"Get ready," he said to his apprentices, "we're going to teach those old experts a lesson."