34 Chen Yong, why don't you try using magic?

The pediatric emergency department was chaotic, filled with a relentless cacophony of sound.

"Pediatrics is always like this," Deputy Director Liu muttered, his expression darkening as he heard the wailing and shouting. He had no intention of interfering or stopping to watch the spectacle, so he pulled Luo Hao along, eager to leave.

"It’s actually quite impressive that the First Hospital even has a pediatric emergency department," Luo Hao sighed. "Our pediatric department at the Mining General Hospital is barely hanging on. My uncle is worried sick about it."

"Oh? How many pediatricians do you have left over there?"

"Five and a half, if you count the director."

"Why only half?"

"One of our doctors had her eardrum perforated by a patient's family member a while back. Director Lin said she’s emotionally unstable and might quit at any moment, but she’s still on staff for now. So, she only counts as half."

"..."

"If she quits, our pediatric emergency unit will have to close, and the outpatient clinic will likely only be able to open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

Liu Haisen shook his head, cursing under his breath, "They always say if you don't want to do it, there are plenty of others waiting in line. Let them do it, let them all just ruin everything."

Grumbling wouldn't solve the problem, so Liu Haisen asked, "Little Luo, is the pressure on your uncle high?"

"Extremely," Luo Hao replied. "Because of that female doctor who was assaulted, my uncle and the vice president in charge of obstetrics and pediatrics nearly came to blows."

"???"

"!!!"

Liu Haisen’s face went from a question mark to an exclamation point. All his emotions were written clearly across his face, undisguised. He knew Lin Yuming’s personality well; he never imagined that for the sake of work, the "Boss" would actually consider brawling with his direct superior. If it weren't for Luo Hao saying it, Liu Haisen would never have believed it. But then again, that was exactly the "Boss's" style—he was fiercely protective of his own.

"Why was he so angry?" Liu Haisen asked.

"After the female doctor was hit, the vice president in charge claimed that since she was still at the hospital after her shift ended, the hospital wasn't responsible. They wouldn't even provide basic compensation and actually demanded the doctor apologize to the patient's family who hit her."

*What the hell!*

Liu Haisen was stunned by this explanation. How could anyone even say such a thing? It was no wonder the "Boss" lost his temper. He wondered what it would look like if Lin Yuming had smashed that vice president's head with his signature enamel mug.

As they spoke, they walked into the emergency building. Liu Haisen led the way, heading straight for the emergency medical and surgical units.

"Doctor, please, check me out quickly. My stomach hurts so much."

A patient was squatting against the wall, pale-faced. Luo Hao took one look and suspected it was likely acute cholecystitis or a similar condition. Emergency doctors hurried past him, not even sparing the man a glance. He hadn't expected the First Hospital’s emergency department to be this swamped.

"Your uncle didn't let you choose emergency medicine, did he?" Liu Haisen teased.

"Emergency, pediatrics, and radiology—those were the 'no-go zones' my uncle set for me. He told me if I chose any of them, he’d break my legs. If I didn't change my mind after that, he’d put in metal plates, and then break those, too."

"Tsk, tsk. That’s a real uncle for you. Otherwise, he would’ve used the 'saving lives' card to trick you into the emergency department."

As they got closer, Luo Hao caught the metallic scent of blood emanating from the emergency resuscitation room. There were already patients being resuscitated early in the morning; the large tertiary hospitals in the provincial capital were indeed busy. The patient with suspected cholecystitis was in agony, but when he saw the blood spraying inside the resuscitation room, he turned even paler, seemingly forgetting his own stomach pain for a moment.

"I was on duty over there when I was a junior doctor," Liu Haisen said, pointing toward the emergency ultrasound room.

"How many could you do in a night?" Luo Hao asked.

"Over a hundred. The most I did in a single day was two hundred." Recalling those grueling years, Liu Haisen couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. Fortunately, he had made it through.

Just then, an emergency doctor rushed out of the resuscitation room, pushing a stretcher. With a smooth, elegant drift, the doctor didn't slow down at all, charging straight toward the elevator.

"Probably an emergency surgery," Liu Haisen remarked. "Look at that technique; you can't master that without ten years of pushing stretchers."

Luo Hao stared at the departing patient and the doctor sprinting with the stretcher.

"Itchy hands?" Liu Haisen asked. "If you want to practice surgery, come to my side. Look at this patient volume! Even though the Mining General Hospital has plenty of patients, it’s nothing compared to the First Hospital."

"Patient volume is one thing, but you don't have the advanced technology over there. If you stay for a few more years, you'll probably go to waste."

Luo Hao glanced at his system space, where countless cadavers awaited him; patient volume was a joke to him. But he didn't argue with Liu Haisen, just smiled.

Looking around at the swarming mass of patients in the waiting area, he felt a sense of trepidation. Suddenly, a crisp "ding-dong" sounded in his ear.

[Emergency Mission: The Critically Ill Hidden in the Crowd.]
[Mission Content: Locate and correctly diagnose one critically ill patient hidden in the crowd. The patient’s life is in danger; please hurry.]
[Time Limit: 6 hours.]
[Mission Reward: 10,000 experience points, Wish-Granting Stone (Small) x1.]

Luo Hao only glanced at the mission before he became tense. As for the brand-new reward, he acted as if he hadn't seen it at all. In an instant, his demeanor changed—so noticeably that Liu Haisen sensed something was wrong. Liu Haisen assumed Luo Hao was empathizing with the emergency room doctors and patted him on the shoulder.

"Relax. This isn't your Mining General Hospital; you're just here for a visit. If you're interested, you can apply for a fellowship and work here for a while. Let me tell you, young man..."

While Liu Haisen kept chattering, Luo Hao’s eyes scanned the emergency waiting hall. To his disappointment, he couldn't see any critically ill patients. He wasn't a doctor here and couldn't see patients; how was he supposed to find someone in critical condition? Judging by physical signs alone, no one looked to be on the verge of death.

Luo Hao felt a bit distressed, but then he remembered something.

"Chen Yong, did you learn any magic for finding patients at Hogwarts?"

"???" Liu Haisen froze. This was the first time he had heard such a thing in a hospital. What the hell was Hogwarts?

"Not Hogwarts, it was Exeter," Chen Yong corrected him listlessly. It wasn't just Luo Hao; now, everyone who knew he had a Master's degree in magic from the UK subconsciously assumed he had graduated from Hogwarts.

"It’s all the same. I feel like there’s a patient here who is very ill and needs emergency resuscitation—the feeling is very strong. But I can't find where they are. Give me a hand." Luo Hao looked at Chen Yong with intense focus.

*That works too?!*

Liu Haisen seemed to have found the reason why Luo Hao wasn't left at Peking Union Medical College. How could he rely on "feelings"? And to "feel" that a patient was critically ill and needed emergency care—wasn't this a joke? Was it a joke? Could it be some kind of secret code between two young people? Liu Haisen immediately began to doubt himself.

"Let's try it," Chen Yong sighed, helpless, and pulled out a necklace he wore. The necklace was inlaid with a crystal. Chen Yong held the crystal in his palm, his mask trembling slightly as if he were chanting a spell.

Liu Haisen, who had a wealth of clinical experience, was stunned. Watching the strange, mask-wearing Chen Yong actually chanting a spell like something out of a novel, he pulled Luo Hao back a step.

"Little Luo, Hogwarts is a magic school from a novel. How can you take that seriously? This is a hospital; we have to rely on science... although the end of science is metaphysics," Liu Haisen chided.

"Teacher Liu, after Dr. Chen graduated, he went to the UK to get a Master's in Magic and Occultism. He’s a licensed mage," Luo Hao explained.

"What?"

Seeing Chen Yong still "chanting," Luo Hao briefly explained the University of Exeter's Master's degree in Magic and Occultism to Liu Haisen. In truth, Luo Hao didn't believe it either, but the system had issued the mission, and he didn't suspect the system of pulling pranks. Since he couldn't find the critically ill patient himself, it wouldn't hurt to let Chen Yong try. It couldn't make things any worse.

After hearing Luo Hao out, Liu Haisen was at a loss. That university in the UK—wasn't that just Hogwarts? If someone had told him before today that a Hogwarts mage was coming to the hospital to look for patients and was doing it right in front of him with such seriousness, he would have slapped them across the face.

"Little Luo, you’re going a bit too far."

"Luo Hao, it seems to be in this direction." Chen Yong frowned, his delicate brows knitting together as he pointed.

In that direction, there was only the man who had just been asking the emergency doctor to treat him first. It seemed even Chen Yong, the "mage," didn't believe it himself.

"I studied Magic and Occultism; divination was a separate course, an elective," Chen Yong explained sheepishly.

Luo Hao sighed. The task given by the system was too absurd. With so many patients in the emergency room of the First Hospital, trying to "spot" a dying person with a glance was a pipe dream. Could it be the one who was just pushed away? A thought occurred to Luo Hao.

"Ugh~"

The man who had just been begging for help squatted in the corner, skillfully pulled out a plastic bag, and began to vomit. In the direction Chen Yong pointed, the man was strikingly obvious. Moreover, the man's movements in catching the vomit with the plastic bag were extremely practiced. Although Luo Hao didn't think this was the patient specified by the system, instinct drove him to go over and offer some help.

Walking up to the man, Luo Hao tried to soften his expression and reached out to help hold the plastic bag. Liu Haisen frowned. This patient clearly didn't have anything majorly wrong. Doctors who spent years in the ER knew that the patients who screamed the loudest were usually the least ill. It was the ones who were quiet and dazed who needed the most attention. This patient had abdominal pain and vomiting—classic digestive symptoms. But he was conscious and coherent; he had nothing to do with being critically ill.

Luo Hao was clearly inexperienced, and he was being so childish with the masked Dr. Chen, playing around with magic. It wasn't serious enough. Liu Haisen shook his head; perhaps this was the generation gap.

The man vomited violently, though there wasn't much to expel. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said hoarsely, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Where does it hurt?" Luo Hao asked.

"The emergency room is so busy; if I don't get seen soon, I'll be late for class," the man said urgently, answering a different question.

"Class? You’re a teacher?"

"I’m a college student, a sophomore!" the man replied, emphasizing the word 'sophomore.' He seemed used to people overestimating his age, and because of the stomach pain, he couldn't be bothered to explain further.

*A sophomore?!* Eighteen or nineteen. He didn't look it at all—he looked so worn out. Being so young and able to communicate clearly, he definitely wasn't the critically ill patient the system spoke of. But since Luo Hao couldn't find the real patient in the short term, he continued chatting with the man. "Stomach pain? What did the doctor say?"

"Every time I come, they say it's enteritis. The medicine doesn't help, and lately, I've been having diarrhea and vomiting, getting worse and worse." The man’s voice was faint, but he continued to share his history with Luo Hao, a stranger. "I didn't expect the emergency department to be this busy. Look at that patient earlier, spraying blood—who could have the heart to cut in line?"

The man sighed deeply. "You don't realize how many sick people there are until you come to the hospital."

Having nothing better to do, Luo Hao observed the surrounding patients, including the new arrivals, while asking about the man's medical history. It turned out that a week ago, he had gone drinking with his roommate and ended up blacking out, leading to a hospital visit for IV fluids. That day, the man had vomited repeatedly. After receiving a "GI cocktail" therapy—containing viscous lidocaine, dimethicone, aluminum hydroxide, and magnesium hydroxide—his symptoms improved significantly. He was diagnosed with gastritis, prescribed proton pump inhibitors, and discharged.

It was just a case of drinking too much and vomiting, perhaps with complications like reflux esophagitis, but certainly nothing serious. Yet, a week had passed, and the vomiting hadn't subsided; it had only grown worse.

As Luo Hao asked more questions, his eyes suddenly caught the AI diagnostic assistant prompting the next step: *Suggest completing relevant examinations.*

*Complete relevant examinations...* This was the most perfunctory sentence used when writing medical records—a piece of "correct nonsense." He hadn't expected the system, usually so reliable, to spout nonsense too.

But the next second, Luo Hao saw that the content of the "relevant examinations" included several tests that had absolutely nothing to do with reflux esophagitis or acute/chronic alcohol poisoning. Among them, an echocardiogram stood out so sharply, highlighting the system's "lack of professionalism."

The man's history was simple: a series of complications from heavy drinking. Although it had been a week and there was still nausea and vomiting, that didn't explain much. An endoscopy would be the limit; why did the system want a cardiac ultrasound? *Nonsense.*

Luo Hao immediately thought that if this was nonsense, then was the system mission also nonsense?

"Just wait a little longer," Luo Hao said, feeling the system was being tedious, and tried to reassure the man. "The emergency doctor will be back soon... wait, no, this should be an internal medicine issue. Why are you waiting for a surgeon?"

"Something's off today. The emergency 120s are overwhelming; the internal medicine doctors are all out on calls," the man said helplessly.

Before he could finish, a strange and dramatic expression crossed the man's face. He squeezed his legs together, managed to stand up, his facial muscles twisting. "I... I..."

As he spoke, he hurried toward the restroom. Seeing the man's wobbly, stumbling gait, Chen Yong volunteered to help him to the restroom.

"Little Luo, you’re being a bit too enthusiastic," Liu Haisen said, with a hint of sarcasm directed at Luo Hao.

Luo Hao rubbed his head and gave a bitter smile. The unreliable system had given him an unreliable mission, and he didn't want to do this either.

"Teacher Liu, later you can show me the ultrasound room. Your equipment here should be better than ours at the Mining General Hospital."

"I wouldn't dare say that," Liu Haisen laughed. "20 to 30 years ago, there were two hospitals in the province with the best equipment." He paused, building suspense. "To the east, there was your Mining General Hospital, and to the west, the Oil General Hospital, affiliated with the oil company. One parent company sold coal, the other oil—they were truly rich. The equipment in your two hospitals was definitely high-end. According to the old doctors, when your patients brought their films to the provincial capital for treatment, they didn't even need to redo the tests. That wasn't the case for other places."

"As for now, the First Hospital just has more machines, but the quality isn't necessarily better than yours at the Mining General Hospital. Look at your DSA machine; you had it early on. If I recall correctly, it was the third one in the province."

The two chatted while waiting for Chen Yong to come out, then continued their tour of the First Hospital. Liu Haisen was full of confidence about Luo Hao coming to study here. With Luo Hao working under him, his workload would decrease by an order of magnitude. Even though the young man was sometimes unreliable—like now—he was mostly quite capable. Liu Haisen gave Luo Hao a positive evaluation, chalking it up to "youthful spirit."

"Luo Hao!" Chen Yong’s shout came from the restroom.

*Uh...*

In an instant, Luo Hao’s enhanced mental power told his subconscious that something had happened. Luo Hao trotted to the restroom. Chen Yong was supporting the man, and as Luo Hao entered, he asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Blood in the stool."

"!!!"

Luo Hao leaned in for a look. There was diarrheal waste in the urinal, mixed with a dark red color.

*Damn it!*

Luo Hao realized that perhaps Chen Yong’s "metaphysics" had some merit after all. The sophomore student who looked fine and had only been drunk a week ago really did have a problem.

"What’s going on?" Liu Haisen arrived a little late.

"Teacher Liu, the patient has hematochezia. Let's do an echocardiogram," Luo Hao said firmly.

"..."

Liu Haisen was exasperated. Luo Hao was usually quite reliable, but what did hematochezia have to do with an echocardiogram?! Had he never dealt with emergency patients before, and was now panicking at the sight of blood? That couldn't be right; he’d heard from the "Boss" that Luo Hao’s surgical skills were excellent. Could a surgeon be scared by a dozen milliliters of blood from a patient?

While Liu Haisen was still pondering, Luo Hao and Chen Yong were already helping the patient out of the restroom.

"Don't flush! I'll come back to take a sample," Luo Hao told the others in the restroom before leaving.

Liu Haisen didn't have time to think; he followed Luo Hao into the emergency resuscitation room. The emergency nurse knew Liu Haisen, and upon hearing about the hematochezia, immediately put the patient on an emergency bed and hooked him up to an ECG monitor. His blood pressure was stable, his heart rate was decent, and the patient didn't seem to be in major trouble.

"Teacher Liu, do you have a bedside echocardiogram?" Luo Hao, seeing the patient's vitals were stable, felt a little relieved and leaned in to whisper to Liu Haisen.

"Little Luo, why do you insist on doing an echocardiogram for this patient?" Liu Haisen didn't understand. "Let me ask you, how should hematochezia be diagnosed and then treated?"

Luo Hao was helpless. He took a deep look at the AI diagnostic assistant's prompt—which explicitly stated to do an echocardiogram—and after confirming it was correct, his confidence solidified. But confidence was one thing; he didn't know how to explain it to Liu Haisen. Why? He didn't know why either.

"Teacher Liu, there's no time to explain." Luo Hao could only "perform" a sense of certainty, using a sharp, urgent tone that implied that if the patient didn't get an echocardiogram, he would drop dead the next second.

Liu Haisen was startled. Luo Hao’s tone and expression were common in clinical settings; experienced doctors would have similar reactions when facing critical patients. He subconsciously nodded. "We have a portable one. I'll make a call."

Liu Haisen immediately notified the on-duty doctor to bring the machine over. But after hanging up, he was speechless. What was wrong with him? How could he believe such an absurd request from Luo Hao! Liu Haisen felt as if he had been played by Luo Hao. Perhaps Luo Hao was unintentional, but Liu Haisen was still very unhappy. He went back to Luo Hao and whispered, "Little Luo, your request is a bit excessive. An echocardiogram costs hundreds of yuan; is it something you just do on a whim? You're so reckless. If people find out and post it online, you'll earn the reputation of a cold-hearted doctor."

"..." Luo Hao pursed his lips and remained silent.

Liu Haisen felt as if he were looking at his younger self. "Little Luo, why on earth do you want to do an echocardiogram on the patient?"

Luo Hao’s gaze was fixed on the ECG monitor. The nurse had first attached the blood pressure cuff, then the pulse oximeter clip, and while Liu Haisen was making the call, she had applied the electrodes. Now, the screen showed the patient's ECG. It was visibly chaotic. Liu Haisen couldn't read it perfectly, but he could tell something was wrong. His previous doubts instantly vanished.

"This..."

"Sinus tachycardia with electrical alternans; considering pericardial effusion," Luo Hao answered.

"!!!"

Liu Haisen was awestruck. He didn't understand why a young man who had alcohol poisoning a week ago would suddenly have pericardial effusion, but that wasn't important.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get the sample." Luo Hao turned to leave.

"You watch the patient, I'll go," Chen Yong volunteered, finding the nurse to get PVC gloves and a sample container.

With Chen Yong doing the dirty work, Luo Hao didn't compete. Soon, the bedside echocardiogram machine was pushed over. Liu Haisen didn't even change his clothes; he started the ultrasound right away. As soon as the probe touched the patient, the screen displayed images even more severe than he had anticipated. The images confirmed the presence of a large amount of effusion and evidence of right heart failure, supporting the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade.

!!!

Liu Haisen wasn't surprised; he calmly described the images objectively while the ultrasound doctor quickly recorded them. This scene stunned the emergency surgeon who had just returned. He remembered the patient who had been complaining of stomach pain. He seemed fine a moment ago—how did he end up like this in the time it took to send a trauma patient to the ward?!

Abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and even hematochezia weren't usually immediate life-threatening issues; there was usually plenty of time for diagnosis and treatment. But cardiac tamponade was different—this was a killer!

"Transfer him to the Cardiovascular Department; prepare for a pericardiocentesis," Liu Haisen said, wiping the probe clean, hanging it back on the machine, then tossing a wad of tissues onto the patient and walking away.