6. Chapter 6 - Three Rounds KO

Chapter 6 - Three-Round KO

Just one look into those cold, shattered gold serpent eyes, and his psychological defenses collapsed completely. Yao Bing let out a heart-wrenching scream, lunging at the door and scrambling out in a panic.

Strangely, the Yao family bodyguards waiting outside weren't surprised at all. Instead, they blocked their young master as he wailed and howled, their expressions carrying an indescribable oddness.

One of the bodyguards even glanced into the consultation room. Aside from the equipment with electrode patches torn askew, there was only Li Bai inside—nowhere near the giant snake their young master was raving about.

Great Demon Li shrugged innocently. There was a flood dragon in the room, not a snake. No way he was getting framed like this. Just because the guy had money didn't mean he could pull a stunt like that.

"A huge green snake, so thick, so big, right in the room! Quick, go kill it! Call the army, bring cannons, use missiles to blow it up!"

Still shaken, Yao Bing gestured frantically at his bodyguards and the police.

He tried to flee, but they held him tight, leaving him screaming and crying hysterically.

At the end of the hallway, the reporters who'd been held back snapped photos and filmed with their phones and small DV cameras, desperate not to miss such explosive news: a rich second-generation murderer faking insanity to escape legal judgment.

Though many had predicted this possibility, no one expected him to actually go through with it!

The police wore strange expressions. This Yao family heir was a total drama queen, acting like a lunatic to fake mental illness and dodge responsibility, and he was pulling it off so convincingly.

This was the city center, with no mountains or forests for twenty li in any direction. Forget whether there was even a snake—how it could have gotten into Seventh People's Hospital was baffling enough. A snake with a waist that thick couldn't even squeeze through the consultation room door. Not even the movie Anaconda was that over-the-top.

To be safe, a few cops grabbed brooms and mops, meticulously turning Li Bai's consultation room upside down. Not a single trace of that so-called huge green snake—not even an earthworm.

"Doctor Li, the suspect just said there was a giant snake in the room. Did you see it?"

Cadre Liu from the Procuratorate asked Li Bai, who'd been in the same room as Yao Bing, as a routine matter. He knew it was ridiculous, but the post-incident report still needed clarity.

"How could there be a snake?"

If Cadre Liu had asked about a flood dragon, Li Bai would've confessed openly to the government.

"This kid sure knows how to put on an act."

Cadre Liu snorted. Same old tricks.

The Yao family, relying on their social contributions and connections with many government departments, had caused no end of trouble for the judicial system. Dealing with all the personal favors and entanglements had worn out many leaders.

Just like this time—clearly trying to exploit a legal loophole.

"Shall we continue?"

Li Bai blinked.

Cadre Liu glanced at Yao Bing, still "acting," then nodded at Li Bai.

Round two, and Li Bai hadn't even made a move before his opponent was down.

"Continue! Get a few men to send him back in."

Yao Bing refused. The room had a snake that huge, that thick. He'd rather scrub his ass clean and rot in prison than end up in a snake's belly.

"Young master, there's no snake in there. We checked. Really, no snake."

The Yao family bodyguards coaxed him as they shoved their young master back into the consultation room, even helping the police cuff him to the chair.

"No! Let me out! Help!"

Young Master Yao wailed heart-wrenchingly, but no one paid him any mind.

"Doctor Li, sorry for the trouble!"

The Yao Family Head Bodyguard even nodded at Li Bai before closing the door again.

The soft click of the lock sent Yao Bing into a complete breakdown. Earlier, it had been the Azure Flood Dragon's true form that scared him; now, he was scaring himself.

After that first scare, the demoness not showing up was even more terrifying than if she had. No one knew when she might pop out and scare him to death—or swallow him whole.

Li Bai sniffed, catching a whiff of urine. He looked at Yao Bing, who was dripping water from his chair. The guy had actually pissed himself.

No choice. Time to pull out the Unique Skill.

He took a thin silver chain from the drawer, with a silver ring at one end, and dangled it in front of Yao Bing's eyes. His voice seemed to take on a hypnotic quality, drawing the man's mind in uncontrollably.

This little prop was just an entry point to breach the psychological defenses through the eyes. A true hypnosis master could break into a subject's mind with just a snap of the fingers, a single syllable, or even a glance.

"You're at home, lying in bed, dreaming..."

Before he'd finished three sentences, Yao Bing's eyes went glassy.

This Unique Skill didn't come from any of his school mentors. Li Bai had picked it up while rotating through the Sleep Disorders Department, learning it directly from Dean Zhou.

Hypnosis worked wonders for chronic insomnia. Guiding a patient into two hours of deep sleep could fully relax someone exhausted to the bone, greatly easing or even curing their condition.

Half an hour later, a calmed Yao Bing pushed the door open, reeking of urine. He no longer screamed or raved, walking out quietly as if nothing had happened, and was taken away by the police without a fuss.

The rich second-generation murder case had stirred up quite a commotion. No matter how much money the Yao family had, they couldn't sweep it under the rug silently.

If the appraisal report from Seventh People's Hospital contradicted the Public Security Bureau's judicial appraisal, a fourth-party evaluation and expert joint assessment might be triggered, until a fair result satisfied all doubters.

The process and outcome didn't really matter. What mattered was silencing every questioning voice.

Whether Yao Bing had been sick before walking in, Li Bai didn't know.

But after walking out that door, from Li Bai's professional perspective, he definitely wasn't normal anymore.

Even a True Realm of the Dao expert, caught off guard by a single glance from the Qingyao Demoness, wouldn't come out unscathed. The Demon Race's innate divine ability, the Spiritual Eye Illusion, was no joke.

Just a single glance, and an ordinary mortal still couldn't withstand it.

Li Bai didn't care at all about Yao Bing's miserable fate—harm set, harm get. Justice never misses, it merely borrowed the Demoness's hand.

Third round, Young Master Yao threw in the towel on the spot. Li Bai, who hadn't moved an inch, looked around blankly. Anyone else?

Not a single one worth fighting!

"Xiao Li, what's the appraisal result?"

The corridor lockdown was lifted, and Chen Sheng from the next consultation room slipped into Li Bai's.

Li Bai, tidying up his diagnostic equipment, found the guy acting a bit sneaky, so he kept his guard up and joked, "Take a guess?"

The chair nearby reeked of stale urine, unusable for a while now.

"..."

Chen Sheng was caught off guard, his face frozen, but he quickly snapped out of it, his mouth twitching involuntarily. He could clearly tell Li Bai was messing with him.

Unwilling to give up, Chen Sheng forced a smile and said, "You sure know how to joke. Sick is sick, not sick is not sick. Just tell me—it won't kill anyone."

"How do you know it won't kill anyone?"

Li Bai had already confirmed the guy was up to no good.

The two had always had an underlying rivalry, quietly competing behind the scenes. Now, with the Attending Physician quota on the line, they should have had nothing but curt exchanges. Why would he have the patience to joke around?

Just as he'd guessed, the guy was probably after something else.

"How could it be?"

Chen Sheng was startled. Normally, he'd have turned and walked away, but now he had to force himself to stay patient, even knowing Li Bai might be deliberately toying with him.

"A rich man's secrets—the more you know, the faster you die."

Li Bai deliberately changed the subject.

From what he knew of Chen Sheng, the guy wasn't particularly deep. Since he wanted to play games, why not trade barbs and see who cracked first?

In other words, if Chen Sheng really had any depth, he wouldn't be butting heads over something this trivial.

Chen Sheng was fuming inside—Li Bai was definitely messing with him. He dropped all pretense and asked bluntly, "How much of a kickback did you take?"

Li Bai spread his hands and shrugged. "How could I take a kickback?"

The other side had shown his hand.

In a casual tone, half-joking and half-serious, Chen Sheng said, "I was the one who handed you this gig. If there's a payoff, you can't hog it all."

"Senior Chen, listen to yourself. This is a hot potato. If there were any benefit, why would it land on me?"

Li Bai sneered at the guy's shamelessness. Trouble? Dodge it. Profit? Grab it. Have you no shame?

Chen Sheng had only joined half a year before Li Bai, but he loved acting like a veteran.

Li Bai's "Senior Chen" made the guy's face flush despite himself. What kind of senior was he? Even the little nurses outside probably had more seniority than Chen Sheng.

Though he'd been unfairly saddled with the job—spending the whole afternoon handling Young Master Yao's psychological evaluation—once the work was done, he could leave early. Li Bai had no interest in dealing with this annoying pest. He called over a cleaner to take the urine-soaked chair for washing.

Seeing Li Bai ignore him and pack up to leave on his own, Chen Sheng was furious. He glared at Li Bai's retreating back and muttered darkly to himself, "Doctor Li, you'd better watch yourself these next few days getting off work. Those online mobs might come after you."

At the end of the day, Chen Sheng wasn't a man of deep schemes, and Li Bai had never taken him seriously.

"Thanks for the concern!"

Li Bai didn't look back, just waved a hand casually, and soon disappeared down the stairwell.

Chen Sheng shuddered, his hair standing on end, as if someone had caught him by the weak spot.

They were a good dozen paces apart, and he'd lowered his voice—how had Li Bai still heard him? Did the guy have superhuman hearing?

His face cycling through shades of pale and red, Chen Sheng stood there for a moment, then stormed back to his consultation room and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Not long after, news spread online again: a doctor surnamed Li at Seventh People's Hospital had taken bribes to issue a psychiatric diagnosis for the rich second generation murderer Yao Bing.

A storm finally erupted online, unstoppable.