The old man's body suddenly shook as he looked up at Ning Fan, his face full of disbelief.
The onlookers marveled, feeling that Ning Fan had recognized the old man's illness at a glance, a very rare feat.
However, Tang Xinyuan sneered and interjected, "As everyone knows, most people with a limp suffer from incomplete bone healing and abnormal muscle connections, making rainy days unbearably painful. That's nothing special."
Hearing this, the old man slowly nodded and then continued to look at Ning Fan.
"That point is indeed true, but, in my opinion, Grandpa, your leg injury is not so ordinary," Ning Fan said meaningfully.
At this remark, Tang Xinyuan was also puzzled.
A limp is generally caused by fractures and other similar conditions, aside from some lingering effects of old injuries.
Could there be some unknown cause beyond these common reasons?
Turning to the old man, his expression became even more peculiar as he nodded at Ning Fan, "Although I hardly believe you can discern what caused my leg injury, go on."
"Alright, I guessed your identity because of this as well," Ning Fan stupefied him by saying, "Your leg injury was solely caused by a bullet wound on the battlefield back in the day, right?"
He just looked at the old man, confident, with his eyes slightly squinted and a smile on his face.
The old man's eyes suddenly widened in astonishment as he looked up at Ning Fan, but his first reaction was to frown in confusion, asking, "Who exactly are you?"
"I am just a doctor," Ning Fan shrugged and said.
Tang Xinyuan listened on the side, somewhat amused, thinking that diagnosing some rare diseases was plausible, but discerning an old gunshot wound seemed far too fantastical.
In fact, to Tang Xinyuan, that seemed absolutely impossible.
Just as he was about to scoff at Ning Fan, Tang Xinyuan saw the old man's serious expression, which gave him a start, asking, "Elder, is what he said true?"
"It's true," the old man took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, his expression complex as he said, "Well, this matter was not even known by my family afterwards. It happened twenty years ago; it's been so long I had forgotten what exactly was wrong with my leg."
Tang Xinyuan's face changed slightly, and the surrounding crowd sighed.
Being able to discern an injury from twenty years ago was nothing short of a miracle!
But how did he manage that?
The old man had not stripped or given any valuable clues, could Ning Fan really divine past events?
"I never thought that someone so young could have such precise medical skills and insight; truly surprising, very good indeed." The elder nodded seriously at Ning Fan, repeating his praise.
Ning Fan clasped his hands in return and smiled, "The injury from the battlefield is like a combat medal. You are an old hero. It's my honor to be of help to you."
"Whatever," Tang Xinyuan chuckled, "So you figured it out, what of it? Don't forget our earlier agreement. We said that it's not only about diagnosing illnesses but also curing them. How will you treat this leg injury?"
An injury from twenty years ago, over twenty years, the body has fully adapted to the pain, meaning the entire leg has grown deformed. How could it possibly be healed in a short time?
If things were to be normalized, it was essential to realign them. Plus, given the old man's age and slow metabolism, this correction would certainly be a long and painful process.
"If I say I can do it, I naturally can. Grandfather, your leg injury, I can treat it! If I cannot, I am willing to cripple one of my own legs as an apology!" Ning Fan glanced at Tang Xinyuan and spoke to the old man again.
During his speech, the strong confidence emanating from Ning Fan's expression made the old man's heart involuntarily shiver.
It had been a long time since he had seen such a gaze—fearless, immensely confident, a domineering air that seemed to regard the heavens and earth as inferior!
Tang Xinyuan's face couldn't help but slightly change; Ning Fan's words were perhaps too harsh?
He couldn't help but feel puzzled, what exactly was Ning Fan planning to do?
Was he truly going to realign it? That would take too long, their competition didn't allow Ning Fan so much time.
The old man nodded deeply, understanding, "I know what you mean, the hospital has said the same, but alas, at my age, I'm not willing to go through such trouble, forget it."
"Grandfather, don't worry, it won't take much time, just a few minutes," Ning Fan chuckled as he spoke.
Having said that, Ning Fan pulled several silver needles from his pocket.
The old man stared in astonishment at Ning Fan's actions, puzzled, "You're not joking, are you?"
Tang Xinyuan's eyes widened as well, thinking, if this isn't joking, then what is?
A twenty-year-old chronic ailment, it wasn't something that could be cured just like that, was it?
But Ning Fan was all smiles and did not speak; he continued to arrange his silver needles and then approached the old man, asking, "Would you be willing to let me try?"
"This...I'm just an old bag of bones now, trying won't hurt, but your method..." the old man still didn't believe Ning Fan.
Despite Ning Fan's displayed overpowering confidence which somewhat moved the elder, how could it be possible to heal his twenty-year-old ailment in just minutes?
Tang Xinyuan burst into loud laughter beside them.
He was good-looking and normally maintained a lofty young master demeanor; yet here he was, ignoring his own image, bent over laughing.
When he lifted his head to look at Ning Fan again, his expression cooled somewhat.
His disdainful gaze was clear and unmasked, "Ning Fan, when I called you Divine Doctor before, I was lifting you up. Don't tell me you really think you are a Divine Doctor? You can heal this old man's twenty-year leg injury? This competition, I think, is nothing, I really overestimated you."
In Tang Xinyuan's view, Ning Fan was simply fooling around.
Ning Fan casually glanced at Tang Xinyuan and casually said, "Indeed, in the eyes of a novice like you, sophisticated medical techniques are often incomprehensible."
"Arrogant!" Tang Xinyuan suddenly roared, seemingly angered by Ning Fan's words, "Since you still think your medical technique is superior, fine, let's make it interesting. If you lose, from today onward, you will never be allowed to enter the medical profession, how about that?"
On this sweltering day, the old man was wearing shorts. Ning Fan had just pulled up the old man's shorts a little when he heard Tang Xinyuan's words.
Without looking up, he asked indifferently, "And if I win?"