"Going home could be dangerous; you should think it through carefully."

"I've thought it through."

"Okay, then sign the do-not-treat consent form."

Zhao Wensong signed the consent form and forcibly took Li Hongying home, hoping that Li Hongying could recover on her own like Tong Jianxin. However, on the third day after they were discharged from the hospital, Li Hongying's condition not only did not improve, but became so severe that she went into shock.

Fearing that someone might die, Zhao Wensong dared not be careless and quickly asked someone to take Li Hongying to the county hospital with him.

After drugging Li Hongying, Lin Shanshan paid special attention to Li Hongying's situation.

She knew about this when Li Hongying was hospitalized. The medicine was indeed very potent this time. Li Hongying is currently in a coma and probably won't live for more than a few days.

After Li Hongying fell ill, she felt much more relaxed and stopped experiencing those hallucinations. Once Li Hongying was completely laid to rest, she could finally relax.

County Hospital

The head of internal medicine frowned deeply as he looked at Li Hongying, who had been brought in again and was already unconscious.

What a troublesome patient!

They conducted another comprehensive examination on Li Hongying, but still found no damage to her organs. In addition, given the backwardness of medical equipment at that time, they were unable to find the cause of her illness.

Although she and Tong Jianxin had similar initial symptoms, their conditions differed greatly in the later stages of their illnesses.

Two people from the same brigade have already contracted this strange disease. The head of internal medicine is worried that this is a new type of disease that they cannot handle and must report it to a higher-level hospital.

He immediately called the city hospital, and the doctors there also learned of the situation. Coincidentally, an internal medicine expert from the provincial hospital was coming to the city hospital the next day to diagnose and treat Li Hongying.

The next day, two specialists from the city hospital and an expert from the provincial hospital came to the county hospital.

Together, they examined Li Hongying, and through this examination, Professor Chen, an expert from the provincial hospital, reached a new conclusion.

Li Hongying wasn't sick; she was poisoned.

This poison was exactly the same as the one he had previously treated for a high-ranking official. Moreover, this poison was not found in the country; the official had been poisoned by a spy who insisted that there was no antidote.

He and several other experts in the country were unable to find a cure, and the official soon died.

Three years have passed. He preserved some organ tissue slices and bodily fluid samples from that cadre for research, but so far he has not been able to find a way to cure this poison.

The head of internal medicine told him about a similar case of educated youth last year, but that youth had long since recovered.

"I'm really cured!"

Professor Chen seemed to see a glimmer of hope. "First, we need to stabilize the patient's condition. I'll take some people to that brigade to see that educated youth. By the way, why was that educated youth poisoned, and why did a member of the same brigade get poisoned a second time? We need to find out all of this. There might be a spy hiding here. We need to find him as soon as possible."

But if the spy was lurking in the village, why would he kill these two insignificant people?

"Professor Chen, we need to report this to the police and ask them to assist in the investigation."

"Okay, report it to the police immediately."

Professor Chen didn't dare to delay. He diagnosed Li Hongying's illness in the morning and went to the Shengli Brigade in the afternoon.

Tong Jianxin was working hard digging peanuts in the field. Professor Chen saw him sweating profusely with a shovel, looking incredibly strong. It seemed that his recovery was going well.

But how was he able to recover on his own?

He and two other doctors who came to the Shengli Brigade went to the fields to ask Tong Jianxin about his illness last year.

Tong Jianxin said, "At that time, I felt unwell all over, which was worse than a common fever or cold. It was persistent and did not get better for a long time. However, the doctors could not find the root cause of the disease. I stayed in the hospital for a few days. I did not believe that my body was so weak, so I went home to rest. Unexpectedly, I got better on my own without going to see a doctor."

Professor Chen also couldn't understand why Tong Jianxin recovered on his own. When that cadre was poisoned, the process from the onset of the poisoning to his death was gradual, and it only got worse and worse, with no signs of improvement in between.

Did Tong Jianxin eat something to detoxify himself?

"Tong Zhiqing, I want to know, during your illness, did you take any herbal medicine or eat anything unusual?"

"No, I didn't take any herbs. I just ate my usual grains and a few apples. That's all."

Are you sure?

"I'm sure, I'm very sure, that's all. Oh, and later I drank some spring water from the mountains, and I gradually got better. Maybe it's because my immune system is strong enough."

"Mountain spring water?"

Professor Chen wondered, "Does the spring water here have a detoxifying effect?"

He must take it back and study it.

At the same time, the police also arrived.

Because this incident was likely caused by deliberate poisoning, Professor Chen had no choice but to tell Tong Jianxin the truth.

"Comrade, what if I told you that last year you weren't sick, but poisoned?"

"Poisoning?!"

Tong Jianxin was immediately astonished.

Professor Chen said, "Comrade Li who is currently in the hospital, as well as someone I treated before, all had the same symptoms as you in the early stages. Only you recovered on your own in the later stages. I still don't understand why you were able to recover. It may be due to the effect of the spring water here. I want to take some of it with me for research."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!