"Incoming male, collapsed on the street," the radio over the ER signaled the response team to prepare. "42, no prior known medical history and vitals are abnormal. Unknown cause, but likely overdose due to his bluish fingernails."

Fan Geng arrived first and assisted Doctor Han in transferring the patient from the gurney to the bed. Just as the patient laid down, the bedside monitoring raged several loud beeping sound. At the same moment, An Luchang arrived to pass Doctor Han the defibrillator as though he had anticipated the patient to crash.

"The first responder was there just in time, but we aren't sure why his heart isn't stable," said the technician as he watched Doctor Han’s attempt to stabilize the patient.

Doctor Han, who was drenched in sweat, continued with the defibrillator, but still no response. He signaled Fan Geng to perform CPR, who began rhythmically plunging his body over his palm  and onto  the man's chest. There was a slight sound of the rib fracturing, but no response from the patient.

The line flattened and a sharp beep vibrated through the room. The sound frightened Fan Geng for a moment, but was nudged aside. An Luchang quickly moved on top of the patient, not giving up hope; they had already lost a few patients already. He was hoping for a different response.

Another ten minutes passed by, but non respond. Everyone was sweating, but silent.

"Dr. An, it's enough," Doctor Han made the decision to call the time of death.

"Dammit!" An Luchang swore under his breath and left the ER in a foul mood.

"I've never seen Dr. An like this before," the other residents whispered. "He's usually so poised even after a patient's death."

"It's already the third case in two weeks of a patient coming in and dying while being admitted,” another stated sadly. “If Dr. Li was here, it wouldn't have happened."

"Ah, you're right, it's very rare to have major complications when Dr. Li is here."

"You bitches shut up!" Fan Geng removed his eye covering and glared at the residents from his sofa. "No one can save patients from cardiac arrest if there's no cure."

"No cure?"

"Don't you guys read the toxicology report for all the patients? There are unknown substances discovered in all of them."

"What? Are you suggesting that they were poisoned?"

“It could be, but more likely a new experimental drug,” Fang Geng guessed.

Fan Geng wasn't the only one who was analyzing the toxicology report. Chief Gao met with Chief Lim and Zhang to review whether there was a need to report their findings. Cardiac arrest was a common symptom of overdose, but the problem was, there wasn’t any high level of opioid or heroin detected in the report. The chiefs had even tested common type of poison, but none was found. 

Toxicology report was useful only when the scope was defined. If they didn’t know what to look for, it was easy to miss. One blood test may not be able to detect every single type of substance in the blood. A blood test checked for the basic component of blood, basic metabolic panel, and complete metabolic panel. It provided a snapshot of what was in the blood, but it could not tell everything that was in it. Unless someone knew what they were looking for, blood results could come back normal.

"How certain are we that there is foul play?" Asked Chief Zhang. "Do we know what type of drug was used?"

"We are not sure," said Chief Gao. "We only have the report from the most recent case. The other two were cremated, so we aren't even sure."

"Then why do you think it may be connected?" Asked Chief Zhang.

"An Luchang thought the victims may all had similar habits," said Chief Gao.

"Oh? Meaning?"

"They had a history of unexplained rashes," said Chief Lim. "It's likely sexually transmitted. So he assumed they have a history of soliciting prostitutes."

"Hmm… Prostitutes and drugs often go hand in hand. An unknown drug on the street could be dangeorus. If there is something going on, we should report it to the police."

The Chiefs passed the information to the authorities. Yet, after three weeks, there were no further leads. An Luchang he didn't want to see another victim die under his care.

"Hey, you have a moment?" Asked An Luchang after Li Yun finished his last surgery for the day.

"Hey, what's up?" Li Yun had sensed that An Luchang had been bottling up something during their surgery.

"There is this unusual case going on," An Luchang responded.

"Oh?" Li Yun asked, partially already  aware of what was going on. Unfortunately, he wasn’t prepared to tackle the issues.

“When the first patient came in, their pulse felt very unusual,” An Luchang explained the situation. “Like a drug or poison, but the toxicology report came back negative.”

Li Yun was impressed that An Luchang was starting to recognize external drugs and poison from reading the pulse, "Do you have blood samples?"

“I have the blood samples from the first patient, but we also have kept the body from the latest victim,” An Luchang had known Li Yun long enough to know that if there was anyone that could detect something odd in the blood, it would be Li Yun.

"No one came to take the body, but we have been keeping the body in the morgue for a few days." An Luchang escorted Li Yun to the adjacent building where the morgue was located.

The last time Li Yun was in the morgue, it was to test Qivi on the dead bodies. As they entered the chilled room, An Luchang pulled open the drawer. Li Yun moved close and brushed the body’s exposed feet with the back of his fingertips.

Li Yun curiously examined the CV system of the victim. There was certainly something odd in the blood. No one would recognize the substance, but Li Yun had encountered it once before. 

"It's a modified opiate from Shudi's underground gang," Li Yun thought. He had seen the substance in  Qi Sho friend’s, Bing Tou, blood. The victim had a higher dosage that was likely caused by an injection. 

Li Yun switched his focus to the patient's dantian. The particular male had very little Jing, but it was difficult to tell whether it was his state of death or if it was like this before his death.

 "Luchang, you have already notified the police?" Li Yun asked.

"Chief Zhang already notified them, but they haven't been able to find anything,” An Luchang replied. 

"And they won't be able to solve this one,” Li Yun said. Bu Tao had warned him about a likely leak in  the Qinbei Police Department. “Take my advice and document everything internally."

An Luchang raised his eyebrow, "You know something?"

"But not enough to solve this problem either. Have you notice anything odd lately downtown?"

An Luchang hadn't noticed anything strange, but after Li Yun’s question, he had to reconsider.

“There have been a lot of stabbings lately,” An Luchang commented. “As well as more gang activities.”

"Don't go out late," Li Yun warned, although most residents stayed in the hospital, didn’t wouldn’t hurt to warn him.