XH 196 - Honorable father can protect us all!

Noticing that Duan XiYing was following her, Xiao Hua quickly stopped her. "XiYing, please stay behind and keep an eye on the patients. If something dangerous happens, bring the doctors away, please!"

Duan XiYing frowned, naturally not pleased with Xiao Hua's request.

"If things get too much for you to handle, disregard everyone and run by yourself," Xiao Hua said firmly, her eyes flashed with determination.

Being with Duan XiYing for months, she had yet to witness her being back to the corner whenever the inner maids spar with each other. Even the strong and capable An Jing could never defeat Duan XiYing most of the time, ending with a draw.

Not only that, even Eunuch Lau Liu showed great respect to Duan XiYing and even called her 'lady'. Plus, the Third Prince seemed confident that she would be safe if Duan XiYing was with her.

That was why Xiao Hua was not very worried about letting Duan XiYing stay behind to keep an eye on the patients and the doctor's safety.

"If it's as dangerous as Xiao Hua says, XiYing won't leave Xiao Hua," Duan XiYing rebuke sternly, the sharp glint in her eyes finally showed that she was older than she appears.

"I just need to talk to Doctor Bai for a while and will return quickly. Da Bei will be with me so I will be fine!" Xiao Hua's eyes shifted to Hao Li, who happened to turn around and saw her. "XiYing, please. I'm sorry for troubling you, but it's urgent for me to speak with Doctor Bai and Hao Li is looking at me right now!"

"Da Bei," Duan XiYing called and Da Bei landed on the ground before Xiao Hua with a soft thud. "Protect Xiao Hua." If Xiao Hua's fear had not been replaced with determination, she would never agree to this.

Da Bei nodded seriously and Xiao Hua smiled in relief. "Thank you, XiYing! And beware of bugs inside the patients' body!"

Duan XiYing nodded, her eyes shined like a predator. So that's what frightened her little miss.

"Miss Bai! Where are you going?" Hao Li yelled when he saw Xiao Hua running away.

"Xiao Hua wants to talk to Doctor Bai. Xiao Hua will be back soon," Duan XiYing explained and without waiting for Hao Li's reply, she went to examine a patient, looking for the bugs that Xiao Hua had mentioned. Her fingernails tapping onto each other, ready to stab any bugs if they crawled out of the bodies.

Left alone with no further explanation, Hao Li sighed and decided to let Xiao Hua off. That girl must have gotten scared and went to cry for her father.

Doctor Shen gazed at Doctor Bai alike to a fanboy meeting his idol. Even amidst the gloomy, moist, and dark environment, Doctor Bai was like a glowing light!

"You found the cure?" The head warden asked with joy lit in his eyes. His eyes darted between the dead guard and Doctor Bai. The dead guard originally has vivid green skin but after Doctor Bai applied the cure, the green color slowly disappeared!

Since the Gu Dan spy's body was exploded into small pieces, it would be hard for Doctor Bai to conduct an investigation on it. With no other choice, they allowed the dead guard to be tested.

The head warden was a tough man with a steel heart, unsympathetic to the prisoners and well known as the devil towards the prisoners. In contrast, he genuinely cared for his own men working under him. He had gone personally to inform the dead guard's family of his demise and asked for their understanding to allow his body to be examined.

They do not need the family's permission since this was concerned with the kingdom's safety but fortunately, the deceased's family allowed it, with their lost fueling their hatred towards the Gu Dan country! However, they refused to let their son's body be cut open so Doctor Bai can only do brief experimentation.

"The vaccine works on him, but we still need to test it on a living patient," Doctor Bai said. He also needs to observe this body to see if there was any changes later.

"We have plenty of testers outside," the head warden said darkly, referring to the prisoners. "However, as protocol, we will have to offer our poisoned guards to be the first tester."

Even if the prisoners were sentenced to be guilty of a crime, that does not mean they could be experimented on without the head warden getting into trouble.

Doctor Bai stood up and straighten his back. "Then let us hurry."

Just as they reach the entrance, they saw a flustered Xiao Hua running down the stairs. She had hitched up her skirt to prevent tripping and fortunately for her, the four males that get to witness this sight were either her adopted father or married with beautiful wives, paying no interest towards her. She had ditched her dirtied gloves and mask on the way but did not stop to don clean ones.

"Is something the matter, Xiao Hua?" Doctor Bai stepped forward, his eyes scanning her body for any sign of injuries. There was none and he could only notice her anxiousness.

"Doctor Bai, this lady is?" Lord Xiang inquired. Since Minister Qin was in the audience with the Emperor, as his assistant, he was left to deal with the problem until he returns.

"This is my daughter, Bai Hua. I brought her here to be a temporary assistant."

Xiao Hua hastily gave the other three males a brief salute. "Pardon my rudeness, but I need to speak with my father urgently."

It was the plain distress and fear written all over her face that the other three males did not stop her request.

Xiao Hua pulled Doctor Bai from the group and whispered quickly. "I found something disturbing inside the patient. I think they are bugs, a parasite living inside a human body."

"Heavens!" Doctor Shen exclaimed in shock.

Xiao Hua's attempt to only let Doctor Bai know failed when they were in a dead silent place with others having sharp ears.

"Do you know what you are saying?" The head warden bellowed angrily. Their situation was already grave enough, and now this girl decided to exaggerate things that will create more chaos? He had not slept for a day and does not even have the chance to rest in between, resulting in his short temper.

Xiao Hua took a step back from the head warden's anger and Da Bei stepped between them, doing his best to hide Xiao Hua from the head warden's death glare.

Doctor Bai's tall frame managed to hide Xiao Hua behind him. "Head Warden, I will need to do an autopsy on the guard's body. Xiao Hua might not have knowledge in medicine, but her observation skills are remarkable."

"Doctor Bai, please do not let personal feelings cloud your judgment," the head warden advised kindly. "I would never dare to discourage a father from boasting his daughter's talents, but right now we do not have the time or luxury to entertain this. Please excuse me for being offensive."

With Doctor Bai's wide back as her shelter, Xiao Hua could bravely justify for herself without getting pressured by the scary warden.

Like a bullet train, she speaks quickly before anyone could stop her. "I accidentally touched something that crawls under a prisoner's skin. I made sure to confirm what I've touched, and found a large number of them right at the location of the patient's heart. I dare not cut open a patient's chest to confirm what I've felt. I may be new to this field, but a person with common sense would know how a beating heart would feel like under your palm, and sir, that does not feel like a beating heart, but a group of bugs eagerly swarming around their food!"

Xiao Hua's anxious speech that was mixed with challenge earned a very dangerous glare from the head warden, but she missed it thanks to the big wall between them. She knew she was being rude, but her patience was eaten away by fear and anxiety. Her skin itches at the thought of what could have happened if they continue to delay dealing with the bugs! Duan XiYing was also there, right beside the danger!

"Your imagination is rather vivid! One would assume you've gotten these ideas from novels!"

Xiao Hua: Not novels, but blockbuster movies.

Even the mild-tempered Lord Xiang was offended by Xiao Hua's words. "Miss Bai, if you believe in the existence of bugs inside the patient, you could have told Doctor Hao Li about it. He may be young, but he is a knowledgeable doctor and would be helpful in investigating this matter."

"This sir is reasonable and wise, Xiao Hua agrees with your word."

Lord Xiang was obviously taken aback when Xiao Hua did not take his words negatively. He was momentarily loss of words and his displeasure have more than a quarter abated, but that was not the case for the fierce warden.

"Then why did you not do it? Did you fear that Doctor Hao Li would not agree with your words?"

"Not at all. Doctor Hao Li will believe it once he saw it. But I decide to seek my honorable father because he is the strongest man here. If anything bad happens, my honorable father can protect us all!"

Doctor Bai's calming smile nearly slipped upon hearing that. If no one knew the truth, they would truly believe Xiao Hua worships Doctor Bai! How could he not know his daughter was bootlicking and boasting him just to get herself out of trouble?

"We don't know about these bugs, what they look like, how dangerous they are, and if they can enter into another person's body. If I accidentally trigger them, we will be in danger," Xiao Hua continued seriously, her head poked out from her hiding place to look at the head warden to express the severity of the situation.

"While they are unaware, we need someone strong with deep knowledge of the human body to analyze our new enemy. Doctor Bai is exactly the person suitable for this task!"

The head warden's heart wavered but Lord Xiang was already fully on Xiao Hua's boat.

"For now, we will keep this information from the others until Doctor Bai discovers more information about Miss Bai's suspicion," Lord Xiang said and glanced sideways at the head warden.

The head warden's scary glare did not lessen but his words showed that he surrendered. "I will have my men keep an eye on the patients. Doctor Bai, please examine the body of my man thoroughly."

Doctor Bai laughed lightly and pointed at the direction of the corpse. "Doctor Shen is already starting."

"Oh! Miss Bai is right! The organs are completely eaten up!" Doctor Shen, without them knowing, had cut open the dead guard's corpse's torso to find the truth of Xiao Hua's words.

Right beside Doctor Shen was Da Bei, who was holding onto a tube filled with tea, his pose clearly displayed his intention to pour the content into the open torso. He was clearly shocked by Doctor Shen's sudden shout and his hand that was holding onto the tube trembled. A small amount of tea spilled into the dead corpse's open torso.

That was how a disaster was triggered before they could even prepare themselves!