The Legendary Man Chapter 738-Outside the ward, Jonathan summoned Dorian’s doctor, who was specially transferred over from the Special Medical Team of Asura’s Office. He was the best doctor they had aside for Jason.
“Mr. Wallace, what’s wrong with Dorian’s wounds?” Jonathan asked the old man in his sixties while lighting up a cigarette for him.
Puffing out smoke, Aiden Wallace gave Jonathan’s shoulders a gentle pat.
“Mr. Goldstein, Dorian’s wounds are a handful,” Aiden replied as he threw Dorian a worried glance.
“When a poison prevents a wound from healing, we would usually treat it with grafting surgery. Unfortunately, the treatment failed when I attempted it on Dorian.”
Jonathan nodded as he listened to Aiden.
“How much flesh have you grafted?”
“For the eight wounds… a total of five pounds?” Sighing, Aiden added, “If he weren’t a cultivator, he would have died from blood loss alone.”
Aiden gave Jonathan a realistic assessment.
If the wound refused to close, Dorian would have to carry them permanently.
Hence, in order to survive, Dorian had to use his spiritual energy to stop the blood loss subconsciously, even in his sleep.
That was the reason why he looked exhausted.
Blood would gush out in the event he fell into a deep sleep, which was a condition no one could endure.
On top of that, Dorian’s survival was only possible due to his hardened body. Any ordinary person would have died from mental torture alone.
When Jonathan saw that Aiden had almost finished his cigarette, he whipped out his lighter and lit the latter another one.
“Mr. Wallace, how long can Dorian keep this up?”
“Hmm…” Aiden fell into deep thought. “If we’re only talking about spiritual energy, it doesn’t take much just to stop the blood loss. What I’m concerned about is his state of mind.”
While speaking, Aiden pulled out a few pieces of wrinkled paper from his lab coat pocket.
“Mr. Goldstein, read through the notes on them.”
After unfolding the papers, Jonathan saw that they contained the records of Dorian’s daily habits.
October 24, 3:18 AM: Dorian grabbed the wound on his abdomen in his sleep, causing blood to ooze out of it.
October 24, 8:00 AM: Dorian only ate two-thirds of his usual portion for breakfast. He insisted on drinking wine…
The papers had documented all of Dorian’s behavior that was out of the ordinary.
The papers had documented all of Dorian’s behavior that was out of the ordinary.
It included everything from him tossing and turning in the middle of the night to standing exceptionally long in a single place.
His actions were so immaculately recorded that it was no different from a surveillance feed.
After going through the papers, Jonathan gave Aiden a puzzled look.
“What is this?”
“This is my team’s round-the-clock medical observation of Dorian over the last few days,” the grim-looking Aiden explained amidst a puff of smoke.
“As we’re unable to produce an antidote for the time being, we are preparing to battle his condition for the long haul. Just a few days ago, I saw Dorian stubbing out his cigarette with his fingers. From that moment on, I began to observe every action of his. That was when I noticed that he had entered a state of rage despite his desperate attempts to keep his emotions in check.”
Aiden’s words stunned Jonathan.
“State of rage? But he looks normal to me, Mr. Wallace.”
“That’s your perspective,” Aiden answered with a sigh.
“Even though he looks fine to the layman, he is in deep trouble through the eyes of a psychologist. Due to the inability of his wounds to heal and the long-term use of his mental strength to stop the blood loss with his spiritual energy, he hasn’t gotten any proper sleep for an entire month.”
The doctor continued, “During the sixteenth century, a renowned psychologist designed an experiment where he studied the effects of lack of sleep on a group of volunteers. The one who was tested upon the most fell into a state of derangement on the tenth day when he attempted to kill himself just to get some sleep. Even after he was treated and went back to his usual routine, he still needed psychological intervention for almost a year and a half before he could fully go back to normal. As for Dorian, he has reached the threshold of his sanity. What awaits him currently is a state of self-mutilation,” Aiden elaborated while tapping the ash off his cigarette.
“Mr. Goldstein, just think about it. Have you ever been driven mad by the fact that you couldn’t hit a mosquito buzzing around you in your sleep?”
Jonathan nodded at Aiden’s question.
“Imagine that frustration, but amplify it a hundred times for a duration of an entire month. Basically, that’s the mental state Dorian is in now.”
Despite the casual tone Aiden was speaking in, it sent a tingle across Jonathan’s scalp.
Having hundreds of mosquitoes flying around my ear, and yet, I can’t even hit a single one… I think I would have gone mad in a few hours, let alone an entire month.
“In that case, Dorian…”
“Based on the psychological evaluation I have given him, he only has a few months left at most. He will definitely start to mutilate himself and lose his temper over the most trivial of things. In the end, suicide would be his only avenue for relief.”
After hearing Aiden’s assessment, Jonathan suddenly felt as if the papers he was holding were burning his palms.
Some people are capable of enduring excruciating pain for years and even decades, but that’s under conditions where one can eat and sleep normally. Unfortunately, Dorian doesn’t have this luxury.
“Is there any way we can save him?” Jonathan inquired in a grave voice.
“There is,” Aiden responded in an equally grim tone. “We will either have to get our hands on the antidote or end his life when he can no longer endure it. That’s the biggest mercy we can grant him.”
“Is there no other way?”
Jonathan furrowed his brows, for there were only eight non-fatal wounds on Dorian’s body. There was no way he could accept watching Dorian dying from them.
“Actually, we can hook him up to an extracorporeal circulation machine to keep him alive. However, Dorian would rather die than let us do it.”
Aiden gently patted Jonathan on the shoulder.
“Mr. Goldstein, I’ll be candid with you. The only way to save Dorian is to retrieve the antidote, as there is nothing anyone in Asura’s Office can do to help him.”
Jonathan nodded again.
“I understand. I’ll be away for the next few days, so please take care of him while I’m gone.”
Nodding in agreement, Aiden added, “If you have a plan in mind, you had better hurry. This isn’t an ordinary wound, and there’s a limit to what I can do.”
