My name was Fan Daoyi, and I was lying in a hospital bed. There was good news and bad news.
The bad news was that the Origin Source I had earned in Guixu had all been used to pay for my wish. After all that hard work, I had come away with nothing but losses. The good news was that the authorities couldn't suppress the news of the incident in the college entrance exam Guixu, and panic was spreading through society.
Now I faced a question: should I open my eyes?
He Piaojian sat in the private hospital room, idly rummaging through a fruit basket. He picked up an apple and tossed it in his hand.
Just then, the doctor walked in.
Without thinking, He Piaojian tossed him the apple. The doctor caught it easily and sat down nearby. After taking a bite, he remarked, "These are gifts from the examinees' families, aren't they? You just helped yourself without asking?"
He Piaojian shrugged. "You're eating one too. Besides, there are so many fruit baskets. If he ate them all himself after waking up, who knows how many years and months it would take?"
A glance around showed fruit baskets on every surface that could hold them. They were piled with all kinds of fruit, and their fresh fragrance greeted anyone who entered.
"True. If the authorities hadn't stopped them, those families' gifts would probably have piled up all over the hospital instead of in one room." With that, the doctor ate his apple without a trace of guilt.
Slaying the final boss in a single day had cleared every replicated Guixu at once and saved many lives that would otherwise have been lost. That was no small achievement.
He Piaojian pondered it.
"So did he really kill the final boss? They announced it to the public without a detailed investigation." He Piaojian couldn't understand it.
"From what we first saw, his ability should be teleportation." He frowned. "But that body's death had nothing to do with any of that."
"What does that matter?" The doctor seemed quite unruffled. He pulled out a tissue, wrapped the apple core in it, and set it on the nearby table. "With the Guixu incident, all the authorities want now is to create a 'savior' to calm the public."
He stood up and finally began examining Fan Daoyi's current physical condition. "And as luck would have it, this Guixu paved the way for him. Naturally, he became one of them."
"Hey, hey, Kan Water, where did you pull that knife from?" He Piaojian sprang out of his chair and desperately grabbed Kan Water's hand as it was about to chop down.
"This is far too strange. You'd say this guy's in poor health, but all his bodily functions are exceptionally healthy. You'd say he's healthy, but at such a young age, the ends of his hair are completely white, and he has the look of someone on death's doorstep." Kan Water's eyes shone with excitement at the unknown.
"He still hasn't woken up after three days of my treatment, and he's definitely the first case of this condition in history. Let me dissect and reassemble his body to study it, and then I'll help him regrow his severed limbs. Hahaha..."
Fan Daoyi opened his eyes, speechless, and watched the two of them struggle.
Kan Water caught sight of Fan Daoyi waking out of the corner of his eye. With a quick movement, he slipped the knife into He Piaojian's pocket, then seized He Piaojian's arm and twisted it behind his back, pressing his other hand against He Piaojian's neck.
He said with righteous indignation, "Little Cheapie, I have to say you're in the wrong here. How could you bring a dangerous object into the hospital room? What a disturbance to my patient."
"I carry a camera with me." He Piaojian's single sentence shut Kan Water down.
"Hey, your footage is fake..." Kan Water refused to concede and wanted to say more, but He Piaojian's unwavering smile made him panic.
The footage He Piaojian supplied couldn't be trusted; everyone among them knew he faked recordings, but outsiders didn't. With footage presenting the facts, he wouldn't be able to explain himself no matter what he said.
"Let's make a deal," he muttered to He Piaojian.
He Piaojian whistled at his leisure, while Kan Water scratched his head and ears in anxiety.
"Actually..." Fan Daoyi, who had been ignored, interrupted their deal. "I woke up a long time ago."
He cast a mild glance at Kan Water. "I heard every word you said about wanting to dissect me."
Kan Water awkwardly released He Piaojian and said with an embarrassed smile, "Well, that was just to stimulate your bodily functions. I wasn't really going to do it."
He Piaojian immediately began editing the video, not forgetting to tease him. "It's fine, it's fine. I'll make a few cuts, and with our classmate Dao Yi as a witness, the charge of attempted murder will be nailed down."
"I just woke up. Could I trouble you two to tell me what happened? For instance, where is this place, and why have I become the 'savior' being put forward?" Fan Daoyi looked thoroughly puzzled as he deliberately asked a few questions.
Kan Water nodded and began answering Fan Daoyi's questions. "First, a brief introduction. For certain reasons, it's inconvenient for me to reveal my real name. You can call me Kan Water, like He Zhenjian does."
He Piaojian interjected, "That character is pronounced Piaojian."
"Close enough." Kan Water brushed it aside. "You're in Magic City now. This is a private hospital under my name. Your physical condition is unusual, and they couldn't deal with it in Azure Cloud City, so after consideration, they sent you here."
"As for 'savior,' the public started calling you that of their own accord because you killed the final boss in the college entrance exam and saved countless students' lives. It's only an empty title, so don't pay it too much mind. The authorities will give you a tangible reward later."
"I understand." Fan Daoyi nodded thoughtfully, then remembered something and warned Kan Water, "Oh, right. Wang Long colluded with the boss inside the dungeon. Do you know about that?"
"We found flying insects in the dungeon and extracted surveillance footage from them." Kan Water's gaze traveled up and down Fan Daoyi. He tilted his head slightly and continued, "Wang Long ran amok in the dungeon, killed his companions, and colluded with Guixu. We'll investigate all of it."
Fan Daoyi let out a breath, feeling somewhat reassured. "That's good. If it weren't for him, they wouldn't have died at all. The abnormal changes in the dungeon also had a lot to do with him..."
His voice choked, as though in grief for the classmates who had died.
Everything they could see was irrefutable evidence Fan Daoyi had deliberately left behind. He couldn't fight the forces behind Wang Long on his own for the time being, but couldn't he borrow a knife to kill and cut the weeds down to their roots?
Looking at Fan Daoyi's bloodless face, Kan Water sighed. "You shouldn't let your emotions fluctuate too much right now. Get some rest first."
"Mm." Fan Daoyi agreed.
Kan Water pulled He Piaojian outside with him. Once no one else was there, Fan Daoyi's expression faded and returned to calm.
Outside, Kan Water made no effort to hide his question. "What do you think?"
He Piaojian leaned against the wall and looked up. "It probably wasn't him."
"Your ability isn't Xun Wind's intuition. Why are you so certain?"
"But I trust my professional skills. There are no signs of editing in the footage, and the flying insects used for surveillance are props specially assigned to us."
He Piaojian breathed out slowly and said, "Besides, Fan Daoyi appears in every segment of the footage."
"He had no time to take part in any of the anomalies. There couldn't possibly be... two Fan Daoyis, could there?"