He Didn't Treat Me Like a Patient, or Even a Person

"It's not impossible. Their abilities haven't all been registered yet, so maybe he's a dual-ability user too?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned to find Fan Daoyi standing beside them, braced against the door. Fan Daoyi said leisurely, "Just so you know, the door wasn't shut. I could hear everything you were saying from inside."

Kan Water froze, immediately thinking of He Piaojian. He turned slightly toward him, blinking furiously in question.

He Piaojian kept looking up at the ceiling, scratching his head and idly swinging a foot.

Fan Daoyi remained standing there, making things awkward.

Kan Water coughed awkwardly, made several little movements to avert his gaze, and casually pulled the knife back out of He Piaojian's pocket.

"I've got things to do, so I'll be going. Oh, right, He Zhenjian, if you've got nothing else to do, take him outside for some sun."

Kan Water hurried away.

"Some sun? Got it. Wait a moment." A mischievous smile curled He Piaojian's lips. He quickened his pace, turned a corner, and went off to do who knew what.

Fan Daoyi just wanted some peace and quiet. Without waiting for He Piaojian to return, he closed the door and lay back down on the bed.

I'm tired. I don't want to do anything...

He had barely closed his eyes and rested for a while when another racket reached his ears.

"Dao Yi, look what I got."

Lying flat, Fan Daoyi's chest rose and fell as he let out a stale breath. He looked to the side with a world-weary gaze.

Armed with a recording of Kan Water's spoken instructions and Fan Daoyi's physical condition as ample justification, He Piaojian had procured a wheelchair.

"Come on, don't be so lifeless. I'll take you to do something fun."

Fan Daoyi thought for a moment. Not fully understanding He Piaojian's personality, he figured he wouldn't have to walk anyway and sat down in it.

He Piaojian gripped the back with both hands, drew one leg back to gather strength, and sprinted outside. His excited shout echoed through the air: "Haha, I've wanted to do this for ages! I finally found an excuse—"

The wind brushed past Fan Daoyi's cheeks, bringing a trace of coolness. Watching He Piaojian's crazed behavior, he couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth.

He Piaojian hadn't fully let loose in the hospital corridor. Once they actually reached the ground floor, Fan Daoyi came to a profound realization.

He Piaojian hadn't treated him like a patient, and he hadn't treated him like a person either.

Outside the hospital, trees grew lush and green on both sides. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled light and shadow across the ground.

Not far away, several quaint pavilions stood scattered about. Stone benches were arranged inside for people to rest on. Beside the pavilions, a clear stream babbled past, and several enormous rocks of different shapes stood in the pool.

The place didn't feel like a hospital; it was more like being in a landscaped garden.

But none of these were He Piaojian's destination.

The wheelchair rolled over a cobblestone path, heading straight for a particular spot. It was a steep slope, with a scenic lake at the bottom.

"Don't be nervous. Relax, I'm holding on. Isn't the whole point of having fun the thrill?"

He Piaojian rubbed his fists against his palms, looking ready to charge straight down from there.

Fan Daoyi realized he couldn't see through He Piaojian. How could a person be such an ass and go out of his way to torment others?

"Little Jianjian—"

Just then, a woman's voice rang out.

"Sister Li Fire—"

Hearing the voice, He Piaojian turned around excitedly and ran toward her.

Under the setting sun, the two ran toward each other along the stone path, bathed in the sunset glow. What a beautiful scene.

If only the wheelchair hadn't been rolling downhill.

"Fuck, get lost!" Li Fire noticed the wheelchair rolling down the slope. Quick and decisive, she slapped He Piaojian's face aside with one hand.

He Piaojian looked bewildered. Not understanding why, he looked behind him, then ran toward the long slope again, calling out anxiously, "Dao Yi, Dao Yi, I haven't gotten on yet—"

Ha... I should stand up from the wheelchair now.

Fan Daoyi sighed inwardly.

The wheelchair was racing down the slope at tremendous speed. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he and the wheelchair tipped into the lake.

Braking with his feet would likely send him tumbling and leave him injured, so that was out of the question.

Teleportation? From their conversation, that ability was no longer a secret to them.

As the lake drew closer, Fan Daoyi prepared to use his ability to return to the top.

But at that critical moment, his body pitched forward as someone suddenly yanked the wheelchair to a stop. Caught completely off guard, Fan Daoyi fell forward.

"Oh no!" Li Fire cried in a panic.

She hurriedly reached out to grab Fan Daoyi, but in her panic, she let go of the wheelchair with her other hand, and it started rolling downhill again.

Fan Daoyi suddenly had reason to suspect this group was trying to team up and kill him.

Just as he activated his teleportation ability, another woman's clear voice suddenly rang out.

The wheelchair and Fan Daoyi then floated into the air. He closed his eyes and withdrew his ability, arriving safely at the bottom of the long slope. The newcomer even thoughtfully put him back in the wheelchair.

"Just in time. Look at the mess you've made."

"Oh, Sister Kun Earth, what wind blew a busy person like you over here?" He Piaojian finally ran down as well.

Fan Daoyi sat quietly in the wheelchair, beginning to guess what ability this woman had acquired.

But so far, he hadn't obtained anyone's real name, so he couldn't use Xuan Miao to check the details of their abilities.

Still, being able to manipulate objects was undoubtedly another extraordinary ability. He wondered whether it was another golden one.

Kun Earth's eyes remained narrowed as she lowered her head and apologized to Fan Daoyi. "Sorry. We didn't expect Dui Lake to have become enough of an ass to torment a cripple."

Fan Daoyi sat in the wheelchair, feeling utterly helpless at her words. He remained silent for a moment, then stood up.

Kun Earth was startled and nodded repeatedly in apology. "Sorry, I'm really sorry. I jumped to conclusions."

Fan Daoyi didn't know what to say. It seemed that none of the people he'd met who used the Eight Trigrams as aliases were normal.

He took a deep breath and began asking them, "Why do you use the Eight Trigrams as aliases among people you know?"

Perhaps apologetic about what had just happened, Kun Earth answered with a smile, "Because certain abilities can use real names to cause trouble. After discussions among the various parties, we chose to address one another by code names."

"Then..." Fan Daoyi's gaze fell on He Piaojian. "Is it all right for his real name to be exposed?"

Kun Earth shook her head to show it was fine and explained, "Dui Lake's ability is special. Those abilities don't have much effect on him."

Fan Daoyi's gaze sharpened. "Is it all right to tell me these things? This information isn't available to the public, is it?"

This time, leaving Guixu, his wish was to learn all the common knowledge of the present world.

And when it came to common knowledge, apart from the names of official organizations, the rest of the information was never made public.

He had hit the mark. Kun Earth opened the eyes she had kept narrowed. "That vigilance is good, but there's no problem telling you, because Xun Wind's intuition had me come help you."

"Intuition?" Fan Daoyi murmured, chewing over the word. "Going by a feeling?"

"Yes, just like when he told me what time and place would be right to use my ability." Kun Earth smiled. "When I came, I had no idea what would happen. I only knew what I had to do."

"Don't you think that's rather like foreseeing the future, in a sense?"