Advance by Retreating

"Where am I?" Mu Xi abruptly touched her neck. She clearly remembered that after her Soul Tool car crashed into a pillar, a piece of windshield glass had flown over and sliced across her neck.

"This is the Eastsea Academy School Infirmary. You're fine now." Xia Yi pushed the door open, tossed the payment slip onto Mu Xi's bed, glanced at her chest beneath the hospital gown, and said flatly, "The surgery cost fifteen thousand Federal Coins. I covered it for you. When are you paying me back?"

"Surgery? What surgery?" Mu Xi was clearly confused and still had no idea what had happened.

"These are the examination report and surgical records." Xia Yi handed her two sheets filled with writing again.

Mu Xi took them instinctively and looked them over. Then she touched her chest, and immediately lost it. "Blood buildup in the chest, cardiac blood vessel repair surgery—who are you trying to fool? When did I ever have surgery?"

"Miss, you drove that fast, didn't wear a seat belt, and then got into such a violent crash. Do you really think having surgery is that outrageous?" Xia Yi shook his head helplessly. "How about I go get the doctor so you can ask him yourself?"

"Forget it. It's only fifteen thousand Federal Coins. I'll give it to you." Mu Xi shook her head and took fifteen thousand Federal Coins from her Storage Soul Tool Ring, handing them to Xia Yi.

Though she still did not know exactly what had happened, Xia Yi's payment slip bore the seal of the Eastsea Academy School Infirmary. There could not be a problem with it.

Besides, even if Xia Yi wanted to trick her, he would not trick her out of only fifteen thousand Federal Coins.

Wait. Mu Xi suddenly thought of something. She picked up the payment slip Xia Yi had given her and examined it carefully. That was right—the payer was Xia Yi.

She abruptly looked up at Xia Yi. Her large, watery eyes instantly shone with excitement. "You're Xia Yi!"

"I'm Xia Yi. What's wrong?" Xia Yi asked curiously.

"You're a Level Two blacksmith?" Mu Xi continued.

"You're from the Blacksmith Association?" Xia Yi studied Mu Xi curiously. A possibility suddenly occurred to him. He had only just left the Blacksmith Association, yet Mu Xi already knew his identity. There was only one explanation.

Xia Yi stared at Mu Xi and asked in a low voice, "You're Mu Xi, Mu Chen's daughter."

Only Mu Chen's daughter could have learned so quickly that he was a Level Two blacksmith.

"So you're not that stupid!" Mu Xi glared at Xia Yi through clenched teeth. It was all because of Xia Yi that she had rushed back to the Blacksmith Association and gotten into a car accident.

Yet Xia Yi, the "culprit" behind it all, actually demanded the fifteen thousand Federal Coins in surgical fees back from her.

If Xia Yi knew that he had been branded the "culprit" of this accident, he would surely cry injustice.

"I still have things to do, so I'll be leaving. Oh, right, handle the shop you crashed into yourself." Xia Yi shook his head, turned, and prepared to leave.

"Hey! You still haven't told me what happened!" Mu Xi hurriedly called after Xia Yi. She still had no idea what had occurred. How could she let him leave?

"Ask the doctor yourself." Xia Yi did not stop and simply left.

He knew that, with Mu Chen's status as the president of the Eastsea City Blacksmith Association, it would probably not take long for him to find this place.

Xia Yi decided to leave first and wait for Mu Chen to come looking for him.

Whether because of his talent in Forging or because he had saved Mu Chen's daughter, Mu Chen would come to find him.

As long as Mu Chen came looking for him, learning Forging in the future would become much easier.

If he stayed and waited for Mu Chen instead, he would only expose how badly he wanted it.

Sure enough, not long after Xia Yi left, Tang Wulin, Liu He, and Mu Chen, who had descended from the sky with Yuan Bao'er, all appeared at the Eastsea Academy School Infirmary.

"Xi'er!" Seeing Mu Xi still lying on the hospital bed, Yuan Bao'er burst into tears again. She hurriedly grabbed Mu Xi's hands and checked her all over. "Xi'er, you weren't hurt anywhere, were you?"

"Mom, I'm fine." Mu Xi felt uncomfortable all over. She felt that both her Soul Power and mental state were at their peak. There was no need for her to lie down at all.

But she had supposedly just undergone surgery. If she did not lie down for a while, it seemed a little disrespectful to the surgery.

"Xi'er, what did the doctor say?" Mu Chen looked at Mu Xi, who seemed full of energy, with great curiosity. Hadn't the shop owner said she was seriously injured? How had she completely recovered so quickly?

"I just woke up and haven't seen the doctor yet. Nothing seems wrong. I think I had surgery." Mu Xi said with a flushed face.

"What do you mean, you think you had surgery?" Mu Chen asked darkly.

"I lost consciousness as soon as the car hit the pillar. I don't know whether I had surgery or not. There's only this." Mu Xi handed Xia Yi's examination report and surgical record to Mu Chen.

Yuan Bao'er snatched the surgical record from Mu Chen's hand. When she saw it clearly, she was so frightened that she screamed.

"Cardiac blood vessel repair surgery." Though she did not know much about medicine, she knew that this was not a surgery a school infirmary could perform independently.

One mistake could cost the patient her life.

Yuan Bao'er instinctively reached for Mu Xi's chest.

"Mom, I told you, I'm already fine." Mu Xi blushed and hurriedly stopped Yuan Bao'er. Tang Wulin and Mu Chen were still here.

"Let's call the doctor over and hear what he has to say." Mu Chen took a deep breath. He could naturally see that Mu Xi was in unbelievably good condition and did not look at all like someone who had just undergone surgery.

Even now, he was still completely baffled and could not figure out what had happened.

"Alright." Mu Xi nodded and pressed the call button beside her bed.

She also wanted to figure out what had happened.

Very soon, the doctor who had operated on Mu Xi earlier pushed open the door and entered.

"Didn't I say you could be discharged once you woke up? What, didn't Xia Yi, who brought you here, tell you?" the doctor asked Mu Xi curiously.

"Doctor, what exactly happened? Why did you perform this kind of surgery on our Xi'er?" Mu Chen asked as he looked at the doctor.

Mu Chen's expression was somewhat grim. A school infirmary had actually dared to perform such a surgery on his daughter. They were practically gambling with her life.

"I know what you want to say, but the situation was urgent at the time. The blood vessels around her heart were severely damaged, and there was no time to send her to a major hospital. Fortunately, the surgery was very successful," the doctor said gravely. Performing surgery on Mu Xi had also been a tremendous risk for him.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?" Mu Chen frowned.

"You should be thanking that young man named Xia Yi. Without him, the surgery could never have succeeded." The doctor looked solemn as he told them everything he knew.

"I know. His soul skill can not only heal injuries, but even regenerate severed limbs," Tang Wulin could not help but interject.

"No wonder there isn't a scar on my neck." Mu Xi touched her neck, then touched her chest. She could not imagine what the consequences would have been if she had been left with two scars on her body at such a young age.

Wait. Mu Xi suddenly looked up at the doctor and asked with a red face, "Doctor, are you saying that Xia Yi stayed beside you and helped during the surgery?"

"Is there a problem?" the doctor asked curiously.

"My surgery was performed on my chest. What do you think the problem is?" Mu Xi said through clenched teeth. No wonder she had felt that Xia Yi had been intentionally or unintentionally glancing at her chest earlier.

"Don't overthink it. In the eyes of us doctors, there is no distinction between men and women. Besides, he was trying to save your life," the doctor said seriously.

"You're a doctor. He isn't," Mu Xi said coldly. The thought of the way Xia Yi had looked at her chest earlier made her feel uncomfortable all over.

"Wulin, how much do you know about Xia Yi?" Mu Chen shook his head. Seeing that Mu Xi was fine, the weight in his heart finally lifted.

He had already realized that the Xia Yi who saved Mu Xi was the same Xia Yi who had just taken the Level Two blacksmith test.

That immediately piqued his interest in Xia Yi. A Support Soul Master actually possessed such terrifying talent in Forging.

"I don't know much about him." Tang Wulin shook his head.