Chapter 19

The woman slowly got up, while Zhao Hequan was grabbed by the neck and lifted by her.

She brought her face closer, as if examining him closely.

Gradually, black spots began to grow from Zhao Hequan's neck, where the woman was grabbing him, and quickly spread all over his body.

Then, these spots began to expand, merging with each other to form patches of black boils. Each patch had a swollen center, from which pus continuously overflowed, sliding down his body. Finally, it gathered at his feet, which were off the ground, forming a liquid stream that dripped onto the floor.

However, Zhao Hequan showed no signs of pain or struggle, as if he were still sound asleep.

On the contrary, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. If touching this woman would cause him to rot, then what about the two pieces of flesh that had fallen onto his face earlier…

His face began to itch.

He felt it carefully; it was a real itch, not a psychological one.

But now, no matter how much it itched, Li Zhuiyuan dared not reach out to scratch it.

Immediately, the woman lifted Zhao Hequan with her left hand alone and held him horizontally by her side. This created a stark contrast; the woman's physique was indeed outrageously tall.

Li Zhuiyuan had been so shocked by the woman's appearance and their eye contact earlier that he had overlooked this. Now, he realized that the woman's figure was very much like a statue in a temple.

Presumably having found the person she was looking for, the woman, still holding Zhao Hequan, walked towards the slope.

She walked steadily, her gaze fixed forward.

Then, halfway through her walk, her body continued to move forward, but her head suddenly rotated ninety degrees and looked back.

Li Zhuiyuan's heart trembled.

She…

was still observing him!

The woman continued to advance while looking in his direction, eventually disappearing from his line of sight and descending the slope.

The itching on his face persisted.

Li Zhuiyuan lay still, his eyelids remaining slightly open.

The sense of time felt distorted at this moment; he didn't know how much time had passed, but he continued to hold still.

Suddenly, in the lower left corner of his vision, the woman's flesh-rolling face lunged forward.

It was like someone who had already left the house, then remembered something, their body still outside but their head craned back to look at you.

The two rows of white teeth were the only part of her face that could convey any expression.

With a slight gap between the upper and lower teeth, one could imagine her flesh and features, suggesting she was smiling.

As if saying, Heh heh,

I'm just checking if you're really asleep.

However, this time Li Zhuiyuan was not startled. He had already anticipated this.

The reason the chill around him hadn't dissipated meant the woman hadn't gone far and was still nearby.

He could even imagine her standing motionlessly at the bottom of the slope in his mind.

Liu Jinxia had said that those dirty things would develop an unusually strong interest in anyone who could see them, so even if you "saw" it, you had to pretend you hadn't.

Finally, the oppressive atmosphere vanished, the chill dissipated, and the summer night's heat returned, with the evening breeze bringing fresh air.

It felt like stepping out of a freezer, a thawing sensation from body to soul.

This made his face itch even more.

It felt like if he could just scratch it a few times right now, it would be the most satisfying and comfortable thing in the world.

But Li Zhuiyuan still didn't move.

His willpower had loosened, and his self-control was almost at its breaking point, yet he still forced himself to maintain his previous sleeping posture and the slight opening of his eyes through sheer inertia.

Suddenly, the cold returned, this time arriving quickly, urgently, and swiftly.

It wasn't that he was being dragged back into the freezer, but rather the freezer had opened its door, grown legs, and swallowed him.

Two sounds of landing echoed in his ears, interspersed with the crisp friction of chains.

In the space in front of his line of sight, legs appeared. At the very bottom were feet still dripping with pus.

These were Zhao Hequan's feet; he was being carried by the woman.

Therefore, the woman was now standing behind him, very close to his head.

She was still looking at him.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan found the woman's persistent persistence incomprehensible.

Since you keep testing me again and again, why not just pick me up like you did Zhao Hequan?

Don't you still have a free hand?

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly recalled the message he had heard during the day: two students from Haihe University had broken the chains on the female Buddha with hammers.

It must have been Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan.

But the woman only mentioned Zhao Hequan and not Xue Liangliang.

So, this proved that the woman could only take one person with her this time?

Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan's mind became clear.

This was a kind of reverse competition, with himself and Zhao Hequan as the competitors. If he showed any weakness, the woman might let Zhao Hequan go and take him instead.

Her continuous probing was actually a form of weighing her options.

Li Zhuiyuan was unwilling to sacrifice himself to save Zhao Hequan. If it had to be one or the other, he would definitely choose Zhao Hequan to accompany the woman.

After all, his ideal country was America. With difficult visas and a vast, uncrossable ocean, reincarnation there wouldn't be a bad shortcut.

Simply enduring hardship was unpleasant, but once the problem was simplified into a competition, it was like being pulled back onto his most proficient track.

The sharp chill came and went quickly; the woman must have left again.

But Li Zhuiyuan remained fixed.

He no longer cared whether he had woken up from the dream or if the woman would return. He continued to maintain his posture, his eyes half-closed.

His face still felt itchy, forcing him to find another way to distract himself.

He began to ponder the algorithms in the eighth volume of "Yin Yang Physiognomy Explained." He was idle anyway, and there was nothing he could or dared to do, so he might as well continue studying.

In his mind, rows of faces appeared and then gradually overlapped.

Li Zhuiyuan could now do this: when a face appeared in his mind, it could be male or female, old or young;

Upon closer inspection, his eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and ears were all constantly changing.

There was a popular sticker game among girls in the capital. It involved a sheet of paper with a model's body and a bunch of stickers for hairstyles and various clothes. You could choose the hairstyle and clothes you wanted, peel them off, and stick them onto the model because they had adhesive on the back. It was like a simplified version of dress-up dolls.

Li Zhuiyuan felt like he was playing this game, but his makeup library had far more accessories than a sticker toy box.

As he played, a thought gradually arose in Li Zhuiyuan's mind:

Could he try to make this face move and speak?

The first seven volumes of "Yin Yang Physiognomy Explained" involved a lot of rote memorization and calculations. The eighth volume marked the transition from science to metaphysics, where "metaphysics" referred to a threshold.

Thanks to his mother often taking him to see a psychologist when he was young, he had, in his childish desire to please her and following the doctor's guidance, even actively induced a personality split in himself.

So, could the same method be applied here?

This thought made him feel alarmed, because he felt as if he had found the key to unlocking the eighth volume!

But at the same time, Li Zhuiyuan also felt a sense of danger. The personalities he had created for himself in the past were completely controllable. But if he created a personality in his mind based on someone else's template, would it still be safe?

"Little Yuanhou, wake up, hehe, still sleeping? We have to go to work."

Li Weihan's voice sounded in his ear, followed by a rough but warm hand stroking his face.

Li Zhuiyuan knew he was truly awake.

He didn't know if the woman had returned to test him again after that incident.

However, it no longer mattered. Immersed in his studies, he had truly ignored the changes in the outside world. He wasn't asleep, but he was "deader" than if he had been.

"What's wrong, Little Yuanhou? Not comfortable sleeping outside?" Li Weihan asked with concern.

"No, no Grandpa, I slept very well."

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at the house and saw that the university students were also up and washing. Zhao Hequan was there too, not dead, and was even laughing and talking with his classmates.

"That's good. Your uncle is bringing water. Let's wash our faces."

After a simple wash, they collected their breakfast, and everyone headed to the construction site early. Today's work was organized by village. As long as they finished early, they could return home sooner and wouldn't have to sleep there for another night.

Li Zhuiyuan also went to the riverbank. This time, he was lazy and found a rock to sit on, resting his chin on his hand.

He was conflicted. He felt like he had found the key to the eighth volume, but he didn't dare to try it.

He vaguely felt that it was like the time he had tried to divine his own fortune.

This line of work had many taboos. No, not taboos, rather, this line of work was composed of all sorts of taboos.

The bustling atmosphere on the construction site gradually dispelled the gloom in Li Zhuiyuan's heart.

He had a change of heart. The first seven volumes were enough for him to look at people's faces when he had nothing else to do. As for the eighth volume, it should not be used except in special circumstances.

Alright, time to go help Grandpa and the others move mud.

Li Zhuiyuan was about to get up when his gaze shifted downward, and he suddenly noticed a gray spot on the inside of his left forearm. He looked at his right forearm, and there was an identical spot in the corresponding position.

He immediately touched his face. His face felt normal, and it hadn't been itchy when he woke up. He had almost forgotten about it.

Now it seemed he had finally been affected.

It was understandable that it hadn't appeared on his face. Some effects from the dream last night might not necessarily manifest on the face; at that time, it wasn't his real body.

Li Zhuiyuan raised both arms and looked closely. Although the two spots were only the size of a coin, this thing... was likely to spread.

Just then, two people walked over from ahead. To be precise, Xue Liangliang was supporting Zhao Hequan as they walked.

They were in the same measurement team. Regardless of any conflict last night, they still had to complete the task together today.

"Brother, what's wrong with him?" Li Zhuiyuan asked.

Xue Liangliang said, "He's not feeling well. I'm taking him to see a doctor."

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Zhao Hequan's neck was completely black and blue.

Indeed, he had only been hit in the face by shattered meat from the woman's face, but Zhao Hequan had been choked by the woman and taken away, so he was definitely the most severely affected.

After Li Zhuiyuan greeted Li Weihan, he followed Xue Liangliang and the others back to the threshing ground where they had slept the previous night. There was a barefoot doctor stationed there.

The doctor unbuttoned Zhao Hequan's shirt, examined his symptoms, and then his expression turned very grim.

"Doctor, has he been poisoned, or was he bitten by a venomous insect?" Xue Liangliang asked anxiously.

"Where would we have such potent venomous mosquitoes and insects around here? Poisoning doesn't seem likely either, it wouldn't be this fast. Didn't you say he was fine this morning?"

"Yes, he showed no abnormalities at all this morning."

"Sigh." The doctor looked a bit troubled. "You should send him to the clinic in the nearby town. Get him checked out there. I can only treat things like headaches and fevers here."

"Doctor, I have it too." Xue Liangliang rolled up both his sleeves.

Li Zhuiyuan, standing nearby, saw that his arm also had the same gray circular spots as his own.

That made sense. The woman from last night had also crouched in front of him, almost grabbing him instead of Zhao Hequan. It was normal for him to have some shattered meat splashed on him.

"Hurry and go to the hospital. You get checked out too. It might be some kind of contagious disease."

"Okay, I'll leave my friend here first. I'll go find a car."

The doctor frowned but could only nod. Then, he took an old mask from his pocket and put it on.

After Xue Liangliang left, the doctor looked at Zhao Hequan again. Zhao Hequan's consciousness was already becoming hazy.

The doctor murmured, "It really doesn't look like an illness. It's more like he's been invaded by something unclean."

Barefoot doctors were individuals trained or designated by the state with basic medical knowledge after the establishment of New China. They did not have formal positions and were both farmers and doctors. Although their professional medical standards generally couldn't compare to doctors in regular hospitals, they played a huge role and made outstanding contributions in improving and safeguarding rural medical conditions during a specific historical period.

At the same time, due to the nature of their profession, they often had their own understanding of certain special and difficult cases and were not as dismissive of them.

"What did you say?" Li Zhuiyuan heard him and asked curiously.

The doctor didn't speak. He wasn't about to scare a child with superstitious talk.

"Was he invaded by something unclean?" Li Zhuiyuan pressed. "How can it be resolved?"

The doctor chuckled a bit. "Little one, how would I know how to resolve it? I'm a doctor, not a fortune teller."

Li Zhuiyuan was a little disappointed. It seemed he could only wait for his great-grandfather to return.

He actually had a general idea that Aunt Liu Jinxia and Aunt Li Juxiang might have ways to solve this kind of problem, but he felt too embarrassed to approach them because the mother and daughter's methods of solving problems were too simple and crude.

Just then, Xue Liangliang, who had only been gone for a short while, returned, accompanied by a middle-aged man with half-white hair wearing work clothes.

This man had thick, steady eyebrows and a square face, exuding an aura of uprightness and authority.

"Engineer Luo," the doctor said, standing up to greet him.

The man was the deputy director of engineering and the department head at Haihe University. For years, he had been primarily responsible for organizing the water conservancy and construction projects in this area.

"Mhm." Luo Tingrui raised his hand in response and then walked directly to Zhao Hequan. After checking the situation, he quietly scolded Xue Liangliang beside him, "Have you lost your mind? Who told you two to be so impulsive yesterday?"

"Director, it's my fault."

Luo Tingrui's face was grim. "Didn't I teach you that when encountering graves or temples during construction, they must be handled properly? Even if there's no condition for relocation and resettlement, you should at least burn some incense and say a few good words before demolishing them. But you went straight at it with a hammer!"

"Director, what should we do now?"

Actually, Xue Liangliang had intended to burn incense and pay respects before demolishing the temple yesterday, but Zhao Hequan had sneered, calling it the inherent weakness of the Chinese people, and directly swung the hammer. Xue Liangliang had no choice but to follow suit.

Who knew that such a problem would arise the next day? But now was clearly not the time to assign blame and explain.

"Where was that idol moved to?"

"It was dragged to the ditch on the west side, piled with construction waste."

"Alright, you take him there first. I'll go to my temporary office to find incense.

First, apologize, then send him to the city hospital. The clinic in town probably can't handle symptoms like these. Anyway, finding a car will take some time."

"Okay, Director, I understand."

Xue Liangliang picked up Zhao Hequan and ran down the threshing ground.

As he walked, he suddenly turned his head to look at Li Zhuiyuan, who was following him.

"You..."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't waste any words and exposed his forearm to him.

Xue Liangliang was very surprised. "Kid, did you smash it too?"

"I don't know."

In fact, Li Zhuiyuan was the most innocent. He now possessed the passive ability to walk the yin path, but the whole incident truly had nothing to do with him.

"Then come with me to burn incense. After burning incense, tell your family, and I'll take you to the city hospital together."

"Okay, brother."

The two of them, or rather, the three of them, arrived at the western ditch where waste was piled, and the statue of the Bodhisattva stood alone.

The villagers who were working still had basic taboos, so they didn't lay it down. There was also a stone propping it up beside it, ensuring it could stand.

After putting Zhao Hequan down, Xue Liangliang walked up to the statue and first paid his respects.

"It was my fault yesterday, please forgive me..." He paused, then looked at Li Zhuiyuan beside him. "At the very least, you must forgive this child."

Last night, Xue Liangliang had declared with conviction: this world is materialistic.

However, this didn't seem wrong either. In the eyes of a true materialist, as long as there were established rules to explore and solve, then even ghosts were materialistic ghosts.

Li Zhuiyuan carefully observed the statue. It had been in the water or mud for a long time, and the paint had long since peeled and corroded. What met his eyes was large patches of surface that looked like red rust, likely the material of the clay used to sculpt the statue.

But this also corresponded to the state of the woman who appeared last night: rolling, burnt, and bloody.

Most importantly, the other parts of the statue's face were no longer visible, but only a section of white teeth paint remained at the corner of the mouth. It was likely that the pigment was special and more durable. Judging from the facial structure of the paint, the jawline was retracted, creating a gap at the mouth. This might have prevented it from being completely filled in by the mud.

Li Zhuiyuan also paid his respects, and then the jingle his great-grandfather taught him when he was escorting Little Yellow Oriole popped into his mind. He had a good memory and had remembered it verbatim, so he recited it.

"I offer to you today, and will sacrifice to you next year. My human kindness goes this far, are you satisfied?

Regardless of yin or yang, one must be reasonable.

If you have grievances, go report them. If you have grudges, go seek revenge. All people suffer in life, do not go against them."

Beside him, Xue Liangliang looked at the child, his eyes wide open, because he saw... professionalism in this child.

After Li Zhuiyuan finished reciting, he added, "I'll get the incense later, and I'll set up a small offering table for you when I get home. I'll offer all my snacks to you to make up for it."

Xue Liangliang asked in surprise, "Will this work?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head and honestly replied, "I don't know."

He was just following his great-grandfather's topic and copying the answer.

Immediately, Li Zhuiyuan raised his arm again.

"Huh?"

The grey patch, originally the size of a coin, had now shrunk to the size of a soybean and its color had also faded.

Li Zhuiyuan blinked. He hadn't expected his great-grandfather's answer to be so effective!

"Let me see yours," Li Zhuiyuan said to Xue Liangliang, as he needed a comparison.

Xue Liangliang immediately spread his arms. His grey patch had not only not shrunk, but it had grown.

He immediately said, "Little brother, teach me to recite it quickly."

"Okay."

Next, Xue Liangliang followed Li Zhuiyuan and recited the same words, but he changed Li Zhuiyuan's last sentence, "I'll offer all my snacks," to "I'll get dishes from the school cafeteria and set up an offering table for you in the dorm."

After reciting, he waited for a moment.

Xue Liangliang pulled up his sleeve like he was scratching a lottery ticket and also let out a surprised exclamation.

The patch had shrunk, but it hadn't shrunk back to the size of a soybean; instead, it had become the same size as before.

"This..." Xue Liangliang frowned. "Could it be that the Bodhisattva also knows that our school cafeteria food is terrible?"

Li Zhuiyuan thought it might be because he had actually smashed the statue yesterday.

"Why is there another child?" Luo Tingrui arrived with incense.

"This child has encountered the same problem."

Luo Tingrui looked a bit confused but didn't ask further. Instead, he handed Li Zhuiyuan a stick of incense, then one for himself, and one for Xue Liangliang.

As for Zhao Hequan, who was already delirious, he stuffed a handful of incense into his hand.

Next, Luo Tingrui stood at the very front, paid his respects solemnly with the incense, then unbuttoned his collar, and sat down in front of the statue, not caring about the dirt. He kept patting the ground with one hand and clutching his chest with the other, and began to pour out his troubles.

He recalled the hardships before liberation, the purpose and significance of building roads, bridges, and water conservancy projects, and finally, his future outlook.

He spoke with great passion and emotion, completely losing his usual rigorous engineer demeanor. Anyone who didn't know would have thought he was holding a small symposium.

Moreover, perhaps fearing that the local temple might not understand Mandarin well, he deliberately used a lot of Nantong dialect, although it was clumsy and not standard.

After speaking, he stood up, placed his hands on Li Zhuiyuan's and Xue Liangliang's heads, and had them pay their respects again with incense.

Finally, he dragged the unconscious Zhao Hequan over and held his head to make him kowtow.

After doing all this, Luo Tingrui fastened his collar buttons, and his demeanor stabilized again.

Seeing Xue Liangliang's curious gaze, he said impatiently, "Learn from this. I learned this from my elders. There aren't many of these things in the Nantong area, but it's very common to encounter them when building roads and bridges inland. Everyone has figured out this procedure, and it's quite effective."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded in conviction because he found that after this worship, the soybean-sized grey patch on his forearm had actually disappeared, leaving only a faint, almost imperceptible trace of color. This was almost a complete recovery.

This was truly miraculous. If he had asked Liu Jinxia to treat him, Aunt Xianghou would probably have been in so much pain that she would have been rolling on the ground.

Li Zhuiyuan began to ponder: could this be considered another development of the mystical arts?

It was about moving people with emotion and convincing them with reason; however, the key here seemed to be a higher form of righteousness, which even those dirty things could only retreat from.

The patch on Xue Liangliang's arm had shrunk back to the size of a soybean, but it had also faded significantly. It was likely no longer a major problem. Even if this trace remained permanently, it wouldn't be a big deal for a water conservancy student.

As for Zhao Hequan, he seemed to have eased considerably and began to hum and groan, regaining some consciousness. However, his condition had been the most severe, and even with half of it gone... it felt like the difference between a condition that could kill you ten times and one that would only kill you once.

After all, Li Zhuiyuan had seen with his own eyes that Zhao Hequan was taken away by that woman.

Taken where?

Li Zhuiyuan looked around the base of the statue. There didn't seem to be any suitable hiding places, but he noticed an inscription on the statue's base, between its feet:

"Bai Family Empress."

Was that a woman's title?

It certainly fit the local naming customs. For example, Liu Jinxia was referred to as "Liu Family Matriarch" by guests.

So, it wasn't a statue of a female bodhisattva, but it wasn't entirely incorrect to call it that. In the common people's broad and simplified understanding of the divine hierarchy, any female deity could be addressed as a female bodhisattva.

"Send him to the city hospital," Luo Tingrui sighed, then said to Xue Liangliang, "You should go to the hospital with him and get checked out too, just in case anything lingers."

Xue Liangliang pointed at Li Zhuiyuan. "This kid needs to get checked out as well."

"Alright, kid, which village and team is your family from?"

"Siyuan Village, Team Four, Shinan Town."

Luo Tingrui looked at Xue Liangliang. "I'll go tell his parents that you students are taking him out to play in the city and will bring him home by car tonight. I can't leave the construction site. You take them. The car should be waiting at the entrance over there."

"Understood, Director."

Xue Liangliang helped Zhao Hequan up again and then motioned for Li Zhuiyuan to follow. A car was indeed parked at the west side entrance of the construction site, with the driver inside. Seeing them approach, he immediately started the car and headed towards the city.

On the way, Li Zhuiyuan mused. If Luo Gong went to speak with his grandfather and the others, they would surely trust him. After all, Luo Gong's position as deputy commander was even higher than the town mayor's.

They arrived at Nantong People's Hospital at exactly ten in the morning.

Li Zhuiyuan checked his arm; the discoloration was gone. He was completely healed. However, he still planned to set up a small altar to fulfill his promise once he got back.

Xue Liangliang was also much better. The pea-sized swelling had already shrunk to a faint mark.

However, unlike the two of them, who had basically recovered, it seemed all the suffering had been borne by Zhao Hequan alone.

When they set off, Zhao Hequan had regained some consciousness and seemed much better. But on the way, his condition worsened again. He vomited in the car more than once, spitting out sour, foul-smelling liquid.

The driver felt so bad for him that he honked the horn with much more force.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Xue Liangliang first arranged for Zhao Hequan to be taken to the emergency room. Then, he held Li Zhuiyuan's hand and they went through a series of tests, including blood work.

By the time they were waiting for the results, it was nearing lunchtime. Xue Liangliang went to the hospital cafeteria and bought some steamed buns and rolls, bringing them back to eat with Li Zhuiyuan.

"It looks like we'll have to wait until the afternoon when work starts to get the reports," Xue Liangliang said to Li Zhuiyuan. "After I get the reports this afternoon, I'll buy you some milk and a small toy from the shop by the entrance. You can take them home with you."

"Thank you, big brother."

"What are you thanking me for? In the end, it's my fault you're involved."

This incident started because he and Zhao Hequan had smashed the statue with a hammer. How could this child have also swung a sledgehammer?

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and took a bite of the bun. It was indeed because of him, but he didn't blame him in his heart.

It was hard to dislike someone as sunny, cheerful, and considerate as him. He himself enjoyed playing that kind of role…

Hiss!

Li Zhuiyuan clutched the bun in his left hand and grabbed his head with his right, his expression pained.

Damn it, that feeling was back.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt his vision blurring, as if his body and his sense of self were becoming disconnected. In reality, this was a materialized manifestation of his self-perception detaching from his identity.

His mind was once again flooded with the increasing coldness and mockery his mother had shown in recent years.

He knew very well that if he let this symptom get out of control and complete its separation, he would forever lose his identity as "Little Yuanhou." When facing family affection and social relationships, he would become indifferent and resistant, unable to even pretend anymore.

But he genuinely liked this life. He didn't want to let go.

If his mother hadn't been there, he might not have been so resistant. He might have even considered trying to see what that feeling was like. But now, with his mother's image present, he was afraid.

Perhaps Li Lan herself never imagined that she had spent so much effort finding him a psychologist and various methods for timely intervention and treatment…

The effect was far less than his own case as a negative example.

"Xiao Yuan, what's wrong? Xiao Yuan, are you feeling unwell somewhere?" Xue Liangliang was startled. He was terrified that this child might have a serious problem because of him.

Li Zhuiyuan frantically recited his family network in his mind. This time, he even brought out his paternal grandfather and grandmother. Simultaneously, Qin Li's name was being recalled with even higher frequency.

That girl who only had eyes for him—he really didn't want to face her gaze upon his return and respond with indifference.

At the same time, Li Zhuiyuan continued to recite: My eighth book on physiognomy only provided a method to break through the problem; I haven't dared to test it yet, so I haven't truly mastered it! My eight trigrams algorithm for fate calculation is not yet fully complete; although the progress is fast, what if I get stuck later?

No, even if I master both these books, there are still so many books in Great-Grandfather's basement. I definitely won't be able to read and learn them all. I will definitely fail, I will definitely not understand them, I will definitely feel frustrated, powerless, and lose the will to study!

Crack!

A silent, crisp sound, as if his consciousness and identity had snapped back into place.

Li Zhuiyuan finally let out a sigh of relief, leaning back against the chair, his face covered in cold sweat.

As expected, the frustration of studying was the most effective.

This sudden onset of his condition was likely related to breaking through the eighth book last night, causing him to lose the self-awareness of being a struggling student.

"Xiao Yuan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine now, Brother Liangliang." Li Zhuiyuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and deliberately said to comfort him, "It's not that, I have epilepsy."

"Oh, I see. You sit here and don't go anywhere. I'll get you a hot towel to wipe yourself."

"Okay, thank you, Brother Liangliang."

After Xue Liangliang left, Li Zhuiyuan saw a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. It was Sister Yingzi.

She was at this hospital too? Had her maternal grandparents been transferred from the town clinic?

Doesn't that mean Grandfather might be here too?

However, Li Zhuiyuan didn't get up to follow. He was afraid Xue Liangliang would be anxious if he couldn't find him when he returned.

Xue Liangliang came back with a new towel and carefully wiped Li Zhuiyuan's face. He also motioned for Li Zhuiyuan to raise his hands and tucked the towel into his short sleeves to wipe his body, preventing him from catching a chill.

"Little Yuan, you're not from around here, are you?" Xue Liangliang asked with a smile. "You said you were yesterday, but when you were giving blood earlier, you and that nurse were speaking in the Southern dialect, I could tell."

"Mhm, I lived in the capital when I was young. I just returned to my hometown recently."

"The capital! I've been there once for an inter-university academic exchange. I visited Weiming Lake."

Li Zhuiyuan thought to himself: What a coincidence, we didn't run into each other.

"I'm so envious of kids from big cities," Xue Liangliang sighed.

"Where is Brother Liang's home from?"

"Me? I'm from a rural village in Anhui. My old house is beautiful, just a bit poor."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. He also thought many of the old houses in Siyuan Village were beautiful, especially the roofs and the eaves designs of the single-story houses. They were very elegant.

"It's a shame. After many families in my hometown got better off, they tore down the old houses and built new ones."

"That's for a better life, though."

"I know, but I think after ordinary people like us live better lives in the future, we'll start to like traveling, just like people in developed countries. If the old houses weren't torn down, they might have become tourist attractions."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Xue Liangliang. He felt that this older brother's thinking had a sharp depth that made him sigh.

He wasn't someone who knew everything from birth, nor was he like those classmates with special talents in his class. But he seemed exceptionally good at discovering objective laws and thus grasping the essence of problems; in other words, he had foresight.

Perhaps, this was also a kind of genius.

"Haha, do you think I'm talking nonsense? Who would buy tickets and queue up to visit old houses and small towns like this in the future?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "I think what Brother Liangliang said is probably correct."

"You're very smart too, really, I can feel it. How are your grades?"

"Pretty good. There are very few kids in my class who are better than me."

"That's because you're still young. The things learned in the lower grades are less, the differences aren't that big, and the competition is smaller. When you get to middle school, high school, and then university, you'll understand. Don't get arrogant and complacent now."

"Okay, I understand."

Li Zhuiyuan then pointed to the stairwell. "Brother Liangliang, I just saw my cousin go upstairs. Her maternal grandparents are hospitalized here, so my cousin and my aunt should be looking after them. I want to go see her."

"Alright, I'll accompany you."

"It's not that much trouble, I can go by myself."

"No, I have to personally take you home after we get the examination report this afternoon and confirm you're okay."

"Okay, Brother Liangliang."

The fourth and fifth floors were the inpatient wards. Li Zhuiyuan didn't know the patients' names, so he couldn't check the room numbers. He could only scan from ward to ward.

He hadn't been searching for long when he heard a familiar, loud voice: "Damn it, what's going on!"

It was Grandfather's voice.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately ran over, with Xue Liangliang following behind.

At the same time, some patients and their families appeared in the corridor, drawn out by the commotion to see what was happening.

He arrived at the ward door and pushed it open.

Li Zhuiyuan saw Li Sanjiang holding a Peachwood Sword, shielding Yingzi, his third aunt, and two other middle-aged men and women behind him. On the two hospital beds lay an elderly man and woman, who should be Yingzi's maternal grandparents.

At this moment, both elderly people were convulsing violently. Their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were all bleeding. Especially their mouths, where blood was gushing out, not only staining the beds but also quickly forming two large pools on the floor.

Yet, even so, they were still uttering intermittent sounds with great difficulty:

"Spare me… spare me… Bai Family Empress!"