My Dignity

"Li Yao, this isn't a joke!"

"Do you remember that supernatural incident I told you about last time? I'm telling you, I wasn't lying to you! Since you didn't believe me, I investigated it myself. I originally wanted to shove solid proof in your face, but who knew that this investigation would uncover something incredible!"

"I'm fucking amazing ()!"

"My hands were shaking when I sent you this email!"

"I don't even know whether it was from fear or excitement."

"Do you know how many people go missing in our country every year? Do you know how many of those missing-person cases involve supernatural incidents? It'd scare you to death if I told you! I looked into some information, and I really did find some clues. Especially recently—I don't know why, but the number of missing people has suddenly increased, and they're mainly young girls. My keen nose tells me there's a conspiracy here!"

"Unfortunately, I didn't have time to order a trench coat, Deerstalker Hat, and pipe online. I'm on my way to investigate. The true face of this world is in my hands, and I'll uncover it myself!"

"I'm sending you this letter just to let you know. If I bite the dust, you'd better fucking come save me!!!"

"I haven't even spent all my Ant Credit Pay yet!"

After reading the letter, Li Yao felt complicated emotions welling up inside him.

Fuck.

There were so many things to mock that he didn't even know where to begin, and Li Yao's thoughts became a mess.

Oh, right.

First, he needed to contact that idiot! Li Yao dialed her number:

Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable.

Great! She'd straight-up blocked him.

Li Yao couldn't understand it. What the hell was she trying to do? Was she afraid he'd stop her from opening the doors to the world?

She'd smacked her head once and immediately embarked on a path of self-destruction. How the hell was she so impressive?

Li Yao's head throbbed with anger.

He took a deep breath—

Calm down.

Settle down.

Li Yao, you can't panic.

He hadn't started today's meditation practice yet, so he would meditate first.

As for Lin Xiaoxi...

Fuck you! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻! I'm done caring! Just like the saying went, you couldn't save someone determined to get herself killed.

Let Lin Xiaoxi sprint full speed down the road to self-destruction.

Thinking that, Li Yao felt much better. Even his meditation efficiency improved by a bit... yeah, right! He took out his phone and sent Lin Xiaowei a message: "I'm telling you, something huge happened! It's about your sister!" After waiting a while without a reply, he figured she wasn't online.

With a sigh, Li Yao put away his phone and went to meditate.

The next day, Li Yao set off for his hometown's county town with the things he had prepared, filled with worry. Luckily, the holiday hadn't ended yet, or he would have had to ask the school for leave. After more than three hours of bumpy travel, Li Yao arrived at the Central Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

He didn't go home.

Li Yao figured his parents definitely hadn't missed him. For all he knew, they had nearly forgotten they even had a son... Maybe he really had been the product of an unplanned burst of passion.

Whenever he thought of that,

Li Yao couldn't help tearing up—passion had created him!

Chen Xi and the others had received word early that Li Yao was coming, so they arranged for someone to wait at the hospital entrance. It was the Black-Clothed Man, the tough, hardheaded guy. Today, he still looked solemn and murderous, radiating immense pressure! When he saw Li Yao jump off the bus, he strode over quickly. "Hello, Mr. Li. Please come with me—"

"If you dare say 'come with me,' I'll crack your skull open!" Li Yao cut in.

The Black-Clothed Man froze for a moment, then said stiffly, "Please come with me."

So he'd only changed one word? Amazing.

Li Yao couldn't quite figure out how a hardheaded guy like the Black-Clothed Man had survived this long. He glanced at the man's build and immediately understood: anyone who had tried to kill him had probably been killed by him instead.

After arriving at the intensive care ward with the Black-Clothed Man, Li Yao saw Chen Xi again. It had been several days since they had last met, yet she still struck him as stunning. It was the kind of direct visual impact that hit you in the face. Her explosive figure seemed to distort the space around her, yet her temperament was so cold and distant that she looked impossible to mess with—as if she might greet you with a set of military boxing moves the next second.

Chen Xi bowed to Li Yao. "You're here."

Li Yao nodded and looked toward the patient on the bed.

He was an old man, a truly very old man.

Ravaged by cancer, the old man was terribly thin. There was barely any muscle or fat left beneath his wrinkled, aged skin. The liver spots covering his body were marks left by time's erosion, while the deep wrinkles on his aged face carried the weathered traces of a life endured. He wore an oxygen mask, and his breathing was so faint it was almost inaudible.

Chen Xi said, "This is my grandfather, Chen Beixuan."

Li Yao took out a vial of potion. It was a low-grade Vitality Potion, but not the same kind he had given Li Shishi.

—The Vitality Potion given to Li Shishi had not only skipped the final refining process, its potency had also been diluted. The Vitality Potion prepared for Chen Xi's grandfather had a higher concentration.

Li Yao said, "Give it to the old man."

Chen Xi did not question him. She took the potion and administered it to her grandfather.

As time passed, the gray aura of death lingering between Chen Beixuan's brows faded considerably. His complexion improved at a visible rate, and Chen Xi grew very excited.

Li Yao's attention was involuntarily drawn to her. Tsk, Chen Beixuan gradually woke up. He looked around in confusion and saw his granddaughter, then Li Yao. As for the Black-Clothed Man... he was ignored as part of the background. After resting for a moment, the old man exhaled a long breath of stale air, as though he had just awakened from a long, tedious old dream. He looked at Li Yao and spoke in an aged yet steady voice. "Young man, your handiwork?"

Li Yao had just opened his mouth when the old man continued on his own. "That girl Chen Xi is always meddling. Cancer can't be cured. Young man, you have ability. You can keep me alive for one more breath, but life and death are determined by heaven. No one can do anything about it. Xi'er, let's stop struggling, all right?"

Chen Xi's eyes reddened, but she stubbornly said, "No!"

He was the last person who truly loved her. After this, she would truly be all alone.

That feeling had to be painful.

Painful enough that she wanted to fight even death itself.

The old man smiled. "You've done very well these past years. With the Chen Family in your hands, I can rest easy. As for your eldest uncle, third uncle, and fourth uncle... heh."

He narrowed his eyes, and a sharp, imposing aura burst from his decaying body. "Useless things! If they truly go too far, sink them in the river. As for me... girl, let me go. I don't want to lie crippled on this hospital bed. I, Chen Beixuan, even if I die, must die like a man—not like a piece of trash. That is my dignity. My girl, don't let me leave too disgracefully."

Chen Xi lowered her head. Tears fell with soft plops, yet not a single sob could be heard.

Meanwhile, Li Yao stood to the side, lost in thought.

The old man looked at Li Yao and asked with a smile, "Young man, what are you thinking about?"

Li Yao said, "Why is there no second uncle?"

The old man said, "The second one was Xi'er's father. He died early."

Li Yao said, "..."

Big-shot Aze said that on top of the usual two daily updates, every extra update would earn me a Rudder Master title, and ten extra updates would earn me a Mengzhu title. I finished three updates yesterday, so today will still be three updates!