My Dignity

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

"Remember the paranormal stuff I told you about last time? I'm telling you, I wasn't lying! Since you didn't believe me, I decided to investigate myself. I originally wanted to get solid proof and shove it in your face, but this investigation led me to something incredible!"

"I'm so damn awesome!"

"My hands are shaking as I send you this email!"

"I don't know if it's from fear or excitement."

"Do you know how many people go missing in our country every year? And do you know how many of those missing persons cases involve paranormal events? It'll scare you to death if I tell you! I looked into some data and actually found some clues, especially recently. I don't know why, but the number of missing people has suddenly increased, and they're mostly young women. My keen sense tells me there's a conspiracy here!"

"Unfortunately, I don't have time to order a Trench Coat and Deerstalker Hat and Pipe online. I'm on my way to investigate. The true face of this world is in my hands, and I'm going to reveal it myself!"

"I'm sending you this letter to let you know, in case I kick the bucket, you damn well better come and save me!!!"

"I haven't even finished spending my Ant Credit Pay!"

After reading the letter, Li Yao felt a mix of emotions.

Damn it,

There were so many things wrong with it that he didn't even know where to start, which messed up Li Yao's train of thought.

Oh right,

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

We're sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable.

Great! She blocked him directly.

Li Yao was puzzled. What was she trying to achieve? Was she afraid he'd stop her from opening the door to the world?

She could start courting death with a single thought. How could she be so awesome!

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 his Meditation practice for the day, so he might as well meditate first.

As for Lin Xiaoxi…

Screw you (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻! I don't care anymore! Like the saying goes, you can't save someone who's determined to die.

Let Lin Xiaoxi sprint headlong down the road to ruin.

Thinking like that, Li Yao felt much better, and even his Meditation efficiency improved a bit… not! He took out his phone and sent Lin Xiaowei a message: "I'm telling you, something big happened! About your sister!" After waiting for a while, there was no reply, so she wasn't online.

Sigh, Li Yao put away his phone and went to meditate.

The next day, Li Yao worriedly set off for his hometown county with the things he had prepared. Fortunately, the holiday wasn't over 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, though.

Li Yao figured his parents probably didn't miss him. Maybe they had almost forgotten they had a son… Maybe he really was the product of their unplanned passion.

Whenever he thought of this,

Li Yao couldn't help but be moved to tears—it was passion that created him!

Chen Xi and the others had received the news of Li Yao's arrival early on, so they had arranged for someone to wait at the hospital entrance. It was the tough-acting, stubborn Black-Clothed Man. Today, he was still solemn and imposing, with a strong sense of oppression! Seeing Li Yao jump off the bus, he quickly went up to him: "Hello, Mr. Li, please come with m—"

"If you dare say 'come with me,' I'll punch a hole in your head!" Li Yao interrupted.

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

So you just changed one word! Awesome.

Li Yao couldn't understand how a stubborn guy like the Black-Clothed Man had survived until now. He glanced at the Black-Clothed Man's physique and suddenly understood: anyone who tried to kill him had probably been killed by him instead.

He followed the Black-Clothed Man to a high-end intensive care unit, where Li Yao saw Chen Xi again. After a few days apart, he still found Chen Xi stunning, with a direct visual impact. Her explosive figure seemed to distort the surrounding space, yet her temperament was so aloof, making her seem unapproachable: as if she could unleash a set of military boxing moves at any moment.

Chen Xi bowed respectfully to Li Yao: "You've arrived."

Li Yao nodded, looking at the patient in the hospital bed.

It was an old man, a truly ancient old man.

Ravaged by cancer, the old man was extremely thin. There was hardly any muscle or fat left under his wrinkled skin. Age spots covered his body, the marks of time's erosion. Deep wrinkles lined his aged face, revealing a life of hardship. He wore an oxygen mask, his breathing barely audible.

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

Li Yao took out a potion, a low-grade Vitality Potion, but not the kind he gave to Li Shishi.

The Vitality Potion for Li Shishi not only lacked the final refining process, but its potency was also diluted. The Vitality Potion prepared for Chen Xi's grandfather was of a higher concentration.

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

Chen Xi didn't doubt him, taking the potion and administering it to her grandfather.

As time passed, the gray pallor lingering between Chen Beixuan's brows faded considerably. His complexion improved at a visible rate, and Chen Xi was thrilled.

Li Yao's attention was involuntarily drawn to it. Tsk, Chen Beixuan gradually woke up, looking around blankly. He saw his granddaughter and Li Yao, while the Black-Clothed Man... was ignored as background. The old man paused for a moment, then exhaled a long, turbid breath, as if waking from a long, redundant old dream. He looked at Li Yao, his voice aged but steady: "Young man, your doing?"

Li Yao just opened his mouth when the old man continued, speaking to himself: "This girl Chen Xi is just meddlesome. Cancer, there's no cure. Young man, you're capable, able to bring me back for a breath, but life and death are in the hands of fate, no one can do anything about it. Xi'er, let's not bother anymore, eh."

Chen Xi's eyes were red, stubbornly saying, "I won't!"

This was the last person who truly cared for her. After this, she would truly be alone.

That feeling must be very painful.

Painful enough to fight even death.

The old man smiled, "You've done very well these years. I'm relieved to leave the Chen family to you. As for the eldest, the third, and the fourth... heh,"

He narrowed his eyes, a sharp aura bursting forth from his decaying body: "Useless things! If they really go too far, just sink them into the river. As for me... girl, let me go. I don't want to be paralyzed in this hospital bed. I, Chen Beixuan, even in death, must be like a person, not a waste. That's my dignity. Girl, don't let me leave too disgracefully."

Chen Xi lowered her head, tears falling patta patta, but no sound of crying could be heard.

Li Yao, on the other hand, was lost in thought.

The old man looked at Li Yao, smiling as he asked, "Young man, what are you thinking about?"

Li Yao: "Why is there no second child?"

The old man: "The second child is Xi'er's father, died early."

Li Yao: "..."

Brother Ze said that on the basis of two updates a day, an extra update will give me a Helmsman, and ten more updates will make me a Lord. Yesterday I finished three updates, so today there are still three updates!