Knowledge Hooks

Ning Xiuyuan's heart stirred, and he looked around:

The blond priest standing guard over him by the window had a face like solid ice. His azure eyes were filled with mocking ridicule, and the corners of his mouth had already begun to curl upward impatiently, waiting for him to say something absurd.

The brown-haired priest sitting by the door and leafing through a book also raised his face. His eyes, set in a refined and scholarly countenance, gleamed with deep suspicion.

Behind Father Rhodes, several members of the investigation team who had come with him remained expressionless, but their right hands quietly moved toward the smalls of their backs.

Heh!

Ning Xiuyuan gave a self-mocking laugh.

To this world, he was ultimately an outsider.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. This concerns a Church secret, so I can only tell His Excellency the Bishop."

"Hm?"

Father Rhodes raised an eyebrow. He had imagined countless excuses, but he had never expected this answer.

"Absurd! You're an alien. What right do you have to meddle in Church secrets?"

"Do you think Church secrets are something you can access?"

"Father Rhodes, I suggest we simply extract his mind-body and interrogate him!"

The priests suddenly erupted, and the hot-tempered ones began shouting.

Listening to the righteous indignation around him, Rhodes' mountainlike expression suddenly softened into a faint smile:

"I know that, as an alien, your dreams are unusual, and entering your dreams has no effect on you. But that isn't something you can rely on for sophistry."

"Your explanation isn't important at all. What matters is evidence. That is the fundamental reason the Church formed an investigation team!"

At these words, the members of the investigation team instinctively puffed out their chests, their eyes filled with pride.

That was right. Why should they care about Arthur's sophistry?

Evidence was the foundation!

That was also the reason the investigation team existed.

"I'll give you time to slowly weave your lies."

Rhodes spoke with firm confidence, then turned and left.

The members of the investigation team followed him out. As they left, each one looked at Ning Xiuyuan with eyes full of mockery.

Weave lies?

Ning Xiuyuan remained silent.

He suddenly felt somewhat less confident about Bishop Byron.

The deaths of Orlando and the other three had dealt a tremendous blow to the clergy of Francis Diocese, yet the Disease Deceiver's supernatural characteristic could not possibly be made public.

Would Bishop Byron use his head to appease the public fury?

At that thought, a wave of helplessness rose in Ning Xiuyuan's heart.

That evening, Ning Xiuyuan was transferred from the Church Hospital to Bernard Abbey to recuperate.

Of course, calling it recuperation was merely a euphemism. It was actually imprisonment.

Two priests stood guard outside his room at all times, and no one knew how many supernatural forces were hidden in the darkness.

Or rather, as an abbey that cultivated new blood for the Church, it was itself a violent institution!

Escaping from here would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

After night fell, Ning Xiuyuan sat at the desk, leafing through medical texts, but he could not read them no matter how hard he tried.

He glanced at the Crystal Lantern from the corner of his eye. He wanted to consume the Bird-beaked Monster's supernatural characteristic, but considering that he was currently under surveillance, he had no choice but to forcibly restrain himself. The feeling left him extremely irritable.

"Ms. Angela, please go back. Arthur is a suspect now and cannot meet with anyone. You've probably heard about that incident as well. We're doing this for your own good."

A conversation suddenly came from outside, drawing Ning Xiuyuan's attention.

"I know, but Arthur has attained tremendous heights in medicine. I'm desperate to ask him for guidance..."

The voices outside suddenly blurred, likely concealed by some method.

Not long afterward, Sister Angela's eager voice came from beyond the wooden wall.

"Mr. Arthur, are you asleep?"

"What is it?"

"Father Rhodes asked me to verify your medical theories during the day. I achieved great success with animals. I never imagined the Ascetic Physician could be used this way. I want to learn medicine from you. Do you think that would be possible?"

Angela's voice was filled with anticipation, along with a certain... awkward innocence.

"Why don't you come in and talk?"

"I'm sorry. They said you're a lost lamb now, so it isn't convenient for you to meet anyone."

A lost lamb?

Ha, what a tactful way of putting it.

Ning Xiuyuan laughed.

"You're a renowned Ascetic Physician. I imagine your supernatural characteristic has already been completely integrated. As someone who has only just advanced, how could I be qualified to teach you medicine?"

"Medicine is medicine, and supernatural characteristics are supernatural characteristics. As long as you heal enough people, you'll eventually be able to completely integrate your supernatural characteristic as well. But when it comes to medicine, your medical theories are ahead of their time. It would be my honor to learn them from you."

"Is that so? Then will I have a day when I completely integrate my supernatural characteristic?" Ning Xiuyuan sounded half contemplative and half probing.

There was a moment of silence beyond the wooden wall.

"I don't know. But the Dean once said that we are God's shepherds, and also God's lambs. A lamb that has taken the wrong path isn't beyond redemption. God will forgive all who sincerely repent!"

For fuck's sake...

Ning Xiuyuan almost cursed aloud when he heard this. Was this how she was supposed to talk?

Judging by her meaning, had she already tacitly assumed he was a sinner?

Ning Xiuyuan stopped speaking.

"I'm sorry this happened. That night, Uncle Woodrow's sow gave birth. That litter was the lifeblood of his entire family..."

Sister Angela began rambling outside.

As Ning Xiuyuan listened, he suddenly grew somewhat angry.

He had never imagined that the root of the Orlando loss of control incident's involvement with him was actually because of a few piglets.

It turned out that Angela had gone off to play veterinarian that night. It was precisely because she had left that Orlando had settled for second best and come looking for him.

Come to think of it, was playing veterinarian something a supernatural being was supposed to do?

Didn't she know that an Ascetic Physician consumed the life force they had accumulated whenever they healed others?

And she had used it to treat piglets?

Just as Ning Xiuyuan was becoming annoyed, he suddenly felt somewhat relieved.

As the people of Flower Planting Family said, good deeds were rewarded and evil deeds punished. Perhaps it was Angela's kindness that had allowed her to escape Orlando's loss of control.

But what had he done wrong?

"I heard that you're going to face the Church's judgment tomorrow..." Angela suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

He did not know whether she had realized something or whether her voice had been concealed.

Inside the room, Ning Xiuyuan's entire body shuddered, and countless emotions surged through his heart.

After remaining silent for a long while, he said, "Are you still there?"

"Yes."

"What would you like to hear?"

"Huh? What?" Angela first froze beyond the wooden wall, then asked excitedly, "I—I want to know why you believe that healing an injured heart is fundamentally no different from healing an ordinary wound?"

Why?

Because I was standing on the shoulders of giants!

"Because..."

Ning Xiuyuan was just about to speak when he suddenly realized that what he considered common knowledge was incredibly difficult to explain.

This world possessed supernatural power, yet its exploration of basic science remained extremely primitive.

Then again, under supernatural power, even the most critical injuries and the most complicated illnesses could all be cured with a single treatment.

And if that failed...

It could only mean that your supernatural cultivation wasn't advanced enough.

Under such circumstances, it would be a miracle if basic science had developed at all.

Ning Xiuyuan was not a medical student.

But his common-sense understanding of the human body still elicited repeated cries of surprise from Angela.

For example, he said that the heart was not a blood-producing organ;

For example, he said that heart disease might not be a problem with the heart itself, but with its blood vessels;

And for example, he said that bloodletting was a method of killing people... and so on.

The night stretched on, and all things fell silent.

Yet the pair's conversation never left the subject of the heart.

The more common-sense the question, the more complicated it was to explain.

The two were communicating through a wall, which further increased the obstacles to conveying information. Whenever the topic occasionally veered elsewhere, an hour had already passed by the time they returned to it.

Thus, when a sliver of fish-belly white appeared along the horizon, Angela grew anxious.

The more they talked, the more she felt that Arthur's medical knowledge was unfathomable.

For instance:

He had casually mentioned that fever—the killer of children—was not an illness, but a stress response of the body. Such an absurd theory had left her utterly stunned.

But after listening to Arthur's explanation, she had to admit that what he said seemed to make quite a bit of sense.

She desperately wanted to learn more.

But there was no time.

She was practically on the verge of tears.

"Ms. Angela, it's dawn. Please leave!"

The guard's voice of admonishment came from beyond the wooden wall, carrying an unusual emotion.

"Wait a little longer, Mr. Arthur. If fever isn't an illness, then how should it be treated?"

Angela pressed him for an answer. Once she solved this difficult problem, she would be able to save more frail children.

"Ms. Angela, please leave. Don't make things difficult for us!"

The guard's voice carried a hint of sternness.

They had already said "wait a little longer" several times.

In the end, Sister Angela was still driven away, and the wooden house, which had been noisy for an entire night, finally fell quiet.

"Squeak!"

The door opened. The blond priest stood at the entrance, looking at Ning Xiuyuan with a complicated expression. He said politely, "Mr. Arthur, please."

Ning Xiuyuan nodded, drew a deep breath, and stepped out of the wooden house.

He did not know whether the knowledge hooks he had deliberately left behind that night would save his life at a critical moment!

Sorry, I had something to do during the day and was delayed.