Moonlight

Without the Qingyao Demoness's frenzied fighting, the "17th Floor" forum was still swarming with hate, and things were looking grim.

Dragged into the mess by Li Bai, the Seventh People's Hospital had been under immense pressure. At last, it broke its silence and arranged for someone to post on the "17th Floor" forum a recording of Yao Bing's entire diagnostic assessment, along with a second evaluation from Professor Hou Xiaozheng, chief physician of the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine's mental health department. But even that couldn't silence the crowd. The hospital was soon drowned out by a flood of deliberately stoked doubts and angry comments.

Anyone in public relations who took a close look could easily spot the fingerprints of professional trolls—and there was more than one group.

After leaving the Demoness at home to reflect behind closed doors, Li Bai, still unaware of the sudden uproar on the "17th Floor" forum, tucked away his flat-lens glasses imbued with a secret technique and drove to the Cao residence again.

The Cao family was both surprised and delighted to see Li Bai return.

They were surprised that he had brought something to treat Cao Qiuqing so quickly, and delighted that her difficult-to-cure hysterical disorder could finally receive effective treatment.

Compared with when Li Bai had left that morning, Cao Qiuqing, her eyes covered with a silk handkerchief, was clearly in much better shape. She was no longer dazed and vacant. Apart from being a little timid and occasionally feeling inexplicably uneasy, she could now converse with her family like a normal person.

The Cao Family's Youngest Daughter's hysterical disorder had been brought under control for the time being not only because the handkerchief blocked her vision, but also with the help of the hypnotic suggestion Li Bai had given her.

The ordinary-looking black-framed glasses seemed to have nothing special about them. No matter how they tried, Chairman Cao and his wife couldn't understand how they could cure their younger daughter's visual disturbance.

But they had no choice but to trust Li Bai's expertise. At the very least, he had effectively controlled a strange illness that medicine had failed to treat.

He removed the silk handkerchief that had bound her for half the day and put the black-framed glasses on Cao Qiuqing.

The unremarkable black-framed glasses gave the delicate, petite young lady of the Cao family a mature, alluring, intellectual air—a surprisingly good match.

"All right, you can open your eyes now."

Li Bai snapped his fingers, without using any magic, to let his patient know she could open her eyes.

Perhaps she was still shaken. It took Cao Qiuqing a while to summon the courage. She slowly opened her eyes, first peeking through a narrow slit, then widening it little by little until her vision finally cleared.

The first thing she instinctively looked at was the bookcase. Chairman Cao and his wife immediately tensed up. The young psychologist had actually guessed the cause: the bookcase had triggered the visual suggestion.

Who could have imagined that such an eerie coincidence would happen in this room?

But after staring at it for a few seconds, Cao Qiuqing's face gradually filled with surprise. She could no longer see that terrifying face. She turned her gaze elsewhere, but there were still no hideous, frightening faces. Everything around her seemed to have returned to normal.

Li Bai saw that the black-framed glasses were working and nodded in satisfaction. He told the Cao family, "All right, it looks like it worked. From now on, don't take these glasses off except when you're sleeping. Make sure you remember that. You need to wear them for at least two years. After that, you can wear them or not."

"Then, Doctor Li, what should we do if the glasses get lost or broken? Could you make a few more pairs? I... I can pay for them."

Chairman Cao had found something else to worry about.

"Mm, that is a problem. But don't worry, I'll get you a few spare pairs. These simple frames don't cost much. We can talk about it later."

Getting a few spare pairs of glasses was no trouble at all for Li Bai. A pair of plain lenses cost less than fifty yuan, so ten pairs would only be five hundred. It was hardly a big deal.

"Thank you, Doctor Li. Please accept this token of appreciation for your hard work."

Madam Cao smiled and handed him a red envelope. It didn't contain cash, but a check—one for even more than the one they'd given Daoist He of Qingliang Temple: a full two million yuan.

"No need! I have a small favor to ask. I'd like something else as payment for this house call."

To their surprise, Li Bai shook his head and refused the red envelope Madam Cao offered him.

In truth, he had his eye on something else, something even money couldn't replace.

"What do you want? If we have it, please take it."

Now that his younger daughter had recovered, a heavy weight had finally lifted from Chairman Cao's heart. He was deeply grateful to the young psychologist, and especially admired his professional ethics in not demanding payment.

"Just a small thing." Li Bai's gaze fell on the left wrist of Cao Qiuqing, the young lady of the Cao family. "I want that bracelet."

The bracelet?

Chairman Cao and Madam Cao looked at their younger daughter's wrist. Beads about the size of soybeans were strung together into a bracelet. The nearly transparent milky-white stones glimmered with a strange, faint blue iridescence, like the cool light of the moon.

When she heard the young psychologist wanted her moonstone bracelet, Cao Qiuqing blushed for no apparent reason. She lowered her head and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "This moonstone bracelet isn't worth much!" As she spoke, she shyly hid her hands.

Chairman Cao and Madam Cao exchanged glances, smiles appearing in their eyes. Their younger daughter was twenty, just at the age when a young woman was beginning to bloom.

This young man was rather interesting. He was actually playing hard to get.

In ancient times, exchanging such personal belongings between a man and a woman was tantamount to exchanging tokens of love. Even though modern society was much more open-minded, Li Bai had brazenly asked for a young woman's personal bracelet. A moonstone bracelet was worth five or six hundred yuan at most, but his intentions were obvious to anyone.

Chairman Cao and Madam Cao had no intention of refusing, though they would, of course, need to vet him first.

From that moment on, the way they looked at Li Bai changed subtly, without either of them quite realizing it.

"I don't care whether it's worth much."

In the afternoon sunlight, Li Bai's smile was warm and refined, and his otherworldly air seemed to emerge naturally. The Cao family's gazes lingered on him for a brief moment.

From them, he had learned what the bracelet's beads were made of: moonstone.

Unlike cultivation among the Human Race, which required refining Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, the Demon Race needed to absorb the Essence of Sun and Moon to cultivate. But the sun and moon in this world held no energy that demons could use to cultivate, leaving the Qingyao Demoness at an impasse.

Yet Li Bai had unexpectedly sensed a trace of Moonlight Essence from the beaded bracelet on the left wrist of Cao Qiuqing, the young lady of the Cao family. There was a way forward after all. Though this world's Heaven and Earth Rules were unsuitable for cultivation, they had still left a sliver of possibility.

"If you want it, you can have it."

Cao Qiuqing blushed and slid the moonstone bracelet off her wrist.

"Thank you!"

Li Bai finally got what he wanted.

Holding the moonstone bracelet, he gently probed it with his Spiritual Power. Just as he had suspected, every moonstone bead contained Moonlight Essence indistinguishable from that of the other world, cool and serene, and even more concentrated and pure.

Seeing Li Bai gaze at her moonstone bracelet so "devotedly," Cao Qiuqing felt both shy and delighted.

"Ahem!"

Madam Cao cleared her throat, reminding her husband not to get in the young people's way.

"Oh, you two go ahead and chat. We have some things to take care of!"

Chairman Cao came to his senses and hurriedly made an excuse, preparing to leave his younger daughter's room with his wife and give the two young people some space.

"No need. I should get going. If anything comes up, you can call me. I'll send the spare glasses by courier."

Li Bai put away the moonstone bracelet and said his goodbyes.

"You're leaving already? Won't you stay for dinner?"

Madam Cao was sure her expression at that moment had gone stiff. All she saw was Li Bai wave without even looking back and disappear from sight. He hadn't seemed inclined to stay a moment longer.

It took Chairman Cao quite a while to react. Still utterly baffled, he said in bewilderment, "H-he left? Honestly, that Xiao Li!"

The Cao Family's Youngest Daughter, Cao Qiuqing, looked from her daddy to her mommy, pouted, and nearly burst into tears.

That guy really had only wanted the bracelet. Did he really find that cheap trinket more appealing than her?