Chapter 198.2: Healing the World Part 2

Ji Jue put on an expression of utter “horror.” “Oh no, ruptured organs! Emergency surgery. Now!”

The ghostly figure stared in terror, but before it could react, the bone blade fell, slicing open its chest and abdomen. Ji Jue roughly yanked out a long section of intestine and removed it. Although he looked deeply troubled, he had no choice but to reach in again.

“Ah, your liver doesn’t look too good either.”

“A punctured lung? That’s really... unfortunate.”

“Your heart stopped! What’s going on here?” ℯℯ𝑙.

Ji Jue’s hands didn’t pause moving for even a second. With the enhancement of Flawless Craft, his speed was unbelievable. It was like he was pulling stuffing out of a rag doll. In just a few swift motions, he had completely emptied the ghostly figure’s chest and abdomen.

And yet it was still not dead?! Its vitality was so high that it was truly worthy of admiration.

As the ghost struggled, it seemed to have realized that everything was futile. It could only stare at Ji Jue with its four eyes filled with immense venomous hatred because its ability was completely useless. All it could do was force itself to endure and wait for the treatment to end.

For what felt like the hundredth time, Ji Jue gasped in shock, “Oh no, intracranial hemorrhage?!”

His small hands naturally reached for the ghost’s head. Before it could do anything, he brought the blade down and split its skull open.

Blood sprayed out, staining Ji Jue’s face red, but he didn’t react at all. This was what emergency treatment was like. Every second counted, and there was no time to waste! If he didn’t treat the injury now, the patient was going to recover!

Still, amid all this busyness, he couldn’t help but look up at the strange figures around him. For some reason, they were getting farther and farther away, as if quietly retreating. He could sense the connection between them, like they were all part of the same whole body.

In that case...

Frowning, Ji Jue shouted, “Oh no, the patient has lost too much blood! The family members must prepare to donate blood!”

The many ghostly figures around him shuddered, as if some unseen force had seized them. They struggled soundlessly, trying to break free, but an even more terrifying weight pressed down on them, leaving them unable to move. All they could do was quiver in place.

Ji Jue urged them, “The patient is about to stop breathing! What are the family members still standing around for? Donate blood! Donate blood! Donate blood!”

His voice rolled down the silent street, echoing and overlapping until it boomed like thunder. On Ji Jue’s chest, the bloodstained ID badge shook fiercely. At last, beneath the grime and blood, a wildly laughing face covered in stitches emerged.

As Ji Jue’s lips moved, it shouted alongside him, Donate blood!

Blood rushed forth in waves. As sharp screams echoed from all around, scarlet poured out of the ghostly figures without end, gathered into a rushing current, and flowed into the body of the dying patient on the ground.

The shattered ghostly figure, moments from death, was given new strength and had its vitality restored, but it didn’t get to celebrate because, immediately afterward, blood sprayed back out from every wound on its body. It spread into the air, only to be slurped clean, down to the last drop, by Horsey, who had quietly crept over at some point and had been hiding nearby.

Horsey flashed its headlights, silently urging them on. Delicious. I love it. I want more! More, please!

And so, the wailing began once more as Horsey gulped everything down.

Ten minutes later, when Ji Jue reluctantly stood up from beside the patient, the ghostly figure on the ground had already been completely hollowed out. It no longer had the strength to even wail. It lay there flat, stiff, and shriveled, like a milk carton sucked dry. Even the four eyes on its face had been kindly removed by Ji Jue as a preventive measure against presbyopia.

After seven or eight rounds of blood donation, the residual shadows around them had also grown dim and flickering, like candles guttering in the wind. Under the hungry sweep of Horsey’s headlights, they backed away one after another, waving their hands in terror.

There was nothing left, nothing at all, not even a single drop!

After draining almost all of the ghostly figure’s soul and forcibly extracting its aberration contamination and spirit matter, Ji Jue was left with the finished product in his hand.

It was a thumb-sized crystal. Although it was clearly mercury, it had taken on the translucent texture of a gemstone after repeated purification through Fluid Alchemy. Its surface was dyed scarlet in its entirety, with light flowing brilliantly through it.

Ji Jue nodded in satisfaction and placed it into his toolbox, setting it beside the black iron block from yesterday’s aberrant at the workshop. Once he collected enough materials, he would have enough to craft something worthwhile.

He raised a hand, wiped the blood and sweat from his forehead, then took off his gloves and announced the good news to the family members. In the dead silence, he looked eagerly at the stunned ghostly figures and smiled with anticipation. “The rescue was a great success. The patient is now out of danger. Now, you may pay the bill. Would you like to pay by cash or card?”

***

The long street embraced stillness once more. At some point, everyone inside the car had gone as quiet as chickens[1]. They stared, dumbfounded, as Ji Jue laughed wildly while draining the ghostly figure’s blood, digging out organ after organ condensed from spirit matter, and reducing a monster that should have left all of them scrambling into a hollow shell in the most literal sense.

Then, he turned around and began beating up and extorting the relatives. He was the kind of person who’d catch a toad and squeeze urine out of it[2]. He wanted everything. Aside from a single breath that kept them alive, he left them nothing.

Ji Xue swallowed dryly. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly turned to look at Lou Feng, unable to hide her shock. “Are all you Ember-types... like this?”

Lou Feng waved his hands like mad. “Just him! I’m a normal person! No, all of us craftsmen are normal! Ji Jue is the exception! Can you even call that thing human?!”

He had to draw a line between himself and Ji Jue. A very firm line! If he hadn’t, he had a feeling the reputation of all craftsmen would be dragged into the gutter by this bastard. Besides, when was the last time Ji Jue had behaved normally?!

Ji Xue remained silent for a long time. She looked at Lou Feng, then at Ji Jue, who was laughing wildly while beating up the ghostly figures, and nodded. “Fair point.”

In the passenger seat, Xu Guan, who had witnessed the entire process, turned his head back stiffly. His face twitched as he looked at Tong Shan. “Sir, I suspect he’s with the Heretic Cult.”

Tong Shan didn’t reply immediately, looking as though he wanted to say something but choosing not to. He actually very much wanted to nod and tell him, I suspect it too, but I don’t have proof.

He only patted Xu Guan on the shoulder to comfort him. “Look on the bright side. He’s way more unhinged than the Heretic Cult, right?”

Xu Guan didn’t confirm nor deny that. He silently deleted that entire section from the record book.

The car door opened. Leaving behind a huge mess strewn all over the ground, Ji Jue returned to the vehicle looking refreshed. He sat down, tilted his head back, and chugged an entire large bottle of water before letting out a long breath.

“Whew! That really worked up a sweat.” He wiped his face and looked around, puzzled. “Hm? What’s wrong with you guys? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

After a round of panicked glances, Ji Liu coughed, his eyes darting away. “I-it’s nothing... Nothing at all... Maybe everyone’s just tired. We’re all tired, right?”

Everyone immediately chimed in.

“Yeah, exactly!”

“That’s right!”

“I’m exhausted. My head hurts!”

“Let’s hurry up and go. Go, go! This place isn’t safe to linger in!”

And so, the vehicle that had stopped for so long finally started moving again. It rolled over the mess on the ground, and over the ghostly figure still struggling in the middle of the road, unable to get up. Amid a series of deeply satisfying crunches, it drove toward the shadowy world that twisted around them like a maze.

After a long, long while, light finally appeared ahead. A shadowy wall emerged from the darkness, and searchlights swept toward them. Faintly, they could see figures hurrying along the top of the high wall.

“We’re finally here.”

As everyone let out breaths of relief, Ji Liu stepped on the brake and finally relaxed a little. Ahead of them was the permanent exploration team’s base.

However, someone raised a gun at them.

1. “Quiet as a chicken” is a popular internet slang phrase. It is often used in fandom circles and on social media to tease someone or tell a person or group to shut up and behave. It can also describe people who were noisy a moment ago but have suddenly gone completely silent. ☜

2. “Catch a toad and squeeze urine out of it” means that even if someone catches nothing more than a toad, they will still squeeze it for whatever tiny bit of value they can get.

It’s a classic northern Chinese saying used to describe someone who is extremely stingy, greedy, or ruthless about extracting profit, even from something that seems to have nothing to offer. It is similar in meaning to “plucking feathers from a passing goose.” Sometimes, it can also describe someone using harsh or brutal methods to force an impossible result. ☜