Chapter 491 - 491: Lingzi's Purpose

Night had fallen.

Zhao Yuan lay on the bed in the on-call room, continuing his study of *Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis* with the help of his Concentration Technique.

The others had either returned to their hotel to rest or were making do for the night in the on-call rooms and wards the hospital had arranged. It was unknown what the people back at the hotel were doing, but those who remained at the hospital had already fallen asleep.

Meanwhile, in the consultation room, Kawashima Haruhiro was still pacing anxiously, trying to figure out how to treat himself. In all his decades as a doctor, he had never encountered a situation like today's. He had tried every treatment method and every medicine available, but nothing had any effect.

He could hardly believe it was real.

Liu Mingzhang and Qiu Haogu, who were in charge of monitoring Kawashima Haruhiro, had already gone to bed. They were getting on in years; they could manage during the day, but they couldn't stay up all night.

The ones currently monitoring Kawashima Haruhiro in the consultation room were the students they had brought to the Chinese Medical Exchange Forum to gain experience: the PhD student, Yan Ziyu, and the graduate student, Shenyang Jia.

The two of them were currently yawning in their chairs, scrolling through their phones while watching Kawashima Haruhiro pace out of the corners of their eyes. They couldn't help but complain inwardly, 'This Japanese guy has been pacing all day. Isn't he tired? When is he finally going to sleep? If he doesn't sleep, we can't rest either. This is killing me, I'm so tired.'

When the clock struck two in the morning, the time when everyone is at their sleepiest and most deeply asleep, the door to the consultation room suddenly creaked open, pushed from the outside.

Kawashima Haruhiro turned his head to look.

Yan Ziyu and Shenyang Jia, who had been dozing off, were instantly wide awake. They stood up and eyed the newcomer warily.

But when they got a clear look at the person's face, they couldn't help but gasp, their gazes instantly becoming dazed.

The person who had entered the consultation room was none other than the mysterious Lingzi.

She had deliberately dressed up for the occasion today.

"Lingzi, what are you doing here?" Kawashima Haruhiro asked in surprise.

Lingzi smiled and said, "You've had a long, tiring day. I came to comfort you."

Her every smile and frown, her every word and phrase, carried a potent, soul-stealing charm. It wasn't just Kawashima Haruhiro, the direct target of her attention, who was affected; even Yan Ziyu and Shenyang Jia stared, transfixed, swallowing repeatedly and looking utterly captivated.

Lingzi walked up to Kawashima Haruhiro and said, "A good balance of work and rest is the best way to come up with a solution, don't you think?"

"Yes, yes, you're right," Kawashima Haruhiro said, his eyes glazed over. He immediately turned his head and ordered Yan Ziyu and Shenyang Jia, "You two, get out for a bit. I have business to attend to!"

Yan Ziyu and Shenyang Jia raised their eyebrows. They didn't obey him. In fact, his shout seemed to snap them out of their daze a little. "If we leave, what if you take the opportunity to cheat?" they asked.

Kawashima Haruhiro's eyes widened, and he was about to lose his temper.

Lingzi raised a hand and pressed a finger to his lips. She turned to Yan Ziyu and Shenyang Jia and said, "Could you two please step out for a moment? I can surrender my phone."

"Uh… alright, then." Mesmerized by her, the two turned and left the consultation room.

Though no one touched it, the consultation room door creaked shut on its own.

Inside the consultation room, Lingzi sat on a nearby chair, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds.

Exhausted from the day, he yawned nonstop. After murmuring a few tender words while hugging the skeleton, he fell into a deep sleep, and snores soon filled the air.

Once she confirmed he was asleep, the Bone Woman walked over to Lingzi and presented her with a Qi Pearl.

Lingzi opened her mouth and swallowed the Qi Pearl. She then rose, walked over to Kawashima Haruhiro's side, and lightly tapped the spot between his eyebrows. In a seductive tone, she said, "Mr. Kawashima, can you tell me where your family's ancestral treasure is kept?"

Even in his sleep, and even under Lingzi's Hypnosis Technique, Kawashima Haruhiro still did not divulge the secret. "No! The ancestral precept says this secret can only be told to the legitimate heir. No one else can know!"

"The brand of that ancestral precept on your souls is truly deep," Lingzi sighed. The ancestor of the Kawashima Clan was once a priest at a Shrine. He had placed a Spell within the precept, ensuring that not only would all his descendants strictly obey it, but that no one could use a Technique like hypnosis to pry the secret from their lips.

However, Lingzi still had a way.

She chuckled and said, "No matter. In another two days, when the Primordial Qi in your body drops to its lowest point, the Spell in your ancestral precept will register you as a dead man and will no longer have any effect. At that point, I'll be able to get the secret from you."

Lingzi turned her head and said to the Bone Woman, "You can go first."

The Bone Woman nodded, pushed open the consultation room window, and leaped out, quickly vanishing into the night.

Lingzi then opened the consultation room door.

Yan Ziyu and Shenyang Jia, who had been pressing their ears to the door to eavesdrop, came tumbling to the ground.

Lingzi had known all along that the two of them were eavesdropping. When she later questioned Kawashima Haruhiro and gave orders to the Bone Woman, she had spoken very quietly, unafraid that they would be overheard.