Chapter 195: The Heavenly Physician's Gift

I held the few pages of medical records and experimental notes from the bag, finding two distinct sets of handwriting—one elegant and graceful, the other vigorous and bold.

'Liu Xuan was already in the late stages of lung cancer at twenty-seven, yet instead of breaking down, she only got healthier. Why?'

Filled with questions, I opened the experimental records.

They contained a detailed, week-by-week account of what happened to Liu Xuan between the ages of twenty-seven and thirty.

Stricken with a terminal illness, Liu Xuan was bedridden. Bai Wang couldn't bear to watch and searched everywhere for a way to cure her lung cancer.

He was a doctor himself, and an exceptional one. During that time, he tried almost every conceivable method, but nothing could control the already spreading cancer cells.

Just as his wife's time was running out, a man who appeared to be neither a monk nor a Daoist priest came to their door, claiming to have a method to extend Liu Xuan's life.

Bai Wang was already at the end of his rope. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he agreed to the eccentric man's request.

At first, this man truly treated Liu Xuan with complete dedication. Acupuncture, medicinal baths, dietary therapy—all of his methods carried a profound, mysterious Eastern essence.

Bai Wang was highly proficient in Western medicine and deeply understood traditional Chinese medicine. He could tell this eccentric man's skills were practically heaven-defying, forcefully dragging Liu Xuan right back from the edge of the Ghost Gate.

But when Bai Wang prepared to thank him, the eccentric made another demand.

In the six paths of reincarnation, life and death are decreed by fate. Those destined to die cannot escape their calamity; this is what is known as destiny.

The eccentric man told Bai Wang that if he wanted to save Liu Xuan completely, a life had to be traded for a life—using the life of the Heavenly Physician Star to offset a mortal's life.

The latter half of the experimental records was blurred, with some parts intentionally scribbled out. The general process was that Bai Wang used his own fate pattern and memories to cancel out Liu Xuan's karma, giving her a new lease on life.

After reading the complete experimental records, I couldn't help but sigh in lament.

Eight years ago, Liu Xuan was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. To save her, her husband Bai Wang surrendered his fate pattern and memories to the Two-Faced Buddha, sacrificing himself.

Five years ago, when Bai Wang was on his deathbed, Liu Xuan stepped forward in turn, wanting to follow these experimental records to exchange her life for her husband's.

She was not a Heavenly Physician, nor did she have anyone to guide her. Stumbling along, she researched for five entire years before finally touching the barrier between life and death. Unfortunately, in the end, she still couldn't escape karmic retribution.

Both of them wanted to keep the other alive, but by acting against the will of heaven, their efforts ultimately evolved into a tragedy.

I flipped through the experimental records again. The vigorous, forceful handwriting in the first half belonged to Bai Wang, while the elegant, fresh characters in the latter half had to be Liu Xuan's.

'Zhang Jiaqi must have sneaked into the office just to find these experimental records. She's a poor kid who only wanted to save her grandmother.' A person's entire life was driven by obsession, but the heavenly dao was ruthless and supremely fair; among the multitudes of living beings, absolutely no one was an exception.

Putting the experimental records away into my breast pocket, I suddenly felt a burst of heat against my chest. I hurriedly took the contents back out.

The item emitting that scorching heat was the Octagonal Token I got from Zichou. I flipped the token over; at some unknown point, two ancient characters had appeared on its surface: Heavenly Physician.

And when I went to flip through the experimental records again, every single page in the notebook had turned completely blank. The method to extend a person's life, or even resurrect the dead, had thoroughly vanished from the mortal realm.

"Heavenly Physician..."

There were still a few unsolved mysteries left within Jiangcheng Medical College, but none of that mattered anymore.

Unwilling to waste any more time, I vaulted out of the campus. Pressing myself against the shadows of the wall, I pulled out the Underworld Live Show Phone.

After a busy day, I still hadn't checked the score for this broadcast. Seeing no one around, I unlocked the phone.

"Live stream mission: Arrive at the west gate of the old campus of Jiangcheng Medical College before dawn — Completed."

"Scoring ended."

"Completing the live stream mission earns one point; peak viewer count exceeded 3,000 people, rewarding six points; total gifts received during the live stream exceeded 3,000 Underworld Coins, rewarding five points; completing the request from the Underworld, rewarding one extra point."

"Optional Mission 1: For every person who survives other than yourself, one extra point is rewarded. As of daybreak, a total of five people survived other than yourself, rewarding five extra points."

"Optional Mission 2: State the correct answer - Completed, rewarding five extra points

."

"The distress call function was not used during this live stream; the free opportunity is retained for the next broadcast."

"Tally complete. This live stream earned a total of twenty-three points. Current total points: fifty-five."

"Sixth live stream completed. Product catalog updated."

"Dragon-Capturing Technique Catalog (Master this technique to pluck the moon from the ninth heaven above, and overturn the seas to capture dragons below—55 points). Golden Silkworm Gu Larvae (Exempt from the three yin and five disasters; strictly avoid feeding with heart blood—50 points). Illusion-Piercing Eye Technique (Obtained from barbarian lands, fragmented and devoid of spirit; cultivated to grand completion, it can pierce through all truth and falsehood in the world—10 points). One-Day Fortune Lot (Good luck follows you—1 point). Fragmented Scroll of the Purple Satchel Book of Geomancy (An Upper Vehicle classic text on feng shui and geomancy—10 points). Astral Alternative Practice Method — Ghost Picture Scroll (Observe the stars, freely observe the heart—30 points). Fate Ghost Monument (Erect a ghost as a monument to anchor a shred of residual soul—5 points). High-Grade Blank Talisman Paper, Brush, and Ink (5 points). United Heart Jade (Twin jade pendants; when united as one, your minds are linked—6 points)..."

With the end of the sixth live stream, my point balance had reached an impressive fifty-five points. This high balance unlocked a brand-new product catalog, but the items inside made me hesitant to redeem anything lightly.

Take the Dragon-Capturing Technique Catalog listed in the very first slot, for example. Just a catalog alone cost fifty-five points. Putting aside whether dragons actually existed in this world or not, I genuinely wanted to send a message to the Underworld Live Show and ask them what the point of redeeming just a catalog was.

There were a massive number of items unlocked this time, impossible to take in at a glance. I scrolled around for a long time before my gaze returned to the points tally.

For Optional Mission 1, the Underworld Live Show rewarded me a total of five points. But according to the rule of rewarding one extra point per surviving person, it seemed they had given me one point too many.

The little boy, Liu Xuan, the short Security Guard, and Zhang Jiaqi. Other than myself, only these four people had survived, yet I was rewarded five points.

A "buy four, get one free" situation probably wouldn't happen with the Underworld Live Show, so the most likely reason was that at the exact moment day broke, Bai Wang was still alive.

Of course, this was just a baseless guess on my part. It was also possible that someone else had sneaked into the school.

In any case, this live stream was finally over. Physically and mentally exhausted, I took a taxi back to Ting Tang Road.

From a distance, I could see the lights were on in my small shop. Because Bai Qi was guarding the store, I hadn't locked the door when I left.

'Did someone go inside?' The moment I thought of the Lacquered Wooden Coffin still sitting on the second floor, I hurriedly paid the fare and rushed into the shop.

"Who's in there?" I called out from the doorway. There was no one on the first floor; only Bai Qi was lying lazily on the ground.

'They couldn't have gone to the second floor, could they?' When I went upstairs to look, my heart sank. The door to the second floor was pushed open, and a tall, thin figure leaning on a carrying pole was standing in the narrow room.

"Old Liu? Why did you come over here?"

The hemp-robed Daoist before me was none other than Blind Liu. In all of Jiangcheng, the only person who liked to walk around leaning on a carrying pole was this descendant of the Liu family.

Realizing it was Blind Liu, I wasn't nearly as panicked anymore, because he was the one who suggested I redeem the Lacquered Wooden Coffin in the first place.

"Have you eaten yet, Old Liu? Want to go out for a couple of drinks?" I smiled and threw an arm around Blind Liu's shoulder, but he violently shoved me away. "What's wrong with you?"

I noticed that Blind Liu's expression was off. He looked grim and serious, as if he were on guard against something.

"Old Liu? Are you possessed? It's me, Gao Jian."

Blind Liu didn't reply for a long time. He simply gripped his carrying pole with both hands and glared at me, as if trying to see completely through me, inside and out.

His stare made me very uncomfortable; his gaze was like one scrutinizing a criminal. "Don't act so paranoid. If you have something to say, just say it. What exactly is going on?"

Blind Liu planted his carrying pole firmly on the ground, his voice slightly hoarse. "Gao Jian, did you kill someone?"

My mouth hung open, unsure of how to answer. After pondering for a moment, I still gave a difficult nod. "Yeah. It was a ruthless, wealthy real estate developer. For the sake of his development project, he treated human life like..."

"Say no more." Blind Liu sighed. "You treat human life like ants, killing whenever you please, and you even used this Lacquered Wooden Coffin to perform a blood sacrifice on a living person. How is this behavior any different from a Ghost Dao Evil Cultivator? Don't ever come looking for me again. My Liu family cannot afford to be tainted by the karma you carry."

"Blood sacrifice with the Lacquered Wooden Coffin?" I looked at the coffin, whose color was now a much brighter red than it had been a few days ago, and suddenly felt that Blind Liu and I weren't talking about the same thing at all.