Out-of-body experience

"What was that dark thing? Hmm... When I was hit by the car, I heard a lot of voices, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I only made out one sentence."

Seemingly bewildered by Wen Dai's words, Zhang Yi opened his dazed eyes and looked around in the darkness with a sense of bewilderment.

He finally loosened his grip on his cotton-padded coat, raised it, and scratched his chin with his index finger. He recalled, "There was a saying that told me to go back quickly, but I didn't know where to go back to; then I saw this uncle and followed him here."

Before she could stop herself from uttering the curse word, Wen Dai suddenly stood up, and the gazes of the others all turned to her.

As Zhang Yi spoke, besides his voice, she also heard the belated arrival of the immortals behind her—

"Zhang Yi is not dead."

When Wen Dai uttered those four simple words, it startled Chen Wenkang and Qi Ya, but Chen Sizhe didn't react much, as if it were within his expectations.

Qi Ya tilted her head to look at Zhang Yi, her eyelids lifting slightly as she scrutinized him.

The spirit before me couldn't meet the light of reality; half its face was hidden behind messy bangs, with fragments of its eyes peeking out from the gaps. No matter how you looked at it, it resembled a little vengeful ghost.

She looked up at Wen Dai, surprised, and asked, "How... how can you tell she's not dead?"

The overlooked matter turned into a sudden and unexpected trouble that hit Wen Dai's head. She rubbed her forehead and her brow, her anger seeping from her lips. "His soul has left his body. When a normal person loses their soul, they might only lose a few fragments—like the three souls and seven spirits. But he lost the whole thing. There's no time to explain in detail now. I have to send this child back right away, or he'll become a vegetable."

Chen Wenkang and Chen Sizhe stood up at the same time, and the father and son said in unison, "I'll take you there."

Standing alone in the middle, Qi Ya looked around before standing up and straightening her chin. "Then I'll go too."

Unfortunately, it was impossible to mobilize the entire force, so the number of personnel was reduced by half. Chen Wenkang was asked to stay at home by Wen Dai because his yang energy was damaged, while Qi Ya was responsible for taking care of him. His third eye, which had only been opened recently, was also closed.

Zhang Yi was treated as a real person; when he got into the car, Wen Dai would open the back door for him first so he could climb in.

The boy sat obediently in the back seat, tilting his head to look at Wen Dai in the passenger seat, "Sister, where are we going?"

Wen Dai, who was fastening her seatbelt to the side, lifted her eyelids and glanced at Zhang Yi, saying quickly, "Hospital."

He then added, "The hospital where your body is located."

She turned her head and looked out the car window. In the distance, the sky was cloudless and obscured by the color of snow, and below was a world covered in snow.

Everything is white—deep silver stainless steel waiting chairs sit in front of the white walls, the operating room lights at the end of the corridor are still on, and a family is gathered outside the corridor waiting.

"What a tragedy! They didn't even know their own child was in trouble." The unaware old woman tapped the ground with her cane, her wrinkled skin loose and her cloudy eyes darting around.

The woman supporting the old woman's arm frowned, glancing every now and then at the closed operating room door. She absentmindedly explained to the old woman, "This child was a homeless child on the street. When we were there, someone nearby said he was a pitiful person. Are you sure he suddenly ran out and that's why you bumped into him?" She raised her face and stared suspiciously at the man pacing back and forth not far away.

“Li Qian, don’t you know me? When have I ever lied to you? If I hit someone, I hit someone. I’ll admit it’s my fault, but the situation at the time… even the best driver can have an accident. Who could have imagined someone would suddenly run out onto the road? And it happened right when I was turning. I told you that the green belt there needs to be taken care of.”

The man in the suit had his tie askew and a button on his collar loose, but his hand still unconsciously tugged at his collar again. He stretched his neck upwards, and his brow was similar to that of the woman called Li Qian. He seemed unable to breathe, and the heavy breaths he exhaled were exceptionally clear.

Li Qian's wrist struck the center of her forehead. She lowered her head and exhaled a breath of stale air, her lips pursing and releasing repeatedly. Her voice, tinged with dejection, rang out: "I know... of course I know you. But I'm afraid; I'm really afraid."

Her hand fell to the ground, her eyes reddened, and her gaze towards him was filled with sorrow.

Li Qian shook her head slightly and said, "I'm really scared. What if you're held responsible? Fang Yang, we don't have any children yet. If you're held responsible, if something happens to you, we'll never be able to have children again..."

“I won’t be held responsible…” Fang Yang’s hand slipped down his collar. He lowered his chin, his gaze lingering on Li Qian, but he hadn’t finished explaining his reasoning—

The woman was on the verge of a breakdown. She first raised her hands to cover her head, then threw them down violently. Tears streamed down her face as she leaned forward, saying agitatedly, "I beg you, can't you stop being so sure? Or are you going to pull strings? If you use your connections to get yourself out of this, we'll just get a divorce. You know I hate people who use money, power, and connections to evade responsibility."

Fang Yang fell silent, turning his face away. As he pursed his lips, his cheeks twitched, and his eyes, which he looked away from, held an unreadable emotion.

The old woman said with exasperation, "Ai!" She patted Li Qian's hand, who was supporting her, and turned to look at the silent Fang Yang. "Husbands and wives should work together through thick and thin. How can you two quarrel over every little thing? It's not your fault, so what's there to be afraid of? This child has no power or influence, so what means are you afraid of him using?"

She then turned her gaze to Li Qian and said with displeasure, "You too, do you see anyone who would keep thinking about their husband being sentenced to prison?"

Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe, who had brought Zhang Yi over, rushed into the corridor and happened to meet the gaze of the family who had just fallen silent.

The rush had left Wen Dai breathless. She held her back and was about to let Zhang Yi go in by himself when Li Qian asked, "Hello, are you a relative of the child inside?"

Glancing blankly at Li Qian, Wen Dai exclaimed "Ah!" and waved her hand, saying, "No." She ignored the three people, looked down at Zhang Yi who was obediently following beside her, and moved her finger, pointing in the direction of the operating room.

"Zhang Yi, I can't accompany you the rest of the way. Go in by yourself, and once you see your own body, float inside. If you can't get in, come out and find me. But I believe that the next time you see me, I will be a living, breathing being." With these words in her heart, Wen Dai smiled at the boy who was looking up at her.

Zhang Yi nodded his fluffy head, looked at Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe on the left and right, and said in a hoarse childish voice, "Okay! Goodbye, sister and uncle." He raised his thin little hand and waved to them. He slowly floated into the operating room, perhaps with some fear in his voice.

However, from Li Qian's perspective, what she felt was completely different from what Wen Dai and the others experienced. After all, two people had inexplicably appeared, and one of the women was looking down at an empty space and laughing for no reason—it was creepy no matter how you looked at it.

So she changed her target, glancing at Chen Sizhe, who looked normal on the other side, and quietly pointing at Wen Dai, raising her voice: "Are you going to the psychiatric ward? This is the emergency operating room, the psychiatric ward is on the fourth floor."

Chen Sizhe glanced at the woman, then raised an eyebrow and let out a snicker, a look of pleasure spreading across his eyes.

He glanced sideways at the bewildered Wen Dai, but responded to Li Qian in a leisurely tone: "Oh—thank you for reminding me. But she wants to stay here."

After a moment of silence, Wen Dai suddenly realized that she might be seen as mentally ill by others. She gritted her teeth and raised her hand to pinch Chen Sizhe.

However, Chen Sizhe, who was wary of her, easily restrained her mischievous hand and pulled her to sit on the waiting chair next to him, teasingly saying, "Come sit here, don't make any more noise, it's not good to scare other people."

Wen Dai nudged Chen Sizhe hard with her elbow, glanced at him sideways, and said through gritted teeth, "Chen Sizhe, are you sick in the head? You're more despicable than I ever imagined."

The accomplice who caused her to be mistaken for a mentally ill person nonchalantly raised his chin, casually crossed his legs, and said matter-of-factly, "Didn't you want to stay here and wait for a result? I was just going with the flow."

Her clenched fist was itching to punch, and Wen Dai punched him hard on the side of his thigh, her peach blossom eyes blazing with anger. "So I should thank you, right?"

Pain spread along her leg, and Chen Sizhe hissed, a shallow line appearing on her forehead. She glanced at him with displeasure and clicked her tongue, "Are you trying to physically harm me? You have quite the temper." Her gaze, which had been fixed on her, was slowly pulled back.

An impending minor argument was averted.

With something weighing on her mind, Li Qian forced herself to look away. She watched the two sitting on the waiting chairs, whispering and interacting, and said sincerely, "You two seem to have a really good relationship."

"Really? Then your eyesight isn't very good." Chen Sizhe, who had just been punched, couldn't utter a good word, and his face was filled with arrogance.

The environment suddenly became strangely tranquil because of Chen Sizhe's words.

Wen Dai secretly pinched Chen Sizhe's side. She then stepped in to ease the tension. She smiled, her peach blossom eyes radiating innocence, and asked in a naive tone, "Hey, why are you all standing here?" Inwardly, she couldn't help but curse herself as well. She was really playing the role of a mentally challenged person. It was all that damned Chen Sizhe's fault.

The question was asked knowingly; Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe knew the identities of these people perfectly well—the perpetrator and his family.

"Sigh." A short, soft sigh escaped Li Qian's lips, and a bitter smile appeared on her face.

Her lowered eyelashes obscured the color of her eyes. "My husband accidentally hit someone with his car. The child is still in the operating room, and we can't find the child's guardian. The investigators have gone to conduct interviews and gather information. We still need to retrieve the surveillance footage from the area where the accident occurred."

Li Qian instinctively defended Fang Yang again, her heart filled with bitterness that was far more bitter than the bitter smile on her face.

The old woman seemed displeased with her behavior, raising her hand and slapping Li Qian's arm several times. She also tapped her cane on the ground, her cloudy eyes trembling as she looked at her sideways. "Why say so much?" she said, lowering her voice but not completely whispering, intentionally so that Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe could hear, probably to tell them not to meddle.

The operating room light was still on, but the traffic police arrived first. They went straight to Fang Yang and said succinctly, "The surveillance footage shows that the child suddenly rushed out. You were not speeding and were driving normally, so you may not be at fault."

The old woman and Li Qian, who had instinctively gathered around, both breathed a sigh of relief, and finally loosened their grip.

The traffic officer glanced at the closed operating room door. "We'll have to wait for the surgery results to see what happens next. The case officers are also investigating. But you can rest assured, if it's not your fault, it definitely won't be attributed to you."

Half of his anxiety subsided, but the other half remained preoccupied with the life or death of his child inside the operating room. Fang Yang turned his head, his gaze fixed on the operating room door.

Fortunately, after the traffic control arrived, the operating room door was finally opened shortly afterward.

Zhang Yi, lying on the hospital bed, was wheeled out. The small, thin child was covered by a white blanket. The doctor, who had taken off his mask, stopped in front of the group of people who had gathered around and said simply, "The patient's vital signs are stable. The nurse will take him to a regular ward on the sixth floor, but he has several fractures that require treatment."

A few words brought a ray of hope to the three of them. They all let out a sigh of relief in unison. The old woman raised her hand to her chest, lowered her head, and murmured, "Thank God for protecting us, thank Buddha for protecting us..."

Li Qian, who had been on edge, suddenly felt relieved as the axe hanging over her head disappeared. Her legs went weak and she almost knelt on the ground. Fortunately, Wen Dai, who had gotten up to greet the surgeon and wanted to hear about the situation, helped her up.

With no more worries about criminal liability, Fang Yang patted his chest, the sweat on his neck seemingly ceasing. He turned to Li Qian and said, "Let's go to the ward first. The child's identity information is still being investigated. We'll take care of him for the time being. You can see if you can hire a better caregiver later."

Li Qian, who had been helped to her feet by Wen Dai, turned her head slightly, whispered a thank you, and then slowly nodded under Fang Yang's gaze.

Knowing that Zhang Yi's vital signs were stable, Wen Dai felt relieved. She watched the family leave, and the now empty corridor was left with only her and Chen Sizhe.

A heartfelt sentiment: "I really don't know what kind of life Zhang Yi will have in the future... I hope he will be alright."

"What don't you know? Aren't you quite capable? You've earned the trust of my parents." Chen Sizhe straightened his clothes, glanced at her, and spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

He evoked memories of her time at the Chen family, and Wen Dai clicked her tongue first. She walked with him toward the elevator, her hands in her pockets. "You're being sarcastic again. You're not saying this because your mom likes me more, are you? Are you petty? You even care about this, just because she spoke up for me and criticized you before?"

As she pressed the elevator button, Wen Dai glanced at the person next to her, her eyes filled with disdain. She looked him up and down, then shrank her chin and let out a long sigh, "Chen Sizhe, you're not a mama's boy, are you?"