Chapter 26
Fortunately, the mountain road had been cleared and Ji Ying was quickly sent to the nearest community hospital.
While the doctor was examining him in the clinic, Tang An sat on a cold plastic chair in the corridor. He clasped his hands tightly together, his knuckles turning white from the force, as he tried to calm his pounding heart that was about to burst out of his chest.
As he watched Chi Ying being carried into the ambulance, Tang An's body seemed to enter some kind of automatic mode in response to stress.
Dial 120 and report the situation, address, and symptoms in the calmest and most concise language. Lay the person down carefully on the ground, unbutton the collar, and keep the person breathing freely.
Every step is precise and accurate.
But his brain was blank, like a machine that had been drained of all its thinking ability, with only the two words "Chi Ying" buzzing in his mind.
Tang An forced himself to keep going, and with trembling hands he sent messages to his familiar doctor friend and the young Taoist priest who had some skills.
After hearing the description, my doctor friend said with uncertainty: "It sounds like fainting caused by low blood sugar or excessive fatigue? But you said his breathing was steady, like he was in deep sleep... This is a bit strange. It's best to do a comprehensive examination."
The young Taoist priest replied with a mysterious solemnity: "Your first calamity has arrived. Come to me quickly, or else something bad will happen."
Both responses were superficial and failed to provide any substantive answers or comfort.
The only thing that kept Tang An from collapsing on the spot was Chi Ying's weak but real pulse and his long, steady breathing that was almost eerie.
It's okay, Tang An, it's okay...
Tang An repeated this in his mind over and over again, like a drowning man grabbing at the last piece of driftwood.
He Chenzhou and Roy saw that he was trying to remain calm but was actually frightened.
Mr. He was even more worried and subconsciously wanted to take out his pipe, but Grandma He beside him quickly intercepted him: "We are in the hospital! Why are you smoking? You have no manners!"
Old Man He touched his chest, his brows furrowed. "I'm terribly nervous... This is the first time someone has fainted on the spot in all the years the festival has been going on. The Holy Tree's anger hasn't subsided yet..."
Grandma He was annoyed: "If you feel anxious, go back and kneel down to pray."
Mr. He choked and said, "...then forget it."
He would have to go back and dance the tiring blessing dance around the sacred tree, and his old bones couldn't stand the torture.
Thinking of this, Mr. He couldn't help but glance at his grandson who was leaning against the wall in silence: "Chen Zhou, when did you..."
He Chenzhou didn't even raise his eyelids and said bluntly: "Ugly rejection."
"Useless thing!" Old Master He was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.
Roy, enjoying the fun, raised his hand with a smile, "Grandpa, I can do it!"
Mr. He glanced at him and asked, "What can you do?"
Roy tilted his head, thinking of the patriarch's torture that He Chenzhou had complained to him last night: every day he had to wear colorful sacrificial robes and sing and dance around the sacred tree.
"I can be the clan leader. I'm the best at dancing!"
Mr. He: “…Get lost.”
Grandma He frowned, looking at the old man and the two children who were not behaving properly: "It's a certain time now, the little one is making trouble, and the old one is following suit."
Roy immediately covered his mouth and blinked his big eyes to admit his mistake: "Grandma, I was wrong."
Grandma He snorted coldly: "Who is your grandma? Don't think that I will recognize you as my granddaughter-in-law just because you braided my hair this morning."
Having said that, after spending the morning together, Roy had already figured out the old lady's tough-mouthed but soft-hearted nature.
Roy leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice: "Grandma, besides braiding pigtails, I can also braid scorpion braids, fishbone braids, centipede braids, and wheat ear braids...!"
Grandma He paused imperceptibly, her face stern: "...Dating is fine, but marriage is not."
Roy immediately took her arm and said, "No problem, grandma!"
He Chenzhou, who witnessed the whole process: "..."
At this time, the door of the clinic opened and a doctor in a white coat came out. He glanced at the people in the waiting area with a serious expression.
Grandma He immediately used her eyes to warn her husband and two children who were about to say something.
The doctor walked straight up to the pale-faced Tang An and said, "You are the patient's..."
Tang An stood up almost like a catapult, his voice trembling slightly: "My love, I am his lover."
Doctor: “Married?”
Tang An: "Yes, we got the certificate."
"Okay." The doctor nodded and took out a piece of paper from the folder in his hand and handed it to him. "Then please sign it first."
Tang An took the paper and subconsciously glanced at the title - "Notice of Critical Illness".
Suddenly, his vision went dark, he staggered, and only by holding on to the back of the chair next to him did he avoid falling.
Tang An's fingers trembled. "Doctor... He... He still needs surgery? Is it serious?"
The doctor was stunned when he heard this. He looked up and saw the list in Tang An's hand. He slapped his forehead and said, "Ouch! Wrong one!"
He pulled back the glaring critical illness notice, rummaged through the folder again, and finally pulled out another one and handed it over.
"Sorry, I got the wrong one. Your husband is fine, he just fell asleep from excessive fatigue, and he's a little malnourished. I gave him a bottle of glucose. He'll be able to leave after the IV and observation."
Tang An: “…”
The huge gap made him unable to react for a while. Looking at the doctor's calm face, he even began to wonder if he was too nervous and making a big deal out of nothing.
He took a deep breath, tried to steady his still shaking hands, and signed his name on the ordinary notice.
"Excuse me, doctor."
As soon as the doctor left, He Chenzhou and others who were eavesdropping nearby quickly gathered around.
He Chenzhou: "How is it?"
Roy: "Are you okay?"
Mr. He: "See, he must have been exhausted from working too hard recently. Young people, you must pay attention to the balance between work and rest."
Grandma He spoke with the certainty typical of a fortune teller: "He was possessed by an evil spirit and his vital energy was depleted, so he naturally fainted. Bring him to see me after he is discharged from the hospital."
Tang An felt his head buzzing, and exhaustion washed over him like a tidal wave. "I'm so sorry for bothering you guys just now. The doctor said Chi Ying isn't seriously ill, she just fell asleep and will be fine after the IV. I'll be able to watch over her here, why don't you guys go back and rest first?"
He Chenzhou rejected it: "No need."
Roy followed closely behind: "I'll stay too."
Mr. He put his hands behind his back, acting like an elder: "At times like this, we still need an adult to steady us."
Grandma He also said: "With Xiaoyu over there, I won't go back."
To go back, she would have to kneel all the way from the foot of the mountain to the top, which was too much for her at her age.
Tang An: “…”
Don't think I didn't hear the little calculations in your hearts.
He sighed helplessly.
"Then I'll go see him first."
The ward was very quiet, with only the faint sound of liquid dripping from the infusion tube.
Chi Ying lay quietly on the white hospital bed, her face still pale, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyelids, and her breathing steady.
Tang An walked to the bedside, gently brushed aside his sweaty bangs, and placed his palm against his forehead.
The temperature is normal.
So, he really just fell asleep?
Tang An bent down and gently placed his cheek against Chi Ying's chest.
The steady and powerful heartbeat could be heard clearly through his chest, again and again, with the rhythm of life, miraculously soothing his shaky and uneasy heart.
Wake up soon...
Tang An's nerves, which had been tense for a long time, finally relaxed at this moment. A huge feeling of fatigue overwhelmed him like a tide, and his eyelids became heavier and heavier.
The next second, consciousness completely sank into darkness.
After an unknown amount of time, Tang An slowly opened his eyes and found that the light in the ward was dim and it was already dark outside the window.
He found himself lying on a hospital bed, covered with a thin blanket unique to hospitals.
Ji Young!!!
With a start, Tang An suddenly threw back the quilt and was about to get out of bed.
"You're awake."
Tang An's movements froze instantly. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the person who was supposed to be on the hospital bed was standing in front of the window of the ward with his back to him.
The moonlight outlined a familiar silhouette.
Chi Ying slowly turned around, holding a phone with a shattered screen in his hand.
His brow furrowed slightly, his tone undisguised with confusion.
"Damn immortal, do you know how to open this cube thing?"
It was clearly Ji Ying's appearance, but the person in front of me...
Tang An felt cold all over, and a creepy chill instantly spread from the soles of his feet to his entire body.
He subconsciously took a step back and bumped into the edge of the bed. His voice was as dry as sandpaper: "Who are you?"
'Ji Ying' seemed puzzled by his reaction and tilted his head: "You don't recognize me?"
Seeing the other person using a familiar face to perform actions that were completely inconsistent with his character, Tang An felt a chill running down his spine.
His voice was unprecedentedly vigilant and cold: "You are not Chi Ying! Who are you? Where did you take Chi Ying?!"
Chi Ying's brows furrowed even more, as if he had heard a difficult name. "Chi Ying? Is that the name of this body? Tsk, that doesn't sound very nice."
He casually threw his cell phone on the cabinet next to him with a "click" sound, and tugged at the collar of his crookedly buttoned hospital gown in annoyance, his movements appearing clumsy and impatient.
"Damn immortal, where is this?" Chi Ying looked around the shabby ward, his tone filled with disgust. "Aren't you going to lock me up in your Ninth Heaven? Is this the supreme Ninth Heaven that you immortals talk about?"
Chi Ying sneered, not trying to hide his disdain.
"It's not as comfortable and spacious as my old place."
He paced as he spoke, and finally stopped one step away from Tang An, looking Tang An up and down.
There was no longer any of the familiarity and love that was unique to Chi Ying in those eyes, only a strange inquiry remained.
He stretched out his hand, and his fingertips, which were warm from Chi Ying's body temperature, suddenly touched the faint dark circles under Tang An's eyes.
"You've cut your hair short," 'Ji Ying's' voice was flat, as if stating an insignificant fact, "and there's darkness around your eyes."
The warmth of his fingertips brushed across his skin, causing Tang An's nose to sore and his eyes to turn red instantly.
He bit his lower lip hard, resisting the urge to push the other person away and turn around and run away.
This was the last time, and Tang An held on to the last glimmer of hope.
"Where did Jiyoung go?"
“…Who the hell are you?!”
'Ji Ying' seemed to be even more confused by his intense emotions. She withdrew her fingers and unconsciously twisted them, as if she was feeling something.
He lowered his hand, his eyes fixed on Tang An, with an unquestionable scrutiny: "This body is empty inside. If it weren't for my soul entering in time and maintaining this last bit of life, it would have long ago died and turned into a dead thing."
Chi Ying paused, his gaze becoming sharper, as if to penetrate Tang An's skin and reach his core: "Where's your spiritual power?"
"When I touched you just now, I couldn't even sense the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy in your body... Damn immortal, you..." A trace of disbelief and suspicion flashed in his eyes, "Are you really going to die?"
Tang An had no idea what he was talking about "primordial spirit" and "spiritual power".
The huge panic and despair wrapped around his heart like cold vines, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
He forced himself to calm down, his brain racing, trying to comprehend the bizarre situation before him:
First, dissociative identity disorder? Could this "Chi Ying," who spoke in elegant language and called himself "the original spirit," possibly be a young man with an ancient style who had split off from Chi Ying under immense pressure?
Second, was Ji Young playing a prank? Although he had loved to play pranks before, he had never done anything this extreme.
Third, amnesia? Maybe it's a side effect of turning into a dog? So I forgot some things.
fourth……
Tang An pursed his bloodless lips and met the completely unfamiliar gaze of "Chi Ying".
According to metaphysics, it means that one has been possessed by a ghost.
No matter what, he must immediately find someone who can solve this incredible incident.
"Wait for me inside." Tang An tried hard to force a slightly soothing smile.
"Wait until you can talk to me?" 'Chi Ying' looked at him seriously.
Those eyes were clearly still Chi Ying's, but the emotions they conveyed were never those of the person he knew.
If we must describe what this creature that occupies Chi Ying's body is.
Tang An thought of a case he had taken over before, in which a young man tried to use Kumantong to win back his partner's relationship, but ended up making things worse and turning himself into a hollow man.
Because of the problem with my brain, I have no worries for the rest of my life.
The young man just needs to remember that this man named Mr. Yang will always love him.
Tang An uttered a heavy "hmm," and then rushed out of the ward without even looking back, almost as if escaping.
I watched that stinky immortal run out in a hurry, and talked eagerly with a group of humans outside the door who were dressed in the same strange clothes.
'Ji Ying' felt confused and vaguely uneasy.
He could not sense any spiritual power, could not probe or leave, and could only choose to believe in the only god he knew.
"They are all gods, they shouldn't lie, right?"
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