Chapter 35
It was only after Xie Xubai became Jiang Kaile's tutor that he realized the Jiang family's resources were truly substantial.
First, there's the area.
The Jiang family's direct descendants mostly live together, each in a mansion built around the ancestral home. The mansions are separated by green belts or other structures, and together they resemble a small to medium-sized scenic area, not including the back mountain where the ancestral graves are located.
Secondly, people from well-off families typically hire private doctors on call 24/7. Some even spend exorbitant sums to hire an entire medical team.
The Jiang family, on the other hand, built a small private hospital directly in their own home!
Xie Xubai had never been to the Jiang family hospital before, because the hospital was surrounded by two teams of fierce-looking security guards who patrolled day and night, keeping it tightly guarded. Outsiders could only enter with the head of the family's permission or by making a special application.
He also made a special observation and found that the Jiang family members basically avoided the hospital, either out of disgust or fear.
It was clearly built to serve the Jiang family, but few people are willing to seek medical treatment there.
Such cryptic behavior makes one wonder if there's some unspeakable secret hidden inside.
Or perhaps, the bloodshed that is not visible in the open within the family is hidden away.
However, when Xie Xubai was taken inside by Jiang Kaile this time, he found that it was not as dark and scary as he had imagined.
The ceiling was snow-white, the marble tiles spotless, and a faint smell of disinfectant filled the air. Several people dressed as servants sat in chairs receiving IV drips, their heads against the wall, eyes closed, dozing off.
Everything looked no different from a regular hospital.
Because there weren't many patients, several nurses were slacking off at the nurses' station.
Upon seeing Jiang Kaile, they immediately stood up and hurriedly came to greet him: "Young Master, what brings you here? Are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Kaile waved his hand: "Don't worry about me, I'm looking for Grandpa Wu, where is he?"
"Dr. Wu didn't go out today; he's seeing patients inside."
Jiang Kaile pulled Xie Xubai forward and hurriedly pushed open the door: "Grandpa Wu, the teacher is not feeling well, please come and take a look at him!"
Once inside, I found the pristine white consultation room completely empty.
"Could it be inside?"
Jiang Kaile released Xie Xubai's wrist, opened the door to the inner room, and still didn't see anyone.
"That's strange, didn't they say Grandpa Wu didn't go out?"
Jiang Kaile frowned, then turned to Xie Xubai and said, "Teacher, please sit here and rest for a while. I'll go ask someone."
Xie Xubai pointed to the examination room across the street: "Can't we see another doctor?"
Jiang Kaile looked over in that direction, and in an instant, his eyes turned icy cold.
And then, in an instant, everything returns to normal.
He said with a hint of disdain, "Dr. Zhang? His skills are absolutely terrible. He can prick your hand and make it bleed just from giving you an IV. It hurts like hell! That bastard definitely got in through connections. Teacher, please don't go to him again."
The last half of the sentence was emphasized.
Seeing that the boy was exaggerating the person's badness so vividly, Xie Xubai tried to dissuade himself from asking further questions and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Alright, then I'll wait here. Thank you, Jiang, for helping me find a doctor."
"It's nothing." Jiang Kaile chuckled, handed Xie Xubai a cup of hot water, and turned to leave.
A moment later, the boy's voice came from outside.
The nurses, who were surprised to hear that no one was inside, said, "We didn't see him come out. Did he go out through the back door?"
Xie Xubai habitually checked his surroundings, scanning them briefly, but didn't find anything noteworthy for the time being.
He had been sweating a lot and was thirsty. Just as he brought the cup to his lips, he suddenly heard a sharp, abrupt sound from the inner room.
*Smack*
Something fell to the ground, rolled twice, like a solid glass jar.
The movement was subtle, yet it instantly tensed Xie Xubai's muscles.
He clearly checked with Jiang Kaile just now, and there was no one inside!
The conversation outside the consultation room faded into the distance, seemingly because Jiang Kaile hadn't found anyone inside the hospital and was preparing to go outside to check.
In the blink of an eye, Xie Xubai had already stood up. Without being presumptuous enough to investigate the inner room alone, he rushed to the door of the clinic.
Just then, a rough, elderly voice came from the side: "Would you like to hear a child's story, Teacher Xie?"
Xie Xubai's pupils dilated, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
He quickly turned around and glanced behind him.
The old man standing at the door of the inner room was wearing a white coat. His forehead was covered with deep wrinkles, his cheekbones were prominent, and his skin was covered with gray-white age spots. His face looked like a dried and rotten orange peel.
Looking at his body, he was shockingly thin.
With sunken eyes and skin and bones, one might doubt that what is in front of them is a walking skeleton rather than a human being.
Xie Xubai's breathing quickened slightly, because he noticed some bluish-purple lividity beneath the age spots.
—The old man before us is clearly not human, but a monster!
Just as Xie Xubai was alarmed by the old man's identity, the latter opened his cloudy, whitish eyes and carefully examined him.
The room was deathly silent; even the conversations of the nurses in the lobby had vanished completely.
All that could be heard was Xie Xubai's heart pounding in his chest, a truly terrifying sound.
A few seconds can be very short or very long.
The next second, Xie Xubai suddenly moved.
Instead of fleeing as the old man expected, she withdrew her foot from the doorway and turned to face him.
"Dr. Wu?" The young man's tone was questioning, but his calm and steady gaze had already confirmed his identity.
"...It's me, Wu Wen."
The old man's voice was hoarse and weathered, and despite his frightening appearance, he was surprisingly kind: "I noticed you the moment you followed Lele into the Jiang family. Luckily you didn't run away just now, otherwise I don't know what other opportunity I would have had to meet you alone."
Xie Xubai was more cautious and decisive than he had imagined.
Most people, even if scared, would instinctively peek out when they hear something fall inside. But the young man rushed out without a word, without the slightest hesitation.
"I heard Lele say you weren't feeling well, and you do look quite unwell." The old man took out his stethoscope and pointed to the bed next to him. "Lie down here, let me take a look at you first."
Xie Xubai did as instructed.
This was another point that surprised Dr. Wu.
The young man's calf muscles were taut, and he was not at ease, as if he would leap up and run at the slightest disturbance.
But he simply lay down.
The stethoscope was inserted into Xie Xubai's clothes and pressed against his chest. After an unknown amount of time, Dr. Wu finally admitted with admiration, "...the heart rate is normal and very stable."
He thought the young man's calm expression was feigned.
The coolness of the metal surface sent shivers down Xie Xubai's spine.
He noticed a hint of coldness, a tentative, wandering energy, mixed in with the coolness, but the stethoscope remained fixed in one spot.
Dr. Wu continued, "Since you've already guessed what I am, why aren't you afraid of me? Why are you still willing to lie down and let me examine you?"
Xie Xubai replied without pausing, "I simply believe in my student. Someone who can be affectionately and trustingly called Grandpa Wu can't be a bad person."
Dr. Wu froze, his cloudy eyes looking straight down, as if trying to discern whether Xie Xubai was lying.
Xie Xubai and the old man looked at each other calmly.
He spoke the truth and wasn't afraid of being judged.
When she spoke again, Dr. Wu's voice was even gentler: "Didn't you just meet that child?"
The others had no prior memory of it; in their minds, the teacher and student were indeed meeting for the first time.
Xie Xubai trusted Lü Xiangcai, but he couldn't reveal his true feelings in front of these people who could come into contact with Jiang Kaile at any time. So he said nonchalantly, "It has nothing to do with whether we just met or not. The first time I saw Jiang Kaile, I had a feeling that he was a kind-hearted and good kid."
Upon hearing this, Dr. Wu seemed unhappy, hesitated, and sighed.
"You can't think like that. Everyone has a hidden side. If you only think about the good in others and not their bad, it will be cruel to both of you when they finally reveal their true colors."
As Dr. Wu spoke, he opened the drawer.
Xie Xubai thought there would be some bottles and jars inside, but to his surprise, they were dried herbs.
The old man handed him one: "It's already washed clean. Chew it and swallow it. It will help your recovery."
The spoken parts then began.
These dried herbs still smell wonderfully fragrant and refreshing; they must be good medicine.
Xie Xubai accepted the gift, thanked him, and chewed it; it tasted somewhat bitter.
At the same time, a warm current emanated from where the herbs had broken, flowing through the limbs and bones.
His strength was almost completely restored in the blink of an eye.
Seeing the surprise in Xie Xubai's eyes, Dr. Wu smiled.
He packed the remaining dried herbs into a small bottle and, like an elder giving a child a red envelope during Chinese New Year, stuffed it directly into the young man's pocket: "Take this. You'll really need this if you live here in the future."
Looking into the old man's cloudy, lifeless eyes, Xie Xubai was finally certain that the kindness he felt from the old man was genuine, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth in his heart.
He touched the bottle in his pocket and asked hesitantly, "Why did you become a doctor?"
A stethoscope that doesn't know how to use (doctors usually listen to the heart rate from different positions), sun-darkened skin, hands covered in calluses, and drawers containing only herbs.
More like a mountain herder than a doctor.
Dr. Wu shook his head and sighed heavily.
Seeing his distressed expression, Xie Xubai asked again, "You said before that you wanted to tell a story about a child."
The old man initially used this phrase to persuade him to stay, but hesitated and didn't speak, perhaps because he had some concerns.
"...Yes, it's a child's story."
Dr. Wu didn't know how to use a stethoscope, but he still held it in his hand. After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke in a hoarse, aged voice: "That happened not long ago. I met a child at the Jiang family's house. The child looked very anxious, moving stones and turning over the grass, as if he was looking for something."
I went up to him and asked, "What's wrong? Did you lose something?"
"The child nodded firmly, then pointed to his chest and said he had lost his heart and couldn't find it anywhere in the Jiang family home. I laughed when I heard that. How can a person live without a heart?"
Dr. Wu's voice grew increasingly somber as he stared intently at Xie Xubai, a chilling and sinister undertone in his voice: "But when I bent down to listen to the child's chest..."
"Grandpa Wu!"
The boy's clear voice came from outside, startling Dr. Wu, who looked over in a panic.
Jiang Kaile appeared at the door, panting, looking at them with surprise and delight: "I finally found you! You were here all along? I didn't see you at all."
He rushed over, taking three steps at a time, and asked anxiously, "Have you seen the teacher? Is he alright?"
Xie Xubai keenly noticed Dr. Wu's slightly rapid breathing and smiled as he continued, "I've seen him, and he's much better now. Dr. Wu is truly a miracle worker; I don't feel tired at all."
"This was also given to me by Dr. Wu. Such effective herbs must be very valuable." He took out the bottle containing the herbs and looked at the old man gratefully. "I really don't know how to thank you enough."
Dr. Wu quickly replied, "It's just some herbs, nothing too valuable. We can just pick more."
Seeing Xie Xubai's calm demeanor, Jiang Kaile quietly loosened the fingers that were deeply clenched in his palm and said, "Yes, Grandpa Wu is an expert in picking herbs, what's this? Please accept it."
"You brat." Xie Xubai frowned and gave him a hard knock on the forehead.
"Don't take your family's hard work for granted. Look how old your Grandpa Wu is. Is it easy for him to go into the mountains to collect herbs?"
Jiang Kaile covered her forehead and shrank back under Xie Xubai's stern gaze: "I'm sorry..."
"Who should I apologize to?"
Jiang Kaile pursed her lips, turned her head and looked at Dr. Wu dejectedly: "I'm sorry, Grandpa Wu."
When Dr. Wu saw that the little devil would actually admit his mistake, his eyes widened slightly.
Judging from his expression, he was even more shocked than the old butler.
Jiang Kaile glanced at Xie Xubai's reaction and, seeing that he was still frowning, quickly said in a coquettish tone, "Since Teacher is all better now, let's go first. Didn't you want to meet your new colleagues?"
Xie Xubai was tugged at by the boy's sleeve and shaken several times before finally relaxing his brow and saying, "Okay."
"Dr. Wu, we'll take our leave now. Thank you so much for today." He planned to visit the old man again later.
"Ah. Okay, be careful." Dr. Wu said, snapping out of his daze.
Xie Xubai and Xie Xubai left the clinic together.
As they approached the hospital entrance, the boy suddenly stopped. "Teacher," he said, "I've thought about it, and I realize my attitude just now was really inappropriate. I'd like to apologize to Grandpa Wu again. Could you wait here for me for a moment?"
Xie Xubai looked at the eager boy and casually asked, "Do you need your teacher to come with you?"
"No, I'd be embarrassed if the teacher came along," Jiang Kaile said, feigning shyness.
"Okay." Xie Xubai nodded.
Just as Jiang Kaile was about to run away, he suddenly grabbed the boy's wrist, pulled the unprepared boy into his arms, and gave him a tight hug.
Jiang Kaile was suddenly enveloped in warmth, her face flushing bright red. She stammered, flustered, "T-Teacher?! What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I just felt moved to see that Dr. Wu, who is in his sixties or seventies, is still willing to stay and work at the hospital for Jiang."
Xie Xubai seemed deeply moved: "I just said that we can't take the sacrifices of our loved ones for granted. Jiang didn't refute the word 'family' either, which clearly shows that she also cares about Dr. Wu, right?"
Jiang Kaile suddenly calmed down, her face, which was turned away from Xie Xubai, was full of complex emotions.
He said, "So the teacher figured it out? Grandpa Wu and I aren't actually grandfather and grandson."
"One of you has the surname Jiang, and the other has the surname Wu. Do you think the teacher is stupid?"
Xie Xubai seemed to find it both funny and sad. He opened his arms and put them on Jiang Kaile's shoulders, meeting his gaze at the same level: "But the feelings of treating each other as family will not be bound by blood ties."
Jiang Kaile remained silent with a sullen face until Xie Xubai continued, "The same goes for teachers."
"Even though it was the first time I met Jiang, I felt like we'd known each other forever."
These words were like a bolt from the blue for Jiang Kaile, who looked up at Xie Xubai in shock.
Xie Xubai: "To be honest, Jiang, I'm not afraid to admit it. But when I heard that the Jiang family head had found seven tutors for you, I wasn't nearly as nonchalant as I appeared. In the end, it was just jealousy that got in the way. I didn't want Jiang to have any other teachers."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Kaile was incredulous, but secretly overjoyed: "Since the teacher doesn't like them either, then I'll..."
"Therefore, I will definitely prove my strength in front of the Jiang family head and strive to become Jiang's only teacher."
Xie Xubai looked at Jiang Kaile, his tone filled with an expectation that no one could refuse: "Jiang, are you willing to believe your teacher?"
Jiang Kaile was speechless, stunned by Xie Xubai's bright eyes, and swallowed back the words "kick them all out of the Jiang family".
He and Xie Xubai looked at each other, and the latter smiled slightly at him.
The young man's eyes shone brightly, filled with unwavering seriousness, and whenever he looked at him, they were so gentle that they seemed to melt with tenderness.
Jiang Kaile suddenly realized that the frustration he felt about being forced to recognize seven strangers as his teachers had disappeared, and he felt extremely happy at that moment.
Seeing the gloom on the boy's face finally dissipate, Xie Xubai smiled and said, "I think this is how I feel about Jiang, like family, just like you and Dr. Wu."
When Dr. Wu was mentioned, Jiang Kaile's expression changed. He remained silent for a long while before finally admitting, "Teacher is right."
"Go ahead," Xie Xubai patted the boy's shoulder. "I'll wait for you here."
Jiang Kaile nodded and ran out in two steps: "I'll be right back, very soon!"
Xie Xubai smiled and watched him leave.
After the boy's figure disappeared, he lowered his eyelashes and looked at his palm.
—As expected, there was no pulse or heartbeat.
—But when the cycle rules warned Jiang Kaile against any illogical intimacy with him, he clearly heard the other's heartbeat.
—Does it stop beating under normal circumstances, or was it hidden somewhere after entering the Jiang family?
Looking at the empty surroundings in the consultation room, Dr. Wu couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Kaile ran back a moment later and closed the door behind him.
"Lele..."
Jiang Kaile paused, pursed her lips, and remained silent for more than ten seconds before looking up at Dr. Wu: "Grandpa Wu, you should be able to tell that I care about my teacher. Why did you tell him about my situation?"
Are you retaliating against me?
Even though Xie Xubai had warned him beforehand, Jiang Kaile still couldn't help but feel his eyes redden. He tried his best to control his anger and confusion, and said in a trembling voice, "I'll take revenge on you for dragging back the people who should have been sleeping underground to this abyss of the Jiang family!"
"No!" Dr. Wu retorted urgently, somewhat incoherently, "I'm just afraid, afraid that person will find out about you... and it will hurt you."
"The teacher isn't that kind of person!" Jiang Kaile retorted decisively, even more indignant. "You're afraid he'll hurt me if he discovers my abnormality, so you're planning to tell him directly? Don't you think there's something wrong with what you're saying?"
"I really didn't! Lele, please listen to me..."
Dr. Wu would certainly not do that, so he first revealed the lividity to test Xie Xubai's acceptance.
If Xie Xubai is so afraid of him, then he definitely won't be able to accept Jiang Kaile's true appearance.
He will do everything he can to get Xie Xubai out of the Jiang family and prevent the two from having any further contact.
But Jiang Kaile couldn't listen to Dr. Wu's explanation.
Upon waking up and seeing the Jiang family, which had been completely transformed by his influence, and Wu Wen, a dead man he had unintentionally dragged into the Jiang family's cycle, Jiang Kaile was utterly devastated.
He could barely accept the former, but the appearance of the latter was simply the death of him.
He knew that Wu Wen had been trapped by the Jiang family for his entire life, so he didn't want this to happen, he would rather die than let it happen.
It was at that moment that Jiang Kaile felt a sharp pain in his head, and his rapid, burning breaths sounded like a dragon's roar. His remaining rationality told him that he was only a hair's breadth away from madness!
Apart from Dr. Wu, there was no one in the entire Jiang family whom he trusted, but spending time with Dr. Wu would only exacerbate his breakdown.
At that moment, Jiang Kaile's mind was filled with Xie Xubai's image. Remembering his teacher's encouragement, he forcefully suppressed his madness.
He needs to find a teacher.
We must find him quickly!
And so, with what little composure he had left, Jiang Kaile repeated his previous actions: knocking out the young novice monk, taking the driver hostage, and carrying the brocade box to Shengtian Group.
During the car ride, he even maintained the same posture as before, and deliberately kept his breathing light, not daring to make the slightest change, for fear of affecting something.
Fortunately, Jiang Kaile did see Xie Xubai intact and without memory, otherwise he couldn't imagine what he would end up like.
"It took the teacher so much effort to forget..." Jiang Kaile looked at Dr. Wu with red eyes, her eyes unconsciously filling with tears.
He hesitated, looking bewildered and pained, and said, "Do I have to tell him again that the good child in his heart is actually a cruel monster?"
"You..." Dr. Wu said with a wry smile, "If that's the case, why did you bring him back to the Jiang family?"
Jiang Kaile shuddered, clutching his head in even greater pain: "It's not that I wanted to bring him back, it's that he can't get out anymore, just like..."
He suddenly shut his mouth.
Jiang Kaile repeatedly adjusted his breathing to calm his turbulent emotions. His eyes gradually turned violent and cold, and his tone left no room for doubt: "Since that's the case, then let's keep him under my watchful eye. I will protect him."
In the blink of an eye, the boy's demeanor completely changed.
He looked at Dr. Wu, a crimson glint in his eyes, and sneered coldly, "Recently, a few little bugs have infiltrated the Jiang family. They don't seem to have any good intentions. If they break into the hospital, have a nurse take them to the examination room across the street. Don't have any contact with them."
After Jiang Kaile finished speaking, he lifted his foot to walk out.
But when he caught sight of Dr. Wu's worried face, he suddenly remembered Xie Xubai's words, stopped in his tracks, and forced out another sentence: "Remember, don't have contact with those outsiders. Even if the dead can be brought back to life, it will still hurt."
Before Dr. Wu could answer, Jiang Kaile ran out.
A short while later, the teacher and student met.
Seeing the still-wet eyes in Jiang Kaile's eyes, Xie Xubai didn't ask anything, but gently ruffled his hair.
After the cycle started, the Jiang family had an extra tiered classroom specifically for teaching Jiang Kaile.
Just as Xie Xubai and his companion reached the door, they suddenly heard a scornful sneer coming from inside: "...After all, I won the A-level Ghost King dungeon with my own strength, unlike some slackers who survived by chance and then degenerate into dogs after tasting the sweetness once, who are keen on sucking up to NPCs."
Xie Xubai glanced at Jiang Kaile beside him, and seeing that the boy's expression was normal, he naturally opened the classroom door.
The door opened, and the man was still spouting nonsense: "Just wait, that NPC named Xie Xubai better not show up in front of me, otherwise I will definitely make a fool of him and squeeze all the value out of him as a key NPC!"
Before he could finish speaking, Xie Xubai and the man locked eyes, and the scene fell silent for a moment.
Xie Xubai carefully observed the man. He was a man in his thirties, wearing a dark brown training uniform, with two thin, outward-pointing mustaches, narrow and long eyes, and a shifty, rat-like appearance. He was also very muscular.
The moment the bearded man met Xie Xubai's gaze, his breath hitched, but he quickly calmed down and looked at Jiang Kaile as if nothing had happened.
He clearly believed that a young man like Jiang Kaile was more in line with the title "Dragon Slayer Boy" and more worthy of his attention.
Xie Xubai also shifted his gaze to the other players who were secretly observing them.
The bearded man's words made him realize that he must know someone among the players.
Sure enough, Yan Yue, who was suppressing his anger, was among them.
To Xie Xubai's surprise, Yan Yue showed no expression when he saw him, his eyes looking as unfamiliar as if he had never seen him before.
At the same time, Yan Yue's live broadcast room exploded with excitement.
Damn, who is this guy? He's so arrogant.
Hu Chang, a veteran player ranked 23rd on the overall strength list, has a record of [5]. Why do you think he dares to be so arrogant?
Yan Yue also recorded [6]!
: It's different. Yan Yue's record [6] was won with the help of that NPC, while Hu Chang cleared the A-level Ghost King dungeon on his own, although he ended up in a sorry state.
Holy crap! Honey! Look! Xie Xubai is really in this dungeon!!
Even without this comment reminding them, other viewers had already seen Xie Xubai's naturally handsome face, and the fans who admired his looks instantly went wild!
In just a few dozen seconds, the number of comments increased exponentially, densely filling the entire screen!
The live stream was either filled with excitement, with people calling out "wife" or relieved that Xie Xubai was still alive, almost causing the entire stream to crash.
But soon, the audience calmed down.
Something's not right. It's understandable that the others haven't seen Xie Xubai in person, but why does Yan Yue act like he doesn't know him?
Yan Yue has really gotten too cocky. He couldn't even recognize his wife when they met. He's destined to be a loser.
Hey, stop going crazy, there's obviously something wrong here.
Could it be cognitive distortion? Some mental pollution-type dungeons also use this trick, so I don't know if it's Xie Xubai's own characteristic or an effect added by the dungeon.
Huh? So even if you remember your wife's face, you won't recognize her when you go inside? No way!
Am I the only one who feels embarrassed for Hu Chang? Saying to his face that he wants to have some fun with him.
It's okay, the NPCs don't understand anyway.
Ordinary NPCs can't understand, but Xie Xubai is a special NPC! He can even subdue an A-level Ghost King, so what kind of ordinary person is he? And don't you think what he said to Xu Qingran at the end was very subtle, as if he had already seen everything?
Holy crap.
:grass.
Now that you mention it, it really is...
You guys think he can actually understand all the players' conversations... I doubt it, right? If he really could, wouldn't Hu Chang be able to unleash his ultimate skill right in front of everyone?
Look at Xie Xubai's reaction! He's closely observing Hu Chang!
Holy crap, this is going to be really exciting.
Author's Note:
I couldn't keep track of time when I was engrossed in writing! QAQ Apologies for the late update. As compensation, I'll see if I can make up for the extra chapter with 10,000 nutrient solutions after Yuncheng wakes up (I can't afford to give out red envelopes anymore OTZ).
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