Chapter 271
Chapter 271
Song Xiaotian and the others arrived at the hospital soon afterward.
Pan Xiaorou was indeed with them. I greeted her.
“What happened?”
“How did things get this bad during a holiday?”
When Song Xiaotian and Meng Yifan saw that Seventh Master was still inside, anxiety and worry covered their faces.
I gave them a rough account of what had happened.
Seventh Master had already been injured before we entered the Ghost Wall. He had then used an invocation seal while physically weakened, and his body might not have been able to withstand the burden.
He was getting old, after all.
Song Xiaotian and the others had not participated in this case. They did not know the details and could offer no opinion.
“That Old Man is even more incredible than us. He should be fine.”
For now, we could do nothing but wait for Seventh Master to escape danger.
But I could not sit still. I had already experienced how dangerous this case was, yet neither Seventh Master nor I would ever abandon it halfway. We had to see it through.
Besides, we had already obtained many clues. We still needed to investigate several things. Once we gathered all the evidence and learned the full truth of what happened back then, we would have to face the ghost, or perhaps every ghost in Luo Mansion.
That final step would be the most dangerous.
Seventh Master was badly injured, and we did not know whether he would recover. Meng Yifan could not help much either. Song Xiaotian might be my only teammate.
How could the two of us handle that final step alone?
I wondered whether I should call Anning.
I did not know if I ought to ask her to come. This case was simply too dangerous.
If Seventh Master had been awake, I could have asked what he thought.
But then I realized I could not depend on Seventh Master for everything. This was a trial from the Ancestral Master. I needed to grow up, learn to think independently, solve problems on my own, and make my own choices.
After considering it at length, I picked up my phone and called Anning.
It was already afternoon, but she seemed to still be asleep when she answered. “What is it?”
I told her Seventh Master and I had taken a case in Lincheng, that something had happened and he was in the emergency room, then asked whether she could come.
Anning agreed at once. She instantly sounded awake and said she would book a flight to Lincheng.
I told her there was no rush. We probably would not act again for a while and still had many things to investigate.
After I ended the call, Meng Yifan walked over.
He asked who I had called, and I told him it was Anning.
Then I asked, “Why is Pan Xiaorou with you?”
“Don’t even ask.”
Meng Yifan looked helpless. “That woman is terrifying. She had someone locate Song Xiaotian through his phone number. She learned he was vacationing in Qiongzhou, found his exact location, and came straight to us.”
“And when she arrived, she didn’t call Song Xiaotian first. She called me. What could I do? I had to tell her he was with me.”
“Later, when neither you nor Seventh Master answered our calls, we thought something had happened. We told her we were coming to Lincheng, and she followed us again.”
That rich woman was far too persistent. Song Xiaotian probably would never shake her.
But since the hexagram said she would come, perhaps it had been destined.
After another hour of waiting at the hospital, Seventh Master was finally wheeled out.
The wrinkles on his face had not disappeared. He truly looked more than ten years older.
Song Xiaotian and Meng Yifan were both shocked by the sight.
“How did this happen to him?”
Seventh Master was quickly wheeled into a ward. We surrounded the doctor and asked about his condition.
The doctor wore a complicated expression and spent a long time saying very little. In short, Seventh Master had electrical burns, but they differed significantly from ordinary electrical injuries. The doctors could not yet determine exactly how.
They also could not find the cause of his physical weakness. None of his internal organs were damaged, and every test result was normal. They suggested taking him to a traditional Chinese medicine hospital.
We knew nothing about medicine, but the complexity of the situation made it sound ominous.
The doctor said Seventh Master would wake in one or two hours.
There was nothing we could do but wait.
Back in the ward, Song Xiaotian sent Pan Xiaorou back to the hotel. I could tell she irritated him.
After she left, he stared at Seventh Master, who looked like a completely different person from before, his expression grim. “He was such a vigorous Old Man. How did he suddenly end up like this? Who buried that thing?”
I shook my head and said I had suspected Boss Lin of trying to harm us, but Seventh Master insisted it could not have been him.
Song Xiaotian thought for a moment. “Boss Lin is highly suspicious because only he knew Seventh Master would go to the construction site. But if it wasn’t him, then it could only have been one of his enemies. Seventh Master was simply the person trying to solve the problem, so he took the first hit.”
“But this enemy must also know about Luo Mansion. Otherwise, they couldn’t have made such a precise arrangement and forced Seventh Master’s own magic to backfire on him.”
I nodded, completely agreeing with Song Xiaotian’s reasoning.
It seemed we needed to question Boss Lin carefully about who hated him this much.
Less than an hour later, Seventh Master woke.
We crowded around and asked how he felt.
“The Thunder Method is extreme Yang and belongs to Water. The kidneys belong to Metal. The backlash from the Thunder Method depleted my kidney essence. It’s nothing serious.” Seventh Master remained weak, but his mind was clear.
“You’re in this state, and you call it nothing serious?” Song Xiaotian said. “Have you looked at your face?”
Seventh Master laughed. “I don’t need to. I’ve practiced the Dao since childhood, so I looked younger than my peers. But at my age, this appearance is perfectly normal. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the laws of nature. A person should look their age. There’s nothing to dwell on.”
We could not help admiring how calmly the Old Man regarded it.
There was no need to obsess over his appearance, but we were worried about his health.
“Depleted kidney essence has a major effect on vitality, energy, and spirit, but it isn’t impossible to recover.”
Seventh Master struggled into a seated position. “I’ll write a prescription. Take it to a traditional pharmacy and get the herbs. After a few days of the decoction, I’ll be fine.”
Once he finished writing, I took the prescription and prepared to buy the medicine.
Before I could leave the ward, Assistant He arrived with Boss Lin.
Boss Lin stopped in the doorway. The sight of Seventh Master shocked him so badly that he stood frozen for a long time.
“Seventh Master, how did you end up like this?”
He hurried over, his expression complicated and probably full of guilt.
Seventh Master waved a hand. “Our work is never smooth. Injuries are common, so you don’t need to feel bad. First, answer one question. Have you made a serious enemy of anyone?”
Boss Lin froze, not understanding. “What? What do you mean?”
We hurriedly explained how Seventh Master had been injured. “Boss Lin, someone must hold a grudge against you. They buried something at your construction site to prevent the project from being completed.”
Boss Lin sat rigidly in his chair. His expression shifted from shock to confusion, then from confusion to fury.
“I think I know who did it!”