“This shadow can move anywhere within Old Liu’s brain! This just isn’t scientific!” Doctor Wang felt a little excited as even he didn’t dare to believe the imagery from the MRI machine.
According to common sense, no matter what kind of substance the shadow comprises, just the fact that it was mobile should have turned Old Liu’s brain into mush already. He had no chances of survival. Yet he had only lost consciousness and didn’t show any life-threatening signs except for weak vital signs.
“Doctor Wang… I can’t understand your words. Can you explain it more clearly?”
“That’s… I think Mr. Liu should see it yourself!”
Soon after, Liu Shan witnessed a mind-numbing scene on the display monitor. An amorphous, egg-sized shadow moved at a casual pace inside his father’s brain. It didn’t seem like a living organism at all.
“Parasites have existed within the patients’ brain in several cases, but it’s impossible for a parasite to move so quickly and even more so for it to have an amorphous nature. We cannot determine the nature of this shadow and hence cannot start any kind of treatment. It’s because even if we operated on the brain, we’re incapable of extracting it properly!” Doctor Wang looked ashamed as his words were akin to declaring that even the hospital couldn’t do anything about Elder Liu’s condition.
“Is there any institution or a specialist that can find a solution?” Liu Shan still held some hope.
“Although there are a lot of neurologists better than me in the world, I believe none of them can find a method to treat Old Liu. This case goes against all known medical theories… and doesn’t conform to science!”
“Doesn’t conform to science?!” A flash of realization dawned upon Liu Shan and made him look at his daughter, “Xue’er. You must find Xia Yan and bring him here!”
“Y-Yes!” Liu Xue’er felt overwhelmed too. The words ‘doesn’t conform to science’ from Doctor Wang had impacted her significantly as the matter had finally spiraled back to the occult.
☠ ☠ ☠
Songxian Bridge.
Brother Hu was packing up when a few people stopped in front of his place. He recognized one of them as the girl that had bought two Soul Ataraxia Stones from Little Xia for ¥10,000. Before he could call out to her, the girl asked anxiously, “Uncle, where’s the student that had a stall beside your place in the afternoon?”
“Didn’t he leave with you?” Brother Hu stated dazedly.
“He didn’t come back?”
“Nope.”
“Do you know him?”
“It was his first time coming here today. I only know his surname is Xia and that he’s a student, nothing more.”
Liu Xue’er left Songxian Bridge in despair as this clue led to a dead end. She pondered for a moment and then called her father, “Dad, Xia Yan might be a university student. Can you ask someone to find out which universities have students with this name?”
“I had a meal with Chief Li from the Education Bureau once. Let me call him.”
Five minutes later, after getting a promise that the Liu Conglomerate would donate ten million for the operating costs of the Education Bureau, a list attached with photos had reached Liu Xue’er’s phone.
There were nine students named Xia Yan overall in the educational institutes of Chengdu. Liu Xue’er had recognized her target from the severely photoshopped images with a glance.
“Take me to Sihe University!”
☠ ☠ ☠
Xia Yan did not have an accurate estimation of wealthy folks’ capabilities. He believed it would be hard for the Liu family to find him without asking Fang Xiangdong. But he hadn’t conversed with Fang Xiangdong inside the Liu family’s villa, so they weren’t aware that the two knew each other.
Hence, Xia Yan estimated that it would take the Liu family at least a few days to find a trail leading to him and another few days before they found him.
He even wondered whether to leave a clue behind for the Liu family lest they couldn’t discover him. If Elder Liu died before they found him, he would lose the opportunity to sell his Soul Ataraxia Stones.
He didn’t know that it wouldn’t even take an hour for them to find him with the right mindset.
Xia Yan had just begun meditating to convert the undead elements in the pendant into magic power when someone knocked on their room’s door and woke up all the inhabitants.
“WHO IS IT?” Even an Immortal would rage if woken up just after they had fallen asleep, let alone Qin Jian, whose location was closest to the door.
“It’s me, Li Xiaofei!” A voice replied.
“WRONG DOOR!” Qin Jian answered back.
“I’m your coordinator!” Hou Xiaotian jumped down from the bed and rushed to open the door, “Sir, what brings you here so late?”
Xia Yan, Qin Jian, and Zhao Qiang sweated buckets as they still hadn’t known who the coordinator was.
“Just something trivial. How’s your father?” Li Xiaofei asked Hou Xiaotian with a smile.
“He’s still at the hospital. They haven’t decided on the treatment program yet!” Hou Xiaotian answered gloomily.
“All will be well!” Li Xiaofei consoled him.
“Thank you!”
“Is Xia Yan in the dorm?” Li Xiaofei asked after conversing for a moment.
“Sir, I’m here.” Xia Yan got down and donned his clothes. He felt a bit surprised as he didn’t know why the coordinator was looking for him.
“It’s good you’re here!” Li Xiaofei let out a relaxed sigh, “I got woken up by a call from the Dean of the department just now too. He told me to look for you!”
“What is it?” Xia Yan asked in amazement.
The others also looked at Li Xiaofei with astonishment. It was already past midnight now, so they wondered what major incident required Xia Yan’s presence.
“Someone called President Xie, and he called the Dean, who then called me to look for you. I got told that someone surnamed Liu is looking for you!” Li Xiaofei couldn’t make sense of the matter either. He wondered what kind of background this freshman called Xia Yan had that he could make President Xie act in the middle of the night.
“Well, damn! Xia Yan, you aren’t the kid of some bigshot bureaucrat, right? They are giving you so much face!” Zhao Qiang exclaimed.
“You think I am?” Xia Yan forced a smile. He hadn’t expected that the Liu family would find him so quickly and felt the omnipotence of money. He contemplated for a moment then said, “Sir, I must trouble you to tell that person it’s already late now so they can find me in the morning if they need anything.”
“B-But it’s a directive from the President!” Li Xiaofei felt stunned and asserted immediately. The other side was someone that could even make President Xie act. Xia Yan wasn’t leaving any face for President Xie by refusing to meet them right now. Li Xiaofei wondered whether he didn’t care much about President Xie too.
“How about this? Do you have that person’s number, Sir? I’ll talk to them personally.” Xiao Yan didn’t wish to offend the President too, lest his university days became full of troubles.
“Wait for a moment, I’ll ask for it…” After realizing that Xia Yan wasn’t kidding with him, Li Xiaofei called the Dean. From the looks of it, it seemed like the Dean was admonishing him over the phone. After a while, he noted down a number and handed it over to Xia Yan. “Sigh! I got reprimanded badly!”
Xia Yan didn’t feel good too. [Does the Liu family also suffer from affluenza? Do they really think the entire world revolves around them?]
He took the number, dialed it, and asked in a rude tone, “Hi, who’s looking for me?”
“Xia Yan, it’s me, Liu Xue‘er,” A worried voice came through from the other side.
“What is it?”
“My grandfather got admitted to the hospital. Can you come to look at him?”
“I’m not free. I am heading to sleep now.”
“Xia Yan, my grandfather…”
“It’s your grandfather, not mine!” Xia Yan interrupted her rudely, “Also, didn’t I give you back your money? Why are you looking for me for the after-service now?”
He had already concluded that he shouldn’t have gone with Liu Xue’er in the afternoon. Since he had got the money, he shouldn’t have bothered with the after-service and whatnot. He had got duped by this!
“Xia Yan, I’m sorry. I also didn’t think it would end up like that…” Liu Xue’er felt anxious. It seemed like Xia Yan was on the verge of erupting. If he acted hotheadedly and didn’t give two hoots about it, her grandfather would have no hope left at all.
“Hold it!” Xia Yan’s heart almost softened after hearing the lovely lady apologize to him but then had second thoughts. [Is there a man unmoved by a beautiful woman’s pleas? No! But for what reason should I toil hard for you?]
“I’m exhausted. Call me in the morning!” After thinking it over again, Xia Yan decided not to end the conversation on an unpleasant note as he still hadn’t sold out his Soul Ataraxia Stones.
“O-Okay. I’ll come to find you in the morning!” Liu Xue’er didn’t dare to force him, and helplessly agreed with him.
“Come late since I plan to sleep in.” Xia Yan stated. On the other side, Liu Xue’er clenched her teeth. If Xia Yan were in front of her, she would have bitten a chunk of flesh off his arm.
Xia Yan suddenly recalled a matter just when he was about to hang the call, “Oh yeah. Don’t use the president or the dean to threaten me again! I wish to study in peace here!”
“Beep-Beep!” Liu Xue’er hung up.
“So rude. I’ll just have to bleed you dry tomorrow then!” Xia Yan grumbled resentfully and switched off his phone. When he raised his head, he found that the others were looking at him with a peculiar gaze.
“Xia Yan, was that a beautiful woman looking for you?” Zhao Qiang’s eyes lit up as he asked this.
“We can consider her one.” Xia Yan nodded as Liu Xue’er was pretty.
“Is it fine to act so rudely towards a pretty woman? You will remain a loner your entire life!” Qin Jian sighed.
“Friends, it’s true that we ought to pamper women, but it’s not like she will marry me, so why the hell should I pamper someone else’s wife?” Xia Yan patted Qin Jian’s shoulder and expressed his heartfelt thoughts.
“That sounds reasonable…” Qin Jian nodded.
“Don’t listen to his bullshit. It’s more interesting to pamper someone else’s wife!” Zhao Qiang’s gaze turned into a leer as he smiled indecently.
Both Xia Yan and Qin Jian gave him the middle finger.
“Sir, sorry for making you run around so late!” After they had delivered Li Xiaofei out from the dormitory, Xia Yan apologized to the coordinator.
“It’s fine, I don’t blame you.” Li Xiaofei wanted to say something, but he left without saying a word.
“Xia Yan, explain what’s your relationship with that girl! A woman who can make President Xie act in the dead of night is no simple woman!” After closing the door, Zhao Qiang and Qin Jian pounced towards him. Although Hou Xiaotian said nothing, he too held curiosity in his gaze.
“There’s nothing between us! Let’s sleep now!” Xia Yan shooed them away and turned off the lights.
“This shadow can move anywhere within Old Liu’s brain! This just isn’t scientific!” Doctor Wang felt a little excited as even he didn’t dare to believe the imagery from the MRI machine.
According to common sense, no matter what kind of substance the shadow comprises, just the fact that it was mobile should have turned Old Liu’s brain into mush already. He had no chances of survival. Yet he had only lost consciousness and didn’t show any life-threatening signs except for weak vital signs.
“Doctor Wang… I can’t understand your words. Can you explain it more clearly?”
“That’s… I think Mr. Liu should see it yourself!”
Soon after, Liu Shan witnessed a mind-numbing scene on the display monitor. An amorphous, egg-sized shadow moved at a casual pace inside his father’s brain. It didn’t seem like a living organism at all.
“Parasites have existed within the patients’ brain in several cases, but it’s impossible for a parasite to move so quickly and even more so for it to have an amorphous nature. We cannot determine the nature of this shadow and hence cannot start any kind of treatment. It’s because even if we operated on the brain, we’re incapable of extracting it properly!” Doctor Wang looked ashamed as his words were akin to declaring that even the hospital couldn’t do anything about Elder Liu’s condition.
“Is there any institution or a specialist that can find a solution?” Liu Shan still held some hope.
“Although there are a lot of neurologists better than me in the world, I believe none of them can find a method to treat Old Liu. This case goes against all known medical theories… and doesn’t conform to science!”
“Doesn’t conform to science?!” A flash of realization dawned upon Liu Shan and made him look at his daughter, “Xue’er. You must find Xia Yan and bring him here!”
“Y-Yes!” Liu Xue’er felt overwhelmed too. The words ‘doesn’t conform to science’ from Doctor Wang had impacted her significantly as the matter had finally spiraled back to the occult.
☠ ☠ ☠
Songxian Bridge.
Brother Hu was packing up when a few people stopped in front of his place. He recognized one of them as the girl that had bought two Soul Ataraxia Stones from Little Xia for ¥10,000. Before he could call out to her, the girl asked anxiously, “Uncle, where’s the student that had a stall beside your place in the afternoon?”
“Didn’t he leave with you?” Brother Hu stated dazedly.
“He didn’t come back?”
“Nope.”
“Do you know him?”
“It was his first time coming here today. I only know his surname is Xia and that he’s a student, nothing more.”
Liu Xue’er left Songxian Bridge in despair as this clue led to a dead end. She pondered for a moment and then called her father, “Dad, Xia Yan might be a university student. Can you ask someone to find out which universities have students with this name?”
“I had a meal with Chief Li from the Education Bureau once. Let me call him.”
Five minutes later, after getting a promise that the Liu Conglomerate would donate ten million for the operating costs of the Education Bureau, a list attached with photos had reached Liu Xue’er’s phone.
There were nine students named Xia Yan overall in the educational institutes of Chengdu. Liu Xue’er had recognized her target from the severely photoshopped images with a glance.
“Take me to Sihe University!”
☠ ☠ ☠
Xia Yan did not have an accurate estimation of wealthy folks’ capabilities. He believed it would be hard for the Liu family to find him without asking Fang Xiangdong. But he hadn’t conversed with Fang Xiangdong inside the Liu family’s villa, so they weren’t aware that the two knew each other.
Hence, Xia Yan estimated that it would take the Liu family at least a few days to find a trail leading to him and another few days before they found him.
He even wondered whether to leave a clue behind for the Liu family lest they couldn’t discover him. If Elder Liu died before they found him, he would lose the opportunity to sell his Soul Ataraxia Stones.
He didn’t know that it wouldn’t even take an hour for them to find him with the right mindset.
Xia Yan had just begun meditating to convert the undead elements in the pendant into magic power when someone knocked on their room’s door and woke up all the inhabitants.
“WHO IS IT?” Even an Immortal would rage if woken up just after they had fallen asleep, let alone Qin Jian, whose location was closest to the door.
“It’s me, Li Xiaofei!” A voice replied.
“WRONG DOOR!” Qin Jian answered back.
“I’m your coordinator!” Hou Xiaotian jumped down from the bed and rushed to open the door, “Sir, what brings you here so late?”
Xia Yan, Qin Jian, and Zhao Qiang sweated buckets as they still hadn’t known who the coordinator was.
“Just something trivial. How’s your father?” Li Xiaofei asked Hou Xiaotian with a smile.
“He’s still at the hospital. They haven’t decided on the treatment program yet!” Hou Xiaotian answered gloomily.
“All will be well!” Li Xiaofei consoled him.
“Thank you!”
“Is Xia Yan in the dorm?” Li Xiaofei asked after conversing for a moment.
“Sir, I’m here.” Xia Yan got down and donned his clothes. He felt a bit surprised as he didn’t know why the coordinator was looking for him.
“It’s good you’re here!” Li Xiaofei let out a relaxed sigh, “I got woken up by a call from the Dean of the department just now too. He told me to look for you!”
“What is it?” Xia Yan asked in amazement.
The others also looked at Li Xiaofei with astonishment. It was already past midnight now, so they wondered what major incident required Xia Yan’s presence.
“Someone called President Xie, and he called the Dean, who then called me to look for you. I got told that someone surnamed Liu is looking for you!” Li Xiaofei couldn’t make sense of the matter either. He wondered what kind of background this freshman called Xia Yan had that he could make President Xie act in the middle of the night.
“Well, damn! Xia Yan, you aren’t the kid of some bigshot bureaucrat, right? They are giving you so much face!” Zhao Qiang exclaimed.
“You think I am?” Xia Yan forced a smile. He hadn’t expected that the Liu family would find him so quickly and felt the omnipotence of money. He contemplated for a moment then said, “Sir, I must trouble you to tell that person it’s already late now so they can find me in the morning if they need anything.”
“B-But it’s a directive from the President!” Li Xiaofei felt stunned and asserted immediately. The other side was someone that could even make President Xie act. Xia Yan wasn’t leaving any face for President Xie by refusing to meet them right now. Li Xiaofei wondered whether he didn’t care much about President Xie too.
“How about this? Do you have that person’s number, Sir? I’ll talk to them personally.” Xiao Yan didn’t wish to offend the President too, lest his university days became full of troubles.
“Wait for a moment, I’ll ask for it…” After realizing that Xia Yan wasn’t kidding with him, Li Xiaofei called the Dean. From the looks of it, it seemed like the Dean was admonishing him over the phone. After a while, he noted down a number and handed it over to Xia Yan. “Sigh! I got reprimanded badly!”
Xia Yan didn’t feel good too. [Does the Liu family also suffer from affluenza? Do they really think the entire world revolves around them?]
He took the number, dialed it, and asked in a rude tone, “Hi, who’s looking for me?”
“Xia Yan, it’s me, Liu Xue‘er,” A worried voice came through from the other side.
“What is it?”
“My grandfather got admitted to the hospital. Can you come to look at him?”
“I’m not free. I am heading to sleep now.”
“Xia Yan, my grandfather…”
“It’s your grandfather, not mine!” Xia Yan interrupted her rudely, “Also, didn’t I give you back your money? Why are you looking for me for the after-service now?”
He had already concluded that he shouldn’t have gone with Liu Xue’er in the afternoon. Since he had got the money, he shouldn’t have bothered with the after-service and whatnot. He had got duped by this!
“Xia Yan, I’m sorry. I also didn’t think it would end up like that…” Liu Xue’er felt anxious. It seemed like Xia Yan was on the verge of erupting. If he acted hotheadedly and didn’t give two hoots about it, her grandfather would have no hope left at all.
“Hold it!” Xia Yan’s heart almost softened after hearing the lovely lady apologize to him but then had second thoughts. [Is there a man unmoved by a beautiful woman’s pleas? No! But for what reason should I toil hard for you?]
“I’m exhausted. Call me in the morning!” After thinking it over again, Xia Yan decided not to end the conversation on an unpleasant note as he still hadn’t sold out his Soul Ataraxia Stones.
“O-Okay. I’ll come to find you in the morning!” Liu Xue’er didn’t dare to force him, and helplessly agreed with him.
“Come late since I plan to sleep in.” Xia Yan stated. On the other side, Liu Xue’er clenched her teeth. If Xia Yan were in front of her, she would have bitten a chunk of flesh off his arm.
Xia Yan suddenly recalled a matter just when he was about to hang the call, “Oh yeah. Don’t use the president or the dean to threaten me again! I wish to study in peace here!”
“Beep-Beep!” Liu Xue’er hung up.
“So rude. I’ll just have to bleed you dry tomorrow then!” Xia Yan grumbled resentfully and switched off his phone. When he raised his head, he found that the others were looking at him with a peculiar gaze.
“Xia Yan, was that a beautiful woman looking for you?” Zhao Qiang’s eyes lit up as he asked this.
“We can consider her one.” Xia Yan nodded as Liu Xue’er was pretty.
“Is it fine to act so rudely towards a pretty woman? You will remain a loner your entire life!” Qin Jian sighed.
“Friends, it’s true that we ought to pamper women, but it’s not like she will marry me, so why the hell should I pamper someone else’s wife?” Xia Yan patted Qin Jian’s shoulder and expressed his heartfelt thoughts.
“That sounds reasonable…” Qin Jian nodded.
“Don’t listen to his bullshit. It’s more interesting to pamper someone else’s wife!” Zhao Qiang’s gaze turned into a leer as he smiled indecently.
Both Xia Yan and Qin Jian gave him the middle finger.
“Sir, sorry for making you run around so late!” After they had delivered Li Xiaofei out from the dormitory, Xia Yan apologized to the coordinator.
“It’s fine, I don’t blame you.” Li Xiaofei wanted to say something, but he left without saying a word.
“Xia Yan, explain what’s your relationship with that girl! A woman who can make President Xie act in the dead of night is no simple woman!” After closing the door, Zhao Qiang and Qin Jian pounced towards him. Although Hou Xiaotian said nothing, he too held curiosity in his gaze.
“There’s nothing between us! Let’s sleep now!” Xia Yan shooed them away and turned off the lights.
