Dragon Hermit

Xia Yan felt shaken to the core. There were many disciplines of undead magic, and virus-type magic was one of them. The Lich’s memories contained vast amounts of information about this discipline of magic, and he was well proficient in it too. Such attainments and experience could only be attained through interacting and experimentation with the so-called virus elements.

The death aura present inside Hou Xiaotian’s father was much denser than the death aura that could be formed by the purest undead elements.

Undead elements could invoke fear in humans, but the virus elements made them feel despair.

Humans could perhaps find the courage to face death, yet find themselves unable to face an ailment calmly as dying. This was simply because illness was the greatest sorrow for a human.

Hou Xiaotian’s father had woken up the moment Xia Yan had moved the comforter aside. However, as he was still in a half-awake state, he believed the nurse had arrived, so he returned to a deep state of sleep after mumbling a few words.

“How is it, Mister?” Although Hou Xiaotian didn’t believe TCM could cure his father, Hou Xiaotian still held some hope, “Is it curable?”

Xia Yan withdrew his hand and nodded silently.

[It’s curable?]

Hou Xiaotian felt his head buzz and almost felt as if someone had hammered his head. Xia Yan’s response had utterly stupefied him. [Since he nodded, does it mean he can cure cancer? Is this real?]

Xia Yan turned around and confirmed that the patient on the other sickbed was still asleep. Then, he fished out the Virus Horcrux from his pocket and held it in his hands so that it was hidden from Hou Xiaotian’s view. After that, he pressed the Virus Horcrux against the stomach of Hou Xiaotian’s father and began chanting a magic spell quietly.

This scene had stunned Hou Xiaotian. Although he had noticed the enigmatic man take something out from his pocket, he couldn’t see what it was. He couldn’t comprehend the reason why he was pressing that object to his father’s stomach and wondered if this person had already begun the treatment process after finishing the diagnosis.

Hou Xiaotian also wondered what this person was murmuring in a low voice. [It feels like he’s conducting some kind of ceremony… and chanting a spell. Is this man some shaman healer?]

[There’s at least some scientific basis behind TCM, but shamanism is…]

Neither Xia Yan nor Hou Xiaotian had noticed that the eyes of the other patient were open right now and was watching the scene before him with curiosity.

“Virus Transmutation!” Soon after, Xia Yan finished chanting and uttered the spell’s name. A blue light flashed through the Virus Horcrux and seeped out from the gaps of his fingers. This ended up scaring both Hou Xiaotian and the peeping patient out of their wits. However, they regained their senses after realizing there were a lot of things that could glow, so there was nothing strange about the scene before them.

However, strangely enough, a cool breeze had suddenly appeared inside the ward. This made them shiver and feel a numbing coldness seep into their hearts.

At the moment the magic had succeeded, Xia Yan felt the Virus Horcrux absorb the potent and destructive power that was gushing out from within Hou Xiaotian’s father. He knew these were the virus elements present inside the cancer cells. Now that they had been extracted, the cancer cells would lose their tenacious vitality and destructiveness, and soon after, they would lose all their energies.

The Horcrux transmuted the virus elements into undead elements and stored it within itself. Xia Yan could now convert these undead elements into magic power when he had the time for it.

Xia Yan knew that there were still some live cancer cells present inside the stomach of Hou Xiaotian’s father. As the Horcrux he had brought was made from ebony, its effectiveness was limited, so he could only absorb half of the virus elements. He just needed to perform the same spell once again to make the remaining cancer cells lose their energies, and the cells would then recover without any medical assistance.

“Hmm?” Hou Xiaotian’s father finally woke up.

“Father, how do you feel?” Hou Xiaotian asked promptly.

“I actually feel pretty good. I haven’t felt this relaxed in a long time!” Hou Xiaotian’s father looked at the enigmatic man whose hand was on his stomach right now, and asked, “This is…”

“A classmate introduced him to me, he’s a… doctor!” Hou Xiaotian explained.

“I feel like I’ve almost healed!” Hou Xiaotian’s father smiled. Of course, even he didn’t believe his own words, but his body felt relaxed and comfortable, so he felt that this ‘doctor’ was genuinely skilled.

Xia Yan got up, nodded towards Hou Xiaotian, and then walked over towards the exit.

[He’s leaving? Just like that?]

Hou Xiaotian felt stunned for a moment, but he followed after him immediately. Since he didn’t know what to say, he just accompanied the man till the elevator. Xia Yan nodded at him to bid farewell and pressed the button in the elevator to descend.

Hou Xiaotian’s thoughts were full of suspicion as he returned to the ward, but after seeing that his father had really regained some vitality, happiness had replaced some of his doubts.

[Did that enigmatic man really conduct a treatment just now? Is it really possible that he cured cancer with just a touch of his hand, without the need for an operation or medicine?] Hou Xiaotian still couldn’t believe it.

“Old Hou, who was that enigmatic person just now? He didn’t even show his face in the end,” the patient on the other sickbed inquired.

“I also don’t know,” Hou Xiaotian’s father answered.

“What did he touch your stomach with? It was even shining and all,” the patient asked again.

“Really?” As Hou Xiaotian’s father had just woke up, he had never seen the glow, “Xiaotian told me that his classmate had recommended this doctor to check up on me.”

“You said you feel a lot better now, right?” the patient asked hastily, his eyes lighting up in hope.

“It’s natural to feel good after having some good sleep!” He simply wasn’t aware that the reason he felt comfortable was that half of the cancer cells inside his stomach had died.

“If he really did cure you, you have to introduce him to me!” The patient also joked around.

After leaving the inpatient building, Xia Yan lamented that he was really unlucky to have made so many trips to the hospital within just a few days of arriving at Chengdu. The huge cross on top of the building, that is, the ‘holy artifact,’ always made him feel uncomfortable.

Xia Yan raised his vigilance all of a sudden because he sensed someone was watching him right now. He looked up and only saw a few lit and dim rooms yet couldn’t discover anyone at all. This feeling of being watched disappeared when he left the provincial hospital too.

[Just who was it?] Xia Yan became more alert now. Since the other party was spying on him secretly, the chances of them having good intentions were close to none. Moreover, an ordinary person wouldn’t have made him feel this way, so he guessed that the person might have some special powers.

“What’s wrong, Master Yuan?” Inside the ward, Luo Xiaojuan had a worried look on her face as she asked this.

A tall man was standing before the window with his hands behind him right now. He was donned in a traditional robe and had his shoulder-length hair tied together with a band. From behind, he appeared to possess a transcendent and archaic breath surrounding him.

When he heard Luo Xiaojuan’s question, the man turned around to face her. He was actually a cherry-lipped teenage boy who looked so pretty that most women would pale in comparison. He had a pair of old, black-framed spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose, which masked some of his ‘beauty.’

It was really hard to believe that the wife of the deputy mayor was actually addressing such a teen with the title of master.

“It’s nothing,” Master Yuan smiled faintly.

His smile possessed a mesmerizing charm that was hard to put into words, and even someone like Luo Xiaojuan, who had experienced all facets of life, felt dazed momentarily after seeing it. She felt abashed like a young girl, but she regained her senses within just a few seconds and asked softly with a slight blush on her face, “Master Yuan, three hours have passed already. Will my son be able to wake up soon?”

After Luo Xiaojuan sent Master Zhang from Fengshui Street running on his feet, someone had introduced a real expert to Wen Yuanzheng after learning about the incident. This expert was none other than Master Yuan, Yuan Tianlin, who had a store on the same Fengshui Street.

Wen Yuanzheng and Luo Xiaojuan didn’t believe this Yuan Tianlin in the beginning, but after this teenage ‘Master’ had calmed the crazed Wen Yipin easily with just a touch to the forehead, even they had no choice but to believe in him.

Yuan Tianlin had cast a spell on Wen Yipin to put him to sleep.

“He will recover to how he was before once he wakes up, but…” Yuan Tianlin paused for a moment.

“But?” Luo Xiaojuan asked.

“He won’t have some of his recent memories. In other words, he won’t remember who turned him into this,” Yuan Tianlin answered.

“What?” Luo Xiaojuan shouted out loud, “Is there no way to find who made Yipin like this?”

“I feel sorry to tell you this, but that might be the case,” Yuan Tianlin stated faintly.

“How can we let that person get away with it? Master Yuan, you aren’t lying to me, right?” As Luo Xiaojuan had lost her rationality because of the anger, her words had regained her usual belligerence.

“Ms. Luo, are you doubting me?” A cold glint flashed through Yuan Tianlin’s eyes as he wasn’t scared of the deputy mayor’s wife at all.

“Ah… No, I don’t doubt you!” Luo Xiaojuan felt pressured by his cold gaze and panicked a bit.

“The person who cast a spell on your son isn’t that simple. Even I couldn’t see through his magic, so not knowing his identity may perhaps be a good thing for you,” Yuan Tianlin then walked beside Wen Yipin and shook his head, “It’s not a good idea to think of taking revenge on a practitioner of this caliber!”

Luo Xiaojuan remained silent. She believed in the power of authority, so she felt that no matter how strong practitioners were, they would still have to bow before overwhelming authority.

Yuan Tianlin took out a small, archaic bronze bell and mumbled a few words. After that, he shook the bell above Wen Yipin’s head once, making it ring pleasantly.

“Awaken!” When he spoke this word, the glass of the windows trembled, and even the chandelier began swaying. Luo Xiaojuan also felt surprised as she became absent-minded for a moment.

Wen Yipin’s closed eyes gradually opened along with the ‘Awaken’ spoken by Yuan Tianlin. His eyes were still full of confusion after waking up.

“Yipin, you are finally awake!” Luo Xiaojuan cried tears of joy and rushed ahead to hug her son tightly.

“Mother!” Wen Yipin rolled his eyes, and although he didn’t appear that perplexed, he still held some fear, “I had a nightmare!”

“Ms. Luo, I should be leaving now. I’ll have to trouble you to send the money to this account!” Yuan Tianlin placed a card on top of the cabinet and nodded at Luo Xiaojuan before leaving the ward.

“Mother, who is that brat? Is he crazy or what?” Wen Yipin had just woke up, yet he had instantly regained his usual hedonistic behavior and expressed his dissatisfaction.

“He has the qualifications to act like that,” Luo Xiaojuan picked up the card. It only had the Yuan Tianlin’s name, and ‘Fengshui Street’s Yuan’s Candle Shop’ printed on it, and also had a handwritten bank account number on it.

“What’s the money for?” Wen Yipin asked.

“To save your life,” Lui Xiaojuan answered.

“How much is it?” Wen Yipin asked further.

“3 million.”

After descending down the floors, Yuan Tianlin arrived at the location where Xia Yan was standing before and took out a mauve-colored wooden tile from his chest. He held it in his palm and mumbled a few words. Soon after, a firefly-like wispy light emerged out from that wooden tile and circled in the air once before flying out of the provincial hospital.

Yuan Tianlin followed behind it, and 30 minutes later, he arrived before Block C of Sihe University’s Boys’ Dorm. That wisp of light slowly floated up and finally stopped beside the balcony of room 402.

“I’ve found you now,” Yuan Tianlin’s expression filled with amazement, “So, you’re actually a student. I wonder if you are the person who drew the force of the world on that day?”