Qing Zhui was asleep and did not wake up, so she had no idea that Ning Tao had left her room and then returned.

Ning Tao came to her bedside with the rotten, broken tripod in his arms and put the small scalpel, disinfectant alcohol, gauze used to stop bleeding and other things in it on a plate. After getting ready, he reached out and took off Qing Zhui’s cyan gauze dress…

The beauty burst upon his vision, like a mist over a snowfield dispersed by the sun.

Ning Tao did not know where to look and had a salty sensation in his nose. He reached over and wiped his nose. The next second, he was speechless on the spot. He was bleeding.

“I am a doctor, and she’s my patient.” Ning Tao hinted to himself. Then he took a deep breath. As he calmed down, he started to operate on Qing Zhui.

Wiping Qing Zhui’s skin with cotton swabs, sterilizing the scalpel, and sealing Qing Zhui’s blood vessels with silver needles. Ning Tao finished the whole thing expertly.

When everything was ready, Ning Tao picked up the scalpel, pinned Qing Zhui’s waist, and then cut an incision around her tailbone with the scalpel.

This was Ning Tao’s first surgery, so it was hard for him to avoid being nervous. In fact, it wasn’t just the surgery itself that made him nervous. Having never had a girlfriend, he found it difficult to see the private parts of women.

But no matter how difficult it was, he had to control himself.

It was not a complicated operation. Assisted by the skills of looking and smelling, Ning Tao soon removed the demon bone attached to Qing Zhui’s tailbone. It was attached to the tailbone by a layer of periosteum, so it was inevitable to cut open the periosteum during the operation. Fortunately, with Ning Tao’s ability, it was a piece of cake for him to restore that little bit of periosteum for her.

The demon bone that was taken out was really in the shape of a snake, with a head, body, and tail. It was, indeed, black, with several cracks in it, and a faint rancid smell that only a corpse could have. Based on what he could see with his eyes, Ning Tao was convinced that she had less than three months to live.

As soon as the demon bone was taken out, Qing Zhui’s breath of life immediately weakened to the extreme. A moment before she had fallen into a stupor under the influence of the Sacred Needles, and now she was unconscious.

Ning Tao didn’t dare waste time. He put the demon bone into the rotten, broken tripod, then sat cross-legged beside the tripod, released the alchemy fire, and stuck his hands on the wall of the tripod for refining.

Boom!

The black and white alchemy fire rose from the rotten, broken tripod and engulfed Qing Zhui’s demon bone. Now, Ning Tao couldn’t see it at all.

Humming…

A hum came from the rotten broken tripod, like the chanting of hundreds of monks at the same time.

Ning Tao’s spiritual power was consuming fast. He felt more tired every second than the last second, but he had no way out. He could only hold on, with clenched teeth.

In fact, he was not as sure about the operation as he said. In other words, there were some risks associated with this operation. The risk did not lie in the plan of repairing Qing Zhui’s demon bone with the rotten broken tripod, because the rotten broken tripod itself was a professional repairman. The risk was on him. His spiritual power was not reliable, and if Qing Zhui’s demon bone was not repaired this time, things would be wrong, and he might have to do a second operation on her.

There were risks in everything, anyway. Family members of patients were required to sign a consent form for any operation at the hospital. The doctor informed the patient’s family about the risk, and the family agreed and signed off before the doctor performed the surgery.

Humming…

The hum of the tripod echoed in the quiet room. It started with a high frequency, and a few minutes, the rate decreased, and the black and white alchemy fire in the tripod also began to weaken.

Ning Tao got intense, thinking, “I can’t hold out much longer. If only I can mend her demon bone, or I’ll be in trouble.”

Suddenly, something seemed to fly into the rotten broken tripod.

Humming…

The frequency had increased a little bit.

This change surprised Ning Tao. He looked over. When his eyes entered the state of looking, he immediately saw wisps of spiritual energy coming from under Qing Zhui’s bed into the rotten broken tripod like a moth to a flame.

The rotten broken tripod could even absorb spiritual energy!

This new discovery excited Ning Tao so much that he came up with a new idea to use the rotten broken tripod. Next time he could find a place full of spiritual energy to fix things. This way, not only would he feel much more comfortable, but things would also be better mended!

There was spiritual energy between heaven and earth, which could breed all things. If a place was abundant in spiritual energy, then that place would produce outstanding people—that was to say, a right place provided remarkable people. Although mankind was known as the original part of the universe, that was quite different from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Without the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, there would be no mankind.

Then Ning Tao made another discovery. There was a source of the spiritual energy coming from under the bed, which was right in the direction of the pool.

With a flash of insight, Ning Tao wondered, “Bai Jing said Qing Zhui needed to stay in a place full of spiritual energy to survive. There is spiritual energy in this place, but the source isn’t here. The mustached vendor said he got those fragments from a pool. Is there a secret under that pool? After the operation, I’m going to the pool!”

Wisps of spiritual energy flew into the rotten broken tripod, which made the following refining and repair much more accessible. After a few minutes, the alchemy fire in the tripod automatically extinguished, and the moment it went out, a light like moonlight shone in the tripod.

It was Qing Zhui’s demon bone. Before repair, it rotted and blackened, with cracks in it, but now in the rotten broken tripod lay a crystal clear demon bone covered with spiritual energy. It was even better than the healthy Bai Jing’s demon bone!

The result gave Ning Tao a deep sigh of relief and congratulated him on not taking the demon bone back to the Sky Clinic for refining and repairing. Because the Sky Clinic only had the energy of good and evil but had no spiritual energy. Even if the demon bone was repaired in the clinic, it would not be as good as it was fixed here.

Ning Tao picked up the demon bone, went back to the bed, and put it on Qing Zhui’s tailbone. When that demon bone returned to Qing Zhui’s body, Qing Zhui’s breath of life suddenly strengthened. What was even weirder was that her flesh even actively wrapped the demon bone.

After all, she was a demon, different from human beings.

Ning Tao sewed up the wound with a needle and thread, and then pulled out the Sacred Needles that blocked off the blood vessels. Then he launched his extraordinary spiritual power to heal the wound, helping flesh and blood grow together with the demon bone. Finally, he gathered up all his stuff, opened the blood lock on the wall, and returned to the Sky Clinic. After putting the rotten broken tripod and surgical supplies in the clinic, he went back to Qing Zhui’s room. This time, he wiped the blood lock off the wall.

When the Sacred Needles on the back of her head was pulled out, Qing Zhui instantly let out a painful groan, and her eyes opened. She looked back and saw Ning Tao standing by the bed.

“I… Ouch!” Qing Zhui seemed to want to say something, but the pain hit her so hard that she couldn’t help exclaiming, “Ouch!”

“Qing Zhui, what’s wrong with you?” Bai Jing’s voice sounded outside the door.

Ning Tao went to the door, removed the chair, and opened the door.

Bai Jing rushed in eagerly and went straight to the bed.

“Bai Jing…” Qing Zhui was getting used to the pain a little.

Bai Jing suddenly lifted the quilt off Qing Zhui. She was anxious to see the results of the operation but did not expect to expose Qing Zhui’s body.

Ning Tao turned awkwardly.

“It’s…” Bai Jing looked at the cut on Qing Zhui’s lumbar spine with a surprised look on her face.

“Bai Jing!” Qing Zhui cried out again and reached for the quilt.

Bai Jing then realized what she had done and hurriedly put the quilt back on Qing Zhui’s body. “How are you feeling, Qing Zhui?” she asked solicitously.

“Doctor Ning has cured me,” Qing Zhui answered with a trace of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Bai Jing immediately paused for a moment, and then cried out in surprise, “Really?”

Qing Zhui nodded. “Really. I know my own health. My demon bone is healthy now.”

Bai Jing turned to look at Ning Tao, who was still holding his back to the bed. She couldn’t help laughing and said, “Doctor Ning, why are you doing standing there?”

Ning Tao kept silent for two seconds before he asked, “Well, is she under the covers yet?”

“No,” Bai Jing lied to him.

Ning Tao, who was about to turn, stopped immediately.

Qing Zhui frowned and complained, “Bai Jing! How could you make fun of Doctor Ning?”

Bai Jing smiled and said, “Wow, are you going to defend him now?”

Ning Tao suddenly felt a little strange. “What does she mean by that?”

“Bai Jing!” cried Qing Zhui’s voice.

Bai Jing let out a bark of laughter. “Well, Doctor Ning, she’s already under covers. You can turn around.”

Ning Tao then turned around. In his eyes, Bai Jing and Qing Zhui seemed to be two beauties out of a painting. With the circumstances, he felt like in a dream.

“Thank you, Doctor Ning,” Bai Jing stated solemnly.

Ning Tao smiled. “You’re welcome. Just remember your promise to me.”

“You can rest assured that I will not seek revenge on Ding Ye. Well, I’ll get you the white snake slough now,” Bai Jing said and left.

So Qing Zhui and Ning Tao were left in the room, looking at each other.

“Doctor Ning, I’ll come to you after resting and recuperating a few days,” Qing Zhui began.

Ning Tao paused slightly and asked, “You’ll come to me… What for?”

Qing Zhui stared at Ning Tao and inquired, “You’re a practitioner, too. Don’t you know our traditions?”

Ning Tao shook his head awkwardly and replied, “I don’t know. I’ve been studying medicine and don’t care much about other things.”

Qing Zhui zipped her lips with a smile and said, “No wonder you are such a wonderful doctor. Let me tell you. Since you saved me and touched my demon bone, you are my demon master. According to our tradition, I will work for you for three years.”

“There was such a rule!”

Ning Tao hurriedly refused, “No, no. We’re in the modern age, and there’s no such thing as master and servant anymore. I’m a doctor, and it’s only natural that I should treat you…”

Before Ning Tao could finish, Qing Zhui interrupted him, “It’s our tradition and an inviolable creed of snake demon. You know, outsiders say we are evil and cold-blooded, but they don’t know that we are the most faithful and grateful species in the world. Have you heard the story of Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing?”

“Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing again?”

Ning Tao was wordless.

“Bai Suzhen married Xu Xian in return for saving her life, and it was thousands of years ago. What should I do if you refuse me?” With these words, Qing Zhui’s eyes turned green.

Ning Tao thought for a moment and then said, “All right, I’ll respect your tradition and your decision. I happen to be short of a nurse in my clinic. When you’re completely recovered, come to my clinic as a nurse and work for me for three years.”

The clinic had been short of a caretaker, and he needed an assistant. With a nurse like Qing Zhui, he could focus more on his practice. That was why he agreed.

A smile lit up Qing Zhui’s face, and she said, “Yes, master.”

Ning Tao put on a straight face and scolded, “Don’t call me master. Call me Doctor Ning.”

Qing Zhui’s mouth curved, and she said, “Okay, Doctor Ning.”

Ning Tao suddenly remembered something and tentatively asked, “By the way, is the story of Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing true?”

“What do you think, Doctor Ning?” Qing Zhui asked back, her beautiful eyes sparkling green light.

Ning Tao grinned, but he didn’t even know what he was smiling about.