Chapter 54

Chapter 54

◎The Classmate Who Was Poisoned◎

Just like when he crammed on heart disease knowledge, Xiao Ye had been recently immersing himself in information about Taoists. However, such materials were not as easy to find as medical data.

Some things were obviously fake, clearly fabricated ghost stories, like spiritual mediums falling in love with ghost kings, or ghost officials obsessed with mortal women for personal gain. The most outrageous was the tale of the King of Hell marrying a mortal in a ghost marriage.

Xiao Ye couldn't help but complain to Ji Nanxing: "Even the King of Hell has to have a love story in these tales."

Ji Nanxing smiled and said, "Of course, the stories you find on forums are mostly like this. Real Taoist ghost-catching is actually quite mundane; even if written as stories, few would read them."

There were Taoists who took advantage of their profession to write ghost stories, but they all ended up failing miserably, struggling to make ends meet.

Xiao Ye was somewhat surprised: "Are Taoists really that idle? They even have time to write stories."

Ji Nanxing: "Taoists also need to make a living. Many actually have main jobs and do Taoist work on the side. Relying solely on ghost-catching could lead to starvation. After all, this is the mortal world, the realm of the living. Lingering ghosts are not just uncommon; they are actually quite rare."

To become a ghost lingering in the mortal world after death, one needs either strong attachment or a stroke of luck. The word "opportunity" itself indicates the difficulty, and strong attachment is not easy to come by; not everyone has such powerful attachments.

The frequent encounters with supernatural phenomena are because they are in this line of work, dealing with such matters. But looking at ordinary people, many go their entire lives without encountering a single supernatural incident, which shows the proportion of lingering ghosts.

Xiao Ye said, "Then do you know any stories written by real Taoists? Recommend some to me. Stories written by Taoists should be more credible than those fabricated forum tales, right?"

Ji Nanxing actually knew one or two. He searched through his collection and recommended a novel to Xiao Ye. It was self-recommended by a Taoist in the guild group he joined. He read a chapter or two but didn't continue, as he couldn't get into the writing of someone in the same profession, so he just bookmarked it.

Seeing Xiao Ye eagerly open it, Ji Nanxing reminded him, "Don't take it too seriously. There's definitely some embellishment and dramatization in there. Otherwise, it would be too realistic and read like a case closure report."

Just after recommending the novel to Xiao Ye, Ji Nanxing received a WeChat message from Chen Zhi, saying that Ying Youyou had been discharged from the hospital and wanted to invite him to dinner as a thank you.

Ji Nanxing: "No need. Payment settles the karma."

Chen Zhi showed the Young Celestial Master's reply to Ying Youyou, who sighed and said, "If he doesn't want to, then forget it. We shouldn't disturb him. Thanks to you all this time, otherwise, I'd probably be pushing up daisies by now."

She couldn't help but sigh: "Luckily, that Young Celestial Master is compassionate. I didn't listen the first time he warned me, but he was still willing to save me a second time."

You know, many masters have high pride. If you don't listen the first time they warn you, there won't be a second chance. You'd be as good as dead. This narrow escape is truly a blessing.

Ying Youyou still had memories of being possessed by a ghost during that time. Although she was unconscious during the possession, thinking back on it still scared her. She vowed she would never buy anything second-hand again in her life!

After some thought, Ying Youyou looked at her two roommates and asked, "What happened to that guy later?"

Chen Zhi shrugged: "I don't know. I heard he took a temporary leave from school to go home and recuperate. Who knows if he's genuinely crazy or just faking it. He was probably genuinely scared out of his mind at first, but later he might have been too ashamed to come back."

Others didn't know the details, but many people saw what happened that day. The pile of girls' belongings in the dorm and the items he sold on second-hand websites were quickly uncovered. Although it's unclear if his sudden madness was due to being scared by a ghost, his actions were obvious to anyone with eyes.

Just after his girlfriend died, he sold her clothes and bags to pursue another girl. Is that something a decent person would do?

If he stayed in school, the gossip alone would drown him.

Taking a semester off and returning later would probably let the matter blow over, which is better than coming back in the midst of the storm and being pointed at.

Ying Youyou shook her head and sighed: "Cherish your life, steer clear of men."

Xiao Ye's eyes were sharp. Although he didn't read the chat content, he caught a glimpse of the name on the chat box and asked curiously, "Is that the girl from the comic convention that day? You're still in touch? So, their roommate's drastic change in behavior was also a supernatural event?"

Ji Nanxing nodded: "But it's been resolved. The lingering ghost has been sent away, and the girl who was possessed has been discharged from the hospital healthy."

Hearing this, Xiao Ye's eyes showed a hint of resentment: "That day, you sent me to buy chicken wings while you handled this behind my back. If you hadn't sent me to buy chicken wings and had dealt with it in front of me, wouldn't I have known earlier that you're a Young Celestial Master?"

Ji Nanxing: "What do you mean I dismissed you? It was you who didn't believe me. You even suggested they call the police. Since you didn't believe me, of course, I wouldn't deal with it in front of you."

Zhang Yuan walked in from outside the classroom and looked at them: "What police? Who's calling the police?"

Xiao Ye turned to look at him: "Where have you been? You bolted right after class."

Zhang Yuan said: "Zheng Heng, the one who plays basketball with us, I asked him to help me buy a model."

Xiao Ye, who knows Zhang Yuan well, said: "A bone model?"

Zhang Yuan nodded with a smile: "This time it's a 170 cm tall one, almost life-size, super cool."

Xiao Ye couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. Not everyone can handle having a 170 cm bone model in their room.

Ji Nanxing remembered that Zhang Yuan had mentioned wanting to be a forensic doctor before and asked curiously: "What's got you so into forensic medicine?"

Zhang Yuan: "If I say I like dissecting, would you think I'm a weirdo?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head: "No, it's cool."

Pursuing a career you love isn't weird; it's only weird if you let your interests lead you astray.

Zhang Yuan thought someone as delicate as Ji Nanxing wouldn't be able to handle such topics but was surprised to see him accept it so well: "Are you into crime dramas? There are some killer foreign series out there."

Xiao Ye quickly covered Ji Nanxing's ears: "Hey, keep those gory details to yourself." Don't scare my little desk mate.

But after saying that, Xiao Ye remembered that his little desk mate isn't exactly ordinary.

Sure enough, Ji Nanxing directly slapped his hand away and replied to Zhang Yuan: "I catch them when I'm bored, so is that where your interest comes from?"

Zhang Yuan shook his head: "Not exactly, my dad's a cop. As a kid, both my parents were busy, so I often tagged along with my dad to watch him work cases."

Ji Nanxing: "Have you ever seen a dismembered body?"

Zhang Yuan smiled: "You don't usually see corpses at the police station."

Ji Nanxing: "I'll take you to a forensic autopsy sometime. After that, you can decide if this is still the path for you."

Zhang Yuan: "Huh???"

Did he hear that right? Ji Nanxing's going to take him to see what?

Xiao Ye looked at Ji Nanxing: "You've seen one?"

Ji Nanxing nodded: "Yes."

He had seen it when he was very young, following his mentor to handle cases. Working with lingering ghosts means you're bound to come across the dead. Some die whole, which is fine, but others die in pieces, and the ghost's obsession is with their body's wholeness, so they have to help the ghost find all the missing parts.

Zhang Yuan was so shocked his jaw dropped. Just as he was about to ask more, a commotion erupted in the hallway, with people leaning over the railing to see what was going on.

Classmates who saw the commotion ran out to check it out, and some who'd already seen it came back to spread the news.

"Someone fainted, and the teacher was so scared they almost ran out like their pants were on fire."

"Is our class just a bunch of weaklings? Feels like we can't even scrape together one healthy body."

"Freaked out, thought someone had jumped off the building."

"Who fainted? It was too far to see the face clearly."

Someone returned to the classroom and immediately glanced at Ji Nanxing's seat, letting out an exaggerated sigh of relief when they saw him sitting there: "When I heard someone fainted, the first person I thought of was you. Luckily, it wasn't our Crispy Star."

Xiao Ye casually grabbed a piece of paper, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at the person: "You're the Crispy Star."

The person caught the paper and smiled indifferently. The overall atmosphere in their class was quite good, and everyone got along well, able to take jokes in stride.

Soon, someone with better connections came back with news, and the identity of the person who fainted spread. It was a boy from the neighboring class named Mao Lu.

Xiao Ye was surprised: "Little Mao?"

Their two classes had shared a few physical education classes and played basketball together several times. Among them was a boy named Mao Lu, whose name was a bit hard to pronounce, so everyone just called him Little Mao.

Little Mao wasn't particularly robust, but he wasn't frail either. Fainting seemed completely out of the question for him.

Zhang Yuan: "He's been having diarrhea for the past two days. Maybe he didn't go to the hospital and toughed it out, ending up dehydrated."

Chen Shiyi came in carrying a bag of milk tea and headed straight for Ji Nanxing, handing him a warm cup of taro milk tea: "You really scared me. When I heard someone fainted, I thought it was you."

Fortunately, he happened to see the person being carried away by the teacher and realized it wasn't Ji Nanxing, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

Ji Nanxing poked the straw into the cup and smiled: "It seems like whenever someone faints, the whole school thinks it's me."

This reputation was set in stone.

Chen Shiyi sipped his milk tea, watching Zhang Yuan and Xiao Ye drink iced lemon water, feeling a chill himself: "You guys really don't mind the cold."

The class bell rang, and everyone returned to their seats. Xiao Ye leaned in close to Ji Nanxing's ear and whispered: "Don't ever pull that fainting act again. If you have any tasks, I'll cover for you."

Ji Nanxing: "How will you cover for me?"

Xiao Ye: "I'll help you skip class."

Ji Nanxing: "Have you finished writing your self-criticism?"

Xiao Ye pulled Ji Nanxing's hood over his head: "You little ingrate."

Although they had played a few games of basketball together, since they weren't in the same class, they didn't interact much, so they hadn't paid much attention to Little Mao.

They heard about Mao Lu again a few days later during a class meeting. The homeroom teacher asked for donations, not mandatory, but everyone was encouraged to give what they could.

The donation box was placed on the podium, and the deadline was Monday afternoon. The money collected would be given to Mao Lu's family through the school, as Mao Lu had been diagnosed with kidney failure.

Since they had played a few games of basketball together, Xiao Ye and the others planned to visit Mao Lu in the hospital over the weekend.

Looking at the guy who had dragged him out, Ji Nanxing didn't quite understand: "I don't even know him. Why are you dragging me along to see him?"

On Friday, he had put a thousand yuan into the donation box. For a schoolmate he barely knew, Ji Nanxing felt that was enough. There was no need to visit in person, especially in the dead of winter when going out was such a pain.

Knowing he was afraid of the cold, Xiao Ye wished he could wrap him up and transfer all his yang energy to him: "We're heading to my place for dinner later. My grandpa brought back a lot of mushrooms, all top-notch stuff. We'll have mushroom hotpot today."

Ji Nanxing turned around to leave, but Xiao Ye grabbed him: "It's not like you've never been to my house before. What are you shy about?"

Ji Nanxing: "Who's shy? You can't just spring this on me without warning."

Xiao Ye: "First time's strange, second time's comfortable. I'll make sure you feel at home at my place in the future."

Ji Nanxing pulled his hand away: "You haven't forgotten that I told you I have a naturally heavy yin energy, right? It's fine with you, your brother, and your sister-in-law since you're all in your prime with strong yang energy, but your grandpa is old. He might not be able to withstand my yin energy."

Xiao Ye held his hand firmly: "But I also remember you said that after being in contact with me, it's safe to be around others. Since there's a solution, don't worry that interacting with people will harm them. I'll be your shield. If you want to interact with someone, just touch me first to ground yourself."

Ji Nanxing laughed: "Who wants to touch you?" He made it sound like I was some kind of pervert.

Xiao Ye: "I do, okay? I'm the one asking to be touched, begging you to touch me."

Ji Nanxing sighed helplessly: "Please don't say things like that; it sounds weird."

Xiao Ye: "How is stating the truth perverted?"

They chatted and joked all the way to the hospital, but before entering, Xiao Ye looked around. Ji Nanxing pointed to a shop ahead: "There's a place selling flowers and fruit baskets over there."

Xiao Ye shook his head, then took Ji Nanxing to a small eatery that looked relatively clean: "I'll buy you something to eat. Wait here for me."

Ji Nanxing looked at him: "What do you mean? I'm not going in?"

Xiao Ye tightened Ji Nanxing's scarf and handed him a hand warmer: "Hospitals have a lot of death. Since you can see spirits, it's better if you don't go in. Just wait here. I'll go in and take a quick look."

Ji Nanxing: "We're here now; let's go together. Besides, just because there are a lot of dead people in hospitals doesn't mean there are spirits. I've told you before, spirits are rare in this world. It's not like you can just bump into them whenever you go out."

After confirming that it was really no problem for Ji Nanxing to come along, Xiao Ye took him with him. He had brought Ji Nanxing out, and if he didn't keep him by his side, he'd feel uneasy. Even though Ji Nanxing was just a few months younger, Xiao Ye felt like he was born to worry.

They carried a fruit basket and went to the inpatient ward together. Mao Lu was in a three-bed room, and the ward was pretty crowded. The other two beds had just patients, but Mao Lu had a few classmates with him.

They were all basketball buddies, and some were classmates of Mao Lu's. They smiled and greeted Xiao Ye, then turned their heads and were surprised to see Ji Nanxing: "The academic god! Mao Lu, you're really lucky. Even the academic god came to see you."

There had already been two monthly exams in the high school freshman year, and Ji Nanxing was still firmly in first place, both in overall scores and individual subjects, way ahead of everyone else. To his classmates, he was the undisputed academic god.

Mao Lu wasn't short, standing at about 175-176 cm, and his build wasn't weak either—he wasn't the skinny type. But perhaps because of his illness, his face was pale and even had a slight grayish tone.

Ji Nanxing instinctively touched his bracelet.

Mao Lu's face didn't show signs of great wealth or fortune, but it also didn't indicate a short life. He would have a very ordinary life, experiencing two career lows, but they wouldn't be too severe—he would get through them with some effort. He was fated to have one daughter, and his marital life would be harmonious.

But now, his face was shadowed by a deathly aura, meaning this illness wasn't part of his life's plan.

When Xiao Ye saw Mao Lu, he was momentarily stunned. Not long ago, they had played basketball together, and Mao Lu had been in good shape. But now, just a few days later, it seemed like his body had suddenly collapsed.

Mao Lu sat up slightly and smiled at Xiao Ye and Ji Nanxing: "Thanks for coming all this way. Please, have a seat. Don't just stand there."

Someone quickly stood up: "Academic god, sit here."

Ji Nanxing thanked them.

Xiao Ye placed the fruit basket to the side: "What did the doctor say? Does he need surgery?"

Mao Lu shook his head: "It's not clear yet."

The doctor hadn't spoken in front of him, only discussing it with his parents. How serious it was, what the treatment would be, and how much it would cost—his parents hadn't told him, only reassuring him to focus on getting better and not to worry about the money.

Xiao Ye: "Then just focus on getting better. Follow the doctor's advice. You're still young; you'll definitely pull through."

Mao Lu smiled, but the bitterness in his smile was evident to everyone.

To be struck with such an illness at such a young age—what would happen in the future? Would there even be a future?

The people visiting Mao Lu were all classmates, and even though there was a seriously ill person lying in bed, they couldn't stay somber for long. Soon, they were chatting and laughing, even pulling Mao Lu into a game.

The two middle-aged men in the other beds were good-natured and didn't seem bothered, occasionally chiming in with a few words.

Xiao Ye was worried that Ji Nanxing might feel uncomfortable staying in the hospital for too long, so he was about to leave when Mao Lu's mother arrived.

Mao Lu's mother looked to be in her forties, and it was unclear how much she had endured these past few days. She appeared somewhat tired and aged, forcing a smile to welcome the young people in the ward.

Ji Nanxing's gaze softly landed on the newcomer. If it was just a guess before, seeing Mao Lu's mother now, he was almost certain that this illness was an unfair misfortune for Mao Lu.

Because Mao Lu's mother's facial features did not indicate a mid-life loss of a child, but now her children's palace was sunken, showing signs of collapse, teetering on the edge of losing a child.

With the parent here, it wasn't appropriate for them to stay any longer, since it wouldn't be as fun with a parent around, so they all bid farewell to Mao Lu.

One classmate patted Mao Lu's hospital bed and said: "Come back to class soon, you hear? Everyone is walking a tightrope, don't think you can slack off."

Mao Lu smiled and agreed, but his eyes couldn't help but turn red. He always used to want to sleep in, always wanted a break, but only after getting sick did he realize that being able to brave the cold wind for morning study, and running home hungry after evening study, had become a happy thing.

As everyone was leaving, Ji Nanxing told Xiao Ye: "I want to go to the restroom." He glanced towards Mao Lu, signaling with his eyes, though it was unclear if Xiao Ye got the hint.

Xiao Ye hadn't developed that kind of tacit understanding with him yet, but he knew Ji Nanxing must have something on his mind, so he said to the group: "You guys go ahead, we'll head home later."

The others had planned to play basketball and then eat out together, and initially wanted to invite Xiao Ye and Ji Nanxing, but hearing they were heading home, they didn't push.

When the ward was empty, Ji Nanxing came out of the bathroom and looked at Mao Lu's mother: "Auntie."

Mao Lu's mother quickly got up: "Yes, what is it?"

Ji Nanxing gestured for her to step outside to chat, and Mao Lu, feeling a bit odd, craned his neck to look out.

Ji Nanxing took Mao Lu's mother to a less crowded stairwell before saying: "Has the cause of his illness been figured out?"

Mao Lu's mother, not very familiar with her son's classmates, thought this young student was concerned about her son and shook her head: "Not yet, we just did a biopsy, the pathology report isn't out yet."

Although not yet confirmed, kidney problems were certain, and the pathology report would show the extent of deterioration. Thinking of her young son suffering from such an illness, Mao Lu's mother's nose tingled as she held back tears.

Ji Nanxing: "What I'm about to say, you might not believe, but I smelled the scent of talismans on Mao Lu."

Xiao Ye was startled, and Mao Lu's mother didn't quite understand: "What scent?"

Ji Nanxing: "Talismans, have you ever given him talisman water or ashes to drink or eat?"

Mao Lu's mother quickly responded: "Who would give someone such things!"

What era is this, still talisman water and ashes? She may not have gone to university, but she had received nine years of compulsory education, and even without much thought, she knew not to touch feudal superstitions.

Ji Nanxing: "Wait for the pathology report. If it's kidney failure caused by poisoning, and your family hasn't exposed him to such things, then I suggest you report it to the police."

Mao Lu's mother was confused, she wanted to say this was all nonsense, but Ji Nanxing's demeanor made her inexplicably believe: "Young student, what have you noticed? Mercury poisoning?"

Ji Nanxing: "Talismans are drawn with cinnabar, which contains mercury. Normally, a talisman doesn't have much cinnabar, and even with long-term exposure, unless ingested, it wouldn't cause poisoning. But now he has the scent of talismans on him, and his kidneys are failing, clearly he hasn't just been in long-term contact with talismans, but has also ingested them. If it wasn't voluntary, then he was poisoned."

Ji Nanxing added: "Before there's a result, I suggest you start being careful with his diet and what he comes into contact with from now on."

He didn't know what caused Mao Lu's problem, but it probably wasn't the work of a lingering ghost. He only saw the aura of death on him, not any ghostly aura, so it was more likely to be human-induced.

If they started being careful and taking precautions now, they might be able to save his life.