Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Lai, the old woman, hid in the crowd, looking on with a mix of appreciation and complexity as she watched Wu Heng's back. This was the child her husband had carried back from the Nu River years ago.

If not for Xiao Jun's life, he wouldn’t have been born this soon.

Lai thought to herself when suddenly her side glance caught a gray shadow under the big tree. It was hard to see clearly in the daylight, but there was a figure in a white robe holding a guiding lamp, leaning against the trunk watching the commotion.

Who else could it be but her grandson who died young?

With Yang Xing's wish fulfilled, Wang Jun led the officers and easily fished the skeleton that floated up from the river.

Wu Heng said, "Just cremate the bones and bury them."

Mr. Yang died, and his son Yang Zhiyuan was left paralyzed. The accomplice, still alive, was blamed by Yang Shoes as a 'mistake' and was now arrested by the police for engaging in feudal superstitious activities. With Yang Xing's wish fulfilled and his resentment resolved, the bones could be successfully cremated.

Officer Wang Jun's expression was complex as he nodded.

"I wouldn't believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself; the skeleton just floated up on its own."

"I believe it now, witchcraft really exists! Dr. Wu’s got real skills! The skeleton didn't float up earlier, but just now from the river—I wouldn’t believe it without mysticism."

"I hope Student Yang has smooth studies in the next life. If you don’t mind, come back as my kid. Hey, having such a scholar-genius kid is really exciting to imagine."

"Wu Heng rocks! Han Ye seems to have regained his height, he must be taller than 168 cm now!"

"Godfather, thank you for helping me achieve a height of 185 cm. If you don’t have any offspring, I'll consider myself your half-son. I will definitely burn paper money for you during festivals—don’t forget to pick it up."

Han Ye was also an emotional boy, squatting by the Nu River with Yang Xing's living nieces and nephews burning paper money, ashes flying everywhere.

Yang Xing didn’t expect to gain a godson at the end, happily clutching his acceptance letter, he said to Wu Heng: 'Doctor Wu, tell my cheap godson that I don’t need paper money, just burn more books for me—they are my brain food.'

Talk about dedication—even in death!

Yang Xing then happily said: 'By the way, after studying for a long time, you can relax by reading extracurricular books. Burning some novels or comics would work too. I heard female classmates of Zhou Yi discussing pure love literature from Jinjiang before, along with heated scenes, forced love, etc. Anyway, they were all hyped up about it, which should be popular modern reads, so burn some for me.'

Wu Heng: "..."

Is that necessary? Do you really need it?

Zhou Yi was possessed by Yang Xing for a while, knowing what books this Yang scholar liked. He had already brought a sack full of materials and, while his parents watched awkwardly, used Wu Heng's white candle to burn the study materials over.

Seeing this, Wu Heng had no choice but to take off his deep blue cloth bag embroidered with lotus flowers from his body and throw it into the fire together.

There were too many books—you'd need a big bag for the trip to the underworld.

'Are we all set? If so, sign here, then follow me to the underworld.' A yin emissary waited for a while beside him, holding the lantern and asked.

Yang Xing adored the crossbody bag given by Wu Heng, looking simple and small, yet all the hundreds of books burned by Zhou Yi and Han Ye could be stuffed in, and crucially, it weighed nothing on his back, quite convenient.

Yang Xing quickly disclosed his family information to the yin emissary, who registered his information on a tablet.

'By the way, how are Liu Ziyang's family of three?' Wu Heng cared about the current status of his former patients and asked in the language of the underworld.

Lai Yin Chai sighed lightly, Doctor Wu was making small talk; he was obviously his admirer. Otherwise, among so many little yin emissaries in Hezipo Town, why did he always find him to lead ghosts away? Truly profound love!

'They are police officers and their families, they have preferential policies for reincarnation, they came back to life last night.' Lai Yin Chai threw the tablet into the lantern and told Yang Xing, 'Alright, it's filled out, let's go.'

Yang Xing followed behind Lai Yin Chai, still shouting back as he walked: 'Don’t forget to send over some books every once in a while, I want pure love ones!'

The two figures walked into the chilly river wind by the Nuo River, gradually disappearing from sight.

The little white snake and the small gray snake were coiled on a tree branch, watching everything. The little white snake saw the annoying top student following his junior brother Lai Yin Chai away and was so excited it nearly fell from the tree.

"He's gone, finally! Xixi, if he's gone, does that mean we don't have to do the math homework he left behind? Hahaha, this is amazing!" The little white snake announced enthusiastically.

Wu Heng himself didn't even have an elementary school education, but since there was a scholar in the medical hall, Wu Heng had simply let Yang Xing teach the two snakes while teaching them basic spells.

Xixi: "…It seems so."

The officer placed the skeleton into a body bag; according to regulations, they still needed to conduct DNA tests on Yang Xing's family before cremation.

Officer Wang shouted out to the onlookers among the villagers: "Everyone, please disperse."

Wu Heng glanced at the Nuo River a few more times and then returned home amidst the gossiping and pointing of countless villagers.

As soon as he reached the entrance of Nan Nuo Village, a cycling mail carrier called out to him: "Is this Dr. Wu Heng? This is your mail."

Wu Heng took it and opened the envelope, retrieving an invitation with gold-embossed design.

"Heng, you've been invited to attend a seminar on difficult diseases in the capital city?" Zhou Yi also looked over, somewhat surprised.

In his impression, these high-profile medical conferences were only attended by the most renowned experts and professors in the medical field.

Wu Heng shook his head and said, "This is nominally a seminar, but actually prepared for a certain bigwig."

Wu Heng remembered Chen Zhao mentioning that there was a seriously ill bigwig in the capital city recently, and he wanted to get involved to make five hundred bucks.

Wu Heng noticed the copper hue of the invitation and slightly curled his lips.

Invitations are divided into different tiers: gold, silver, and bronze.

He, who only had a trainee Daoist doctor license and was an internet-famous witch doctor, could indeed only receive a bronze-level invitation.

"So, Dr. Wu, will you attend? We can fly back to the capital city together," Han Ye, who was still feeling lost after Yang Xing's departure, asked enthusiastically.

Wu Heng declined; he could go through the well, why fly?

Moreover... Moreover, his good friend was busy helping him design a college entrance test, and he should personally thank him properly.

"Well, Dr. Wu, I'll go back alone," Han Ye, who had a pleasant personality, said, "The school has already arranged for me to share a dormitory with senior student Fan Xuan."

Zhou Yi was curious, "Is there an empty bed in his dorm?"

Han Ye explained, "There's an incredibly good-looking dude in their dorm, and for some reason, he moved out, leaving the bed vacant."

To be acknowledged as a campus heartthrob by men, Zhou Yi and the little white snake couldn't help but wonder how handsome he must be.

"This senior student heartthrob is genuinely handsome, and his academic performance is pretty good too. The only flaw might be... he just can't learn how to swim."

It seemed that this year, during their sophomore physical education class, Fan Xuan and his classmates were studying swimming, and the heartthrob senior student must have wanted to die.

Wu Heng smiled without responding.

Han Ye was, after all, a freshman, and once things were settled, he had to return to school quickly, so he left Nan Nuo Village early the next morning.

Because of the start of the semester, Wu Heng would read books by himself in the morning and afternoon recently, asking Zhou Yi when he had questions, and his live streaming time was either noon or late at night.

As soon as Wu Heng started broadcasting at noon, many netizens flooded in, still immersed in the drama surrounding Yang Shoes.

"Dr. Wu, is Han Ye's illness really cured? Can you reconnect with him and measure his height live? To stop the haters from spreading lies."

"Mr. Yang and his son are one dead, the other paralyzed, Dr. Wu, was it you who did it? It's scary."

"I beg for a call, I also want to have a physical examination."

The comment section is full of various kinds of chat messages. Doctor Wu hurriedly scanned through them and said, "Even whispers on Earth are as loud as thunder to Heaven... Wrongdoing in the dark is seen as clearly as lightning by divine eyes. Do good, and karma will sort it out."

"Han classmate is moving dormitories. When he has time, I'll video call him. Let’s check in with a new patient instead."

The screen switched, and on the other side, a nice apartment appeared. The young woman in the lens brightened up at the sight and greeted enthusiastically, "Doctor Wu, hello."

Wu Heng looked at her face and asked, "Are you the patient?"

The young girl immediately nodded, her face showing clear signs of worry, "It's my mother."

A hoarse voice came from off-camera, "No, I don't want to see it, I don't want to look."

Unable to do anything, the girl could only point the camera at her mom. The woman seemed unwilling to face the camera and immediately covered her face with a blanket, only revealing a pair of aged hands.

"Does this girl look no older than thirty years old? How can her mother's hands be so old, like an eighty-year-old grandma's? Was she born late?"

"Not necessarily, maybe it's due to illness that she looks worn-out?"

"It's normal to have children late. My mom was forty-five when she gave birth to me. But it's dangerous for older folks to skip doctor visits."

"Wait a moment, this girl... how come she looks so much like the hot counselor from my neighboring major?"

Wu Heng asked, "What’s wrong?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qian quickly replied, "I am a counselor at a certain university, and the school arranged accommodation for me. A week ago, I brought my mother over to live together. But my mother... suddenly aged!"

Xu Qian recalled that scene, and her scalp still tingled, "It was visible aging. Her black hair turned completely white within a minute, and her skin became loose. She aged dozens of years."

"My mother is only forty-five years old this year!"

When these words were spoken, all the netizens in the live broadcast room were shocked.

"Forty-five years old? Could those hands belong to a forty-five-year-old? Nowadays, if aunties in their forties are well-preserved, you can't even tell their age."

"The key point is aging dozens of years suddenly, right? Could it be that this auntie also had flowers planted in her head like Tu Tu?"

"Could it be progeria? I've seen such symptoms lead to rapid aging."

As if to corroborate what she just said, Xu Qian pulled out her backup phone, opened the photo gallery, and displayed a photo taken by her mother a week ago in the live broadcast room. She emphasized, "This is an unedited photo."

In the photo, the middle-aged woman looked dignified and was taking a commemorative photo under the Tiananmen Gate.

From her perfectly groomed eyebrows, it could be seen that this auntie usually cared about her appearance.

Seeing her old mother hiding in the quilt and refusing to come out, Xu Qian became quite angry and said, "After the incident, I took my mother to all the major hospitals in the capital city for examination, but they couldn't figure out anything."

After finishing her sentence, Xu Qian yanked the blanket off her mom once more and coaxed, "Mom, this is an illness, not something to be ashamed of. Come out and let Doctor Wu Heng take a look. He is very good at treating strange diseases."

The woman hid in the quilt without speaking, but her body suddenly started trembling. In a flash, she shook off the quilt covering her, revealing a gaunt body, with skin almost wrapping around the protruding bones, resembling a skeletal figure.

The netizens in the live broadcast room couldn't believe that the photo Xu Qian had just shown could have been taken by her mother a week ago!

Suddenly, Xu Mother opened her mouth wide, staring blankly at the ceiling with a dazed expression, her breathing becoming urgent, and continuously emitting "ah-ah-ah" sounds.

Xu Qian was instantly desperate, "Mom? Mom, what's wrong with you? I need to call an ambulance."

Dr. Wu shouted, "Quickly give me her date of birth."

Xu Qian didn’t care that she was in a live-streaming room with tens of thousands of people and shouted out her mom’s date of birth.

"What happened? Did I just misheard? Why didn't I hear what she said?"

"I didn't hear it either. Is there something wrong with the network?"

"Did Wu Heng hear it?"

Wu Heng did hear it. He wrote her mom's date of birth on the tiny paper figure, quickly grabbed a silk thread and tied it around his wrist, then lit an alcohol lamp, took out a silver needle, sterilized it by burning it, and stabbed it into the tiny paper figure.

The whole process took less than ten seconds.

Her mom only felt a sharp pain in her chest, like being poked with a needle, but suddenly exhaled and began breathing heavily.

Her breathing became much smoother.

Xu Qian was stunned by this operation. Could he really perform remote emergency treatment? Then she became overjoyed. Her weird condition might actually get fixed by Wu Heng. Just as she was about to ask for help, Wu Heng instead asked, "How much money do you have in the bank?"

Xu Qian was surprised. This question was quite private, but since Wu Heng asked, she replied, "I haven't worked for long, I have about 50,000 yuan."

"This needle can temporarily slow down her life loss," Wu Heng nodded, "Get me 200,000 yuan in three days."

Her mom freaked out and repeatedly said, "I won't get treated, my disease doesn't need treatment, you don't understand."

Xu Qian was almost breaking down: "I can borrow money, I can earn it slowly, Mom, if you leave, I will be an orphan!"

Xu Qian's grandparents passed away before she was born, her father died when she was two years old, she and her mom depended on each other, she only had her mom as family. Yes, she was the so-called 'mama's girl' others talked about.

But even though she only had her mom, her mom had never neglected her. As best she could, she gave her good food and clothes, supported her through school, watched her get hired at the school as a counselor, things were finally looking up, but her mom fell ill, and she didn't want to be treated.

Xu Qian couldn't understand, nor could she accept it!

"200,000 yuan? So much, and you need it by then?"

"Dr. Wu used to treat people first and collect payment later, why does he ask for money this time? Has he been corrupted by capitalists?"

"This girl seems unable to come up with so much money right away. If help is needed, I can donate some."

Xu Qian couldn't help but plead with Wu Heng, "Dr. Wu, can you treat my mom first, I will definitely pay you back later."

"Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll leave my ID or something as collateral."

Dr. Wu said, "You must prepare the money first."

Xu Qian didn't understand why. In the past, watching Wu Heng's live streams, he was always a very compassionate doctor. The medicine he prescribed during free clinics were cheap, and he never mentioned treatment costs.

Xu Qian, paying no mind to her mom’s frantic head-shaking, immediately nodded, "Alright, I'll go offline to raise the money. Please don't remove the needle from my mom, I beg you."

Dr. Wu glanced at the camera and shut it off, then sighed as he looked at the limp tiny paper figure in front of him.

Money can indeed buy life, in every sense of the word.

Dr. Wu put the tiny paper figure into a bamboo basket beside the diagnosis table which had the effect of protecting against bad vibes and boosting positive energy, and answered Han Ye’s call request.

Han Ye in the lens was wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt, drenched in sweat, his muscles glistening with sweat, but grinning from ear to ear. He didn’t look like the gloomy guy from a few days ago.

Han Ye measured his height again in front of everyone with a tape measure, "180, never falsify!"

The illness is truly cured!

Wu Heng continued, "As for the five centimeters I promised you, if you don't mind, I can teach you now."

The viewers in the live stream chat were originally discussing how Wu Heng seemed a bit cold-hearted towards that girl, insisting on having 200,000 before treating her. Hearing this, they were all stunned.

"What does that mean? Teaching Han Ye live on stream? Isn't this supposed to be teaching everyone?"

"What's this about the promised five centimeters? Can Han Ye really grow another five centimeters?"

"The host is so confusing. Why was he so strict about the money for the previous patient but so nice to Han Ye?"

"Ahhhhh, Han Ye, please agree! As a short person, I desperately need this! If you agree, you'll be my savior!"

Of course, Han Ye agreed. He was worried he might accidentally reveal Wu Heng's technique.

Wu Heng got up from the consultation table and turned the camera to the main hall of the clinic, showing his entire body in the frame.

"According to modern medicine, once the epiphyseal plates close, bone growth stops. I have an exercise method that can stimulate bone growth, and you'll see results after a hundred days."

Han Ye was dumbfounded. He had assumed Wu Heng would give him medicine to grow another five centimeters, but it was actually an exercise method.

But if he could grow another five centimeters in a hundred days, it might not be a bad idea!

Wu Heng moved in front of the camera. His limbs were remarkably flexible, each movement as graceful as a dance, somewhat resembling the witch dance he performed to deal with He Yunxiao's snake fetus, but much simpler.

He purposely slowed down his movements so that the viewers in the live stream could see.

Some viewers had already started recording. They quickly got up and followed Wu Heng's movements.

"I'm going to start practicing Wu Heng's height-growth method from today. Forget about Pilates! If I can grow to 1.6 meters, Wu Heng, you'll be my savior!"

"I followed the movements, and it felt so good after stretching my body. I'm going to practice this too. See you all in a hundred days."

"Doctors really have their own exercise routines! If this can really help you grow five centimeters in a hundred days, it's better than growth hormones. He generously shared it. Some people were saying he was greedy for that girl's 200,000. They owe him an apology."

"Indeed, if he sold this method to wealthy businessmen, he could make a lot of money. He wouldn't care about the girl's 200,000. That's just pocket change!"

"Yes, there are many celebrities in the entertainment industry who are just a few centimeters short. If they had a pain-free way to grow taller, they wouldn't bat an eye at two million. That girl should hurry up and raise the money. Her illness must be serious."

This exercise method is actually suitable for basic-level cultivators. It can mobilize the entire body's bones to achieve the effect of strengthening the body, and growing five centimeters is just an added bonus.

Zhou Yi whispered, "Don't authorize commercial use."

Wu Heng wasn't very knowledgeable about this, but knowing that Zhou Yi had a good business sense, he said, "This exercise method is not for commercial use. I wish everyone success in growing taller."

After saying that, Wu Heng went offline.

The small white snake eagerly crawled over and asked, "Wu Heng, are you going to my godfather's place tonight? I want to go too."

Wu Heng said, "Have you finished the math homework Yang Xing assigned you? You just want to see Shi Xuan?"

It wasn't that she missed Shi Xuan; she was after the fried chicken Shi Xuan prepared.

The small white snake made a soft humming sound, not answering Wu Heng. Even if she finished the homework, Yang Xing, the irritable genius, had already passed on, so he couldn't check it anyway.

In any case, when Wu Heng jumped into the well, the small white snake and the small gray snake each coiled around one of his arms, and they emerged from the Shi family's well.

As soon as fall arrived, the Shi family's residence appeared even more cold and desolate, resembling a scene from a horror movie under the night sky.

Wu Heng, familiar with the way, climbed onto the windowsill of Shi Xuan's bedroom, bringing two snakes with him.

At that moment, Shi Xuan had just returned and was sitting at the desk by the windowsill doing homework. Seeing Wu Heng enter, he handed him over a hairdryer.

Wu Heng took the hairdryer from Shi Xuan and asked, "Did you know I was going to come?"

Shi Xuan looked at him and said, "I've been waiting for you."

Sitting at the windowsill doing his homework, he had been anticipating your arrival.

Wu Heng's hair was short, and it was half dry after two minutes of blowing. He looked at Shi Xuan for a moment before saying, "I came to thank you for helping me with a test, and... also, I heard from He Yunxiao that you're doing well in school?"

The little white snake and the small gray snake were eating fried chicken and still managed to interject, "Zhou Yi said there's an APP called Monkey Search that can find all the answers."

Wu Heng met Shi Xuan's slightly amused gaze and replied, smiling awkwardly.

"Who said you can find everything on it?" Wu Heng asked, feeling a bit embarrassed, and immediately pulled out his phone, only to see that the APP icon had changed, probably because he had connected to the Shi family's ghost network.

Wu Heng clicked into the eerie learning app, scanned it, and said, "See? It didn't find anything."

Shi Xuan explained, "That set of questions was written by me. You won't find an identical one online."

Wu Heng leaned against Shi Xuan's desk and said, "Alright. I just wanted to check in on you to see how you're doing and see how school's been treating you."

Shi Xuan slightly curved his lips and said, "Now it doesn't seem hard."

Wu Heng shifted his gaze away from Shi Xuan's eyes, gripping his phone tightly, his ears turning slightly red.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. Wu Heng looked down to see a message from the underworld version of the Monkey Search learning app, sent from the other side.

He clicked on it and saw a message displayed: Mr. Yang. The other party was requesting a live connection.

Wu Heng glanced at the little white snake, which was still eating, and quickly accepted the request.

Soon, Yang Xing's pale yet excited face appeared on the screen. "Wow, we actually managed to connect!"

"Doctor Wu Heng, I'm in the underworld right now. Since it's going to take some time to be reincarnated, I found a job for myself. This learning app accepted my credentials and hired me as a teacher."

Yang Xing wasn't like Liu Jianguo and his family. Nowadays, there are plenty of ghosts who died with grievances and resentment. They all had to stand in line in the underworld.

The official institutions in the underworld operated slowly, and with fewer marriages and births in the living world, reincarnation opportunities were scarce, often requiring a wait of several years. So, Yang Xing found a gig as a teacher for the learning app.

Leaning against the bridge, Yang Xing turned the camera to show Wu Heng, "Doctor Wu Heng, take a look."

Behind Yang Xing was a huge oil cauldron, with hot oil boiling. Yin emissaries were pushing the most heinous fierce ghosts into it, while numerous ghosts and demons watched from the sidelines.

Mr. Yang was forcefully pushed into the boiling oil cauldron, letting out a heart-wrenching ghostly scream.

Yang Xing, still leaning by the bridge, called out to the ghost staff working with the oil cauldron, "Move it a bit more to the left and fry it until it's golden brown."

This had become Yang Xing's recent amusement—watching Mr. Yang go through the tortures of the oil cauldron and the mountain of knives.

Wu Heng gave him a thumbs up.

Turning the camera back, Yang Xing, remembering his online teaching job, asked, "By the way, where are Big White and Xi Xi?"

Wu Heng put the video call on speaker and pushed the phone towards the little white snake.

The little white snake was still busy: "I'm eating, what is it…"

As soon as it looked up, it saw Yang Xing's grim face pressed against the phone screen, asking eerily: 'Have you and Xi Xi finished your math homework yet?'

The little white snake was so scared that the chicken leg fell out of its mouth, and the entire snake was stunned. I can get my homework checked like this?

Did the teacher get taken to the underworld, so now they're starting online classes? Even a snake has to do online classes?