Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Chen Zhao immediately became alert: "Master, you’re really dreaming big."

What? Now he wants to compete with his disciple for side hustles? Taking his side hustle is like stealing his money!

"But if I get extra work later, I’ll toss it your way, Master, and split 500 yuan with you," Chen Zhao considered and then added.

The old man on the other end of the phone gritted his teeth and cursed: "You ungrateful brat!"

Chen Zhao: "Hey there, Master Beast."

The old man was heartbroken: "..."

What a disaster for the school.

Some people see a provider as a mother, but this guy sees a payer as a father.

Chen Zhao was eyeing Wu Heng’s bonus for the consultation, worried it’d fall through, and kept glancing outside. "Master, gotta run—side hustle calls. I’ll hit you up later."

Chen Zhao immediately hung up the phone and quickly ran towards the room where Su Chenyu was staying.

"Hold up, don’t touch that dish!" Chen Zhao pushed the door open, his eyes fixed on the untouched fish head dish on the table, and said angrily, "What’s this, favoritism? Why’s my fish head smaller than yours? I’d say it’s at least 100 grams short."

Su Chenyu: "..."

These are fresh catches, not factory-made. They’re not gonna weigh the same.

"Dr. Wu, don’t freak us out. This dish’s got yin energy? What’ll happen if we eat it?"

"I’m this close to fish head PTSD—no more fish head hotpot for me."

"So... does everyone know? Or is it just this ‘Starry Sky Fish Head’ that’s messed up?"

"Will it cause food poisoning? That means stomach pumping, right? The ship’s not equipped for that—we’d need to dock for help."

When Chen Zhao came in to warn him, Su Chenyu realized it wasn’t just his dish—probably all the free fish heads were bad.

"Dr. Chen, let’s check it out," Su Chenyu said immediately.

Su Chenyu checked his phone and saw Chengde Medical Hall was online. Even if it wasn’t his main backup, it gave him a solid sense of security.

No wonder those bossy CEOs in stories always have a family doc—this kind of security is next-level.

We’ve gotta warn everyone—don’t eat the fish head!

"Fish head? Gross—I can’t stand fish heads," a young girl put down her red wine glass, looking at the free dish that was delivered with a look of disgust. "Hey bro, eat this for me."

The man across from her grinned mischievously, "If your big bro helps you out, what’s in it for me?"

The girl smiled sweetly, but when she looked down, a flicker of pure disgust crossed her eyes.

He was neutral on fish heads, but #FishHead was trending on Weibo yesterday, and his feed was full of recipes. That chopped pepper fish head looked pretty good.

The man picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of fish head meat, and put it in his mouth. A weird taste hit his mouth, and the fish felt oddly cold on his tongue.

It had this indescribable offness—maybe because we’re near the South Seas, so it’s a local dish.

After finishing the whole fish head, before he could grab another bite, his stomach turned, and he felt like he’d need the bathroom fast.

The man doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach as if he was about to throw up.

A fish eye coated with faint red blood streaks and salty drool rolled out, landing right at the man's feet, seemingly staring straight at him.

The man silently cursed the cruise ship's chef as incompetent. As he tried to stand up straight, he noticed something odd about the girl beside him.

Under the moonlight, he had a shadow, but the girl did not.

The man screamed in terror, vomiting while he fled outside.

At this moment, his stomach was in extreme discomfort. Holding back the urge to rush to the bathroom, he hurried to the small hospital on the cruise ship, where many other tourists also looked unwell.

"We paid 49,999 to board the Dream Cruise, which was supposed to be equipped with five-star chefs, but the food wasn't properly handled, and now we're all throwing up and suffering from diarrhea."

"Where are the doctors? I can't hold it anymore!"

"I feel awful, my head's spinning, can someone help me?"

A group of tourists, pale-faced, stared intently at the hospital door. The door was open, but the doctors who were supposed to be there had vanished.

Now everyone was panicking; without the doctors, who would treat them? They needed medicine!

"Don't eat that fish head, there's something wrong with it!" Su Chenyu and Chen Zhao ran over, sweating profusely, shouting urgently.

A foul stench mixed with the salty sea breeze filled the air, the smell of vomit.

After all, Su Chenyu was a medical student, and Chen Zhao was a certified Daoist Physician. At this moment, they couldn't just stand by and watch.

As Su Chenyu and Chen Zhao approached, they were stunned to see tourists collapsed on the ground.

The shaky phone footage didn't clearly capture the scene, only occasionally showing tourists retching.

"Wow, mass food poisoning? The chef's skills are worse than mine; at least my cooking won't kill anyone."

"I felt like this after eating mushrooms before, ended up getting an IV at the hospital."

"Food poisoning should be quite common, but what did Dr. Wu mean about the dish having yin energy? What the hell... what are they doing?"

"??? Bizarre human behavior, this isn't about fish heads, it's like eating Yunnan mushrooms, hallucinating?"

Chaos erupted as a female tourist, terrified, clutched her head and kept patting it.

Fish heads everywhere! Monsters with fish heads and human bodies surrounded us!

Even she had transformed into a fish monster, a catfish head perched on her shoulders, its long whiskers swaying in the sea breeze, and a cute pink hair clip she'd bought before the cruise pinned to the fish head.

"I've turned into a fish head monster... Help, I don't want this. Doctor, I need to see a doctor!"

The terrified crowd looked around at the other tourists, growing more horrified.

Other tourists were also fish heads, a chaotic mix of river and sea creatures.

Just yesterday, they were on the deck, enjoying the sea breeze, leisurely sipping red wine, while browsing the internet.

The latest patient linked by influencer Doctor Wu Heng had fish scales sprouting on their upper body. Rumor had it that if the condition worsened, they'd transform into fish-headed humanoids. Many had dismissed this as amusing gossip, but now it was their reality.

Su Chenyu is about to turn into a fishman, and they already have!

Clearly, fishmen and mermaids are worlds apart—this is just plain ugly.

Su Chenyu: "..."

So he’s not the only case?

Viewers in the live stream were stunned, watching the tourists go berserk.

"I told you this area’s cursed—there was a shipwreck here fifty years ago. Are they in danger?"

"The fog’s so thick—it’s eerie and downright terrifying."

"Dr. Wu, you still there? Say something! Can you help these people from afar?"

Tang Xueshan glued her eyes to the live stream, worried she couldn’t spot Yuan Song—that jerk of an ex had vanished.

"I need off this ship! I need to go back! I don’t want to turn into a monster!"

"Su Chenyu’s turning into a fishman and swimming so fast—I’ll swim back too, I swear!"

In one swift move, he bolted to the deck, grabbed the railing, and leapt off the Dream Cruise.

"Don’t jump."

Su Chenyu’s phone, cranked to max volume, suddenly blared a calm yet commanding voice, piercing the dark sea night.

Su Chenyu had just linked up with Chengde Medical Hall.

One foot was already over the railing, half his body hanging off the ship, his foot dangling above the churning black sea.

Hearing Wu Heng’s calm voice, he froze, staring at the sea in confusion.

The supposedly top-notch security vanished, leaving only a crowd of terrified tourists.

The elderly man in the wheelchair on the deck barked, "Grab him! He’s about to jump!"

Thanks to Su Chenyu and Chen Zhao’s warning, some tourists skipped the fish head dish and now, despite their fear, felt lucky.

Four or five guys lunged forward, yanked the jumper back, and hauled him to safety.

Others considered jumping too, only to be slapped back to reality by those nearby, still in shock.

This is the ocean—at night. Jump, and you’re done for.

Wu Heng, seated at the consultation table, stroked Xi Xi’s smooth scales and said, "This is an underwater graveyard. Jump, and you’ll become a ghost or demon—sacrifices for the sea."

"??? Whoa, Dr. Wu, don’t freak us out like that!"

"Underwater graveyard? I looked it up—CEO Wei’s wife died in that shipwreck fifty years ago. Is he sacrificing the whole ship to her?"

"??? Is Wei insane? That’s 213 people! He’d be committing a massive crime—or maybe he’s just done with life."

"Love-crazed? Stop acting like some novel tycoon demanding human sacrifices. NPCs matter too! Should we call the cops?"

Viewers were terrified by Wu Heng’s words—the more they thought about it, the scarier it got.

These tourists are all well-off, shelling out 49,999 for a luxury cruise—not a death trap!

And certainly not to become a sacrificial lamb in someone else's ridiculous love story.

Chen Zhao squatted down to take the pulse of the patients, pleadingly looking at Su Chenyu, who was tremblingly holding the phone camera, and said, "Dr. Wu, the fish head dish these patients ate is tainted with yin energy. Inducing vomiting might not be very effective."

When people are affected by yin energy, they are likely to commit extreme acts on their own.

At this moment, many beauty-conscious tourists, looking at the fish heads on their shoulders, were about to lose it.

"Dr. Wu, aren’t you capable of diagnosing and treating illnesses remotely? Can you video chat with me? I’ll pay you and send you lots of gifts," a frightened female tourist raised her hand and asked.

"I’m first, let me talk to Dr. Wu. Aren’t you able to perform acupuncture remotely? Give me a few needles to expel that yin energy," another young man pushed in front of the female tourist, practically shoving his face into Su Chenyu’s phone, eagerly shouting.

"Me too, connect with me, Dr. Wu, my zodiac sign is..."

The crowd turned into a mob, with a group of tourists, driven by their survival instincts, frantically surging towards Su Chenyu.

At this moment, Wu Heng was everyone’s last hope. Whoever could seize the opportunity to connect with Wu Heng would survive first.

Su Chenyu kept thinking, "This is a medical disaster." Watching the panicked crowd surging towards him, he climbed to higher ground, scared of a stampede.

Even if Wu Heng took one call every ten minutes, it would take a whole day and night to handle everyone. He’s not a machine, and there simply wasn’t enough time.

The scene was completely chaotic, and countless medical professionals watched in horror, knowing that a major disaster was imminent.

Chen Zhao felt that at this moment, a Daoist Physician from the Xuanmen sect should be called to help. However, they were at sea and couldn’t come, and Wu Heng’s unique skill of remote pulse diagnosis was unmatched in the entire Xuanmen sect, making it impossible to assist.

His master wanted to make some money through outsourcing, but this opportunity was simply not possible.

Seeing everyone in panic and disorder, Chen Zhao also felt somewhat flustered. He had come from the Xuanmen sect but had never witnessed such a scene.

The more scared and anxious people get, the more they lack righteous energy, and yin energy will bully the weak and press hard, making it easier for them to develop evil illnesses and commit incomprehensible acts.

But now, with the tourists in such a state, forget about being filled with righteous energy, it was difficult just to keep them from emotional collapse!

At this moment, Wu Heng said, "Everyone knows the national anthem, right? Let’s all sing it together."