Chapter 138

Chapter 138

Forest rescue would take about half an hour. Chen Ji, reassured after the System Cat confirmed the old man was merely unconscious from fright, settled him before taking Second Master Huang outside.

Second Master Huang was uncharacteristically docile, dangling by his tail, all four limbs limp, silent as a rag doll. In the yard, Chen Ji illuminated the helicopter landing area and casually poured Second Master Huang a lightly iced, 70% sweet sour plum soup.

Second Master Huang took a sip through the straw, shivering from the cold but finding it utterly refreshing. Chen Ji ruffled his fur, saying earnestly, "Second Grandpa, no more scaring people, alright? This is a master we went to great lengths to invite, here to restore the Mountain Lord’s statue. If you scare him to death, where will I find another?"

Second Master Huang clung to the straw, mumbling vaguely, "No problem. If he dies, I’ll just capture his soul for you. That way, you won’t even have to feed him! Just three sticks of incense a day, and you’re done."

Chen Ji: "..."

So logical, he was momentarily speechless.

Chen Ji pressed down firmly on Second Master Huang’s head. "No killing people, understand?!"

"It’s the old man’s own problem, what does it have to do with me? I didn’t intentionally scare him. When someone comes to stay long-term, shouldn’t I see what they look like? What if he wanders off and gets eaten by some little demon…" Second Master Huang’s reasoning was perfectly sound; after all, he truly hadn’t done anything.

"Don’t do it again," Chen Ji emphasized.

Second Master Huang was not one to disregard boundaries. Sneaking into someone’s room and giving them a sudden fright was not something he usually did—especially to a frail old man in his fifties. After all, even humans could scare each other to death, let alone him.

Most likely, he had sensed Chen Ji’s reluctance about Professor Zhuo coming up the mountain and was deliberately helping to delay things.

But this was too risky. Right under the Mountain Lord’s nose—even if the one on the divine altar was a complete idiot, you couldn’t openly rebel in front of him.

Second Master Huang pretended not to hear, taking a vigorous sip that puffed his cheeks into semicircles. The sour plum soup in the cup vanished instantly, the cold sending a shiver through his brain. He then drank slowly, sip by sip, his slender tail occasionally brushing lightly against Chen Ji’s cheek.

Chen Ji, tickled, moved aside. "What are you doing?"

The tail swept over again, teasing lightly under Chen Ji’s jaw. "Refill, please~"

Chen Ji shrugged, refilled the cup, and took the opportunity to record a video of Second Grandpa. Second Master Huang grumbled, "Why film me? What’s the point?"

But he obediently allowed himself to be filmed.

Chen Ji pinched his ears. "Of course it’s useful. Think about it—when I’m old, I can take it out and watch it again—"

"Even when you’re old, I’ll still look like this," Second Master Huang interrupted bluntly. He rose, pressed a paw against Chen Ji’s forehead, and looked at him with an expression that said, "You idiot." "Chen Ji, are you okay? Your soul looks fine—I don’t see anything wrong~ Why so silly… Who am I? I’m your Second Grandpa! Even when your bones have turned to dust, I’ll still be hopping around!"

"..." Chen Ji: "You know too much!"

With that, Chen Ji feigned an attempt to "take down" Second Master Huang, grabbing him by the neck. Second Master Huang yelped and leaped from Chen Ji’s arms. Just then, the red fox returned, unaware of their antics, and immediately heard Chen Ji shout, "Little Red, catch Second Grandpa!"

"Yip!" Little Red responded, giving chase. Without truly exerting themselves, Second Master Huang and Little Red were fairly evenly matched. Second Master Huang was chased all over the yard, cursing angrily: "Red, what are you getting involved for? Get lost—! Chen Ji! Make it stop!"

"I won’t!" Chen Ji joined the chase. "Little Red! Go! Catch Second Grandpa today, and I’ll make you beggar’s chicken tomorrow!"

"Chen Ji, you little brat!" Second Master Huang turned to curse at Chen Ji, only to see Little Red nearly nip his tail. He spun around, kicked off Little Red’s nose, used the momentum to launch himself, landed beside Chen Ji, then kicked off Chen Ji to leap onto the roof.

Caught off guard, Chen Ji was kicked in the waist by Second Master Huang. The next moment, Little Red also caught up and kicked off Chen Ji’s waist for momentum. Unprepared, Chen Ji was sent sprawling to the ground. "Agh—!"

This time, it was Chen Ji who cried out.

He sat up, one hand covering his throbbing mouth. Warm liquid flowed from his lips, dripping down his chin. Chen Ji looked down at his palm—sure enough, it was covered in blood.

Both Little Red and Second Master Huang on the roof froze. Neither came down, instead peering over the edge at Chen Ji. "Chen Ji, are you okay?"

"Ying ying?!"

"..." Chen Ji didn’t dare speak. He had fallen face-first. He reached up and wobbled his teeth—they felt loose, but not about to fall out. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. Just a busted lip—a lucky break amid misfortune.

Chen Ji’s mouth was full of the metallic taste of blood. The cut was quite deep. Though the bleeding wasn’t exactly a gushing river, it was persistent enough that within a few breaths, Chen Ji’s collar was already stained red.

Second Master Huang: "Chen Ji, your nose, your nose!"

Chen Ji touched it and found his nose was bleeding too.

He glanced upward, his eyes clear and sharp, reflecting his blood-streaked, disheveled face, carrying an inexplicable chill.

[Ding-dong~ Your little doctor is online… Pfft—!] The System Cat emerged from the house, took one look at Chen Ji’s miserable state, and laughed so hard it collapsed on the spot. [It’s fine, it’s fine, hahaha… a broken blood vessel in your nose burst… hahaha… there’ll be quite a bit of blood… What happened to you…]

Chen Ji couldn’t hold back anymore and glared at the System Cat, thinking that if it dared come closer, he’d use it as a napkin.

The sound of a helicopter came from afar. The System Cat glanced at the distant light spot, then lowered its head and kept chuckling. It wasn’t going over—having just laughed at him, it knew better than to expect anything good if it approached now.

Chen Ji, however, looked toward the distance in surprise. Wasn’t the helicopter arriving a bit too fast today?… Or was it that when he’d called for the helicopter earlier, he’d said the person was already dead, so they came slower? After all, body retrieval wasn’t urgent.

Soon, the helicopter was right above them, landing in the yard. Two doctors stepped out and hurried toward Chen Ji. Chen Ji paused. "Not me, not me. The person is in the guest room."

He pointed in the direction, then hissed in pain—ow, that hurt!

Two more doctors carrying a stretcher came down behind them. All four doctors hesitated for a moment when they saw Chen Ji—he looked pretty badly injured too.

Enduring the pain, Chen Ji said, "Hurry, the old man is elderly."

Three doctors went over, while one stayed behind. "Son, why are you bleeding so much? Hasn’t it stopped yet?"

Hearing this, Chen Ji couldn’t help but glare at Little Red and Second Master Huang still perched on the roof edge. "It’s nothing. I was playing around with my cat, tripped, and fell."

The doctor examined Chen Ji’s lip under some water and saw a large gash inside. He frowned. "Since the helicopter is here, why don’t you come along to the hospital? Your nose is injured too—it’s best to get checked. The bleeding is significant… and if that cut in your mouth gets infected, it’ll be troublesome."

He handed Chen Ji a cotton ball and gestured for him to stop the nosebleed.

Chen Ji thought wryly to himself that since he’d already gone this far, one person or two didn’t matter—the cost was the same, and he was paying anyway. So he nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, the other three doctors helped Professor Zhuo onto the stretcher and carried him over. Chen Ji grabbed his belongings and boarded the helicopter with them. Once inside, he caught sight of the intricate and complex control panel up front and couldn’t help but stare a bit longer.

Indeed, forest emergency helicopters were high-end! The last time he’d seen one this close was Zhou Yunfan’s family helicopter. That one was clearly expensive, but its control panel didn’t have this kind of high-tech, multi-billion dollar-worthy vibe.

Chen Ji wanted to look more, but a doctor beside him handed over a wet cloth. Chen Ji used the wet gauze to wipe the blood off his face. By the time he finished, two other doctors had sat opposite him, unintentionally blocking much of his view. Chen Ji simply gave up and sat quietly.

Shortly after takeoff, the doctor next to him handed over a large pack of cotton balls, indicating he should change them, and said, "Keep your head down so blood doesn’t flow into your airway. Give me your hand—I’ll stop the bleeding first."

Only then did Chen Ji feel a warm stream seep out from his plugged nostril. He quickly changed the cotton, kept his head down as instructed, and extended his hand. The doctor held his wrist and tapped several pressure points on his arm.

"Keep looking down. It’ll stop soon," the doctor added.

Chen Ji acknowledged and asked, "Doctor, who do I pay?"

"Pay?" the doctor said. "Pay for what?"

Without moving his lowered head, Chen Ji asked puzzledly, "Doesn’t forest rescue cost money?"

From Chen Ji’s angle, he saw one doctor nudge the other, who then said as if suddenly remembering, "Oh, that. Don’t worry, it’ll be included in the hospital bill."

"Alright," Chen Ji replied. Then he noticed the doctors’ shoes.

All four doctors were wearing the same style of shoes—boots.

Not leather shoes, but boots.

And all four pairs were identical.

Probably not part of their uniform.

Chen Ji kept his head lowered, but his eyes were bright. The doctor beside him placed a hand on Chen Ji’s arm, patted him, and signaled him to take action. The doctor instructed Chen Ji to lift his head, checked his nose and lips again, then nodded to confirm the bleeding had stopped.

The doctor casually patted Chen Ji’s shoulder and said, "You’ve got quite a lot of cat fur on you. Don't open your mouth—you wouldn’t want any of it getting in and causing an infection."

Chen Ji nodded and kept his mouth shut. After patting his shoulder, the doctor casually removed his gloves and tucked them into the pocket of his white coat.

After sitting quietly for a while, Chen Ji turned his head to the side and pretended to sleep. The doctors exchanged glances, and the one sitting next to him carefully took out a pair of tweezers and began collecting the fur stuck to Chen Ji.

Chen Ji deliberately shifted, turning his back toward them to expose the areas with more fur.