Chapter 141

Chapter 141

"What's this talk about reincarnation?!" The young man glared, "Can't you speak properly?! Don't think I won't hit you just because we're in a hospital!"

Chen Ji watched him, his gaze sweeping from the top of his head to his feet. In Chen Ji's eyes, the young man's seemingly intact skin slowly oozed blood, his clothes became tattered, and his head appeared distorted... This was his true form.

Chen Ji sat up from the bed. "My apologies, I made a mistake. You can have this bed; I'll sleep on the one next to it."

"That's more like it..." The young man grumbled a few words. Only after seeing Chen Ji take his clothes to the adjacent bed did he sit down, clasp his hands behind his head, and lie back with a comfortable sigh, muttering, "There's always some idiot trying to steal my bed..."

Chen Ji thought to himself, *No need to argue with an idiot... a silly ghost. Let it go.*

Chen Ji leaned back on the next bed, playing with his phone. He casually opened WeChat. He remembered adding a note last time. He clicked on the cartoon avatar and scrolled down.

{You poked Wang's Great Treasure Trove}

Chen Ji: ...

Soon, Black Impermanence replied: {Raid in progress, speak if urgent.}

Chen Ji replied: {Help me check the situation of the soul on bed 59 in the military hospital. No rush.}

A simple '1' came back, indicating acknowledgment. Chen Ji was a bit bored. Fortunately, there was internet, so he opened Honor of Kings. Checking his Moments, he saw 'Friend Black Impermanence has been in a game for 15 minutes.'

Chen Ji fell into contemplation. Was this internet shared between the living and the dead? Or was Black Impermanence in the human world?

It made sense. After all, people die every day. A pair of Black and White Impermanence would manage at least one district, right? If they had to send people to the underworld every time, how long would the back-and-forth take?

After playing two rounds of Honor of Kings, Chen Ji noticed Black Impermanence hadn't replied. He wondered if Black Impermanence had forgotten, but when he checked, the guy was in another game—best not to disturb him then.

Just then, the young man on the next bed spoke: "You can actually play on your phone, huh..."

Envy was practically oozing from his voice.

Chen Ji: "Oh, because I'm not really part of the military... I snuck in with someone else. Since I'm here, I might as well get a check-up. Hospitalization and medical insurance cover more."

"Oh, I see." The young man rolled over, burying his head in the pillow. "I've been hospitalized for so long, I don't know when I'll be discharged... Sigh, I really want to go out for a run. Lying here for so long, I feel like I'm rotting."

Chen Ji thought, *You're probably not rotting, you've been cremated.* "Your injuries are severe; you should rest properly."

The young man sighed, "I know... but lying here all the time is so boring."

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "How about I lend you my phone to play with?"

"Really?!" The young man shot up with a swift movement. Before he finished speaking, his hand was already reaching out. Chen Ji quickly dodged. "Not this one, I have a spare. Give me five minutes, I'll get it ready."

The young man nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, okay!"

With that, he lay back down, crossing his legs and jiggling them, as if trying to suppress his eager anticipation.

Chen Ji pulled out two pieces of paper from his bag. He used a marker to sketch the shape of a phone, then wrote the model of a new Huawei phone on it. He folded the paper into a phone-sized box. He turned his head and asked, "What's your name?"

"Zhang Liqiang... Why?" the young man replied casually.

"Nothing, just asking." Chen Ji examined the paper effigy in front of him, wondering if it would work. Regardless, he'd burn it and see. He wrote his own name on the back of the paper effigy. Suddenly, he felt a premonition and looked up at the corner of the cabinet nearby—a camera was probably there.

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The phone looked exactly like a real one. After opening the app and finding it very smooth, he tossed it onto the next bed. "Here, take it and play."

"Wow, thanks, bro!" Zhang Liqiang immediately started playing with the phone. Familiar music filled the air. Just as Chen Ji let out a sigh of relief, his own phone chimed—Black Impermanence had replied.

{The one near your house? Do you know its name? Hard to look up without a name.}

Chen Ji: {Zhang Liqiang.}

Black Impermanence sent an 'OK' emoji, and soon after, a document. Chen Ji opened it. It was like Zhang Liqiang's resume, complete with birth and death dates and a one-inch photo. Both parents had passed away, and the cause of death was a plane crash.

He was a pilot who had an accident during extreme testing of a new aircraft model and died after resuscitation efforts at the hospital failed.

Chen Ji glanced at him, feeling an indescribable emotion... *Oh well, help if you can.* He sent Black Impermanence a large red packet and casually asked: {It's been over a year, why hasn't anyone sent him to the underworld yet?}

Black Impermanence immediately claimed the red packet, sent a 'Thanks, boss' emoji, and then explained: {It's not that our colleagues over here are too busy. It's because his obsession is too strong, you know? He's only in his twenties, hasn't lived enough. He won't listen to persuasion. He's a 'privileged' individual; if he doesn't want to go to the underworld, he doesn't have to. Anyway, even if he went to the underworld, he wouldn't get a number for reincarnation.}

Chen Ji: {...? Why?}

Black Impermanence: {No one is having babies.}

Chen Ji burst out laughing, quickly turning his head away. He hadn't realized that the declining birth rate would also affect the reincarnation process in the underworld. The phone on the next bed blared "Penta Kill." Zhang Liqiang looked at Chen Ji: "Right, right? Wasn't that awesome?"

Chen Ji gave a thumbs-up.

The phone on the next bed remained at full volume. Chen Ji lay beside him, saying nothing. He could sleep with a little noise, but he remained in a semi-dream, semi-awake state. Around dawn, a rooster crowed outside. Zhang Liqiang, who had been staring intently at his phone, instantly looked out the window, his eyes unmoving.

Chen Ji also opened his eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Liqiang's dull, lifeless eyes slowly turned to Chen Ji. Chen Ji sat up and asked again. Zhang Liqiang's eyes gradually regained their sparkle. He handed the phone back to Chen Ji: "Sorry, I played all night..."

Chen Ji waved his hand and said gently, "It's okay, it's yours now."

Zhang Liqiang insisted on not taking it: "No, if the squad leader finds out, I'll be criticized and have to train."

Chen Ji said, "Hmm... So, do you want to go down and queue up early?"

Zhang Liqiang's dark eyes stared straight at Chen Ji: "I don't understand what you mean. I need to go train."

Chen Ji's expression was lazy and gentle: "I've already asked for you. You still need to draw lots for reincarnation down there."

"There are indeed planes called 'Ghosts,' but those aren't for ghosts to fly. If you go down early and queue up for reincarnation, you'll be a fine man again in eighteen years... Hmm... you can drink less Meng Po soup, so you won't feel as nauseous when you start training in your next life, and you'll perform better. Maybe you'll even get to fly the latest model in your first year of service."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about!" Zhang Liqiang said sharply, "I'm still alive and well! What's wrong with you, constantly telling me to die!"

Chen Ji's expression remained unchanged: "I'm not here to force you, just to ask you to consider it."

"But you should understand that good pilots are always rare, and each one requires a lot of human and material resources to train. If you reincarnate a year earlier, you'll be born a year earlier." Chen Ji's eyes flickered slightly: "You also know that the international situation isn't great right now... What if one day we need to go to war, and you're still playing 'Paw Patrol'?"

Zhang Liqiang was silent for a moment, then exclaimed, "...Are you a demon?!"

Chen Ji: "No, but I know Black and White Impermanence. Give me a clear answer, and I'll help you talk to them and arrange an expedited reincarnation service—it seems you don't have any living relatives anyway. You can go down and show off your first-class merit to your parents... I'll have them burn your plaque and medals down to you, with firecrackers all the way to your doorstep."

Zhang Liqiang hesitated: "...Really?"

Chen Ji: "Really."

Zhang Liqiang looked deeply at Chen Ji, and after a long silence, he said, "...No."

Chen Ji asked in return, "Do you have any other wishes?"

Zhang Liqiang: "...? You can guess that too?"

Although Chen Ji hadn't done this kind of work many times, he felt that everyone was pretty much the same. After all, novels from ancient times to the present have always written about this aspect! Chen Ji didn't believe there wasn't something to it!

Zhang Liqiang whispered to Chen Ji, who raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly, "You're really putting me in a tough spot! What if I get caught?"

...

The next day, Dr. Wang came to Chen Ji with his report. Chen Ji glanced at his report and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that everything was normal—he had actually wanted a check-up himself, given his previous severe injuries, so he just went with the flow.

One look at the report confirmed that all those bitter and expensive Chinese coffees he'd had before weren't for nothing.

There was also a detailed report on his eyes, which only stated that his eyes were completely normal and there were no neurological problems. As for why his vision was blurry... it recommended Chen Ji see a psychiatrist.

So it was all in his head?

Chen Ji turned his head and thought for a moment, and suddenly everything before him became incredibly clear, even clearer than when he wore his glasses.

He focused intently on the world before him, and then, for a moment, the clear objects broke down into countless lines... He understood; these 'heavenly eyes' had remained with him.

Dr. Wang asked, "Xiao Chen, how did you sleep last night? Why did you sleep on the next bed?"

"It's nothing." Chen Ji scratched his head. "I should be able to be discharged today, right?"

Dr. Wang nodded. "Yes, you can. Your 24-hour ECG is also normal."

Chen Ji: "I have one more humble request."

Dr. Wang: "...? What is it?"

Chen Ji: "Since I'm already here, could I visit the CNF-Sword 23...?"

Dr. Wang looked at Chen Ji with a complicated expression.

Chen Ji felt his scalp tingle. He couldn't help but glare at Zhang Liqiang, who was watching him eagerly from the side. He had told him yesterday that this request made him look very much like a spy!

Was that something he could just casually operate?!

Was that something he could just casually look at?!