Chapter 74
Despite being shocked by the relationship between the two patients, once they were on the beds, they were just patients. Luo Shizhen quickly entered his treatment state. He picked up two silver needles and inserted them into both patients simultaneously.
This was just an attempt, but to his surprise, the white mist actually split into two, entering each patient’s body respectively. For Luo Shizhen, this sensation was even more marvelous. Besides his current perspective, he gained two other perspectives at the same time.
One perspective was similar to when he treated Zhong Xinâvarious gases and black mist were clashing and breaking. This was inside the ordinary person, Qin Cheng.
The perspective inside Wu Sen, however, was different from both of the ordinary people. When the white python tried to enter, it was blocked for a moment. In front of it was dense, thick black pollution mist. It was truly difficult to resist taking a bite.
Luo Shizhen relied on the willpower he gained from repeating his senior year for two years to forcefully hold back. The white python lingeringly rubbed against the black mist, its mouth opening and closing as if wanting to eat. The black mist, however, shivered and scrambled to get out of its way, clearing a path for it to enter.
As expected, the pollution inside an Awakener is ‘fresh.’
Luo Shizhen tried to find a way to describe the feeling, but all that came to mind was: Very fresh, great flavor, lively, and makes you want to swallow it in one gulp.
Luo Shizhen swallowed hard, once again using the willpower it took to climb from last place to second-to-last in his class to keep the white pythonâs mouth shut.
After drilling inside, the white pythonâs usually squinted eyes widened in surprise. The amount of gas inside an Awakener was clearly much greater than in an ordinary personâroughly dozens of times more by a quick count. They were layered and intertwined, and their colors were different, even more brilliant. The black mist representing pollution was constantly trying to push them apart.
But unlike an ordinary person, the gases that were pushed apart gradually restored their connection on their own. Then, they were pushed apart again. Then, they reconnected. It was a repetitive cycle that never stopped.
Is this why Awakeners don’t mutate as long as their pollution level hasn’t reached a certain point?
The constant pushing apart of the gases by the pollution, followed by their constant self-healing, created the illusion that Awakeners were immune to light pollution.
Luo Shizhen felt the white pythonâs perspective become his own. It was a marvelous experience because, although he could previously control his Qi briefly, he had never had such a complete shared sensation.
He experimentally moved forward. The white python swam nimbly among the countless gases, curiously watching them be pushed apart and then heal themselves.
Why can Awakeners heal themselves?
Luo Shizhen moved closer. He vaguely sensed something familiar about these gases. The white python coiled around a strand of gas, protecting it from the pollutionâs impact, and examined it closely. He saw that on the surface of the gas, there was a faint, almost invisible layer of white mist.
The white python moved closer out of curiosity and experimentally sent out a wisp of its own white mist. That extremely faint mist, however, was not as nimble as the white python. The white python poked at the mist. Even though it was just a mist, Luo Shizhen could somehow perceive it.
It was dead.
How strange. Why is this white mist so similar to my Qi?
Luo Shizhen switched to another strand of gas to coil around, and as expected, he found a faint layer of dead white mist on it too. Since he had already seen the white mist, Luo Shizhen quickly discovered why the gases could heal themselves.
When the pollution attacked, those seemingly dead mists still had an instinctive swallowing reaction. After the pollution broke through the gas and attached to it, that extremely faint layer of white mist would quickly crawl along the gas to swallow the pollution. Every time the gas was broken, the white mist would crawl to both ends and swallow the pollution to reconnect them. Because they were reconnected, the gas joined together again. This was why the gases in the Awakenerâs body that Luo Shizhen saw earlier appeared to be self-healing.
So thatâs how it is.
Luo Shizhen inserted another silver needle. Inside the Awakener, there was white mist very similar to his Qi that was swallowing the pollution, whereas ordinary people didn’t have it. This was why Awakeners could endure pollution for a long time, while ordinary people would quickly die from even slight pollution.
What is that white mist? Why does it feel so familiar? It feels like… the way my Qi would look if it were dead.
Luo Shizhen wasn’t good at deep thinking, but he felt that since becoming an Awakener, his brain seemed to have become slightly smarter, as he was actually pondering many things. He turned to look inside Qin Cheng, seeing the miserable, broken gases that had been scattered by the pollution.
If ordinary people could also have white mist in their bodies, would they also be able to ignore light pollution like Awakeners?
The white python swam through both bodies, swallowing the pollution while appearing to be deep in thought. Occasionally, it would pause on a strand of an Awakenerâs gas, poking at the slightly reactive white mist. These mists were too faint and small, not even as large as one of the white pythonâs scales, but whenever the white python approached, even though they were dead, they would try their best to get close to it, appearing very affectionate.
It was as if… they were originally one.
Luo Shizhen couldn’t help but feel that these white mists felt like strands of hair or fingernail clippings that had fallen off his body. Is it because theyâre too small?
While thinking, Luo Shizhen swallowed the pollution in both of them. The white python followed the silver needles back into his body, and Luo Shizhen pulled out the needles. “Alright.”
“You can hold hands now.”
Qin Cheng sat up dazed, feeling the lightness in his body. “This… itâs done?”
Wu Sen was no less shocked. Although he only had light pollution that didn’t affect his mind, the pain had been constant. But now, all the pain in his body was gone. To be honest, he hadn’t really believed in the Zhen Family Clinic. He only came to accompany Qin Cheng because he saw him suffering and knew he would want to try anything. If the clinic couldn’t cure them, at least they wouldn’t be cured together. If something went wrong, he would be there with Qin Cheng.
But now, he had actually been cured? Could TCM really treat pollution?
Wu Sen didn’t have time to feel more; he just hurriedly looked at Qin Cheng. “How is it? Does it still hurt?”
Qin Cheng shook his head, tears falling first. “It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Thatâs great!”
The two embraced. Wu Sen cherished him, softly placing a kiss on Qin Chengâs forehead. The love in his eyes was almost tangible as he held him in his arms and whispered:
“I love you.”
“To hell with having to find a woman to marry, to hell with being mocked for being gay! I love you, and Iâm going to be with you! weâve already missed ten years; weâre not going to miss any more.”
Luo Shizhen stared blankly at this scene. Having cured the patients, Divine Doctor Zhen Shiluo had turned back into Luo Shizhen. This scene was quite a shock to him. He had always thought his life should be: study, find a job, go on blind dates, get married, have children, work hard to support the family, don’t let his wife and children suffer, raise the children, watch them grow up, and then help raise the children’s children. Then he would die and wait for the children to visit his grave.
Isn’t life supposed to be like that? How can two men have children? After they die, if they don’t have children, who will visit their graves?
Wu Sen said he loved Qin Cheng. Love… two people being together is because of love? This is different from what Grandma taught.
First of all, Grandma definitely wasn’t wrong. But Wu Sen and Qin Cheng… they didn’t seem to be wrong either. Then who is wrong?
Luo Shizhen walked out in confusion, just as confused as he had been when he saw a question he couldn’t answer in an exam hall.
“Shizhen…”
Chu Xiao came to meet him. Luo Shizhen looked at his best friend blankly.
“Chu Xiao, their treatment is over. You handle the rest for me; I have something I can’t figure out.”
He scratched his head and walked out, still in a state of confusion. Then, he climbed onto the roof. And then, he saw Sui An sitting there.
Luo Shizhen greeted him honestly, “Hello, Teacher Sui.”
Sui An saw that the childâs expression wasn’t right. After a thought, he stood up and gave his spot to him. “Sit.”
Luo Shizhen felt a bit embarrassed to take the teacher’s spot. “Teacher Sui, where will you go then?”
“Iâll go to the tree.”
Luo Shizhen felt even more embarrassed. “Maybe I should go back down…”
Sui An ruffled his hair. “Itâs fine. I like climbing trees.”
If the people from Silver Cocoon heard this, their jaws would likely hit the floor. But the person hearing it was Luo Shizhen, who believed whatever his teacher said. He actually believed it and looked at Sui An with great admiration. Although he didn’t know what there was to admire about liking to climb trees, being looked at by his student with such a gaze made Sui An feel quite good.
He got off the roof, using spiritual threads to create a ladder. He walked onto a nearby tall tree almost as if he were on flat ground, then silently looked at Luo Shizhen below.
Luo Shizhen was making a phone call. When in doubt, find a teacher.
“Hello, Teacher Chen. Are you busy? If you have time, can you chat with me?”
The confusion in his voice was almost palpable, yet the trust within it was undeniable.
Chen Hean was manipulating a colleagueâs shadow to kill a Grade 4 Anomaly, while dodging an attack from a Grade 3 Anomaly and pulling up another colleagueâs shadow to kill an Anomaly in front of him. His tone remained gentle and calm:
“I have time. Teacher is always here.”
Luo Shizhen: “Thank you, Teacher. Itâs just…”
“When I was treating an Awakener and an ordinary person at the same time, I found that the Awakener could self-heal, and there was a white mist inside them very similar to my Qi. What is that?”
Chen Hean: “That is Qi Flow. Every Awakener has it; it appears along with the awakening. The Awakener Center believes that Qi Flow exists in the sky, the earth, and the ocean, but it is not perceptible to the human eye. It descended thirty years ago along with the Anomalies.”
“When an Awakener awakens, they produce Qi fluctuations, similar to the body automatically accumulating pollution, which attracts Qi Flow into the body. This Qi Flow can resist some pollution. Awakeners who fail to attract Qi Flow will fail to awaken and mutate. The Awakener Center believes that Qi Flow is the one chance at survival given to humanity.”
Luo Shizhen tried hard to understand. “Why is it called a chance at survival?”
“Itâs like the food chain in nature. Rabbits eat grass, foxes eat rabbits, wolves eat foxes, and there are higher predators above wolves.”
Chen Hean spoke slowly:
“Anomalies eat humans. In the food chain, Anomalies are above us humans. But who can say for sure if Anomalies aren’t also the food of some other organism?”
“The Awakener Center has been studying Qi Flow because it has shown this characteristic of treating Anomalies as food. Itâs normal for you to think itâs similar to your Qi. Energy-users are Energy-users because their bodies contain much more Qi Flow than others, so you can not only purify the pollution in your own body but also purify others.”
Luo Shizhen nodded while taking out a notebook and pen, starting to record rapidly. “Thank you, Teacher. Iâve written it all down.”
Chen Hean let out a soft laugh over the phone. “The tone you started with made me think you wanted to talk about some personal matters.” He asked casually, “Besides Qi Flow, do you have anything else bothering you?”
Luo Shizhen was indeed led into the topic, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Itâs just some things of my own that I can’t figure out. Itâs not a mission or work, just some small things. Would it be too much of a bother for Teacher?”
Chen Hean used a shadow to snap the neck of an Anomaly, smiling gently into the phone. “How could it be? I happen to have nothing to do.”
“Furthermore, your matters are all big matters to Teacher. Tell me about it; Iâm very happy to listen.”
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