Chapter 81
After Luo Shizhen finished speaking casually, he continued to focus his attention on investigating the surroundings.
Soon, he discovered white smoke rising from a place not far awayโit was exactly that restaurant they frequently ordered from.
The patients and family members waiting in line outside, as well as the reporters and the crowd watching the commotion, still had lingering shock on their faces, and they were all discussing it.
“Was that an explosion?”
“What’s the situation?”
“Isn’t that Liu’s Restaurant? Did a coal stove explode?”
Realizing it wasn’t an earthquake, everyone became much calmer. If it were just a fire, they would have surrounded it long ago, but since it involved an explosion, no one dared to approach yet. They just took out their phones to call 119.
Luo Shizhen, however, kept his eyes fixed there.
He had calmed down now and knew there shouldn’t be any major danger; otherwise, Sui-laoshi would have definitely made a move.
The thick white smoke obstructed everyone’s vision and also blocked the sign of Liu’s Restaurant.
Then, a pair of combat boots stepped out of the white smoke with a sharp, piercing aura.
Dazzling golden hair that seemed to shimmer under the sunlight, and deep blue eyes that always appeared exceptionally arrogant, swept over as he raised an eyebrow.
It was indeed Hua Yi.
Luo Shizhen thought to himself that they were really fast; they had arrived less than half an hour after he made the call.
And looking at the situation, something really was wrong with Liu’s Restaurant.
The others also recognized the combat uniform on Hua Yi.
“It’s the Guardians!”
“Are they catching a Bizarre? There’s actually a Bizarre here!”
Another Guardian wearing the same combat uniform waved a smoke-clearing device. Soon, the white mist completely dispersed, revealing the scene outside Liu’s Restaurant.
There were roughly seven Guardians standing together in groups of two or three. On the ground lay several pieces of tree bark, along with the pale-faced, terrified-looking owner of Liu’s Restaurant.
Nearby shopkeepers and business owners had also run out long ago. Seeing Owner Liu, someone immediately raised their voice to ask:
“Old Liu, what happened?”
They didn’t dare ask the Guardians, but they still dared to ask Owner Liu.
Owner Liu, however, looked dazed, as if he hadn’t heard anything, only trembling in place.
Instead, another Guardian holding a detector finished his scan and replied:
“He was attacked by a Bizarre and has symptoms of amnesia. Does anyone here know his family? You can contact them.”
“I have his home number! Calling now, calling now!”
Although they had vaguely guessed it was related to the Bizarre when they saw the Guardians appear, everyone still instinctively felt a jolt of alarm upon hearing it confirmed.
They were so close to Liu’s Restaurant; if that Bizarre could attack Owner Liu, it could definitely attack them too.
Luckily the Awakeners arrived in time; otherwise, they might have died without even knowing why.
There were also people who had some friendship with Owner Liu, and they said worriedly:
“Is this contamination? Doctor Zhen, do you think you can treat it?”
Luo Shizhen, who had been called out, immediately went over, appearing not to fear the Guardians at all. This made the onlookers feel even more that he had the bearing of a divine doctor.
The rest of the Zhadao team didn’t know Luo Shizhen’s identity and glanced at Hua Yi.
Hua Yi waved his hand, his eyes sweeping over the whorl of hair on the top of Luo Shizhen’s head as he passed by:
“Let him take a look.”
Only then did the Guardians blocking Owner Liu make way. Luo Shizhen stepped forward and grasped Owner Liu’s hand.
“He isn’t contaminated?”
He looked in confusion toward the nearest Guardian.
This Guardian inexplicably felt that Luo Shizhen’s eyes were somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he had seen this old gentleman before. He only answered instinctively:
“No, we’ve checked with the instrument; there are no traces of contamination on him.”
“But here…” He pointed to the top of Owner Liu’s head. “When we found him, some tree roots had threaded through. Thereโs a hole up here.”
This hole was very strange, roughly the size of a coin. Although a hole had been punched through the top of his head, there were no traces of blood. The victim himself, aside from becoming a bit muddled, remembered who he was, and no other physical problems were found.
Owner Liu was very thin but very tall, a bit taller than Luo Shizhen. To see the top of his head, Luo Shizhen instinctively stood on his tiptoes.
A hand wearing combat gloves suddenly appeared before his eyes, pressing down on Owner Liu’s head and pushing it down slightly.
The hole on the top of his head instantly became clearly visible.
Luo Shizhen looked gratefully toward Hua Yi. “Thank you, young man.”
โHe hadn’t forgotten his persona as the seventy-year-old Doctor Zhen.
Hua Yi looked at the Luo Shizhen who was seriously thanking him, and for a moment, he felt somewhat at a loss for words.
After a pause, he stared at the obedient whorl of hair on the other’s head and replied:
“You’re welcome.”
“Old Grandpa.”
Translator’s Notes
- Zhadao Team (้ๅ): This is the name of Hua Yi’s squad. In the context of cultivation/supernatural novels, it usually translates to “Guillotine” or “Hay-Cutter.” It implies a decisive, sharp, and lethal force.
- De-gaming/Raw Smell (ๅป่ ฅ): A culinary term in Chinese cooking refers to removing the unpleasant “fishy” or “raw” smell of meat or seafood using aromatics like ginger, scallion, and wine.
- Honorary Banners (้ฆๆ): These are red silk banners often given to doctors, teachers, or police officers in China to show gratitude for their service.
- Old Grandpa (่็บ็บ): A polite and respectful way for a younger person to address an elderly man. Hua Yi is teasing Shizhen here because he knows the “seventy-year-old” doctor is actually his teenage classmate.
- Whorl (้ซฎๆ): The patch of hair that grows in a circular pattern on the top of the head. Hua Yi uses this specific detail to recognize Shizhen through his disguise.
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