Ch47 - Hidden Danger

TW: Slight mention of self-cannibalism

Autumn transitioned to winter and two months passed in a blink of an eye, and finally, Ji Qinghuai was free to leave the house.

As for why it was two months instead of one, Ji Qinghuai was strictly supervised by his old father and detained at home for a while after he recovered. By the time he stepped out of the house, there was already a lot of snow outside.

But after regaining his freedom, the first person Ji Qinghuai saw was not Xie Yan, but Xu Luo.

Xu Luo was not surprised by Ji Qinghuai’s arrival and also didn’t ask why he came. He gave Ji Qinghuai a bottle of juice and asked, “How are your injuries?”

The story of Ji Qinghuai causing a mess and being punished had long been spread. It wasn’t unusual for Xu Luo to know about it. Ji Qinghuai didn’t feel embarrassed and said nonchalantly, “It’s okay, but the scars are still healing, so it doesn’t look too good.”

“I’ll give you some scar medicine later.” The enthusiastic Dr Xu took note of it and then turned his face and said, “Actually, even if you didn’t come to see me today, I would have gone to you in two days.”

“Hm?” Ji Qinghuai was a little baffled when he heard this.

Xu Luo didn’t rush to explain, and instead said, “Let’s talk about you first.”

Ji Qinghuai put aside the doubts in Xu Luo’s words for the time being, and directly expressed his intentions for meeting Xu Luo.

“I always feel that there’s something wrong with me lately.”

“Oh?” Although it was a questioning tone, Xu Luo’s expression was calm, as if he had expected it.

“Sometimes…I can’t control myself,” Ji Qinghuai recalled several strange behaviours. “When I have some thoughts in mind that I have no intention of doing, my body would execute it impulsively.”

Ji Qinghuai pondered on how he should describe this feeling.

“It’s as if another consciousness has appeared in my mind. He controls my body, intensifies my thoughts, and forces me to do things that I would never dare to do.”

After hearing this, Xu Luo contemplated for a moment and asked, “When did this situation start?”

“The first time I felt this way was at Xiang Yunfei’s clinic.” Ji Qinghuai continued, “You were there at the time, and you saw how I suddenly attacked him. It was because of this strange feeling.”

“And then?” Xu Luo pressed.

“Then another time was after you detoxified me.” Ji Qinghuai said truthfully, “In those few days, the strange sensation appeared more frequently, but suddenly disappeared.”

Xu Luo calculated the time according to his words and spoke at the same time. “When you were punished before, Mr Ji should have hit you quite hard right?”

At first glance, this statement seemed to have nothing to do with what Ji Qinghuai said, but Xu Luo would not digress for no reason. He certainly had his reason to ask this.

Recalling the day when he was beaten half to death by Ji Xianzhi, Ji Qinghuai couldn’t help but sigh, “It was close to a death sentence.”

“That’s it.”

Listening to his words, Xu Luo was sure that Ji Qinghuai was looking for him for the same reason he wanted to see Ji Qinghuai.

Before Ji Qinghuai could ask him anything, Xu Luo said, “I was going to find you for the same reason.”

Ji Qinghuai was surprised, “You know?”

“I discovered it accidentally when I was detoxifying you.”

Xu Luo briefly told him about the incident and said, “In fact, with your spiritual power, you can suppress this toxin but your body was weakened from the cold poison and you were also beaten half to death by your father, this toxin took advantage of your weakness to merge with your blood and started to take effect.”

Xu Luo said to Ji Qinghuai, “I originally wanted to wait until I found a way to detoxify it before telling you about it. Now that you are aware of it, I don’t want to hide it from you. The severity of the poison is frightening, so I have to find a way to detoxify it as soon as possible.”

After that, Xu Luo couldn’t help sighing.

The house happened to leak on a rainy night. Originally, this was not a major event. Who would have thought that Ji Qinghuai’s body would get injured one after another. This poison was much more powerful than the cold poison, and it was another big problem for Xu Luo.

At that time, the mice went mad and attacked each other, spreading the infection quickly. However, Ji Qinghuai was not a mouse, he was a great demon and he couldn’t be judged using the symptoms of the mice.

According to Ji Qinghuai’s own words, this poison would manipulate him to hurt people. This alone was very dangerous, and it didn’t sound good if it could amplify certain thoughts in his heart.

Xu Luo asked him, “Do you know how you came into contact with such a wicked poison?”

Ji Qinghuai thought for a moment, “It should be rat poison.”

“Rat poison?” Xu Luo was a little surprised.

“En.” Ji Qinghuai said, “At that time, I went to catch a rat demon and was carelessly bitten by him. That was also what triggered the cold poison when I took the cold medicine by mistake.”

After speaking, he incidentally glanced at Xu Luo’s face and found that there was something wrong.

“What happened to you?”

Xu Luo didn’t answer him, but instead asked, “Who is the rat demon that bit you?”

Who is it…

A bit of time had passed since then and Ji Qinghuai had almost forgotten who it was. After thinking for a while, he said, “Lin Shuye.”

Xu Luo’s face changed drastically.

Many people didn’t know much about rat poison because they didn’t often come into contact with medicine and the like. Especially for a great demon like Ji Qinghuai, most toxins would be dissolved by their spiritual power so they weren’t too concerned.

But Xu Luo had been studying medicine since he was a child and knew how powerful this seemingly humble rat poison was.

Ordinary mice that bite a living creature can pass on a virus through the wound and if not treated in time, there is a certain chance of death.

As a rat becomes stronger, the virus in its body will evolve, forming stronger and more lethal toxins. For a rat demon like Lin Shuye, who has lived for hundreds of years, the toxins in his body are one of the strongest. There is no pattern to its attacks and are different in various ways so there was no way to start investigating the toxin.

When Xu Luo was a child, he had seen a patient being bitten by an adult rat demon. The symptom that appeared was during the attack was self-cannibalism. He first ate his fingers bit by bit, and then began to gnaw on other places. He bit off most of the meat on his arm and then looked at Xu Luo with a blood-stained face that had a satisfied smile plastered on it, completely unaware of what was happening.

This was a nightmare from his childhood, and it was also the illness he feared the most.

But what he was afraid of, he not only encountered it many years later, but it was also something even more powerful.

No wonder he spent two months failing to figure out what the poison was. He thought it was because of his lack of knowledge, but it turned out to be a strange poison that evolved from an individual.

Xu Luo felt a headache coming on.

Even though he knew the origin of the poison right now, he couldn’t prescribe the right medicine. Only the person who tied the bell could untie it. The fastest way to get rid of the toxin was to find Lin Shuye who might have an antidote available.

“Since this poison has already affected you, it is impossible to resolve it with your spiritual power. Since it is so aggressive, the detoxification cannot be delayed. You have to find Lin Shuye as soon as possible.”

After talking, he paused, and said, “The cold poison on your body is all right, so you don’t need to continue drinking the medicine. You should pay more attention to that rat poison in your body.”

Xu Luo urged, “In the future, you should avoid conflicts with others. Remain calm and don’t be too impatient. Let your body recover so it can fight against the toxin for a bit. But no one can guarantee when something will happen, you can only reduce the chances of it happening and delay it for a while.”

Ji Qinghuai nodded and took note of his words. His face showed a rare look of worry.

Upon seeing this, Xu Luo got up and walked to Ji Qinghuai’s side and patted his shoulder lightly, “Don’t stress too much, your spiritual power is not weak. Since your body has recovered, the poison can’t affect you for a while.”

“Thanks for your reassurance.” Ji Qinghuai smiled at Xu Luo.

It was impossible for him not to care. After all, anyone with a big hidden danger in their body couldn’t be at ease.

Ji Qinghuai only felt that he was particularly unlucky this year. First, he was tossed about by the cold poison for a while before he was beaten severely by his old father, and now he learned that there was still another toxin in his body.

What the hell kind of luck is this? I’m afraid it’s going to follow me into next year.

Ji Qinghuai was depressed by himself for a while, took out his mobile phone and looked at the time: 16:36. Xu Luo would be off work in a while.

Ji Qinghuai asked him, “We’re having hotpot at home tonight, do you want to join us?”

It was still snowing outside and it was the perfect weather to enjoy a steaming hot pot, but Xu Luo declined.

“I have something tonight, next time.”

“Okay.” Ji Qinghuai stood up, “Then I’ll leave first.”

“Wait a second.” Xu Luo stopped him and then gave him two boxes of the ointment he had promised.

Ji Qinghuai took the ointment and smiled at him, “Thank you.”

Xu Luo waved his hand, “You’re being too polite.”

“Then I’ll go first.”

“Goodbye.”

Ji Qinghuai waved to Xu Luo and turned to leave.

The snow outside had been blowing all afternoon and a layer of white had accumulated on the ground. When Ji Qinghuai opened the umbrella and prepared to walk down the steps at the door, he saw a pair of mother and daughter approaching not far away.

The girl was holding a Santa Claus doll in her hand and wearing a Christmas hat on her head. She was at a very innocent and young age. She looked at her mother with big shiny eyes and asked, “Mom, will Santa come over and give me gifts tonight?”

Ji Qinghuai didn’t hear what the little girl’s mother replied because his thoughts had shifted elsewhere.

Yes, today was Christmas.

Ji Qinghuai took a step back under the eaves, put down his umbrella and took out his mobile phone to send a message to Xie Yan.

The most handsome actor in history: Mr Xie, today is Christmas, let’s have hotpot together.

Ji Qinghuai waited in the cold wind for a while and received a short reply from him.

Xie Yan: En.

Yay!

Ji Qinghuai quickly sent him Qin Lang’s address.

After receiving the message, Xie Yan held an umbrella and turned around to glance at the community behind him.

Xie Yan: See you later.

Ji Qinghuai thought that Xie Yan was at home. He knew that the two communities where Xie Yan and Qin Lang lived were very close and that he would arrive soon.

Ji Qinghuai walked down the steps and hurried home.

I want to spend Christmas with Mr Xie and be very merry.