Chapter 73

Chen Yaoyu suddenly realized, and she shook her head with a smile, saying, "We should be the ones to thank you. Grandpa is very important to our family, and this is something that money can't measure... Let me put it bluntly, if anything were to happen to Grandpa in the future... Well, our family hopes you can still help us save him. Is that okay?"

Xu Yan was taken aback: The key to saving Grandpa Wen this time was that he didn't have a common illness but rather a condition caused by demonic energy, so Zhu Youxiang's medicine was effective. But next time—this, Grandpa Wen couldn't possibly be so unlucky to be invaded by demonic energy twice, right?

"Yaoyu, it's not that I'm shirking responsibility, but this time, Grandpa's illness wasn't a common one, so my intervention was effective. If it were another condition, it would be best to seek a proper hospital and experts—I'm just a wild practitioner, and it doesn't always work."

Chen Yaoyu nodded with a smile, satisfied with Xu Yan's somewhat incomplete promise. In fact, she wasn't worried about Grandpa getting common illnesses—leaders of his level have personal doctors, and if anything goes wrong, the best expert teams from major hospitals can be called in for treatment. Any normal illness that modern medicine can explain, Chen Yaoyu didn't need to worry about. Her only concern was if something strange like this happened again, where even top experts, advanced equipment, and modern drugs were useless, then she could only rely on Xu Yan, this mysterious person, to perform some rituals.

She asked in a low voice, "Xu Yan, what exactly was Grandpa's illness this time? So many experts and professors couldn't do anything, but you solved it. Could it really be some kind of... evil influence?"

Xu Yan thought for a moment and smiled bitterly, "These things are too complicated to explain clearly right now. Anyway, just consider that Grandpa was affected by evil energy, really possessed. This isn't something modern medicine can solve, or even something we normal people can understand. It's normal that doctors couldn't figure it out."

Chen Yaoyu's face showed a hint of surprise, "Ah! I thought you were just scaring my cousins—there really is such a thing as evil energy? Then, are the ghosts and monsters in the underworld real too?"

Xu Yan frowned, recalling what Zhu Youxiang had said about the demon world. He countered, "Yaoyu, didn't you see it with your own eyes? When Grandpa was sick, his body was almost completely covered in black energy. That's evil energy. As for the underworld and ghosts, I believe they exist."

Chen Yaoyu's expression changed, and after a moment of thought, she shook her head, "I still don't quite believe it. Ancients say that the living and the dead are separated, so even if the underworld exists, why would they harm Grandpa? And like Mr. Xiaogong's father and other possessed patients, we've never seen such cases before... If the underworld has existed since ancient times, such cases should have been common throughout history. Why have we never heard of them before? And now, suddenly, so many cases are appearing all over the world?"

Xu Yan nodded slightly—Chen Yaoyu had strong logical reasoning and a meticulous mind, and he was increasingly impressed with this girl—but the problem was that strong logical thinking didn't always lead to the correct answer.

"Yaoyu, logically, what you said is correct. But you're overlooking one point: the principle that 'the living and the dead do not interfere with each other' is not always constant."

Chen Yaoyu didn't react immediately to Xu Yan's words and asked, "What?" But she quickly realized, and her face turned pale, "Xu Yan, are you saying... the underworld and our world are now connected?"

"Yes, the appearance of Grandpa's illness and Mr. Xiaogong's father's illness is proof. You'll see, these cases are just the beginning. In the future, more bizarre things will happen, and even more terrifying things will appear."

Even though Chen Yaoyu was a calm and rational girl, her fear of ghosts was innate. Her face turned pale, and her eyes showed panic as she said in a low voice, "Xu Yan, are you really not just trying to scare me?"

Seeing Chen Yaoyu's frightened look, Xu Yan felt a sense of satisfaction. Actually, he wasn't trying to scare her; the key was that Chen Yaoyu came from a prominent family. Her uncle was the deputy secretary of the municipal committee, and her grandfather was a retired senior official. Her parents were likely also from influential families. If she believed him and told her family, perhaps some high-ranking official would take it seriously and pay attention. It would be better for her to say it than for him, a nobody, to say it. If the higher-ups believed her and took some precautions against the disaster, it would be a great benefit to the country. If it could reduce some losses and casualties, it would be his contribution to the country.

Xu Yan smiled and changed the subject, "In any case, Yaoyu, you don't need to worry about your grandfather. He's actually blessed by this misfortune. You can see that Grandpa's health is much better now, right? Normally, your grandfather should be at least twenty years younger, so for a long time, you won't need to worry about his health."

Actually, even without Xu Yan saying it, Chen Yaoyu had already learned from the family doctor that her grandfather's health had changed dramatically, almost like a return to youth. But this change was so miraculous that they were always a bit worried, fearing it might be fleeting and not reliable. Now, hearing a definite answer from Xu Yan, the one who caused it, Chen Yaoyu was very happy, her face beaming, "Really? Thank you so much, Xu Yan."

Xu Yan was about to say something modest, but then a harsh voice interrupted, "Hey, Xu Yan, Chen Yaoyu, what have you two been whispering about? You've been talking for so long, do you have that much to say?"

Xu Yan turned to see that it was indeed the annoying Zhao Tianyu—sure enough, this guy couldn't stay quiet for a minute without causing trouble!

He frowned, about to say something unpleasant in return, but Chen Yaoyu had already beaten him to it. She glanced at Zhao Tianyu disdainfully and said coldly, "What we're talking about—what does it have to do with you?"

Seeing Chen Yaoyu's unrelenting and decisive counterattack, Xu Yan felt a surge of satisfaction, his affection for her instantly reaching its peak!

This girl was truly adorable, clear in her likes and dislikes, quick to speak, and unrelenting. Moreover, because she was the one retaliating, it was more effective and powerful, making it even harder for Zhao Tianyu to save face—girls, after all, have the privilege of being capricious and unreasonable. Could a man really argue with her over every little thing? If he did, would Zhao Tianyu still have any dignity or face?

With a girl standing up for him, Xu Yan felt relieved. He didn't even need to act himself, just smiling as Zhao Tianyu turned red and looked flustered.

At this moment, Teacher Situ Xiao, who was chatting, noticed the tense atmosphere and interjected to smooth things over, "Hehe, classmate Xu Yan, classmate Yaoyu, classmate Tianyu, what are you talking about? Today is Xiaogong's happy day, let's raise a glass to celebrate Uncle Gong's recovery. Here's to Uncle Gong's health and all the best! Come, everyone, let's drink!"

He raised his glass first, smiling and gesturing to everyone. Since he was a teacher and everyone else was a student, and he was proposing a toast to Gong Xueting's father's recovery, no one could refuse. So everyone raised their glasses and stood up to congratulate Gong Xueting, "Xiaogong, congratulations on your uncle overcoming the crisis!"

"Xueting, congratulations. Those days, you were so worried and looked so haggard, we were all worried about you. Now, you've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel!"

Gong Xueting stood in the middle, facing the flood of blessings and congratulations. Her face was flushed, and she was visibly moved. She held her glass with both hands and said in a trembling voice, "Thank you all, thank you all the leaders, thank you all the teachers, and thank you all the classmates! During the days when my father was sick, I received everyone's enthusiastic help and support... I am truly grateful, and I don't know how to express it..."

Xu Yan clearly saw that when she thanked everyone, Gong Xueting looked at him, her eyes filled with sincere gratitude, which made him feel much better, warm and cozy—Xu Yan reassured himself, indeed, Gong Xueting was not an ungrateful girl, and she remembered his life-saving grace.

Finally, Gong Xueting concluded her speech, "I'm not good with words, so I can only express my gratitude with a cup of light wine!"

She raised her glass and drank it in one go, earning a round of enthusiastic applause and cheers from everyone, "Good, Xiaogong, that's great, you're really cool!"

Following Gong Xueting, everyone raised their glasses and drank their contents. Xu Yan also drank his, and just as he was about to sit down, a certain annoying person appeared again.

Zhao Tianyu pointed at Xu Yan in surprise, exclaiming, "Ah, Xu Yan, everyone is drinking wine, why are you drinking tea? You're cheating!"

Xu Yan rolled his eyes in annoyance—after entering, he had been busy talking to Chen Yaoyu, and they had been drinking tea. When Teacher Situ Xiao suggested a toast, his glass contained tea, and he hadn't had time to switch to beer before hastily standing up to drink with everyone.

In his heart, Xu Yan didn't really intend to cheat; it was just a cup of beer, after all, what was the big deal? But with Zhao Tianyu pointing it out, Xu Yan's rebellious nature kicked in, and he refused to drink—what are you, if you say it, I'll drink honestly, wouldn't that make me look bad?

Xu Yan put his glass on the table, not looking at Zhao Tianyu, but smiling apologetically at Gong Xueting, "Xueting, I'm sorry, I haven't been feeling well these past two days, so I shouldn't drink."

"Ah!" Gong Xueting was slightly taken aback, then she smiled and nodded, "It's fine, we're very casual here, drink whatever you like. But, Xu Yan, are you okay?"

"It's nothing serious, just a bit of a cold," Xu Yan smiled, not looking at Zhao Tianyu, and poured himself a cup of tea, raising it to Gong Xueting, "Here, Xueting, I'll drink tea instead of wine, to congratulate your father's recovery—feel free to drink whatever you like."

Gong Xueting took Xu Yan's toast seriously, but she was very sincere. She carefully poured a full glass of beer, raised it to clink with Xu Yan's, and said earnestly, "That won't do, I must drink to Xu Yan's toast—Xu Yan, I will never forget this great kindness, and I will repay it in the future!"

With that, she raised her head and drank the beer in one go, then her body swayed slightly, clearly from drinking too quickly.

Seeing her serious expression, Xu Yan suddenly thought of something, his