Chapter 1

"Headache, this, where am I?"

Wang Yang slowly opened his eyes, enduring the sharp pain in his head. He felt the bumps beneath him and finally saw everything clearly. He was in a strange car, lying on someone's lap in the back seat.

"Wang Yang, you're awake. How do you feel now?"

The young man who was using his leg as a pillow for Wang Yang exclaimed in surprise. The young man's name was Sun He, a classmate of Wang Yang. Both were third-year students at Zhongyuan University. Besides them, there were two other classmates, and the four of them shared a dorm room. They had agreed to work and earn money before the summer vacation and then travel to the Tibetan region. Today was their fourth day in Tibet.

"Nothing, just a bit of a headache!"

Wang Yang gently shook his head, looking around the car with some confusion. The car had a decent amount of space, with two people in the front and only the two of them in the back.

"You have a large wound on your head, and you lost a lot of blood. It would be strange if you weren't in pain after such a bad fall. Fortunately, you had good luck and met Mr. Sun and his friends. Mr. Sun had a first aid kit in his car and has already bandaged your head. We'll be at the hospital soon, don't worry!"

Sun He quickly explained. Wang Yang suddenly remembered that the four of them had gone to the Kunlun Mountains in the Tibetan region. While taking a selfie on a steep slope, he accidentally fell down. Fortunately, the slope wasn't very high, only about ten meters. When he rolled down, he seemed to have hit something, and then he lost consciousness until he woke up in the car.

"Wang Yang, is Wang Yang awake?"

Suddenly, a knocking sound came from behind. Wang Yang looked at Sun He with confusion. Suddenly, his head felt as if it was being pierced by needles, and a hot current quickly passed through his brain, causing him to scream and lose consciousness again.

When he woke up again, Wang Yang was already lying in a hospital, with thick white bandages on his head.

"Wang Yang, are you okay?"

As soon as he opened his eyes, three heads leaned in. Besides Sun He, there were also two other classmates, Ma Teng and Yan Pengchao. Seeing Wang Yang awake again, the three of them sighed in relief.

The four of them had traveled to the Tibetan region together. Wang Yang had fallen from the slope and immediately lost consciousness, bleeding profusely, which scared the other three. Fortunately, they weren't deep in the mountains. After carrying Wang Yang out, they soon met a large pickup truck. The owner, Mr. Sun, was a kind-hearted person who immediately took out a first aid kit to provide emergency care for Wang Yang and drove them all to the hospital.

Mr. Sun's car was a five-seater pickup truck. With the four of them, Mr. Sun's two friends and Ma Teng and Yan Pengchao went to the back of the open truck bed to enjoy the breeze. Mr. Sun drove for over three hours to reach this small county hospital.

"Me, I'm fine, what are all these things, so messy?"

Wang Yang held his head again. Information kept appearing in his mind, all of it dry and difficult to understand, with text and pictures. These things uncontrollably passed through his mind, making it hard for him to ignore them, as if someone was forcing him to look at things he didn't want to see.

This feeling was extremely uncomfortable, and these things had a unified name: "The Huangji Jing Shi," 108 volumes, each with its own name.

"Wang Yang, Wang Yang..."

"I'm fine, stop calling me!"

For about ten minutes, with the constant calls from his three dorm mates, the text and pictures finally passed through his mind quickly. The sudden influx of so much information almost made Wang Yang vomit.

Opening his eyes and looking around the ward, Wang Yang suddenly appeared dazed.

This was an ordinary ward, not much different from the wards he had seen in other hospitals. It had white walls and ordinary beds. However, a faint gray mist floated in the air, so light that it seemed non-existent, yet clearly visible.

"Wang Yang, are you really okay?"

Seeing Wang Yang still dazed, Sun He couldn't help but wave his hand in front of Wang Yang's eyes. Wang Yang immediately shook his head, and a sentence instantly appeared in his mind: "Death Qi, often found around those who are critically ill and about to die. In places with Death Qi, someone must have died within the past seven days."

"I'm really fine. Remember, you told me on the car that a kind person helped me?"

Wang Yang shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts, but the confusion in his mind grew. He couldn't help but look around again.

"Yes, Mr. Sun hasn't left yet. You should really thank them. If it weren't for Mr. Sun, you would have been in trouble. Wait a moment, I'll go call Mr. Sun and his friends!"

Sun He said and walked out. Two minutes later, the door opened again, and two people, about forty to fifty years old, looking somewhat haggard and wearing white cloth shoes, entered.

"Hello, it's like this. Our father had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and passed away here two days ago. We left in a hurry and forgot some things, so we came back to get them!"

The older man said softly, not waiting for a response from Wang Yang and the others. He went straight to the small cabinet by the bed, took out a bag, a pair of shoes, and some other miscellaneous items, bowed to the group, and left.

Ma Teng and Yan Pengchao exchanged glances. They were a bit surprised. It was normal for people to die in hospitals, but they hadn't expected that someone had died in this bed just two days ago. They thought about whether they should change the ward later, as it would feel uncomfortable knowing this.

Wang Yang, however, stared with wide eyes, filled with shock.

Two days ago, someone had died, and he immediately recalled the sentence that had appeared in his mind: "Death Qi, in places with Death Qi, someone must have died within the past seven days." This wasn't some random statement; it was real.

"Wang Yang, this is Mr. Sun. These are Mr. Sun's friends. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have known what to do!"

Soon, Sun He brought three people into the ward. They were all around forty, looking very kind, with smiles on their faces. The tallest one, wearing a gray T-shirt, was Mr. Sun.

"Mr. Sun, thank you for saving me!"

Wang Yang quickly gathered his thoughts and sat up, supporting himself. He remembered the incident and knew he had indeed been in danger. If it weren't for Mr. Sun's kindness in bandaging him and taking him to the hospital, he might have died from blood loss.

Thinking this way, Mr. Sun was truly his savior.

"Little brother, don't be so polite. Meeting is a form of destiny. I believe anyone else would have done the same in that situation!"

Mr. Sun took a few steps forward, pressed Wang Yang's shoulder, and gestured for him to rest. Wang Yang, however, stared at Mr. Sun's face and was taken aback.

He saw two thin green lines on Mr. Sun's face, spiraling up from his chin and disappearing at his nose. They reappeared at the bridge of his nose and turned black at the forehead, looking like two strands of hair hanging down.

"Green Qi indicates worry, illness, and misfortune. If it rises from below, it signifies a deficiency. If it forms a line, it indicates slow poisoning. If it starts as one and becomes three, it means death."

This sentence immediately appeared in Wang Yang's mind. Though simple, Wang Yang understood its meaning: a person with green lines on their face is suffering from slow poisoning. The deeper the poisoning, the more lines there are. When the lines become three, the person will die.

"Wang Yang, what's wrong with you today? Why are you staring at Mr. Sun like that?"

A voice woke Wang Yang. He realized he had been staring at Mr. Sun for a long time, which was impolite, especially since they had just met and Mr. Sun had saved his life.

Sun He turned around and said apologetically, "Mr. Sun, I'm really sorry. Wang Yang hit his head and might still be a bit confused."

"It's fine. He's the injured one and needs to rest. We just checked into a hotel in the county. If you need any help, feel free to contact me. Here's my card."

Mr. Sun chuckled, took a card from his pocket, and handed it to Sun He. Mr. Sun was a good person, and good people generally have the habit of helping others completely. He could see that Wang Yang and his friends were ordinary students, likely not well-off financially, and hospitals in the Tibetan region were not cheap.

"Thank you, really, thank you very much. Your help has been more than enough. We don't want to trouble you further."

Seeing Mr. Sun about to leave, Sun He quickly went to see him off. Among the four, Sun He was the most agile, and the others were not as good at this.

Sun He quickly returned to the ward and complained, "Wang Yang, are you really that dazed? I'm telling you, if it weren't for Mr. Sun today, you wouldn't be in this condition. The doctor said you were treated very promptly, or you might have died or been left with some issues."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something else."

Wang Yang replied softly, with a hint of helplessness. He hadn't expected to see different colors on people's faces or for information to appear in his mind. At that moment, he had managed to control himself from screaming, which was already quite an achievement.

However, such behavior towards his savior was still impolite, and Wang Yang decided to visit Mr. Sun to thank him properly.

"Sun He, someone died in this ward two days ago. Should we change to another one?"

Ma Teng said, walking over. Sun He hadn't been there when the people came to collect their belongings. Ma Teng and Yan Pengchao had discussed it and thought about changing the ward. They were still in the emergency ward, but the doctor had said Wang Yang was fine and just needed a brain scan upon waking. They could now move to a regular ward.

"No need. Which hospital hasn't had deaths? I think this one is fine. It's spacious, and the other beds are empty. We can squeeze in here for the night."

Sun He waved his hand. He didn't care if someone had died here. As a child, he lived in the outskirts of the city, near a hospital. Many children who died young were buried in a pit near his home, which made him less afraid. As he grew older, he became even braver.

"Let's stay here. I'm fine and don't need a scan. It's late, and we can check out tomorrow."

Wang Yang also didn't suggest changing the ward. He had fallen after lunch, and it took twenty minutes to meet Mr. Sun, who then drove for over three hours. It was now dinner time, and changing the ward at this time was unnecessary.

Seeing that Sun He and Wang Yang didn't want to change the ward, Ma Teng gave up. The ward was indeed spacious, and with four of them, there was nothing to fear.

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