Chapter 7

However, he could not run away without paying the bill.

On one hand, he had never done such a thing before and was unwilling to do so. On the other hand, this hospital was affiliated with Huaxi University's Medical School. Through the conversation last night, the emergency doctors knew that he was a student at Huaxi University's Medical School. If he ran away without paying, and the school found out, he would be in big trouble.

After explaining these matters, the group of doctors and nurses left the ICU to continue their rounds.

What puzzled Lin Yang was that the old doctor remained in the ICU and did not leave with the others.

Feeling a bit confused, Lin Yang joked, "Why are you still here? Aren't you going to continue the rounds? Are you afraid I won't pay the bill, so you're staying to supervise?"

The old doctor, being quite clever, guessed some of the situation from Lin Yang's words and asked with a smile, "What, are you short of money?"

Lin Yang did not hide anything and said straightforwardly, "Yes, I am short of money. But don't worry, I will definitely pay the full treatment fee. I just hope you can give me some time to gather the money..."

Before he could finish, the old doctor interrupted him, "How about I pay the treatment fee for you?"

"You pay for me? Why?" Lin Yang was taken aback.

The old doctor, whom he had never met before, suddenly offered to pay the treatment fee, making him suspect that the old doctor might have some ulterior motive.

The old doctor sighed, "Money, you can't bring it with you when you're born, nor can you take it with you when you die. It's really of no use to me..." Then he got to the point, "I want to ask you for a favor. The money for the treatment fee can be considered as my payment to you. Of course, if you think it's too little, I can add more."

Lin Yang neither agreed nor refused, but asked, "A favor? What kind of favor?"

Before the old doctor could answer, a young nurse came in with a discharge certificate.

"Take this and go to the billing office to settle the bill."

After handing the discharge certificate to Lin Yang, the young nurse began to tidy up the bed in the ICU.

Seeing the young nurse busy tidying up the bed and almost bumping into the old doctor, Lin Yang kindly reminded her, "Be careful, you're about to bump into something."

"Bump into what?" the young nurse asked, looking puzzled.

At that moment, her body collided with the old doctor.

However, what happened next was completely different from what Lin Yang had expected—the young nurse actually passed through the old doctor's body!

The old doctor seemed to be a non-physical image.

The atmosphere in the ICU instantly turned cold and eerie.

A ghost!

It was really a ghost!

After a brief shock, Lin Yang suddenly remembered what Lu Wenqi had said before: once he embarked on the path of soul cultivation, he would see ghosts and hear their voices.

From the current situation, it seemed that Lu Wenqi had not been lying.

He really saw a ghost and even talked to it!

This was truly unbelievable.

Even if he had experienced it himself, he found it hard to believe.

Seeing Lin Yang suddenly become dazed, the young nurse felt puzzled and asked with concern, "Why did you suddenly freeze? Hey, are you okay?"

"Nothing... I'm fine," Lin Yang replied, but his face was pale.

It was strange to be fine, as he had just seen a ghost! And it was in broad daylight!

No matter how brave Lin Yang was, he felt a chill run down his spine. After all, he was not facing a beast or a villain, but a ghost!

Involuntarily, memories of the ghost movies and ghost stories he had seen before came to mind, making the chill even stronger.

Fortunately, he quickly remembered his identity as a soul cultivator and the method Lu Wenqi had taught him to cultivate using the power of ghosts.

"I am a cultivator, a soul cultivator. How can I be afraid of ghosts?" Lin Yang encouraged himself.

Surprisingly, this did help.

Although the tension and fear in his heart had not completely dissipated, he was much calmer than before.

"Good, you're fine," the young nurse, who could not see the old doctor, naturally did not understand the reason for Lin Yang's strange reaction.

After quickly removing the bed cover, she walked out of the ICU, reminding him, "Don't just stand here. A new patient might be admitted soon. Go and settle the bill quickly."

"Okay, okay, I know," Lin Yang vaguely replied. As soon as the young nurse left, he quickly closed the door and turned to face the old doctor, asking seriously, "You said you wanted me to help you with something. What exactly do you need me to do?"

The reason he did not run away from this haunted ICU but chose to stay was that he suddenly remembered what Lu Wenqi had said about ghosts.

Ghosts in this world also have different levels.

The lowest and most common are called wandering spirits.

Wandering spirits have no memory of their past lives, cannot speak, and have no self-awareness. They drift aimlessly in the world, either reincarnating or dissipating completely.

For most ordinary soul cultivators, the first spirit they incorporate is a wandering spirit.

However, the soul power provided by wandering spirits is quite limited and is only useful in the early stages of cultivation.

Even some disciples of major sects disdain to incorporate wandering spirits in the early stages and instead focus on ghosts, which are one level higher than wandering spirits.

Ghosts are spirits that retain their memories from their past lives.

In their lifetimes, they were often outstanding figures in their respective fields.

Because they retain their memories and self-awareness, ghosts also have the potential to cultivate. If they do not reincarnate but find a suitable host to inhabit and attempt to cultivate, they might achieve enlightenment and become ghost immortals after several years.

The old doctor standing before Lin Yang was clearly a ghost.

If he could incorporate this old doctor, his path of soul cultivation would be much better than starting with a wandering spirit!

However, incorporating a ghost was not easy.

Lin Yang did not know how other sects did it, but according to the method Lu Wenqi had taught him, incorporating a ghost with self-awareness could not be forced; it required the ghost's genuine consent. Using force might allow him to incorporate the ghost, but the risk of going astray in cultivation would increase significantly.

That was why he asked the old doctor what he needed help with. He wanted to see if he could gain the old doctor's favor by helping him, so that the old doctor would willingly serve him.

"You're not afraid?" The old doctor looked at Lin Yang with curiosity and surprise.

"Actually, I am a cultivator. I have seen many ghosts before," Lin Yang lied, not out of malice but to avoid revealing his novice status to the old doctor.

"A cultivator? There are really cultivators in this world?" The old doctor was first surprised, then sighed, "That's right. If ghosts exist, why can't cultivators exist? No wonder you can see me. Before we get to the main point, allow me to introduce myself. My surname is Chen, and my name is Chen Shiwen. I was the head of the Traditional Chinese Medicine department at this hospital... of course, that was half a year ago. Now, I am just a wandering spirit."

"Chen Shiwen?" Hearing this name, Lin Yang suddenly remembered someone and exclaimed, "Are you Huaxi's Heavenly Needle, Chen Shiwen?!"

"You know me?" Now it was Chen Shiwen's turn to be surprised.

How could Lin Yang not know Chen Shiwen?

After Sun Xiaojun became a vegetative state, Lin Yang sought medical help everywhere.

During this process, he had heard from an elder about Chen Shiwen, who was renowned for his extraordinary acupuncture skills and was called Huaxi's Heavenly Needle. Unfortunately, just as he was about to come to Jin Guan City to ask Chen Shiwen to treat Sun Xiaojun, he received the news of Chen Shiwen's death.

This had always been a regret for him.

He never imagined that he would encounter Chen Shiwen's ghost today and here.

After hearing Lin Yang's story, Chen Shiwen said with a sigh, "I didn't expect such a thing. Unfortunately, since I died, I can only move around in this hospital and cannot leave. Otherwise, I could have examined your girlfriend's condition. Well, how about you bring your girlfriend here and let me take a look?"

"Okay," Lin Yang nodded and then asked, "Mr. Chen, what do you need me to help you with?"

Since he knew Chen Shiwen's identity, Lin Yang had decided to incorporate him. If this could be achieved, there would be plenty of opportunities to treat Sun Xiaojun later.

That was why Lin Yang was eager to help.

Chen Shiwen got to the point, "I want you to help treat a patient. This patient was admitted to the hospital early this morning. She has a very strange disease. All the doctors in the hospital are at a loss. I have encountered this disease before..."

At this point, he paused, a look of regret on his face, "Half a year ago, I encountered a patient with the same disease. Unfortunately, just as I came up with a treatment plan, I died of a sudden heart attack. The patient was not effectively treated and eventually passed away in pain. I don't want this regret to happen again. But in my current state, I cannot treat her. So, I can only ask you for help to treat this patient."