Chapter 1: Reunion at the Hospital (Part 1)

  It's very quiet around me, my whole body aches unbearably. The memories of the past seem like a dream. The door to my room slowly opens, and at this moment I wish it was my parents and grandfather walking in. My mother strokes my head and says, "Child, you're awake," then I can smile and tell them about that very long dream from before. But I know all of this is impossible.

  Xiao Lao and Fu Ma walked in, saw that I was awake, and hurried over. "Jun Yang brother, you're awake? Are you okay?" Xiao Lao asked with concern.

  I slowly got up and leaned against the edge of the bed, nodding: "Much better, where is this place?"

  Fu Ma was wrapped in bandages all over his body and sat on the bed opposite me, saying: "This is a hospital in Urumqi City."

  "What about Ceng Ceng and Wu Zihan? And what's with the woman in white? How did we end up leaving, and how did we end up here? What happened to Lao San and Director Mu in the end? And what about Wu Huan?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

  "I knew you had a lot of problems." A crisp voice came from the doorway, "I didn't make chicken soup for you guys, did I? You're all big men, but you still need to be served by a lady." Yang Cangcang walked into the ward in a homemaker's attire, with Wu Zihan following behind her, carrying a thermos, still expressionless.

  I stared at them in shock, Yang Cangcang served each of us a bowl of soup and placed it in front of me, "What are you looking at? Hurry up and drink." As soon as I smelled it, my mouth started watering. In the days spent in the Western Regions, there was no chance to drink something so delicious. I finished the whole bowl in one gulp, almost scalding myself to death, but it really tasted great. Who would have thought that Yang Cangcang, who usually acted carelessly, had such a skill?

  I stuck out my tongue, just like the Blue Demon, holding up my bowl and asking Yang Cangcang for a second helping. Yang Cangcang gave me a white eye: "You're a starving ghost reborn." Several people in the hospital room burst out laughing.

  After drinking, I asked Fu Ma: "How's your recovery? Can you still hear the voice of heart?"

  Fu Ma smiled lightly and said: "I can barely hear it, unless the heart's voice is very strong. I can finally be an ordinary person again, which isn't a bad thing for me."

  "Actually..." I paused for a moment, "I've been wanting to ask you, didn't you know all along that Karamay was the fake Bureau Chief? On the way here, I saw you trying to speak up several times but stopped yourself. Now that I think about it, I finally understand. If you knew, why didn't you say anything earlier?"

  The horse lowered its head and stopped talking. Xiao Lao sighed and explained, "Jun Yang, you don't know that Dalian is actually an orphan. From a young age, he had an extra eye on the back of his head, and everyone said he was a monster. His parents disappeared when he was born. It wasn't until Director Mu heard about him by chance that she helped him with his education and brought him into the Hidden Bureau..."

  "So when Lao San was preparing to attack you, you actually knew?" I asked further.

  Fu Ma nodded: "Yes, I repaid his kindness with one eye, and from now on, we can consider the accounts settled."

  Yang Cangcang hummed softly: "Ma Ge, you're just stupid. That old woman is obviously using you. If you didn't have this bit of spiritual power, would he care about you?" Xiao Lao pulled Yang Cangcang lightly from behind, and Cangcang stuck out her tongue and stopped talking.

  I looked around and asked: "How did we get out? After a white light, I seem to have forgotten everything. What about that woman in white?"

  Xiao Lao took a sip of chicken soup and said: "After that cave was closed, Zi Han recovered. The white light emitted from the box in the girl's hand, when I opened my eyes again, we were already on the highway outside Urumqi city, thousands of miles away. Later, everyone woke up one after another. We walked to the service area, found a car and took you to the hospital. That woman in white was admitted to another ward."

  "How did you get to know him?" I looked at Wu Zihuan, who was staring blankly at my IV bottle.

  "I guessed it." Wu Zihan replied simply and clearly, without explanation, which was indeed his style of speaking.

  "What's your guess?" Yang Cangcang seemed to be quite concerned, "How did you guess it?" Wu Zihan didn't seem to have heard at all, continuing to stare blankly in one direction, as if he was in a different world from us. Yang Cangcang puffed out his chest and stopped asking questions.

  "How did she get into that black hole and what's in the box in her hand?" I continued to ask.

  Fu Ma said helplessly, "We also want to figure it out, but after coming out, no matter how we ask her questions, she doesn't say a word, just like she can't understand our language. Cangcang has also tried using the ancient Wu national language to communicate with her, but she still doesn't speak. All day long, except for sleeping and staring blankly, as for the box in her hand, seeing Wu Hua's fake goods nervous appearance, I and Xiao Lao guessed that it should be the Gui Yun Zhong Xin."

  "Was she some kind of spirit guarding the heart of the ruins? But why would her photo appear in a sunken ship?" No one could answer, I sighed and thought to myself, it's like one unsolved mystery is followed by another batch of new mysteries. Everyone fell silent, and the hospital room suddenly became very quiet, almost to the point where you could hear the sound of the IV drip.

  I suddenly saw a black thing on the wall that looked like a big spider, and I thought of the deep-sea creatures before. I pointed at the wall and shouted loudly: "What is that thing?"

  They all stared at me with a look of astonishment on their faces: "Didn't you realize?"

  I was suddenly confused by their questions, "Should I have seen it? Is it a spider? It doesn't look like one?" Just as I said that, the thing flew towards me and I tensely shouted loudly: "It's flying towards me, can spiders fly?" The few of them still didn't move, staring at me with black lines all over their faces.

  I was wondering, had everyone been possessed? No way, they were fine just now. I took a closer look and this black thing seemed familiar. I dug into my ear and suddenly felt relieved - it was Jiǔ Chóng (a type of insect) after all! "How did this guy get so big?" It had evolved directly from the size of a mosquito to that of a spider. Upon closer inspection, it was just a small, pocket-sized person, happily flying around me with a joyful air about him.

  "Your Rasetsu curse has been lifted, and the Kyukon has also evolved as a result." Wu Zihan explained.

  Mentioning the ghost curse, I thought of my grandfather again. He had an reluctant gaze when he jumped into the stone statue. Xiao Lao seemed to see through my heart and walked up to pat my shoulder.

  The door of the ward "dang dang" rang a few times, I wiped my eyes and said softly: "Please come in." Jiuzhong hurriedly hid into my clothes.

  A girl dressed as a nurse walked in with a smile, "Is that Zhou Junyang? You should change your dressing." I nodded, and the little nurse began to change my IV bottle, saying, "You have so many friends, so many people come to see you, but the girl next to you is really cold."

  I let out a sound and said: "She is one of us, she's asleep. My friends are afraid of disturbing her, so they all came to me."

  "I just came from next door, she's already awake, and her mood seems a bit down." The little nurse said in a crisp voice. Wu Zihan heard it, got up and walked towards the door, Yang Cangcang looked at his back, pouted, and didn't say anything.

  "Nurse, what medicine is this? How's my condition now? When can I be discharged?" I asked casually.

  The nurse flipped through the book in her hand and said: "You have a mild concussion, and we've already ruled out cerebral hemorrhage, but you still need to stay in the hospital for observation."

  "How long can I be discharged? I have an urgent matter."

  Xiao Lao said on the side: "Young people are always in a hurry, you should take care of your body first, we still have to make long-term plans when we go to Qipan Mountain."

  The little nurse smiled and said in a sweet voice, "Qipan Mountain? Is that the one in Shenyang? That's very far from here. I'm afraid you'll be gone forever."

  I was puzzled, why did the distant ones go away forever? Suddenly, a horse stood up and shouted loudly: "Jun Yang, be careful!"

  Only to see the little nurse suddenly turned her face towards me, her whole face instantly only left a bloody big mouth, full of sharp teeth biting towards me. The event was sudden, I was startled and didn't have time to react. Only to see from my chest a white light burst out, that big mouth monster immediately covered with a layer of white frost, stiffened there. Jiuzhong circled around her body.

  Wu Zihan may have heard the commotion and rushed back from next door, seeing the big-mouthed creature frozen beside my bed, he said: "This is a Deep Abyssal Creature, we're in trouble, this place isn't safe to stay for long, who knows how many of these things have snuck in."

  "Why does this thing want to kill me?" I asked in puzzlement.

  "I think you've really gone crazy, with ten million whys already, just withdraw first and talk later." Yang Cangcang said while packing things up.

  Wu Zihan went next door, carried the woman in white on his back, and we quietly left the ward. Suddenly, a woman's voice came from behind: "Where are you all going?"