Dragon Hermit

He had just entered the hospital when a young man donned in branded clothes welcomed them. He greeted Liu Xue’er first, “Cousin, you’re finally back. Everyone has been waiting for you!”

“Second Cousin,” Liu Xue’er greeted Dong Quan back and continued walking.

“So, you’re that Xia Yan, huh?” Dong Quan questioned after examining Xia Yan. His obviously rude tone made Liu Xue’er furrow her brows.

Xia Yan ignored him and asked her, “Who’s this guy? Is he talking to me?”

“You…” Dong Quan felt as if he had got slapped. His face flushed in anger.

“He’s my second cousin, Dong Quan.” Although Liu Xue’er felt that Dong Quan really had his way of annoying people, she still introduced him to Xia Yan.

“Oh, so he’s your cousin!” Xia Yan acted as if he had come to a realization and asked sincerely, “Actually, I’m curious about the life of elite people like you. Can you answer a question of mine?”

“Sure, but we aren’t as elite as you make us seem.” Liu Xue’er stated.

“To ordinary folks like us, you sure are elite!” Xia Yan glanced at Dong Quan then asked her, “Your family’s industries ought to have been set aside for direct members of the family, right? How much of it can be given to outsiders?”

[The f••k!]

Dong Quan felt like punching this guy in the face a few times and made it bloom like a flower as Xia Yan had intentionally poked at his sore spot. Dong Quan indeed had some right of inheritance, but it was infinitesimally small, and this was the source of his woe. Now that Xia Yan jabbed at it, he felt evermore grieved.

“Even I’m clueless about this.” Liu Xue’er was sweatingbuckets internally. [This guy looks like an average university freshman but is actually two-faced.]

“I believe it mustn’t be much, right? After all, they aren’t surnamed Liu.” Xia Yan continued with the jabbing.

Dong Quan really wished to tackle him down and give this guy a lesson. But after recalling his great uncle’s warning, he swallowed his anger and pressed the elevator button silently. All of them entered inside together.

[Aaarggh! Even if I can’t get much of it, it’s still an amount you can never hope to get in your entire lifetime!]

Dong Quan screamed internally yet didn’t dare to say it out lest Xia Yan left in annoyance. All blame would fall on him then, and he would lose that tiny bit of inheritance too, leaving him with no tears to cry.

The elevator went straight to the thirty-fifth floor. Xia Yan felt surprised after exiting, “Don’t they say that even the corridors of the provincial hospital are filled with patients? How come it’s so desolate here?”

“This is a special area; ordinary folk can’t enter here even if they are loaded.” Dong Quan cursed him a bumpkin in his mind as he answered while basking in the sense of superiority.

“Oh,” Xia Yan nodded and didn’t comment on it but recalled his father. [If father had received treatment in such a place, he might have not passed away.]

“Xue’er!” A middle-aged lady exited from a room and forced out a smile after seeing Liu Xue’er, calling out to her intimately.

“Mom, how’s Grandpa now?” Liu Xue’er asked while hugging the lady’s arm.

“The doctor said his condition is stable, the same as last night.” Luo Xiaojuan patted her daughter’s hand and welcomed Xia Yan’s gaze with a smile, “This boy must be Xia Yan?”

“Hello.” Xia Yan nodded towards her.

“Thank you for coming!”

“Please don’t mention it, I’m here for the money.” Xia Yan stated. He praised Liu Xue’er’s mother for having class in his mind. It seemed like she had a good upbringing.

Only, this was something out of context. Xia Yan had to make things clear that he hadn’t come to make friends with the Liu family, nor did he feel obliged to help them. He had just come for the money!

“As you say.” Luo Xiaojuan wore a steadfast expression and still spoke with a smile, “Follow me. Everyone’s been waiting for you to arrive!”

Xia Yan saw Liu Shan and the other members of the Liu family outside the ICU. A lot of them had poor complexions, but fortunately, all of them stayed well-behaved.

“Xia Yan, can you cure my father?” Liu Shan obviously didn’t ask Xia Yan why he had come now, nor did he plan to ask if he had something to do with his father’s illness as this wasn’t the time to talk about these things. Curing his father held most precedence at the moment.

“Let me have a look first.” Xia Yan stated, “I want to go in.”

“Doctor Wang, please allow me and Xia Yan to go inside.” Liu Shan told the doctor beside him.

“Are you a doctor?” Doctor Wang questioned Xia Yan in a displeased tone. [This young man appears to be just a student, what ability does he have to treat the patient?]

Doctor Wang obviously didn’t take this well since it was akin to picking a fight with the hospital.

“Nope.”

“How will you treat Old Liu if you aren’t a doctor? What if you mess up? Who will assume responsibility then?” Doctor Wang berated.

Xia Yan’s expression turned sour. [This old fellow’s words sound so dubious. If I really can’t cure old man Liu, he’s definitely planning to shift all blame onto me. He might even report me for practicing medicine without a license or for performing superstitious practices.]

“It doesn’t matter to me. If you don’t want me to go in, I just won’t.” Xia Yan shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t worried about it at all since he would just lose this opportunity to make money, that’s all. Doctor Wang had thought that he would be able to create difficulties for him but didn’t expect such a response.

As expected, it was Liu Shan who became anxious. He mediated between them with haste, “Doctor Wang, just let him have a look. There shouldn’t be any problem with that, right?”

“There’s no problem if you’re just taking a look, but Mr. Liu, I hope you don’t fall for tricks in the end.” Doctor Wang relaxed a bit after hearing they were just taking a look, but still left some words as a reminder.

Xia Yan soliloquized internally, [Old man, you lack intelligence. Why would I act before coming to an agreement about the price?]

Soon after, Xia Yan and Liu Shan went through the disinfection procedures and entered the ICU.

Elder Liu laid on the sickbed with a lot of tubes going into his body and also many electrodes attached to him. Xia Yan wrinkled his brows as these things could influence his perception regarding the undead elements.

“Mr. Liu, ask them to remove all of these first.” Xia Yan pointed at the tubes.

“What?” The nurse and Doctor Wang were both surprised. Before Liu Shan could speak, Doctor Wang raised his voice resentfully, “You cannot do that. This will place the patient in a lot of danger! Young man, what evil intentions are you harboring?”

“Xia Yan, must we do that?” Liu Shan also felt unsure about this.

“Mr. Liu!” Xia Yan didn’t answer him and sternly gazed into his eyes, “Since you invited me, please believe in me or else I think I should leave right now!”

“Mr. Liu, since I’m responsible for your father, you ought to believe in the hospital! Please believe in science!” Doctor Wang also said his piece.

Liu Shan felt like cursing out loud. These two were clearly forcing him to make a stand, but he was stuck in a dilemma.

If it were before, Liu Shan wouldn’t have hesitated to believe in Doctor Wang, who was known as the nation’s best neurologist. But even Doctor Wang had personally stated that it was impossible to cure his father with the current medical attainments. That’s why he wished to place his hope on Xia Yan.

“Doctor Wang, why don’t you let Xia Yan have a try?” After considering things for a moment, Liu Shan finally came to a decision.

“Mr. Liu, you…” Doctor Wang said in a grieved tone, just like a woman abandoned by her husband. Donned in the white doctor’s uniform, he flung his arm aside but didn’t leave the room. He wanted to see what this youth… this swindler was planning to do. If Xia Yan messed up and caused Elder Liu’s death, Doctor Wang believed that Mr. Liu would realize that he should have believed in science

Since Doctor Wang had acquiesced, the tubes and electrodes were removed from Elder Liu’s body soon. Under everyone’s gaze, Xia Yan stepped forward and touched the crown of old man Liu’s head with his finger. He immediately felt a dark power activate, which gave him the same feeling he felt when he picked up that ebony toad yesterday.

This mass of undead element wandered within old man Liu’s head continuously. Fortunately, it didn’t possess a corporeal form, or else old man Liu’s brain would’ve turned into a mess already.

And this mass of undead element differed from the embodiment that had formed from An Xiaoru’s Ouija divination. Although it had also invaded An Xiaoru’s brain, it was after all formed from the convergence of free undead elements in the void and lacked stability. Hence, Xia Yan had received it with ease using his Soul Storage Horcrux. However, the undead elements inside old man Liu’s brain had a stable structure and appeared to have some kind of cohesive properties binding them together. They had already become a substance now.

“This… seems like…” Xia Yan analyzed this mass of undead element prudently and matched it with a faint memory from the Lich’s memory. He scoured the memories with deep thought and felt shaken, astonishment overcoming his expression.

“This… resembles a magic circle!”

Magic circles were an essential piece from the Lich’s memory. They allowed the caster to create a strong magic effect while utilizing minimal magic power. Hence, magic circles were vital knowledge that each mage had to learn conscientiously.

No matter how much this mass of undead element transformed its shape, on the inside, it always maintained an unchanging, formless existence. However, Xia Yan didn’t think it was a magic circle as it differed too much from the magic circles in his memory. Moreover, it also didn’t seem like it had formed naturally.

[Does this world have others that know magic?] [Or are there people who possess mystical powers similar to magic?]

Xia Yan’s heart filled with doubts, but he also felt somewhat excited, as if he had… found a kindred person.

After analyzing the mass again, Xia Yan had already formulated a plan, so he moved his finger away from old man Liu’s head.

“How is it? Can you cure him?” Liu Shan asked hastily.

“Let’s talk outside.”

“Hah! Let’s see what lies you cook up!” Doctor Wang harrumphed coldly. He didn’t believe that a single finger could replace instruments like CT scanners and X-Ray machines. [Kid, do you think you’re some immortal from fiction?]

“Xia Yan, how’s my father’s condition? Can you cure him?” After leaving the ICU, Liu Shan questioned Xia Yan impatiently.

“It’s a little troublesome, but…” Xia Yan paused here and looked at the eager expressions of everyone surrounding him with a smile, “It’s curable!”

“You can really cure him?” Liu Shan asked again.

“Since I said it’s curable, I can naturally do it!”

“What’s the source of Old Liu’s illness? How did you discover it?” Doctor Wang interrupted at this moment in a peeved tone.

“The source? You wouldn’t believe it even if I told you. Why don’t you just consider it as a case of the patient suffering from biomagnetic disturbance? This sounds rather scientific.” Xia Yan chuckled.

“A load of bullshit!” Doctor Wang panted with rage.

“Xia Yan, how do you plan to cure him?” Liu Shan didn’t bother with Doctor Wang. Since Xia Yan was sure about the cure, his heart finally felt a bit at ease now. [Even if he turns out to be a swindler, as long as he doesn’t injure Father, I have to let him have a try.]

“I need Mr. Liu to prepare some materials for the treatment.” Xia Yan stated.

“What do you need? Just say the word, and I’ll have it ready!”

“It’s quite simple. I just need two mammoth tusks.” Xia Yan stated while raising two fingers.