Chapter 6

There weren’t many patients coming to the clinic at night, so only one doctor was scheduled for each shift.
—-
After Xu Qiao arrived, she turned on the computer to familiarize herself with the conditions of several hospitalized patients, four of whom were admitted just during the day.

When she opened the information of the fourth new patient, Xu Qiao saw a familiar name. A quick glance at the patient’s spiritual entity label confirmed that this person was indeed her former classmate, known throughout the school for their unique spiritual entity, though mostly due to negative comments.

Around nine o’clock, Xu Qiao, wearing her white coat, went to check on the patients.

There were ten wards in total, with two beds in each, but they weren’t fully occupied. When Xu Qiao arrived at Room 306, she found only her classmate inside.

Meng Li was lying on the bed, her forehead bandaged. Her thin, cold face bore several fresh wounds. The rest of her body was hidden under a white blanket, but Xu Qiao knew that Meng Li must have even more severe injuries.

Xu Qiao closed the door behind her, took off her mask, and noticed a flicker of surprise in Meng Li’s eyes. She smiled and said, “Looks like you still remember me.”

After a few seconds of silence, Meng Li lowered her gaze and replied, “So you work here now.”

Every military academy student had to participate in a practical assessment outside the base before graduating. Meng Li was a lone wolf from the combat department, without friends to form a team with, so she had to accept the system’s automatic matching.

Xu Qiao had many friends in the healing department, but healing practitioners had to follow the combat students. Since there were too many people vying for her, she didn’t want to face the headache of making choices. Additionally, there was a teacher responsible for safety during the trip, so she opted for automatic matching as well.

As a result, she became the healer for Meng Li’s team.

Meng Li was strong and led them to achieve first place in the C-grade group.

Xu Qiao walked to the bedside and looked at Meng Li’s medical records. She guessed, “Did you encounter a group of mutated beasts, or did you face a B-grade beast?”

Based on Xu Qiao’s understanding of Meng Li, an ordinary C-grade mutated beast wouldn’t cause such injuries.

Meng Li gazed at the drawn curtains and didn’t answer.

Since she was unwilling to speak, Xu Qiao didn’t press further. They chatted briefly about her injuries before Xu Qiao turned to see the next patient.

After finishing her rounds, Xu Qiao returned to the duty room. After filling out some forms, she waited for any potential night patients while browsing the latest published medical literature.

Around eleven o’clock, she received a patient with acute myocardial infarction. The elderly woman was one hundred and six years old, her hair white yet her face youthful. The daughter who brought her was very filial and opted for high-level treatment.

Xu Qiao used her mental power to explore the old lady’s condition. She still needed to manually complete the stent implantation, so she quickly activated her abilities to help the old lady recover from all the surgical wounds. As a result, when the old lady emerged from the anesthesia, it felt as if she had merely taken a nap—she felt neither pain nor itchiness and could return home with her daughter as soon as the discharge paperwork was completed.

The old lady was concerned about the medical expenses: “Just the stent will do. Why spend more points on recovery? I don’t have to go out; I can just take my time to recuperate.”

Her daughter replied, “If it were me, would you rather see me bouncing around or lying in bed sick?”

As the mother and daughter walked further away, their lively banter faded into the distance.
—-
Xu Qiao looked at her computer screen and thought of her grandfather when he passed away.

Her grandfather had been a healer, and so was she. However, even powerful healing abilities couldn’t intervene in the aging of human organs. Even S-grade ability users couldn’t escape the inevitability of death.

“Don’t cry. You’ve awakened your spiritual entity, and with your intelligence, you’ll definitely earn your C-grade medical license in the future. Knowing that you can take care of yourself reassures your grandfather. There’s nothing to regret.”

A transparent lotus petal emerged, gently pressing against Xu Qiao’s face.

It was a cool and soft sensation.

Xu Qiao smiled and rubbed the petal with her fingertip. “Alright, I won’t think about it anymore. I’ll continue reading the literature.”

The petal then vanished.

At two in the morning, as Xu Qiao dozed at her desk, she suddenly felt an anxious emotion from her spiritual entity.

She immediately sat up straight and looked at the closed door of the duty room.

Outside was complete darkness. The patients on the third floor should all be asleep, and the corridor was eerily quiet. However, she heard faint sounds—tapping noises, coming steadily closer to the duty room.

The spiritual entity couldn’t speak, only convey emotions. Xu Qiao sensed from the lotus that it wasn’t a warning of imminent danger but rather feelings of displeasure and rejection.

At that moment, the tapping stopped outside the door. After a brief silence, a soft knocking followed—low and timid, as if a very shy person feared their arrival would upset Xu Qiao.

The duty room had surveillance, and the lotus, warned repeatedly by Xu Qiao not to reveal itself, could only send out eleven petals that quickly arranged themselves into one word: No.

Not wanting Xu Qiao to misunderstand, the petals rearranged to form: Fire.

Xu Qiao understood: “Meng Li’s spiritual entity?”

The petals nodded in unison.

Lotuses are aquatic plants, and whether they possess wood or water attributes, they naturally resist fire, a trait reflected in their spiritual entity.

Xu Qiao tended to indulge her spiritual entity, but some matters couldn’t solely follow its wishes.

She gently explained to the petals, “Meng Li is my patient and a former classmate with whom I’ve cooperated amicably. Out of both feelings and logic, I can’t refuse her.”

The petals fell sadly onto the table.

Xu Qiao picked them up one by one and pressed them to her forehead, allowing them to return on their own while reassuring them, “I’ll go see her. You stay safe inside, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t harm you.”

After securing her spiritual entity, Xu Qiao left her seat and opened the door.

A flash of red darted quickly to the wall beside her.

Xu Qiao leaned her head out and indeed saw Meng Li’s spiritual entity—a small, deep red fire scorpion.

At this moment, the fire scorpion was only the size of a palm, with its long, sharp tail curled tightly against its abdomen. Its scorpion body pressed against the wall, and its two black, round eyes glanced at Xu Qiao before quickly looking down. Despite its frightening appearance, it adopted a pitiful stance as if cornered by a bully.

Students in the combat department were required to take a course on spiritual entities assisting in combat.

Meng Li rose to fame at the Third Military Academy partly because a video of her sparring with Zhao Feng had been uploaded to the school’s website.

Xu Qiao had seen that video.

Meng Li was ranked as the top combat force among C-grade students, excelling in every subject except for her inability to mobilize her spiritual entity for combat support.

Meng Li explained that her spiritual entity was unwilling to reveal itself, while the instructors believed that Meng Li hadn’t felt enough pressure. As a result, they arranged for Zhao Feng, who had ice abilities, to spar with her.

Zhao Feng was a B-grade, and the difference in ability levels between them was akin to a chasm. He didn’t intend to fight seriously with Meng Li and restrained himself to play the role of a sparring partner. However, no matter how many times he knocked Meng Li down, she stubbornly stood back up and continued. Eventually, Zhao Feng grew impatient and decided to unleash his full strength to force Meng Li to concede.

When Meng Li was knocked unconscious, blood streaming from her mouth, a massive fire scorpion suddenly appeared in the arena. Its dark red, even partially blackened, fierce exterior startled everyone.

Zhao Feng became interested and summoned a snow wolf to battle alongside the fire scorpion.

Ignoring the terrifying appearance of the scorpion, the clash of ice blades and fireballs provided an exhilarating visual feast for the spectators. Ultimately, the fire scorpion, at a disadvantage in terms of level, was crushed by the ice ball spat out by the snow wolf, leaving it to crawl on the ground in a sorry state.

The snow wolf, resembling Zhao Feng, stood in front of the fire scorpion, shaking its snow-white fur majestically, and then howled to the sky.

Just as the howl reached its peak, the severely weakened fire scorpion suddenly raised its tail and stabbed it fiercely into the wolf’s open mouth.

Visibly, the wolf’s mouth swelled up, taking on a faintly black hue.

Only then did the crowd remember that Meng Li was a dual-ability user—both fire and poison were C-grade!

In the last scene of the video, the snow wolf retreated to Zhao Feng’s body, who left with a darkened expression, nursing his swollen mouth while the massive fire scorpion vanished into thin air, and Meng Li was taken away by her instructor.

Xu Qiao momentarily struggled to connect the image of the giant fire scorpion from her memories with the pitiful little fire scorpion before her.

Stepping forward, the little fire scorpion immediately retreated two steps.

Xu Qiao couldn’t help but smile and asked softly, “Did something happen to Meng Li?”

The little fire scorpion nodded and looked upstairs.

“I’ll go check,” Xu Qiao said.

Receiving the reassurance it needed, the little fire scorpion promptly vanished.

Xu Qiao walked quietly to the third floor and entered room 306, where everything was silent.

She turned on the entryway light, and the soft glow spread to Meng Li’s bedside, illuminating the area without being harsh on the eyes.

Meng Li’s face was flushed, her brows furrowed, and her entire body trembled as she lay unconscious.

This was a postoperative complication, and Xu Qiao quickly administered treatment.

Gradually, Meng Li’s complexion began to improve.

As dawn broke, a waking Meng Li requested to be discharged. Upon seeing the itemized bill from her attending physician, she realized that Xu Qiao had provided her with an additional treatment the previous night.

The unexpected cost made Meng Li frown slightly, but the nurse explained clearly that it was her spiritual entity that had requested Dr. Xu’s assistance, and Meng Li cooperatively paid with her points.

Her external injuries had healed to the point where she could walk independently. Leaning against the wall, Meng Li slowly made her way out of the hospital. Just as she was about to release her spiritual entity to carry her home, a black-and-white bicycle suddenly stopped beside her.

She looked up and saw Xu Qiao sitting on the bike, the former flower of the treatment department, wearing a white shirt and smiling brightly, as dazzling as the spring sun.

Meng Li averted her gaze and said, “I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you last night.”

Xu Qiao replied, “As long as you don’t think I’m stingy. The clinic has regulations against providing extra treatments to patients; I can’t break the rules.”

Meng Li nodded, understanding her point.

With one hand on the handlebars and the other reaching toward her, Xu Qiao added, “It’s unfortunate you were hurt so badly, but I’m quite happy to see a fellow alum.”

After hesitating for a moment, Meng Li finally took Xu Qiao’s pale, slender hand.

Her hand was covered in abrasions, and Meng Li intended just to give it a brief shake, but to her surprise, Xu Qiao grasped her hand firmly.

At the same time, a cool breeze of mental energy slowly swept over Meng Li’s entire body. Wherever the breeze touched, her various wounds healed rapidly, including her internal tissues and nerve injuries, all receiving the most effective high-level treatment.

Meng Li stared at Xu Qiao in shock.

Xu Qiao smiled and said, “This is a special privilege for a fellow alum—don’t mention it.”

With that, she pedaled away on her bike, leaving no room for Meng Li to object.
—-
Xu Qiao returned to the Ping’an community, and it was already 8:30 in the morning. Since it was Saturday, many ability users were resting, and the streets were busier than usual, bustling with people coming and going.

She rode leisurely and turned onto the street where Building 5 was located. She spotted her new neighbor standing in the Lu family’s small courtyard, dressed in a black casual shirt, standing straight beside an apple tree.

It wasn’t until Xu Qiao got off her bike that Qin Chi turned around. Upon seeing her, he smiled and greeted, “Good morning, Miss Xu.”

“Good morning, Mr. Qin. You seem quite interested in that apple tree?” Xu Qiao remarked.

“Yeah,” Qin Chi replied. “I’ve never seen apples in the early stages of growth. To be honest, I’m not familiar with any plant’s growth stages, so…”

“It’s no problem at all. You’re welcome to take a look whenever you like,” Xu Qiao encouraged.

“Thank you. Don’t worry; I’ll be careful not to trample the seedlings,” Qin Chi assured her.

Although they had only known each other for a few days, Xu Qiao felt quite at ease with Mr. Qin. After their small talk, she headed inside.
—-
Inside the living room, Lu Yang was sitting with a bouquet of peonies in front of him and an open shoebox on the floor beside him.

Xu Qiao lowered her voice, asking, “Did Mr. Qin send those?”

Lu Yang’s expression was complicated. “It’s too expensive.”

Xu Qiao laughed, “That’s just the kind of person Mr. Qin is he gives gifts based on sentiment. We’ll just have to get used to it.”

She pulled out the gift Qin Chi had sent her to show Lu Yang. “Porcelain can last for many years, and you’re still growing. If you don’t wear the shoes this year, you won’t fit into them next year. Let’s not disappoint Mr. Qin’s kind intentions.”

Lu Yang hesitated. “He’s generous, but how should we reciprocate?”

It was impolite not to give anything in return, yet they couldn’t afford to match his generosity.

Xu Qiao said, “Let’s take our time. We’re neighbors now; there will always be opportunities for Mr. Qin to ask us for help.”

Lu Yang nodded, pointing to the peonies and asking, “Did he send those too?”

It felt a bit inappropriate for a man to send flowers to a woman, didn’t it?

Xu Qiao clarified, “He said his flower basket was too dense, so he picked out a few for us to see the freshness.”

Lu Yang remarked, “A grown man buying a flower basket?”

Xu Qiao replied, “That’s called a taste for life. Mr. Qin is wealthy; of course, he enjoys himself as he pleases.”

“Do you like that kind of thing?” Lu Yang asked.

Xu Qiao poked him lightly on the head, saying, “You’re always overthinking things! Have you eaten breakfast? Go eat, and then go to the study and do your homework!