Chapter 11: Are You Trying to Kill Me, Brother?

Based on Xu Huai’s experience, a simple injection after being invaded by Yin energy was often challenging to cure fully. Therefore, he had previously suggested that Xie Jing remain in the hospital tonight for easier observation.

Sure enough, not long after finishing dinner, Xie Jing began to run a low fever again.

Xu Huai found a chair and sat by the bed, placing a clean towel on Xie Jing’s forehead.

A doctor had just come to check on him, saying that he had already taken the injection and antipyretic medicine, so he couldn’t have any more and only needed to drink some granules.

Xie Jing’s cheeks on the hospital bed were flushed from the fever. He seemed extremely uncomfortable, and his closed eyelashes were trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Xu Huai took out a folded yellow talisman from his bag, unfolded it, and held it between his index and middle fingers.

In the next moment, the talisman spontaneously combusted in mid-air. The rising flames nearly singed Xu Huai’s fingertips. Xu Huai, seemingly oblivious to the intense heat, stared intently at the flames, which halted and receded just before reaching his fingertips.

After the talisman had burned halfway, Xu Huai released his hand and dropped the end of the talisman into a paper cup beside him, watching the last of the talisman burn into black ashes.

Finally, Xu Huai reached out and opened the packet of granules prescribed by the doctor on the bedside table, thoroughly mixing the medicine with the ashes of the talisman.

After Xu Huai added water and stirred it well, he turned around. He found that Xie Jing, who had previously been too uncomfortable to open his eyes, was now looking at him with a very indescribable expression.

It seemed to say: Are you trying to kill me, brother?

Xu Huai was uncharacteristically guilty for a second.

After all, just a few hours ago, he had told Xie Jing that if he was sick, he should come to the hospital, and that nothing could make him recover out of thin air, and to stop with the feudal superstitions.

But now, a few hours later, he was secretly doing these things and was caught red-handed.

A layer of shallow white foam floated on the warm medicine in the paper cup, gradually disappearing as the liquid swirled.

Xu Huai and Xie Jing stared at each other, neither speaking first.

Xu Huai wasn’t in a hurry to explain. He just met Xie Jing’s somewhat accusatory gaze, and waited for the medicine to cool down slightly before handing the paper cup over.

Xie Jing moved back a little without making a sound, his resistance obvious.

Xu Huai thought about how this person was a client who had paid a deposit of 100,000, and opened his mouth to explain: “A small amount of Evil-Dispelling Talisman. Although I can’t guarantee that your illness will be cured tomorrow, at least you’ll be more comfortable when you sleep tonight.”

It was the truth.

This talisman was quite lethal to evil spirits, and it was much more challenging to draw than an Evil-Repelling Talisman.

The lines on it were complex and intricate. A slight distraction or a lack of control over the force in his hand would render the talisman useless.

Drawing one was too mentally exhausting, so Xu Huai usually avoided drawing them.

This one was one that Xu Huai had kept on his person for a long time. His birth chart was special, so carrying something with him helped deal with the ghosts that inexplicably clung to him. Unless they were too fierce or too numerous, one was enough to make them behave.

However, it wouldn’t have such a significant effect on ordinary people. At most, it would calm the mind.

Seeing that Xie Jing still didn’t take it, Xu Huai paused and added, “It’s not poisonous.”

Ingesting a small amount of ash posed very little harm to the body. He had even deliberately reduced the quantity. This small amount of ash was less harmful to the body than the starch sausages sold at the stalls outside the hospital.

Xie Jing stared at the brown liquid in Xu Huai’s hand, catching the not-unpleasant medicinal scent wafting from it: “Of course, I know the boss wouldn’t poison me.”

Xu Huai nodded and handed it forward a little more.

He knew?

Good, then drink it.

The corners of Xie Jing’s lips stiffened slightly. Under Xu Huai’s gaze, he took the medicine.

Just as Xie Jing was about to drink it, Xu Huai heard a clear child’s voice in his ear.

“Is this brother sick?”

Xu Huai glanced back at the tightly closed ward door, then focused his gaze on the child who had appeared beside him at some point.

Xu Huai: “Yes.”

Xu Huai didn’t even change his tone, as if he didn’t know that this child was there out of thin air. He only glanced at the child before returning his gaze to Xie Jing:

“He’s sick, so he has to take medicine.”

The child, wearing a white striped hospital gown and barefoot, looked up at the person on the bed with a pair of watery eyes: “But brother doesn’t seem to want to take medicine. I have to take medicine every day too, so I know it’s hard to take medicine.”

“I don’t want brother to be uncomfortable. Can brother not drink it?”

This soul, which looked like a little boy, didn’t seem to be hostile. Otherwise, Xu Huai wouldn’t have noticed it by his side just now.

Faced with this kind of ghost that didn’t intend to hurt people, Xu Huai usually didn’t want to use harsh methods to drive it away.

Xu Huai asked, “Do you know this brother?”

The little boy shook his head: “No.”

“If brother doesn’t take medicine, he’ll be sick all the time, and it’ll be even more uncomfortable than now.” Xu Huai looked at the child, his voice softening, “You’re very kind, you know brother will be uncomfortable. So you don’t want to see brother sick all the time, right?”

Xie Jing held the cup and listened to the conversation beside him, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

The child seemed to be convinced by Xu Huai’s words, his mouth open, staring blankly at Xu Huai.

Before the child could answer, the corners of Xu Huai’s lips had already curved into a minimal arc as he said, “Shall we watch brother finish his medicine together?”

Cold sweat rolled down the young man’s forehead on the bed and onto the sheets, quickly forming a dark, circular stain.

The child spoke again: “But that brother really looks… look how much he’s sweating.”

Did he really have to drink this medicine?

The poor paper cup in Xie Jing’s hand had been squeezed into a cone shape.

Xu Huai ignored the child’s words and said calmly, “He really wants to drink it.”

The child tilted his head, very puzzled: “?”

How did he come to that conclusion?

Xu Huai: “Because you scared brother, so he’s been frozen there without moving for a long time. If you hadn’t suddenly popped up, he would have already finished his medicine. Actually, he really wants to drink it.”

The child seemed to be fooled by this statement, pointing at himself:

“…Me, me?”

Xu Huai nodded: “Yes, it can’t be that this big brother in the hospital bed is afraid of bitterness like a child and doesn’t want to take medicine, right?”

The little boy looked at Xu Huai for a second, then turned to look at Xie Jing.

Xie Jing: “…”

Little boy: “It seems that’s really the case…”

After a while, the little boy said with some grievance, “Okay, then I’ll come back to find brother later.”

Xu Huai remained silent, his eyelid twitching.

Come back later?

Don’t come back. Whether big or small, it’s still a ghost. Being targeted by a ghost is a little scary.

He’d said enough. Even ghosts should know when to quit while they’re ahead.

Just as the little boy’s figure disappeared, Xu Huai suddenly stood up, snatched the paper cup from Xie Jing’s hand, and spilled all the medicine on the ground, the brown liquid forming an arc around the bed.

The series of movements was smooth and fluid. When Xu Huai turned around, he encountered the somewhat astonished expression on the man on the bed’s face, just as expected.

Xu Huai retracted his hand and threw the empty paper cup into the trash can: “A bug flew in. Don’t drink it yet.”

Xie Jing: “…”

If the cup of medicine just now was like an unexploded grenade, then now that the medicine was evenly scattered on the ground, its attack power was like a gun with indiscriminate attacks. It might not hit the vital point, but it would cause some damage.

Looking at Xie Jing’s face on the bed, which was a little pale even with the fever, Xu Huai said, “He won’t come in again.”

He had burned half a talisman earlier, and now he had scattered the ashes of the second half on the ground. With a whole Evil-Dispelling Talisman, at least ordinary ghosts wouldn’t dare to approach, and anything else that came in would have to think twice.

Xie Jing: “…What was that just now?”

Xu Huai wasn’t surprised that Xie Jing could see it.

If Xie Jing couldn’t see the child just now, then he would have asked who he was talking to in the first sentence he spoke to the child.

Xu Huai: “A little ghost passing by. It looks like he hasn’t been dead for long.”

The hospital was a special place. People’s birth, old age, sickness, and death often occurred here. Sometimes, the people in charge of the underworld were too busy and would miss one or two, allowing them to wander around here for a short time.

Xie Jing: “Just let it go like that?”

Xu Huai shook his head: “Where it goes is not my business.”

“It didn’t intend to hurt anyone, so I don’t need to drive it away deliberately. It might just be coming in for a look. If it harasses others and causes trouble, someone will naturally clean it up.”

Violently driving it away for no reason might even involve him in some karma. Xu Huai always adhered to the principle that it was better to do less than more, and to slack off whenever possible.

Of course, if he had warned the child ghost with an Evil-Dispelling Talisman, and it still insisted on coming in to do something bad, Xu Huai wouldn’t be polite.

Having said that, Xu Huai turned around and picked up a new paper cup to refill a packet of medicine for Xie Jing.

Xu Huai thought that Xie Jing might have been scared by the little ghost and learned a lesson. This time, he didn’t waste any time. He tilted his head back, and the medicine was gone, downing it.

Xu Huai sat in the chair, watching Xie Jing put the empty cup on the bedside table before saying, “I scattered the talisman on the ground. That child won’t dare to come in.”

Meaning: If you’re afraid of taking medicine, you can drink it more slowly. If you don’t want to drink it this time, hesitating a bit won’t cause you to see a ghost. That was an accident.

Moreover, he was a professional. He wouldn’t laugh at his client for thinking the medicine was too bitter and being afraid to drink it in this situation.

Even if he wanted to laugh, he would hold it in.

During the day, it had been overcast, and the thick clouds hadn’t dissipated by night. A few rays of moonlight peeked out from the gaps in the clouds. Outside the hospital window, which was almost completely shrouded in darkness, the leaves on the treetops rustled as if the wind was blowing them.

At first, it sounded like “someone” was whispering, rustling.

Xu Huai held it in, but other things that hadn’t undergone professional training had already burst out laughing.

[Hahahaha, everyone, who understands? The boss is sitting in a formation set up with the Evil-Dispelling Talisman, and guess what? He doesn’t dare to move.]

[The boss is fierce. I can smell the talisman from here, and he’s sitting inside.]

[This Taoist priest should be pretty orthodox, right? The boss is fierce. It’s the first time I’ve seen a ghost sitting inside without changing his expression.]

[Huh? Where’s the “without changing his expression”?]

Immediately, a few fragmented rebuttals rang out.

[Nonsense. As soon as I went in, I saw our boss holding the water-soaked talisman. He looked calm on the surface, but he was sweating profusely.]

[He was drenched in sweat, bro.]

[Hahaha, even when he’s dead, he’s still stubborn.]

[Sob sob, it’s such a pity. If the boss hadn’t been threatening me with his eyes to get out quickly, I could have watched the boss drink that talisman water with that fragrant, pretty brother QAQ.]

The topic gradually deviated from here.

[Oh, really fragrant?]

[Yeah, yeah! Super fragrant. I want to get closer and smell it again.]

[It’s hard not to suspect that the boss is taking a bath in the Evil-Dispelling Talisman to smell the fragrant brother.]

[Even if it hurts to death, he still wants to smell the fragrance.]

[I’m going. It hurts to death, but romance never dies.]

Xie Jing: “…”

Xie Jing lowered his head, his face hidden by his black, choppy hair, looking frighteningly gloomy.

After a long while, Xie Jing curled his lips: “He won’t dare to come in?”

He thought that the little ghost was very bold and wasn’t afraid of anything.