Chapter 49 Part 2
Wu Heng looked and saw seven lanterns rising into the dark sky.
He turned to Chen Zhao. “Stall the Yin messenger, don’t let him take Professor Zhao yet.”
Chen Zhao pointed at himself, “Huh? Me again?”
He didn’t even dare to look at the Yin messenger, and Wu Heng wanted him to do this?
And Wu Heng hadn’t mentioned payment. At least a hundred or two, anything would do, he was worse than his master, that cheapskate.
Xu Qian, hearing this, her heart filled with joy, reminded Chen Zhao, “Doctor Chen, you received five thousand yuan from Doctor Wu today.”
The five thousand Wu Heng received from Zhao Qingyun, he immediately gave to Chen Zhao.
Chen Zhao touched his bulging pocket, five thousand yuan!
Just stalling an Yin messenger, not murder or arson, money was important.
Wu Heng quickly left the apartment, the surrounding students looking at him curiously but not daring to approach.
Seven sky lanterns, like little stars, floated in the distant night sky.
Li Hao and the others were outside, playing with their phones, seeing Wu Heng emerge alone, they kept looking behind him, “Where’s Doctor Chen? There’s a money-making opportunity here! Report those sky lanterns! A thousand yuan at least!”
Wang Dong added sarcastically, “Releasing sky lanterns in Beijing, how bold, quickly report them!”
They had wanted to release sky lanterns themselves but were warned by the police. Why let them do it? Report every single one.
Wu Heng, looking up at the seven lanterns, which suddenly extinguished and slowly descended, said, “Those are Zhao Qingyun’s.”
Li Hao and his friends froze, “What? Two hundred million for those few lanterns?! Holy crap, is money that easy to earn now? Doctor Chen will faint if he hears this.”
He Yunxiao, checking his family group chat, said, “Doctor Wu, my dad said those were released by a Southeast Asian practitioner for Zhao Qingyun.”
Many domestic practitioners at the symposium earlier had been intimidated by Wu Heng and, fearing retribution, didn’t dare accept the job. But those Southeast Asian practitioners were tempted by the two hundred million.
Money made the world go round.
Zhao Qingyun was panicking now. Those recipients, swayed by Wu Heng, had frantically returned the money and burnt the refund requests.
He suddenly felt breathless, his earlier vigor replaced by a deathly pallor as he lay in bed, like a dying man.
He could feel his borrowed lifespan dwindling, he was dying.
Looking at his young grandson, a junior high student, crying softly by his side, Zhao Qingyun sat up with difficulty, his cloudy eyes filled with hope as he looked at the seven sky lanterns above his villa.
He didn’t believe it, he didn’t believe what Wu Heng said.
What underworld fugitive? What defying Heaven’s laws by trading lifespan for money? That was just Wu Heng’s opinion!
He gave those desperate families a second chance at life, he was a philanthropist, a great benefactor. He would light these lanterns!
Beijing prohibited sky lanterns? He could just pay the fine.
If Heaven was truly benevolent, for his grandson’s sake…
Let those recipients burn their refund requests, as long as this method worked, he didn’t care.
Zhao Qingyun patted his grandson’s trembling hand and then saw the seven lanterns inexplicably extinguish and fall from the sky.
“What’s going on?” Zhao Qingyun cried, “Light them again! Release them again!”
“Take me… take me outside,” Zhao Qingyun gasped, struggling to breathe. “I need to see this myself.”
His doctor put him on oxygen, and as his grandson cried, he was wheeled out to the garden.
The Southeast Asian practitioner, his forehead covered in sweat, relit the seven lanterns.
Many netizens in Beijing witnessed this, their suspicions confirmed, some even starting live streams.
[I heard those are Zhao Qingyun’s, I think this old man has read too many fantasy novels, “Seven Star Life Extending Lanterns,” Zhuge Liang would be proud.]
[This old man has no regard for others’ safety. Sky lanterns can cause fires, he’ll learn his lesson if someone gets hurt.]
[Everyone’s paying attention to this hypocritical philanthropist, who remembers the dying missile pioneer, Professor Zhao Qingyun?!]
[The second batch extinguished too? It’s fate! He should just choose a coffin, like Wu Heng said.]
[If Zhao Qingyun survives this, there’s no justice! Hurry up and die, you’ve already lived twenty years longer than you should have.]
[Those burning refund requests, hurry up! I’m a taxi driver, free rides to the City God Temple!]
“How could this be? Why?!” Zhao Qingyun stared at the falling lanterns in disbelief.
Could it be… could Wu Heng be telling the truth? Was he really a fugitive in the underworld, being sued by countless ghosts?
The practitioner from Southeast Asia looked embarrassed, perhaps it was just the wind?
“The Sky Lantern Ritual can only be performed three times, Mr. Zhao. How about tomorrow night?”
Zhao Qingyun barely had any strength left. If he did, he would curse this practitioner.
He had a strong feeling he wouldn’t live through the night. Tomorrow? He was just trying to shift the blame.
“Grandpa, please don’t leave, I beg you,” his grandson cried by his bedside. “Call that Wu Heng! I’ll give him all my lucky money, just cure my grandpa!”
Zhao Qingyun doted on his only grandson, giving him millions at a time, his accumulated savings must be astronomical.
He looked at his grandson with love and longing, his only remaining blood relative.
Money could buy the lifespan of so many poor people, it could even buy the services of a shaman doctor.
Money was omnipotent.
Wu Heng’s number was a secret, but He Yunxiao’s wasn’t in Beijing’s wealthy circles. They immediately called him.
His grandson, wiping his tears, practically ordered, “Have that shaman doctor come and treat my grandfather! Name your price!”
Li Hao and the others chimed in, “Five hundred million! Young Master Zhao is so generous!”
Zhao Qingyun had spent far more than five hundred million on his charity and life extension over the years.
His grandson, not fully grasping the concept of money, only knowing it was a huge amount, but something their family could afford, immediately agreed.
The Southeast Asian practitioner, stunned, was that underworld currency?
Li Hao and his gang said sarcastically, “So generous, Young Master! Your humble servants are coming~”
After hanging up, Li Hao couldn’t help but remark, “Damn, the Zhao family is loaded! Hey… Doctor Wu, you’re actually going?”
He Yunxiao and the others, seeing Wu Heng get into Shi Xuan’s car, felt apprehensive.
Helping Zhao Qingyun now would turn public opinion against Wu Heng, netizens would drown him in their saliva.
Unless he took the money, quit live streaming, and disappeared from the public eye.
A true act of betrayal.
Young Master Zhao, seeing their arrival, a smug look on his chubby face, unbefitting his age, thought,
His grandfather was right, money could buy anything! Even life itself!
Wu Heng had berated his grandfather in the conference hall earlier, and now he was here, bowing to money.
After all, even shaman doctors needed to eat.
Zhao Qingyun, seeing Wu Heng, a faint glimmer of hope appeared in his dying eyes.
“You’re so old-fashioned! Sky lanterns? They’ll just drift away in the wind. Use drones, they’re even legal!” Wu Heng said, looking at their equipment, shaking his head.
Even he, an ancient shaman doctor, knew to use modern technology, these people were living in the past!
Wu Heng knew about drones, the village chief had even bought one to film promotional videos for Nan Nuo village.
He didn’t know how they worked, but he knew they were useful things, technology was good, and those who developed it were invaluable.
Wu Heng turned to the practitioner, “Mr. Zhao gave you two hundred million, and this is how you use it? Such shoddy workmanship is unacceptable.”
The practitioner: “…”
Saving money whenever possible, wasn’t the saved money his?
Even with Zhao’s reputation in tatters, mobilizing a hundred drones was easy.
Wu Heng placed seven unlit white candles on the leading drone, securing them with melted wax.
He took out a piece of yellow joss paper, wrote something on it with cinnabar, and attached it to the drone.
Wu Heng: “Alright, let the drone light show begin.”
Wu Heng had seen drone light shows in short videos online. They were common in big cities, but people in remote villages like his had never seen one in person.
Shi Xuan asked, “You like these?”
Wu Heng watched as the drones ascended, “I’m from the countryside, I’ve never seen one, not sure if I like it.”
The drones flew into the night sky, gradually forming the Big Dipper, the white candles flickering faintly.
“They’re lit, they’re lit!” Zhao Qingyun, propped up in bed, stared intently at the sky.
The practitioner had said that those with great merit, under certain circumstances, would receive Heaven’s favor.
He had done so much charity, saved so many lives, he surely had great merit, and his grandson’s young age, needing his protection, was a special circumstance, deserving of leniency, right?
He knew what Wu Heng said wasn’t true. How could he be a fugitive in the underworld, sued by countless ghosts? These lit lanterns were proof.
But why… why didn’t he feel his lifespan extending? He felt weaker, heavier…
A drone filmed the scene from above, transmitting the live footage.
Everyone huddled around the screen, and the practitioner suddenly exclaimed, “Wait, what did you write, Doctor Wu?!”
A piece of yellow joss paper with someone’s birth date was attached to the leading drone, fluttering in the wind.
The practitioner, fluent in Chinese, said cautiously, “You seem to have written the wrong name. It should be Mr. Zhao Qingyun!”
Oh my god, he couldn’t believe someone could make such a blunder at a critical moment, Wu Heng messed up!
Wu Heng looked at the footage. “That’s correct, I wrote ‘zhaoqingyun’. I’m from the south, but my Mandarin is pretty good, isn’t it?”
He Yunxiao and the others nodded immediately. Doctor Wu’s accent wasn’t strong, his Mandarin was good.
The practitioner almost screamed. “You wrote Zhao Qingyun! With the three dots water radical! (referring to the character 清)”
Were you even Chinese?!
Oh ok, that makes sense then, but I would have loved a translators note way earlier when the second character with the same looking name was introduced!!