Chapter 80 Part 1
As soon as Mr. Shi finished speaking, Steward Wu threw down his game controller, jumped up, and yelled furiously, “You old bastard! Who are you calling fat?! Am I fat?! Open your eyes and look closely, am I really fat?!”
Mr. Shi was used to being called “old bastard” by now and didn’t react, he simply looked him up and down, confirming, “You’ve gained weight.”
He seemed to have puffed up, like a balloon.
Shi Xuan’s funeral banquet, he must have eaten a lot.
Steward Wu retorted angrily, “Blind old bastard!”
He picked up his controller and continued playing his underworld game.
Mr. Shi exchanged glances with the practitioners, who nodded and left. Besides his slight weight gain, nothing unusual.
Just… middle-aged weight gain, it happened…
One of the practitioners even patted his own belly, everyone was the same.
After they left, Mr. Shi instructed the servants, “Keep an eye on Steward Wu. He’s not allowed to leave.”
Meanwhile, Wu Su, having dragged his suitcase several kilometers away from the villa, checked his phone, tears welling up.
His phone… was back to normal.
Those eerie, underworld apps were gone, replaced with familiar ones.
He wasn’t sure how long that fox fur illusion would last and decided to leave Beijing as soon as possible.
Wu Su had a fear of flying, so he always took the high-speed train back home, but no matter how hard he tried, he could only get tickets for the same slow train.
It was slower, but at least it was a sleeper berth, he could sleep through the journey, he wasn’t in a hurry.
Wu Su, seeing it was still early, took a taxi to buy some local specialties to bring home.
Wu Heng’s eighteenth birthday was approaching, and he needed to buy gifts for his son, his father, and the villagers. Lunar New Year was also coming.
He knew his father wasn’t in the village, having received a call saying that he was recruited by some government agency to develop a new medicine, it was unclear whether he would be back for the new year.
Wu Heng received a message from his father, saying he had left the Shi residence, he was buying some local specialties and would be taking the train back.
Wu Heng asked curiously, “Guan Guan, how long does your fur illusion last?”
Su Da Yi, sullenly absorbing energy from the incense, glancing at the fried chicken in the snakes’ dog bowls, replied, “Over a week.”
“I want chicken too! I’m tired of this diet food!” it wailed, kicking at the incense pyramid, accidentally setting its fur on fire, rolling around frantically to extinguish the flames.
Shi Xuan returned from school, carrying bags of takeout, including some for Su Da Yi, who, despite the temptation, resisted, sticking to its diet, making Wu Heng arrange the incense instead.
But the snakes were feasting nearby, the aroma and the sounds of crunching bones a constant torment.
“Why do I get fat from just drinking water? Is this the price I have to pay for my beauty?!” Su Da Yi shouted dramatically.
Da Bai, gnawing on a chicken feet, “She’s so shameless,” he said to Xi Xi.
A moment later, Su Da Yi, like a spinning top, rushed towards Wu Heng, and Shi Xuan quickly pulled him aside, the fox crashing into the consultation table.
Wu Heng: “…”
Truly a furry wrecking ball.
Su Da Yi, rubbing its head, had an idea, “Wu Heng, can you do liposuction? Painlessly?”
Wu Heng said, “No, but losing your bones would make you lighter.”
Su Da Yi: “?”
As it was about to ask what he meant, a stench wafted in, and it, along with the two snakes, quickly hid in its dog bed.
A couple, dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry – the woman in a white fur coat, the man’s large gold chain almost blinding Chen Zhao, who rushed out to serve them tea – entered.
Seeing Wu Heng put on a mask, they looked embarrassed, and the man, sniffing himself, whispered, “Do I still smell that bad?”
“Much better now.”
They had been in Nan Nuo for two days, staying at Doctor Wu’s Second Uncle’s guesthouse.
A Doctor Chen had been bringing hot water for him to bathe, which seemed to help slightly, that’s why they finally came to the clinic.
Wu Heng asked if they minded being live-streamed, and the man quickly said, “Of course not, thanks to Doctor Wu’s disciple, Doctor Chen, his miraculous bath water allowed me to shower for the first time in six months.”
Wu Heng glanced at Chen Zhao. “Miraculous bath water?”
The man nodded emphatically, “Yes, he said it was made from over thirty precious herbs. That’s why it was so clear and pure.”
Of course, it was clear, just boiled well water!
Wu Heng, “How much did he charge you?”
The man said casually, “Just two thousand.”
Wu Heng: …A true profiteer.
[Is the patient here for an offline consultation? Doesn’t seem seriously ill, maybe another cured case like Xie Zhi’s?]
[After Xie Zhi’s stream, so many people got vaccinated. And now there have been hundreds of reported soul-swap cases. This world is really changing. Who knows how long some people have been exploiting this.]
[Is Doctor Wu wearing one of the anti-curse masks he’s selling tonight? I’m ready to buy!]
[Two thousand yuan for a bucket of bath water? Another rich patient. Why are so many wealthy people getting these strange illnesses?]
[Rich people pay with their money, poor people with their lives and health. No one escapes.]
Wu Heng took the honey water Shi Xuan brought him, pulled down his mask, took a sip, then put it back on, took the man’s pulse, and asked about his symptoms.
Sun Zhengtao said quickly, “Doctor Wu, I’m afraid to shower now. Every time I scrub, there’s this… dust…”
He rolled up his sleeve and showed his arm. “I thought it was good, proof of cleanliness, but there’s more and more, I’m scared now.”
The more he spoke, the more anxious he became. He dipped his finger in the tea Chen Zhao brought and rubbed his arm.
Netizens found his actions strangely intimate, not treating them like strangers.
As he rubbed, his skin turned red, and grayish-white dust appeared.
He continued rubbing, the redness intensifying, the dust accumulating, and he felt a deep, bone-aching pain, quickly stopping and shaking his arm, the dust falling away.
