Chapter 33: Five Thunder Talisman Part 1

Chen Ji still wanted to say something more, but then his number was called. He pocketed his phone and headed inside. A doctor in his thirties was waiting there. Upon seeing Chen Ji enter, the doctor asked, “What’s your number? What’s the problem?”

Chen Ji handed over the registration slip, his medical record card, and his hand all at once as he described his symptoms. “It started like this after I woke up from a nap. No pain or itching. I haven’t been bitten by any poisonous bugs or snakes, and it doesn’t affect my movement at all.”

The doctor hadn’t taken his eyes off Chen Ji’s hand from the moment it was extended. After pinching a few spots experimentally, he wrote out a slip and instructed Chen Ji to get a routine blood test. Chen Ji went to pay for it and waited more than an hour before the results came back. The doctor stared at the perfectly normal blood test data on the computer screen in silence for a long while before finally saying, “Please wait a moment.”

With that, the doctor left the room. He wasn’t gone long before he returned with another doctor in tow, a man in his fifties. The middle-aged doctor took the main seat as if it were the most natural thing in the world, while the young doctor stood awkwardly to the side, looking guilty. The middle-aged doctor shot the young one a sharp glare before turning his attention to Chen Ji’s right hand. He flipped through the blood test report over and over again, asking repeatedly, “Are you absolutely sure you haven’t touched anything unusual? Did you smash your hand? Any dizziness, headaches, fatigue, or nosebleeds?”

Chen Ji shook his head. Then, a sudden thought struck him. “Does running a fever a few times in the past two weeks count?”

A grave expression crossed the middle-aged doctor’s face. He glanced at Chen Ji’s age on the report sheet before saying, “My recommendation is that you get a bone marrow aspiration done to check.”

Right at that moment, the middle-aged doctor’s phone rang. He moved to silence it, but hesitated when he saw the caller’s name. “Please wait just a second,” he told Chen Ji.

He picked up the call. “Hello… Teacher, yes, yes… I’ll head over shortly… Oh, by the way, Teacher, there’s a patient here in the clinic I can’t quite figure out. Could you come take a look? … Yeah, he’s only twenty-six. Blood work is completely normal, but his hand is one big bruise. Teacher, please come check it out!”

Chen Ji: “…”

System Cat indicated: 【They’re wondering if you have acute leukemia.】

Chen Ji: 【Gotta admit, it does kinda look that way.】

He knew his previous fevers had come from imbalances caused by contact with demons and ghosts—yin evil invading his body—but he couldn’t rule out the possibility that too much exposure to those yin things had triggered an actual illness.

Just then, Chen Ji felt a sharp sting in the middle of his back, like a needle prick. Before he could react, System Cat spoke up: 【I just sampled your bone marrow for testing. The results look perfectly normal.】

The middle-aged doctor hung up his phone and continued scrutinizing Chen Ji’s hand and the lab report with a deeply troubled expression. About ten minutes later, an elderly man shuffled in, at least seventy-five years old and supported by a young doctor at his side. The middle-aged doctor jumped to his feet at once, nodding and bowing obsequiously. “Teacher, you’ve arrived! It’s this young fellow here…”

The Old Doctor shot the middle-aged doctor a stern glance before sitting down beside Chen Ji. “Young man, no need to worry,” he said first thing. “Let me take a look. It’s probably nothing serious.”

He donned a pair of reading glasses to examine the report, then turned to Chen Ji. “Young man, lay your hand flat. I’ll check your pulse.”

Chen Ji obediently followed the Old Doctor’s instructions, extending his hand when asked and sticking out his tongue as well. After a moment, the Old Doctor told him, “Young man, did this hand of yours touch something icy yesterday? For quite a while, too?”

Chen Ji hesitated before shaking his head. Had it? Maybe from contact with the Fox yesterday? But the Fox’s Black Shadow was tiny, and he’d lain right on Second Master Huang’s Dharma Image back without issue. So why only this hand? Was it really from drawing those talismans?

Deep down, Chen Ji didn’t buy it. Those were books of nothing but righteous Dao techniques—drawing them shouldn’t curse someone like this. He suspected instead that he’d brushed some yin entity without realizing it.

Seeing the hesitation, the Old Doctor had a good idea what was going on. “No need to be scared. It’s just some bruising. I’ll treat your hand first, then you can still get that bone marrow test. If the results come back clean, you’re good… Don’t worry—it’s not that we’re suspecting leukemia. Just being thorough.”

The middle-aged doctor ventured, “Teacher… this…”

The Old Doctor waved him off. “Speak less!”

The middle-aged doctor clamped his mouth shut instantly.

“Alright, we’ll do it your way,” Chen Ji agreed. The bruise on his hand was an eyesore anyway, and a quick fix sounded good. The Old Doctor pulled a cloth-wrapped bundle from his pocket and unfolded it to reveal a row of long, intimidating needles. He selected a pentagonal one about a finger thick, with five needle tips at the base.

As the Old Doctor disinfected the needle, the middle-aged doctor applied iodine to Chen Ji’s right hand. Moments later, the Old Doctor approached, his face kindly and reassuring. “Young man, don’t be afraid. This needle just looks scary—it won’t hurt a bit.”

“Really?” Chen Ji blurted out, the word still hanging in the air when the Old Doctor struck like lightning, stabbing and withdrawing the needle from the side of Chen Ji’s wrist. It wasn’t until blood welled up that Chen Ji felt the pain.

The Old Doctor chuckled. “See? Told you it wouldn’t hurt.”

Chen Ji stared at the plum-blossom-shaped puncture wound. “…Doesn’t hurt.”

The young doctor hurried over with a tray and gauze to catch the blood. For a moment, everyone in the room—including Chen Ji himself—watched the blood intently. What first oozed out was bright red, trickling slowly. Seeing this, the Old Doctor flipped the needle around and tapped the back of Chen Ji’s hand.

After that tap, the bright red blood abruptly darkened. It traced a dark red line across Chen Ji’s bluish skin before dripping steadily into the tray. The Old Doctor observed for a bit longer. “We’ll need two more needles.”

Chen Ji nodded. The Old Doctor pricked him once below the web of his thumb and again three inches below the wrist. Dark red blood flowed immediately from both spots, and Chen Ji’s skin visibly regained its normal pallor before their eyes.

After two minutes, the bleeding began to slow. The Old Doctor pressed the back of Chen Ji’s hand with gauze until only normal bright red blood emerged from the punctures. Only then did he have Chen Ji press the gauze over the wounds himself. “Still want to do the bone marrow aspiration?” he asked.

Chen Ji shook his head. “It’s probably just an accident. If it happens again, I’ll come back for it.”

System Cat had already run the test for him anyway—pure machine analysis. No need to repeat it.

The Old Doctor gave Chen Ji a long, meaningful look but didn’t press the issue. Instead, he advised, “Young man, get more sun, cut back on late nights, and exercise. Your constitution’s gotten a bit weak.”

Chen Ji thanked him profusely, took his paperwork, and went to settle the bill. System Cat couldn’t help commenting: 【I keep thinking that Old Doctor’s gaze was a little off.】

【Medicine and the Dao have been intertwined since ancient times,】 Chen Ji replied, unperturbed. 【He probably spotted something.】

System Cat sighed. 【Maybe I should study up on traditional Chinese medicine. Next time something like this comes up, I can bleed you myself.】

【Works for me.】 Chen Ji finished paying—it was right around noon by then—so he took System Cat to a hotpot place nearby and gorged himself, claiming he needed to replenish all the blood he’d just lost.

Once he was stuffed, he considered swinging by the used car market, but then Uncle Liu called. The man had pulled an all-nighter at the hospital and had just woken up. He wouldn’t be able to work for the next couple of days. Chen Ji glanced up at the hospital building. “Uncle Liu, are you folks at First People’s Hospital?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Uncle Liu confirmed. “What’s up, Xiao Chen?”

“I’m already here. Which floor are you on?”

Uncle Liu gave him the bed number—it was on the second floor, internal medicine ward. Xiao Wang’s Wife, Second Uncle Wang, the old man, and all the rest had three beds plus an extra squeezed into one room, making it easy for the family to look after them.

Chen Ji found the room quickly and knocked before entering. Abruptly, a chill ran down his spine, as if something had locked onto him. He didn’t turn around to check—doing so would only make things worse. This was a busy hospital in broad daylight; nothing could really happen. Keeping a straight face, he pushed the door open and went in. Uncle Liu and Auntie Wang rose joyfully to greet him. After exchanging hellos, Chen Ji went to check on the patients.

Xiao Wang’s Wife, Second Uncle Wang, and the old man had all woken up that morning, but after yesterday’s ordeal and a bit of lunch, they’d nodded off again. Xiao Wang was the only one who hadn’t stirred since the beginning. Chen Ji leaned in for a closer look and asked about his condition. “Uncle Liu, Auntie Wang, what are the doctors saying about Xiao Wang?”

“The doctors say Xiao Wang’s fine physically,” Uncle Liu and Auntie Wang explained, worry creasing their faces. “He’s just not waking up.” As they spoke, Chen Ji casually rested his hand on Xiao Wang’s blanket—then yanked it back as if shocked by electricity.

Uncle Liu and Auntie Wang had noticed the gauze on Chen Ji’s hand and meant to ask about it, but now they forgot all about it. “What’s wrong, Xiao Chen?” they pressed. “Is something off with Xiao Wang??”

When Chen Ji had touched Xiao Wang, he’d felt an unnatural cold—far too frigid for a living person. But the monitors showed everything normal, and Chen Ji saw no trace of Black Qi on him.

If there was no Black Qi, it shouldn’t be a supernatural issue, right?

Chen Ji decided to test it again. He lifted the blanket. Beneath the hospital gown, Xiao Wang’s arm was deathly pale, without a hint of blood color. Chen Ji gently prodded it with his fingertip, and that bone-deep yin chill seeped up again. He was confident in his instincts—whatever it was must be hidden somewhere he couldn’t detect.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a tendril of Black Mist erupted from the spot he’d touched, snaking toward his finger. Chen Ji’s first instinct wasn’t to dodge but to grab it!

He’d see what kind of trash dared hook onto him!