Chapter 22: A Hidden Affliction

The wild ghost was dealt with, and Ling Qiu, unwilling to bother with this group any further, turned to leave.

But Zheng Yuanbao hurried after him.
“Sir! Please, don’t go just yet! I… I haven’t even thanked you! Oh, right—may I ask your name?”
“Ling Qiu.”
Ling Qiu’s reply was succinct.

At that, nearly everyone in the hospital ward froze, startled. Zheng Yuanbao and Song Ningxue’s family exchanged wide-eyed, bewildered looks, evidently taken aback.

Then Zheng Yuanbao suddenly laughed. “What an incredible coincidence in this world!”
He glared fiercely at Song Ningxue. “Both called Ling Qiu. One’s a scoundrel who ought to be cut to pieces, the other a miracle-working doctor! That’s the difference!—Song Ningxue, even though my son’s just woken up, don’t forget what I said: within the hour, that student of yours named Ling Qiu must show up here. If I said I’d break his bones, I’ll break his bones!”

Truth be told, Song Ningxue was as confused as could be. She looked at Ling Qiu in astonishment, completely at a loss as to what was happening.

At that moment, Ling Qiu turned back, a faint smile playing at his lips. “You want to break my bones?”

Zheng Yuanbao was momentarily stunned, then forced a fawning smile. “Oh, no, my apologies, Mr. Ling. It’s like this—the bastard who did this to my son is also called Ling Qiu, exactly the same name as yours. The world’s a big place, and there are bound to be coincidences. I wasn’t talking about you. If I offended you, please forgive me!”

“No offense taken,” Ling Qiu said lazily, waving his hand, “because I am, in fact, the very Ling Qiu you spoke of—the one who did this to your son.”

The entire room fell dead silent. Even Wu Suowei was left with a look of utter confusion.

What kind of absurd turn was this?

“Heh, Mr. Ling, you’re quite the joker.”

“No, I’m very serious.” And with that, Ling Qiu strolled over to the hospital bed. He spotted the few lonely hairs left on Zheng Qian’s scalp and, with a swift motion, yanked them out.

“Aaaah!”
Zheng Qian shrieked in agony. The last pathetic tuft of hair on his head was now completely gone, thanks to Ling Qiu.

Amid the stunned silence, Ling Qiu glanced coolly at Zheng Yuanbao. “I’ve just plucked out the last hairs on your son’s head. So, tell me—how do you plan to break my bones?”

At this, Zheng Yuanbao’s expression finally grew grim. Even a fool could tell now—this wasn’t some case of mistaken identity. Thinking back to how Song Ningxue had dragged Ling Qiu out the moment she saw him, it was clear—the very Ling Qiu who’d just saved his son was the same man his son had cursed.

“You! You…” Zheng Yuanbao’s rage flared anew.

Wu Suowei caught on and warned, “Zheng Yuanbao, don’t forget—it was my friend here who saved your son’s life just now. What, you plan to bite the hand that feeds you?”

“I…” Zheng Yuanbao was at a loss for words, his face twisted as if he’d swallowed a fly.

Ling Qiu glanced at Song Ningxue, then at her family, and seemed to remember something. “Oh, right. Didn’t you say you wanted to thank me? That’s easy. From this day on, stop harassing Song Ningxue. Can you do that?”

“This brat stands up for you like this, and you still claim there’s nothing between you two!”
At that, Song Ningxue’s second uncle leapt up furiously and raised his hand to slap her.

Smack.

Just as everyone expected a bright red handprint to blossom on Song Ningxue’s cheek, Ling Qiu suddenly stepped in front of her and caught the second uncle’s wrist.

“Ow, that hurts!”
A sharp pain shot through his wrist, and the uncle grimaced in agony.

Ling Qiu raised his leg and kicked the man clear across the room.

“Ugh!”
The uncle flew three meters, landing hard on his knees, clutching his stomach as his face contorted, and retched up a mouthful of bile.

Song Ningxue’s parents rushed over in a panic to help him up.

Ling Qiu, however, said coldly, “If you lose money, you can earn more. But if you lose your own daughter’s future, it’s lost forever. And you call yourselves parents? You ought to reflect on that.”

“Oh, and you—what’s your name again? Gold Brick, was it?”
Ling Qiu gestured at Zheng Yuanbao.

Zheng Yuanbao, suppressing his fury, gritted his teeth. “My name is Zheng Yuanbao!”

“Whatever.”
Ling Qiu waved him off. “I’ll say it again—stop harassing Song Ningxue. And don’t ever use her family to threaten her. If I find out you do, I have a hundred ways to end you. If I can bring someone back from the brink of death, I certainly know how to send someone there. Understand?”

With that, he turned to leave.

“Don’t you go!”
Now that his son was awake, Zheng Yuanbao decided to renege on their deal and shouted after him.

“Tch.”
Ling Qiu shook his head in exasperation. “Why do some people never learn unless they’re taught a lesson?”

He turned back, his face expressionless, his eyes radiating a chilling coldness that made Zheng Yuanbao’s heart skip a beat.

“What are you planning to do?! Listen, even if you saved my son, you’re still the one who landed him in this state! At best you’ve only made up for your mistakes, that doesn’t mean—”

Before Zheng Yuanbao could finish, Ling Qiu placed a hand on Zheng Qian’s abdomen, and a surge of energy rushed in.

“Ah!”
Zheng Qian cried out, then passed out again! The monitors attached to his body started blaring alarms.

“What have you done?!” Zheng Yuanbao screamed.

“Nothing much. I’ve just returned him to the near-death state he was in before I saved him.—Silver Brick—no, Golden Lock… whatever your name is, remember, you brought this on yourself.”

Seeing his son trembling on the edge of death, Zheng Yuanbao was beside himself. “This is murder!”

Ling Qiu sneered, “Your son’s life was mine to save. If I want to take it back, I will. Any objections?”

He pressed his hand to Zheng Qian’s abdomen again. “And if I want to save him, I can do that too.”

Another wave of energy flowed in.

“Ah!”
Zheng Qian gasped and woke up again.

“Heavens!”
Song Ningxue’s mother jumped in fright. How could a living man switch from dying to awake in the blink of an eye?

Zheng Yuanbao was dumbstruck.

Ling Qiu, however, seemed intrigued. He pressed his hand to Zheng Qian’s abdomen again, and Zheng Qian let out another cry before falling once more into a near-death stupor.

“See? Dead again.”

With that, Ling Qiu pressed his hand down once more, sending energy in.

“Ah!” Zheng Qian shrieked and woke up.

“See? Alive again.”

“Ah!”
“Dead.”
“Ah!”
“Alive.”
“Ah!”
“Dead.”
…

The entire room was plunged into a stupefied, unprecedented silence! It was eerie, horrifying—like a dream, unreal. No one could comprehend what was happening.

Zheng Yuanbao’s heart was on the verge of bursting from Ling Qiu’s torment.

“Mercy! Please, have mercy! Grandfather, I’ll call you grandfather! Just don’t scare me like this anymore!”
Zheng Yuanbao clung to Ling Qiu’s arm, wailing on his knees.

Ling Qiu asked calmly, “Exciting, isn’t it?”

“No! Not exciting!”

“Not exciting?”

Ling Qiu raised his hand again.

“Grandfather! Grandfather! Exciting! Very exciting!”

“Exciting?”

Ling Qiu raised his hand yet again.

“Sob! Grandfather… I’ll kowtow to you, alright?!”

Zheng Yuanbao finally broke down, tears streaming down his face.

Seeing Zheng Yuanbao like this, Ling Qiu at last relented. He sent a gentle surge of energy into Zheng Qian’s body, and this time, Zheng Qian properly woke up—though his eyes were vacant, drool running from his mouth, as if he’d been rendered an imbecile.

“So, how do you plan to thank me?”

“I swear! I’ll never trouble the Song family again! Please, just spare my son!”

Ling Qiu smiled. “Good. Listen well.”

With that, he turned to leave, but as he passed by, he cast a frosty glance at Song Ningxue’s parents and her second uncle. “This man, groveling on the floor and begging for mercy, is the big shot you revere so much you’d sell your own daughter?—Forgive my bluntness, but you are utterly unworthy of being Song Ningxue’s parents.”

Bang.

Ling Qiu left, the door to the ward closing behind him.

A strange silence descended over the room.

Only Zheng Qian, drooling away, picked up a mirror from somewhere and grinned at his reflection. “Heh heh… I’m bald, but I’m stronger! I’m going to save the world! Heh heh! Ah… a mosquito!”

Smack!

Zheng Qian cheerily slapped himself across the face.