Chapter 189: Reunion of Old Friends

"What exactly are these monsters?" The young girl's fingernails dug deeply into her palms. When the blue light of the ambulance pierced the night, Wu Tai instantly switched back to his honest expression, scratching his head to greet the medical staff into the room.

In the military restricted zone three kilometers away, the soldier's remains with seven orifices bleeding were laid out on the autopsy table.

Infrared surveillance footage showed that the deceased's heart rate had soared to 220 beats/minute before death.

"Report to the command center, spiritual energy fluctuations have appeared in the target area again..."

The internet world was in a frenzy at this moment. The astronomy enthusiast forum was flooded with thousands of close-up photos of the full moon, but the EXIF data showed that the shooting time was all at the Hour of the Rat on the eighth day.

Under the clarification video of a well-known science popularization big V, blood-red characters floated across the real-time barrage: "How ridiculous is the cognition of mortals"

In the alchemy room, the bronze tripod glowed with ghostly light, Jiang Wenfeng threw the withered female corpse into the boiling medicinal liquid, and the phone screen reflected his twisted sneer.

When the surveillance footage switched to the emergency ward, he suddenly narrowed his eyes; Lin Yu on the hospital bed was subconsciously assuming the Mysterious Gate internal observation hand seal.

The ward was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and Xuanyuan Qing supported Lin Yu's trembling arm: "Get up slowly, the heart monitor has just been removed."

Lin Yu struggled to support his body, the infusion needle eye on his pale back of the hand being particularly obvious. He looked around at the flashing medical equipment in the ward, his memory gradually returning: "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Counting from being pushed out of the emergency room, exactly six hours." Xuanyuan Qing lowered her head and swept over her watch, the reflection of the dial drawing fine light spots on the wall, "You suddenly collapsed at the door of the clinic, scaring Old Man Zhang who came to see a doctor until his blood pressure went up."

Lin Yu took out his portable needle bag, and when the three-edged needle accurately pierced the Hegu point, the heart rate curve on the monitor became visibly smoother. Xuanyuan Qing looked at the veins bulging on her neck and wanted to speak but stopped, until the seventh silver needle sank into the Fengchi point did she add: "Uncle Wu Tai... he hit Ms. Zhang."

The needle tip hovered in mid-air, and Lin Yu raised his eyes to meet Xuanyuan Qing's dodging gaze.

After listening to the whole process, he rubbed his throbbing temple and smiled bitterly: "This reckless man really doesn't distinguish between men and women, how is Zhang Yuru now?"

"Mild concussion, under observation in Ward 317." Xuanyuan Qing hesitated when handing over his coat: "However, the situation over there... is a bit special."

Under the cold light of the emergency department corridor, the entrance to Ward 317 seemed to be hosting a traditional costume exhibition.

More than a dozen figures in Quju deep robes stood quietly, the dark patterns on their sleeves rippling like water waves in the draft.

The nurse holding the infusion bottle walked straight through them toward the medicine dispensing room, and those phantoms rippled like disturbed holographic projections.

Xuanyuan Qing's fingernails dug deeply into her palms: "These people have appeared out of thin air since two hours ago."

Lin Yu suddenly reached out to intercept the passing nurse: "Excuse me, are there any visitors in Ward 317?"

"No one has come except the two of you." The nurse looked at the empty corridor suspiciously, "Do you need me to call security for you?"

Between the two looking at each other, Lin Yu noticed the cold sweat seeping from Xuanyuan Qing's back.

When a "visitor" in a Tang-style Ru skirt turned her head to reveal a semi-transparent side face, he finally understood the source of this fear; it was clearly the appearance of a Mysterious Gate elder who had passed away twenty years ago when he was young.

"Not ghosts." Lin Yu pressed on Xuanyuan Qing's trembling shoulder, his fingertips touching the cold sweat on the back of her neck, "Have you ever heard of 'Corpse-Guarding Soul' in the 'Cloud Satchel Seven Slips'? Someone is using a Spirit-Detaining Array to collect residual consciousness." In the Mysterious Gate system, "soul" and "po" are collectively referred to as "spirit bodies"; this type of existence can neither cause substantial harm to the living nor will it naturally dissipate over time. But what really made Lin Yu care was why these spirit bodies would gather around Zhang Yuru's ward?

"Dr. Xuanyuan, breakfast is bought, Mr. Lin, it's really great that you're awake." Wu Tai walked in carrying a steaming meal bag, his iconic honest smile becoming even brighter when he saw the awake Lin Yu.

The moment Lin Yu and Xuanyuan Qing turned around, the spirit bodies that were originally densely packed in the corridor suddenly scattered like a school of fish startled.

When Lin Yu looked back again, he only captured the residual shadows of two semi-transparent figures passing through the wall and disappearing.

"Why did they suddenly withdraw?" Lin Yu frowned and whispered, then signaled Wu Tai to send the meal into the ward.

The moment he pushed open the ward door, the scene in front of him made his pupils shrink; the room that should have been empty was actually densely packed with spirit bodies of various shapes.

Countless semi-transparent phantoms looked at Lin Yu, and an eerie silence permeated the air. Lin Yu suppressed the waves in his heart and walked straight to the hospital bed to check Zhang Yuru's condition.

The woman in a coma had a pale face and weak breathing, indeed presenting typical concussion symptoms.

Just as the silver needle was about to pierce the acupuncture point, the whispering of the spirit bodies suddenly became clearly audible: "This host has stored too much True Qi, if it could be parasitized..."

"Don't daydream! This concentration of energy is enough to burst ten spirit bodies."

"Run quickly! I sense that thing approaching."

Lin Yu's hand holding the needle was as steady as a rock, and as the meridians were cleared, Zhang Yuru's eyelashes trembled as she woke up. The moment he withdrew the needle and turned around, a weak call came from behind: "Lin Yu... can we start over?"

"Time changes and things change." Lin Yu didn't look back, his knuckles turning white from gripping tightly. At this moment, the spirit bodies' discussion became increasingly harsh: "The female host wants to reunite, she must be coveting the male's True Qi origin."

"If it were me, I would definitely pretend to reunite and then devour."

"Really curious why they broke up in the first place?"

"Muscle-Splitting Bone-Dislocating Hand of the Rong Sect?" Lin Yu groaned and knelt on one knee, cold sweat dripping down his chin. The True Qi rampaging in his meridians tore at his acupuncture points, ten times more dangerous than when he went into demonic deviation back then.

Before the words were finished, the temperature in the ward suddenly dropped, and the approach of some unknown existence caused all the spirit bodies to collapse instantly.

"Isn't it good to start a brand new chapter in life?"

This persuasion sounded like a sharp blade to Zhang Yuru, stabbing into her heart with every word.

She supported her sick body and sat up, her thin fingers gripping the snow-white bed sheet: "I admit all my mistakes, give me a chance to turn over a new leaf."

She straightened her frail body, her slender knuckles clenching the snow-white bedsheet: "I admit to all my faults; give me a chance to turn over a new leaf."

The silhouette in a suit and shoes became increasingly cold and hard in the morning light, "If we meet again in the future, let's just treat it as a reunion of old friends."

The light sound of the door closing shattered the silence of the ward.

Zhang Yuru stared blankly at that determined back, tears rolling down silently.

At the corner of the corridor, Lin Yu stopped and looked back, several black shadows were entrenched at the door of the ward, their scarlet pupils looming in the dark.

"Dr. Lin?" Zhang Tianhua ran into his son-in-law while carrying an insulated bucket, but saw the other party nod hurriedly and turn away. Looking at the young man's straight back, this middle-aged man with graying temples sighed and shook his head: "What a good child..."

A sound of bowls and dishes shattering suddenly came from the ward. When Zhang Tianhua kicked the door open, he happened to see three gray mists entangled around his daughter's neck.

He glared and roared, and those eerie shadows retreated to the corner in fear.

Zhang Yuru looked around blankly: "Who is Dad talking to?" ===== CHAPTER 190 =====

Zhang Yuru looked around blankly: "Who is Dad talking to?"