Chapter 167

I woke up from a headache so painful it made me want to kill myself, feeling like my head would split, and when I woke up I found myself lying on a hospital bed, with people almost completely surrounding all four sides of the bed.

Besides Yuan Qiu, Pangzi, and QingSongShu, Chen Zheng, Dong Yumin, and those whose bodies were wrapped in bandages were also there.

The first to speak was Pangzi, who was biting into an apple; seeing me wake up, Pangzi, mouth full of apple, said indistinctly: "I told you not to learn from me—you've slept for five days and five nights, even more than a pig can sleep."

Although his tone was teasing, his expression could not hide fatigue and worry.

I curled the corners of my mouth, gave a weak smile, then shifted my gaze to the others.

Although I had only been unconscious for a few days, Chen Zheng and Dong Yumin seemed like different people, their whole bodies radiating vitality, as if they had been reborn; the sickly pallor had vanished from Dong Yumin's face. And Chen Zheng, aside from his hair turning black again, even while I lay on the hospital bed I could feel the steady qi within him.

Obviously, thanks to QingSongShu's treatment, they had all recovered! Unfortunately, I had been unconscious these past few days and missed this perilous process.

"Right, how is Shi Shi?" I slapped my forehead, as if recalling that before I passed out, Pangzi had apparently called me.

"Oh, you mean our adopted daughter? She's at our place now?" Dong Yumin linked arms with Chen Zheng and said happily.

Her words left me dazed for a moment, even completely bewildered. When did Shi Shi become their adopted daughter?

Seeing me lying on the hospital bed, bewildered and at a loss, Yuan Qiu, amid the joyful atmosphere, told me the whole story.

During the few days I was unconscious, quite a few things indeed happened. First, a yin master prepared to forcibly possess little Shi Shi and injured Grandma Hong.

Afterwards, the bandaged Pangzi, having recovered from his injuries, arrived in time and fought the yin master who was just a step away from attaining yin deity fruition to a stalemate; after dragging it into the next day, QingSongShu, leaping into action, attacked angrily and finally drove off that obtuse and spiritless yin master.

While leaving Grandma Hong behind, I had already worried that Shi Shi would be harassed by ordinary wandering spirits, so I set up a spirit tablet at her home—although it was a knockoff—but it could still deter ordinary wandering spirits,

After all, possessing a spirit tablet and a talisman symbolizes being invested by the netherworld as a fully ordained yin deity; ordinary wandering spirits dare not offend it, and no one would be foolish enough to test its authenticity.

But, despite all my calculations, I kept overlooking one thing: among wandering spirits and yin deities there exists a type of spiritual entity that straddles both realms.

This type of entity is the yin master; after death, having accumulated merit, they are only a step away from attaining yin deity fruition. Because they were Daoists in life, their abilities are also considerably greater than those of ordinary netherworld officials and yin deities.

Given Shi Shi's constitution, it's no surprise that these yin masters would defy taboos to drive away yin deities; the two words "survival" are too tempting for them, and even if they cannot acquire merit, they will not let slip any chance to be reborn as humans.

In the end, it's simply because no auspicious words were spoken and no contract was made that things turned out this way.

While I was sighing, Pangzi laughed and told me that during the days I was unconscious, they had already taken care of everything.

First, QingSongShu used his last Eight Treasures Purple Gold Pill to cure Shi Shi's Spiritual Aperture blockage. Then, the obedient Shi Shi readily bowed to Grandma Hong as her teacher, making the old water ghost who had spent half her life eating pond water so happy her eyes could barely see the seams.

In Cantonese slang, this is described as "laughing so hard you see teeth but not eyes."

Of course, this joyful event is not the only one; perhaps it was fate, but Dong Yumin and Shi Shi actually fell in love at first sight……

Well, that description isn't quite accurate. More precisely, the big one and the small one felt an instant affinity upon meeting.

From the moment Dong Yumin first laid eyes on Shi Shi, maternal love welled up uncontrollably; Shi Shi's pitiful appearance moved Dong Yumin to tears, and she cried for well over half an hour.

What's strange is that Shi Shi, who usually fiercely resisted strangers, actually let Dong Yumin hold her like this, and moreover, she sensibly took a tissue and wiped Dong Yumin's tears dry.

Even more astonishingly, Shi Shi, who had not spoken for many years, actually spoke her first words in life to Dong Yumin.

"Don't…… cry"

Although this sentence only has three words, and because she hadn't spoken in years her pronunciation isn't very clear and her voice isn't pleasant to hear, nevertheless it made Grandma Zhao overjoyed and left Pangzi standing nearby dazed for a while.

Originally Pangzi and QingSongShu thought that even if the Purple Gold Pill cured Shi Shi's ailment, according to their estimates she would need at least a year and a half to adapt before she could speak like a normal person.

After all, by common reckoning, anyone who hasn't spoken for over ten years will have a curled tongue and needs time to readjust.

Yet Shi Shi, who had resisted strangers and hadn't spoken a word in nearly ten years, opened her mouth—which had stayed shut for those ten years—at the moment she saw Dong Yumin.

This inevitably made Pangzi marvel at the wonder of worldly affairs; perhaps it's just fate.

Afterwards, Chen Zheng, who had no sons or daughters, directly adopted Shi Shi as his foster daughter and also took in Grandma Zhao.

With Chen Zheng taking care of this ill-fated granddaughter pair, their latter half of life finally had a proper settlement, and they no longer needed to endure a life of constant displacement, alternating between hunger and fullness…… All this seems like a perfect ending.

"Sigh..." Amid this joyful atmosphere, Fan Wuchang suddenly let out a meaningful sigh.

"Old Brother Fan, what are you doing? Are you unhappy?"

Fan Wuchang gazed at everyone, drew out the ending, and let out another long sigh; in his sigh one could see his sorrow over life's great ups and downs, its twists and steep falls.

"I'm just happy to see Brother Zheng and his wife well! Everyone's safe, I feel glad! I'm sighing at the events of this period, which almost equal half my lifetime of adventures."

Everyone also, without prior agreement, felt a sigh in their hearts; suddenly Pangzi took a deep breath, stared oddly at Fan Wuchang, and pretended to be mysterious: "I just knew……"

Everyone was somewhat curious about Pangzi's expression—what exactly did he know? It seemed like a huge, earth-shattering secret.

"I just knew you had designs beyond your station on Brother Zheng; from the day I first saw you, I knew you'd been secretly in love with him and never let go. Now that his wife is well, the lovers have finally become a couple, yet you're starting to feel heartbroken and desolate." Pangzi said proudly.

Everyone: "……"

Including QingSongShu, everyone had black lines across their foreheads, looking at Pangzi speechlessly.

Fan Wuchang's face flushed red as he roared at Pangzi, declaring he would fight a life-or-death battle in which one of them must fall, to clear his name.

In response, Pangzi flirtatiously flicked his hair—less than two inches long—beckoned Fan Wuchang with a finger, and without thinking directly taunted him: "Come on, I won't run, and I'll let you have one hand and two feet."

Fan Wuchang's face flushed red with anger, the bandages wrapped around his body rose and fell with his chest—like they were leaking air, yet also being inflated and deflated by atmospheric tires, rising and falling in a very rhythmic way.

Finally, Fan Wuchang glanced at the bandages on his body, sighed helplessly, and then the wise Fan Wuchang made a very smart decision: he chose not to confront Pangzi head‑on, but silently used his intention and gaze to kill Pangzi from afar.

Faced with Fan Wuchang's grit‑teeth glare, Pangzi not only didn't know whether to live or die, but also lowered his head in desolation, stroking his forehead which had no bangs, his weathered eyes staring straight at the heavens.

Pangzi, now in the lonely state of a master, gazed bleakly at the ceiling: "In my life I seek only one defeat; I ask the heavens, who can withstand my hegemon's aura?" As he spoke, he propped the iron rod from the next bed on his shoulder…… If nothing unexpected happened, he was fantasizing himself as the Invincible Sword Saint, treating the IV stand's iron rod as…… that great sword of the Invincible Sword Saint.

Everyone…… felt a chill.

QingSongShu, sitting at the head of the bed, was even more angered by Pangzi's appearance; besides the larger rise and fall of his chest, his face had turned a dark bluish‑black.

"Get lost……"

A earth‑shattering bellow echoed through the ward, and a big foot in Tang‑style clothing shot out straight.

All that could be seen was a round object presenting a semicircular arc, flying splendidly out of the ward; upon landing it supported itself with hands and feet, buttocks pointing upward.

Hegemon's aura…… in this instant completely turned into turtle aura..