After hearing the whole story, Sun Fatty chuckled and looked at Yang Xiao. "Old Yang, that trick with Boss Zhao—driving into a cemetery and running into ghosts—is pretty damn effective. Anyone would be scared half to death. When you've got time, teach me a few of those moves."
Yang Xiao glanced at him, unsure whether Sun Dasheng genuinely wanted to learn or was just teasing him. After a moment's hesitation, he replied, "These are Ghost Dao techniques. They harm others without benefiting yourself. Ghost Dao uses blood to inflict damage—just to set up that array, you've got to bleed a little. Dasheng, the array is easy to learn, but the bleeding part—not everyone can handle that."
"Old Yang, if you can bleed, then I can too. How much do you need? Just say the word." As Sun Fatty spoke, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing his pale, chubby arm, which looked like a lotus root, clearly ready to offer his blood.
Yang Xiao gave a faint smile and said, "It's not a huge amount. About a bowl this big…" He cupped his hands together, forming a circle roughly the size of a four-ounce rice bowl. "A bowlful should be enough."
"Old Yang, you're joking, right?" Sun Fatty stared at him. "Who the hell can handle bleeding that much? You're scaring people for fun, not trying to get yourself killed."
Yang Xiao smiled and said, "For an array like this, there are also techniques to replenish and nourish blood…"
Watching the two of them go on endlessly, I started to get anxious. Aside from a few people on the fourth floor, it was just the three of us left in the hospital. Yang Xiao had said he was going to set up a sealing array, but he still hadn't taken action. Sure, the days were longer now, but we couldn't afford to waste time. Yet Yang Xiao showed no urgency and was still explaining the theory behind blood replenishment to Sun Fatty.
I couldn't take it anymore. I cut them off and said, "Gentlemen, can we save the whole 'master-disciple' thing for later? Old Yang, you said you were setting up a sealing array. If you don't get moving soon, it'll be dark before you know it. If that delays your wife's reincarnation, don't say I didn't warn you."
Yang Xiao looked at me and nodded. "The sealing array's already set up. I just need to connect a few of the key points, and then it'll be complete."
With that, he placed his hand on the third-floor staircase handrail and casually twisted a few times, detaching a section of the wooden handrail about half a meter long. The cut was clean, with faint grayish marks on the edges—definitely not something he had just done. At the joint, beneath where the piece had been, there were twisted, crooked runes painted in a black lacquer-like substance.
Unlike the typical Bureau sigils I'd seen before, this one lacked the usual central character "令" ("Command") or "敕" ("Decree"). In its place was a sinister, half-drawn, half-painted "鬼" ("Ghost") character.
Yang Xiao bit his finger and used the blood from his fingertip to trace over the "鬼" character. As he finished the last stroke and lifted his finger, I felt as if the symbol had come to life—changing subtly, becoming more ominous. At the same time, the entire third floor seemed to distort for an instant, and a wave of cold, ghostly energy swept through the air, making my skin crawl.
Yang Xiao reattached the wooden piece, then led us to the central junction of a few rooms on the third floor. He tapped a few times on the wooden floor with the tip of his foot and said, "Remember where I stepped just now." His expression turned grave as he continued, "If things don't go smoothly tonight, this will be your last line of defense. The array will activate on its own—you won't have to do anything. But if something comes that you can't handle, something that threatens those upstairs…"
He paused and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a dark brown liquid. After glancing at both of us, he handed it to me.
"Pour this blood onto the exact spot I stepped on. And remember: after you pour it, leave immediately. Don't linger—not even for a second."
I carefully tucked the bottle away and said to Yang Xiao, "Old Yang, what's under the floor here? Be straight with me. This isn't one of those 'pour the blood and everything explodes' setups, is it?"
Yang Xiao's eyes never left the floor beneath his feet. "You'll find out when the time comes. Actually, it's better if you don't know. Just remember—pour the blood, then get far away."
The more Sun Fatty watched, the more uneasy he looked. "Old Yang, no offense, but this array doesn't look like something you just set up recently. And ever since Boss Zhao bought this land, his luck's turned around—is that your doing? Be honest, did you know all along your wife would reincarnate here?"
Yang Xiao shook his head and didn't try to hide anything from us. He said slowly, "Boss Zhao's luck has nothing to do with me. Pure coincidence. He was due for a twenty-year streak of good fortune. Whether he bought this land or not, whether he built the hospital or not, he was going to get rich.
"As for the sealing array…" Yang Xiao drew out his words, then continued, "I set it up the moment the hospital was built. He's lucky, that's all. You guys and Director Wu bringing the Qilin here is what kept me too busy to tend to it…"
Suddenly I remembered something Yang Xiao had said earlier: "If you hadn't arrived later on, I would've let a few people in the hospital die…"
So it wasn't that he hadn't done anything—he'd just done half. Boss Zhao really was unbelievably lucky. With a son-in-law like Yang Xiao, killing a dozen people would be no big deal…
After finishing up with the sealing array on the third floor, Yang Xiao took us down to the second floor. Just like before, he removed another wooden piece from the handrail, traced the "鬼" character on the rune with his blood, and didn't say anything this time about what lay beneath the floor.
Finally, on the ground floor of the hospital, behind a baby poster on the wall (I should mention, this was a fertility clinic, and its first patient was the hospital director's wife), Yang Xiao scraped away a section of the wall and pulled out a brick using just two fingers. The talisman had been drawn directly onto the brick. After retracing the sigil with his blood, he slotted the brick back in place.
After Yang Xiao completed the entire procedure, a heavy shroud of Yin energy settled over the entire hospital. For people like Sun Fatty and me, who possessed the Heavenly Eye, it felt extremely uncomfortable being in such a place. I couldn't help asking Yang Xiao, "Old Yang, this array is filled with so much Yin energy. It doesn't seem fit for the living—are you trying to ward off ghosts or gather them?"
"You noticed?" Yang Xiao nodded at me and said, "This array is actually called the 'Ghost Commanding Formation.' It was originally designed to be used against people. I later modified it—it can drive away ghosts or heal the living. Tonight is the Zi Hour, the time when reincarnation occurs. That's the hour when Yin energy is at its peak. The best way to counter ghosts is with ghosts. I've already spoken with everyone on the fourth floor: once night falls, no one is allowed to leave that floor. Even if the sky collapses, they are to die on the fourth floor."
The formation had been set. Now all we were waiting for was Wu Rendi's return. But as the sky darkened completely, there was still no sign of him. Sun Fatty grew anxious and said to Yang Xiao, "You don't think Wu Rendi got lost or something, do you? It's already this late. What are we going to do if we need him and he's not here?"
A trace of nervousness finally flickered across Yang Xiao's face, though he forced himself to stay calm. "Director Wu said he might return a bit late. As long as it's before the Zi Hour, we still have time." Though he said that, Yang Xiao kept craning his neck to look toward the entrance.
Time crawled by as we waited in suspense. By 7:30 p.m., our stomachs were rumbling—we'd only had a meager meal on the plane around noon. Sun Fatty was the first to cave to hunger. He turned to Yang Xiao and said, "Old Yang, Zhao Boss isn't seriously leaving us to starve, is he? I can't function on an empty stomach. If I don't eat soon, my blood sugar's going to crash, and then I'm good for nothing."
That reminded Yang Xiao. He pointed to a room at the far end of the lobby and said, "The food's already prepared, in that room over there. I'll stay here and keep watch—you two go ahead and eat something."
"Already prepared?" Sun Fatty frowned. "It's not just instant noodles and bread, right? He better not think he can palm us off with that kind of stuff."I was already starving, and seeing him still whining, I shoved him from behind. "Quit talking and go check it out. At this point, I'd take a plain steamed bun with no complaints."
We walked into the room and saw four buffet-style food warmers lined up in the center, the kind used in fast food joints. Two crates of bottled water were stacked on the floor next to them. At that point, anything edible would do—I didn't care what it was. I grabbed two lids and opened them. To be fair, Zhao Boss hadn't skimped, but judging from the food, his taste was far from refined. One warmer was packed full of whole braised chickens and stewed duck, while the other was piled high with pork ribs, stacked like a small mountain. Sun Fatty opened the other two: one was full of soy-braised pig knuckles, the other full of Dongpo pork. All four warmers were stacked with meat—there wasn't a single green vegetable in sight.
Just a second ago, my stomach had been growling; now, staring at that mountain of meat, my appetite vanished. Even Sun Fatty, who proudly called himself a carnivore, devoured two chicken drumsticks and picked up a pig knuckle, only to hesitate for a long time and put it back. "Not that I'm picky, but damn—even if there's no seafood, you could've at least thrown in a cucumber salad or something. This is just… too much."
I ignored him, picked out some lean meat, took a few bites, and quickly lost my appetite. After sipping some water, I placed a whole braised chicken on a plate and said to Sun Fatty, "Dasheng, take your time. I'll bring this to Yang Xiao—he won't eat on his own unless Wu Rendi comes back."
Sun Fatty followed me out. "Yeah, I better come too. If I stay here, I'm going to die of meat overload. Yang Xiao's smart—out of sight, out of mind… Huh? Where'd he go?"
The lobby was completely empty—Yang Xiao had vanished. Sun Fatty lowered his voice. "You don't think something happened, do you?""Probably not," I replied. "Don't underestimate Yang Xiao. If something serious had happened, it wouldn't have been this quiet."
Still, I wasn't entirely confident in that answer. The balance of Yin and Yang in the hospital had been completely disrupted by his formation—heavy Yin energy oozed from every corner of the building. In such an environment, even with the Celestial Eye, it was difficult to detect anything unusual.
I set the plate down on the floor, and Sun Fatty and I cautiously approached the lobby. We had barely taken a few steps when a sharp, piercing sound rang out, followed by violent trembling beneath our feet. The floor shook, and the entire hospital began to quake.
"Earthquake! Run!"Zhao Boss's whole family, along with the remaining doctors and nurses, rushed toward the staircase to the fourth floor. At that moment, the hospital doors burst open. Yang Xiao walked in from outside, glaring at Zhao Boss's group and barking, "Back! This isn't an earthquake!"
He looked utterly disheveled—his face pale and slick with sweat, a tuft of hair plastered to his forehead, and his clothes soaked through.
The shaking had stopped, but Zhao Boss and the others were still unsettled. A middle-aged female doctor said, "We should go out and check. If it's really not an earthquake, we'll come back. The mother hasn't even started contractions—there's still time."
Yang Xiao snorted and didn't respond. He gave Zhao Boss a cold glare and said, "Do you remember what I told you? The child of the extraordinary must be born in extraordinary fashion. That tremor just now was nothing."
He paused and added, "Your fate lies within your daughter's womb. If anything goes wrong, you'll be the one who suffers the most."
Aside from Sun Fatty and me, only Zhao Boss understood what that meant. After a few seconds of hesitation, he turned to the people behind him and said, "It's fine. That wasn't an earthquake. Let's listen to Master Yang—back upstairs."
Zhao's family was easier to manage, but the hospital staff still looked uncertain. Gritting his teeth, Zhao Boss shouted, "As long as my grandson is born safe and sound, I'll give each of you a bonus—fifty thousand yuan!"
Once the money was promised, everything fell into place. The doctors and nurses gathered around the mother-to-be and returned to the maternity ward. As they left, Zhao Boss turned back to Yang Xiao and said, "Master Yang, I'm counting on you for the rest. Once my grandson is born, I'll personally express my gratitude."
Yang Xiao was clearly drained and had no desire to talk. He waved his hand dismissively.
After everyone had gone, Yang Xiao suddenly staggered, as if all his strength had drained out of him. I rushed forward to support him. "Old Yang, what the hell happened? Where'd you go just now?"
He took a moment to recover. Some color returned to his face. Glancing at me and Sun Fatty, he said, "Something's changed tonight. You two need to be extra careful."
Sun Fatty stepped forward, frowning. "Something went wrong?"
Yang Xiao waved his hand without answering. He pulled out a white wax-sealed pellet, cracked the outer shell, and revealed a fava bean-sized pill inside. Closing his eyes, he placed the pill in his mouth and slowly ground it with his saliva, swallowing without water. After about a minute, his face looked much better.
Only then did he say, "Right after you two left, the warning array I set up at the hospital entrance showed an intruder. I went to investigate and fell into a trap. I took a hit."
My heart skipped a beat. I'd seen what Yang Xiao was capable of—aside from Wu Rendi, who could possibly get the better of him? (The girls' school incident doesn't count. If Yang Xiao hadn't been ambushed beforehand, none of his disciples would've stood a chance.)
Sun Fatty exaggerated a shocked expression. "Don't tell me, Old Yang—besides Wu Rendi, someone else out there can injure you?"
Yang Xiao's eyes narrowed, pupils contracting sharply. "Whoever it was came prepared. It was like they knew my weaknesses. Every strike targeted them directly. If I didn't have some real cultivation, I wouldn't have made it back. But I didn't let him off easy either—he's hurt just as bad as I am."
I was stunned. "Old Yang, can you guess who it might be? An old enemy out for revenge? Or was this something else?"
Yang Xiao shook his head after thinking for a long while. "I don't really have any enemies still alive. And for someone to know my vulnerabilities so well… I honestly can't think of anyone."
Sun Fatty and I exchanged a glance. Thankfully, Yang Xiao wasn't in terrible shape, and Wu Rendi would be back soon…
As I thought of Wu Rendi, a sudden suspicion crept into my mind. The person who attacked Yang Xiao seemed to know us well—choosing to strike precisely when Wu Rendi wasn't around, and targeting Yang Xiao's weaknesses. It felt like this person understood us intimately.
While I was still lost in thought, the hospital doors suddenly flew open. The unexpected noise startled all of us. I instinctively reached for my gun.
And then, as if nothing had happened, Wu Rendi casually pushed open the door and walked in.