Medical Miracle

"The joint monitoring over in Magic City also confirmed that you'd lost your vital signs."

"The equipment was faulty."

"Even Su Yuehe used a forbidden art and couldn't locate you."

"The signal's bad at the bottom of the sea."

Long Ao's footsteps slowed by half a beat when he heard this.

He looked at Chen Guan, then at An Changqing, and suddenly felt that Chen Guan's mouth was tougher than the coffin on his back.

Hong Yuan, however, got straight to the point: "You really think Su Yuehe would buy that?"

Chen Guan said, a little unsure: "Probably. She's kind-hearted."

Hong Yuan mulled it over seriously: "Being kind and being gullible are two different things."

Chen Guan: "..."

That logic made sense, but coming out of Hong Yuan's mouth, the impact hit a little different.

The medical building was brightly lit at this hour.

Normally only two doctors were on the night shift, but with Chen Guan coming back to life and returning to campus, An Changqing forcing his way back from the Northern Border, Hong Yuan wounded, and Long Ao mentally drained, half the medical faculty had been dragged out of bed.

The moment Chen Guan stepped into the lobby, he saw an electronic whiteboard mounted on the wall.

It listed tonight's emergency examination lineup.

First line: An Changqing, space overload, mental exhaustion, classified high risk.

Second line: Long Ao, spatial vertigo, disrupted qi and blood, classified medium risk.

Third line: Hong Yuan, external injuries, beast claw marks from the Northern Border, classified medium risk.

Fourth line: Chen Guan, status: revived, cause unknown, level unknown.

Chen Guan stared at the fourth line.

"Isn't this classification a little rushed?"

Beside him, a doctor pushed up his glasses: "We tried our best to be professional."

Chen Guan pointed at "cause unknown": "You can write 'fell into the water.'"

The doctor gave him a look.

"Falling into water doesn't zero out a life monitor. That's death."

Chen Guan said, "The sea's pretty deep."

The doctor fell silent.

An Changqing spoke up: "Run his exam first."

Chen Guan countered: "You sure? Which of us do you think looks more like they need it?"

An Changqing didn't budge.

The duty doctor couldn't take it anymore and made the call.

"Everyone gets checked at once. Is the medical wing that small? An Changqing to the mental energy testing pod, Long Ao to the qi and blood room, Hong Yuan to get her wounds treated, and Chen Guan to Exam Room Three for a full-body scan."

Long Ao paused as he passed Chen Guan.

"Next time you go off the grid, leave a message in advance."

Chen Guan asked, "Like what?"

Long Ao thought for a long time and said: "Just say, don't look for me, I won't die."

Chen Guan nodded. That was a reasonable request. "That works."

Long Ao saw how quickly he agreed, and somehow felt even more suffocated.

"So you're actually planning to do this again?"

Chen Guan was honest: "Hard to say."

Long Ao turned and walked off.

If he kept talking, he felt the qi and blood he'd just stabilized would get all messed up again.

Chen Guan was led into Exam Room Three.

In the center of the room sat a white scanning pod, surrounded by floating rings of runes. There was also a life-wave recorder, an ability residue scanner, and a contamination detection array.

Heavy-grade equipment. They really were going to treat him as a special case.

Baal yawned in the mental space.

"Huaxia Academy is unlucky to have you. Another chunk of their medical budget just flew out the window."

Chen Guan ignored his muttering and lay down in the pod.

The hatch closed, and blue-white rune light swept over his head.

Outside, the doctor looked at the screen. His expression was normal at first.

One minute later, he reached over and tapped the side of the machine.

Two minutes later, he switched to a different screen.

Three minutes later, he called in another doctor.

Chen Guan lay inside, watching the light loop around the ceiling of the pod, and figured things might not be looking great.

Not because of his body.

More like the machine was getting confused by him.

Outside the pod, the two doctors were whispering, but with Chen Guan's current hearing, it was like they were talking right next to his ear.

"Vital signs normal."

"Heartbeat?"

"Present."

"Then why is there a gap in the soul wave spectrum?"

"You're asking me? I was about to ask you."

"The contamination index is off too. Demonic contamination residue is zero, but there are traces of something being overwritten."

"How are we supposed to write this report?"

"Write: recommend a follow-up."

"How many follow-ups?"

"Keep it up until we can understand it. This is basically a medical miracle."

Chen Guan closed his eyes.

Great. Even the professionals can't save this report.

Soon enough, the hatch opened.

The doctor stood outside, expression serious.

"Chen Guan, based on the results... you're alive."

Chen Guan sat up: "Thanks. I knew that already."

The doctor flipped through the chart.

"Your mental wave has a break in it, your physical recovery rate is far above normal, none of your core organs show damage, and contamination scan is negative."

He paused, like he was searching for a less offensive way to phrase it.

"Simply put, you're very healthy. Almost unreasonably healthy."

Chen Guan got out and strapped his coffin back on. "So... can I be discharged?"

The doctor looked at the coffin on his back, then at the chart.

Even though everything screamed unnatural, with his professional judgment, there really was no reason to hold the guy.

"You can go. But to be safe, I recommend coming in for regular checkups."

"Thanks."

As Chen Guan stepped out of the exam room, An Changqing was already sitting on the bench in the hallway.

The mental energy test clearly hadn't been pleasant. There was a patch on his temple, and a cup of hot water sat beside him.

Seeing Chen Guan come out, he looked up: "Your report?"

Chen Guan handed over the exam sheet. An Changqing took it and read the first page.

Then flipped to the second page. Then the third.

After that, he raised his eyes to Chen Guan: "Recommended long-term observation?"

Chen Guan said, "The medical wing cares about its students."

An Changqing pointed at the line below.

"Recommended restriction from high-risk missions?"

Chen Guan said, "That one can be ignored."

An Changqing closed the report: "No, it can't."

At the other end of the hallway, Long Ao came out holding onto the wall. When he heard that, he immediately agreed.

"I think a restriction is a good idea."

Chen Guan looked at him.

Long Ao said, without a shred of shame, "Why shouldn't it be restricted?"

Hong Yuan, shoulder freshly bandaged, walked out of the treatment room.

She caught half the conversation and, for once, was oddly sharp: "Restricting him is pointless. If he wants to slip away, you can't stop him."

An Changqing looked at her.

Hong Yuan added: "That's just a fact."

Hong Yuan wasn't one for deep thinking, but that simple way of seeing things let her cut straight to the heart of the matter.

An Changqing tucked the exam report into his storage ring.

Chen Guan reached out for it. "That's my report."

A piece of paper wasn't important by itself, but Chen Guan was worried about it ending up in more people's hands.

The thought of that consequence was terrifying.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from the end of the hallway.

Sima Ming arrived with two faculty members, followed by a few student council members.

One of the student council kids was carrying a photo frame, sweating from running.

When he saw Chen Guan, he clearly got startled, slipped, and nearly dropped the frame.

Chen Guan happened to catch a glimpse of the photo inside it.