Volume I: The Spiral Inscription — Chapter 5: Reunion

Before even entering the examination room, Chen Fan saw the red ghostly shadow three more times in quick succession.

Struggling with mental contamination, he often found it impossible to distinguish between reality and hallucination. He kept his movements minimal, glancing at the two doctors from the corner of his eye, and asked, "There are red shadows constantly drifting across the ceiling. Do you see them?"

"Red shadows?" They both looked up at the ceiling. After a long moment, they looked back at him and replied, "Has your brain been fried by fever? What red shadows? Why don't we see anything?"

Seeing their genuine confusion and lack of abnormality, he pushed himself up and said, "Can I go to the public bathroom to take a shower first? I smell terrible. Why aren't you two reacting to it?"

"We are doctors; naturally, we wouldn't be put off by your smell." Liu Feng, acting with great professionalism, pointed toward the depths of the corridor. "Go to the end, turn left, then turn right, and you'll find the bathroom. Go ahead, remember to close the door, and be mindful of your conduct."

He walked into the adjacent examination room, retrieved a pale blue plastic bag containing a set of hospital scrubs, and handed it to him with one hand. "Change into these later; you won't need your old clothes. Once you're finished, just come back here. We'll be waiting for you in the examination room."

Chen Fan nodded, rose, and clutching the plastic bag, walked toward the end of the corridor.

The young woman with long hair walked not far from him, one hand resting on her slender waist. The bruise above her rounded hip was strikingly visible.

It was from earlier, when Chen Fan had pinched her.

It seemed to be throbbing with pain, so from time to time, she reached out a small hand to rub the spot. As her five fingers moved, her hip flesh dimpled and swayed, as elastic as a rubber ball. Under the glow of the incandescent lights, her peach-like hip seemed to refract the light, making it all the more alluring.

Chen Fan’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, then he strode forward.

All around him, the hospital’s broadcast system echoed with patient call-outs. The air was heavy with the pungent scent of disinfectant. Everywhere he looked, there were patients and their families—a bustling, lively atmosphere that washed over him.

This sensation was incredibly precious! Back on Earth, he had never considered it anything special. In fact, he had loathed this feeling. Immensely loathed it!

Without overthinking, he soon caught up to the young woman. He turned his head and greeted her warmly, "Hello there."

"You filthy pervert, you dare approach me again? Are you looking to die?" She gritted her teeth, and though she was angry, she appeared strangely adorable.

"Why such hostility? Let’s be friends. More friends, more paths! Just call me Chen Fan. What’s your name?"

"I’m your mother, just call me 'Mom'," the young woman scoffed, covering her nose and mouth. "Can you stay away from me? You stink!"

"Haha." Chen Fan didn't retort, letting out a light laugh instead. "Didn't you say you had a husband? Where is he? Why haven't I seen him?"

The woman didn't speak. A flash of dullness clouded her crystal-clear eyes beneath her lashes. She turned her head to glare at him. "None of your business! Stop being a busybody and get lost!"

After kicking his thigh hard with her sharp shoe tip, she rubbed her hip and strode forward with long, hurried steps.

Chen Fan yelped in pain, rubbing the spot she had kicked, and called out loudly, "I'm sorry! How about I help you rub it as an apology? Is that alright?"

She turned back, silently mouthing an insult, then accelerated, clearly wanting nothing more to do with him.

Chen Fan laughed, feeling a sense of relaxation he had never known before.

"How... is this possible?"

Almost as soon as the young woman vanished around the corner of the corridor, he followed her, his brows knitting together. Looking down the hall, he could no longer see her, despite only five seconds having passed. The corridor ahead was over a hundred meters long, with no rooms or side branches on either side. Where could she have hidden?

He looked ahead, scanning the distance, but only saw three people—all short-haired men. There was no sign of her.

"Where did she go? This isn't right! It's not right!"

He instantly recalled the red ghostly shadow. "Is it real, or just a hallucination? If it is real, then this hospital might not be as simple as it appears. Its level of danger might even exceed that of the villa."

"If I follow this logic, I can conclude that this beautiful woman may have already been murdered!"

Thinking of this, his body tensed, and his heart rate spiked.

Just as he was filled with worry, a change occurred. The young woman suddenly reappeared in his field of vision. It turned out her figure had simply overlapped with a large man walking behind her, which was why he hadn't seen her.

Chen Fan let out a long sigh of relief, his heart calming down as he chided himself for overreacting. He strode forward, teased her a few more times, and after confirming she was fine, he finally felt at ease.

In the bathroom, he scrubbed himself clean as quickly as possible, changed into the blue-and-white checkered hospital scrubs, and hurried back toward the examination room.

As he reached the corner of the corridor, he looked up and froze. His sturdy frame trembled.

He saw an incredibly familiar figure!

It was the back of his younger brother, Chen Zhi. Every detail, from the hairstyle to the way he walked and swung his arms, was nearly identical.

"Xiao Zhi..." His voice turned hoarse, filled with immense joy and a sudden, crushing dread. This world was so bizarre and dangerous; if his brother had also transmigrated, his safety could no longer be guaranteed!

"Xiao Zhi!!"

Chen Fan shouted, his eyes turning red. He reached out his right hand, his thick fingers trembling slightly.

The person at the front turned around, saw Chen Fan, and a look of overwhelming joy and excitement broke across his face. "Brother!"

He rushed toward Chen Fan and threw his arms around his waist. Xiao Zhi was twenty-one years younger than him, an orphan adopted by their parents when he was little. At only fourteen, he was still small, barely reaching Chen Fan's chest.

After ruffling his hair, Chen Fan pushed him back, knelt, and gripped his shoulders. "Why are you here? Where are Mom and Dad?" His voice was frantic, stripped of the composure expected of a "Gun God."

"I don't know how we got here. When I woke up, we were already in this hospital," Chen Zhi sighed, his voice choking with sobs. "Brother, you need to prepare yourself. Mom and Dad's condition... it's not looking good. Dr. Zhou Qiyuan said if they can't find a compatible bone marrow soon, they won't last much longer!"

"How is that possible? Their condition has always been stable!"

Chen Fan felt as if he had been struck by lightning, frozen in place, unable to move. This was why he loathed the smell of disinfectant! He had brought his parents to the hospital countless times, watching them suffer while he could do nothing.

When he was twenty-eight, his parents had suddenly fallen ill. It was a nightmare for their family—one they could never escape. Logically, this shouldn't have happened to them; they were always healthy and took great care of themselves. But it had happened, inexplicably.

After it happened, he quit his job to care for them while waiting for the police investigation. The police eventually discovered that a criminal syndicate called "Longqi" was conducting human experiments in their city. Short on human test subjects, they had targeted "lucky stars" with toxic chemical agents. His parents were among the hundred-plus innocent victims.

The police dismantled the Longqi organization, but his parents were left incurable. The chemical agents specifically attacked their hematopoietic stem cells, causing a condition similar to leukemia. Doctors suggested a bone marrow transplant, but his own attempts to match had failed repeatedly.

He had heard that winning a first-class military honor would grant him one request from the state. So, Chen Fan joined the military, enduring every hardship and danger, because his only wish was to see his parents healthy again.

"Maybe the shock of this incident made their condition worse," Chen Zhi sobbed, tears splashing onto the floor. Struggling to pull himself together, he led Chen Fan toward the intensive care unit.

They arrived at the ward window. Chen Fan pressed his hand against the glass and saw them. They were lying on their sides, undergoing a debridement procedure for a thumb-sized hole in their backs. They bit down on gauze rolls, which were already soaked red with blood. Under the lights, their expressions of pain were blindingly sharp!

If he could, he would take all their pain upon himself, but he couldn't.

Fifteen minutes later, the procedure ended, and the attending physician, Zhou Qiyuan, allowed them to visit. His parents looked at Chen Fan weakly, their lips curving into warm, faint smiles.

A moment later, his father, Chen Feng, whispered weakly, "Xiao Fan... I really can't take it anymore..."

Chen Fan braced himself to comfort his father, expecting him to be despairing. But before he could speak, Chen Feng continued, "You’ve done three or four bone marrow matches before, all unsuccessfully. Why don't you try one more time? We are in this bizarre world now; perhaps your marrow has changed."

His mother, Zhao Li, added urgently, "Son, please try. You have to help your mother, okay?"

Chen Fan frowned. His parents had never asked this of him before. In the past, they had scolded him, threatening to end their own lives if he ever tried to donate marrow to them again. Why now?

He felt a surge of suspicion, but after much thought, he could only attribute it to them finally having a change of heart.

"Brother, just try one more time. It might work this time," Chen Zhi urged.

Chen Fan nodded and patted Chen Zhi's shoulder. "Xiao Zhi, watch over Mom and Dad for me." He looked down at his frail parents. "Dad, Mom, I'll be right back. Just wait for me. This time, it might actually work."

Guided by a short-haired nurse, Chen Fan headed to the immuno-genetics laboratory.

Thirty minutes later, the results were in: a perfect match! If they were in a hurry, the surgery could be performed that very evening!

In the ward, Chen Fan frowned, his knuckles white as he gripped the report. He was familiar with the process; he had been drawn for tests many times. Usually, it took weeks or months, but why was this so fast? So urgent?

He told himself this wasn't Earth anymore. With the existence of the "Divine Script System," it was reasonable that this world's technology far surpassed that of Earth.

What puzzled him more was why he had matched this time after failing so many times before. Had his own genetics changed since arriving in this bizarre world? And why were they skipping all the standard pre-surgery preparations? Was their medical level truly that advanced?

Chen Feng saw Chen Fan's hesitation and scoffed, "Xiao Fan, if you don't want to do it, forget it. I won't force you. Let us just... wither away."

"That's right, Xiao Fan," Zhao Li sighed, closing her eyes. "Mom won't force you either. I've lived long enough. My only regret is not seeing you get married and have a family."

"Brother, do what you think is best. Don't force yourself. Even with the surgery, there's no guarantee they'll get better. Maybe... let them go," Chen Zhi added softly.

"How can I!" Chen Fan turned to the attending physician, Zhou Qiyuan. "The problem is, our family doesn't have that much money. Do you have any suggestions?"

Chen Fan looked him over—a man in his fifties with glasses and sallow skin, looking every bit the professional.

"You don't even have 200,000?" Zhou Qiyuan frowned. "Fine. Your case is special, and these are extraordinary times. Tell you what: you do the surgery first, and you can pay the balance later. Can you manage that?"

"Alright." Chen Fan was silent for a moment before biting the bullet and agreeing. Yet, doubt lingered in his heart. They were essentially "displaced persons" with no collateral; there was no way they could repay such a debt. Why was this hospital willing to grant them a "green channel"?

And his parents' attitudes... they were just too strange.