I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 65 Research Institute of Abnormal Pathogens
The hospital Pei Ju wanted to return to wasn't a real hospital; its real name was the Third Research Institute of Abnormal Pathogens in Shanghai, which was actually equivalent to the more comprehensive and advanced Zhan Gui Sword Hall.

The Demon-Slaying Sword Hall merely cuts away the evil thoughts and distractions in people's hearts, while this Abnormal Disease Research Institute studies various mutated diseases.

Master Pei was under a spell, and part of his body crystallized, which is naturally beyond the treatment capabilities of ordinary hospitals.

So they were sent to the Third Institute of Abnormal Pathogens in Shanghai.

Upon entering the ward, he saw a person wrapped up like a mummy, with even their eyes covered, leaving only their mouth and nose exposed for breathing, and they were wearing oxygen masks over their mouth and nose.

He walked over and slowly sat down beside her, even his breathing became soft.

He sat there, watching quietly. To him, it all felt like a dream. Although he knew his grandfather's health was failing and he would grow old, and that day would inevitably come, he never imagined it would come so soon.

Although he always wanted to grow up quickly, to take over his grandfather's business, and to support the Pei family, he also felt a sense of fear deep down.

What I fear is not taking over the family business, nor my lack of ability, but the fear that the day I take over, my grandfather will be gone.

However, this day came suddenly, catching him off guard.

He sat there, while Han Yitong stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching. She knew a lot about the fate of the Pei family for generations, after all, she had been here when Pei Xu was still alive and had done some research on the temple.

Back then, Master Pei was still full of energy, and Pei Xu was also very successful and had already begun to make a name for himself. However, as the years have passed, the once energetic young man has died, and after that, Master Pei, who was still full of energy, has become a gloomy old man who spends all his days in the Sword Hall.

She wasn't someone who liked to sigh. Because of the spiritual seal, she gradually grew to hate sunlight and preferred to stay in the dark. One of the reasons was that the dark was quiet, so quiet that many people couldn't see her.

In the same world, some people are always active in the daytime, while others are active in the night. Day and night can never meet. People are busy during the day, so she can't see them and therefore doesn't feel sad about the fact that people at the bottom can't control their own destiny.

Just then, a group of people arrived. They were all wearing white coats. The one in the lead looked to be in his fifties, followed by a group of people in their thirties or forties and in their twenties. They all looked energetic and spirited.

The leader spotted Pei Ju immediately and said, "Are you Fourth Master's grandson?"

Pei Ju naturally stood up immediately.

"Don't move, sit still. I heard you've been unconscious and only just woken up. You're still very weak and need to rest more."

"I'm fine. I wanted to ask how my grandfather is doing?" Pei Ju asked the question that was on his mind.

"Here's the thing, I'm the attending physician for Fourth Master, my name is He Hong, and I've met your grandfather several times, so since your grandfather is here, we will definitely do our best to treat him. Now let me tell you about your grandfather's condition."

"Your grandfather's injury is not optimistic. The damage that this crystallization spell inflicts on the physical body is irreversible. At most, it can only sever the corrosive effect of the spell, but it cannot turn the crystallized parts back into muscle."

"Will my grandfather be able to wake up again?" Pei Ju asked anxiously.

"It depends on his will. This crystal not only transforms the body but also damages the spirit. All spells are attacks on both the body and the spirit. If Fourth Master's will is strong enough, he should be able to wake up. But even so, Fourth Master's lifespan probably won't be long."

The doctor seemed to know Master Pei, so he addressed him as Master Pei. However, when it came to the illness, he didn't hide much and chose to speak frankly. The people who came in with him were all looking at Pei Ju.

He Hongchao reached out to the people behind him, and someone handed him a film. He held it up and said, "Take a look at this film. The crystallization is mainly concentrated on the chest and face."

"This is the eye area, look."

Pei Ju looked at the film and saw a white patch where the other person was pointing.

“These white parts are the crystallized areas. If it goes any deeper, the crystallization will enter the brain, and then it will be completely incurable. It won’t even reach here.”

"Look here, this is the chest area. It has already invaded part of the internal organs. Right now, we can only treat it conservatively. We hope that Fourth Master can wake up as soon as possible." After He Hong finished speaking, other hospitals brought out some documents for Pei Ju to sign.

At this moment, another doctor took out some medical consent forms and said, "You don't need to pay for the medical expenses; the government will cover them. But since you're awake, you still need to sign them."

"Oh, right, there's something I need you to do. Come with me for a moment." The doctor called Pei Ju aside. The other doctors watched, and He Hong also watched, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Pei Ju was called to a corner.

The bespectacled doctor began, "It's like this, crystallized lesions are relatively rare. Your grandfather's injuries are of great value in medical research. If, and I mean if, your grandfather never wakes up, what do you plan to do?"

Pei Ju was a little confused; he didn't know what the other person meant by asking that question.

But the thought of 'not waking up at all' weighs on my mind. What should I do then?

Should we continue to maintain Grandpa's final vital signs, or let him pass away peacefully?

Many things don't seem difficult until they come to a head.

Some people might think that if a loved one is suffering in a state of being neither alive nor dead, it's better to let them pass away peacefully. However, when the time comes, it's very difficult to say the word "give up" to a loved one.

“I know that you and your grandfather have relied on each other since you were little, and it’s hard for you to accept this. But there are some things that you have to decide. Only those who have truly made life-or-death decisions can be called men. You are a swordsman, and you should understand that you must make a decisive choice. In the realm of the extraordinary, there should be no weakness.”

Looking at the seemingly refined doctor in front of him, who was spouting so many life philosophies, Pei Ju felt a sense of doubt and asked, "Dr. Su, you must have something to tell me, right? Please, just say it. I can handle it."

Pei Ju saw that the name on the name tag on his chest was Su Yunchen.

Su Yunchen found Pei Ju's sudden question intriguing. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Well, I'll get straight to the point. Your grandfather's body is of great research value. If he never wakes up again, would you be willing to donate his body to our research institute? This would benefit the entire medical community."

Pei Ju was stunned; he hadn't expected him to think that way.

While he was stunned, Su Yunchen continued, "I think you wouldn't want to see anyone else suffering the same injury as your grandfather who can't be treated. The reason we can't treat it well now is because there are too few cases like this. If we could entrust your grandfather's condition to us for research, it would greatly promote our country's medical development in this area."

Pei Ju was already shaking his head and said, "That's impossible. My grandfather once said that if he ever passed away, he should be buried back in Xijiang."

Su Yunchen seemed to have anticipated Pei Ju's response. After a moment of silence, he said, "If you are willing to donate, I can guarantee you a certificate of outstanding youth in Shanghai, as well as compensation, so that your future life will not be strained, and you can focus on your studies without worrying about making a living."

Pei Ju waved his hand, shook his head, and walked past him without saying anything more. The doctors hadn't left yet, and when they saw him coming, Dr. He Hong didn't ask him about it. Instead, he said, "You should rest more too. There are people here to take care of you, so don't worry too much."

"Can I move into the same ward as my grandfather?" Pei Ju asked, seizing the opportunity.

The other party thought for a moment and said, "It should be possible. I'll have someone take care of it."

Han Yitong stood to the side without saying a word. Many people didn't even notice her. Only when Dr. He Hong left did he glance at Han Yitong by the window curtains, where she was standing and gazing at the view.

And so they all left, and Pei Ju's ward was moved to the same ward as his grandfather's.

He doesn't actually need treatment anymore; he just needs to rest.

Teacher Han also left, and for a moment, only he and his grandfather were left in the room, along with the occasional nurse coming in and out.

That evening, two people arrived.

The person in the lead wore a black dress and white shoes, and held a bouquet of carnations in her hand.

She gently put down the flowers, stood by the bed and gazed at the Fourth Master, then looked at Pei Ju. Pei Ju could sense a trace of sadness in her seemingly forever calm and detached eyes.

Recently, the two women who have left the deepest impression on Pei Ju are Ye Youruo and Liu Yijia.

If Liu Yijia is a passionate girl, fiery like her hair, full of spirit, then Ye Youruo always carries a transcendent aura. She seems to always keep herself in a calm and rational state, as if she was taught from a young age to be independent, calm, and detached, and not to be swayed by emotions.

Pei Ju only saw her lose her composure once, and that was when Aunt Wu, who was beside her, was murdered in the alley and her body was found in a garbage truck.

This time, if Pei Ju hadn't been so familiar with her, and if she hadn't stayed in the Zhan Gui Sword Hall for almost a month, he would have barely noticed the sadness in her eyes.

"How are you?" Ye Youruo asked.

"I'm fine, but I still feel a little dizzy," Pei Ju said.

“This is because you’re mentally exhausted.” After Ye Youruo finished speaking, she paused for a moment, and then said, “That day, something happened at your home, and we couldn’t help you. So many people from the Cleansing Spirit Bureau came, and Teacher Han was there too. We thought everything would be alright.”

Pei Ju rubbed his temples. He knew what she said was true, but only his grandfather and Director Huang had actually come in, while his maternal grandfather and the other man had obviously come in from somewhere else.

This reminded him of the time he was brought to the Spirit Purification Bureau for questioning earlier that day.

During this questioning, the people from the Cleansing Bureau clearly felt that Director Huang's death was suspicious.

Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that Director Huang died too easily.

Later, he heard Teacher Han say that there seemed to be some hidden grudge between his family and Director Huang's family. This made him wonder if his grandfather had done something that made Director Huang insist on seeing a deity statue.

Furthermore, when my grandfather came in and saw Director Huang dead there, he wasn't surprised at all, nor did he ask any questions. Of course, there was also the fact that he didn't have time there, but now that I think about it, it seems a bit strange. However, he absolutely couldn't say anything about these feelings.

"Are you hungry? This is dinner made by my Aunt Feng. It's Guangling cuisine. Although it may not suit your taste, you're not feeling well right now, so having some soup might be better."

Ye Youruo also brought food.

"Thank you."

Although Pei Ju had already eaten dinner, he still accepted the soup she offered.

"I've lived in your house for almost a month, eating all the meals you've cooked. I haven't had a chance to thank you and Fourth Master for so long," Ye Youruo said softly.

Aunt Feng, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but take a few more glances at this scene. She knew very well that her young lady had been taught from a young age not to serve meals or tea to others. She would almost never do these things at home, but here she was doing them naturally.

Pei Ju drank the soup and ate the meal. Ye Youruo sat there for a while before leaving.

As night slowly fell, Pei Ju lay in bed, his mind wandering, finally settling on the memory of his grandfather seemingly slashing him with a sword when he came out.

From this memory, he vaguely sensed that something might have entangled him in the spiritual realm of the temple, and his grandfather discovered it, which is why he slashed him with a sword at that time. It was this sword that made him sleep for more than half a month.

His consciousness slowly sank, and his breathing gradually became even and calm.

At that moment, two figures appeared at the window outside, seemingly out of nowhere.

Pei Ju fell asleep quickly and began to dream, as if he had returned to that temple.

He sat alone in a dilapidated temple, utterly exhausted.

At that moment, a figure slowly approached from outside the temple.

……

In the parking lot below this Institute of Abnormal Pathogens, there was a car parked there, with two people sitting inside, smoking with the windows open.

One of them said, "Do you think we can get anything out of his dream?"

"I don't know, but with Huang Xun making a move, Pei Ju is definitely not going to have an easy time. Whether he'll even survive is questionable," another person said.

"Don't let this involve us."

"We can't worry about that now. No one in the Pei family can get involved. As long as they're alive, there are still connections. If they're gone, there are still connections. If the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up."

(End of this chapter)