Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 181: A Frank Confession

Nurse Cai stood frozen in shock.

Back when he was attacked and suffered massive blood loss, Fang Xiu’s brain was irreversibly damaged. Given his brainwave levels, the idea of him waking up again was nothing short of a fantasy.

But Fang Xiu woke up.

Not only did he wake, he was clear-headed—he could only move his eyes and twitch his fingers for now, but these were undeniably signs of excellent recovery.

…There was only one word for this: a miracle.

But Fang Xiu knew this wasn’t a medical miracle.

The heavenly laws couldn’t be defied. His physical body had already been forged into an Immortal E, a real and tangible “object”. Even if he begged the Jade Emperor himself, his soul could no longer return to a normal human body.

The only reason he could now move his body was because of the magic of the Disaster Relief Tower. Essentially, this wasn’t much different from using a ritual magic weapon to move a body. After all, an Immortal E was considered a kind of magic weapon too. It just barely worked.

Compared to a human, the current “Fang Xiu” was more like a “special Immortal E inhabited by a soul”, a new type of evil spirit.

…He wasn’t even sure if he counted as dead or alive anymore.

Fang Xiu felt the urge to laugh, then realized the muscles on his face were stiff as a mask.

Bad news: the artifact-body of the Disaster Relief Tower was excellent in quality, but his original flesh was terribly weak and stiff. His soul couldn’t fully adapt to it yet, and for now he could only manage simple movements.

Good news: after being turned into an Immortal E, Fang Xiu had gained genuine yin-yang eyes—the moment he opened his eyes with great effort, he saw a circle of ghosts hovering around his bed.

These ghosts cared nothing for the heavenly courts or the hell bureaucracy. With pure, stubborn persistence, they eagerly showed off their materials, practically ready to wave banners urging Boss Fang to hurry and take on their cases.

Fang Xiu: “…” They were packed so tightly he couldn’t even see Officer Yuan.

With a single sweep of Bai Shuangying’s gaze, the ghosts literally trembled, then whooshed to the corners of the room.

Finally, Fang Xiu could see Yuan Ye rushing to his bedside.

Over the years, he had grown used to the wrinkles and white hair of the officer. But he had never seen Yuan Ye like this—his eyes red, lips trembling, his gaze filled with emotion and disbelief.

How long had it been since his uncle had looked this happy? When was the last time he had truly relaxed?

Fang Xiu looked hopefully at that familiar yet distant face, but Yuan Ye was too stunned to even call his name. His expression flickered between confusion and suspicion. Though he had rushed over the moment Fang Xiu moved, now he dared not do anything, as if afraid this was just a dream.

“We need to run a full examination on Fang Xiu.” Nurse Cai finally came to her senses, pinching herself several times to confirm that Fang Xiu was still awake. “Lao Yuan, on your side—”

“I’ll wait here,” Officer Yuan finally forced out in a shaky voice. “I’ll wait right here.”

……

During the exam, Bai Shuangying never left Fang Xiu’s side.

He didn’t understand what all those strange machines were for, nor could he make sense of the bizarre graphs and numbers. He just stuck closely to Fang Xiu, meticulously repairing his physical body.

“You’re my Immortal E now. I could instantly restore your body to peak condition,” Bai Shuangying said, pressing a hand to Fang Xiu’s chest. “…But that might raise too many questions among the humans.”

He paused modestly, waiting for Fang Xiu to give him a smiling, approving look.

“I just healed your internal organs. You’re now able to eat. That tube up your nose looks uncomfortable. Make sure to eat properly from now on.”

He had always thought Fang Xiu was too thin and would benefit from eating more fresh meat. Pity there weren’t any mountains nearby, or he’d have hunted some wild animals himself.

Fang Xiu blinked.

What a hassle. Bai Shuangying looked a little annoyed.

Now that Fang Xiu’s mouth was covered with a transparent mask and he couldn’t speak, Bai Shuangying even felt like he had gone deaf. He missed the sound of his human’s voice. Since Fang Xiu couldn’t speak, he had to fill the silence himself.

“How do you plan to explain everything to Yuan Ye?”

Bai Shuangying circled the busy medical staff, pacing from one side of the bed to the other.

“You’ll handle the explaining. I’ll handle the proper formalities. There’s plenty of gold inside Xushan. I’ll use it for the betrothal gifts.”

A thousand years ago, people loved gold and silver. A thousand years later, they still did. Such consistency was admirable.

Fang Xiu shook his head weakly, looking a little helpless.

Bai Shuangying instantly grew alert. “You’re not planning to pretend nothing happened and not introduce me, are you?”

“I’ve already said, we are to be formally wedded. Don’t go giving me some ambiguous status.”

In his impression as the God of Xushan, humans only kept concubines or secret lovers hidden from the world. He had no intention of being one of those.

Wait—who was supposed to give the dowry again? Never mind. What mattered was that Fang Xiu must not try to hide him.

Fang Xiu eventually laughed out loud, only to start coughing.

Bai Shuangying watched his human with a look of disapproval, continuing to pace by the bedside. But since Fang Xiu couldn’t answer him, Bai Shuangying only grew more agitated, every inch of him uncomfortable.

If it weren’t for the pesky human staff, he would have grown Fang Xiu a second mouth by now.

Absolutely infuriating.

Then he realized something worse. Fang Xiu was stuck under the eyes of human staff, with his mouth covered, meaning he couldn’t eat. He couldn’t even sneak a bite of dessert.

Absolutely, infuriatingly awful.

The Great God of Xushan floated up to the ceiling and hovered there, staring pitifully at Fang Xiu’s smiling eyes.

…When Fang Xiu was wheeled back to his room, Yuan Ye was still waiting anxiously at the door.

Seeing that Fang Xiu was still awake, he once again wore that strange expression, torn between laughing and crying. But under Fang Xiu’s full attention, Yuan Ye looked completely at a loss.

“Xiao Fang is in even better condition than we expected,” Nurse Cai said cheerfully. “His mental state is good too. He should be able to speak very soon.”

“We’ll keep observing for a while. If he remains stable, we’ll start removing some of the tubes. As his family, your companionship will help his recovery.”

Officer Yuan nodded vaguely, eyes never leaving Fang Xiu. After a long moment, he finally forced out his first question.

“Do… Do you recognize me?”

As soon as he asked it, he looked guilty, as if he had said something terribly wrong. “No rush, no rush. Rest up first. We can talk later.”

Fang Xiu stared earnestly at Yuan Ye, then slowly nodded. He tried moving his lips and whispered something.

Nurse Cai gestured for Yuan Ye to come closer. He cautiously bent down, like Fang Xiu might turn to ash if he breathed too hard.

Fang Xiu, struggling to adjust to a body unused for more than a decade, spoke his first syllable.

“…Dad.”

At that moment, Yuan Ye’s tears finally fell.

He squatted down and sobbed with his head in his hands, crying like he had back on the day his family was torn apart.

No, Fang Xiu thought, perhaps this cry was nothing like that day.

Because this was the moment a new family was born.

……

One week later.

Fang Xiu sat propped up in bed. With special permission from Nurse Cai, he had traded his hospital gown for a red T-shirt.

His ventilator and feeding tube had been removed, and he could now eat simple food. Most importantly, his mouth had fully recovered, and he couldn’t stop talking.

Yuan Ye had taken a long leave and moved into the room.

The past week had been too wonderful. Every morning, he pinched himself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.

It was only over the past few days that he began to accept Fang Xiu’s recovery as real and stopped bruising his own arms from disbelief.

…Then he had to face another fact—Fang Xiu’s awakening came with a whole bag of mysteries.

He was thirteen when he fell into a coma, and now he had woken in an adult body. Given everything he had been through, Fang Xiu should be confused and terrified.

But his mood was eerily calm, and his gaze didn’t resemble a child’s at all. In fact, Yuan Ye sometimes felt that Fang Xiu’s eyes reminded him of the suspects he had interrogated over the years.

It made no sense.

Worse, Fang Xiu kept glancing at empty corners and smiling to himself. Yuan Ye privately mentioned this to Nurse Cai, but she told him all the psychological tests had come back normal.

Yuan Ye felt completely lost.

Was he overthinking? Would such thoughts hurt Fang Xiu?

Now he was having wild thoughts again. He felt that Fang Xiu was hesitant to speak to him about something… Perhaps it was he who was the one who needed a therapist.

“Dad,” Fang Xiu leaned forward, glancing around the room, and whispered, “Can you close the door to the room?”

Yuan Ye flinched. “Oh, right. Xiao Fang, if you don’t feel comfortable with my help, I can bring the nurse assistant back…”

“No, it’s fine. I just want to talk to you alone.”

Fang Xiu cleared his throat and tried to make himself sound weak.

Here it is. Yuan Ye braced himself.

He had known Fang Xiu was strong and clever. He had probably been forcing himself to stay calm all week. Now he needed to show his best side and soothe Fang Xiu’s emotions.

“There’s someone… I want to introduce to you.”

Before Yuan Ye could react, Fang Xiu took a deep breath. “Bai Shuangying, come out.”

The moment he spoke, Bai Shuangying dropped his concealment and calmly sat beside Fang Xiu’s bed.

Officer Yuan: “…”

A long-haired man in ancient costume suddenly appeared…

A ghost? A male ghost?

Everything about this man’s appearance and arrival broke Yuan Ye’s understanding of the world.

Ah, he understood now.

Everything after Fang Xiu’s awakening had been just a dream… Yuan Ye silently, tearfully pinched his arm.

“It’s not a dream.”

Bai Shuangying ghosted behind him and gently pushed his hand away. He preemptively cast a soul-calming spell so the aging officer wouldn’t die of shock.

“Dad, calm down.”

Fang Xiu knew the words were pointless but said them anyway.

“After I fell into a coma, my soul left my body. I spent years drifting in a strange place. This… immortal saved me. If not for him, I’d be dead.”

Officer Yuan: “…………”

Fang Xiu decided to just go all in. “Anyways, we fell in love over time and got married. He brought me back personally. You’re my only family, so I don’t want to hide this from you.”

Officer Yuan: “………………”

Seconds later, Nurse Cai heard the emergency bell and rushed into the room like a sprinter.

“What happened, Lao Yuan? Did Fang Xiu lose consciousness—”

“No.”

Fang Xiu raised his hand with a complicated expression.

“It was my dad who fainted.”

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