Chapter 88: The Nurse’s Radiant Smile, Part One

Staggering and dim, the world spun without end; he drifted in a daze, unable to tell east from west.

His consciousness seemed wrapped in a vast, deep shroud of black mist.

Yet this time was different from the last.

Whether it was because his inner energy cultivation had grown stronger, or for some other reason, Stone Ironheart was no longer as muddled and lost in this darkness as before. Through the haze, he seemed to glimpse a faint, almost imperceptible thread of light, running straight through the black fog from one unknowable side to the other.

He felt as though he were crossing a raging river by following a lifeline stretched above the floodwaters. That thin line of light was the rope; the boundless black mist was the surging, perilous current. By his own strength alone, there was no way he could cross. But whether by some hidden protection or not, Stone Ironheart ultimately followed the light all the way to its end without incident.

A flash, as though light itself had torn open the darkness.

In his confusion, Stone Ironheart slowly opened his eyes. He stared blankly upward at first, and what he saw was a white ceiling. Wait... a ceiling? No, no, it couldn’t be. A ceiling should be four or five meters high at least. This pure white, ceiling-like thing was only thirty centimeters above his face; he could reach it with a lift of his hand.

His senses rapidly awakened and quickly took over his body. The moment he thought of raising his hand, it rose at once, nimble and responsive beyond belief. That kind of speed, that kind of low latency, that kind of agility—this had to be my own original body!

There’s nothing like your own body!

His fingers brushed the white surface, cold and hard, yet somehow with a trace of elasticity. In one sense it was solid and firm; in another, if one truly slammed one’s head against it, at most one would be dazed—there was no way it could be fatal.

Even this simple piece of material bore the unmistakable stamp of advanced craftsmanship.

Such material simply could not exist in the world he knew.

Beep, beep—some sounds came from near his ear. Stone Ironheart shook his head; his neck gave a crack and still ached a little, then he turned left. There, within thirty centimeters of his face, was a display screen showing his various statistics.

Patient Number: 7F964DE28

Patient Vitals: Height 204.93 cm, Weight 106.4 kg

Condition: Moderate Trauma

Treatment Progress: First-level treatment completed; consciousness restored

There were also electrocardiogram readings and other images, giving fairly comprehensive and intuitive information, so that Stone Ironheart understood everything at a glance.

So I’m... in a hospital?

He looked up, down, left, and right, then raised his head to glance at his feet, only then realizing that he was lying inside something rather like a coffin—about one meter wide, a little over thirty centimeters high, and roughly two point two meters long.

The high-fiber sheet beneath him was quite comfortable, but for a man of his size, this coffin was too small even to roll over in; he could only lie stiffly inside it.

Still, Stone Ironheart paid that no mind. The first thing he did was raise a hand to rub his face, then take a deep breath and launch into a thunderous string of tongue-twisters:

“The flag-bearing troops ran north up the slope, while the artillerymen on the north slope ran side by side!”

Oh, yes, yes—it worked, it really worked! I actually said the tongue-twister without a hitch!

Heavens above, earth below, this is still my own body that’s best! After holding it in for so long, I’ve finally returned to my own flesh and can speak freely again!

No, I can’t take it anymore. I’ve already lost control of my urge to talk nonstop; I have to vent a little. Hmm, there’s an amusing ancient tongue-twister recorded in some old miscellany of classical writings—today, let’s try something advanced!

“Fair Lady Ji, lonely and still, gathers chickens; the chickens are bristly chickens. The bristly chickens chirp with hunger, and Lady Ji goes with the basket and millet to rescue them—”

Oh, my sweet mercy, this kind of exhilarating verbal barrage is enough to bring tears to one’s eyes! And somehow it felt as if my tongue were even better than before—was it because my basic rhetoric skill had improved?

Come on, let me keep going!

“The chickens having been rescued, Lady Ji ascends the ladder... and hur—!”

Before he had finished even a couple of lines, a tremendous force suddenly came crashing down from above. It was like a high-displacement sports car flooring the accelerator all at once—the immense shove to the back, no, now it was a shove to the head, hit him hard. Stone Ironheart felt the whole of himself and the coffin alike blast outward with a crash.

It was like being catapulted by an aircraft launcher! His neck went crack, and it hurt a little.

The ceiling above did not move, but light flared beneath him. With a whoosh and a clunk, everything came to a stop; all his old bones trembled from the abruptness of it. When Stone Ironheart came to his senses, he found that the board he was lying on had sprung out like a drawer.

Looking back, he saw a huge cabinet behind him, covered with many such “drawer compartments,” and he had just been ejected from one of them.

Then he lowered his head and saw a person.

This person...

Stone Ironheart could not help widening his eyes. To put it bluntly—an angel in white.

Before him stood a rather pretty, rather graceful young nurse, with willow-shaped brows and an oval face, wearing a nurse’s cap and uniform, bending down with a gentle expression as she looked at him lying on the board.

Stone Ironheart lowered his eyelids, and at once noticed the girl’s full chest... no, no, I’m not a pervert—well, maybe I am one. I was pretty enthusiastic when reading that physiology book before, so I can’t exactly deny it.

But that wasn’t why I was looking!

Pinned to her chest was a name badge, on which were written a few words: Upper City Central Hospital of Tumu Fort, Day-to-Day Treatment Department, Head Nurse Shi Yuhui.

Upper City Central Hospital?

“You’re awake?” The voice of Head Nurse Shi Yuhui was so pleasant to the ear. She did not seem to mind Stone Ironheart’s sneaky glance at all.

Stone Ironheart hurriedly sat up, only to discover that his back and waist were still sore. The pain was not sharp, but it sank deep into the bones; it seemed he had been beaten badly before. He looked around. The surroundings outside the cabinet were rather decent, and with some puzzlement he asked, “How did I end up at Upper City Central Hospital?”

“You were beaten, knocked unconscious, left by the roadside, then found by someone and sent to our hospital. It’s that simple.” Shi Yuhui looked him over, her caring demeanor warmly reassuring. “How do you feel? Nauseated? Dizzy? Any problems with your brain? Try to see whether you can still think clearly.”

As she spoke, Shi Yuhui took out a double-sided transparent display board, on which were written several numbers. “Can you still count? Read these out.”

With today’s medical standards, wouldn’t a quick scan reveal all this anyway? Was there really a need to ask so specifically? Still, Stone Ironheart did not know whether this was some advanced method of confirmation, so he obediently read, “One thousand two hundred forty-six.”

“Very good. It seems you can count and remain lucid, so everything will be easy.” Shi Yuhui extended a hand, wearing a standard nurse’s smile that was as gentle as could be. “Pay up.”

“What?”

“Medical fees.” The nurse smiled beautifully. “Your insurance account shows that you only purchased basic survival coverage, not even the most basic medical insurance. Without medical insurance, of course you have to pay out of pocket.”