CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 42: THE SECOND LIFE-SAVING LEAF

The chill from the floor seeped into the soles of her feet as Xiao Xian stood up, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. She returned to the bedside, slipped on her shoes, and changed out of the patient’s gown, putting back on the clothes she had worn when she was admitted and had placed under the bed.

The hallway was now deserted, the young boy and the couple who had spoken earlier had already left. The white corridor seemed to stretch on endlessly, and Xiao Xian saw a few nurses in white uniforms noticing a little patient wandering alone.

One nurse stopped: "Little friend, where are your family members? You shouldn’t wander around by yourself."

Xiao Xian learned that she was currently at the children’s ward. When she asked about Zhu Shijun’s whereabouts, the nurse pointed towards the information desk, telling her that she could inquire there about other patients’ rooms.

At the information desk, while a patient was checking their hospital expenses, Xiao Xian, with her head tilted, asked, "Auntie, I’m a relative of Zhu Shijun. I want to take my grandpa home. How much do I need to pay?"

Xiao Xian privately thought that since she had stayed and worn their clothes, she ought to give something in exchange for taking Zhu Shijun back.

"Zhu Shijun? Hold on, let me check," the duty nurse browsed through the admission register, "Oh, you’re the little girl from the children’s ward. Your hospital bills have been settled by the father of the boy who brought you in."

"Settled? But I don’t know them. Did they leave any contact information?" Xiao Xian felt a warmth in her heart. She had heard what the couple and the unknown boy had said earlier and thought...

"I’m sorry, they didn’t leave any contact information. However, the boy left a box for you," the duty nurse fetched a box from the storage rack behind her. Before handing it to Xiao Xian, the little girl looked at the small box as if she’d seen a ghost.

It was a simply wrapped box. Due to the owner’s hasty departure, it was covered only with a layer of the day’s newspaper and looked plain. The duty nurse had weighed it with her hand when she received it; it wasn’t heavy, so she had casually placed it aside.

After taking the box, Xiao Xian took a deep breath. A rich stream of Spiritual Energy was flowing out of it.

"Your grandfather is still in the intensive care unit and cannot be disturbed at the moment. Once your parents arrive..." The duty nurse looked at the admission register and realized that the hospital records showed no other family members for the patient. When she looked up again, the little girl who had asked the question had disappeared.

Xiao Xian found a secluded corner that no one was paying attention to and opened the box. Inside lay a Purple Old Ginseng with lush roots.

With her current level of Iron-grade space, Xiao Xian couldn’t tell the origin of the Purple Ginseng, but she recognized it instantly. Ninety-nine root hairs—only thousand-year-old ginseng could grow those.

"Could it be that there are also cultivators in this world? The big brother just now, this ginseng..." Xiao Xian didn’t dare to connect Yun Guanzi and Zhou Ziang; she was completely unaware of the Ninth Heavenly Thunder incident and had no idea that she had accidentally attracted the Heavenly Thunder and traveled through time with Yun Guanzi.

Zhou Ziang didn’t recognize Xiao Xian either. After the two arrived in the new world, both their spiritual powers and appearances had undergone tremendous changes. He left the mountain ginseng behind because he learned that Zhu Shijun’s illness was very severe. The ginseng, which could hang on to life, might be able to save Zhu Shijun’s life.

"First, let’s go see Grandpa, the look on the nurse’s face earlier suggests that Grandpa’s condition is probably dire." Along the way, Xiao Xian asked a few people before finally finding the intensive care unit. Inside the ICU, Zhu Shijun’s attending physician was recording the old man’s heart rate and blood pressure, while instructing the nurse beside him, "Are you certain that the patient’s family members can’t be reached?"

"We can’t get through. The only relative is that little girl staying in the children’s ward, she’s only about six or seven years old, how can she sign on the surgical consent form," the nurse was also troubled. When Zhu Shijun was brought in, his blood pressure and pulse were both very weak. After examination, the doctors found a malignant tumor in his chest, already three to four centimeters in size that needed to be removed immediately. On top of that, the elderly man also suffered from severe cataracts. With both conditions combined, without immediate surgery, he probably wouldn’t last a few days.

"No one to sign for the surgery, how are we going to proceed? Wasn’t he said to be a retired civil servant? Have you contacted the social security office?" The hospital regulations required a family member’s signature for major surgeries.

"We’ve contacted them, they said they are waiting for instructions from Beijing," the nurse shook her head and glanced at Zhu Shijun who was still unconscious in the hospital bed.

The two walked out of the ward, and Xiao Xian crouched down and slipped into the ward. Zhu Shijun had lost his usual amiable smile, in just half a day his complexion had become withered and gray, his lips were flaking, and transparent tubes were inserted into his hands and feet. Xiao Xian walked up to the bedside, "Grandpa, are you sick?"

Xiao Xian whispered to herself and sat on the edge of the bed. She didn’t quite understand what those people had said earlier, and she suddenly became very angry at herself. If it wasn’t for her getting involved with those thieves, Grandpa wouldn’t have ended up in this state. It was all her fault.

Blaming herself, Xiao Xian sat there for quite some time. Then, she thought of something and pulled out the purple ginseng. Looking at the mountain ginseng brimming with spiritual energy, she shook her head again, "Thousand-year-old ginseng, its medicinal properties are too strong, Grandpa is very weak right now, he can’t use it."

Then she remembered something else and frantically took out a leaf from her bosom. It had been over half a year, yet the Chaos Seed’s seed leaves were still as vivid as ever, shining with a jade-like luster.

"If you can heal my leg, then you should also be able to cure Grandpa’s illness," Xiao Xian pinched the leaf hard with her fingers. The leaf shattered, oozing a green juice, which Xiao Xian quickly applied to Zhu Shijun’s dry lips, watching the old man intently.

A miracle then happened before Xiao Xian’s eyes. Zhu Shijun’s chest emitted a burst of green light, and through that light, Xiao Xian saw a red tumor which slowly shrank until it completely disappeared. Looking at Zhu Shijun’s complexion, the ashen color vanished, his cheeks gradually regained their rosy color.

Even more miraculous was the old man’s beard. The originally mottled gray whiskers first became lustrous, then his arms; the dried muscles and bones of the elderly man seemed to regain their vitality, plumping back up.

Xiao Xian witnessed all of this, her heart filled with both shock and joy. However, Zhu Shijun had not yet awakened, and Xiao Xian didn’t dare to wake him up herself. She leaned by the old man’s pillow, listening to his breathing grow stronger, and her heart finally settled completely.

Only after calming down did she remember something very important, the iron space inside the truck, and the two big living people inside. Now that was a problem.