After finishing a cigarette, Lao Mo and I left the smoking area.
We waited outside the operating room for about five minutes, and Chen Yao's surgery was completed.
Seeing Chen Yao emerge, we immediately surrounded her.
"Chen Yao, are you feeling any better?" Lao Mo asked urgently.
Chen Yao looked at us and smiled, "I'm fine, just a few cuts, nothing much."
Chen Yao was truly resilient. Three deep gashes were described by her as if they were mere small wounds.
"I'm sorry! This is all because of me, otherwise you wouldn't have been injured."
But Chen Yao shook her head, "How can you say that! If I hadn't brought it up, you wouldn't have gone either. All is even now."
Chen Yao had a very good, cheerful personality. Her smile, revealing her slight canine teeth, was also very endearing, giving her the aura of a girl next door.
We escorted Chen Yao back to her hospital room. Her room was on the same floor as Old Master Jiang's.
Old Master Jiang was already asleep, so we didn't disturb him.
However, at this moment, a middle-aged couple rushed into the room.
"Yaoyao, Yaoyao..."
Hearing the voices, we all looked over.
The moment I saw him, I was stunned. It was Brother Chen! He was the one who introduced me to my master. I had always been grateful to Brother Chen.
"Brother Chen!" I exclaimed in surprise.
Brother Chen also froze when I spoke, "Little Qin? Uncle Tang..." Brother Chen looked at us in the room with surprise.
Chen Yao, lying on the hospital bed, also called out, "Second Uncle!"
Upon hearing this, we were all taken aback. Chen Yao called Brother Chen "Second Uncle"?
Brother Chen didn't remain frozen for long and quickly went to the bedside, "Yaoyao, what happened to you? How did you get injured?" As he spoke, he looked at us by the bed with some astonishment.
He vaguely sensed that something was amiss. After all, Brother Chen knew very well who we were.
Chen Yao smiled faintly, "It's nothing, I just fell and some rusty metal scraped my back. These people sent me to the hospital! Second Uncle, you know Qin Ze?"
Chen Yao was still lying. Brother Chen looked directly at us, clearly not quite believing her. He saw that we were all armed, our clothes were dirty and torn. It was evident that we had been in a fight.
I gave a wry smile, "Brother Chen, Chen Yao was injured by an old monster."
Chen Yao blinked and quickly tried to smooth things over, "Second Uncle, he's joking." As she spoke, she kept giving me meaningful glances.
However, Brother Chen directly retorted, "Yaoyao, you still want to lie to your second uncle. I know better than you what Uncle Tang and Qin Ze do. Uncle Tang, what exactly happened..."
Chen Yao lowered her head slightly and said no more.
My martial uncle took a deep breath and recounted what had happened.
Brother Chen listened with a look of horror.
Lao Mo also chimed in, "Brother Chen, I'm sorry! If Chen Yao hadn't tried to save me, she wouldn't have been injured."
Brother Chen was also somewhat of an amateur. Although he had no spiritual cultivation, he was well aware of the great responsibility of exterminating demons and ghosts. At this moment, he didn't blame Chen Yao or us. Instead, he was shocked to learn that Chen Yao possessed the Heavenly Dipper Fire destiny. Although he was Chen Yao's second uncle, his own perceptive abilities were limited. Chen Yao was not his biological daughter, and he wasn't entirely familiar with her birth chart. Therefore, Brother Chen only now learned that Chen Yao had such a special, extreme yang destiny.
"Good heavens! I never expected Yaoyao to have such a destiny," Brother Chen exclaimed.
My martial uncle then spoke up, "That's why I want to teach this girl the ways of the dao. With this kind of destiny, she is impervious to a hundred ghosts. Her blood can break curses, and her pure yang energy can subdue spirits. It's a rare occurrence in a hundred years! It's just a shame she's unwilling..." He sighed softly.
I felt a bit awkward listening. Chen Yao's destiny could ward off a hundred ghosts and resist evil spirits, yet I attracted a hundred ghosts and were close to malevolent spirits. Those ghosts and demons desperately wanted to devour me. The only similarity was that my destiny was also suitable for cultivation, for this line of work.
Brother Chen looked at Chen Yao and sighed, "Alas. My brother left us too early. My sister-in-law raised the child alone. Now that the child is working, she has her own choices. We adults won't interfere..." Brother Chen also felt quite regretful because in his youth, he had wanted to become a daoist priest. However, he lacked the talent and only learned a few demon-exorcising techniques from my master. He was a half-baked practitioner among ordinary people, or "rookie" in the eyes of experts.
But after thinking for a while, Brother Chen added, "Yaoyao, actually, becoming a demon-exorcising daoist priest is quite good. It's about saving people, and it earns a lot of money..."
But Chen Yao on the bed shook her head, "I don't want to be a daoist priest, I only want to be a nurse and save people."
Upon hearing this, my martial uncle sighed. Brother Chen also respected his niece's choice and didn't force her. He nodded slightly.
However, Chen Yao then added, "But I can learn it for self-defense!"
When my martial uncle heard this, his entire being instantly became excited, "Good, good, good! As long as you're willing to learn, that's great. You can come and learn whenever you like, girl. You can pick the time..." My martial uncle was eagerly anticipating such a good prospect.
Chen Yao thought for a moment, "Then, after my injuries heal!"
"Good, good, good. My shop is at the foot of Old Huang Mountain, in Wan Shou Tang..." My martial uncle was truly thrilled and very happy.
Lao Mo's eyes also suddenly flashed with a look of pleasant surprise. If Chen Yao were to learn the dao from my martial uncle, then Lao Mo would become her senior brother...