“Hey, Zhou Ze, you've changed. Are you even human anymore? You were the one who said she killed those two people, and now you're trying to save her! One minute you want me to help you catch the killer, the next you want me to help you carry the killer back.

What do you take me for?"

Back in the bookstore, Xu Qinglang pointed directly at Zhou Ze's back and grumbled.

No, to be precise, Xu Qinglang hadn't stopped his verbal barrage the entire way back from the building, chattering on like a shrewish wife scolding her irresponsible husband who's been out gallivanting for nights on end, neglecting his family and not even providing living expenses.

Bai Yingying sat behind the counter playing on her phone. She didn't dare to turn on the computer to play games anymore; the power outages were just too frustrating.

Zhou Ze hadn't planned to pay attention to Xu Qinglang; he didn't have the energy. But Xu Qinglang seemed to be enjoying his rant, so Zhou Ze turned around, pointed a finger at him, and said directly:

"What do I take you for? Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'No investigation, no right to speak'?

I don't know her, but I know her friend. I owe that person a favor. I'm asking you, is that reason enough?"

"But the two who died..."

"Do I know the two who died?" Zhou Ze retorted. "What does it have to do with me? Am I Joan of Arc or Hai Rui? Am I expecting the locals to build me a temple and offer me incense?

I'm just an unlucky ghost who was run over and killed by an idiot, and then, by some twist of fate, I ended up possessing that idiot!

I'm not human; I'm just a ghost. So please, Mr. Xu, with your twenty-plus apartments, stop trying to impose your universal values on me!

You want me to make sacrifices? You want me to pursue truth and justice?

Then please, when that pen was stabbing your neck, you should have shouted: 'Fire at me!'

You can't even do it yourself, so how dare you criticize others?

I'm a ghost, and for a long time, I didn't even have a legal identity. Under these circumstances, you still expect me to be for everyone, but when does anyone ever do anything for me?"

"You..."

"You what? Didn't you also violate the rules to forcibly keep your parents' souls here to enjoy some family reunion?

When you were doing that, why didn't you think about the countless other families who have lost loved ones and don't get the same treatment?

I don't care if she killed anyone or not. The fact that I owe that person in Rongcheng a favor is enough for me to turn a blind eye!

I don't care if she's the killer or not. She promised to find my heart, so I'm willing to help her heal!

It's that simple!

So, please take your arrogance, your self-righteousness, your sanctimony, and get the hell out of here!"

Zhou Ze said all of this in one breath, then let out a long sigh. Honestly, he'd been really annoyed lately, especially after the monkey incident. Really annoyed.

He shouldn't have meddled. He could have just closed his eyes and pretended not to see anything. That way, he wouldn't have had to make any choices, and that old bastard wouldn't have taken his heart.

Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, sticking its butt in the air, swaying back and forth,

And shouting that the world is so beautiful, so beautiful, so beautiful!

That would be so good.

That would be so comfortable.

Xu Qinglang swallowed hard, somewhat at a loss for words in the face of Zhou Ze's retort.

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Bai Yingying had been watching from the side for a long time, not daring to interrupt.

Xu Qinglang pointed a finger at Zhou Ze, his heart seemingly dead. He looked truly disheveled, like a begonia battered by the wind and rain. Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he turned and walked toward the door. But he stopped as he pushed open the glass door and said:

"What do you want for lunch?"

"Tomato beef rice bowl with strawberry juice, please," Zhou Ze answered without hesitation.

"Okay."

Xu Qinglang left to make lunch.

Bai Yingying stuck out her tongue and then covered her nose.

Zhou Ze looked at her. "If you're going to say you smell something sour again, it's because the toilet's clogged again. Scrub it three more times."

Bai Yingying immediately shook her head. "It smells sweet."

Just then, a van stopped in front of the bookstore.

"Go get the stuff."

Under Zhou Ze's orders, Bai Yingying went outside and brought in two boxes. The van left as soon as it dropped them off.

"What's in here?" Bai Yingying asked.

"Simple surgical instruments." Zhou Ze opened one of the boxes and put on a pair of gloves.

"Boss, how did you get them delivered?"

"I used to be a doctor in my previous life."

"Uh, and then?"

"Then, of course, I know which director is smuggling medical equipment, taking kickbacks, and lining his own pockets. It's easy to make a threatening phone call and get him to send over some inexpensive equipment."

"That's possible?" Bai Yingying was stunned for a moment before she finally reacted.

"Take the stuff upstairs." Zhou Ze said before heading upstairs himself.

Upstairs on the straw mat, the woman was lying there, and the old Daoist was squatting beside her, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. When Zhou Ze came over, the old Daoist said with some concern:

"Big Brother, are you sure about this?"

"Then you can send her to the hospital and have her discovered by those ghost officers."

The old Daoist stopped talking.

Bai Yingying carried one box in each hand, not making a big deal out of it at all. Sometimes, Zhou Ze felt like he was missing out. If he ran a construction team instead of a bookstore, having Bai Yingying as a subordinate would definitely be profitable. He could save on excavators and bulldozers.

With everything prepared and the instruments sterilized, Zhou Ze began to prepare for the surgery.

"Big Brother, aren't you going to use anesthesia?" the old Daoist reminded him from the side.

"She doesn't need anesthesia. Her mental strength is terrifying."

Zhou Ze shook his head and directly used scissors to cut open the roughly bandaged wounds on the woman's arm.

The wounds weren't treated badly, but the injuries weren't ordinary. Simple bandages wouldn't have any effect.

"That's true. It's said that she once went half a year without sleep and still made it through." The old Daoist muttered from the side.

Zhou Ze pried open a wound on her left arm and then used pliers to poke around inside. The woman didn't react at all; she seemed to be in a deep sleep.

Then, Zhou Ze used the pliers to pull out a black feather from the wound and dropped it onto the metal tray held by Bai Yingying.

"Clang..."

The feather was very soft, but it made a crisp sound when it landed.

"This humble Daoist remembers that this feather should be from a black feather duster. A pale-faced guy in black clothes used it to chase us."

"Black Impermanence?" Zhou Ze asked.

"I don't know, it looked a bit like him," the old Daoist replied.

Zhou Ze remained noncommittal and continued to clean the wound.

Good heavens,

He didn't know how many strange things were embedded in this woman's body.

Over the next while, Zhou Ze successively took out broken talismans, rune-engraved darts, and released silver mercury. It was like he had opened a general store; he had everything.

Bai Yingying and the old Daoist were dazzled by the sight.

While the remaining items inside the wounds were being removed one by one, it was like a second injury to the body. Therefore, Zhou Ze was constantly monitoring the woman's condition.

Finally, when Zhou Ze took out two pieces of red broken glass from the wound on the woman's lower abdomen, he noticed a faint black mist rising from her body, and a shadow seemed to be floating out.

Only Zhou Ze could see this scene.

This was a sign that the body was on the verge of collapse and could no longer sustain the soul. From a scientific point of view, it meant that the patient was about to die despite all efforts to save her.

Zhou Ze's right fingernail grew out, and he directly grabbed the black shadow, pushing it back into her body.

"Hmm..."

A faint voice came.

"Hold on a little longer. There are still a few wounds that need to be treated, and then some medicine needs to be applied. If you get through this, your body will slowly recover."

This was the most special surgery Zhou Ze had ever performed since becoming a doctor. Not to mention the complexity of the patient's injuries, just the fact that he was both treating the patient and suppressing her soul from leaving her body was enough to shock the entire medical world if it were publicized.

It was almost like cheating, like playing an arcade game with unlimited coins to keep reviving.

Of course, Zhou Ze also knew that this was because the woman's soul was inherently strong. An ordinary person's soul could withstand one or two incidents, but it would collapse if it happened repeatedly.

From this perspective, the woman's resilience was indeed terrifying.

Zhou Ze was even a little curious. Even a woman by his side was so resilient and terrifying, so what was that guy in Rongcheng who was stirring up trouble really like?

Birds of a feather flock together.

After taking care of the last wound and applying the medicine, Zhou Ze let out a long sigh.

Next, it would depend on her own willpower to persevere. Once her body slowly recovered, the problem shouldn't be too big.

In fact, if that old bastard who dug out his heart was still around, it would be best to get some medicine from him. The wound on Zhou Ze's chest had already healed, without even leaving a scar.

Of course, Zhou Ze sometimes wondered if the other party had really cut him open and taken his heart.

Or was he just under some kind of illusion? But where did the pain he felt every time he wanted to do something that contradicted his best interests come from?

The woman was settled upstairs, the old Daoist went to the restaurant next door to eat, and Bai Yingying ran off to play games, leaving only Zhou Ze to stay here and check on the woman's condition.

About a few hours later, Zhou Ze, who was sitting beside her reading a book, suddenly noticed the woman's eyelids twitch. Then he saw the woman open her eyes.

The woman was looking at him.

He was also looking at the woman.

"How are you feeling?" Zhou Ze asked.

The woman nodded slightly, indicating that her body was recovering.

"Heh, what's your name?" Zhou Ze asked.

The woman was silent for a long time. Just when Zhou Ze was wondering if her current condition didn't allow her to speak, the woman opened her mouth and said:

"Tang... Shi..." (Tang... Poetry...)

"My name is..." Zhou Ze paused, then asked curiously:

"When you introduce yourself to others, do you often get jokers who reply that their name is Song Ci (Song Lyrics)?"