"Changed! You big scumbag!"
Xiao Ai finished bandaging him, carrying the tray as she looked at Wan Yunting lying on the bed, shivering and having already lost half his life. Only then did she leave with a satisfied, arrogant air.
After hearing the door close, Wan Yunting, still on the bed, stared with wide eyes and gritted his teeth, cursing, "Xiao Ai, I won't let you off the hook..."
The next morning at six o'clock, Wan Yunting sneaked out of the emergency department and went to the lawn in the hospital's small garden. Dressed in his patient gown, he sat in meditation, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth into his body. His dantian rotated, merging the absorbed energy and circulating it through his meridians and the twelve main meridians. His internal energy flowed throughout his body in a regular cycle...
After about six major cycles, it was already eight in the morning. Wan Yunting then exhaled a breath of turbid air, ended his practice, and slowly opened his eyes. To his surprise, he found himself surrounded by a group of patients who had come out for their morning activities, all staring at him with peculiar gazes.
Wan Yunting quickly got up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and smiled awkwardly at the surrounding patients before hurrying back towards the emergency department.
"Wan Yunting, where did you sneak off to so early?"
Xiao Ai, who was about to switch shifts with a colleague, had become frantic after not finding Wan Yunting in the ward. She had searched everywhere, only to see Wan Yunting casually returning from outside. Angered, Xiao Ai scolded him, "Are you trying to kill me?"
"Hmph, I am."
Wan Yunting shot her a dark look, not bothering to deal with the girl, and went straight back to the ward. He then shouted, "Tell your Director Jiang that I'm checking out."
"No, your injuries aren't healed yet, why are you checking out?" Xiao Ai shouted back.
"They're mostly healed. I'll recuperate at home. I don't need to stay here, or I'm afraid I'll never get out," Wan Yunting said before turning and going back into the ward, leaving Xiao Ai standing in the corridor, stomping her foot and snorting.
In fact, Wan Yunting's gunshot wound was far from fully healed, but it was considerably better. As long as he didn't engage in strenuous activity that would pull on the wound, it was manageable.
The reason he wanted to be discharged as soon as possible was that he didn't want to continue to be tormented by Jiang Tongxin. The memory of Xiao Ai changing his dressing the previous night still made him tremble. If he stayed in the emergency department, he was sure he'd be crippled by those vindictive doctors and nurses.
Therefore, Wan Yunting quickly changed back into his own clothes in the ward, gathered his belongings, and, ignoring Xiao Ai's attempts to stop him, forcibly left the emergency department, ran straight out of the hospital entrance, hailed a car, and headed to his second brother's home.
"Huh, Xiao Ai, why are you all at the entrance?"
Just then, Su Ke'er arrived with a thermos and found Xiao Ai and the others standing at the emergency department's entrance.
"Wan Yunting ran off," Xiao Ai said irritably.
"What, Brother Yunting ran away?"
Su Ke'er's eyes widened, and she anxiously said, "His injuries aren't healed yet, how could you let him check out?"
"Ah, maybe it was because I changed his dressing last night. He insisted on checking out just now, and then he just ran off," Xiao Ai said sheepishly.
But Su Ke'er's delicate, rosy face was stunned. Then, Xiao Ai pulled her aside and whispered, "Ke'er, I have something to tell you. Last night when I went to change Wan Yunting's dressing, I found a woman doing that sort of thing with him in the restroom..."
Meanwhile, Wan Yunting had returned to his second brother's home. Wang Chulin and the newly hired nanny had already prepared breakfast. They also questioned why he wasn't staying in the hospital to recover, but Wan Yunting insisted his injuries were fine, and the matter was dropped.
He stayed at his second brother's place, playing with Wan'er until noon. Thinking of going to the university to seek advice from Old Master Chang on his cultivation, Wan Yunting drove directly to Huadu University, buying a few bottles of Yu Bing Shao and roast goose along the way.
It was lunchtime, and the students had all gone out to eat. Wan Yunting entered with the wine and accompanying dishes, seeing Chang Wude, as usual, lying by the security room entrance, listening to music and humming along, looking quite comfortable.
"Old man, dinner's here."
Wan Yunting called out, and Chang Wude slowly opened his old eyes. Seeing the three bottles of Yu Bing Shao in his hand and smelling the aroma of the roast goose, he immediately perked up. "Ah, you're the only one who's filial. Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang, those two ungrateful brats, came to see me before but didn't bring any wine..."
Wan Yunting chuckled and entered his security room, placing the wine and roast goose. Chang Wude, of course, was not polite. He directly opened a bottle of Yu Bing Shao, inhaled the wine's aroma with delight, and took a sip, exclaiming, "Good wine."
"Old man, I came today to tell you that the malevolent energy within me has been expelled!" Wan Yunting said with a smile, sitting on a bench beside him.
"Oh?"
Chang Wude, who was gnawing on a goose leg, turned his head and looked at him with confusion. "How did you expel it?"
Wan Yunting then recounted his exploits in the disaster area, the cave in Ling Shan, and his encounter with the giant black snake that had achieved sentience, causing his old eyes to widen. "Good lad, you have such good fortune to encounter such a great opportunity. This means you've not only expelled the malevolent energy within you but also broken through to the initial stage of Dan Jin in your martial arts realm!"
"Yes."
Wan Yunting nodded happily and smiled, "That's why I've come to consult you about the cultivation methods for the Dan Jin stage, what to pay attention to, and how to quickly condense the Qi Dan in my dantian!"
"Why are you in such a hurry, kid?"
Chang Wude, still drinking and eating meat, waved his hand and said, "The initial stage of Dan Jin cultivation is about patience. It's not as you imagine, being able to quickly condense the Qi Dan in your dantian!"
"What do you mean?"
Wan Yunting frowned and asked in confusion.
"The so-called Dan Jin is a stage of spiritual will cultivation. During this stage, you cannot be impatient in your practice; you must focus on enlightenment!"
Chang Wude said while eating roast goose, "If you are too eager for success, you might make mistakes on the spiritual and mental level. Once you go into qi deviation during cultivation, all your efforts will turn to ashes, and your martial arts will be ruined, understand?"
"Understood."
Wan Yunting understood and said, "In other words, my current stage is mainly about cultivating spiritual will?"
"Right."
Chang Wude nodded, turned his head to glance at him, and said, "It relies on your comprehension. If your comprehension is sufficient, then it will happen naturally. Everything must follow the natural course; you cannot go against it. You must understand this."
"Mmm."
Wan Yunting nodded, seeming to grasp something.
"You kid, you've truly hit the jackpot," Chang Wude pointed at him and said, "So many people get stuck in the late stage of Hua Jin in martial arts and can never reach the Dan Jin realm. But you, my boy, after drinking the blood of a sentient snake, you broke through directly. This is turning misfortune into blessing, a great fortune indeed."
Wan Yunting chuckled, then asked, "But what kind of snake was that, and why did its blood have such efficacy?"
"How would I know? I've never seen it."
Chang Wude gave him a sideways glance and said, "Perhaps it was indeed a sentient snake. After all, in all of heaven and earth, it's not just us humans who can comprehend the energy of heaven and earth. For certain animals, especially spiritual animals like snakes, they often cultivate more easily than us because they are immersed in nature, enveloped by the energy of heaven and earth. So, the appearance of a sentient snake is not surprising at all."
"Indeed, there are too many wonders in the world," Wan Yunting nodded and no longer dwelled on what kind of snake the black one was.
After that, he seriously consulted Chang Wude about cultivation matters. The old man did not hold back and shared all his cultivation experiences with him...
As he was Gongsun Xiuliang's only disciple and had now been entrusted to his care, Chang Wude treated Wan Yunting like his own direct disciple, hoping he would achieve great success and avenge Gongsun Xiuliang...
"Teacher?"
At this moment, Kang Nuolan walked in, dressed in athletic wear. Seeing Wan Yunting discussing cultivation with Chang Wude, she exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"
"Nuolan, I checked out this morning."
Wan Yunting turned and saw her, not surprised, as he was the one who introduced Kang Nuolan to Chang Wude's tutelage, asking him to guide the girl.
"This girl is a natural talent for martial arts. In a short period, she has already broken through to the late stage of An Jin!" Chang Wude said with a smile, pointing to Kang Nuolan who had just entered.
Wan Yunting also turned to examine the girl and smiled, "Not bad, Nuolan, you've made significant progress."
Kang Nuolan remained her usual indifferent self.
"When I go back this time, I plan to take her with me to let her experience our Wuliang Daoist Temple," Chang Wude said.
"Oh."
Wan Yunting turned to look at Kang Nuolan and smiled, "Has your father been informed of this?"
"Not yet."
Kang Nuolan hadn't told her parents yet.
"Alright, I'll come over to your place tonight. I haven't visited your parents in a while. I'll talk to them then and invite them to see the Wuliang Daoist Temple with us," Wan Yunting said with a smile.
He could just take Wan'er along to see Hou Bing's father!
"Okay, I'll call them later," Kang Nuolan nodded.
Then, Chang Wude continued to impart his cultivation experience and knowledge to the two of them...
In the afternoon, Wan Yunting directly returned to his second brother's home. Since his home currently had no nanny, and Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang, the senior and junior disciples, were taking his money and acting as private bodyguards for Fang Yanxi, his home was empty. Coupled with his unhealed injuries, his second brother and sister-in-law had asked him to stay there for a few days.
At five o'clock, Wan Yunting took Wan'er alone and drove directly to Kang Hongwen's house. The one who opened the door for them was Hou Bing's father, Hou Chang. He recognized Wan Yunting's car and said, "Xiao Wan, you're here."
"Yes, Uncle Hou."
Wan Yunting also greeted him, then parked the car in the yard before getting out and opening the rear door to pick up Wan'er, who was sitting in her child seat. Upon seeing Wan'er, Hou Chang's expression froze.
"Uncle Hou, this is my niece, Wan'er."
Wan Yunting pulled Wan'er along and said to her, "Wan'er, quickly call Grandpa."
Wan'er, wearing a pink princess dress, looked like a little lady. Especially her big eyes, like two shining big grapes. Looking at Hou Chang before her, the little girl was still a bit shy but still nodded and called out, "Grandpa..."
"Ay..."
Hearing the word "Grandpa," Hou Chang became so emotional that tears welled up. Looking at Wan'er before him, the blood connection made him incredibly emotional. He couldn't help but squat down and excitedly say, "Grandpa wants a hug..."
Wan'er was scared and hid behind Wan Yunting. He smiled, "Wan'er, don't be scared. Grandpa just wants to hug you."
Hou Chang's eyes were red, and he opened his trembling hands, looking at Wan'er expectantly. Hearing Wan Yunting's words, the little girl came out from behind him and slowly walked towards Hou Chang...
"Granddaughter...!"
Hou Chang hugged Wan'er, overwhelmed with emotion...
Wan Yunting, witnessing this scene, sighed softly and said nothing...