Translator: Noodletown Translations  Editor: Noodletown Translations

“Grandma…”

Hao Ren sat on the edge of the bed and took Grandma's wrist.

Grandma who had been looking healthy under Lu Linlin and Lu Lili's care seemed a lot older today.

At the level which was equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm, Hao Ren could feel that her meridians were still broken when he took her wrist.

Worse than the broken meridians, he felt threads of devil essence in her meridians. Even the five-elemental nature essence couldn't get rid of this devil essence; only the chaotic lightning energy could probably destroy the devil essence, but mortals wouldn't be able to withstand heavenly lightning bolts.

Hao Ren tried to force out a comforting smile, but his face remained bleak when he felt Grandma's poor health.

“I've been pleased in recent years. The only regret is that I can't see Linlin and Lili anymore; I was at the peak of my health when those two girls stayed with me,” Grandma said slowly while looking at Hao Ren.

“Grandma, don't say it.” Hearing the hidden meaning in her words, Hao Ren tried to stop her.

“I know my own body.” Grandma nodded slightly and looked at Hao Ren steadily before continuing, “I don't have many days to live. I look fine now, but it won't continue for more than a few days.”

Hao Ren remained silent.

“I might have looked light-hearted, but I've been observing the girls for you. Zi and Yujia are both good girls, and you must choose one and don't let her down.

“Ok…” Hao Ren lowered his head.

Despite her fondness of each girl, she was observing them for Hao Ren, trying to choose the most fitting granddaughter-in-law.

However, the more she observed, the more indecisive she got. She liked all the girls and was reluctant to give up any of them, so she left the decision to Hao Ren.

Her wish was to see a great-grandson, but it seemed that her wish wouldn't be granted.

“Tell your dad not to spend too much money on me since he must save money for your wedding. I know that staying in the hospital is expensive, and it costs tens of thousands of yuan each day,” Grandma continued.

“Grandma, you will get better,” Hao Ren held Grandma's wrist tightly.

He was fighting his tears since he didn't want to cry in front of Grandma who used to say that boys must be strong and know what to fight for and what to give up.

“Little Su didn't come. Has something happen to her?” Grandma suddenly asked.

“She…” Hao Ren hesitated for a few seconds and said, “is sick.”

“Ay, it seems to me that this girl doesn't know how to take care of herself,” Grandma sighed slightly.

“Congming and Luoxue came to visit me today. I think they will become a couple when they grow up,” Grandma said.

Hao Ren smiled; it was the only good news so far.

“Zi introduced that little girl, Zhao Baibai, to me; she is Zi's younger cousin. She looks cute and is quite close to me. For some reason, I find her quite familiar.” Grandma continued.

Probably to distract Hao Ren from his sadness, Grandma turned to some happy topics, and Hao Ren sat beside her and smiled occasionally.

It had been a long time since she had a good chat with her grandson, and Grandma couldn't stop talking. It dawned on Hao Ren that ever since he began cultivating, he had gotten busy and hadn't spent any quality time with his grandma.

The seniors sometimes might be too chatty, but they just wanted to talk with their young family members. Hao Ren loved his Grandma very much but had spent too little time with her.

They talked until midnight, and Hao Ren went out to get some hot water for Grandma. After walking out of the door, he saw Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia sitting on the long bench in the corridor outside of the ward, still waiting for him.

They were napping shoulder to shoulder, holding each other's hand. When they saw Hao Ren coming out of the ward, they both woke up suddenly and asked, “How is Grandma?”

Hao Ren looked at them and didn't expect them to stay in the chilly corridor until midnight. With a slight sigh, he said, “I thought you had gone back. Why didn't you come in?”

“Grandma was talking to you and didn't ask us to go in,” Zhao Yanzi said.

Hao Ren rolled his eyes. “Well, it was just small talk. Go into the room now. It's cold outside.”

Holding each other's hand, Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia finally stood up and pushed open the door cautiously before entering the room.

Looking at them, Hao Ren shook his head helplessly, realizing that these two girls were quite lonely. It was good to see them care for each other.

When he came back with a big bottle of hot water, Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia were helping Grandma wash her face and hands by the bed.

Grandma didn't know that these two girls were waiting outside, and her heart ached for them.

“It's too late for you to go back now. You can spend the night here on the spare bed,” Grandma said.

“Ok!” Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia nodded.

They had planned to spend the night here with Grandma. Feeling helpless with her current condition, they could do nothing but to stay with Grandma and keep her company.

Bai Ze had chosen this ward for Grandma since it was one of the best wards in Eastern Hospital. Besides the air conditioning, microwave oven, and the TV, the room had sunlight during the day and was very quiet.

Zhao Baibai, which was Little White, had gone back with Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Guang. Yue Yang and Hao Zhonghua had planned to stay with Grandma, but since Grandma had asked Hao Ren to stay with her and considering the fact that Hao Ren had school the second day, they had gone back home and were prepared to take their turn after Hao Ren the next day.

Grandma was surprised that Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia offered to stay with her. They were not her blood-related granddaughters, and their concerns warmed her heart.

In the early morning, Bai Ze came to check on Grandma in her white coat. As the vice president of Eastern Hospital, she didn't need to work during the night, but she had stayed to monitor everything.

Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia were asleep under a white quilt, lying close to each other on the spare bed.

Hao Ren had remained alert beside Grandma's bed, watching for any changes in her condition. When he saw Bai Ze enter, he stood up quietly.

“I've suppressed the devil essence with a special method, and she will be fine for one to two weeks,” Bai Ze said lightly.

Hao Ren nodded, knowing Bai Ze meant that she couldn't guarantee Grandma's safety after one to two weeks.

After glancing at Hao Ren, Bai Ze continued, “Su Han is in the hospital as well.”

“Oh?” Hao Ren looked at her in surprise.

“She is next door, and it was Yue Zilong who brought her here,” Bai Ze said.

After looking back at Grandma who was sleeping soundly, Hao Ren knew that she was fine right now. Then, he turned to the door.

Bai Ze led him into Su Han's ward, and they saw Su Han lying in the white bed quietly in a deep sleep.

“The devil essence in her body is worse than that in your grandma, and I've given her the same treatment. However, for a cultivator, the consequences of broken meridians are more serious than a mortal. More importantly, Su Han was at peak Qian-level and going through the Heavenly Tribulation when her meridians were broken. The devil essence has entered her mystic crystal and dragon core,” Bai Ze said.

“How much time does she have?” Hao Ren asked.

“One to two weeks, the same as your grandma.” Bai Ze stood by the bed and looked at Su Han quietly. “She will be fine in the first week, and she will need a Heavenly Dragon cultivator or a Soul Formation Realm cultivator to sustain her life. In the third week, no one can save her.”

Hao Ren clenched his fists, creating a lot of cracking noises.

Xu Ke, the split soul, had swallowed the main soul of Taiyi Cave Master when the latter was severely injured by Premier Xia. Right now, he was probably resting somewhere and would come out again at any time.

“I've done everything in my power. If the Shrine Master of the Dragon G.o.d Palace didn't ask me for a favor, I wouldn't have helped Su Han,” Bai Ze looked at Hao Ren and said, “You've come back from Kunlun Mountain empty-handed, which means that even those Soul Formation Realm cultivators don't know how to open the Ageless G.o.dly Spring. The only way that you can save Su Han and your grandma is to try your luck in the Heavenly Realm.”

After receiving no response from Hao Ren, Bai Ze continued, “I'll take care of your grandma and Su Han. As long as I'm in East Ocean City, that devil dragon won't dare to show himself here. However, after one to two weeks, he will recover.”

Hao Ren gritted his teeth, knowing that the time was not on his side.

“You must hurry up. With the Heavenly Dao entering the next cycle, Qiu Niu would have to go back to his position, and Ya Zi 1 will take his place. With Ya Zi's temperament, he will kill anyone with devil essence. Your grandma is a mortal and has weak devil essence in her so that I can cover it for her. However, Su Han is a peak Qian-level dragon cultivator and will release more devil essence as time goes on. Ya Zi probably will kill Su Han to prevent any future consequences.”

Bai Ze's words startled Hao Ren.

Since the law of nature was weak these few days when the Heavenly Dao was rolling to another cycle, Su Han had chosen today to pa.s.s the Heavenly Tribulation while Taiyi Cave Master chose today to turn into a devil dragon. In all this mess, Hao Ren had neglected the new Ancestral Dragon who was about to go on ‘vacation'.

Ya Zi's character was violent and blood-thirsty, and he broke everything evil and devil-like with b.l.o.o.d.y murderous spirit.

Qiu Niu was still a little reasonable, but Ya Zi was a lone wolf and would bring peace to the world by killing!

Containing devil essence which could change at any moment, Su Han might become his first target!

Once every 4,000 years, the Heavenly Dao would wash away anything evil and filthy by letting Ya Zi take charge and kill. The only consequence was that there might be a lot of wrong killings in the process!

“I've given you all the information I have. I will not get myself involved in this conflict. If Ya Zi comes, I won't help either side,” Bai Ze said.

Hao Ren nodded.

Bai Ze had concealed her ident.i.ty by living in the mortal world since she didn't want to get involved in the conflicts. It was already a great favor that she had temporarily sustained Grandma and Su Han's lives.

Without anyone caring for her, Su Han looked lonely in the ward. Hao Ren guessed that the Dragon G.o.d Shrine must be in chaos right now since the nine Deputy Shrine Masters had also gotten some devil essence in their bodies while fighting with Taiyi Cave Master and were forcing it out of their bodies. As to the other inspectors, no one was fitting to take care of Su Han.

Hum!

A golden light flashed outside of the window, and Hao Ren closed his eyes subconsciously at the blinding flash. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a female cultivator in white standing in the ward.