The ophthalmology intern doctor quietly touched the “Intern Doctor” badge on his chest, feeling a dull ache in his heart. This one must have come just to mess with him, right? Definitely! She herself was already a chief physician, so why on earth would she come to him—an ophthalmology intern—for treatment?!
Suppressing the urge to tell her to just go find some master instead, he took a deep breath and forced himself to continue the consultation.
“Dr. Yun… no, Director Yun! How long has this been happening?”
“Since three months ago.”
“So long? And… you’re not scared at all?” he couldn’t help asking.
“Of course I’m scared!” Yun Jiao nodded. “But after being scared for three months, I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Uh…” That actually made sense. He was left speechless. “Heh… Miss Yun really deserves to be a chief physician, staying calm and composed in the face of something like this.”
Yun Jiao unconsciously touched her face, which hadn’t changed expression since she came in, then as if remembering something, added, “Oh, I forgot to mention. I’ve suffered from congenital facial nerve paralysis since childhood.”
“Congenital… what?” He had never heard of such an illness.
“Commonly called facial paralysis.”“……”
“I was born like this. Only in very specific circumstances can I show other expressions.”
“……” Just how many weird conditions do you have, seriously?!
(╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻
“Ahem… regarding your eyes, why don’t you tell me again? Exactly when did it start? Did you eat anything before, or did something happen?”
Yun Jiao lowered her head, thinking carefully, then after a moment said softly, “I think the cause should be something I did three months ago. From that afternoon onward, I began to see those things.”
“What did you do?”
“I helped an old lady who had fallen.”
“And then?”
“And then… I went bankrupt.”
“……” The doctor’s mouth twitched. He looked at her with sympathy, then finally squeezed out, “Oh… that’s… unfortunate. My condolences.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The intern now pitied her even more, his tone softening. “Other than going bankrupt—oh no, I mean, other than helping someone—did anything else happen? Like eating something?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I had just gotten off a plane that day and hadn’t eaten anything. After I helped her, I called the police. The police said, since she was so old, I should pay some compensation.”
“……” So that’s how you went bankrupt?
“Right, I even ran into that old lady here at your hospital just now, coming for a follow-up. She seemed to have slipped something into my bag, saying she cursed me to die alone in a foreign land.”
“……” Bankrupted you and still won’t let go—what kind of grudge is this?!
Yun Jiao, however, began rummaging through her bag. After a moment she pulled something out. “Ah, found it!”
“This is…” The doctor looked carefully. It was a rectangular yellow slip of paper with strange red writing on it. “A talisman?” He instinctively reached out.
The moment his hand extended, the talisman suddenly flared with dazzling white light. The woman who had been sitting properly in the chair shimmered—and vanished abruptly.
Doctor: “……”
Three seconds later—
“Ghosts!!! Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!”
Yun Jiao figured she must have transmigrated. One moment she was in a hospital, the next she was standing in a forest shrouded with dark mist, her hand covered in ashes from the burned talisman. Clearly, that cursed slip from the old lady had brought her here.
What kind of high technology was this?! She only wanted to say one thing—screw feudal superstition!
(╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻
Inside, Yun Jiao was a panicked mess, but outwardly her expression remained steady as stone. Years of incurable facial paralysis prevented her from showing fear or panic. So she stood there stiffly in the woods for two hours until all the wild emotions and galloping chaos in her mind slowly calmed down.
Calm down, Yun Jiao!
First, analyze the situation. Clearly, science had betrayed her lifelong trust. The curse worked. She had been transported by some unscientific means to another place. Judging by the scenery, she was very far from City C.
Two possibilities:
One, bad—she was in some harsh, unfamiliar environment. From the strange plant species, she might even be outside the country.
Two, worse—she wasn’t even on Earth. According to transmigration probability theory, she might not even be in modern society anymore.
Yun Jiao silently prayed it was the first option. Maybe she could still go home. So she searched for a way down the mountain while murmuring “Prosperity, Democracy, Civilization, Harmony…”—until she stumbled upon an old man in ancient clothes trying to hang himself.
It was a withered tree, bare of bark, scarred with lightning strikes. Beneath it stood a white-haired old man, one hand clutching his waistband, the other holding a belt he had just removed. He was swinging it toward a branch above. At his feet was a pile of stones he had clearly stacked just moments ago.
When he saw Yun Jiao suddenly emerge from the bushes, he froze. His foot slipped, and he nearly toppled, grabbing the tree trunk for balance. In doing so, his loose trousers slipped straight down, revealing his two skinny, pale thighs.
Yun Jiao: “……”
Old man: “……”
(⊙_⊙)
The scene was painfully awkward.
Fortunately, Yun Jiao’s facial paralysis once again stabilized the situation. Calmly withdrawing her gaze from the man’s lower half, she turned crisply on her heel and walked away!
What to do when encountering the elderly? As someone who had been extorted into bankruptcy, she knew: the farther, the better.
“Wait! Please wait!” The old man panicked, leapt down from the stones, and in a flash clutched her leg. “Fellow Daoist, please stay, please stay!”
Yun Jiao, a step too late, “……” She could almost hear money waving goodbye to her. “Grandpa, I just went bankrupt. I really have no money. Can’t you pick another sheep to fleece?”
“Money?” The old man blinked, then quickly shook his head. “No, no, Fellow Daoist, do you carry any Spirit-Suppressing Talismans? I’ve been poisoned. For the sake of our shared path in the Dao, please save me.”
“Fellow Daoist?” Yun Jiao was stunned. So he wasn’t here to extort her? “I’m not!”
“Don’t lie to me, Fellow Daoist! This is life and death!” The old man refused to believe her. “There’s talisman residue on you. How could you not be one of us cultivators?”
“Talisman?” Yun Jiao looked down at the ashes still on her right hand. “You mean this?”
The old man’s eyes lit up with joy. “Yes, yes! That’s talisman ash.”
“This isn’t mine. Someone forced it onto me.”
(End of Chapter)