Breakfast that morning was quieter than usual.
Lin Feng was already seated in his usual place while reading something on the thin black tablet in his hands.
A cup of coffee still released faint steam near his left elbow.
Across from him, Lady Su looked as composed as ever.
Qingyu had only just sat down when Lin Feng’s gaze lingered on her for several seconds longer than normal.
Today, Qingyu wore a simple pale-blue outfit.
The fabric had clearly been washed many times, its color faded around the sleeves and collar.
Far too plain for the daughter of the Lin family.
And somehow, only now did Lin Feng truly notice it.
For years, Qingyu had almost always looked pale and sickly, to the point that he had never paid attention to small details like the clothes his daughter wore.
“Is your phone activated already?” Lin Feng asked suddenly.
Qingyu lifted her eyes.
“Yes, Father.”
Lin Xue, who had been cutting her bread, immediately looked up.
“Big Sister already has a phone?”
Her tone sounded casual, but something in her gaze changed immediately.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I only gave it to her yesterday,” Lin Feng answered before Qingyu could speak.
“Along with a bank card.”
Lin Xue instantly fell silent.
Her spoon paused briefly above the plate.
Lady Su shot her daughter a quick glance, a silent warning not to overreact.
But Lin Xue still could not hold herself back.
“Father’s unfair,” she said with a small laugh that sounded slightly forced.
“I want gifts too.”
Lin Feng exhaled softly.
“That’s not a gift.”
He looked at Lin Xue calmly.
“It’s something Qingyu should have received long ago.”
The dining room suddenly became quieter.
Even the servant pouring tea began moving more carefully.
Lin Xue lowered her head back toward her plate.
She was still smiling, but her fingers gripped the spoon tighter than before.
Qingyu observed everything without much reaction.
Something in Lin Feng’s face had begun changing over the past few days.
It was a late realization, but finally beginning to surface.
Lady Su smiled and tried to smooth over the atmosphere.
“Maybe Xue’er is just a little jealous,” she said gently.
“They’re sisters, after all.”
Lin Feng did not answer immediately.
“What is there to be jealous of?” he finally said while glancing briefly toward Qingyu.
“Qingyu has lived far too simply for someone from this family.”
Lady Su did not respond.
She only sipped her tea while maintaining her smile.
But her grip on the cup tightened.
Breakfast continued beneath a heavier silence than before.
Several minutes later, Lin Feng spoke again.
“After this, we’re going back to the hospital.”
Qingyu nodded.
“Alright, Father.”
About an hour later, they arrived at the same hospital once again.
This time, Lady Su did not follow them into the examination room.
She stopped at the lounge area, claiming she needed to take an important phone call.
She believed everything was already under control.
Lin Feng did not question it.
Qingyu walked together with her father and Xiao Lan toward Dr.
Ming’s office.
The doctor was already waiting inside.
His expression looked more serious than yesterday.
He did not waste words that morning.
He simply gave Lin Feng a brief nod before opening the examination file on his desk.
“We’re repeating the tests today,” he said.
“Twice.”
Xiao Lan, standing behind Qingyu, immediately raised her head.
“Twice, Doctor?”
Dr.
Ming glanced toward her.
“One sample for the hospital laboratory.” He paused for a moment.
“The second for outside testing.”
He did not elaborate further.
But his tone alone was enough for Lin Feng to understand that the doctor had begun suspecting something.
“Why?” Lin Feng asked.
Dr.
Ming closed the file for a moment.
“Yesterday’s results were too neat and too controlled.”
The answer was short, but clear enough.
Several values appeared normal, while Qingyu’s physical condition clearly showed signs of long-term bodily damage.
The two did not align.
Qingyu sat quietly in the examination chair.
The nurse rolled up her sleeve.
The needle pierced her skin once again.
This time, Qingyu did not suppress her qi completely.
She allowed a thin trace of qi to flow through the most damaged meridians before mixing with the blood around the injection point.
It would be enough to make the toxins within her blood easier to identify.
The first tube filled.
Dr.
Ming watched the nearby monitor without comment.
“The second one,” he said quietly.
The nurse replaced the tube.
Blood flowed once more.
This time, Dr.
Ming personally took the filled tube after it was finished.
“This one won’t go through the hospital system,” he said while sealing the sample label.
Lin Feng nodded.
“How long until the results come out?”
“It’ll take longer,” Dr.
Ming answered honestly.
“Possibly several days.”
“That’s fine.”
Lin Feng stared at the blood tube in the doctor’s hand for several seconds.
“I only want the real results.”
“Of course.”
Dr.
Ming looked toward Qingyu again.
“If you feel dizzy, nauseous, or experience chest pain after this, tell someone immediately.”
“I will.”
The examination ended without much additional conversation.
The hospital corridors no longer felt as calm as they had yesterday.
The moment they stepped into the inpatient corridor, several nurses moved more quickly than before.
A young doctor stood near the ICU speaking with a tense face.
At the far end of the hallway, a patient stretcher was pushed urgently by two male nurses.
Qingyu immediately stopped walking.
A young man around his twenties lay on the stretcher.
His skin was pale with a grayish tint.
Faint bruising spread across his neck and arms.
His lips carried a bluish hue, while his breathing rose and fell unevenly beneath an oxygen mask.
Xiao Lan instinctively lowered her voice.
“What happened to him?”
One of the nurses answered quickly without stopping.
“Another poisoning case.
The second one this week.”
Qingyu observed the young man’s body more carefully.
This patient didn’t show any allergic reaction or any of the usual symptoms of acute poisoning.
But the bruising patterns beneath his skin were very similar to Lin Qingyu’s previous condition.
Only this poison was far more aggressive.
“Where was he found?” Lin Feng asked the nurse again.
“Southern district,” the nurse answered before hurrying away.
Qingyu stored the information silently.
Southern district, her current territory.
This was already the latest case since she first heard the reports several days ago.
And the hospital still could not identify the poison.
Qingyu stored the information away.
“Let’s go home first,” Lin Feng finally said.
They resumed walking toward the elevators.
In the hospital parking lot, a black car stopped across the lane.
Its windows were tinted dark.
The engine hummed quietly.
Inside the vehicle, Xie Yan sat in the back seat while reading a report on his tablet.
His black suit remained perfectly neat despite looking like he had not slept properly for quite some time.
Curled lazily across his lap was a small white fox no larger than a kitten.
As the Lin family car exited the parking area, the fox suddenly lifted its head.
Its ears twitched slightly.
Then it let out a low growl.
Xie Yan finally looked away from his screen.
“What is it?”
The little fox stared toward the Lin family’s departing vehicle.
Xie Yan followed its gaze for only a brief second.
And a sudden warmth spread faintly through his chest without reason.
The feeling was extremely subtle, almost like resonance.
“Relax,” he murmured while gently stroking the fox’s head.
Xie Yan had spent too many years on Earth to be surprised by the existence of other cultivators.
Though their numbers were limited.
Still, something about that passing vehicle left behind a different feeling.
Before he could think further, the Lin family car had already disappeared around the exit corner.
Inside that same car, Qingyu felt the Dragon Point beneath her ribs pulsed once.
She turned her head toward the black car now fading farther into the distance.
There was a spiritual beast inside, and…
the aura of a cultivator.
Qingyu leaned quietly back against her seat.
Her gaze drifted toward the city buildings sliding past outside the window.
This world was clearly not as simple as she had first believed.
There were others after all.