Two days had passed since the night of the fever.
The changes in Qingyu’s body were not obvious to strangers.
But to anyone who truly saw her every day, they were unmistakable.
Her face was still pale, but no longer with the pallor of a living corpse.
A faint trace of healthier color had begun returning to her cheeks.
Even the way she walked had changed.
Her steps were steadier now, and she no longer had to stop every few minutes to catch her breath.
Lin Feng was reading business news on his tablet when Qingyu arrived.
Without realizing it, he lifted his head and followed her every movement until she sat down in her own seat at the dining table.
He said nothing, but for the first time in years, he was truly beginning to notice his daughter.
The way Qingyu poured herself a glass of water.
The way she sat with her back straight.
The way her hand no longer trembled when she held her spoon.
They were small changes, but they appeared day after day.
Across the table, Lady Su noticed them as well.
And that was exactly why her stomach felt increasingly uneasy.
A servant placed a bowl of warm porridge in front of Qingyu.
Auntie Yue stood not far away, occasionally watching to see whether Qingyu looked tired.
Meanwhile, the television in the dining room was playing softly.
The anchor’s voice remained calm and measured.
“…emergency cases have once again occurred in the southern and western districts of the city.
Several patients are in critical condition due to exposure to an unidentified toxic substance.
Authorities state that there is currently no evidence linking the cases…”
Lin Feng picked up the remote and lowered the volume before turning the television off completely.
The movement looked ordinary, but his gaze changed for a moment after hearing the word toxic.
The image of the patient at the hospital a few days earlier returned to his mind.
Grayish-pale skin with strange bruises that did not look like an ordinary illness.
And without realizing it, his eyes moved back toward Qingyu.
The bruises that had once appeared on his daughter’s body…
The thought flashed through him, then he forced it down before it could grow any larger.
Qingyu slowly ate her porridge as if she had not noticed his gaze.
In truth, she caught everything.
The news was not enough to cause panic yet.
The cases were too scattered, and to ordinary people, they looked like unrelated incidents.
But in Qingyu’s eyes, the fragments were slowly beginning to form a clearer picture.
A poison that reacted slowly, victims with similar bruising, herbal distribution, and someone careful enough to disguise it beneath symptoms that looked ordinary.
“Qingyu,” Lin Feng suddenly said.
Qingyu lifted her head.
“We’re going to the hospital again today.
Doctor Ming contacted me this morning.”
“Alright, Father.”
Lady Su, who had been drinking tea, paused for a fraction of a second before smiling faintly again.
“Is it necessary to go so soon?” she asked gently.
“Didn’t Doctor Ming say her condition had improved?”
“Another lab result is out,” Lin Feng replied shortly.
His tone was calm, but left no room for objection.
“I want to hear it directly.”
Lady Su lowered her head slightly, hiding the faint shift in her expression behind her teacup.
Her mind wondered.
Another lab result?
Did Dr.
Li know about this?
Qingyu observed her quietly.
Lady Su’s fear did not appear on the surface.
The woman was far too used to controlling her expression.
But her fingers held the cup a little tighter than usual.
The ride to the hospital was quieter than before.
Lin Feng sat on the right side of the back seat, reading something on his tablet.
Sometimes he stopped for too long on one page without truly reading it.
Qingyu sat by the window, observing the road outside.
Vehicles streamed past one another without pause, while pedestrians crossed the streets with phones still in their hands.
Above them, aircraft moved across the pale sky like distant metal birds.
This world was not filled with qi like Azura, but its rhythm never stopped either.
Xiao Lan sat in the front passenger seat with her back straight, as though afraid of making even the smallest mistake in front of Father Lin.
Now and then, she glanced at Qingyu through the front mirror.
And each time she saw Qingyu’s improving complexion, she looked slightly relieved.
After fifteen minutes on the road, they arrived at the hospital.
The hospital looked the same as before: clean, quiet, and controlled.
But this time, Qingyu could sense the change in atmosphere even before they went farther inside.
The nurses walked faster, and several doctors stood together speaking in lowered voices.
Someone pushed a patient’s bed past them with a tense expression.
The tension inside the hospital had clearly worsened since their last visit.
Dr.
Ming was already waiting in his office when they arrived.
He stood near the desk, holding several documents.
“Please sit,” he said.
Lin Feng remained standing for a few moments before finally sitting down slowly in the chair near the doctor’s desk.
Qingyu sat beside him.
Dr.
Ming opened a thin gray folder.
“The data from the external laboratory came in this morning,” he said.
His tone was more serious than usual.
“And the results don’t fully match the hospital’s internal report.”
The room immediately fell silent.
Lin Feng raised his gaze.
“What do you mean?”
Dr.
Ming turned the document around so they could see it.
Several graphs and numbers filled the page.
“Certain parameters indicate long-term exposure to a foreign substance,” he explained.
“This is not an infection or a congenital illness.
Nor is it an ordinary bodily reaction.”
Lin Feng’s expression slowly changed.
“Exposure… to a foreign substance?”
Dr.
Ming nodded.
“Qingyu’s body appears to have been forced to weaken gradually over time.”
Those words made the air inside the room feel heavier.
Qingyu remained silent.
She had known the answer for a long time.
Even so, hearing a doctor of this world reach a similar conclusion made her appreciate their skill a little.
Earth’s technology was slow compared to qi examination.
But it was precise enough.
“Is it dangerous?” Lin Feng finally asked.
Dr.
Ming did not answer immediately.
“If it continues for years, yes.”
He looked at the lab results for a few more seconds before continuing.
“What makes this concerning is the way it works.
It is very subtle and very careful.”
“This substance is not strong enough to kill immediately.”
“But it is enough to make the body deteriorate slowly.”
Lin Feng fell silent.
His jaw tightened slightly.
Inside his mind, too many things began connecting.
Qingyu, who had always been sick had strange bruises that came and went.
Her body had grown weaker every year.
And everyone in the house had gradually begun to treat it as normal.
“I suggest that all food, drinks, and medicine Qingyu consumes from now on be checked,” Dr.
Ming continued.
“And for the time being, avoid anything from an unclear source.”
Lin Feng nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
Dr.
Ming glanced at Qingyu.
“Your body has actually shown improvement over the past few days.”
“That is what makes these results even stranger.”
Qingyu answered calmly, “I’ve started paying more attention to what enters my body.”
Dr.
Ming looked at her for a few seconds longer.
This girl was far calmer than a patient her age should have been.
But he said nothing.
The examination ended not long afterward.
When they left the doctor’s office, the hospital corridor looked busier than usual.
Several patients sat waiting with anxious faces.
The sound of stretcher wheels echoed faintly across the polished white floor.
Near the turn by the elevator, someone walked toward them from the opposite direction.
His steps were calm.
Yet his presence immediately drew the attention of those around him without him needing to do anything.
His black suit was cut neatly to fit his tall, upright frame.
His face was handsome, with features too sharp to look friendly.
People in the corridor instinctively made way for him.
Qingyu lifted her eyes.
Their gazes met for a fraction of a second.
And at that moment, the Dragon Point in Qingyu’s chest pulsed faintly.
The warmth was subtle, as though it had recognized something familiar.
On the other side, Xie Yan’s steps slowed almost imperceptibly.
A strange sensation passed through his chest, appearing quickly before fading again.
Almost like a very distant pulse of qi.
But it was too faint to consider important.
His eyes moved briefly toward Qingyu.
A young girl with a pale face and eyes that were far too calm.
Then they passed each other just like that.
As though two lines of fate had merely brushed against one another for an instant before continuing in their own directions.
Lin Feng, who had also noticed the man, stopped walking.
He turned toward the man’s retreating back.
“Qingyu,” he said quietly.
Qingyu looked at him.
“That man just now… was Xie Yan.”
The name immediately matched the information she had heard before.
The man the financial world called the Devil CEO.
And the cultivator she had sensed a few days ago near the hospital.
“Xie Group?” she asked softly.
Lin Feng nodded.
“The largest company in the country.”
His voice sounded like an acknowledgment of someone who stood far too high in the business world.
“Medical distribution, pharmaceuticals, logistics… they are everywhere now.”
Qingyu nodded slightly.
So the great route moving through this city was indeed connected to that man.
Interesting.
But her thoughts went no further than that.
The faint resonance in her chest had already faded.
Qingyu let the matter pass without dwelling on it further.
At this moment, her own body remained the priority.
Outside, in the white corridor of the hospital, Xie Yan continued walking without looking back.
But several steps later, the little fox inside his spiritual space stirred restlessly once again.
To ordinary people, the fox was completely invisible.
Xie Yan lowered his gaze slightly.
“What is it?” he murmured.
The fox only let out a low growl before falling quiet again.
Xie Yan did not think too much of it.
There were many things more important right now.
The recent poison cases had a suspicious pattern.
There was also movement of illegal distribution.
Someone was beginning to play too far inside his city.
Meanwhile, inside the elevator, Qingyu leaned lightly against the cold metal wall.
The suspicion that had lingered in the background was finally becoming concrete.
And by accident…Another thread of fate had just walked past her.