Metastatic fractures are a common symptom in bone cancer patients.
Due to the destruction of bone tissue by cancer cells, patients’ bones become soft and brittle, making fractures easy to occur.
This fate eventually struck Chen Huaian as well.
After enduring so much pain, he started to feel numb.
The physical pain was still within his limits; the psychological pain was nothing compared to the heartbreak of losing his parents in a fire years ago.
Thus, amidst the concerned gazes and inquiries of surrounding tourists, Chen Huaian calmly adjusted the camera and said to Zhang Rui, who was supporting him, “Buddy, help me out, open my backpack.”
“No, man, hurry and call an ambulance! What’s up with the backpack?” Zhang Rui had never seen Chen Huaian like this, as if his fractured and deformed leg wasn’t even his own.
“If you call for an ambulance, it won’t arrive in time. Just help me open my backpack; I’ll manage from there.”
Zhang Rui, half-convinced, took down the backpack, unzipped it, and handed it to Chen Huaian.
Chen Huaian reached inside and pulled out a bag, then extracted a folding cane.
Zhang Rui: “…”
Other tourists: “??? ”
Wait, this is your ‘method’?
I thought you had some miraculous pain-relieving medicine…
“Alright, let’s continue!” Chen Huaian skillfully propped himself up with the cane.
The probability of fractures in bone cancer patients is high, so he often used a cane to walk even when he wasn’t fractured, worried that he’d struggle when the time came.
Now that he had actually fractured, wasn’t this a way of kissing fate?
Viewers in the livestream silently liked and gifted, some even urged the streamer to come down, and no one doubted the authenticity of Chen Huaian’s illness, or rather, they no longer cared about what sickness he had.
They only cared about whether this tough guy could make the trip worthwhile.
That bent right leg seemed like a manifestation of fate’s oppression, a mockery from the Grim Reaper.
And the cane in Chen Huaian’s hand was like a middle finger raised to death and fate, wasn’t it?
They wouldn’t let him reach the summit, even crippled his leg, but he still wanted to ascend.
The tourists looked at the figure struggling up step by step, filled with respect.
This young man was so persistent; he must have grand ambitions, right?
“Charge! We’re about to hit 90,000 sponsorship funds! 1000 draws for the grand koi prize pool!!!” Chen Huaian gritted his teeth, eyeing the decreasing steps, his face growing increasingly grim: “Hunyuan Bupingtian Pill! Hehehe! Just a Hunyuan Bupingtian Pill!!!”
The surrounding tourists felt even more admiration.
Look at how this guy is in pain? His features are all twisted together!
At the summit of Panshan.
As Chen Huaian’s leg trembled down the last step.
A beam of unripe light pierced through countless layers of clouds from the dim skyline, gently caressing the crown of his head.
A flock of birds flew through the light.
Bells echoed in the distant mountains.
In the next moment.
“Bow—!!!”
A voice shouted from nowhere.
Strange ripples appeared in the sunlight.
The halo was like a disturbed lake, creating layers of ripples.
In the ripples, a procession of ancient ceremonial troops emerged amidst the interplay of light and shadow.
At the forefront stood a majestic figure in a dark dragon robe, crowned with a diadem, a sword at his waist, followed by officials clad in civil and military attire, holding tablets and wearing dark armors, attendants carrying ceremonial vessels, stepping on clouds as they made their way toward the summit of Panshan.
“What the heck, what is this?”
“Is it a mirage?”
“No way, is someone filming a movie here?”
The tourists were dumbfounded, witnessing the scene. The procession was still far from them, but they had time to discuss. In the next moment, the troop inexplicably crossed miles, suddenly appearing close. The summit of Panshan fell silent, not a sound to be heard, everyone shut their mouths.
Something pressed against them, rendering them motionless, afraid to speak.
Chen Huaian stood transfixed, gazing at the majestic emperor approaching.
He couldn’t make out the emperor’s features but felt his eyes being drawn, everything hazy.
The procession moved through the crowd of tourists, like smoke and mist, elusive and untouchable.
They walked their path with unwavering focus, as if another timeline manifested before him, gazing across the river of history, yet unaffected by it.
At first, Chen Huaian thought so.
Until the emperor reached him.
Just as he was about to pass through him.
The emperor slightly nodded, lowering his gaze, and his golden vertical pupils locked with Chen Huaian’s.
Chen Huaian felt his scalp tingle, vowing that the emperor was definitely looking at him, not by chance!
This gaze held scrutiny!
But this eye contact lasted just a moment.
The emperor passed through Chen Huaian, and along with his procession, gradually disappeared into the mist atop Panshan.
…
…
The mirage at the summit of Panshan ignited widespread discussion online, quickly climbing to the top of trending searches.
Experts analyzed it as the ceremonial troop of Qin Shi Huang.
The mirage depicted Qin Shi Huang’s sacrifice at Panshan.
As for why distant historical events would reflect in modern times, experts had yet to fashion a better explanation.
But one could not speak of strange forces or phenomena, and the final explanation was bound to be scientific.
Chen Huaian paid no mind to the online uproar, and even when the mirage glanced at him, he shrugged it off; as a firm materialist, if someone told him there was a female ghost at home, he would immediately head downstairs to the supermarket to buy a box of Okamoto 001.
Not for any other reason, just wanting to contribute a little to biodiversity.
The level 57 big brother honored his word, sending over 66 “Drum and Horn Dragon City” gifts, expressing gratitude to Chen Huaian for allowing him to witness this ultra-rare mirage, which was an experience worth the hefty donation.
He also mentioned supporting Chen Huaian’s future activities.
Chen Huaian felt delighted; he loved this kind of true love from benefactors.
Having completed his livestream task, his phone battery also ran out, and he briefly said goodbye before logging off.
“Bro, how do you plan to descend? By cable car or carried down?”
After this incident, Zhang Rui was thoroughly impressed by Chen Huaian.
He had previously doubted that anyone could be called a dragon among men.
Now he believed it; in his eyes, Chen Huaian was already at a superhero level.
“Of course, by cable car,” Chen Huaian replied.
Now, there were numerous college students at Panshan doing companionship climbs, and there were even people carrying others down.
He chose the cable car mainly because it was cheap and quick—he needed to get down fast to recharge and check on his electronic girlfriend.
Speaking of which, he had already received 120,000 in donations. Although live streaming was tough, he also saw a path to making money. However, his illness was hard to treat, amputation was inevitable, and the survival rate post-amputation was very low. His attending physician hadn’t explicitly stated it, but from the words unsaid, it could be inferred that the cancer had likely spread. So, was it worth spending money to gamble? Should he strive to earn money for treatment, or should he just enjoy life in the moment?
As Chen Huaian pondered this while making his way, supported by Zhang Rui and a few other friends, he reached the cable car station.
The ticket booth for the cable car was packed with people, in addition to local tourists, there were quite a few foreigners.
“FUCK!”
A curse erupted from the crowd.
It turned out an arrogant foreigner who had cut in line got hit on the shoulder by a falling rock from who-knows-where.
“Deserves it! That’s what you get for not queuing properly!” Zhang Rui and others smirked in schadenfreude.
Soon, it was Chen Huaian’s turn to board the cable car.
This particular line’s cable car could carry eight passengers at once.
Zhang Rui helped Chen Huaian as they were about to enter, but noticed that several tough-looking guys with dragon and tiger tattoos were sitting inside, clearly not the type to mess with.
“Bro, are you still getting on?” Zhang Rui hesitated, looking at Chen Huaian.
“Of course,” Chen Huaian replied nonchalantly.
Though these guys didn’t look friendly, they only looked that way; what if they just liked to have some cool animal tattoos?
You can’t judge a book by its cover, right?
However, at that moment.
CRACK—, the string holding his talisman inexplicably snapped, and the talisman fell to the ground.
Chen Huaian froze for a moment, bending down to pick it up.
His movements were slow, and the tough guys in the cable car instantly shouted a few insults, urging him to hurry.
Suddenly,
BOOM——!!!
The whole of Panshan shook violently, as if the earth itself quaked.
The moment Chen Huaian grasped the talisman, he was thrown to the ground, rolling all the way into the ticket hall.
“What the hell!!!”
“Get out of the way!”
He rolled, gritting his teeth, while above him the canopy came crashing down with something hitting it.
“Ah—! Falling rocks!”
In a daze, he heard someone shout, along with screams from the crowd,
A deafening explosion,
And the sound of shattering glass from the cable car.
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