**Chapter 35: The Failed Attempt to Connect with Luxianbei [4K]**
Jiang Li and Luxianbei had just pushed the cart into Ward 202 when they sensed that this room was somewhat different from the others.
This ward had a total of four beds. The bed nearest the door was occupied by an elderly man with a head full of silver hair. Next to him was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen, and beside him was the little girl who had just come back after chemotherapy. The innermost bed was occupied by a woman.
The old man leaned against the headboard, reading a newspaper, occasionally pointing at news articles and discussing them with the family members of the patient in the adjacent bed, laughing and chatting.
The young man was bent over the desk in front of his bed, concentrating hard on his practice problems. On the wall behind him hung banners with words like “Struggle,” “Sprint for the College Entrance Exam,” and “No Regrets.”
The little girl, who had just returned to the ward, had changed her clothes. Her father was feeding her; every bite made her small face reveal a painful expression, but she did not cry or refuse to eat.
The woman in the innermost bed had lost all her hair from chemotherapy. Wearing a pink yarn hat, she sat by an easel on the balcony, carefully painting the bougainvillea blooming outside the window.
There seemed to be something special in this ward that gave it a feeling akin to home, contrasting sharply with the oppressive atmosphere of other wards. It was as if a husky had mixed in with a pack of wolves, creating a unique scene.
As the old man and the young man bantered, Jiang Li and Luxianbei quickly began to unload the care packages from the cart, placing them on the bedside tables of each patient.
At that moment, a sweet voice called out from behind them.
“Sisters, you’ve worked hard! Here, take this and wipe your sweat!”
Turning around, they saw the little girl in her hospital gown, who had somehow come up behind them, one hand holding two wet tissues and the other gripping a cane for support.
One of her pant legs hung straight down, empty beneath—she had undergone amputation of her right leg.
Jiang Li’s emotions became complicated, like a basket of spices turned upside down in the kitchen, various flavors blending together in a way that was indescribable.
She knew very well how much of a burden and trouble the loss of a leg would bring to the little girl’s future, and it wasn’t just about the inability to walk freely.
Noticing Jiang Li’s change in emotion, Luxianbei took the wet tissues from the little girl with one hand while the other gently wrapped around her hair, resting on her shoulder as if trying to give her strength. She gently squeezed the girl’s shoulder.
She must have seen the little girl and recalled some unpleasant past, Luxianbei thought.
Seeing Jiang Li and Luxianbei frowning at her empty pant leg, the little girl seemed unbothered. With a slight blush, she said, “Sisters, don’t look! I’m a little shy! The doctor said Tingtong’s leg got sick and had to be cut off, but after it’s cut off, I’ll get better.”
Dad said that technology is very advanced now, and we can find a new leg in the future, so you sisters don’t need to worry!
She was the one who was sick, suffering from pain, yet she used her tender but clumsy words to try and comfort those who were feeling down because of her experience.
Looking at the angelic smile on the little girl’s face and then at her empty pant leg, Jiang Li could no longer hold back and turned her face away.
Her gaze inadvertently swept over the hallway, her pupils trembling suddenly.
At that moment, through the small window on the door of the ward, she caught a glimpse of a shadow flitting by. The figure seemed to have been leaning against the small window observing quietly, and upon noticing her gaze, immediately left.
The figure’s retreating back looked strikingly similar to her mother’s.
Lost in thought for a few seconds, Jiang Li exchanged a serious glance with Luxianbei and leaned closer, whispering in her ear, “I’m going out for a bit.”
She probably couldn’t stand the scene any longer and wanted to step outside for some fresh air.
Luxianbei cast a sidelong glance at Jiang Li, turned her head, and communicated with her gaze.
[Go ahead, I’ve got this! You know I’m best at making connections. Give me half an hour, and I promise I’ll find out how many people are in their family and what their pet dog’s name is!]
“Alright.” Jiang Li nodded at Luxianbei’s eyes and quickly left the ward.
Watching her leave, the little girl’s eyes flickered with disappointment. She bit her lip and asked Luxianbei, “Sister, did Tingtong say something wrong just now?”
“No, not at all!” Luxianbei squatted down and gently patted the little girl’s head. “Sister is just a bit tired today and wants to step outside for a rest.”
“Uh-huh, Tingtong gives you sisters wet tissues; you must be tired too, right? Here, let me help you back to rest.”
“I don’t need help!” The little girl raised her chin slightly, her expression a bit proud as she said, “Tingtong can do it by herself!”
Watching the little girl rely on her cane and climb back onto her bed shakily, Luxianbei gave her a thumbs up and praised, “Wow! Tingtong is awesome!
Taking her eyes off the little girl, she glanced again in the direction Jiang Li had gone, took a deep breath, adjusted her state, and immediately entered into character—a lively, enthusiastic girl with top-notch social skills, but a bit expressionless.
“Grandpa He, you mentioned before that you dealt with more than a dozen enemies on the battlefield? Can you tell me about it? I won’t hide it from you; my grandfather was also a soldier, and when I was little, I loved hearing his stories about those heroic battles.”
Hearing this, the old man instantly became excited. “Oh? Haha, which unit was your grandfather in? We might have been comrades!”
“That old guy, he—
“Hehe, you look so cool when you focus on your problems! A handsome guy like you must be very popular with the girls, right?” Luxianbei walked over to the young man and gently placed a peeled orange in front of him.
“Don’t spread nonsense! I don’t have any girls liking me!” The young man’s face turned red.
“How could that be? They’re just not able to see your charm! If I were still in high school, I would definitely pursue you!”
“Sister, you draw so well! Can you teach me?”
Making connections with others isn’t really that hard.
It’s just a matter of having a sweet tongue!
Before they knew it, the sky had darkened, clouds obscuring the sunlight, and the temperature rose quietly, a fog rolling outside that soon seeped into the hospital building, casting a layer of mist over the corridors, as if some large and amorphous life form had invaded.
Exiting Ward 202, Jiang Li hurried in the direction of the shadow resembling her mother, quickly making her way down the corridor, where everything felt strangely unreal.
But Jiang Li’s eyes remained fixed on the shadow at the end of the hallway. It was too far away, and the mist floating through made it difficult to see the figure’s face.
Even the figure itself was unclear, often appearing like a ghost, flashing by her line of sight before disappearing entirely.
She attempted to activate her spirit pattern powers, using the ability of [Pursue Evil] to lock onto that shadow, but she failed unexpectedly.
It was as if a powerful force was secretly obstructing her tracking, or perhaps that shadow simply didn’t exist, making it impossible for her spirit pattern powers to lock onto it.
Thus, she chased that shadow up, up until she reached the rooftop.
Along the way, the hallways were deserted, with no one moving about, and not a sound emerged from the adjacent wards, as if they had fallen into a deep slumber, strangely quiet.
Following that shadow, she chased it all the way to the door of the rooftop, where Jiang Li stopped. Perhaps considering the patients’ safety, the door leading to the rooftop was wrapped in thick iron chains, secured with a large lock. Yet now, the chains had been violently cut and lay on the ground.
Looking at the fallen chains and lock, she hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open.
In an instant, a gust of strong wind accompanied by thick fog rushed towards her, and an intense, irritating smell invaded her nostrils, causing her respiratory tract to experience a sharp discomfort.
It was unbearable.
It felt like countless small barbed hooks were dragging through her trachea.
As if an invisible pair of great hands suddenly clenched around her throat from behind, Jiang Li began to suffocate, her vision fading as her body wobbled lightly.
A strong sense of crisis surged over her, and Jiang Li quickly activated her spirit energy to protect her body, then hurriedly recited a purifying healing spell.
Surrounded by a milky white light coming from above, the sense of suffocation vanished instantly. She reached out to steady herself against the doorframe, catching her breath for a moment before looking back up at the rooftop with a disheartened expression.
The rooftop was empty, just the wind swirling with white mist, twisting that formless figure.
The shadow she had followed seemed to have merged into the fog, drifting away with the wind, disappearing without a trace.
She had lost it.
Silently staring at the empty rooftop for a moment, Jiang Li, still not willing to give up, gently bit her lip and stepped through the door.
She had chased it all the way to this point; that shadow that resembled her mother might be just within reach, and she wouldn’t give up easily.
Behind the high platform of the ventilation ducts, beneath the solar panels, in the crevices of the water tanks.
After spending more than ten minutes thoroughly searching the rooftop, feeling disheartened, Jiang Li returned to the entrance.
Pausing at the doorway, glancing back several times at the empty rooftop, she sighed silently and began to descend the stairs.
It shouldn’t have been a mistake; even though she wasn’t sure if that shadow was indeed her mother, it had definitely existed.
Would its sudden disappearance perhaps be related to the X God? That intense, irritating smell…
According to *The Book of Siye*, when a certain area is influenced by the powers of the X God, an irritating smell typically appears, and the X God also has the ability to use thick fog to shape various scenes. But why did the X God lead me to the rooftop?
Calming down a little, as she reflected, a light sound like metal clanging reached her ears.
The sound came from above, as if someone had knocked against the railing of the stairs.
Looking up in surprise, a dark object invaded her sight, quickly enlarging as it fell.
She instinctively reached out and caught something hard in her hand.
Feeling the cold touch, she opened her hand to find an old peacock-shaped metal hairpin, and her pupils trembled violently, her body uncontrollably twitching a few times.
Although the hairpin was already rusted with many rhinestones missing, she recognized it at a glance as the first birthday gift she had given to her mother when she was five years old.
If nothing had changed, her initials must have been painstakingly carved on the other side of the hairpin with a small kn*fe.
Thinking this, Jiang Li slowly turned the hairpin over, both surprised and relieved upon seeing the two capital letters on the back—“JL.”
That year she had just learned pinyin, and she wasn’t yet skilled at writing her name.
That year, her father, who had once loved her mother dearly, forgot her mother’s birthday for the first time.
In an instant, it felt like an illusion; Jiang Li heard her mother whispering in her ear, “Oh dear, my precious daughter has really grown up, knowing how to give gifts to mommy!”
“From today on, Mommy will wear this hairpin every day, okay?”
Then, she saw her mother, overwhelmed with joy, pinning the hairpin in her hair.
Returning to the rooftop and searching again yielded no results. Jiang Li, feeling heavy-hearted, returned to the second floor of the hospital building.
Just as she arrived at the corridor outside Ward 202, she saw Luxianbei being pushed out, looking a bit disheveled.
Immediately afterward, the door to the ward slammed shut with a loud “bang!”
A flurry of angry curses could be heard faintly.
“Get lost! Don’t come back!”
Seeing this, Jiang Li was taken aback and shot Luxianbei a questioning glance.
[What’s going on? Didn’t you say half an hour would be enough?]
It was rare for Luxianbei to have a situation where she needed to connect with someone.
[It’s a long story, but to make it short, as soon as I mentioned Tan Qiuming’s name, the atmosphere in the entire ward changed, and just as I was about to dig deeper, I was kicked out.]
Luxianbei responded to Jiang Li’s doubts with her eyes, sighing silently. “But actually, I did gain a little something; let’s talk about it outside?”
“Okay!” Jiang Li nodded, pausing briefly before seeming to make an important decision. A trace of determination flashed in her eyes. “I also have something important I want to tell you.”
She decided to tell Luxianbei that she had discovered a buyer who resembled her mother on Tan Qiuming’s buyer list and about her experience chasing that shadow to the rooftop and finding the hairpin.
If Luxianbei couldn’t disclose this, who else could she share it with?
Just, it was a bit strange—
When did I become somewhat reliant on her?
Jiang Li thought as she slightly tightened her grip on the hairpin in her hand.
