Chapter 8: The False Cancer

The sky was just beginning to lighten when Ye Cheng stood before the hospital entrance.

Beep, beep, beep!

His phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he saw it was Zhao Wuji.

“Boss! I’ve found out the identity of that man!”

“Go on.”

“His name is Lu Moxian, the current young master of the hidden sect Lu family. He’s not in the same league as Wang Yongsheng, whom you dealt with last night.”

“The Lu family?” Ye Cheng narrowed his eyes.

“Get me some information on this sect. I’ll look at it tonight.”

“Well… ahem, forgive me for saying so, but I’m not capable of investigating someone from a hidden sect yet.”

“Oh?” Ye Cheng paused inwardly.

Zhao Wuji, a Xuan-level expert, was a notable figure in the mundane world. If even he dared not inquire, it spoke volumes about the Lu family’s depth.

“I understand.”

He hung up and looked up at the hospital sign.

“Jiangcheng First Hospital?”

A hint of confusion crossed Ye Cheng’s face. He remembered this hospital from before he went up the mountain—it was a place reserved for the elite. Yet, given the wretched state of his sister and her meager wages from working at a bar, how had their parents ended up in such a prestigious hospital?

“Ye Cheng?”

Before he could make sense of it, a familiar female voice called from behind.

Ye Cheng turned abruptly, meeting the gaze of his sister, Ye Mengxue, her eyes brimming with resentment. The man beside her, dressed in a trench coat, was indeed Lu Moxian. But this time, there was another presence—a doctor in a white coat, young, perhaps in his mid-thirties.

“Ye Cheng? Is this the dead brother you mentioned, Xiaoxue?” Lu Moxian’s hostility was palpable, and he seemed to draw closer to Ye Mengxue, intentionally or not, which irked Ye Cheng.

“No, he’s not my brother. Let’s go inside.” Ye Mengxue cast him a cold glance, then took Lu Moxian’s hand, preparing to walk past Ye Cheng.

The sight felt like a knife to Ye Cheng’s heart, but he reached out to stop his sister.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

Seeing the woman he was pursuing being blocked, Lu Moxian glared fiercely at Ye Cheng.

“I’m talking to my sister. Who are you to interrupt?” Ye Cheng’s gaze drifted to Lu Moxian’s arm and saw it had been mended.

“Your sister? Xiaoxue has already said you have nothing to do with her. If you don’t leave, I’ll call security!” Lu Moxian’s disdain was clear. Though a sect disciple, he had little interest in martial arts, spending most of his time managing the family’s jade business. This had fostered a long-standing contempt for martial artists, whom he saw as nothing but brutish simpletons. Besides, he’d had his arm broken by Ye Cheng just the day before.

“I’m here to see my parents. Nothing more.” Ye Cheng ignored the Lu family scion and turned back to Ye Mengxue.

Her face was ashen, her eyes betraying a fierce inner struggle.

“Your parents? You dare call them that?” she spat.

“That’s not for you to decide. They’re my parents—I have every right to see them.” Ye Cheng stood his ground, his unyielding attitude stopping Ye Mengxue’s words in her throat.

“Enough already! Xiaoxue’s parents will be my parents too—what does it have to do with you? Your presence or absence makes no difference. Get out of the way!” Lu Moxian waved his hand, and four burly men leaped out of the Mercedes behind him.

Unlike the thugs Wang Yongsheng had brought, these were all bona fide martial artists, each at the mid-Huang level, men who could take on ten ordinary people apiece. To have four such men as bodyguards spoke to the Lu family’s formidable resources.

Sensing trouble brewing, Ye Mengxue, resigned, stepped in to stop Lu Moxian.

“Let him come with us. After all… our parents want to see him too,” she said softly.

Her words sent a tremor through Ye Cheng’s heart.

With the main party’s consent, it would be petty to object further. Lu Moxian scoffed, and the burly men fell in line behind them as they ascended the stairs.

As they reached the third floor, Ye Cheng sensed danger.

“The Oncology Department?”

His parents were actually hospitalized in oncology?

Following the group into the ward, Ye Cheng saw his parents from afar.

They were both unconscious, lying silently in bed, and the worried frowns of the doctors nearby made it clear their prognosis was grim.

Ye Mengxue hurried to their bedside, lowering her voice so as not to disturb their fragile parents.

“How are they, doctor?”

The attending physician shook his head, flipping through his notes.

“Miss Ye, your parents received no effective treatment in the early stages. They were only transferred here yesterday. We’ve administered the best domestic and international medication, but the outlook is still poor.”

“What do you mean, ‘poor’?” Ye Mengxue was stunned, staring blankly at her parents’ skeletal faces, despair filling her heart.

“At most—in the best-case scenario—they have a month left. Treasure the time you have with them.”

As their conversation unfolded, Ye Cheng finally pieced together what had happened.

His sister couldn’t afford to admit their parents to such a top-tier hospital, but Lu Moxian could. Most likely, after running into Ye Cheng yesterday and feeling a heavy blow, she had no choice but to accept Lu Moxian’s charity and have their parents transferred here.

Ye Cheng immediately extended his spiritual sense into his parents’ bodies.

What he found shocked him.

His parents weren’t suffering from cancer at all!

Cancer, after all, is the rampant spread of cancerous cells, mercilessly draining the life from its victim. Even to this day, medicine had found no cure, and cancer remained a death sentence.

But his parents’ symptoms were clearly different! Although they had tumors in their stomachs, these masses looked nothing like ordinary tumors. Inside, tiny living creatures squirmed.

This was…

Gu poison!

Someone had cursed his parents with Gu!

Ye Cheng’s expression darkened. He recognized instantly what was in their stomachs.

Gu worms, originating from certain ethnic minorities, were creatures of legend among ordinary people but deadly weapons to some martial artists.

Had a martial artist really targeted his parents? What was their purpose?

With suspicion churning in his mind, Ye Cheng scrutinized everyone present in the ward.

His sister, Ye Mengxue, was just an ordinary person. Lu Moxian had dabbled in martial arts, but only barely reached early Huang level before stopping.

Only the doctor who accompanied them…

Ye Cheng’s pupils contracted.

This doctor was actually a peak-Xuan-level martial artist! And hidden beneath his coat was a container holding Gu worms identical to those inside his parents!