"Ancient General on Campus "

Section 6 Self-Rescue

Xiao Bielie was not asleep—he was fully awake. His eyes were only slightly closed, but his mind was racing like lightning. He didn’t want to shout and scream only to get another injection. Although sedatives had little effect on him.

For ordinary people, sedatives induce sleep and calm the nerves, but for him they produced only a mild effect. He didn’t know how strong Lin Yifei’s willpower was, but Xiao Bielie possessed an iron will.

If it weren’t for the fact that he currently had no internal energy at all, even if a venomous snake bit him several times, Xiao Bielie could easily expel the poison. But right now he was in Lin Yifei’s body—a mere single injection could make this body fall unconscious. When they gave him the second shot, however, he was already prepared. Relying on sheer stubborn willpower, he quickly regained consciousness. Hearing them whisper a few words outside the door before their footsteps gradually faded away, Xiao Bielie finally opened his eyes. Involuntarily, his gaze drifted back to the mirror opposite him.

Although the face in the mirror was unclear, those eyes were filled with boundless bewilderment and doubt.

It seemed he had entered the body of a frail, powerless scholar. Yet he felt no despair. For now, he needed to understand everything clearly before making any plans.

If this wasn’t some perfect, elaborate trick, did that mean he had truly arrived eight hundred years in the future?

What kind of concept was that?

Eight hundred years later… that would mean several dynasties had already passed. Before the Great Song, only the Shang Dynasty had lasted eight hundred years. The Tang Dynasty lasted three hundred years. And the Song? How many years?

He was not some pedantic old pedant. On the contrary, he was an extraordinarily intelligent martial genius. Not only was he peerless in martial arts, his scholarly knowledge was also outstanding. One could say he was truly accomplished in both civil and military affairs, and he was well-versed in medicine as well.

Even Marshal Yue had said that among the Five Tigers of the Yue Family, both Yang Zaixing and he were rare talents of their generation. Yang Zaixing was brave but lacked strategy, whereas Xiao Bielie was absolutely both wise and courageous. If not for the continuous wars, with his talent he could easily have passed the imperial examination and become top scholar.

But if you were suddenly thrown several hundred years into the future—no matter how brilliant or exceptional you were—the feeling of confusion and disorientation was inevitable.

The door made a soft sound. Another figure appeared in the mirror and gently walked to the bedside. The person suddenly froze upon seeing the young man on the bed with his eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the mirror opposite.

It was as if he had never seen a mirror before, Nurse Xiao thought to herself. Otherwise, why did he always stare at that mirror whenever she came in? But the fact that he was awake—and quite alert—was somewhat unexpected. Normally after a sedative injection, people slept straight through until morning.

She was originally about to go off duty, but couldn’t resist coming to check on him one more time. She couldn’t quite explain her own feelings—perhaps it was because of those desolate, sorrowful eyes?

“What are you thinking about?”

Nurse Xiao couldn’t help asking, “You just had surgery. What you need most right now is rest.”

Xiao Bielie slowly closed his eyes. After a long silence with no response, he opened them again. “May I know the lady’s honorable surname?”

Nurse Xiao felt her face inexplicably flush slightly. “I’m Xiao Yuerong. You can also call me Nurse Xiao.”

Xiao Bielie gave an “oh” and it was unclear whether he had really heard her. “May I ask you one more question?”

Nurse Xiao nodded, then suddenly said, “I know you’ve lost your memory, but losing your memory doesn’t mean your whole life is over. You still have family, parents who care about you, good classmates. You should pull yourself together. Please don’t keep fantasizing about unrealistic things.”

Although Dr. Qin had said not to stimulate Lin Yifei too much, she felt that saying it now might actually have a better effect.

Xiao Bielie had no idea what “lost memory” meant and didn’t bother responding. He knew that if he asked, he’d probably just get strange looks again. After a moment of silence, he said, “If I told you I came here from the Song–Jin battlefield eight hundred years ago… would you believe me?”

Xiao Yuerong answered with a question of her own: “Do you believe it?”

After thinking for a long while, Xiao Bielie sighed. “I don’t believe it either.”

Xiao Yuerong let out a soft chuckle. “Since you know that much, I can rest easy. Alright, I’m going off duty now. Stop letting your mind run wild with strange ideas. Rest well. I hope when I see you tomorrow, you’ll have figured some things out.”

Xiao Bielie suddenly smiled. “I also hope that tomorrow I’ll have figured some things out. It’s just that this particular question is very hard to understand.”

Xiao Yuerong thought he was referring to his amnesia and couldn’t help shaking her head again. She tucked the blanket around him, looked around to make sure nothing was wrong, and then left.

Xiao Bielie no longer looked at the mirror ahead. He closed his eyes and used his divine sense to probe inward. The Bielie Divine Art relied on guiding qi with intent, drawing qi with intent, and refining qi with intent. But he soon felt disappointed—this body was far weaker than he had imagined. Although his divine sense remained, there was absolutely no true qi at all.

He was undoubtedly a martial prodigy, but even he had built a solid foundation from childhood to reach such a high realm. Now that his divine sense had arrived in another person’s body, cultivating back to his former level would be anything but easy.

Yet from childhood through countless battles, he had never known the meaning of discouragement. In just a short while, he calmed his mind, gathered his divine sense near the dantian, and desperately condensed his breath. Less than the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, sweat had already soaked through the bandages wrapped around his head. His whole body trembled slightly. A moment later, Xiao Bielie suddenly felt excruciating pain in his five viscera and six bowels—as if they were being stirred by knives. Unable to endure it, he let out a cry and fainted.

When he woke again, he saw the anxious face of that middle-aged woman. The knife-like pain in his organs was still there, but much lighter. A flash of joy rose in Xiao Bielie’s heart. That terrible pain had not been endured in vain—there was now a faint trace of qi flowing in his dantian, weak almost to the point of imperceptibility.

It turned out that his Bielie Divine Art was one of the most bizarre techniques in the martial world, designed to stimulate latent potential. Pain itself was one method of triggering that potential. Sensing that the body was seriously injured, he had deliberately used that very pain to force out inner strength.

Eight hundred years ago he had discovered this method by chance. Back then his foundation was already incredibly strong, so he hadn’t felt much agony. He never dreamed that starting over from scratch would be this excruciating.

The pain far exceeded his expectations. Although his divine sense was tenacious, this body was simply too frail to withstand it, causing him to pass out. But after this fainting spell, he had successfully condensed a considerable amount of qi. He had now officially stepped through the first threshold of the Bielie Divine Art.

“Little Fei, how are you feeling?”

He Xiulan looked at her son with eyes full of anxiety. That terrible scream had shaken the heavens. When they rushed over, he had already fainted. In a panic they called Dr. Qin again. Dr. Qin found the sudden fainting strange but detected no abnormalities or worsening of the injuries. He could only perform routine treatment and continue observation.

He Xiulan was dissatisfied but couldn’t say anything. She insisted on staying to take care of her son. Though she hadn’t slept all night, seeing him wake up swept all her exhaustion away.

Xiao Bielie truly didn’t know how to address the woman in front of him. He already understood that in this identity he was supposed to be her son, but the word “Mother” simply would not come out no matter what.

Seeing her once clever and obedient son now acting dazed and strange, the bitterness in Mother Lin’s heart was indescribable. Remembering Dr. Qin’s advice not to stimulate him further, she held back her sorrow and forced a smile. “Little Fei, are you feeling better? Say something, please.”

Xiao Bielie sighed inwardly and could only reply, “I just feel a bit of pain. I think it’ll be gone in a few days.”

Mother Lin gave a wry smile. Your injuries aren’t something that heals in just a few days. Still, seeing that her son at least knew he was in pain brought her some comfort. After hesitating, she finally couldn’t hold back any longer: “Little Fei… do you still recognize Mom?”

Looking into the anxious, hopeful eyes of the woman before him, Xiao Bielie could only choose silence.

Mother Lin’s heart sank. Father Lin quickly comforted her: “Don’t worry. Look—today Little Fei is already doing much better, isn’t he?”

His words only made things worse. All the fear and worry Mother Lin had bottled up these past days turned into tears. She murmured, “That damned driver… he definitely won’t die a good death.”

Driver?

Xiao Bielie frowned slightly. He felt the liquid flowing into his arm through the IV—its effect was only mediocre. He had no idea what kind of drug these people had given him. He now understood they were treating him, but it seemed the medicine of this era was not necessarily very advanced.

For an ordinary person with such severe injuries, relying on this kind of infusion, recovering in half a year or a year would already be a miracle. Right now, what he needed most was to restore his true qi and find a way back to eight hundred years ago!

Although Xiao Bielie didn’t yet understand concepts like transcending time and space or reversing time, he knew one thing: since he had been able to come here, there must be a way to return—even if it was extremely difficult. He was determined to try!

“Son, are you thirsty?”

Mother Lin had stopped crying and was once again anxiously concerned about her son.

The hearts of parents under heaven are pitiful. No matter how unfilial a son might be, or even if he no longer recognized this mother, to her, the person in front of her would forever be her own son.

“I…”

Xiao Bielie finally spoke. “Could I trouble you with something?”

“Why so polite with your mom?”

Mother Lin gave a small, somewhat bitter smile. She could tell her son still felt very distant from them. She wasn’t sure if this was the “autism” Dr. Qin had mentioned, but being able to communicate was still a good thing.

“I’d like you to help me prepare a prescription of medicine.”

Xiao Bielie said slowly.

“Prepare medicine?”

Mother Lin looked surprised. “What medicine?”

“Cang’erzi three qian, baizhi one liang, fangfeng with huangqi and baizhu three qian each. If you can get mahuang and longgu to guide it, even better. Add three bowls of water, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for half a shichen until only half a bowl remains. Then add more water…”

He suddenly stopped, seeing the stunned expressions on Father Lin and Mother Lin’s faces, and continued slowly, “Is it too much trouble?”

“No, it’s not trouble,” Mother Lin said, coming back to her senses. “Son, you want flypaper and white paper… to boil for what?”

Her heart felt bitter. Had her son really lost his mind?

Father Lin tugged her sleeve. “Whatever Little Fei wants to do, we’ll go along with it.”

“It’s not flypaper and white paper,” Xiao Bielie shook his head—only then realizing even his neck hurt. “It’s cang’erzi and baizhi.”

Father Lin and Mother Lin exchanged a glance, both filled with doubt and worry, but they smiled and said, “Okay, we’ll go prepare it now.”

They turned to leave.

Xiao Bielie was stunned. “You remembered all of it?”

Although he hadn’t said much, judging by their dazed looks, he absolutely didn’t believe they could remember it perfectly.

Mother Lin gave a wry smile. “It’s just some flypaper and white paper, right? We remember.”

“What flypaper?”

Nurse Xiao pushed the door open and walked in. “Aunt He, what do you need flypaper for? Are there flies in this ward?”

“It’s not for me,” Mother Lin said quietly. “It’s Little Fei.”

She gave Nurse Xiao a meaningful look, thinking that the boy was probably just having a momentary whim and might forget about it soon.

But Nurse Xiao didn’t catch the hint. She walked suspiciously to the bedside. “What do you want flypaper for?”

Xiao Bielie was speechless. “It’s cang’erzi. Have you people really never heard of this Chinese herb?”

“Chinese medicine?”

Nurse Xiao’s eyes lit up. “What do you want Chinese medicine for?”

As just a nurse, she usually dealt with aspirin, penicillin, and the like. Not only was she unfamiliar with Chinese herb names—she knew nothing about them at all.

“To treat illness, of course,” Xiao Bielie said with a wry smile. “What else—decoration?”

“Treating illness? Treating what illness?”

Nurse Xiao was puzzled.

Xiao Bielie almost didn’t know whether to cry or laugh out loud. “Do I not look like someone who’s sick?”

Nurse Xiao couldn’t help laughing. “Of course I know you’re sick—getting hit by a car and not being sick would be strange.” Then, noticing Mother Lin’s face darken slightly, she hurriedly added, “But as far as I know, you studied journalism, right?”

Journalism major?

Xiao Bielie had never heard of it, so he simply asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”

For now he could only silently note down these strange new terms. Fortunately, he could still understand most of what they said.

“A journalism student who can treat illnesses? Now that would be big news,” Nurse Xiao joked.

Xiao Bielie didn’t know how to explain and simply sighed, falling silent.

At that moment Dr. Qin walked in—followed by two police officers, one man and one woman. The man was middle-aged, tall and sturdy, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. Wrinkles had already appeared on his forehead, giving him a somewhat authoritative appearance.

The woman was about the same age as Nurse Xiao. Though she tried hard to look mature, anyone could tell at a glance she was probably a freshly graduated trainee officer. She wore a police uniform that made her look valiant and spirited, but in terms of appearance she was far behind Nurse Xiao.

“What’s going on, Xiao-xiao?” Dr. Qin asked, noticing the smile on Nurse Xiao’s face.

Mother Lin, however, grew frightened and tugged Father Lin’s sleeve. “Old Lin, why are there police here?”

In her heart, Little Fei was the most obedient, good child imaginable. But judging by the situation, these two officers were clearly here for him.

“Don’t worry,” Father Lin said, ever the head of the family. “They’re in uniform—most likely here to ask about the accident.”

“Why ask now?” Mother Lin said, somewhat upset. “Can’t they wait until Little Fei is better?”

“Don’t blame them,” Father Lin whispered. “The sooner they get clues, the sooner they can catch the hit-and-run driver. That’s good for everyone.”

Over there, Nurse Xiao held back a laugh. “The patient says he wants the Chinese herb cang’erzi?”

“Cang’erzi?” Dr. Qin was startled. “That’s a somewhat toxic herb. It can’t be taken in large amounts suddenly.”

Mother Lin’s face suddenly went pale. She rushed forward. “Little Fei, if there’s something you can’t get over, just tell Mom! Why would you want to die? If you die, how can your mom go on living?”

Xiao Bielie could no longer stay silent. “Although cang’erzi is toxic, it’s only mildly so. When used properly, it’s actually a very good medicine.”

Dr. Qin paused. “You only want cang’erzi?”

He vaguely recalled that cang’erzi was mainly used for treating nasal issues or something similar. He looked the young man up and down again.

“There’s also baizhi one liang, fangfeng with huangqi and baizhu three qian each…”

With no other choice, Xiao Bielie repeated the entire prescription once more.

The more Dr. Qin listened, the more astonished he became. He took a pen from his chest pocket and carefully wrote everything down on a notepad. After thinking for a while, he said, “Xiao-xiao, take this prescription to Dr. Qian in the Chinese Medicine Department. If he says it’s okay, then fill it according to the formula. As for decocting it…”

He looked questioningly at Xiao Bielie.

Regardless of whether the prescription could actually treat anything, the fact that he could rattle off so many Chinese herb names and detailed decoction instructions showed that Lin Yifei must have studied this area seriously before.

“Just decoct it exactly as I described,” Xiao Bielie added. “Make sure the dosages aren’t off by much, and don’t overcook it, or the efficacy will be greatly reduced.”

Nurse Xiao gave the man on the bed a surprised look, hesitated, wanted to say something, but ultimately turned and left.

Mother Lin didn’t understand what Dr. Qin meant but didn’t dare question him. Still, she thought to herself: since he’s asking the Chinese medicine doctor to check the prescription, it means Little Fei wasn’t just making it up. But how did he know all these herb names—and explain everything so clearly and logically? It didn’t sound like nonsense at all.

After Nurse Xiao left, the room fell quiet. Only then did the two officers walk to the bedside, pull up chairs, and sit down. The middle-aged officer looked at Xiao Bielie kindly. “Young man, those are some serious injuries, huh.”

Xiao Bielie simply nodded, eyeing the paper and pen in their hands and their uniforms with a look of curiosity.

For some reason, the middle-aged officer always felt there was something strange about this young man’s gaze. He shook his head, chuckling to himself that maybe he was just tired and imagining things. “I know you should be resting right now,” he said gently, “but the driver who hit you fled the scene. We still hope you can provide some clues so we can catch the perpetrator soon. It would be good for you and for everyone else. So I’d like you to try to recall—what exactly happened that day?”

Xiao Bielie was unfamiliar with the term “driver,” but he understood the rest. The problem was—he wasn’t Lin Yifei. How could he possibly know who had injured this body?