The others remained standing there, stunned. A full minute passed before the resident doctor snapped back to attention, rushing to the gurney to frantically check the girl's condition.

She was his patient; any complication would fall under his responsibility.

"She is stable now, no need to worry. Follow what that young man just said, get her to the Emergency Room immediately, and do not remove the needle!"

The elderly TCM doctor spoke softly, pausing slightly on the last word.

A needle, using a needle for acupuncture—it was certainly an eye-opener for him. The old TCM doctor turned to look in the direction Zhang Yang had left, then slowly shook his head and departed.

With Zhang Yang and Gu Cheng gone, no further incidents occurred, and the resident doctor quickly rushed the girl into the ER.

After the emergency examination, the resident doctor finally let out a long sigh of relief.

The patient's vitals were completely stable. The examination confirmed that she did not suffer from the Xue Jia (Blood Clot) he had initially diagnosed, which sent a chill down his spine, leaving him with lingering fear.

If he had followed his initial diagnosis, the girl would have suffered massive hemorrhaging on the operating table, immediately triggering acute myocardial ischemia. For such an acute condition, even with the patient on the table, the mortality rate was astronomical.

Furthermore, given the initial heavy bleeding, the priority would have been stopping the flow, leaving no time to manage the acute ischemia. In that scenario, there would only be one outcome: certain death.

Dying unexpectedly on the operating table might be written off as a surgical accident, especially since the family had signed the consent forms. However, this surgery was flawed from the start—it was a clear misdiagnosis.

A death resulting from a misdiagnosis... the resident doctor understood the devastating consequences of such an event all too well.

"Who was that young man? He was incredible!"

After settling the patient, the young nurse who had followed along also breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but exclaim.

She didn't see the situation with the same depth as the resident doctor, but she understood how dangerous that acute condition, coupled with the hemorrhage, was. Zhang Yang had only needed to press a few points with his finger and administer a few pricks with a needle to stabilize her condition. In their eyes, it was nothing short of a miracle.

"Don't ever mention this again!"

The resident doctor shot the young nurse a fierce glare. She stuck out her tongue and fell silent.

…………

As Zhang Yang returned to the ward with Gu Cheng, Gu Cheng's gaze remained distinctly odd.

Zhang Yang's performance just now had greatly exceeded his expectations, falling entirely outside the realm of what Gu Cheng could have imagined. He didn't know what Zhang Yang had done, but he was certain that the patient on the gurney had genuinely improved because of Zhang Yang's intervention.

"Zhang Yang, what you did... those methods you used just now, when did you learn them?"

After taking a few steps, Gu Cheng could no longer suppress his hesitation. He quickened his pace to catch up with Zhang Yang and asked directly.

"These? I've always known them. I learned from an old Daoist priest!"

Zhang Yang chuckled. He wasn't lying; his maternal grandfather had taken monastic vows when he was very young and practiced medicine at a temple. Zhang Yang had grown up with his grandfather and was extremely familiar with the temple grounds.

Of course, these were details from Zhang Yang's previous life. He couldn't elaborate, nor did he wish to. He simply brushed it off; the Zhang Yang of this life had also been solitary as a child, spending much time alone in secluded places. He could simply attribute that time to studying under a mysterious Daoist.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Zhang Yang finished speaking, Gu Cheng nodded thoughtfully. "Zhang Yang, you are truly blessed. That Daoist must have been a recluse master. Did he always disappear without a trace after teaching you, only reappearing when you least expected it?"

This time, it was Zhang Yang who froze.

Gu Cheng's imagination was truly vivid. But perhaps it was better that he thought this way; it saved Zhang Yang the trouble of explaining himself.

Zhang Yang nodded along with Gu Cheng’s suggestion. They continued talking as they walked back to the ward.

In the ward, Hu Xin and Mi Xue had already packed their things. There wasn't much to pack, as they had only checked in the night before and hadn't had time to bring many belongings over.

The discharge procedures were complete; no one would stop them now. Zhang Yang gathered everyone, and they left the hospital together.

For some reason, Gu Cheng did not bring up the events that had just transpired.

Hu Xin and Mi Xue were completely unaware that Zhang Yang had just performed a miraculous rescue in the hospital.

Zhang Yang kept silent himself to avoid attracting unwanted attention. They hailed two taxis to leave. When calling the cabs, Hu Xin deliberately arranged for Zhang Yang and Mi Xue to sit in the back seat together.

He even specifically instructed Mi Xue to take good care of Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang paid them no mind. Sitting in the car, a smile played on his lips; he felt quite content.

His pleasure stemmed not from the beauty beside him, but from successfully averting a crisis. Because of his intervention, a life—that of a young girl in her prime—was spared the devastating consequences of a medical error; her existence had been prolonged.

The feeling of having saved someone was wonderfully soothing.

What's more, the person saved was the favored niece of his mentor. This reminded Zhang Yang of the mentor from his previous life, the one who had helped him immensely.

The ancestral medical techniques of the Zhang family had seen much erosion over the years. Relying on ancestral Qigong, they could handle some obscure minor ailments, but they were inadequate for dealing with modern medical challenges. This was why Zhang Yang's grandfather only practiced medicine at the Daoist temple and never opened a clinic or joined a hospital—his skills weren't sufficient to handle every case in a modern hospital setting.

It was for this very reason that Zhang Yang’s grandfather had sent him to university to systematically study modern medical arts, aiming to integrate them with their ancestral techniques.

The person who helped Zhang Yang perfectly synthesize these two disciplines was his mentor—someone who valued him greatly and offered him endless support.

"I'm back in '98. My mentor should be fine now. Maybe I can prevent that tragedy after all!"

Zhang Yang murmured this to himself. His mentor had been involved in a severe car accident in '08, resulting in high-level paraplegia, leaving him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

That accident had profoundly affected his mentor, even driving him to contemplate suicide. It was only through the persuasion of his children and a few favored students, like Zhang Yang, that he managed to stand up again and face his new life.

Ding!

A crisp sound suddenly rang in Zhang Yang's ear. He turned his head, and his pupils immediately widened significantly.

Before his eyes materialized a virtual, three-dimensional green graphic. In the center was an exclamation mark, with a few Chinese characters beneath it.

These looked similar to graphics appearing in computer games. Seeing them on a screen would be normal, but to see them suspended directly in front of him, without any visible medium or apparatus—Zhang Yang was utterly astonished.

Before Zhang Yang could process it, a distinctly mechanical female voice sounded again: "Hidden Mission 'Mentor's Regret' complete. Does the host wish to claim the reward now?"

"What is this?"

Zhang Yang’s jaw dropped, and his mind screamed internally. This bizarre scene was even harder for him to accept than his transmigration and rebirth. In all his years, he had never seen, nor even heard of, anything so strange.

"Does the host wish to claim the reward now? If no answer is received within three minutes, it will be considered a voluntary forfeiture!"

Zhang Yang was still dazed when the voice sounded again. The voice carried a faint ethereal quality and seemed to resonate directly inside his mind, akin to a soul-to-soul conversation. The sensation was indescribable.

"Zhang Yang, why are you looking at me like that!"

Mi Xue looked up, her beautiful eyes meeting Zhang Yang’s. To an outsider, Zhang Yang’s expression looked somewhat strange and brazen. He was staring directly at her, mouth slightly agape, perhaps even drooling a little.

Any other girl would likely have blushed furiously and looked away, or perhaps angrily challenged him. Zhang Yang's appearance was certainly likely to lead to wild interpretations, and few people would ask him directly as Mi Xue did.

However, Mi Xue had a straightforward personality, usually appearing somewhat breezy and direct. She asked whatever was on her mind, so her question wasn't out of character.

Mi Xue’s words brought Zhang Yang’s attention somewhat back to reality. He quickly stammered, "W-what did you say?"

"Why are you looking at me like that!"

A moment later, Mi Xue repeated her question, her eyes still fixed on Zhang Yang, now laced with a flicker of concern.

Zhang Yang finally managed to regain some composure, staring at Mi Xue blankly, looking utterly bewildered. He had no idea that he had just made an embarrassing fool of himself, appearing like a lecher, and that Mi Xue was misunderstanding him.

"No, I was just thinking about something else!"

As Zhang Yang shook his head, the rigid, mechanical female voice echoed in his mind again: "Final minute confirmation. Does the host wish to claim the reward for the completed mission? No selection after one minute will be deemed as forfeiture!"

"Claim it!"

With only one minute left, Zhang Yang didn't know what the female voice meant or what the so-called reward entailed, but rewards were generally positive things. Zhang Yang subconsciously chose to accept.

"Host confirms claiming the reward for Hidden Mission 'Mentor's Regret.' System activation is required before claiming. System activation commencing now; duration thirty seconds!"

The emotionless, mechanical voice sounded in Zhang Yang’s mind. The green image before him transformed into a progress bar, rapidly advancing forward.

While Zhang Yang was still reeling, trying to figure out what was happening, the progress bar completed its cycle. A different screen, filled with substantial content, appeared before him.

…………

Xiao Yu is asking for reader recommendation votes again. New book recommendation votes are especially crucial, as they influence the future trajectory of this book. I sincerely hope friends can reserve all their recommendation votes for Xiao Yu. Thank you!