Wang Hai pulled his taxi to a stop not far from the gas station, letting his passengers out. Gazing through the car window at the station, they all froze—it was closed down.

"I had no idea," Wang Hai declared.

"Do you have a contact number for anyone here?" Kuang Feifan asked, clinging to a sliver of hope.

Wang Hai pulled out his phone, scrolled through it, found a number, and made the call.

As expected, the station had been shut down for two days for some unknown reason; even the acquaintance Wang Hai spoke to on the phone didn't know the specifics.

"Ask him who the employee working with Luo Jingjing was the day before yesterday. Can we get in touch with them?" Kuang Feifan murmured.

The inquiry revealed that Luo Jingjing had been on the late shift, and the employee working with her had been rushed to the hospital early the next morning. Though everyone suspected something terrible had happened that night, nobody knew the details.

Wang Hai pressed further and learned that the hospitalized man was someone he knew fairly well. When he’d visited during the day, the man still had a high fever, rambling incoherently, likely hooked up to an IV drip at this very moment.

"I need to see him," Wang Hai said, putting the phone away. "The guy in the hospital, he's all alone, no family."

"Now? It's almost midnight," Miss Zhang sounded distinctly displeased.

It wasn't surprising; they had set out to offer spiritual protection to a young couple, and now they seemed to be nothing but a nuisance.

"Perhaps tomorrow?" Kuang Feifan asked Feng Tian. The hospitalized man was key because only two people worked the late shift; if Luo Jingjing was dead, he was likely the only one who knew what truly transpired that night.

Unexpectedly, Wang Hai turned to his girlfriend and said, "I’ll drop you home first, then I’m heading to the hospital to check on him. We usually share meals and drinks; we're good buddies."

It seemed Wang Hai was quite loyal, and although Miss Zhang was unhappy, she said no more.

Feng Tian suddenly spoke up, "Let's all go take a look together. A persistent high fever can lead to serious complications."

Wang Hai paused, then asked Feng Tian with surprise, "You're a doctor?"

Feng Tian just smiled and didn't answer.

The friend Wang Hai mentioned was named Zhao Hongcheng, and coincidentally, the hospital where he was admitted was the same affiliated one, though he was in a standard ward.

Although hospital visiting hours were strictly regulated, wards invariably had visitors and caretakers, so as the three of them appeared in the corridor late at night, no one stopped them.

Wang Hai knew the room number, and the three proceeded directly to the door. Peering through the glass pane, they saw three patients in the room, with Zhao Hongcheng lying in the bed closest to the door.

To their surprise, he still had an IV bag hanging beside his bed. The ward lights should have been off at this hour, but his personal bedside lamp remained illuminated, likely left on by a nurse monitoring his infusion.

Fearing noise late at night, the three crept inside. Standing by the bedside, they observed Zhao Hongcheng. Whether he was naturally thin or wasted by the fever, his cheeks were sunken, his face pale, and his cheeks flushed with a sickly redness. Though his eyes were closed, the tension in his brow showed he was in considerable distress.

The ward door suddenly swung open, and a nurse carrying a tray walked in. Her expression startled when she saw three large men standing over the bed, then her face hardened, and she asked coolly, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Wang Hai quickly plastered on a smile. "I'm Zhao Hongcheng's friend. I heard he was sick and came to see if he needed any care."

The nurse looked at him, then at Feng Tian and Kuang Feifan. "And you two? Are you his friends too? That many people coming to care for him?"

Kuang Feifan sighed inwardly, pulled out his badge, flashed it briefly, and whispered, "We're here to clarify a few things." He gestured with his finger toward the door.

Vaguely catching sight of the badge, the nurse seemed helpless. She changed the medication for Zhao Hongcheng and pulled the door shut as she stepped out.

"Clarify things in the middle of the night?" the nurse asked impatiently. She wasn't afraid of police officers.

Kuang Feifan rubbed his nose. Indeed, no one would come here this late unless it was urgent, but since he wasn't a real officer, he couldn't let the nurse push the issue too hard.

"Apologies, I just wanted to check on the patient's condition, see if he’s woken up so we can clear up a few matters."

The nurse shook her head. "He was unconscious when he was brought in. The fever has dropped a little now, but his consciousness is still very muddled. You probably won't get any information out of him for a while."

Kuang Feifan frowned. "The fever hasn't broken yet? If it stays this high, won't there be a risk to his life?"

The nurse hesitated briefly, then nodded. "We've started him on antibiotics, but if the fever doesn't break soon, there will indeed be danger to his brain. We are monitoring him closely."

Seeing that nothing more could be gleaned, Kuang Feifan said, "Then we’ll just stay here for a while and watch."

"Don't disturb the other patients," the nurse cautioned, then left. This deference was likely due to the badge; for ordinary visitors, she would have likely chased them out.

Once the nurse was gone, Kuang Feifan whispered to Feng Tian, "Can you tell what's wrong with him? Is there anything we can do?"

Feng Tian clenched his jaw. "He's probably suffering from extreme shock. But in ordinary cases like this, the hospital medication should be enough to handle it; it shouldn't take two days without improvement."

Kuang Feifan thought for a moment, went into the room to get Wang Hai's taxi keys, and came back out to Feng Tian. "Let's go back and get supplies."

The two drove back to the Taoist temple to retrieve Feng Tian's satchel. For good measure, Feng Tian insisted on obtaining two talismans from the old Taoist master. When they returned to the hospital, Zhao Hongcheng's IV drip had been temporarily paused.

Slipping into the room, Kuang Feifan immediately moved to block the door with his body, while Feng Tian walked to Zhao Hongcheng's bedside and carefully drew the privacy curtain shut.

"You guys..." Wang Hai watched them blankly, unsure what they intended to do.

Kuang Feifan raised an index finger to his lips, signaling silence.

Feng Tian lowered his voice. "Let me show you the capabilities of this 'charlatan' of mine."

He then took out a leather case from his bag, opening it to reveal an array of needles resembling those used in acupuncture. He took out a lighter, lifted the sheet covering Zhao Hongcheng, selected a needle, sterilized it with fire, and then pierced the man's skin.

"Hey, what are you..." Wang Hai started, reaching out as if to stop him, but Kuang Feifan quickly restrained him.

"Don't worry, we know what we're doing."

Feng Tian inserted several needles into Zhao Hongcheng's head and body, then used a thicker silver needle to prick each of his ten fingertips, squeezing out drops of blood. Once this was complete, he observed Zhao Hongcheng closely.

"Ugh..." About fifteen minutes later, Zhao Hongcheng, previously still on the bed, let out a low moan, showing signs of stirring.

Wang Hai, watching the entire procedure, looked utterly stunned.

But it wasn't over. Feng Tian stood up, poured a glass of water, then pulverized the two talismans he'd gotten from the old master into the water, swirled it, and forced the mixture down Zhao Hongcheng’s throat.

Wang Hai winced, but unexpectedly, as soon as Zhao Hongcheng swallowed the water, the tension visibly eased from his face. Soon after, he sank into a deep, peaceful sleep.

"I... what the hell... how did you do that..." Wang Hai gaped, his mouth hanging wide open.