Chapter Thirty-Six: On Everyone’s Mind

After the female ghost revealed herself, she kept howling but could not move an inch.
"Wherever there is a vengeful ghost, there is injustice," Yang Meng said calmly to Long Mingyang. "Just what heinous deeds has your Long family committed?"
Long Mingyang first looked at Long Teng, the eldest son, wealthy and influential, never lacking for women around him.
Long Teng hurriedly protested, "Dad, I've never even seen her!"
Yang Meng smiled. "Young Master Long, you don't seem like a decent person. You’re the prime suspect! But Old Master Long, you’ve wrongly accused your eldest son this time. I was referring to Long Nanyao, who’s lying in the hospital bed!"
"Impossible!" Long Mingyang replied at once. "Yao Yao may be a little willful, but she would never do anything so wicked!"
Yang Meng waved his hand. "Things are never so absolute, are they? Otherwise, why would the ghost target Long Nanyao directly?" He turned to the female ghost. "Though you have grievances, a ghost is still a ghost. The moment you harm others, you are rejected by the laws of heaven. I’ll take on your karma."
As he spoke, the fire of the 'Black Domain' ignited in his hand. The moment 'Black Domain' touched the ghost, she dissolved into a puff of black smoke and vanished.
When 'Black Domain' returned to Yang Meng's body, he closed his eyes and was silent for a moment before saying, "Remember her name: Zhao Yun. You have six days. Oh, and I don’t want anyone to know what happened tonight."
He shook his head, wearing an air of mystery, leaving the Long family members stunned as he departed alone.
After a while, Long Teng was the first to recover, rushing over to help Long Mingyang up. "Dad, are you alright?"
Long Mingyang shook his head and rose from the ground. "I’m fine. Bowen, get someone up here to secure this place, and make sure they keep their mouths shut. The rest of you as well—no one is to speak of what happened tonight."
Duan Bowen nodded. "Don’t worry, Uncle Long, I know what needs to be done. I’ll arrange it right away."
Long Teng gave a wry smile. "Dad, rest assured, even if someone told others about tonight, no one would believe it."
Long Mingyang stood up. "Come, let’s see how Master Yunhe is doing."
Long Teng interrupted, "Dad, I think we’ve forgotten something!"
"What is it?" Long Mingyang asked in confusion.
Long Teng said, "That Yang fellow probably has a way to save Yao Yao, or else he wouldn’t have said, 'six days remain,' right?"
Long Xixiang added, "Brother, do you think Dad doesn’t know? Since Yang gave us a deadline, it means we have to resolve this within six days. What did he say the ghost's name was? Zhao Yun? But I’ve never heard Yao Yao mention this name."
Long Teng agreed. "Me neither. The name Zhao Yun is so common—how are we supposed to investigate?"
Long Xixiang pursed her lips. "Yang definitely knows something. We should go find him!"
When she finished, Long Mingyang and Long Teng both turned their heads to look at her. "Xixiang, that's a good idea..."
Long Xixiang blinked, realizing she had dug herself a hole.
The thought of dealing with that annoying man gave Long Xixiang a headache.

Long Mingyang, however, was calculating much more.
He knew Yang Meng had embarrassed the Long family, but after witnessing tonight’s events, he realized Yang Meng was truly capable. He had two daughters: Long Nanyao had a boyfriend, but Long Xixiang did not. Though Xixiang seemed to dislike Yang Meng now, young people spending more time together could lead to anything.
Long Teng wasn’t thinking so much—his motive for sending Xixiang was to shirk responsibility; he genuinely didn’t want to deal with Yang Meng.
Seeing Long Mingyang send his sister to handle Yang Meng, Long Teng breathed a sigh of relief, only for Long Mingyang to say, "Long Teng, you’re going with your sister."
Long Teng was startled. "Dad, shouldn’t I be looking for information on Zhao Yun?"
Long Mingyang waved him off. "Let Bowen handle it."
"But..."
"No buts, it’s settled!"
"Uh, fine..."

Meanwhile, Yang Meng had no idea he was being plotted against—not just by Long Mingyang.
In the hospital director’s office, Di Shouye sat clutching a pile of test results, visibly excited, with two others beside him.
"Shouye, what’s with the mystery? I was napping at home and you dragged me here with a phone call. I have tomorrow off, promised to take my grandson to the amusement park. If your explanation doesn’t satisfy me, I’ll take that twenty-year-old bottle of Wuliangye from your house!"
The speaker was the hospital director, Pan Anguo.
Beside him was the hospital secretary, Xuan Shiying. "I don’t drink, but I’ve coveted Master He’s calligraphy for ages. If you don’t give me a reason, I’ll take that home too."
Though Di Shouye was lower in rank than Pan Anguo and Xuan Shiying, the three had joined the hospital together and were close friends.
Di Shouye suddenly asked, "Old Pan, Old Xuan, how long do you think a person can live?"
"Hmm?" Pan Anguo blinked. "Shouye, are you joking? In our line of work, who hasn’t seen life and death? Life’s fragility—if anyone understands it, you do. What’s this about? Did you call us here to discuss philosophy? Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Now you’ve added, how long can I live?"
Di Shouye looked exasperated. "Old Pan, I’m not joking. I mean medically speaking."
Xuan Shiying replied, "Alright, is this a quiz? Let’s be serious. From a biological perspective, barring disease and other factors, a person could live about two hundred years."
Pan Anguo specialized in orthopedics before moving to administration, so he was perplexed. "Two hundred years?"
Xuan Shiying nodded. "That’s right, two hundred years. One could say—people die by their own hands."
Seeing Pan Anguo confused, Xuan Shiying explained further. "When we eat, drink, breathe, we take in toxins. Nature is wondrous—our organs metabolize and filter these toxins. For instance, pancreatic cells metabolize every twenty-four hours, gastric cells every three days, and a full-body metabolism takes about seven days. But the process isn’t stable; everyone's metabolism varies, and perfect metabolism is impossible. Some toxins inevitably accumulate in organs over time, eventually causing organ failure and death."
Pan Anguo asked curiously, "So if the organs could achieve perfect metabolism, could one live to two hundred?"

Di Shouye shook his head. "No, no, if someone's immune system could perfectly detoxify and regenerate, they could avoid aging and even live forever. But human cells can't achieve perfect regeneration, so even if we could detoxify completely, we can’t escape cellular aging. Factoring all this, Old Xuan said humans could live about two hundred years."
Pan Anguo responded, "Shouye, don’t tell me you called us here because you’re planning to write a science fiction novel about immortality!"
Di Shouye shook his head. "Remember the auxiliary police officer injured during the operation tonight?"
Pan Anguo nodded. "Vice Director He called me about it—the one whose internal organs were poisoned by chemicals, doomed to die. Our hospital could do nothing. Did he die? Don’t blame yourself; as long as we did our best, that’s all anyone can ask."
No matter one's status, all must face death, and they had long grown accustomed to it in their hospital work. Pan Anguo thought Di Shouye was feeling guilty for failing to save Ling Feng and tried to comfort him.
"Dead?" Di Shouye placed the thick stack of test results on the table. "He’s recovered. Not only recovered, but he’s created a miracle."
"A miracle? What miracle?" Pan Anguo asked eagerly, while Xuan Shiying took out her glasses and began examining the reports.
Di Shouye didn’t answer Pan Anguo, but poured himself a cup of tea and took a leisurely sip.
"Old Di, what are you hiding?" Pan Anguo complained, seeing Di Shouye remain silent.
At that moment, Xuan Shiying, reading the documents, suddenly looked shocked. "This... How is this possible? Are the data correct?"
Di Shouye gave a bitter smile. "If the data were wrong, would I have called you here in the middle of the night?"
Xuan Shiying took up the report again and examined it closely.
Pan Anguo was getting anxious. "What are you two playing at? Tell me already!"
Xuan Shiying placed the report back on the table. "According to these findings, our patient’s internal organs are in the most perfect condition—no sign of cellular aging, no trace of viral invasion. In terms of organ health, he’s surpassing even a newborn baby."
"What?" Pan Anguo was stunned. "How is that possible?"
Di Shouye shrugged. "The facts are right here. I don’t think too many should know about this. That’s why I only called you two. It’s simply incredible, and if we figure it out, it could greatly enhance our hospital’s reputation."
Pan Anguo hurriedly asked, "How did he do it?"
Di Shouye gave a bitter smile. "Would you believe me if I said it was because he got drunk?"