Forbidden Land – CH 067

The next morning, Zhang Chao woke up early and found that he had been sound asleep in bed.

Was it a dream?

He got up and looked around. There was no trace of his vomit on the floor, and the water glass was untouched.

Was it a dream or reality?

If it were just a dream, it was too real, too terrifying. Could it really be related to that tattered cloth?

With a shudder, he opened his bag quickly, discovered the soiled white cloth, and hurried to the balcony to throw it away. He wanted to see the old man again and ask him what was going on.

But the balcony door to the fortune teller’s room was tightly shut. He called out several times, but no one answered.

After some time, the nurse brought in breakfast, took his wastebasket outside to empty it, and an hour later, Chen Rong finally arrived.

Upon meeting, Zhang Chao immediately asked, “Could you take me to see the fortune teller next door?”

“To see him?” Chen Rong asked, puzzled. “Why do you need him? When I came this morning, I heard he had a sudden cardiovascular attack last night. He pressed the alarm himself, and it seems he’s still being resuscitated.”

“What! The old man is dying!” Zhang Chao’s mouth dropped open. Yesterday, the old man told him he wouldn’t live more than a week, but he hadn’t really taken it seriously. The black lines the old man mentioned on his arm—he couldn’t quite place them. He never expected that, overnight, the old man would actually be dying.

Chen Rong looked at him, suspiciously asking, “What do you need him for?”

Zhang Chao asked, “What time did he fall ill last night?”

Chen Rong replied, “Around 2 AM, I think.”

Zhang Chao mentally calculated the time. Could the old man’s onset of illness coincide with that dreamlike period last night?

Zhang Chao asked anxiously, “How is he now?”

Chen Rong replied, “I don’t know.”

Zhang Chao said, “Could you ask about him for me?”

Chen Rong said, “I heard he was rushed to Tongde Hospital for emergency treatment. I’ll make a call and ask someone else.”

Zhang Chao said, “Okay, okay, hurry up.”

Chen Rong made several calls and finally said to Zhang Chao, “The doctor said that the blood supply to the brain is insufficient. Although he has been treated, some brain tissue has already died. Moreover, the patient is old and in poor health and is now completely dependent on glucose for energy. It’s estimated that… he won’t live past the day after tomorrow.”

Ah! Zhang Chao was thunderstruck. The old man was going to die? Could it be that the old man used the little ghost’s magic to save him but ended up causing his own premature death?

He was talking to him just yesterday, and now he’s suddenly like this. He really couldn’t accept it.

Chen Rong asked, “What exactly happened? Why are you so concerned about that old man?”

Zhang Chao didn’t know how to answer her. A prestigious hospital, and he found hair in his water, vomited it up, and it was gone. A ghost in the middle of the night? A woman in an ancient costume appeared? In the end, a mentally ill old man saved him? But when he woke up, nothing had happened.

Even he couldn’t believe it after thinking it over from beginning to end, let alone tell Chen Rong. So he could only say, “No, I chatted with the old man yesterday. He admitted to raising a ghost child and told me some of his experiences. I don’t think the old man is crazy; chatting with him was quite interesting.”

Chen Rong asked with concern, “Did the old man say anything scary?”

Zhang Chao shook his head. “He’s just a fortune teller; he’s never harmed anyone. He raises ghost children to make some money from fortune-telling.”

Chen Rong nodded. “Anyway, just take it as a story. Raising ghost children—nobody knows if it’s true or not. If it were really that miraculous, CCTV’s ‘Approaching Science’ program would have aired it long ago.”

Zhang Chao couldn’t help but laugh. “You believe in ‘Approaching Science’?”

Chen Rong looked innocent. “So what?”

Zhang Chao chuckled. “You’re really quite naive, haha.”

Chen Rong wrinkled her nose and said, “I’m not talking to you anymore! I’m going to hypnotize you later; are you ready?”

Zhang Chao said. “I’m ready anytime. I also really want to know why I lost my memory.”

Chen Rong said, “Alright, then come with me now.”