Techniques and Dao

Chapter 2 The Cat Nurse

When Hanamori woke up again after making her choice between the black and white suits, she found herself lying in bed. The blankets and pillows were very soft and had the distinctive scent of clean bedding.

He then felt a sharp pain in his chest, almost causing him to faint again. Although the pain was unbearable, it at least proved that he was alive.

Hanamori told himself that for a sixteen-year-old, experiencing some pain is much better than dying.

He began to recall what had happened before; the man in the black and white suit had told him about "Sun Wukong." He was being sent somewhere—could this be that place?

Looking around, the snow-white ceiling, sheets, and blankets made it look like an ordinary single hospital room. The door was open, and there was a little noise outside, with the occasional clanging of metal tools.

No matter how you look at it, it sounds like a hospital.

Hua Sheng wanted to get up and check, but as the saying goes, her body felt completely drained and she couldn't muster any strength.

Just as I was experiencing the sensation of being paralyzed from the waist down, a pink, furry thing suddenly flashed up from below outside the open ward door.

He was startled. What the hell was that?

It looks like a tail no matter how you look at it. But when it swings, it's a good half meter long!

Hana's hair stood on end, and within seconds his clothes were soaked with cold sweat. He stared intently at the door, not wanting to miss any slight movement outside, not even a mosquito.

Suddenly, the pink fluffy tail flicked again.

He couldn't help but gasp. It was indeed a tail at least half a meter long, perhaps close to a meter. If the tail was that long, what a huge creature must be living outside! Why hadn't he heard a single animal sound?

Hanamori continued to strain her ears, carefully listening for any sounds. Then she saw a girl dressed as a nurse enter the room. She had a human face, but cat ears, and a pink tail.

Is this some kind of anime/manga convention?

Hanamori's first thought was that they were at an anime and game convention. He had been there before, and every time he saw cosplay enthusiasts in all sorts of outlandish costumes. People strolled around casually, some even sitting on the ground. In that noisy environment, their costumes weren't strange at all. But this was a quiet hospital, and there wasn't any exciting, upbeat music playing.

"Meow! You're awake?" The cat nurse, holding a stack of medical records, exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Hana.

It even meows! You rarely hear a normal person speak like that. It must be a very dedicated cosplayer!

"Where is this?" Hua Sheng asked.

"Hospital! Meow~~"

Hanamori was so flustered by the call that his bones felt like they were melting. Was this a reality show being filmed? He glanced around the corner of the room, but there were no cameras or GoPros set up as he had expected. It certainly didn't look like a TV program being filmed.

"Which hospital?"

"It's St. Pingning Hospital! You seem to be regaining some consciousness!"

Yes, he had indeed heard the term Saint-Pierre-Ninja. Could he already be in this completely unfamiliar world?

Hua Sheng struggled to sit up, but his head only moved ten centimeters before he fell back down. The scar on his head still throbbed faintly. He thought of Brother Xu; more than two months had passed since that incident.

"I'll give you a thumbs up, meow~~"

"Why did you like this?" Hua Sheng asked, puzzled. "I'm in a really tough spot right now."

"Because when one is in trouble, everyone cheers!" Nurse Cat covered her mouth with the medical record card and laughed like a silver bell.

"What the hell... what kind of values ​​do you guys have?!" Hua Sheng almost couldn't breathe. At the same time, he seemed to feel laughter echoing back and forth on the walls of the ward, and then he actually saw the flower buds in the vase bloom because of the laughter, like magic.

The cat nurse looked at Hua Sheng, then took out a small medicine box from her pocket, inside which was a colorful candy.

"Come on, the doctor said he'll give you your medicine as soon as you wake up."

The cat nurse picked up a cup from the bedside table and poured a glass of warm water. She pressed the edge of the bed, and the backrest slowly rose. Hanamori adjusted her posture, laboriously raised her leaden arm, and took the candy, examining it carefully.

"Is this medicine?"

"Yes!" the cat nurse wrote on the medical record. "Meow! Remember to swallow with warm water!"

Hua Sheng still hesitated, holding the water glass.

The cat nurse looked at him and asked, "Is there dirt in the water? It was just poured out." She wagged her tail behind her. "Don't worry, I don't shed. If I shed, could I still work at the hospital? Meow..."

That's true; I've never seen a pet like a cat or dog that sheds in the hospital.

Wait, Hua Sheng thought again, hospitals don't keep pets, they're not pet hospitals. This has absolutely nothing to do with shedding!

Hanamori put the pill in his mouth with some skepticism. It had a faint minty taste, but also a slightly astringent one. He bit into it, and the pill seemed too hard to break, so he swallowed it with a sip of warm water.

What are the effects of this medicine?

"Once you regain your energy and spirit, you can be discharged from the hospital."

"That's amazing?" Hua Sheng's mouth dropped open. In his current condition, even lifting a water glass was extremely difficult. Covered in wounds, getting out of bed was a near-impossible task; how could he possibly be discharged? "What's the name of this medicine?"

"Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill. It's a good thing, a prescription drug. Our hospital doesn't usually dispense it to ordinary patients. Meow~~" The cat nurse continued to flip through the medical records in her hands.

It sounds like the name of a traditional Chinese medicine similar to Liuwei Dihuang Wan. Hua Sheng asked, "What kind of medicinal ingredients are in it?"

"Hmm... the main components are sulfur and mercury, that's quicksilver. There should also be carbon, tin, lead, copper, gold, silver, jade, etc. It's quite remarkable; eating too much of it can even send you to heaven!"

"Ugh..." Hua Sheng desperately pressed his fingers against his tongue, trying to vomit up the pills he had just swallowed. "You mean by 'discharge'? Does that mean I'll just die from heavy metal poisoning?"

"Hey! No, no, no!" The cat nurse shook her big ears. "Don't waste it. It's not like I'm telling you to eat metal. This contains over forty kinds of medicine, including cinnabar, rhubarb, and calcite. It's very good for your health. Meow!"

"These raw materials sound like they're bad for your health!" Hua Sheng roared. "Do you even have any medical knowledge, treating weak patients like this? Are you some kind of private, fraudulent hospital that only knows how to rip people off?"

"Huh? Don't you think you're in much better spirits right now? You could barely move a moment ago, but now you're full of energy and yelling at me." The cat nurse looked aggrieved.

Um... that makes sense. Hua Sheng had somehow forgotten the pain in her body, and without realizing it, she had sat up straight. Could the medicine really be working? But this medicine sounded like a trick used by shamans in rural areas before liberation to deceive people.

"What you're saying... does seem to have some effect."

"Of course, this is a hospital! We're here to save lives and heal the sick! We wouldn't do this to harm people, meow..."

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you earlier." Hua Sheng said with a hint of shame.

"It's alright! Poor doctor-patient relationships are caused by a lack of mutual understanding, right? It's the same everywhere." The cat nurse put down the documents in her hand and said to Hana, "If you feel more comfortable, I'll help you up and walk around. It's morning now, and after you complete the discharge procedures, staff from the Ministry of Revenue will come to pick you up. It seems there's still a lot to do afterwards."

After standing up, Hua Sheng felt refreshed. She marveled at the vastness of the world and the truly miraculous elixirs passed down from her ancestors; she certainly couldn't forget about them.

With the help of the cat nurse, Hana took a few steps back and forth in the ward. She touched her wounds and found that they had all healed, and even the old scars had faded a lot.

He went into the corridor and found it to be no different from any other hospital. Only occasionally could he see gray or white cat nurses moving back and forth in the corridor.

Back in the ward, Nurse Cat took a brand-new jacket from the cabinet for him. The jacket was silver and black, and felt as light as a cicada's wing. On the upper left chest, four beautiful characters were embroidered in silver thread: "Shudao Academy".

"What is this Academy of Arts and Techniques?"

“This is a public school here, and every child has to attend it. The clothes were brought to you by staff from the Ministry of Revenue of St. Pingning. They will help you with the enrollment procedures and accommodation later.”

Hana changed his clothes. With the help of the cat nurse, he completed the discharge procedures at the hospital reception. In fact, the so-called discharge procedures were very simple; he only had to sign a bunch of documents, and there was no mention of paying any fees. And even if there were any fees, Hana wouldn't have any money to pay for medical expenses.

After he finished signing, a familiar voice sounded behind him.

"Hello, Hanamori!"

He turned around and saw the man in the black suit standing behind him with his arms crossed. The man had already changed into black Hanfu.

"Welcome to Saint Peaceful Wonderland!" The other party revealed a mysterious smile. "Are you ready to have all your preconceived notions overturned?"

(End of this chapter)