Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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A few days later, Xie Lingya encountered Ning Wanlai again near the school, but they were a bit far apart. Ning Wanlai left quickly, so he didn’t think much of it. Thinking back, he wondered why Ning Wanlai had come to their school. Had he searched around and found someone from their school? Quedong Academy did have an art department.
After thinking about it, Xie Lingya asked Professor Zhu about it. Professor Zhu thought for a moment and said, “There is an old professor in the Fine Arts Department named Bai who has been suffering from diarrhea for a long time. I heard that he is currently staying in the affiliated hospital. He has to be hospitalized every year. As the saying goes, ‘No filial son stays by the bedside of a long-term patient.’ This year, his children are not going to the hospital to take care of him. Instead, his students are going to visit him more often.”
For some reason, after class, Xie Lingya took a twitch and headed straight for the affiliated hospital.
The longer he worked in this field, the more complex his feelings towards hospitals became, given that it was a place filled with life and death, and many wandering spirits.
Logically, even though Xie Lingya was related to the City God, he shouldn’t reveal beforehand who the underworld officials were going to summon. Of course, if he found out for other reasons or by chance, as long as he didn’t publicize it, keeping quiet was fine.
Because Xie Lingya had given Ning Wanlai advice, he guessed that Ning Wanlai might be summoning Professor Bai’s soul. Hearing Professor Zhu’s account, he felt a connection and decided to go check it out himself.
Xie Lingya didn’t know where Professor Bai was staying. So after wandering around the inpatient department for a while, he asked a nurse. The nurse, seeing his appearance, assumed he was Professor Bai’s student and told him.
Professor Bai wasn’t in an intensive care unit; he was in a regular single room. When Xie Lingya entered, he was alone, half-reclining on the bed reading a picture book.
“Xiao Hu, no need to rush…” Professor Bai looked up, then paused. “Student, who are you looking for?”
Xie Lingya smiled awkwardly. “Are you Professor Bai? I’m a student at Quedong Academy. I really admire your work. I heard you were hospitalized here, so I’ve come to visit you. I apologize for bothering you.”
Professor Bai was approachable and pleased to hear that Xie Lingya liked his work. He invited him to sit down.
Xie Lingya wasn’t entirely sure it was Professor Bai, but upon seeing him and noticing his deathly pallor, he knew that even if Ning Wanlai wasn’t looking for him, he was probably on the verge of death.
However, Professor Bai would likely die of old age. Although he had a pre-existing illness, it was unrelated to this one, and his physical symptoms were minimal. The doctors probably didn’t know that Professor Bai’s lifespan was only a day or two. Life and death were unpredictable after all.
But judging from his current appearance, Professor Bai seemed to be in good spirits. He chatted with Xie Lingya for a few moments, and when Xie Lingya praised his portrait paintings, he laughed heartily, “If my health allowed, I’d really like to have you as my model. You have a very good presence, young man.”
“Thank you, Professor Bai. Professor Bai, may I ask for a draft of your work?” Xie Lingya asked tentatively.
Professor Bai replied without hesitation, “Of course, I can even give you an original, but all my paintings are at home. After I’m discharged…” He paused, a complex expression on his face. Professor Bai was seventy-three years old this year, on the cusp of his illness. He had suffered a lot in his youth, and he had a premonition that he might not be able to return home after this hospitalization.
“Sigh… I’ll make a call and have my daughter bring it over.” Professor Bai sighed, took out his phone, and called his daughter.
Xie Lingya repeatedly apologized for the trouble and chatted with Professor Bai for a few more moments. Just then, a young man returned; he was Professor Bai’s student, who had just gone to the cafeteria to get soup.
Professor Bai drank a few sips of soup but couldn’t drink anymore. Coupled with the conversation, he wasn’t feeling well. He slowly lay down and asked, “Xiao Hu, Xiao Xie, what do you think happens after death? I still want to paint, but I don’t know if there are facilities in the underworld.”
Xiao Hu was very distressed; death meant the end of everything, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He comforted Professor Bai, “Professor, don’t think so much. You’ll get better. We can go sketching together. Didn’t you say last time you wanted to paint that Taoist temple in the city center?”
Professor Bai nodded listlessly.
Xie Lingya bluntly said, “Professor Bai, there are facilities for painting in the underworld too. And for someone like you, they’d definitely arrange a painting-related position. You see, you’re retired now, but you’ll still have to work and be busy like us down there.”
Xiao Hu secretly glared at Xie Lingya.
Professor Bai, however, was overjoyed and sighed, “If only that were true…”
Xie Lingya glanced back; Ning Wanlai was already standing at the door.
His eyes showed a hint of surprise, as if he didn’t understand why Xie Lingya was there.
Xie Lingya’s expression changed, and she stood up, looking around at the doorway. She heard the clatter of high heels on the floor, and a woman with curly hair walked over, holding a rolled-up piece of paper. She glanced at Xie Lingya casually before entering the ward. “Dad,” Professor Bai said happily, “Xiao Juan is here. Give the painting to that young man; he’s my… well, a fan.”
Bai Juan handed the painting to Xie Lingya and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Dad, didn’t you finish the soup? You don’t look well; would you like some more?”
“It’s alright, let’s chat. It’s not easy for you to come see me,” Professor Bai said, holding his daughter’s hand, his words somewhat muffled.
Bai Juan’s face instantly paled, and her eyes welled up with tears. Indeed, prolonged illness tests filial piety; the old man, having been ill for so long, didn’t like to show weakness in front of her, afraid of troubling her.
Hearing her father pour out his heart, Bai Juan felt a pang of guilt, along with a strange feeling. Her father usually didn’t speak like this. “I’ll stay here with you tonight, I’ll come more often… Dad.”
Professor Bai smiled and said, “Your mother passed away early, and I was always busy with work. Luckily, you were very independent and capable…”
He began to reminisce about the past, and Bai Juan listened attentively, holding her father’s hand.
Xie Lingya noticed Ning Wanlai constantly checking the time beside her. When he couldn’t wait any longer, he took out the Soul-Locking Chain—
Professor Bai’s head then tilted as he spoke, as if he had fallen asleep.
Bai Juan felt her hand loosen, and after a few seconds, she suddenly realized, “Dad, Dad?!”
Xiao Hu quickly called the doctors and nurses, but it was too late.
—Professor Bai had passed away peacefully.
Bai Juan wept uncontrollably. She hadn’t been to the hospital much lately, and had been feeling truly unfilial, now the old man’s passing was so sudden. If her father hadn’t suddenly asked her to deliver the painting, she probably wouldn’t have even seen him one last time.
….
No one noticed that Xie Lingya had left sometime earlier. Bai Juan later recalled that the student, whose name she didn’t even know, had quietly left while they were chatting.
As Ning Wanlai led Professor Bai away, Xie Lingya stood on one side of the corridor, bowing slightly in farewell.
From then on, Professor Bai was the youngest and newest reincarnated ghost in the underworld.
Professor Bai’s spirit showed a hint of understanding, and smiled faintly at Xie Lingya, nodding, “Thank you, young man.”
Xie Lingya watched the two leave, then suddenly remembered something, called them back, and asked seriously, “I wanted to ask you, sir, have you seen ‘XXXX Little Fairy’?”
Professor Bai was stunned. “…What’s that?”
“Nothing,” Ning Wanlai said, putting his arm around Professor Bai as they continued walking, “It’s just that some people are bullying elementary school students again.”
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