The Path Toward Heaven

Early the next morning, the loud crowing of a rooster could be heard in the suite of the hotel.

Zong Lizi pulled the thin quilt aside and sat up effortlessly while moving like a puppet.

She rubbed her messy silvery hair as she reached out her hand reflexively to turn off the alarm clock. When she stretched her hand to fetch the water cup, she failed to touch anything.

By the time she opened her vacant eyes, she found that there was nothing on the nightstand beside the bed.

Looking at the nightstand on the other side of the bed, she found that the big yellow cat in the photo was still staring at her indignantly.

She didn’t forget to bring the alarm clock and the photo to the upper world.

What happened to the water cup?

She got up and came to the living room. Seeing the water stains from the cup in the garbage bucket, she was taken aback, wondering if she had recently developed a habit of sleepwalking.

It was then that she found that she could get out of the bed more effortlessly and that she didn’t feel tiredness, instead being full of energy after getting out of bed.

Was it due to the hope she had, or yuanqi?

She stared at her reflection in the mirror while brushing her teeth, after which she felt slight pain in her arms, actually all over her body. She couldn’t help but feel ill at ease, wondering what had happened to her.

She put the electric toothbrush back in the charging cup without washing her face and ran to the deck. “What did you do to me last night?” she asked Jing Jiu.

Jing Jiu opened his eyes and said to her, “There is still some foam on the corner of your mouth.”

Zong Lizi didn’t pay attention to such a trivial matter since she had so many questions on her mind. She wiped the foam off with the back of her hand and continued, “I’m asking…”

“Some eye gunk as well.” Jing Jiu closed his eyes to resume his sleep. It was obvious that he had no intention to talk to her.

With a low cry, Zong Lizi rushed into the bathroom and washed her face hastily. She came back to the deck after she made sure by checking in the mirror that her face was clean.

Seeing his tired face, she suddenly felt it unbearable to wake him up. After some hesitation, she picked up the briefcase with the computer in it and went to school.

…

…

A drizzle occurred the night before after the stars had disappeared from the sky.

The raindrops landed on the gingko trees at the University of Stargate after passing through the protective shield in the atmosphere, taking down more leaves.

As the gingko trees became sparser, it was easier for someone to look through them. Zong Lizi looked out through the window while supporting her chin with her hand. She let loose a hint of smile at the moment; it was unclear what she was reflecting on.

The lawn was a bit wet, but Jing Jiu didn’t care. He lay flat on the lawn while pulling up his collar, looking up at the sky.

The drizzle fell down from the sky and landed on his face, but the raindrops didn’t actually contact his skin, merely bringing a sense of coolness to it.

Seeing the drizzle coming down toward his face, Jing Jiu couldn’t help but think of Green Mountain, the first spring rain and the scene in which the raindrops passed through the Great Formation of Green Mountain.

Perhaps due to this similarity, he felt quite relaxed, his tiredness growing more pressing. And so he closed his eyes to fall asleep.

The elegant small black leather shoes created a less-than-elegant noise as they stepped on the damp gingko leaves. Jiang Yuxia walked by the lawn while holding a cotton ancient-style umbrella. Seeing the youth sleep soundly in the drizzle, she tilted her head slightly, her eyes full of curiosity and bewilderment.

What king of a person was he? Why didn’t he care about others’ attitudes and lived like a crazy poet?

Those who happened to walk by the lawn felt startled when they saw the scene. They talked in low voices while pointing their fingers at Jing Jiu.

Jiang Yuxia turned around and left after she watched him for a while in the rain.

Looking at the lawn in the distance, Zong Lizi had no way to listen to the debate in the classroom. Her mood grew increasingly more chaotic. In the end, she got up and headed toward the outside of the classroom.

She had dreamed to become an exchange student when she was at the New Era Institute; and she imagined that she would spend all of her time and effort on studying and cultivating once she had the opportunity to attend the University of Stargate. Skipping the class had never crossed her mind.

She found out by now that skipping class was an inevitable choice.

Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!!

The running shoes of military style gave off a crisp thud as they stepped on the wet gingko leaves, sounding like a heavy fist pounding the surface of water.

Zong Lizi ran all the way to the lawn from the lecture building and arrived by Jing Jiu. She opened the air umbrella and held it above him.

“Are you okay?”

If someone else heard of this, they would think she was mocking Jing Jiu for his insanity by lying down on the lawn in the rain. Was he bathing in the sun or washing his clothes?

She of course didn’t intend to mock him. She was worried about him when she found that he was a bit tired. She was worried that his body might be harmed while lying in the rain.

Jing Jiu opened his eyes and saw the trickling raindrops from the silvery hair, the drizzle that looked like smoke and fog when being dispersed by the wind, and the concerned face in the rain.

He woke up last time at the Three-Thousand Nunnery, and this time, it was in another world. Fortunately, he saw the people and scenery he liked in both worlds.

“I’m fine.”

Seeing the expression on Zong Lizi’s face, he knew that she didn’t believe him. “I’m just a little tired. I’ll be fine after taking a rest for a few days,” he added.

…

…

Jing Jiu indeed recovered after taking a few days’ rest. But, what had made him feel so tired and fall asleep a few times?

The rainfall hadn’t ceased over the last few days. Jing Jiu often slept on the lawn of the campus, drawing many curious gazes.

Zong Lizi didn’t pay more attention to him because she knew his temperament. She left an air umbrella by his side, but had never seen him use it.

Jiang Yuxia would visit him each time she walked by the lawn; but she didn’t do anything.

Nobody was aware that Jing Jiu lay on the lawn, waiting for the battleship to attack him after the dark clouds dispersed. The people thought he was a weirdo when they saw him lie on the lawn in the rain all day long.

The deranged weirdo could become famous easily. It didn’t take long before the whole of university learned of him. Many students would come out of the classrooms during recesses and pay him a visit at the patch of the lawn close to the gingko trees.

Along with the gentle electronic music, the buildings on campus started casting lights, competing with the rising stars for attention. Zong Lizi ran to the patch of the lawn while holding the briefcase over her head to shield the drizzle.

Jing Jiu got up and walked to the road, handing the air umbrella to her.

He hadn’t used the umbrella in the last few days, but she insisted on placing it by his side. She would take it back in the evening.

Whoosh!!!

As Zong Lizi touched the button slightly, the air shot out from the top of the umbrella, repelling all the raindrops.

She looked like she was lifting a sword in her hand.

If the protective shield of this planet were considered to be similar to the Great Formation of Green Mountain, this umbrella would be similar to a small forbidding formation.

Sensing the breeze in his face, Jing Jiu suddenly said, “Do you wish to learn some…more useful magic methods?”

The physical laws were different between Chaotian and this world. The humans had a different physique from each other. The people in this world didn’t have the physical ability to learn the basic method of Cultivation, like the sets of boxing learned by the external disciples at the South-Pine Pavilion.

If Zong Lizi was willing to learn, he had to completely modify the magic methods of Chaotian and even change the basic theory behind them.

It was a very difficult thing to do. Nobody had dared to give it a try save for the great Cultivationists of the founding fathers of the sects and those great scholars.

Yet, he was none other than the greatest Cultivationist and scholar from Chaotian.

Zong Lizi had no idea how important his words were. She thought that he wanted to teach her the secret methods of his clan. She shook her head a few times after remaining silent for a long time.

Jing Jiu felt surprised.

Zong Lizi lowered her head to look at her own feet and Jing Jiu’s stepping on the water on the road, saying nothing.

Jing Jiu didn’t ask her further when he found she was unwilling to tell him why.

When they arrived by the swimming pool at the foot of the hotel, they found that the wound on the big tree from which Jing Jiu had taken a piece of wood was almost healed, and that the color of the wood at the gap grew darker, looking almost the same as the rest of the tree.

She stopped short.

The air came out from the top of the umbrella, blowing the raindrops into the air. Like the spray water fountains, the water shot up into the air and then dropped down.

“A few days later, we will go to the surface of the planet to visit the main campus,” said she earnestly after she lifted up her head and stared into Jing Jiu’s eyes.

Most of the faculties of the University of Stargate were in Shou’er City; but the main campus was on the surface of the planet in name. The faculties related to military remained there. The exchange students from various places would like to visit the main campus.

Jing Jiu had no idea why she told him this.

“I have to go through physical examinations before I go up to the surface.” She continued after a moment of silence, “I’ve concealed something from you. In fact…I’m really ill…I don’t think the school will expel me for it, but I’m afraid that I can’t learn what you’ve intended to teach me for now.”

Jing Jiu said, “I also have something I’ve concealed from you. But it’s not that important. As I said, your illness will be cured.”

Zong Lizi brushed the stray strands of hair behind her ear and flashed a relieved smile, saying, “Thanks to you, I might be able to get another operation of gene modification. Though the doctors had claimed that the success rate was only thirty-one percent, do you really think I’ll be fine?”

“You’ll be fine if I say so,” said Jing Jiu.

…

…

The hospitals were by and large the same no matter how advanced a civilization was, to say nothing of the rumored distant ancient civilization that was said to be exceedingly brilliant.

In a sense, this world was the best place to experience the life. On the other hand, the intelligent beings like humans were extremely afraid of this experience; and they would like to stay as far away from the experience as possible. Hence, not so much life force could be perceived inside the hospitals, where one would find the icy cold metal apparatuses and the auto-controlled medical compartments.

“I’m a Y patient with the fourth type of blood.”

Zong Lizi had a pale face even though her voice was not trembling in the slightest.

The doctor shot a glance at her in surprise, controlling his emotion as much as he could. “Let me see your medical history file,” he said without revealing any emotions of sympathy and pity.

The bracelet on her hand was connected to the monitor of the medical apparatus with a ding, showing her citizen file of medical history. Seeing the note in the file in bold words, the doctor sighed in his mind as he said, “Lie on the examining bed.”

Zong Lizi lay in the medical compartment after she put on a light blue robe. She felt a bit chilly as the door of the compartment closed behind her slowly.

She couldn’t help but recall the scene in which her parents rushed around in the hospital with her in their arms; she clenched her fists reflexively.

Along with the buzzing noise of the scanner, her body felt increasingly colder, and she clenched her fists more tightly, feeling more nervous; she didn’t even notice when the scanning was finished.

As the door of the medical compartment opened, she was helped by a nurse get out of it. it was then that she found the expression on the face of the doctor was a bit peculiar as he stared at the monitor. She couldn’t help but feel more nervous, wondering if her illness became worse.

“Are you sure…Well, it’s indeed described this way in the file.”

The doctor lifted up his head and said irately, “The personnel in the community hospital in the underground didn’t take their jobs seriously enough. How could they make such a mistake?!”

“What’s the matter?” asked Zong Lizi, feeling baffled.

It occurred to the doctor that he shouldn’t blame the community hospital in the underground and that it was inevitable that they would make such a mistake because they were using medical compartments discontinued by the hospitals above more than ten years ago. He signaled for the nurse to fetch the apparatus for extracting blood and then explained to her with a smile, “I’ll tell you after the test confirms it. You must keep a level head.”

This hospital was associated with the University of Stargate and was ranked in the top three in the medical circle throughout the planet, with advanced equipment of all sorts. Nobody had used the apparatus for extracting blood for a long time; it took the nurse a while to find it.

The doctor placed the device on Zong Lizi’s arm awkwardly and then pressed a button.

Zong Lizi felt a slight pain on the underside of her arm as she saw her own blood flow into the flask for collecting blood through a thin tube. Soon after, the amount of blood collected in the flask reached the size of a fingernail.

The doctor put the collected blood sample in the analyzing cabin and turned to her with a faint smile, “Don’t get excited. I’ll tell you some good news…The community hospital might have made a mistake before. You might not be a Y patient with the fourth type of blood.”

Zong Lizi didn’t show an excited expression on her face, nor was her mind abuzz. All she did was show a wry smile on her face.

She was aware that this kind doctor must have made a mistake.

“I’ve been examined in three hospitals,” she said softly. “The community hospital was the last one.”

Her family was financially able when she was born. They lived in the fifth level, where the medical facilities were much better than those in the underground neighborhoods even though they were not as good as the hospital associated with the University of Stargate. Nevertheless, they shouldn’t have made such a mistake.

The doctor was taken aback for a while. Then he opened her medical file again and found that what she said was true and that the three hospitals had the same examination results, showing that she had the fourth type of blood and a was a Y patient…and that she had failed in two gene modifications.

What had happened? Was it possible that something was wrong with the medical compartment?

The room was deathly quiet except for the rhythmic clatter of the rotating blood analyzing cabin. The atmosphere was quite depressing at the moment.

It would take some time before the result of the test came out. The doctor asked her to go to the resting room.

Zong Lizi felt a bit chilly; it was probably because she had stayed in the medical compartment for too long. She sat in a chair, trembling slightly.

After a long while, the doctor walked out with the test result. “…I’ve retrieved your original files of medical history from the three hospitals…What is going on?” he faltered in bewilderment.

“What’s wrong?” asked Zong Lizi nervously.

“You may have to stay here for a few more tests. I’m not quite sure what is going on yet; but I can tell you right now…”

The doctor said earnestly while looking at her, “…Congratulations.”

Come moments later, Zong Lizi realized what the doctor meant, feeling startled.

Her body started trembling uncontrollably, the tears running down on cheeks imperceptibly.