For patients with terminal illnesses, hospitals often have a special ward named "Terminal Care Ward."
The name is warm, but frankly, it's just a forsaken place to wait for death.
At this moment, Lu Yao lay in the bed of the Terminal Care Ward, staring blankly at the cup on the bedside table, wanting to take a sip of water.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his body to leave the bed. Pain and weakness made this ordinarily simple task a luxury.
Lu Yao had advanced cancer and had held on until now by sheer willpower, but that just meant he was prolonging his suffering by a few days.
At that time, a voice tinged with schadenfreude rang out, "Cousin, you really are in a sorry state, aren't you? You can't even drink water without relying on others' charity."
A handsome young man sat leisurely in front of the hospital bed, with his legs crossed and his eyes crinkling in a smile.
"If you beg me, maybe I'll give you a sip of water, how about that?"
Lu Yao, expressionless, remained silent. Having lost his ability to take care of himself, he had seen plenty of his relatives' true colors, and this one was no different.
The man stood up, took the cup in his hand, and extended it toward him, "Cousin, don't be angry, I'm just joking. You've been so good to me, I can at least give you a drink of water."
After speaking, he slowly poured the water from the cup onto Lu Yao's pale and emaciated face.
Choking, Lu Yao coughed weakly, but thankfully a small amount of water passed through his throat, giving him the strength to speak:
"Zhang Xin, why? I've never wronged you. I was the one who funded your studies in Star Alliance Country!"
Zhang Xin set the cup down and said leisurely, "Why are you so old-fashioned? It was just running some cold medicine, not illegal; you just had to obstruct me every step of the way."
A look of realization flashed across Lu Yao's face and he said, "Zhang Xin, you scum, a dog can't change its habit of eating feces. Transporting cold medicine abroad to refine into drugs… cough cough"
Zhang Xin straightened his tie, smilingly replied: "Don't slander me. I am an internationally recognized entrepreneur. The 'Provincial Investment Promotion Agency' even called to welcome me back this time~"
Lu Yao sighed; he could do nothing now, so he chose to close his eyes and stop talking, quietly waiting for death to come.
But Zhang Xin didn't want his cousin, suffering from pain and close to death, to leave peacefully. He leaned in close and whispered secretly,
"Cousin~ actually, the main reason I came back to the country was to see you and to tell you—your cancer, I made it happen~"
Lu Yao suddenly opened his eyes wide, "What did you say!"
Zhang Xin, with a smile, pulled out a lead box and opened it; inside was a strange triangular ornament, palm-sized, with an eye-like pattern in the center that looked very antique.
"Looks familiar, doesn't it? I personally gave this to you, a genuine antique. I added some radioactive material inside. Prolonged contact would turn you into the ghostly state you're in now."
Lu Yao immediately recognized it as one of his favorite antiques, which he always kept on his desk and often played with. He never imagined it could be lethal!
He extended his branch-like arm and firmly grabbed the arm of the man in front of him. "You…"
"Don't get agitated~ Cousin, my suit is very expensive." Zhang Xin casually removed Lu Yao's hand, carefully pinched the lead box and stuffed the radioactive ornament into his embrace.
"I have a plane to catch and must leave first. Keep this as a memento, and maybe I'll do a dance on your grave if I have the chance~"
After speaking, Zhang Xin stood up and left with ease. Before leaving, he turned back and playfully winked. With an inherently androgynous beauty, his gestures were somehow coquettish at this moment.
The bodyguard was very observant and promptly opened the door to the ward. At the same time, he contacted his colleagues through the wireless headset to start the car in advance.
~~~~~~~~
Lu Yao could only lie helplessly on the bed, his body racked with heart-wrenching, bone-scratching pain, mixed with endless regret and reluctance to let go.
But soon, the pain gradually disappeared, leaving only numbness. Lu Yao faintly heard his deceased parents calling out to him.
Just as his body was getting lighter, and he was about to lose consciousness, a sudden warmth in his chest woke him up.
He took out the triangular ornament from his chest and found that it had become unbearably hot and was slowly emitting light!
In the next second, the ornament turned into green firefly-like light spots that drilled into his head through his facial features!
A voice echoed in Lu Yao's mind, "Star Key charged, Dimensional Door opening."
"What the heck?"
He thought it might be an auditory hallucination, but then a green light portal suddenly appeared beneath him! The portal, shaped like a vortex, was slowly spinning.
With a look of total astonishment, Lu Yao fell into the portal and disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~
When he opened his eyes again, he lay on a strange street surrounded by green brick-and-tile houses, with an air of antiquity.
The familiar prompt rang out once more, "Command completed, Star Key standing by."
Lu Yao closed his eyes and could clearly sense something called the "Star Key" in his mind.
By simply issuing a mental command, he could open the "Dimensional Door"!
After confirming it several times, he was extremely shocked, "The ornament named 'Star Key' that Zhang Xin gave me is actually a tool for traveling between worlds!"
At that moment, a rickshaw passed by with a muscular puller wearing a sweat towel around his neck, and a female passenger dressed in a sexy, glamorous qipao.
"Is this... the Republic of China!? No, wait, why are there two suns in the sky!"
While the rickshaw and qipao were quite characteristic, the presence of two dazzling suns made Lu Yao doubt he was still on Blue Star.
Then, the pain akin to bones being carved struck again, and Lu Yao clenched his teeth, forcibly enduring it to prevent losing consciousness.
With the portal to travel between worlds at his disposal, he should have been showing off his prowess, but he couldn't even stand up properly—a mountain of treasure, yet powerless to use it.
Suddenly, the sound of firecrackers crackling came through!
Not far away, a brightly decorated mansion was holding an opening celebration, with a crowd gathered around to watch.
Several young men in black practice clothes were handing out flyers everywhere. Some floated down near Lu Yao's feet, and he could vaguely make out the familiar block characters.
Lu Yao glanced over and saw traditional Chinese characters—Liao's Martial Arts Studio grand opening discount, 20% off martial arts classes!
"Martial arts studio?"
Lu Yao looked up and saw a woman in black martial attire standing tall and saluting the onlookers with clasped fists.
The crowd murmured in admiration, "A new martial arts studio? Wow, the master is a woman!"
"That's rare, let's see how she performs the 'Standing Stake'."
Amid the expectant looks from the crowd, several young men carried over a wooden stake two meters long and as thick as a thigh, and set it upright.
The martial master inhaled deeply, jumped three stories high, and descended with a fierce punch onto the wooden stake!
With a "bang," the stake drove a meter deep into the ground like a nail!
Witnessing such an incredible feat, the crowd erupted in cheers,
"Standing Stake three feet and two inches deep, what a remarkable Kung Fu!"
"Such a powerful punch, and her skill reaches the pinnacle of subtlety, truly befitting of a martial master!"
~~~~~~
Lu Yao's jaw dropped in amazement, momentarily forgetting the excruciating pain all over his body!
A leap 10 meters high, using a thick and long wooden stake as if it was mere grass on a planet, was definitely a superhuman force!
"Did that passerby just say it's called 'Standing Stake'? A custom for opening martial arts schools, a show of power," he thought.
"Heaven does not seal off all exits! In a world with superhuman powers, can it cure my cancer?!!!"