“Boom!”
Suddenly, a thunderclap erupted high in the sky.
Immediately after, a long bolt of lightning tore through the night, streaking straight toward the rooftop.
Swift as a dragon.
The abrupt disturbance startled everyone.
At that moment—
Ye Qiu swiftly muttered an incantation, pointing with his sword-hand gesture.
“Swift!”
In the air, a lantern jolted to life, flying up to intercept the lightning.
“Pfft!”
The lantern shattered under the strike.
At the same time, the lightning vanished.
Zhang Jiuling gaped in astonishment.
“Huh? A little lantern actually blocked lightning?”
“This is unbelievable!”
“There are still forty-eight lanterns up there—does that mean forty-eight more bolts?”
No sooner had he spoken—
Boom!
Another thunderclap roared, followed by a second bolt slicing through the sky, hurtling toward the rooftop.
Ye Qiu repeated his earlier method, chanting quickly and flicking his sword-hand.
“Swift!”
Another lantern shot up, meeting the lightning head-on.
“Pfft!”
The second lantern disintegrated.
Then, above the hospital, thunder rumbled incessantly, and lightning struck without pause.
Without fail, each bolt was met by a lantern that rose and shattered under the impact.
“Boom!”
“Pfft—”
“Boom!”
“Pfft—”
It went on for a long while.
…
Outside the hospital.
The Bai father and son sat in their car, watching the rooftop.
Forty-nine lanterns hung inexplicably in the air above, an eerie sight.
“What are those lanterns for?” Bai Jianjun asked.
Bai Yujing shook his head, equally puzzled.
But then, thunder cracked.
Both looked up as a long bolt of lightning arced toward the rooftop.
“Bad news—Grandfather’s up there!”
Their faces paled as they scrambled out of the car.
Just as they stepped out, a lantern rose and blocked the lightning.
“Pfft!”
The lantern burst apart, and the lightning disappeared, as if it had never been.
“What the hell?”
Thunder and lightning continued relentlessly.
Bai Yujing gazed upward. Stars twinkled, the moon hung bright—no sign of a storm. The thunder and lightning came out of nowhere.
This was downright bizarre.
“Yujing, do you think Ye Qiu’s behind the lightning?” Bai Jianjun ventured.
Suddenly, Bai Yujing recalled that day at the Bai estate—Ye Qiu had done something, and lightning had appeared from a clear sky.
“It might actually be him,” Bai Yujing said.
“He’s supposed to be saving Grandfather—why summon lightning?” Bai Jianjun pressed.
Bai Yujing frowned, uncertain. “Could he be using some dark art?”
“Whatever he’s doing, it’s clearly at a critical stage. We can’t just sit here,” Bai Jianjun said.
“Father, what’s your plan?” Bai Yujing asked.
Bai Jianjun lowered his voice. “We need to stop him from continuing.”
Bai Yujing caught on instantly.
They no longer cared about the old man’s fate—whether he lived or died, they’d come out on top either way.
“Alright, we’ll do it your way, Father.”
With that, they headed toward the entrance.
Soon, guards blocked their path.
“Move!” Bai Jianjun drew his sidearm, pressing it to a guard’s forehead. “Stop me again, and I’ll shoot.”
“Sorry, duty calls. I can’t comply. Shoot if you must,” the guard replied.
“You think I won’t?” Bai Jianjun snarled, cocking the gun.
Just then, “whoosh whoosh whoosh”—a squad of armed guards poured out of the hospital, submachine guns in hand.
In an instant, every barrel pointed at the Bai duo.
Bai Jianjun was stunned and furious. “What are you doing? Staging a coup?”
No response.
“I’m warning you—get out of my sight, or you’ll regret it,” he barked again.
Still, no one budged.
The guards stood resolute, as if deaf to his threats.
Bai Jianjun nearly spat blood in rage.
Bai Yujing fumed too. In the past, who’d dare obstruct them?
But ever since Ye Qiu crashed that wedding, everything had changed.
“Forget it, Father. Let’s wait. I refuse to believe we won’t see Grandfather tonight,” Bai Yujing urged.
“You bastards, just wait—I won’t let this slide,” Bai Jianjun huffed, storming back to the car.
…
On the rooftop.
All forty-nine lanterns had been obliterated by lightning.
The thunder ceased.
The lightning stopped.
Everyone exhaled, their eyes brimming with uncontainable excitement and relief.
“Did Ye Qiu succeed?”
“Looks like it—otherwise, why would the thunder and lightning stop?”
“But why hasn’t Grandfather woken up?” Bai Bing’s words silenced the group again.
“Maybe General Bai’s been bedridden too long and needs time to come around,” Zhang Jiuling suggested uncertainly.
Tang Lao marveled, “I never imagined the life-extension method would be so strange—lightning striking down like that.”
Zhang Jiuling explained, “Life-extension defies the heavens and angers the Dao. The lightning is a punishment.”
“It’s like in cultivation novels or xianxia dramas—powerful figures must face tribulations to advance.”
“Succeed, and their cultivation breaks through. Fail, and they perish.”
“Life-extension’s the same. Success is fine—failure means death, soul scattered.”
He glanced deeply at Ye Qiu. “Xiao Ye’s medical skill is incredible—far beyond mine.”
“Next time they pick the National Medical Sage, I’ll nominate him.”
“Then, we’ll see the youngest Sage in history…”
“Look! General Bai’s moving!” Long Ye suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone snapped their heads up.
General Bai sat bolt upright on the bed, face pale, eyes shut, body rigid.
If he were dressed in a Qing Dynasty scholar’s robe, he’d look like a zombie.
The sight unnerved them all.
Bai Bing’s face drained of color, her heart uneasy.
“This… it’s not a corpse transformation, is it?” Long Ye stammered, terrified.
The changes in General Bai eerily matched tales of the dead rising.
Tang Lao and Zhang Jiuling grew solemn.
As tension mounted, thunder exploded again.
Then, with astonishing speed, a bolt of lightning streaked toward General Bai’s head.
