Chapter Two: The Feline Nurse

Upon awakening after making his choice between the black and white suits, Huasheng found himself lying in bed. The comforter and pillow were exceedingly soft, exuding the distinctive scent of freshly laundered linens.

A sharp pain suddenly seized his chest, so intense that he nearly lost consciousness again. The agony was nearly unbearable, but at least it proved he was alive.

Huasheng told himself that, for a sixteen-year-old, pain was preferable to death.

He began to recall what had happened before. The man in the black and white suit had mentioned “Sun Wukong” to him. He would be sent somewhere—could this be that place?

He looked around: the snow-white ceiling, sheets, and bedding suggested a typical single hospital room. The door was ajar, and from outside came muffled noises, occasionally accompanied by the clatter of metal instruments.

It sounded unmistakably like a hospital.

Huasheng tried to get up and look, but his body felt utterly depleted, as if all strength had been drained away.

While enduring this sensation akin to high-level paralysis, a fuzzy pink object suddenly flashed past the open doorway, moving from the floor upwards.

He was startled. What on earth was that?

It looked like a tail. And when it swung, it was at least half a meter long!

Huasheng’s hair stood on end, and cold sweat drenched his clothes in seconds. Eyes wide open, he stared intently outside, unwilling to miss even the smallest movement—even a mosquito.

Suddenly, the pink furry tail flicked again.

He couldn’t help but gasp. It was indeed a tail, at least half a meter long, possibly closer to a meter. If the tail was that long, what kind of creature was lurking outside? Why was there no sound of animals?

Huasheng kept listening for any trace of movement. Then, he saw a girl in a nurse’s uniform enter the room. Though her face was human, she sported cat ears, and behind her trailed the pink tail.

Was this some kind of anime convention?

His first thought was that he was at a cosplay or gaming expo. He’d attended such events before and always saw people in extraordinary costumes, striding about or lounging on the floor. In that lively environment, such attire was not at all strange. But here, in the quiet hospital, with no thumping music, it felt out of place.

“Meow! You’re awake?” The cat nurse, holding a stack of medical records, exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Huasheng.

She even meowed—real people rarely speak that way. She must be an especially committed cosplayer!

“Where is this?” Huasheng asked.

“It’s a hospital, meow~”

Her voice nearly made his bones melt. Was this a reality show? He glanced around the corners of the room, but saw no cameras or GoPro devices. It didn’t seem like a TV set.

“What kind of hospital?”

“This is Saint Pingning Hospital! Looks like your consciousness is coming back!”

Yes, he had heard the name Saint Pingning before. Was he already in this strange new world?

Huasheng struggled, trying to sit up, but his head moved only ten centimeters before he collapsed again. The scar on his head still ached faintly, reminding him of Brother Xu—over two months had passed since that incident.

“Thumbs up for you, meow~”

“Why a thumbs up?” Huasheng asked in confusion. “I can barely move.”

“Because when someone’s in trouble, everyone gives a thumbs up!” The cat nurse covered her mouth with a record card, laughing like a silver bell.

“Seriously… What kind of values do you people have!” Huasheng nearly choked. Meanwhile, the laughter seemed to bounce off the walls, and he saw the buds in the vase bloom as if by magic.

The cat nurse glanced at Huasheng and took a small pill box from her pocket, filled with colorful candies.

“Here, the doctor said to give you medicine as soon as you woke up.”

She poured a glass of warm water and pressed a button on the bed rail, causing the backrest to rise slowly. Huasheng adjusted his position and, with difficulty, raised his leaden arm to take the candy, examining it closely.

“This is medicine?”

“Yes!” The cat nurse wrote something on the medical records. “Meow! Remember to swallow it with warm water!”

Huasheng still hesitated, holding the cup.

The cat nurse looked at him. “Is there dirt in the water? I just poured it. Don’t worry, I don’t shed fur. If I did, could I work in a hospital? Meow…”

That made sense—there were never shedding pets like cats or dogs in hospitals.

Wait, Huasheng thought, hospitals wouldn’t keep pets at all; this had nothing to do with shedding!

Half-convinced, he placed the pill in his mouth; it had a faint mint flavor but was also bitter. He tried biting it, but it was too hard, so he swallowed it with warm water.

“What does it do?”

“It restores your energy, so you can be discharged soon.”

“So miraculous?” Huasheng gaped. In his current state, even lifting a cup was a challenge. With wounds all over and getting out of bed nearly impossible, discharge seemed absurd. “What’s the medicine called?”

“Ninefold Rejuvenation Pill. It’s a rare prescription, not given to ordinary patients. Meow~” The cat nurse continued flipping through her records.

It sounded like one of those old Chinese herbal remedies. Huasheng asked, “What ingredients does it have?”

“Hmm… The main components are sulfur and mercury—yes, mercury. Also carbon, tin, lead, copper, gold, silver, jade. Amazing stuff! Take enough and you might ascend to heaven!”

“Ugh…” Huasheng pressed his tongue, trying to force the pill back out. “By ‘discharge,’ do you mean heavy metal poisoning will send me straight to heaven?”

“Hey, hey, don’t!” The cat nurse shook her large ears. “Don’t waste it. You’re not eating metal chunks. There are over forty ingredients—cinnabar, three yellows, boulder, and so on. It’s good for you, meow!”

“These ingredients sound anything but healthy!” Huasheng shouted. “Treating a weak patient like this—do you know any medicine at all? Are you some crooked private hospital just out to scam people?”

“Eh? Don’t you feel much better now? Just a moment ago you could barely move, but now you’re lively enough to yell at me.” The cat nurse looked aggrieved.

Indeed, it was true. Huasheng realized the pain had faded, and he was sitting upright without noticing. Did the medicine really work? Yet the remedy sounded like a trick used in rural shaman rituals.

“Well… it does seem to help.”

“Of course! We’re a hospital—saving lives, healing the sick, meow~ We’d never harm anyone.”

“Sorry, I misjudged you.” Huasheng felt a twinge of guilt.

“No problem! Doctor-patient relationships everywhere suffer from misunderstanding. It’s the same everywhere.” The cat nurse put down her records. “If you’re feeling better, shall I help you walk a bit? It’s morning, and the staff from the Household Department will come fetch you after discharge. There’s still much to be done.”

Standing up, Huasheng felt refreshed and clear-headed. He marveled at the world’s wonders—the ancient elixirs truly were miraculous and shouldn’t be dismissed.

With the cat nurse’s support, Huasheng paced the room. He touched his wounds and found they had healed; even old scars had faded.

He stepped into the corridor, which was no different from any normal hospital. Occasionally, he saw other cat nurses with gray or white tails walking back and forth.

Returning to the room, the cat nurse retrieved a brand-new jacket from the cabinet. The garment was silver and black, light as cicada wings in his hands. On the left chest, four elegant characters were embroidered in silver thread: Academy of Arts and Dao.

“What’s the Academy of Arts and Dao?”

“It’s the public academy here. Every child has to attend. The jacket was sent by staff from Saint Pingning’s Household Department—they’ll soon help you with school registration and accommodation.”

Huasheng changed into the jacket. With the cat nurse’s help, he completed discharge procedures at the hospital front desk. The process was simple: he signed a stack of forms, with no mention of fees. Even if there were, he had no money to pay.

After signing, a familiar voice sounded behind him.

“Hello, Huasheng!”

He turned and saw “Black Suit,” arms crossed, standing behind him, now dressed in a black Han robe.

“Welcome to Saint Pingning Wonderland!” The man smiled mysteriously. “Are you ready to have all your beliefs overturned?”