436. All meridians severed

Ye Feng’s condition was dire—extremely dire! The blow from Chi Huo had shattered every meridian in his body, and not only that, all his internal organs had suffered grievous injuries, each teetering on the brink of collapse.

Four days had passed. Every life-sustaining device available was hooked up to Ye Feng, yet his vital signs continued to fade, little by little. All of Ye Feng’s women stood by his bedside, eyes blurred with tears. Even Huaihuai’s shadowy figure wore a look of deep distress; he had done all he could, but there was simply nothing more to be done.

Just as everyone was at their wits’ end, little Shize spoke up, “Let out Little Dragon. He knows how to save Daddy.”

His words stunned the women and Huaihuai alike. Little Dragon? Who was that?

“Shize, tell Mommy quickly, who is Little Dragon?” Ji Ludan asked in a rush.

“Little Dragon is inside the round ball,” Shize replied, making a gesture of a sphere with his hands.

“The Heavenly Dragon Core?” Huaihuai blurted out in astonishment.

But aside from Ye Feng himself, no one could open his spatial ring; the Heavenly Dragon Core was simply out of reach.

Suddenly, inspiration struck Huaihuai. “Quick, call Ye Xiaofeng here!”

The clever Hua Nongying caught on immediately and rushed to give the order. Soon, Ye Xiaofeng was brought over.

As Ye Xiaofeng was Ye Feng’s clone, sharing an almost identical soul, it stood to reason that he might be able to open Ye Feng’s spatial ring. Understanding at once what Huaihuai was getting at, Ye Xiaofeng made the attempt without hesitation. Sure enough, the ring opened, and he swiftly produced the Heavenly Dragon Core.

“Shize, what should we do?” Ji Ludan, seeing the Heavenly Dragon Core for the first time, had no time for astonishment. She shook Shize gently, urging him for answers.

“Little Dragon said, just place the round ball on Daddy’s chest. He’ll save him,” Shize replied, straining to get the words out.

Without another word, Ye Xiaofeng did as he was told, and everyone waited in anxious hope for a miracle.

Yet the effect of the Heavenly Dragon Core was not as immediate as the women had imagined. Outwardly, Ye Feng’s condition showed no improvement. Only Huaihuai could discern the changes taking place within.

Through his scans, Huaihuai could clearly see what was happening inside Ye Feng. The shattered meridians were slowly knitting themselves back together. Though the process was painstakingly slow, it was evident that Ye Feng’s condition had stabilized, even if the medical monitors outside showed no sign of it.

But what puzzled Huaihuai was that the meridians within Ye Feng’s body were now a tangled mess, reconnecting in patterns unlike any before—not in accordance with the traditional meridian maps of the human body.

“Oh, heavens, just what is this Heavenly Dragon Core trying to do?” Huaihuai murmured under his breath.

“What did you say?” Ye Shihan asked.

“Ye Feng’s meridians are indeed healing, but not following the human meridian pathways!” Huaihuai explained.

“What does that mean? How is Ye Feng now?” Amy pressed anxiously.

“Ye Feng’s physical condition is improving; barring unforeseen complications, he’ll recover fully. But I have no idea what effect the changes to his meridians will have,” Huaihuai replied.

“What’s the worst-case scenario?” Lisa demanded.

“There is no worst-case scenario—this is beyond anything I’ve ever seen, beyond any record in history. I have no way to predict what will happen. But I am certain of one thing: Ye Feng’s body will be all right,” Huaihuai shrugged, admitting his helplessness.

Upon hearing this, the women finally breathed a collective sigh of relief. No matter what else happened, as long as Ye Feng lived, that was enough.

Once Ye Feng was stable, questions began to arise. How had little Shize known that the Heavenly Dragon Core could save Ye Feng, and just who was this Little Dragon he spoke of? Was there some living being inside the core? And how had Shize come to know it?

“Shize, tell Mommy, does Little Dragon live inside the round ball?” Ji Ludan voiced the question on everyone’s mind.

“Yes.” Shize nodded solemnly at the sphere.

“Then tell Mommy, how did you meet Little Dragon?” she asked.

“I don’t know…” Shize scrunched up his face and shook his head, his adorable expression making everyone laugh, even as it left them all the more perplexed.

Ever since he’d been sent back to Paradise Island, Shize had not seen the Heavenly Dragon Core again. The only connection between them had been that time—the soul transfer.

At this thought, Huaihuai exclaimed, “Could it have been during the soul transfer?”

“Soul transfer?” The women had no idea how Shize had returned; Huaihuai, caught up in the moment, let it slip before he could reconsider.

“Do you really want to know?” Huaihuai ventured, hoping they might let the matter drop.

“Yes!” More than a dozen voices rang out as one, their collective force startling Huaihuai into silence.

“All right, since you wish to know, I’ll tell you plainly. There was a little mishap when Ye Feng and I were rescuing Shize. Before setting out, as a precaution, I prepared a soul storage device for Ye Feng. When we arrived, we discovered that the deranged Angus had rigged Shize’s body with explosives. In the end, we had to abandon Shize’s physical form,” Huaihuai recounted calmly.

“Then whose child is he?” Ji Ludan’s expression grew troubled.

“As I said, I had prepared a soul storage device. The moment Shize’s body was blown apart, I collected samples of his tissue, Ye Feng stored his soul, and after we escaped back to America, we constructed a new body for Shize, just like Ye Xiaofeng’s—a clone. But it wouldn’t affect Shize’s growth or development,” Huaihuai added, thinking to make a joke, but seeing Ji Ludan’s serious face, he dared not.

“So you’re saying Shize just changed bodies, nothing more?” Ji Ludan visibly relaxed.

“Yes, Shize is still Shize, just with a different body. This is quite normal in the future,” Huaihuai shrugged, as if accustomed to such things.

“That’s a relief,” Ji Ludan sighed.

“But what does this have to do with the Heavenly Dragon Core?” Ye Shihan interjected—her concern for Ye Feng paramount.

“Shize’s soul was transferred into his new body through the Heavenly Dragon Core. I remember during the process, Ye Feng said Shize had disappeared. I thought it was just his imagination, and when I contradicted him, he seemed uncertain, but a few seconds later, Shize’s soul reappeared and entered the new body, merging perfectly. We thought nothing more of it at the time, but looking back, Ye Feng may not have been mistaken. For those few seconds, Shize really did go somewhere within the Heavenly Dragon Core and met this Little Dragon,” Huaihuai explained.

Huaihuai’s words left everyone deep in thought.

[End of this chapter]