In the Seventh Sense vision, the pink energy flow gently caressed Shen Xingkong’s heart like a warm breeze.
Shen Xingkong gradually felt his heartbeat speeding up, and he could see the “meatball” pulsating with more power. He was careful not to push his heart too far, too fast, avoiding a scenario where his brain might burst a blood vessel.
He closely monitored his body’s reactions, and after about ten minutes, he slightly increased the flow of warm energy. After another ten minutes, he increased it again. This way, the color of the energy flow in the Seventh Sense vision deepened, and its volume grew, but each time Shen Xingkong increased the energy flow, he did so cautiously. Only after confirming that his heart and brain were handling it well did he fully release his consciousness, allowing the warm flow to impact his heart completely.
The night outside was already deep, with stars scattered across the sky, and crickets singing.
In his bedroom, Shen Xingkong sat on his bed, his face flushed, his mouth wide open, gasping for breath as if he had just finished running a three-kilometer cross-country race.
His Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian was now filled with a massive amount of warm energy, and his heart was beating so fast it felt like it might leap out of his throat. His head was also spinning. Shen Xingkong calmly realized that he needed to stop now, or else he might end up on the front page of tomorrow’s news: "Unidentified Male Corpse Found in Local Neighborhood."
Decisively, he pulled out the honeybee-tail gold needle, got out of bed, and opened the window. He breathed in the cold night air deeply, and after a long time, his body finally calmed down.
He wasn’t sure how much this exercise had strengthened his heart and blood vessels. However, since he would be starting his internship at the hospital the next day, he knew that the hospital had many medical devices, such as ultrasound machines, which should be able to detect even subtle changes in his heart and blood vessels.
Shen Xingkong had already planned it out. After each training session, he would use ultrasound to check his progress, record the results, and compare them to see if there were any improvements.
By now, it was already 2 a.m. Shen Xingkong hummed a tune as he walked to the bathroom to enjoy a hot bath before going to bed.
Since acquiring his special abilities, Shen Xingkong found he needed less sleep. While most people needed at least six hours of sleep each day, he only needed three. At 6 a.m., Shen Xingkong opened his eyes and lay in bed, reminiscing about the joys of sleeping in. It seemed that those days were over.
With no other choice, he got up, dressed, washed up, and had breakfast. Today, he didn’t have to go to school. According to Professor Shi’s arrangement, Shen Xingkong was to start his clinical internship at the medical college’s affiliated hospital as a doctor’s assistant. The affiliated hospital was farther from his home than the medical college; it would take about an hour to get there by bus.
The affiliated hospital of the medical college wasn’t very large. It was built in the 1960s and consisted of only two buildings: the outpatient department and the inpatient department. The walls were cement, and there were still some slogans from the last century on them, such as “Proletarian Dictatorship.” As Shen Xingkong walked into the outpatient department, the smell of disinfectant hit him, and he saw many patients, doctors, and nurses moving around the lobby.
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At the reception desk, Shen Xingkong asked for directions to Professor Shi’s office, which was on the second floor. He walked up the stairs and quickly found the sign for the Internal Medicine Chief Physician’s Office.
“Knock, knock!” Shen Xingkong knocked twice on the door and then cautiously pushed it open, seeing Professor Shi inside talking to another doctor.
“Hehe, you’re here, Shen Xingkong?” Professor Shi warmly greeted Shen Xingkong.
“Good morning, Professor. What should I do today?” Shen Xingkong walked over to Professor Shi, looked around, and felt a bit at a loss.
“Today, you’ll start by going on rounds with Dr. Guo to check on the patients in the ward. Afterward, we can discuss their conditions together.” Professor Shi smiled and pointed to the doctor sitting across from him.
This doctor looked to be in his forties, with deep-set eyes and a somewhat eerie appearance. If he were to star in a Hong Kong zombie movie, he wouldn’t even need makeup; he could act alongside the late Lam Ching-Ying.
Dr. Guo showed no expression when he heard Professor Shi’s words. His eyes slowly shifted towards Shen Xingkong, and his attitude was anything but friendly.
“You’re the student who came here to be Professor Shi’s assistant? I heard from Professor Shi that you’re only in your second year of college? Is that correct?”
“Yes, Dr. Guo. Please take care of me from now on.” Shen Xingkong smiled. He was already used to being looked down upon at school.
“You’re lucky to be Professor Shi’s assistant. Make sure you cherish this opportunity.” Dr. Guo’s words were flat, leaving Shen Xingkong feeling uncomfortable. Then, with a nod to Professor Shi, Dr. Guo got up and left the office.
Shen Xingkong glanced back at Professor Shi, who motioned for him to follow Dr. Guo. With no other choice, Shen Xingkong quickly caught up with Dr. Guo, and they headed to the inpatient department together. On the way, Dr. Guo was very cold and didn’t say a word to Shen Xingkong, but Shen Xingkong didn’t mind. He walked around with his hands behind his back, looking around as if everything in the hospital was new to him.
The inpatient department of the affiliated hospital wasn’t very large either, with four floors housing about two hundred patients.
In a city as big as Z City, residents could easily go to larger hospitals like the City Hospital or a joint venture hospital, but the affiliated hospital of the medical college was located near the suburbs, and there were no other hospitals within a ten-kilometer radius. So, many nearby patients who were not well off financially or who didn’t have severe illnesses chose to seek treatment here.
Dr. Guo took Shen Xingkong through every ward from the first to the fourth floor. However, Dr. Guo still didn’t say a word to Shen Xingkong, nor did he explain anything. He just went about his routine checks and medical record entries, as if Shen Xingkong were invisible.
When they reached a ward on the fourth floor, Shen Xingkong couldn’t hold back any longer. He noticed that the patient in the bed looked quite healthy, and his curiosity was piqued. He wondered why someone who seemed so healthy would be staying in a hospital. Did they have money to burn, or were they just treating the hospital like a hotel?
“Dr. Guo, what illness does this man have?” Shen Xingkong asked.
Dr. Guo didn’t respond to Shen Xingkong, acting as though he hadn’t heard him. He simply continued with his checks, using a thermometer and a stethoscope on the patient in the bed.
Shen Xingkong didn’t press further, knowing it wasn’t appropriate to interrupt a doctor while they were listening to a patient’s heartbeat. But as soon as Dr. Guo finished his examination and walked out of the ward towards the next room, Shen Xingkong caught up to him and asked again.
“Dr. Guo, what illness does that man have?”
Dr. Guo acted as if he were deaf, ignoring Shen Xingkong entirely, with no expression on his gloomy face. When they reached the door of the next ward, Dr. Guo reached out to push the door open.
“Smack!”
Suddenly, Dr. Guo’s hand, which was holding the door, was grabbed. He froze for a moment and finally turned to look at Shen Xingkong.
With a smile on his face, Shen Xingkong leaned in close—just a centimeter away from touching him—and asked slowly and deliberately, “Professor Shi is going to ask me about the patients later. If I don’t know anything, what do you expect me to tell him?”