Chapter 00174: Blessings and Curses
# Blessings and Curses
Chapter 174
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 174: Blessings and Curses
At this moment, the core that truly formed the Time Ruins, established the Demonic Realm, and twisted reality... appeared before Ji Jue.
The cause was an incurable disease that could not be redeemed.
The foundation was the countless despairing patients who suffered eternally.
The ultimate sacrifice, the willingness to achieve something, was the unwavering determination to seek redemption even as death approached.
The powerless doctors had given their all, even sacrificing their souls, offering their final prayers and wishes to the world.
Thus, a transformation occurred.
Even if they lost everything, as long as this determination remained, they would never abandon their patients, never betray their vows, and never allow the poison and corruption to continue existing in this world!
Even if the thing that was about to spread poison and corruption became themselves.
That resolute expression was right before Ji Jue's eyes.
"..."
Ji Jue stood dumbfounded, unable to speak.
The doctor's face twitched, bathed in the bloody rain, as if he were crying, or perhaps, smiling bitterly.
"I'm not a good doctor."
His lips trembled as he murmured wearily, "I... I can't remember... so many things, I can't remember. Who am I? What happened to everyone...?"
"They're sick, everyone is sick, and I'm sick too."
"I don't know how to save myself, nor how to save them... It's all my fault..."
"What has everyone become?"
He struggled to lift his head, wanting to look around, but he couldn't find any signs of redemption or healing.
There were only wails, tumors, and the bloody rain falling, submerging the gradually collapsing and disintegrating hospital.
Gradually, he came to a realization: "In the end, I couldn't save a single person."
Boom!
A sound of cracking came from the sky above.
Or perhaps, from the cracks in his body.
A faint glow appeared, entwining around the transformed marrow of the Evil Fool, as if using his own blood to wash away the poison of corruption, gradually seeping into it.
And then, finally, he let go of his hands.
He looked at the young man before him.
"The final training for the resident doctor is over."
The doctor's figure flickered, as if about to shatter along with the world, but he paid no heed.
Instead, he raised his hand and took off his work badge from his neck.
Carefully, he held it up and placed it around Ji Jue's neck, smoothing out a wrinkle on his collar with great care.
"I don't know who you are... but I know that what you said is true... I know..."
The old doctor smiled one last time.
Looking at the best newcomer he had ever mentored, he told him:
"You must be a good doctor..."
In that instant, Ji Jue, still in a daze, instinctively reached out as if trying to hold onto the dissipating illusion.
But the hands that could create all the beauty in the world could not hold onto anything this time, grasping only empty air once more.
Only scattered light spilled from his fingertips, swaying as it flew into the sky.
In his daze, it seemed as if someone laughed.
Finally, a hand reached out.
Gently, it patted his shoulder.
"..."
Ji Jue remained silent, lowering his head to see the work badge hanging on his chest and the strange, sharp bone in his hand, which now glowed like crystal after shedding its blood and darkness.
A proud identity, a tool to redeem the sick.
They had entrusted all their precious possessions to him.
But why?
"I was lying to you," Ji Jue whispered softly.
It was just a casual remark, a pretense of empathy, acting like a compassionate savior, putting on a convincing show.
Did you fall for it?!
It was all an act.
I've been faking tears to get pocket money since I was four.
Only a fool would take it seriously.
But every time, it worked like a charm.
Someone would always smile helplessly, take his hand, and lead him to the shiny store windows.
Back then, the sky was blue, the summer breeze blew under the shade of trees, and the sunlight bathed the earth.
Everything was as beautiful as a fairy tale.
He closed his eyes and silently cursed.
Cursed again.
Until he heard the sound of staggering footsteps approaching from afar.
"Tong Hua."
On the ruins, Tong Hua, who was stumbling forward, paused slightly and looked up at the figure standing in the bloody rain, hearing his voice:
"Go prepare for isolation and protection."
"Huh?"
Tong Hua was confused.
"Did I not make myself clear?"
Ji Jue turned around, his badge fluttering on his white coat, and repeated, "Don't just stand there, and don't keep the patients waiting... They're not liars, and neither am I!"
He said, "Prepare for surgery."
In that instant, all the wails in the bloody rain came to an abrupt halt.
Behind the gradually dissipating rain, something indistinct seemed to emerge.
The Time Ruins, on the verge of collapse, seemed to have found a pillar once more.
Hanging on by a thread, refusing to perish!
It wasn't over yet.
There was still a doctor here!
Ten minutes later, a gurney was wheeled out from the ruins and brought before Ji Jue, fully equipped with various tools.
The flattest part of the ruins had become an operating table.
A massive, shriveled tumor, as large as a car, had been placed on a makeshift sterile sheet.
On the undulating surfaces, hollow eyes shed tears, staring blankly at the doctor before them, the doctors.
Their lips moved silently.
They no longer had the strength to pray or call out.
"Let's consider your pre-op preparations done."
Ji Jue reached out and touched their faces: "Cooperate a little. It's the first time for all of us. My first time as a doctor, your first time being cured, your first time dying."
He said, "I promise."
Perhaps, he would never be a good doctor in this lifetime.
Ji Jue was well aware of this.
He lacked patience and so-called compassion, had no tolerance for fools and idiots, and couldn't help but frown at the troubles people brought upon themselves.
He couldn't endlessly extend a helping hand to patients over and over again.
When he saw someone heading for their own doom, he would stand by and watch with a cold smile.
The only thing about him that remotely resembled a doctor was his knack for saying, "There's no hope," "Just wait to die," and "Goodbye."
Why would someone come out of nowhere and tell him he must be a good doctor?
What's the difference between that kind of last words and a curse?!
Encouraging someone to study medicine is like asking to be struck by lightning!
Besides, he was smoothly walking the path of a craftsman.
In the future, he would have power, wealth, and influence at his fingertips, with a bright future ahead.
Don't mess up someone else's life plan with all this nonsense, okay?
So, let's just treat it as... an occasional guest appearance.
Don't expect too much from me.
"Longing for death, right?"
Ji Jue gripped the bone knife tightly, "The essence born from your desires aligns perfectly with your wish."
The despair that denies hope and the longing for death after denying life, combined with the final mercy of the doctors, manifested as this crystal-clear blade.
Faint traces of blood seemed to flow on its surface.
Under the catalysis of Non-Aggression, the bone shattered piece by piece, disintegrating into ash after the deconstruction spell.
Without hesitation, Ji Jue removed the various essences, extravagantly wasting the power that originally held infinite potential.
There was no difficulty at all, as if it were cooperating with Ji Jue's crafting, flowing smoothly without any hindrance.
In the end, what appeared in Ji Jue's hand was a slightly curved bone knife, about forty centimeters long, shaped like a scalpel but more exaggerated than the usual models.
A faint, transparent blade extended from it, as beautiful as a dream.
Just like the dream of redemption itself.
The moment he raised the knife, Ji Jue couldn't help but recall a conversation he once had with Professor Ye.
"Professor, if the Divine Hand and the Primacy of Spirit work together, can they really remove a soul?"
At the time, Professor Ye told him, "Theoretically, it's possible."
Now, he wanted to ask again, "Director Qian, can a doctor really save patients?"
Unfortunately, no one answered.
But in the depths of his mind, it seemed as if a resolute answer came.
Telling him—
—Absolutely!
Doctors can save patients.
Doctors will save patients.
This time, the doctor will definitely save the patients!
In that instant, Ji Jue looked up.
At the cracked sky, where a faint illusion seemed to appear, so fleeting, like a mirage... like a pale building, so vast it seemed to fill the entire sky.
Though bathed in infinite light, it held no warmth or mercy.
The Paradise at the End of Life, the Great Sin·White Hall that denies life and death itself, appeared here.
Indifferently overlooking.
Mocking the overconfident challengers, the challengers!
And so, in that moment, Ji Jue decisively made the first cut on the patient before him.
The doctor had begun the surgery!
.
Anesthesia, skipped.
Disinfection, skipped.
Analysis of the condition, skipped!
With Tong Hua, well-protected, providing detection and readings, Ji Jue wielded the knife, cutting into the flesh before him...
The doctor would save the patient.
The doctor would go all out to kill the patient!
In an instant, blood gushed like a waterfall, countless writhing organs and limbs spilling out from the incision, spreading and wailing.
Within the shriveled tumor, countless new growths sprouted once more.
The brief weakening could not suppress the mutated life.
The incurable disease still raged.
Ji Jue could have repeated his old trick, grafting himself into it and using the power of his wrist device to drain the corruption and mutation.
But the cost would be the complete destruction of everything except himself.
The patients' consciousness and souls would forever merge with the mutation, sucked away to who knows where, never to be freed.
But now, what he had to do was to completely separate the consciousness and souls that had already merged with the flesh from this immortal body!
Yes, just as Professor Ye had demanded.
To extract the spirit from the form!
No need to hesitate or be cautious, no need to look back...
This time, under the guidance of Non-Aggression, the chaotic flesh was easily smoothed out.
Then, the bone knife in his hand struck down.
The clear, transparent blade seemed to exist between reality and illusion, simultaneously cutting through the intertwined body and soul.
The despair of extinguished hope and the death longed for by life were harmonized by mercy, effortlessly separating the intricate relationship between the two.
And more importantly, a guidance emerged from instinct.
"Three inches inward, remove the tumor, then cut from the side."
"Bony growths and organs aren't the focus, leave them aside, don't worry about them."
"The nerves, lymph, and internal organs here are tangled together. Seal them off temporarily. The regenerated tissue will be even more chaotic after removal."
"Compared to the disordered flesh, the entanglement of souls is the real issue."
The moment he made the cut, a voice seemed to echo in his mind, guiding him as if it were instinct, familiar yet unfamiliar, as if he had heard it before.
In the hospital's conference room...
In a brief moment of daze, Ji Jue looked up and saw, in the empty air before him, the faint figures of doctors appearing, smiling at him, offering guidance and encouragement.
Using the scalpel as a medium, this knowledge and experience flowed into Ji Jue's movements without any hindrance or pause.
For a moment, the wails ceased.
In the sudden silence, Ji Jue's hands plunged into the chaotic flesh, the bone knife moving fluidly, removing all attached adhesions, dissolving the boundaries between souls.
And the other hand, wrapped in the Non-Aggression matrix, reached out and firmly grasped, not allowing the tiny soul and consciousness to slip through his fingers.
This time, he finally caught it.
"Come out!"
Blood gushed, limbs writhed.
The perfect coordination between the Primacy of Spirit and the Divine Hand allowed the flesh to act upon the soul.
Locking, separating, and then reconstructing.
In an instant, he finally grasped the crucial thread amidst the chaos.
Pulling it out!
A piercing cry rang out, right in Ji Jue's hand!
A small piece of flesh wriggled, dragging a rotten umbilical cord, completely extracted from the tumor.
The undeveloped limbs twitched, and on the blurred face, the first tear since birth finally fell.
A baby.
"Didn't expect to still be doing obstetrics work at this point."
Ji Jue chuckled self-deprecatingly, reaching out to carefully wipe away the spoiled amniotic fluid from its face.
The cries grew louder, the child greedily breathing, screaming, and crying.
The dark, shiny eyes moved with all their might, finally looking at Ji Jue.
The lips moved for a moment.
As if thanking him, a relieved smile appeared.
Then, it quickly withered, cracked, and turned to ash, blowing away into the distance.
Only a piece of mutated, shriveled flesh remained, which Ji Jue tossed into the trash.
It was born, and then it met death.
And a thread of spiritual light broke free from the pollution of the White Hall, soaring freely to a place where evil could not reach.
"Patient One, cured."
Ji Jue murmured softly to himself.
In the hallucinations in his ears, he seemed to hear ecstatic cheers and shouts.
The blessings entrusted to the scalpel glowed brighter and brighter!
Crack!
Another fissure appeared in the sky, intersecting like bars, making the projection of the White Hall even more distant and fleeting.
But on the other side of the sky, something immense and formless began to rise, summoned by the call, looking down.
Then, faint stars gathered like embers, silently burning like fuel in a celestial furnace... while on the other side, the eyes in the stagnant furnace glowed faintly.
And on the ground, the surgery continued.
Everything had just begun.
(End of Chapter)