"That," Chen Huijie answered with a smile, "I'm not very sure about myself."
He continued smoothly,
"A few years ago I took several blows here. I never fully recovered, and it left complications. It aches from time to time, but it's been happening especially often lately, so I came to ask Mr. Aak to take a look and tell me exactly what's going on."
"Several blows? No, that's not it. Looking at your complexion, it should've been more recent… Forget it. Pay first, then come to my lab."
Aak gave him a surprised once-over, decided there was no point wasting words here, and tossed that out before turning back toward the lab to prepare.
Mr. Lee, meanwhile, took that little window of conversation to swap into the black coat he usually wore, then warmly ushered Chen Huijie inside to sit.
A commission like this, difficulty-wise, was practically free money delivered to the door.
As for the consultation fee, Chen Huijie could naturally afford it.
The moment Swire tossed him the wallet, he had weighed it by feel and more or less guessed how many notes were stuffed inside. He had already done the arithmetic in his head.
While Chen Huijie signed the commission agreement, Mr. Lee's brows lifted slightly in surprise.
It was not only because of the name Chen Huijie.
It was also because of the way the man wrote it.
One smooth, uninterrupted flow.
The signature possessed a distinct rhythm and resonance of its own.
Another person might simply have called it pleasing to the eye and left it at that.
But Mr. Lee prided himself on his attainments in talismanic arts.
And because of that, he could say with certainty—
This young man before him was one of his own kind.
And not at a low level, either.
The brushstrokes of that signature, if taken apart individually, faintly gave off the sensation of sword edges pricking at the skin. Combined with the man's round, perfectly sealed presence, he was unmistakably already in the state of hidden edge—a genuine master of the sword.
Sword and talismans cultivated together…
When exactly had Lungmen produced a young man like this?
Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary.
"Hey! If you've paid, then get in here already!"
Just as Mr. Lee was sinking into astonishment, Aak's head popped out from the direction of the lab and shouted impatiently.
Chen Huijie gave Lee a courteous smile and walked into the laboratory.
Aak's lab was arranged very neatly, and yet somehow still gave the impression of being chaotic.
All manner of medical equipment from entirely different systems could be found inside. Calling it a laboratory almost felt inaccurate. It was more like an exhibition hall of medical devices.
"Over here!"
Whatever else could be said of Aak, even half-awake he was brimming with energy.
The moment Chen Huijie shut the door, Aak seized his arm and dragged him toward the examination bed.
But just from that one pull, Aak immediately felt something was off.
He did not feel like he had grabbed hold of a person.
It was more like dragging some kind of doll.
Far too light.
Given his build, he shouldn't feel like this at all.
Please stop comparing me to all of you superhuman freaks.
Noticing the puzzled look in Aak's eyes, Chen Huijie smiled but did his complaining in silence.
Aak, meanwhile, paid the detail no mind. Whatever it was, the tests would reveal it.
"Heh heh heh. My medical methods are a little… unconventional."
Standing beside the examination bed, Aak flicked a syringe with a wicked little grin.
"If you want to regret this, you still have time. Of course, the deposit won't be refunded."
"In that case there's nothing to discuss. Go ahead. Can't let my money be wasted."
Saying that, Chen Huijie shut his eyes and made it clear Aak was free to proceed as he pleased.
About an hour later, Aak all but kicked a bewildered Chen Huijie back out of the lab.
Judging by the little doctor's expression, he was about to bury himself in analysis and study for quite some time yet.
…Well, aside from my chest hurting, I feel pretty healthy everywhere else.
Truthfully, after being manhandled by Aak for that full hour, Chen Huijie had started to feel a little uncertain.
By his own reckoning, it had been a full year since his Oripathy had mysteriously healed.
And during that year, he had never once undergone a formal medical checkup.
Whenever he felt physically unwell, he did no more than find someone to take his pulse and prescribe medicinal soups.
He had two reasons for that.
The first was practical:
If a checkup turned up something serious, his uncle and aunt would definitely insist that his health come first. At worst, they might even order him off duty to recuperate.
But at that time, the Guard Department had been in the middle of "cleaning house."
Chen Huijie did not trust anyone else to take over his post.
The second reason was even more important:
An outright cure for Oripathy.
That was simply too strange.
Possibly the first case on all of Terra.
Without absolute guarantees, Chen Huijie truly did not dare submit to a full medical examination. He was too afraid that if anything unusual appeared, it would draw the eyes of every interested power in the world.
He was not afraid of dying himself.
But his uncle would absolutely stake his life to protect him.
And after Lungmen had only just clawed its way back to vitality, the city would likely be thrown back into chaos again because of him.
As for why he dared do it now—
That was not only because he trusted Aak.
More importantly, there was an old saying: You can run from the monk, but not from the temple.
So then—
How do you catch a monk who has no temple?
That was the advantage of being undocumented.
Besides, that other Chen Huijie was not particularly competent yet, which meant Chen Huijie had to get his own body sorted out and see if he could clear the Memo "route" himself.
Hm?
Stepping out of the lab, Chen Huijie paused.
During the time he had been examined, the detective agency had received a new guest.
She wore long side bangs crossed over the forehead, with long locks framing her face. Her black dress hugged the line of her waist with a matching dark belt. Black tights traced the elegant, rounded shape of her long legs. In her pink hair, two round ears twitched now and then.
Lin Yuhsia…
I didn't expect our reunion to come so suddenly.
He murmured the words inwardly.
This graceful young woman was his other childhood friend.
She…
She…
"Mr. Chen? Is something wrong?"
Mr. Lee suddenly called out to him.
Other people might not have felt it, but Mr. Lee had very clearly sensed it just now. In that instant, the young man's emotions had nearly lost control. He had been smiling, yes—but beneath that smile, a frightening momentum had begun to stir in him, like a volcano on the verge of waking.
What on earth is going on with this young man?!
Lee's heart jolted. He immediately spoke up, fingers already sliding several talismans into his grip in case things turned ugly.
But in the next breath, his expression became complicated again.
Because that anger had vanished as quickly as it came.
Even if Lee had said nothing, Chen Huijie would have gathered it back in and returned to that same placid, unruffled state.
This person…
He's truly something else.
"It's nothing. The examination just brought back some unpleasant memories, so my expression slipped for a moment. I've worried you, Mr. Lee."
Chen Huijie waved lightly with a smile, then turned to Lin Yuhsia and spoke in a gentle tone:
"You must be Miss Lin Yuhsia, President of the Lungmen Young Entrepreneurs Association. I've long heard your name, but seeing you in person is even more impressive. You look far more spirited than you do on television. I wonder whether Miss Lin has any time at the moment. I'd like to consult you about a few matters related to entrepreneurship."
Lin Yuhsia had not expected this at all.
She had only been in office as President of the Lungmen Young Entrepreneurs Association for a matter of days, and this was the first young person who had ever actively approached her seeking advice on starting a business.
Granted, the young man in front of her resembled a certain infuriating person she disliked—but Lin Yuhsia was not the sort who would take out her feelings on an unrelated stranger.
And if she had to put it into words…
Though the resemblance in appearance was there, the atmosphere about him was almost the exact opposite. That contrast, if anything, gave her a very favorable first impression.
Under other circumstances, whether for the sake of her public role or simply because of that good first impression, she would absolutely have sat down and had a long, patient talk with him.
But not now.
Right now, absolutely not.
She still had not finished handling the matter her father had entrusted to her.
This time, no matter what, she had to do it cleanly and beautifully, so that old man would stop thinking she was incapable of anything.
"My apologies, but I still have business to attend to at the moment. If you have questions, you may come find me here."
With that, Lin Yuhsia handed Chen Huijie a business card and prepared to leave in haste.
At that moment, seeing how rushed and restless she was, Chen Huijie thought for a second—then activated Mystic Sight again and turned his gaze toward the sealed file bag on the table.
Smuggling?
He rapidly sifted through the cases from this point in time in his memory.
There was no corresponding record.
Which meant this smuggling matter had probably been handled privately on Lin's side in the other world and never passed into Guard Department hands.
But that did not mean he was helpless.
Even though, back in the other world, he himself had not been in Lungmen during this period, based on the Guard Department's records, later conversations with subordinates, and his own intimate knowledge of the city, he could still more or less reconstruct what Lungmen's situation at the time must have been.
From there, it was simply a matter of calculation.
Let me have one more look at the order sheet and see what exactly was being smuggled…
As Chen Huijie thought, a map of Lungmen unfolded in his mind.
Lungmen was his backyard.
He knew every blade of grass in it.
He even knew how many turns there were in abandoned drainage tunnels.
At this moment he was like a chess player overlooking a board, drawing on the information he had and the logic that followed from it, lighting up one street after another, crossing off landmarks, dividing and isolating sections of the city until the answer finally presented itself in full.
"President Lin, please wait."
Though a great deal had passed through Chen Huijie's mind, in real time it lasted only a few breaths.
He stopped Lin Yuhsia, borrowed pen and paper from the agency, and swiftly wrote down several locations.
The places on the sheet, however, were two more than the set he had actually inferred.
Those two were not added to improve accuracy.
They were meant for Lin Yuhsia—or rather, for her father's people—to quietly resolve on his behalf.
Call it his information fee.
"If you've hit a dead end, then perhaps try taking some people to these places for a look. You may find a pleasant surprise waiting."
Looking at the slip of paper he handed over, Lin Yuhsia raised an eyebrow in surprise.
After a brief pause, she looked at him and said,
"Come find me tomorrow. So long as it's lawful and proper, I'll help you with this business venture."
"Of course, Miss Lin. I—"
"Still thinking about starting a business when you don't even care whether you live or die, hm?"
Before Chen Huijie could finish, the lab door banged open.
Aak emerged holding a case file and looked straight at Chen Huijie.
"Do you even realize how bad your condition is? Look at this properly."
Chen Huijie accepted the medical report and scanned the various bodily indicators. He did not understand all of it, but the parts he could read did not stir much emotion in him.
Even before this, he had vaguely suspected that after his Oripathy healed, he might have gone from a draconic physiology back to something essentially human.
And if he was human, then numbers like these probably counted as normal enough.
"I'm telling you—given the state your body's in, even with proper care and treatment, the absolute longest you'll live is a hundred years."
A hundred years…
Isn't that pretty good?
That's literally a full long life.
Back in my first life, that'd count as a celebratory funeral.
Chen Huijie genuinely had not expected that after abusing his body this badly, he might still have the chance to live to a hundred.
It was an unexpected delight.
To everyone else in the room, however, it absolutely did not sound like good news.
A hundred years.
For certain races, that was barely even the end of youth.
And yet this would be the ceiling of this young man's life.
Looking at him, Mr. Lee's eyes filled with regret.
Such an outstanding young man…
How had it come to—
Wait.
Young man, why do you look almost happy about this?!
"Is there no treatment?"
Whatever confusion he might have had about Chen Huijie's reaction, Lee's惜才之心 still moved him to ask the question.
"All right, all right. Let's stop there regarding my case."
Before Aak could answer, Chen Huijie cut in.
Looking at Aak, he smiled and said,
"Mr. Aak, we agreed you would keep this confidential. You've already breached that agreement, so let's keep the rest between the two of us. Miss Lin—unless something unexpected happens, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Ah… yes. Tomorrow."
Lin Yuhsia stared at him, momentarily dazed.
To hear such terrible news and yet remain this composed…
There was not the slightest trace of fear of death in his eyes.
It was as though he had already made peace with his own fate.
At that moment, Lin Yuhsia decided she needed to observe him more closely.
There was a very real possibility that his potential exceeded even her own initial estimate.
And right now, she needed capable people.
There was absolutely no way she was going to ask her father to assign her subordinates to help.
She would prove to him that even without his assistance, she could still identify the right people and bring them in to accomplish her own goals.
As for this young man's health…
At worst, she could ask her old man for help.
If that failed, she could go to Madam Fumizuki.
Surely the two of them would have some solution.
After all, no matter how skilled Lee's Detective Agency might be, it could hardly compare with truly top-tier hospitals.
Right.
What was his name?
Having made up her mind, Lin Yuhsia was about to step out of the agency when a crucial question suddenly occurred to her.
But by then, Chen Huijie and Aak had already gone back into the lab.
Left with no choice, she turned to Lee instead.
"Mr. Lee. What's his name?"
"Chen Huijie."
"What?!"
…
"What?!"
The exact same cry sounded from inside and outside the lab at once.
Inside, Chen Huijie stared at the test report Aak had drawn out and said in disbelief,
"I dropped dead a few days ago?!"
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Succubus Chen Sir Reborn in Terra, with the Ability to See Affection Levels? (30 Chapter)
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