4: Chapter 4 Cold-Blooded Rules, Hospital Bills

"Bang!"

The door to the infirmary at Jiangnan City No. 3 High School was kicked open heavily.

"Doctor! Save him!"

Su Chen rushed in, carrying the charred Jiang Feng on his back. Fresh blood dripped from his pant leg onto the pristine white tiles, a shocking sight.

The on-duty school doctor was startled and rushed over to help lay Jiang Feng flat on the hospital bed. After just one glance, the doctor's expression changed: "Sternum fractured over a large area, such severe burns... This is fire poison caused by a high-Rank fire-type ability! His internal organs are failing. Quick! Go to the storeroom and get an 'Advanced Life Repair Fluid'!"

A nurse nearby quickly turned to get the keys.

"Stop!"

The curtain to the inner room was pulled aside, and the Dean walked out with his hands behind his back. He frowned as he looked at Jiang Feng on the bed, then at Su Chen, who was covered in blood.

"What happened? How could you get so badly injured in school?" the Dean asked in a low voice.

"Someone hit him." Su Chen looked at him, his tone calm. "Zhao Kuang."

Upon hearing the name "Zhao Kuang," the Dean's expression, which had previously held a hint of concern, instantly did a 180-degree turn. He immediately turned to the nurse who was holding the keys and shouted: "Don't take the repair fluid! Put it back!"

The nurse was stunned: "Dean, but this student..."

"I told you to put it back!" The Dean emphasized his tone.

Su Chen stepped forward: "He will die."

"He won't die that easily; he has an A-Grade Physique, after all." The Dean turned around and looked at Su Chen coldly. "Su Chen, Zhao Kuang just Awakened an S-Grade Talent. He is our Third High School's only hope for hitting the national rankings this year! He is also a key target of interest for the military! Why did you two go and provoke him?"

"It was him who struck first."

"Bullshit!" The Dean slammed the table. "An S-Grade Prodigy has his own pride. If he strikes, can't you just dodge? Can't you just bow your head and admit your mistake?"

Su Chen looked at the Dean's self-righteous face and said nothing.

The Dean thought Su Chen was in the wrong and snorted coldly, continuing to lecture: "There are only three vials of 'Advanced Life Repair Fluid' in the school treasury. They are strategic supplies reserved for the elites in the Advanced Class to save their lives during the college entrance exam practicals next month. Use them on an F-Grade piece of trash relegated to the Cannon Fodder Class and a fat guy who doesn't know the rules? Absolutely impossible!"

"I will pay for it." Su Chen said.

"Buy? A vial of repair fluid costs 200,000 on the market. What will you use to buy it? That few hundred dollars of slum welfare you get every month?"

The Dean casually rummaged through the medicine cabinet, pulled out two of the cheapest first-aid kits, and threw them at Su Chen's feet as if dismissing a beggar.

"Take these and get to a normal hospital outside immediately! And I'm warning you, this matter ends here! Regardless of who is right or wrong, you are not allowed to blow this out of proportion, and you are absolutely not allowed to call the police! If you two affect Zhao Kuang's mindset for the exam, I will expel you both tomorrow!"

The infirmary was deathly quiet.

The school doctor and nurse kept their heads down, not daring to say a word.

In this world, high-Rank Martial Artists are the law, they are the rules. For an S-Grade Genius destined to become a powerhouse, and a commoner with no future, the school didn't need to hesitate about who was more important.

Su Chen didn't look at the first-aid kits on the floor.

He just watched the Dean quietly.

In those deep, pitch-black eyes, there was no flicker of anger, only a calmness like a stagnant pool.

Yet, it was this gaze, devoid of any ripples, that made the Dean's heart tighten for no reason. He felt that he wasn't facing an eighteen-year-old student, but an assassin assessing how to snap his neck.

The Dean involuntarily took half a step back and shouted with feigned ferocity: "What are you looking at! Get out!"

Su Chen withdrew his gaze.

He didn't waste another word, bent down again, hoisted the unconscious Jiang Feng onto his back, and turned to walk out of the infirmary.

There was no arguing, nor was there any posturing with threats.

Because in Su Chen's logic, there was no need to waste breath on a dead man.

...

Jiangnan City Central Hospital, emergency rescue room.

The three big red characters "In Rescue" on the door had been lit for two full hours.

Su Chen leaned against the cold wall of the corridor, head bowed. His hands were stained with Jiang Feng's dried blood, and his originally pure white martial arts uniform had turned dark red.

People came and went in the corridor, and occasionally the sound of family members crying could be heard. Su Chen was like a lifeless sculpture, motionless.

"Click."

The door to the rescue room finally opened.

The attending physician took off his mask and walked out, his face full of exhaustion.

Su Chen stepped forward: "How is he?"

The physician looked at Su Chen's young age and sighed: "His life is temporarily saved. But..."

"Tell me straight."

"The external injuries are easy to handle, but the trouble is the fire poison that has invaded his body. This flame spiritual energy is extremely tyrannical; it is the rare 'Radiant Gold Flame'. Modern medical antibiotics and cell repair fluids are completely ineffective against it."

The physician took out a CT scan of the brain and internal organs, pointing to the large shadows on it: "The fire poison is constantly devouring his internal organs. We can only barely suppress it using a liquid nitrogen cryogenic chamber. If it isn't cleared as soon as possible, he won't last more than a month before his internal organs completely carbonize and he dies. Moreover, even if he survives, his Dantian and Qi Sea have been destroyed, so his martial arts Foundation for this life will be completely ruined."

Su Chen's expression didn't change, and his voice remained steady: "How do I clear this fire poison?"

The physician put away the CT scan: "A normal hospital cannot treat this kind of injury; you must use Spirit Medicine from the martial arts world. Currently, the only thing that can treat it is a Tier 2 top-grade Medicinal Pill — [ice heart jade marrow pill]."

"Where can I buy it?"

"You can't buy it at regular chambers of commerce or pharmacies; this level of Medicinal Pill is a controlled supply for the military and noble families." The physician lowered his voice. "You can only try your luck at the Underground Black Market."

The physician looked at Su Chen sympathetically: "There is no fixed price for goods on the black market. But according to past transaction records, a top-grade Medicinal Pill starts at at least one million Star Coins. Moreover, given his current physical condition, he can only wait three days at most. If he doesn't get the medicine within three days, even the gods won't be able to save him."

One million Star Coins, three days.

For an orphan living in the slums, relying on a monthly welfare payment of six hundred dollars, this was tantamount to a death sentence.

For ordinary people to move bricks in the outer city, even if they worked themselves to death, they would only earn three thousand a month. One million would take thirty years of earning without eating or drinking.

"I understand. Thank you, doctor."

Su Chen nodded and turned to walk toward the intensive care unit.

The physician looked at Su Chen's steady back, opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately it turned into a sigh. He had seen too many family members break down in tears in the face of huge medical bills, but this was the first time he had seen a teenager as calm as this one.

Pushing open the glass door of the intensive care unit, a heavy smell of disinfectant rushed to his face.

Jiang Feng lay on the hospital bed, wrapped in white bandages from head to toe, like a mummy. Various life-support tubes were inserted into his arms and nasal cavity, and the equipment next to him made a monotonous beeping sound.

Seemingly hearing the sound of the door opening, Jiang Feng struggled to open his swollen eyelids.

Seeing Su Chen standing by the bed, the fat man's cracked lips twitched, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying.

"Brother Chen..."

His voice was as weak as a mosquito's hum; every word felt like a razor blade scraping his throat.

Su Chen walked to the bedside, pulled up a chair, and sat down.

"Don't talk, save your strength."

Jiang Feng didn't close his mouth. He rolled his eyes, looked at the ceiling, and said intermittently: "I heard the nurse... it costs a lot of money..."

"Don't go begging that bunch of bastards at school... and don't go begging Liu Ruyan..."

"Cough, cough... If I'm ruined, I'm ruined. I never liked cultivating anyway, it's exhausting. When I get discharged, I'll go to the scrapyard outside District D to pick up trash... I'm strong, picking up trash can support you too..."

Listening to his best friend's rambling plans, Su Chen's heart felt as if it had been submerged in a ten-thousand-year ice cave.

In this cold-blooded world, there is only profit, only Rank.

A fiancée can tear up an engagement in public for the sake of her future, and a school can shield a murderer for the sake of its admission rate.

Only this fat guy, when everyone else was avoiding him, used his Physical Body to block the fatal fire for him. Even lying on the hospital bed now, dying, all he could think about was how to pick up trash to support him.

Su Chen reached out and pressed gently on Jiang Feng's unburned shoulder.

"Fatty."

Su Chen's voice was surprisingly gentle, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"Get some sleep. When you wake up, everything will be better. I will buy the medicine back, and I will take back Zhao Kuang's life too. I promise."

Hearing Su Chen's words, a flash of peace passed through Jiang Feng's swollen eyes. Due to the side effects of painkillers and liquid nitrogen, he couldn't hold on against the fatigue for long and closed his eyes groggily.

Su Chen sat by the bed for a long time.

Only when the sound of the equipment became steady did he stand up and turn to walk toward the door.

The moment he closed the ward door.

The sensor light at the top of the corridor flickered suddenly because it was in disrepair.

In the flickering shadows, Su Chen's originally delicate and calm face instantly turned into a grim, cold cruelty like a demon. The killing intent in his eyes was no longer concealed, overflowing like substance.

One million.

Using legal and compliant means, let alone three days, he wouldn't be able to earn it in three years.

Since this world doesn't play by the rules with him, he won't play by the rules either.

Noble families, chaebols, the high and mighty martial arts rules; since they won't even give him a way to live, he will crush them all.

Su Chen turned around and strode toward the hospital gate.

His destination was clear.

The Underground Black Market.

That is the darkest, bloodiest place in the Great Xia. There are no legal constraints; murder, looting, smuggling, and trading—everything depends only on strength.

There, it was most suitable for him now.

In his mind, the mechanical voice that had been quiet the whole way finally ticked again.

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