"What's going on here?!"
The two figures—an elderly man and a stunning young woman—immediately noticed the unconscious maids lying just outside the hospital room.
"Don't worry," Ye Xuan took the initiative to speak as he saw that neither of them looked his way. "They were just frightened. Should be nothing serious."
Mo Xian'er jolted as if struck by lightning, her head snapping toward the bed. The moment her eyes landed on Ye Xuan, her expression twisted in shock. "Ye Xuan?! Y-You're not dead?!"
Mo Yang, the older man beside her, also turned his gaze over, a flicker of disbelief flashing through his sharp eyes.
Under the weight of their confused stares, Ye Xuan gave an awkward laugh. "Maybe the doctors made a mistake?"
"Mistake?" Grandfather and granddaughter locked eyes, both clearly reeling in disbelief.
Sure, medical misdiagnoses weren't unheard of. But mistaking a dead person for the living? That was on a whole different level. Yet, the youth lying before them didn't resemble a corpse in any way.
"Go get Director Zhang," Mo Yang finally said after a brief silence.
Mo Xian'er hesitated, gave Ye Xuan another complicated look, then turned and left.
Mo Yang stepped into the room, eyes fixed on Ye Xuan, studying him intently. After a long moment, he spoke. "Xuan'er... what happened during the wedding?"
Ye Xuan couldn't exactly tell the truth, so he just smiled faintly. "I'm not sure. I remember someone tripping me, then everything went black. When I came to, the two girls outside had fainted from fright. Something about... a zombie? Honestly, it's all pretty strange to me too."
"You're saying... someone tripped you?" Mo Yang's brow furrowed. Clearly, he didn't think it was just a simple accident.
Ye Xuan nodded. "Yes. I was startled, but I shouldn't have fallen so easily."
Mo Yang remained silent for a long time, then finally said, "Something about this doesn't sit right. But don't worry, if someone did this to you... I'll make sure they pay."
Ye Xuan gave a quiet nod. He never intended to rely on Mo Yang for vengeance—he just needed a bit of help gathering clues, maybe save himself some time. The revenge... would be his alone to take. Only by doing so could he fulfill the lingering obsession of this body's former owner.
After that, Mo Yang didn't press the topic further. Instead, he shifted gears. "Tell me—are you feeling any discomfort?"
Ye Xuan gave a half-truthful response, but before they could continue, footsteps echoed from the hallway. Then came a familiar muttering voice.
"Impossible... This can't be... He was dead, I saw it with my own eyes—"
The voice cut off abruptly.
Standing in the doorway was a slightly pudgy middle-aged man in a white coat, frozen like he'd just seen a ghost.
Then, suddenly, he darted forward and grabbed Ye Xuan's wrist without so much as a greeting.
"This... This makes no sense!" he gasped.
Ye Xuan chuckled. "As you can see, I'm very much alive."
"No, no, this isn't right! I saw you flatline! You were gone! There's no way—"
No one answered him. Ye Xuan included. Not that the man seemed to expect one—he was already busy checking Ye Xuan's vitals.
Ye Xuan wasn't exactly thrilled about being manhandled by a middle-aged man, but given the circumstances, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and tolerate it.
A moment later, Mo Yang asked coldly, "Director Zhang. Your diagnosis?"
"Bizarre... utterly bizarre..." Zhang muttered to himself for a long while before finally gathering his thoughts.
"In all my decades of practice, I've never seen anything like this. When this young man was brought in, he had massive cranial hemorrhaging. Zero chance of survival. But now? He's fully recovered—only a few minor scrapes remain. It's... it's simply unexplainable."
The room fell into stunned silence.
Then, Mo Yang suddenly chuckled. "Perhaps... it's a miracle."
"A miracle?" Director Zhang blinked. Then he laughed as well. "Yes... a miracle indeed."
He cleared his throat and added, "That said, even if Ye Xuan seems fine now, I recommend he stay for observation. Just to be safe."
Mo Yang nodded after a brief pause. "Agreed."
After a few more words of polite chatter, the group departed—but not before Mo Yang ordered Mo Xian'er to stay behind and look after Ye Xuan.
When the room was finally empty aside from the two of them, an awkward tension settled in.
Ye Xuan took the moment to properly examine her.
According to this body's memories, the two had barely interacted before the wedding—and even then, he'd never really taken a good look at her.
Now that he did, Ye Xuan, who had seen countless beauties in his past life, couldn't help but exclaim inwardly: "She truly is breathtaking."
As if sensing his gaze, Mo Xian'er frowned and shot him a glare. "What are you staring at?!"
"Listen—just because we're married doesn't mean you can start getting ideas. If it weren't for the engagement and my need for a husband to marry into my family, this marriage would never have happened. So don't think this makes us a real couple."
Ye Xuan smiled, calm and composed. "Naturally. We may be husband and wife in name, but we're still strangers. So let's just... play our parts."
It wasn't sarcasm—it was sincerity.
As far as he was concerned, once he helped this body resolve its obsession, he'd be gone. The last thing he wanted was emotional entanglements.
Strangely, his response caught Mo Xian'er off guard.
Unlike Ye Xuan, she had done her homework. She knew Ye Xuan was the grandson of the famed doctor Ye Ran, but he himself was mediocre at best in the medical arts—barely capable of treating minor illnesses.
Still, he had a good reputation: mild-mannered, quiet, a bit shy.
It was exactly because of that docile image that she agreed to the marriage.
But now... this youth before her felt different. There was an air about him—calm, detached, like someone who had seen through the world.
"He's definitely not that kind of person," she quickly dismissed the thought. "Must be acting. Trying to retreat in order to advance? Clever, I'll give him that."
If he truly stuck to his "we just play our parts" deal, she wouldn't mind.
After a moment of silence, Ye Xuan said, "If you've got things to do, feel free to leave. I'll tell your grandfather you stayed the night."
Mo Xian'er blinked. "Alright, then. I'll go."
She turned to leave, but just as she reached the door, she paused and looked back. "Oh, right. Those two maids who fainted? They're mine—Mengmeng and Mengmeng. They should be awake by now in the room next door. If you need anything, ask them."
"Got it," Ye Xuan replied simply.
"Rest up."
Once she left, the room fell into a hushed stillness. White lights. White walls. A cold, sterile atmosphere.
But Ye Xuan didn't mind. He'd endured far worse. This kind of loneliness was nothing to him.
After listening quietly and confirming no one else was around, he slowly sat down cross-legged on the bed.
Though he had escaped death and arrived in this world, his cultivation had been entirely wiped out.
If he wanted to return to the Immortal Realm...
He would have to start all over again.