Chapter 37

Xue Jin'an skipped over the web pages that had diagnosed him with terminal illnesses and clicked on the one that suggested he had hysteria. He scanned the full response from "Dr. Chang of the Northwest Army Medical Office" into his brain.

[Hysteria is a disease of the mind, manifesting as unpredictable moods, incoherent speech, neurological paralysis or spasms, blindness, or loss of speech...]

Xue Jin'an was certain that neither his soul nor his body exhibited any of these symptoms. He felt his mental state was perfectly stable and entirely without issue—assuming, of course, that he possessed something like a "mental state" to begin with.

Deciding to be thorough, Xue Jin'an opened his health app, performed a full-body scan, and added an extra check on his brain waves.

The medical report showed that his physical metrics had improved slightly since the last check, reaching the passing standard for a human of his age, and there was no abnormal electrical activity in his brain. The data confirmed that while his body was in a sub-health state, his brain was perfectly healthy.

"As I thought." How could a mobile phone suffer from mental illness? That was a human privilege.

Xue Jin'an prepared to close the browser, but a chat window popped up on the page automatically.

[Dr. Chang of the Northwest Army Medical Office]: You can describe your symptoms in detail.

Xue Jin'an replied instantly: You misdiagnosed me. I do not have hysteria.

...

At the Northwest Army camp, heavy snow had been swirling for half a day, blanketing the earth in silver. Training was canceled, and except for those on duty, all the soldiers were hunkered down in their tents. The entire camp was quiet, save for the quartermasters, who were frantic, delivering winter supplies from tent to tent.

Dr. Chang, a former imperial physician and now the most skilled doctor in the camp, was among the first to receive supplies. He was currently warming himself by a charcoal brazier, observing his only patient of the day.

This was a very strange patient. He had suddenly appeared outside the tent and blurted out a string of nonsensical symptoms, asking what illness he had. Dr. Chang, who had been bent over looking for the brazier under his bed, was so startled by the abrupt inquiry that he knocked the back of his head hard against the bed frame.

"Are you suffering from hysteria?" he snapped irritably.

Dr. Chang hadn't just been swearing; he had caught fragments of the boy's words, and combined with his bizarre behavior, he truly suspected hysteria. He had then proceeded to lecture the boy on what hysteria was. When there was no response from outside the tent, he assumed the boy had left and returned to his work.

But when he stood up after fixing the charcoal, he found a... youth? No, he couldn't possibly be over twelve years old. His physique didn't even come close to the army's recruitment standards. He hadn't heard of any officers bringing their young kin into the camp today, either. Dr. Chang grumbled to himself, but he straightened his posture and leaned in to listen to the patient's report. Once someone entered his tent, they were his patient; regardless of their status or whether they were rude, he would treat them with care.

Call it a soft heart. These days, a doctor—especially one who gave up an imperial post to work in an army camp—was usually driven by the desire to save lives. He couldn't save everyone in the world, but he could save one at a time.

However, after waiting for quite a while, the youth who had been so eager to speak outside the tent now seemed lost in thought. After a long silence, he suddenly turned to leave.

The person Dr. Chang saw was indeed Xue Jin'an.

In reality, he hadn't seen him at all. Xue Jin'an was still in the imperial palace. The tent had remained empty, but Xue Jin'an’s magical power had followed the lines of the world's network, successfully manifesting a presence on Dr. Chang, making the doctor believe someone was standing before him.

Xue Jin'an browsing the search results looked like someone standing still outside the tent to Dr. Chang. Xue Jin'an clicking into the page to read the details looked like he had walked into the tent. Xue Jin'an preparing to exit the browser looked like he was about to leave.

Dr. Chang finally couldn't help but call out to him, asking him to describe his illness in detail, only for the youth to utter the arrogant claim that he had misdiagnosed him!

How was this any different from questioning his medical expertise and accusing him of seeking fame? Could Dr. Chang tolerate this?

Dr. Chang smiled. "I see. Then you wouldn't mind if I examined you?"

A prompt immediately popped up before Xue Jin'an: [Baidu Health requests access to your health and fitness data. Allow only while using/Always allow/Deny]

The health and fitness permissions were linked to his health app, which contained only his physical data. Xue Jin'an granted access directly. He wasn't worried about data leaks—he didn't care, and even if he did, his browser had data protection and anti-tracking enabled. If used correctly, he could even hijack the other party's data in return.

To Dr. Chang, Xue Jin'an’s actions looked like the youth nodding in agreement, sitting down, and placing his hand on the table.

Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes looking, listening, asking, and pulse-taking. Dr. Chang observed the youth's complexion while placing his fingers on his wrist. As soon as he felt the pulse, his brow furrowed, and he looked at Xue Jin'an with astonishment.

He shifted his fingers with varying pressure for a long time, confirming he hadn't imagined it, before taking a deep breath and speaking in a heavy voice: "The five viscera and six entrails are all weak; it is a sign of long-term deficiency. Your recent intake has been acceptable, but the blood and qi are so depleted they are hard to restore... I will prescribe a formula; half a year should suffice."

The boy's body was too damaged, with issues everywhere. A pulse reading alone wasn't enough to confirm hysteria, as his mind was clearly impaired. But fortunately, there was still the "asking" part.

Dr. Chang asked, "Have you seen or heard anything unusual lately? Please tell me in detail."

"No, my speakers and imaging modules are functioning correctly," the youth denied without hesitation.

Dr. Chang: "...Wait, what speakers and modules? What are you talking about?" Although the boy's pronunciation of the official language was so perfect it could serve as a model, Dr. Chang felt like he was listening to a heavenly script—in short, he understood nothing.

[Long Aotian]: The speaker is for sound; the imaging module is for the eyes.

Xue Jin'an used concrete data to explain that his hardware configuration was fine: "Air vibration sounds and heartbeats are successfully captured by the ears; the lens zoom is at maximum, and everything within two *li* (a kilometer) is clearly visible."

*So, the symptom of incoherent speech is present.* Dr. Chang picked up his charcoal pencil to record on the paper, struggling to adapt to the chaotic vocabulary while trying to extract useful information. Even though he was prepared, his mouth twitched at the absurdity when he heard, "The ears capture air vibrations, and the eyes see two *li* away."

It wasn't impossible for someone with keen senses, especially those with deep internal energy, to hear things from miles away, but seeing clearly two *li* away was something no one could do.

Assuming the youth wasn't "not human," it had to be a delusion.

*Severe visual and auditory hallucinations; he mistakes delusions for reality.* Dr. Chang wrote with the charcoal pencil and asked the second question: "Do you occasionally have uncontrollable thoughts?"

"No, the CPU runs stably; no programs start abnormally," the youth denied firmly. "Any emotional garbage I can't understand is cleaned up properly."

With the experience from the previous question, Dr. Chang had learned to ignore the strange words he didn't understand and peel away the layers to get the medical information he needed.

[Dr. Chang of the Northwest Army Medical Office]: You mean you have uncontrollable, unstable emotions? Understood.

[Long Aotian]: I just don't understand them; they aren't unstable.

[Dr. Chang of the Northwest Army Medical Office]: Yes, yes, I understand. Let's move to the next question. You...

After several more questions, the paper in front of Dr. Chang was full. His expression was grave, and his hand holding the pencil felt numb.

Looking at the patient sitting opposite him, who remained so well-behaved, his eyes filled with profound pity. His heart felt heavy as he asked the final question: "How long have you had these symptoms?"

"Always," the youth answered truthfully. He thought for a moment and added, "The initial configuration wasn't this powerful. I upgraded slowly, and it perfected into what it is now... but this body's performance is poor. I usually keep the resolution at the lowest setting. If I run all functions at full capacity, it will break down."

Xue Jin'an felt a bit depressed about this, but there was no help for it. His soul had merged with this body, making it his new host. He had to take good care of it... worse comes to worst, he would just replace a few parts.

The Fourth Prince's battery and the Fifth Prince's arm were already reserved. Hmm, the Third Prince's skeleton was also quite good... Xue Jin'an mentally curated his favorite accessories, his hand resting on his Lotus Sword itching to go and swap a few parts right now.

Dr. Chang, completely unaware of the murderous thoughts in the boy's mind, finally couldn't hold back his tears. He quickly turned his head to wipe his eyes with his sleeve, feeling a deep sorrow. *What a good child. He tries so hard to restrain his madness, and his will to survive is so strong... He is just as resilient as the young General Long, who thought of protecting the country even in death!*

*Misfortune strikes the vulnerable; fate is cruel to the suffering! You wretched heavens!* Dr. Chang cursed internally, his throat bitter. He couldn't bear to tell the child the cruel truth.

But Dr. Chang knew that since the boy had sought him out specifically, he must have sensed his own strangeness. Rather than hide it, it was better to be honest. It was right not to avoid the doctor when ill.

Dr. Chang took a deep breath and apologized to the boy with solemn seriousness. "You were right; I did misjudge."

"You don't have hysteria. You have a fractured mind."

Xue Jin'an slowly typed a question mark: "...?"

The youth looked up, his eyes full of confusion and bewilderment. He sat there blankly for a long time without speaking, seemingly crushed by the answer.

Dr. Chang's heart ached, but he reached out and patted the boy's arm.

[Dr. Chang of the Northwest Army Medical Office] poked your coffin lid and said to you: It can be cured.

Xue Jin'an looked at the "poke" feature set by the shut-in, and was speechless: "..."

This "it can be cured" looked completely unconvincing and gave the impression that he was about to be sent to his grave.