# 1527
Chapter 1523: Hospital Incident
Shangjing University, classroom.
Lin Qiye and An Qingyu had arrived relatively early, but nearly half the seats were already occupied. The arrival of these two newcomers drew attention from some, though they merely glanced at the pair before低下头各自翻阅手中的书籍。
What surprised them was that Cao Yuan was sitting in the second to last row, waving at them—he seemed to have been there for quite some time.
"When did you get here?"
"Didn't check the time... But when I came in, this classroom was still empty."
"Heard from Jiang Er that you went for a morning run?"
"Yeah, just a casual jog."
Lin Qiye gave Cao Yuan a suspicious look before sitting down next to him, while An Qingyu took the seat on the other side.
"Qiye, let me ask you something." After much hesitation, Cao Yuan finally spoke up.
"What is it?"
"On average, how old would someone be when they finish a PhD?"
At this oddly specific question, Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. "That depends on the field."
"Let's say... that particular department?"
"The undergraduate program there is the standard four years... If they started freshman year at nineteen, that's four years undergrad, three years master's, and the PhD... depends on how far they take it, probably another three to five years. So if someone has a PhD, they'd be at least twenty-six, possibly even thirty."
Cao Yuan's eyes lit up gradually.
"Have you set your sights on some PhD student?" An Qingyu caught the unusual undertone, asking with a smile, "Then again, given Lao Cao's preferences, he probably doesn't like younger ones... PhD students would be a few years older than him. If she's a bit fuller-figured and maybe divorced, that would正好对他的胃口，说不定Shangjing University里就有呢？"
Cao Yuan instinctively wanted to deny it, but after some deliberation, he silently turned away without saying a word.
"Was that a hit?" Lin Qiye's eyes went wide.
An Qingyu removed the Bluetooth earphone from his ear and handed it to Cao Yuan.
The next moment, Jiang Er's excited voice filled his entire mind:
"What's her name?! How old is she? Which college? Is she a student or a teacher? No wait... just tell me her name, and I can pull up all her records! A photo would work too, I can help you screen candidates!"
Cao Yuan silently removed the earphone and passed it back to An Qingyu. "Cough... I'll try to approach her myself first. If necessary, then I'll let you know."
Lin Qiye and An Qingyu exchanged glances, both expressions carrying a hint of amusement.
The class Lin Qiye and the others were attending was "Introduction to Philosophy." Less than fifteen minutes into the lecture, Cao Yuan had already fallen asleep at the second-to-last row desk, and Lin Qiye's eyelids were drooping too. Only An Qingyu remained focused throughout, his attentive demeanor earning repeated glances of approval from the instructor.
Fortunately Li Yifei wasn't here. If he were, his snoring alone would probably be enough to shake the classroom ceiling.
Bored, Lin Qiye sank his consciousness into the Asylum of the Gods.
"King Jiji, it's time for your medicine."
"..."
Gilgamesh looked at the little kid standing at his waist height, a vein in his temple twitching. He took a deep breath, forcibly swallowing the words "drag this one out and dismember him" that had risen to his lips.
"Why aren't you talking?" A Zhu tilted his head, holding a bowl of medicine in confusion.
"...This King does not wish to speak with you."
"Oh, but you should drink the medicine first."
"Leave the medicine there, and This King will drink it shortly."
"But it won't taste good once it gets cold!"
"This King does not wish to drink it now!"
"No can do, Manager Li instructed me to take good care of you!"
"..."
Gilgamesh's fists tightened uncontrollably, but looking at the innocent face before him, he couldn't bring himself to say a single harsh word, let alone lift a hand.
If this were in the past, anyone daring to speak to him like this—from the moment the words "King Jiji" left their lips, they would have been dragged out and dismembered on the spot. Who would have dared speak to him this way?
One had to admit, in certain situations, sincerity was the best weapon.
With no other choice, Gilgamesh gloomily grabbed the medicine bowl and drained it in one gulp, his expression dark enough to drip water. "Are you satisfied now?"
"You have medicine residue on your mouth, here's a tissue." A Zhu stood on tiptoe, both hands extended with a tissue.
Gilgamesh: ...
Gilgamesh snatched the tissue, quickly wiped his mouth, then glared fiercely at him. "Get out!"
"Okay!"
A Zhu hugged the empty bowl and蹦蹦跳跳地往病房外走去。
Watching A Zhu's retreating figure, Gilgamesh felt utterly exhausted. He slumped into the chair in the ward and sighed helplessly...
A few minutes later.
"Repeating-tape old man! Time for your medicine!!"
A Zhu's voice rang loudly across the hospital building's rooftop.
Yerand stood at the chain-link fence, looking down at the hospital grounds below. Upon hearing this sound, he turned slightly, speaking gently:
"You did well, child."
"I know, but you need to take your medicine!"
"You did well, child."
"Okay okay okay, you drink the medicine first! It'll get cold if you don't."
"You did well, child."
"..."
After discovering the communication attempt was futile, A Zhu's little face fell. He waited on the rooftop with the medicine for a full three minutes, but Yerand simply refused to drink, only smiling and repeating that same phrase over and over.
"Old man! You really need to take your medicine, it's already cold!!" A Zhu felt the medicine in his arms growing cold, anxious enough to stamp his feet. "If you don't drink it soon, I'll feed you!"
"You did well, child."
A Zhu gritted his teeth, scooped a spoonful of medicine, and slowly extended it toward Yerand's lips...
Just as the spoon was about to touch Yerand's lips, a terrifying repulsive force burst forth from within him!
Slap—!!
The spoon in A Zhu's hand instantly shattered. The sharp fragments cut into his tender palm, and the medicine bowl in his arms broke apart as well—as if an invisible great hammer had struck his chest. His small body was launched like a cannonball into the chain-link fence, tearing open a gap in the rooftop's wire mesh!
A Zhu stared blankly at that kindly smiling figure, back facing the earth, rapidly plummeting downward.
Just as he was about to crash onto the ground, a blur shot past and caught his body steadily. Following this, an emperor's fury erupted skyward!
Clad in a gray robe, Gilgamesh held the injured A Zhu in one arm while gripping a longsword in the other, its blade pointing directly at Yerand's nose. Those fierce eyes burned with rage.
"You... seeking death?!"
---
After endless oblivion, Shi Yu abruptly sat up from the bed. He gasped deeply for fresh air, his chest heaving.
Confusion, bewilderment, various emotions surged through his heart.
Where was this?
Instinctively, Shi Yu surveyed his surroundings, only to grow even more bewildered.
A single dormitory room?
Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital ward right now.
And his body... how could there be not a single scratch?
Carrying these doubts, Shi Yu's gaze swept rapidly across the room, finally landing on a mirror by the bedside.
The mirror reflected his current appearance—approximately seventeen or eighteen years old, handsome features.
But the problem was, this wasn't him!
The previous him was a handsome young man in his mid-twenties with great poise, already working for some time.
And now, this face looked no older than a high school student...
The transformation left Shi Yu stunned for a long while.
Please don't tell him the surgery was successful...
Body, features—all changed. This wasn't a matter of whether the surgery succeeded or not, but rather something closer to immortality arts.
He had completely become another person!
Could it be... he had transmigrated?
Besides the mirror by the bed, positioned in an obviously ill-fated location according to feng shui principles, Shi Yu noticed three books beside it.
Shi Yu picked them up for a look, and the titles instantly rendered him speechless.
"Newbie Keeper's Essential Beast-Raising Manual"
"Beast Postpartum Care"
"Heterogeneous Species Beast Girl Evaluation Guide"
Shi Yu: ???
The first two book titles were reasonably normal. But what was with the last one?
"Ahem."
Shi Yu's expression sobered, extending his hand, though his arm quickly stiffened.
Just as he was about to flip open the third book to see what exactly this was, his brain suddenly throbbed with sharp pain, and massive memories flooded in like a tide.
Ice Plain City.
Beast-raising base.
Intern beast keeper.