The doctor instinctively sensed danger and reflexively retreated two steps, then watched helplessly as a sedan car raced past him and crashed violently into the green stone stele with a deafening crash.

The green stone stele was instantly shattered into pieces, stones scattered everywhere, while the car’s front end was crushed inward with smoke rising from the engine.

Witnesses across the street began screaming in alarm. The doctor, somewhat deaf from the tremendous noise, also came to his senses.

Without time to fear what would have happened if he hadn’t dodged just now, the doctor placed his spicy crab takeout box on the ground and calmly took out his phone to call the hospital emergency department. While accurately reporting the accident location, he walked around to the driver’s side to check the situation.

There was only one driver in the car. The airbag had deployed, but because the impact was so severe, the driver was unconscious. The car door was deformed from the crash. With help from two passersby, the doctor removed the door, then stopped the bystanders from trying to directly pull the driver out. Car accidents most easily caused whiplash injuries—both cervical and lumbar vertebrae were prone to fractures, and rash movement could easily cause secondary injuries.

The doctor bent down close to the driver to check his condition. The heavy smell of alcohol hit him in the face, making him frown tightly. Drunk driving with full knowledge of the consequences, treating both others’ and his own life as a game—completely unworthy of sympathy.

This driver looked to be only in his twenties, and predictably hadn’t fastened his seatbelt. Half his face was covered in blood. The doctor found that the man’s chest was no longer rising and falling, touching his neck revealed no pulse, and there was no breath from his mouth or nose.

It looked like they needed to quickly lift the injured person from the driver’s seat. The doctor hurriedly took off his jacket to wrap around the injured person’s neck to protect the cervical spine, directing bystanders to support the feet as they moved the injured person from the driver’s seat. After checking that the person’s mouth wasn’t blocked by blood or vomit, the doctor began CPR.

Although angry about this person’s drunk driving, the doctor still dutifully worked to save him. The heart under his palms showed no response at all. He could somewhat judge that this person had probably suffered severe cervical trauma in the high-speed collision and likely wouldn’t come back. But he still continued rescue efforts according to standard CPR procedures. After fifteen chest compressions, he planned to perform artificial respiration.

Just as he lowered his head, the injured person who had previously kept his eyes tightly shut suddenly opened them wide, his blood-stained eyes staring directly at the doctor who was mere inches away.

The completely unprepared doctor was startled and nearly jumped up. Clearly there had been no heartbeat before… Huh? Now there actually was?

You destroyed my body, so your body belongs to me now…

This week, the doctor had already passed by the neurology department floor for the Nth time.

Glancing at the patients waiting for their numbers in the waiting area, the doctor’s steps slowed. The urge to get a brain examination grew stronger and stronger.

Human brain capacity was limited, so it was normal not to remember some past events, but his current situation could no longer be explained by such reasoning.

Even when he tried hard to recall recent years’ events, they were very blurry.

Never mind anything else—when had he bought a house? He couldn’t possibly have no memory of that, right? Moreover, where did he get the money?!

So should he get his head examined? Check if he’d been injured somewhere…

Wanting to admit his own brain damage… this was truly a difficult decision.

The doctor adjusted his glasses in distress. Just as he was about to steel himself and go to neurology to find an acquaintance for an examination, his pager started beeping.

The doctor immediately turned around reflexively, subconsciously breathing a sigh of relief. He grabbed the pager to check the screen and hurried downstairs.

By the time he finished this emergency surgery, it was already eleven at night. The doctor washed his hands, took off his surgical gown, changed clothes, and prepared to go home. Looking at the goodnight text Tang Yuan had sent at nine o’clock, the doctor knowingly sent a message asking if he needed to bring late-night snacks home.

He received a reply in less than ten seconds. Tang Yuan righteously requested spicy crab, immediately exposing the fact that he wasn’t asleep yet.

The doctor smiled. The spicy crab shop was on the commercial street he’d pass on his way home, and he had only grabbed a quick sandwich during his dinner break between surgeries. He was hungry now too.

The commercial street was still bustling with voices even late at night. The doctor bought the spicy crab and walked out of the commercial street for a while before waiting at the traffic light at the intersection.

This was a T-junction. Although not far from the commercial street, because the streets were narrow with few vehicles passing through, dim streetlights, and few pedestrians late at night, people preferred to walk a few extra steps to the main road not far away. The doctor was too lazy to go around—he was used to taking shortcuts, and getting home three minutes earlier was better than anything.

At the place where he waited for the traffic light stood a dilapidated stone carving. Once when the doctor and Tang Yuan passed by together, his knowledgeable little Tang Yuan had given him an education. Something about “square ones are called steles, round ones are called jie”—this drum-shaped round stone should be a jie. This stone jie was made of green stone blocks, its base covered with moss, and the text on its surface was so worn it was illegible—whether from age or lack of maintenance was unclear.

The city where the doctor lived had a long history with countless historic sites, so although this green stone jie hadn’t been cleared by urban construction, it also received no attention. The stone jie was covered with psoriasis-like small advertisements, with paint characters and stamps for document services covering the green stone jie’s surface. When the doctor passed the intersection waiting for the red light, he would habitually glance at it, reading the small ads for entertainment.

But tonight, before he could carefully examine what the newly posted missing dog notice’s lost husky looked like, the roaring sound of an engine—quite loud for the quiet street—came whooshing from far to near.

Without time for the doctor to think carefully, the ambulance had already arrived with sirens blaring.

Making way for the professional rescue personnel, the doctor calmed down and knew he probably wouldn’t make it home—he’d definitely have to follow the ambulance back to the hospital, and probably give a statement to the police when they arrived. Seeing someone had already called the police, he took time to send Tang Yuan a voice message telling the boy to come downstairs to the green stone jie to get the packed spicy crab. No matter what, food couldn’t be wasted.

When the doctor said “green stone jie,” he instinctively looked at the stone blocks scattered all over the ground, feeling an indescribable regret in his heart.

“Shifu, I’m going on a long journey tomorrow.”

Before Fu Su said this sentence, the boss had already guessed what he was going to say.

Or rather, he had been waiting for Fu Su to say this for a long time.

Fu Su often seemed to be hiding something, going out from time to time without saying what he was doing. The boss hadn’t paid much attention. Wasn’t he just wanting to find his troublesome younger brother Hu Hai? Moreover, his tone wasn’t asking for permission but informing. The boss paused in his tea pouring, then said matter-of-factly, “That’s fine. I also need to return to the Mute House. Although I don’t know why, Zhao Gao is still alive. Be careful.”

“Don’t worry.” Fu Su replied with a light laugh. Then he never mentioned this matter again, turning to other trivial matters, just like many past days.

Fu Su had already left the small courtyard early the next morning. The boss didn’t pay much attention, packed up, and set off to return to the Mute House. Since the boss also occasionally returned to check on the Mute House during this period, Lu Zigang wasn’t too surprised. Instead, he stood up from behind the counter with a serious expression and said, “Boss, something happened.”

“What happened?” The boss casually picked up the cloth from the counter and wiped the antiques in the treasure cabinet. Actually, Lu Zigang had already cleaned them very well, but he had developed this habit over so many years.

“Last night in the late hours, the last green stone jie was shattered by a car crash.” Lu Zigang held his phone, bringing up a forum page where someone had posted about last night’s car accident. Among the scattered blood and stones, a familiar figure was working hard to rescue the injured person lying on the ground.

Lu Zigang’s hand gripping the phone tightened, but he ultimately didn’t hand it to the boss to see.

“That green stone jie?” The boss raised an eyebrow.

“That green stone jie.” Lu Zigang nodded.

The boss placed the celadon plate in his hand back in its original position and fell silent.

Lu Zigang had only recently been exposed to this field and felt uneasy.

Many ancient architectural features had special significance. From distant examples like Emperor Qin Shihuang cutting the dragon vein of Jinling, to recent ones like the roof-devouring beast that liked to sleep on the Mute House roof, there were countless phenomena that even science couldn’t explain. Just like after the Leshan Giant Buddha was built, the originally turbulent confluence of three rivers at the Buddha’s feet rarely saw ships swallowed again. In recent years, Guanyin statues and sea-suppressing towers erected along various coasts weren’t just for peace of mind—typhoons really did rarely make direct landfall afterward.

Modern times, retaining only superficial knowledge, could achieve such effects. In ancient times, it was even more remarkable. Take nearby West Lake, for example—the successive construction of Bai Causeway, Su Causeway, and Yang Gong Causeway, along with surrounding scenery, finally formed the pattern of “one mountain, two pagodas, three islands, three causeways, five lakes”—none of this was random construction. As for that green stone jie, the time when the jie was erected was no longer verifiable, but it should have been around the Tang Dynasty, roughly the same time as Bai and Su Causeways, presumably for suppression purposes.

The boss didn’t dare underestimate that green stone jie, because steles and jie were always mentioned together, yet most in the world were steles. And jie stones—back then, they were the standard format used when Emperor Qin Shihuang established the great feng shui formation…

After pondering for a long while, the boss finally asked: “Any unusual signs?”

“Perhaps the time is too short—nothing discovered yet.” Lu Zigang scrolled through Weibo, constantly monitoring.

“Can the fragments of that green stone jie still be found?” The boss narrowed his eyes.

“They should have been cleared away. I’ll go inquire.” Lu Zigang said, picking up his jacket and walking out of the shop.

The boss picked up the cloth again and wiped the antiques on the treasure cabinet. After an unknown amount of time, he vaguely felt like someone was shouting and approaching from far away, instinctively turning his head.

The carved door was tightly closed, and the voices outside gradually faded away.

The shop remained empty, with no one inside.