Wasteland's Only King-Chapter 45: The Elderly Couple

Gunzhou People’s Hospital.

Inpatient Department, Room 308.

Fortunately, when Yu Jin arrived, his adoptive father was already out of danger and his condition was stabilizing.

"The patient is elderly and has chronic cardiovascular disease. The sudden shock caused a temporary myocardial infarction."

"Luckily, he was brought to the hospital in time, so it didn’t result in irreparable consequences."

"But as a doctor, I still recommend the family consider coronary artery bypass surgery—it can reduce the risk of heart attacks to some extent..."

The doctor in a white coat finished speaking to Yu Jin and walked out of the ward.

And inside the room—

Old Yu’s muttering could be heard.

"I’m telling you, Xiaofang..."

"Something this minor, why did you have to call Xiaojin back all the way from Jiang City..."

"It’s not easy for our family to have Xiaojin, such a top student who got into Jiang University. How can we let something like this disrupt his studies..."

Yu Limin, that is, Yu Jin’s adoptive father, had already woken from his coma and was getting an IV drip.

He leaned against the headboard, chattering away at Cao Fang, who still hadn’t had time to take off her apron.

Yu Jin’s adoptive mother, Cao Fang, was a traditional homemaker with a rather docile temperament.

Now, listening to Old Yu’s grumbling, she just kept her head down, not saying a word, wiping her tears nonstop—clearly still badly shaken.

"Mom, it’s okay now. I’m here."

Yu Jin stepped up, hugged his adoptive mother, and gently patted her back.

She sobbed quietly, and Yu Jin could still smell that familiar, faint scent of cooking oil and smoke on her.

For the past twenty years,

Old Yu and Cao Fang had run an old noodle shop, raising Yu Jin and Yu Chen—two brothers.

Years of tireless work from dawn to dusk had left their marks on the couple’s health.

This time, Yu Jin returned to Gunzhou partly because it was on his way—and partly because he wanted to use ’Purifying Light’ to remove his parents’ lingering illnesses.

After all,

If you can’t take care of your own parents, what’s the point of having a high Tier or powerful abilities? What kind of Superman would you be then?

Yu Jin just hadn’t expected something to go wrong before he even made it back.

That made him feel a bit guilty inside.

"Xiaojin..."

"I’m fine!"

"It’s Friday today. Don’t you have class at school?"

"If you’ve got class, you should head back soon. I’m really okay—it was just a scare, my blood pressure spiked a little, that’s all!"

On the hospital bed,

Old Yu, though his lips were purple and his face pale, insisted on acting as if nothing had happened, speaking in his usual boisterous way.

Yu Jin didn’t reply, just sat down by the bed.

He reached out and placed his hand on Old Yu’s wrist.

Buzz——

With a thought, Yu Jin activated his ’Purifying Light’ ability.

A barely visible halo of light seeped from Yu Jin’s fingertips into Old Yu’s body.

"Hm?"

Old Yu suddenly paused on the hospital bed.

"Why does it feel like the tightness in my chest just suddenly cleared up?"

He didn’t suspect Yu Jin, instead he glanced up at the IV drip.

"Is this IV really that effective?"

Yu Jin didn’t respond.

To avoid the couple and the doctor noticing anything abnormal, he deliberately controlled the speed of Purifying Light’s healing.

Over the next day, that glow would slowly but completely cure all the underlying health issues of his parents.

When he hugged his mother earlier, Yu Jin had also used the Purifying Light on her.

Hoo—

Seeing Old Yu’s complexion gradually turning rosy, Yu Jin felt a huge weight lift from his heart and let out a long breath.

"Alright, now spill—what did you run into in that game?"

Now that the illness was cured, Yu Jin’s tone with Old Yu returned to its usual directness.

Old Yu was always a bit intimidated by Yu Jin.

"How’d you know that was a game?"

Old Yu widened his eyes at Yu Jin.

"Don’t worry about how I know."

"And I’m not asking what you were thinking, putting on the helmet as soon as you saw it. Just tell me—what did you run into in the game?"

Yu Jin’s tone was a bit stern.

Old Yu shrank his neck, glanced at Cao Fang by the bed, and only then lowered his voice—

"It—it was nothing, really."

"I just found myself in some wasteland covered in yellow sand. Xiaojin, you wouldn’t believe how real it felt!"

"It was eye-opening, honestly. I had no idea tech had come this far. If you hadn’t said it was a game, I’d have thought I’d actually been thrown into some TV drama and time traveled—"

Old Yu might have been old, but his personality was anything but.

Aside from running the noodle shop, his favorite pastime was hanging out with the old guys in the community—playing chess, cracking jokes, bragging about everything under the sun.

"Get to the point."

Yu Jin cut straight in.

"I ran into a rat—the size of a basketball!"

"I hadn’t even walked a couple steps before that rat jumped straight at my face and scared the hell out of me. And then..."

"I opened my eyes and found myself on the hospital bed."

Old Yu recounted honestly.

"Mom, where’s the helmet?"

Yu Jin turned to Cao Fang, his tone instantly softening.

"Still at home."

"When Li Min passed out, I was so scared that I took the helmet off his head and called 120."

"The helmet’s still on the floor—we didn’t have time to pick it up."

Cao Fang replied.

"Okay."

Yu Jin nodded, standing up.

"The two of you—no, the next few days, just don’t worry about the noodle shop."

"Old Yu, you just rest up here at the hospital, and Mom, try not to stress too much either."

"As for the helmet, you both stay away from it—I’ll take care of it."

"And don’t worry about the hospital bills this time, just focus on getting better, alright?"

At his words, Cao Fang moved her lips but said nothing, only looking at Old Yu.

Old Yu looked at Yu Jin, but under his son’s stern gaze, he instinctively dropped his head, though he still muttered quietly—

"You’re still a student... where’d you get money for hospital bills..."

"And if the shop’s closed for a few days, all those regulars will complain..."

Yu Jin shook his head.

"The school just awarded me last year’s scholarship—twenty thousand in total."

He didn’t mention selling the gold, just made something up.

"Huh?"

As soon as he finished speaking—

Old Yu almost jumped out of bed.

Cao Fang’s face lit up with joy.

"You got another scholarship?"

"Oh, Xiaojin, you really are my good son—my good boy!"

"Hahaha!"

For Old Yu, it wasn’t really about the money—it was what the scholarship represented: honor.

From the day Yu Jin was adopted at the age of three, he’d always been sensible.

All through his childhood, Yu Jin’s grades had topped his class.

When he got into Jiang University after the national college entrance exam, Old Yu had even thrown several tables of celebratory dinners at the noodle shop, inviting all the neighbors.

Because of that—

While Old Yu was immensely proud of his son, he was always a little afraid of him too.

For all his life, nothing had ever mattered more to Old Yu than saving face.

And Yu Jin was, in more than fifty years, the best thing he could show off to the world.

"Alright, you two just rest up here."

"I’ll go find the doctor and ask about the details."

Yu Jin said to his parents, gave Cao Fang another hug, and walked out of the ward.

As for finding the doctor, that was just a cover.

Now that he’d activated Purifying Light, his parents’ bodies wouldn’t say they were as fit as eighteen-year-olds, but they were definitely healthy and strong.

He left the room because now that the family issue was dealt with, it was time to handle his own business.

Ever since setting foot in the hospital,

The flashing words on Yu Jin’s interface hadn’t gone away for a second—

[Warning! Warning!]

[You are nearing the extremely dangerous, terrifying ’Infected Nest’!]

[You are deep in the extremely dangerous, terrifying ’Infected Nest’!]

[Danger! Danger!]

[You are as weak as an ant, utterly unable to stand against the horde of Infected Bodies gathered here!]

[Run! Run!]