Life Saved, One Hundred Thousand Gold

Chu Jianguo had already thrown those leather shoes away. As a businessman, he naturally believed in such spiritual matters, but even after discarding the shoes, his mother didn't get any better. The doctor said the situation wasn't optimistic and told the family to prepare for the worst.

Fortunately, Auntie Wang had pointed the way, advising him to find Jiang Hanyan. After learning the cause and effect, Chu Jianguo was both angry and frustrated with his mother, but she was his biological mother after all; he couldn't just abandon her.

"Throwing the shoes away is useless; your mother has already worn them. The reason the situation has become so serious is that the shoes' former owner is about to die and is in a hurry to find a scapegoat," Jiang Hanyan explained.

Chu Jianguo’s face turned pale. Panicked, he asked, "Miss Jiang, can my mother still be saved?"

"One hundred thousand gold, and I will take action!" Jiang Hanyan was still being lenient; after all, they were from the same neighborhood, and this Chu Jianguo wasn't particularly dislikeable.

"Yes, yes! Thank you, Miss Jiang!" Chu Jianguo replied repeatedly, saying he would go withdraw the money immediately.

"No rush. Let's go to the hospital first."

Jiang Hanyan wasn't afraid of him reneging on the debt and decided to settle it at the hospital. Any further delay would damage Shi Shuifeng’s lifespan.

"Dou Dou, when Uncle Lu comes back, tell him I went to the hospital for something and will be back soon!"

Jiang Hanyan called out to Dou Dou, who was playing downstairs, gave him the message, and then left in Chu Jianguo’s car.

Shi Shuifeng was in a private room, hooked up to several tubes, her breathing faint. She looked in very bad shape. A middle-aged woman was caring for her—likely Chu Jianguo’s sister—along with Old Chu.

As soon as Jiang Hanyan entered the room, her brows furrowed tightly. Ordinary people couldn't see it, but currently, Shi Shuifeng’s entire body was enveloped in a thick black mist, interspersed with faint white threads—that was her life force.

The former owner of the shoes was draining Shi Shuifeng’s life force, and that black mist was death energy. Once the life force was fully drained, the exchange between Shi Shuifeng and the former owner would be complete, marking the moment of Shi Shuifeng’s death.

"Three days!"

Jiang Hanyan held up three fingers. Chu Jianguo was stunned for a moment, then heard her say, "Your mother only has three days left."

"Miss Jiang, please save my mother!"

Chu Jianguo’s expression changed drastically. His legs went weak, and he almost knelt, but Jiang Hanyan caught him.

"I promised, so I will save her. Go guard the door; don't let anyone in!"

Chu Jianguo hurried to close the door and even locked it. He then saw Jiang Hanyan take out several sheets of yellow paper from her bag, along with cinnabar and a talisman brush. The brush dipped into the blood-red cinnabar and quickly drew on the yellow paper without a single pause, completing it in one go.

If one were a cultivator, they could see the spiritual energy fluctuations in the air, all concentrating on the yellow paper. As the brush tip touched down for the final point, the talisman was complete.

Jiang Hanyan breathed a sigh of relief, waved the talisman in the air a few times, and muttered a mantra. It didn't actually take long, but to Chu Jianguo and his family, it felt like an eternity.

"Break!"

Jiang Hanyan gave a low shout, and the talisman in her hand ignited. The blue flame terrified Chu Jianguo and his family. These were things they had only seen on TV; they hadn't expected them to be real.

The Chu family didn't dare breathe loudly, watching in silent awe, their eyes filled with worship.

As the talisman burned out, the black mist surrounding Shi Shuifeng churned violently like disturbed water. The life force that was being pulled out froze and then rushed back into Shi Shuifeng’s body.

The life force that had been drained previously was also retrieved, though there was certainly some loss, which would affect her lifespan.

"Oh... ouch..."

Shi Shuifeng, who had been fading on the bed, let out a groan. Her complexion improved significantly, and she opened her eyes.

"Mom, where does it hurt?" the daughter asked joyfully.

"It hurts... it hurts so much..." Shi Shuifeng’s voice was weak. Her eyes darted around before she realized she was in the hospital—and in a private room at that. She immediately became alert, struggling to sit up and even trying to pull out the IV tubes.

"Go home... I'm fine, go... go home!"

The Chu siblings were frightened, each holding one side to keep Shi Shuifeng from moving. Chu Jianguo advised helplessly, "Mom, I beg you, stop causing a scene, okay? I barely managed to pull you back from the Gates of Hell. I've told you so many times not to chase small bargains, but you just won't listen. Now look—a pair of shoes cost a few dozen yuan, but one trip to the hospital costs over a hundred thousand. That money is enough to buy a whole truckload of leather shoes; you could throw away a pair every day and still not run out."

"Mom, listen to reason. The family is doing well now; you don't need to scrimp on food and clothes anymore. You're unwilling to eat or wear anything good, and when you get sick, the money you saved isn't even enough for the hospital to toss around. You tell me... sigh!"

The daughter was also very helpless. Outsiders only thought she and her brother were unfilial and didn't give their parents money, which was a huge injustice.

Their parents' monthly pensions were more than they could spend, and she and her brother gave them money every month. They even wanted to hire a nanny, but their mother said to just give her the nanny's salary instead and refused to agree.

She and her brother finally decided to act first and report later, hiring a nanny and bringing her home. The result was their mother chasing the woman out of the house and then calling to scold them. The matter had to be dropped.

With a mother like this, the two of them were truly worried to death, but they could only remain filial; she was their biological mother, after all.

"Over a hundred thousand? You... you all... oh..."

Shi Shuifeng’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

The Chu siblings were terrified. The daughter was about to press the call button, but the brother reacted quickly, hurriedly seeking help from Jiang Hanyan.

"It's fine!"

Jiang Hanyan was very calm. She walked to Shi Shuifeng’s side and whispered loudly in her ear, "A doctor's emergency visit is ten thousand gold per time. I'll count to three; if you don't wake up, I'm calling for emergency care. One, two..."

Before the word "two" was even finished, Shi Shuifeng opened her eyes and hurriedly cried out, "No emergency care, I'm fine... oh, don't call the doctor..."

This hospital wasn't saving lives; it was clearly demanding them.

"If you don't want to spend more money, then lie still. In the future, don't just pick up anything you see on the street. Your old life can't take this kind of torment," Jiang Hanyan said coldly.

She didn't have a shred of a good impression of someone like Shi Shuifeng. Her character wasn't good, though she wasn't quite morally bankrupt—she was like a fly compared to a venomous snake. A fly was disgusting, while a snake took lives. Shi Shuifeng was that annoying fly.

Jiang Hanyan took a pen and paper from her bag, quickly wrote down her bank account number, and handed it to Chu Jianguo. "Your mother is fine now. Remember to transfer the money."

"I'll go to the bank to transfer it as soon as it opens tomorrow. Thank you, Miss Jiang."

Chu Jianguo thanked her repeatedly, admiring her from the bottom of his heart. The doctor had said his mother would take at least three days to wake up and would be severely weakened, likely bedridden. Yet Jiang Hanyan had just burned a talisman, and his mother was already as lively as a dragon and tiger.

He absolutely didn't dare renege on this hundred thousand gold; he’d go to the bank to transfer it immediately.

"It's nothing, just doing a job for pay."

Jiang Hanyan smiled and left the room. Chu Jianguo wanted to see her out, but she refused, gesturing toward the room with a slight tilt of her lips. "Go comfort your mother!"

She thought for a moment and added, "If your mother comes to my house to cause trouble in the future, I won't be polite. I'm warning you now."

Knowing someone like Shi Shuifeng, she would certainly be unwilling to let Jiang Hanyan earn a hundred thousand gold so easily. It was best to say the harsh words upfront.

Chu Jianguo’s expression shifted; he felt his mother truly might do such a thing. Jiang Hanyan was no ordinary person; their whole family couldn't afford to offend her.