[-2 HP]

This was the second time that alert had popped up since William started to make his way to the clinic. It meant he only had three hit points left and just over five minutes before he would drop dead.

Luckily, the Jade Healing Clinic was in William’s sight. He estimated it would take him around a minute to get to the door, even though it would have usually taken him thirty seconds if he was in a normal state.

And by normal, William meant his Stamina and only that. The stab wound in his stomach decreased his health and was starting to get intensely painful as more time passed, but other than that, it didn’t truly affect his overall movement in a meaningful way.

William was no doctor, but with how deep the knife stabbed into him, there was no doubt that it caused significant damage to his organs and should have done the same to his muscles. It might have been idiotic of him, no, it was idiotic of him to try, but he had carefully moved his upper body to test how limited his movements were, and he found that it wasn’t at all.

The pain in his abdomen didn’t spike, nor did the blood dripping from the wound increase in quantity. It was obvious that the system he possessed was responsible for it, though it hadn’t shown an alert with an explanation when he questioned it.

That left William to make his own guess. And he only had one.

His body took injuries like an actual game character in an RPG.

That would mean as long as William could ignore the pain and he didn’t gain any negative traits, he would be able to fight at his peak with injuries that would cripple most others.

Of course, that could all be completely wrong, but William certainly hoped not. Even if that meant it made him into some type of masochist.

“Don’t go near him!”

William glanced at the middle-aged lady holding a child close to her while giving him fearful glances. It had become such a common sight that he could pay it no mind.

He had hoped a good samaritan would rush to help a heavily injured teen, but either he had been extremely unlucky and found none, or this was how it worked in this city. It was similar to how people in his old world reacted to seeing something horrible.

Most would just point and whisper while doing nothing to help.

“You have determination.”

William blinked and saw Li Xinyue walking right next to him. He would ask her why she was here if he wasn’t close to death.

“Sister Li, I need help,” William said weakly as he pointed at his bleeding wound, “I got stabbed.”

“I know,” Li Xinyue replied with pursed lips, “I saw what happened. I hoped you could get to the clinic, but this is good enough.”

“… What?” William’s thoughts blanked at what he heard.

“Master hasn’t allowed me to use immortal pills on customers, but I can apply a salve to heal the wound. It should stop the deathly aura from increasing any further.”

William stood like a statue when Li Xinyue practically ripped apart his ruined silk clothes to reveal the gruesome wound. She brought out a small bottle filled with a dull red paste and removed the lid before applying it liberally on the stab wound.

It was odd, being able to feel the torn skin actively stitch itself back together.

[Trait Removed | Stab Wound (-2 HP per 5 minutes)]

William had always believed the phrase ’a dark cloud settling on one’s mind’ was an exaggeration, but as the weight lifted off his thoughts, he realized that was exactly how it had felt.

“Thank you, Sister Li,” William said gratefully.

Li Xinyue hummed as she stared at him thoughtfully. “You’ve become stronger compared to when you first came to the clinic. Surprisingly so.”

William smiled nervously and said, “It must be the meal you treated me to, Sister Li. Your care helped me win that fight.”

“My care?” Li Xinyue smiled ambiguously, “I assume that’s why you so confidently declared that the immortals in the Jade Healing Clinic would avenge your death?”

William’s smile froze, both from nervousness at thinking he blustered too much and the angered shock at hearing that Li Xinyue had seen the whole fight. The latter won as he imagined her watching emotionlessly while he was inches away from death.

Still, William didn’t forget that Li Xinyue was the girl that threatened to kill him for looking at her for too long. He wrestled the anger down until he sounded more confused than anything else.

“You saw all of that, Sister Li? Are you not allowed to help mortals when they’re fighting?”

“Nothing like that,” Li Xinyue said as she pushed William to walk to the clinic, “What’s the point of living under protection? That’s no way to grow to your potential.”

William’s mind once again went blank. Li Xinyue said that so casually that it was hard for him to say anything about it. Perhaps it was the stark difference in views that baffled him. He was still thinking in terms of his previous life. However, there was still one thing that made no sense.

“Then why did you follow me, Sister Li?”

“Master returned after you left and asked me to bring you back.”

“Oh,” William said dumbly before entering the clinic.

[Name: Lan Yin | Level: ?]

[Name: Lan Yang | Level: ?]

The first thing he noticed was the two newcomers in robes that were a soft shade of green, with two gold circles adorning their sleeves. The next thing that caught his eyes was the identical looks of disdain they shot at him.

William couldn’t even blame them since he looked like a wreck with a bloodied body and ripped clothes. However, he noticed the unmistakable deference they showed Huang Jingyi, so he ignored them and gave the Elder a deep bow.

“Thank you for sending Sister Li, Elder Huang. She saved my life.”

“Come here, Wei Liang,” Huang Jingyi ordered with a frown. When William was in arms reach, he gave him a closer look and sighed. “You will need another immortal pill to return to perfect health.”

William glanced at the two newcomers when they made a sound in protest.

“The token I gave you only lets you enter the clinic without getting blocked. It does not include free service, Wei Liang.”

William wondered if that was true since it didn’t make much sense to even have a token like that. But since the Elder of the clinic said so, it was now the truth.

“It’s alright, Elder Huang. Sister Li stopped the bleeding. I can heal the slow way.”

“No,” Huang Jingyi shook his head, “It’s too dangerous to leave you in this state. But it’s against the sect's rules to heal you for free… Lan Yin! Lan Yang!”

“Yes, Elder Huang?” The newcomers asked in unison.

“Do you still need mortal helpers in the Garden?”

“Yes, Elder,” The girl, Lan Yin, answered, “There were two that retired recently.”

“Good,” Huang Jingyi nodded and looked at William, “I’ll give you another Vitality Restoration Pill if you agree to work diligently in my Spirit Plant Garden for a month.”

William’s eyes widened in surprise. This wasn’t a fair trade at all, in his view. It was like two rewards were handed to him. “I’ll do it!”

“Yue’er told me of your interest in reading about them.” Huang Jingyi chuckled and tossed a pill into William’s open mouth.

[+42 HP]

“Good! Come back to the clinic tomorrow, and they’ll take you to the Garden.”

“Yes, Elder Huang,” William bowed deeply again.

“Yue’er, see to it that Wei Liang reaches safely. I wouldn’t want to use another pill.”

“Yes, Master,” Li Xinyue nodded as she nudged William to the door.

He didn’t resist and left after giving Huang Jingyi another deep bow in gratitude. After they were far from the clinic, he asked Li Xinyue something he was confused about.

“Sister Li? Didn’t you say Elder Huang asked you to bring me back? What was it for? He didn’t say anything.”

Li Xinyue chuckled and said, “Master wanted to offer you work in the Garden. He didn’t expect you to be so hurt, so he turned it into payment for giving you the pill.”

“Oh,” William tilted his head and mentally thanked Huang Jingyi again. He was far kinder than William ever expected. Maybe it was because Li Xinyue was becoming more socially competent, at least with him.

“Elder Huang is kind,” William commented out loud, much to Li Xinyue’s delight.

They got closer to where the fight occurred, and William found himself strangely nervous, even though he was in no danger with Li Xinyue beside him.

“Looks like they’re cleaning it up,” Li Xinyue observed as she saw city guards loading the bodies of the two dead bandits onto a cart.

William nodded before his eyes brightened up when he saw a familiar face.

“Brother Li!”

Li Jie was directing his subordinates when he heard his name being called by a familiar voice. He looked up, surprised to see William’s blood-covered form beside the girl who never leaves the Jade Healing Clinic.

“Little Brother Wei Liang? What happened to you?”

William pointed at the dead bodies while doing his best to not look at them. “They happened. They tried to kill me after I refused to tell them about Sister Xiaoling.”

“Really?” Li Jie looked shocked before his eyes sharpened. He barked at his men, “Find out if other people are working with them!”

William nodded, satisfied that Li Jie did as he assumed he would. If there was a slight chance that Zhang Biao was telling the truth about being part of a group, he hoped this would be enough to eliminate that problem.

“Now,” Li Jie turned back to them, “What brings you out of the clinic, Cousin Xinyue?”