Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 180 - 80 Flexible

Chapter 180: Chapter 80 Flexible

Modern times.

As time flew by and the deadline of a month drew near, Zheng Fa could more and more sense Old Man Bai’s anxiety.

But the old man, as if afraid of affecting Zheng Fa, did not utter a single word of rush.

This month, Old Man Bai spent less time at the elderly care home and more days at Mrs. Tian’s house.

This weekend, Old Man Bai was not at the elderly care home.

"Sir Bai is worried that Grandma Wu can’t handle it alone and goes to help every day," Tang Lingwu whispered to Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa nodded slightly, took out his mobile phone, and sent a text message to Old Man Bai: "I have a way to treat Mrs. Tian now."

Less than three seconds later, his phone vibrated frantically.

"Really?"

As soon as the phone call connected, Old Man Bai asked, his voice slightly trembling.

"Mm, I’ve condensed a Taiyin Talisman, it should be useful."

The Taiyin Talisman was considered one of the most famous healing Spirit Talismans in the Xuanwei Realm—this talisman was quite complex, and even Xuan-grade Talisman Masters would find it difficult to draw.

Even Zheng Fa had failed once before successfully condensing this Spirit Talisman in his Dantian.

But the effect of the Taiyin Talisman was also the best—it wasn’t an exaggeration to say it could treat hundreds of diseases.

Thus, such a talisman sold at a high price in the workshop.

Old Man Bai on the other side fell silent, as if suppressing some emotion.

"Mr. Bai, should Tang Lingwu and I come to Mrs. Tian’s house to find you?"

"Okay," Old Man Bai said softly.

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu hailed a ride-share and arrived at Mrs. Tian’s house after more than half an hour.

Upon entering, they knew why Old Man Bai’s mood was a bit off.

Mrs. Tian was no longer able to get up.

She lay in bed, her eyes still clear, but her face had taken on a withered hue.

She looked much worse than a month before.

Seeing them come in, Mrs. Tian smiled slightly, her eyes filled with cryptic meanings.

It seemed like apprehension, and also like doubt.

Zheng Fa was taken aback and looked at Old Man Bai.

Old Man Bai nodded at him, gesturing to step outside for a talk.

"Have you told her everything?" Outside the door, before Zheng Fa could speak, Tang Lingwu asked.

This girl was also keen.

"I have..." Old Man Bai replied, somewhat dejectedly, "She didn’t believe anything, and I had no choice but to tell her everything."

"..."

Zheng Fa wasn’t too concerned, after all by this time, he also had a certain self-protective power—just that Old Man Bai’s approach was a bit unreliable.

Even Tang Lingwu was able to keep her own mother in the dark.

"I thought...if the treatment doesn’t work, she would just see it as a joke, no harm done...and if she...if she passes away, then it’s even less of an issue."

Old Man Bai explained his thoughts.

Zheng Fa nodded.

"If it does work, then she’s my spouse, and in the future, she’ll need to know everything... whether to speak of it or not, there’s no difference."

Zheng Fa shook his head.

That was a bit of sophistry.

Old Man Bai became anxious: "If you don’t believe, you can try the Dream Charm on her!"

"... Would Mrs. Tian agree?" Zheng Fa was a bit speechless: "I was just going to directly heal Mrs. Tian, whether she joins the elderly care home can be discussed later..."

Frankly speaking, the Dream Charm was designed to deter villains.

Not to use on those close to one.

It bordered on the violation of privacy.

"That’s the thing, she wouldn’t let you treat her without clearing things up!" Old Man Bai also felt helpless: "That’s the behavior of those in scientific research I’ve seen too many times, everything has to be figured out. Death is acceptable, but living in uncertainty is not."

"..."

After talking for a bit, they walked back into the room.

Mrs. Tian, as if she knew what they were discussing, weakly but with a smile, said: "Don’t blame Old Bai, I asked for it."

"I don’t blame Mr. Bai," Zheng Fa replied genuinely. He glanced at the awkward-looking Old Bai, then turned to Mrs. Tian and asked: "Do you believe now?"

"I believe."

"Ah?"

"Didn’t you notice something missing in the yard when you came in?"

Zheng Fa turned around and saw that the stone table which used to be in the yard was gone.

Not gone, but shattered into pieces, pathetically stacked in a corner of the yard.

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu exchanged glances, both thinking of one possibility...

"You’re not wrong, Old Bai did it," Mrs. Tian said with a headache: "He smashed the table to pieces with one punch, luckily my mom was out shopping..."

"..."

"I haven’t figured out yet how to explain it to my mom."

The Old Man Bai next to her also felt aggrieved: "You didn’t believe, I could only prove that I’m not...that table was just in the right place at the time!"

No, you’re the eldest in this yard now...

Always so gruff?

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and realized it wasn’t just about curing the sickness.

"So... Mrs. Tian, would you like to join our elderly care home?" he asked.

"I’m willing."

Mrs. Tian agreed very straightforwardly.

"Ah?"

Zheng Fa did not expect her to agree so quickly.

"It’s life-saving!" Mrs. Tian laughed: "I heard Old Bai say that the previous plant was transformed by Spiritual Energy? I’m a bit interested."

"And... isn’t there a saying, to follow wherever my husband goes."

"Huh?"

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu both voiced their surprise, not expecting to suddenly be hit in the face with a display of affection.

What’s going on with those two?

Beside them, Old Bai smiled triumphantly, and said: "We got our marriage license a few days ago."

"Mrs. Tian, you’re really swift and decisive." Tang Lingwu’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as if ready to watch a juicy scene: "Didn’t you agree only if the treatment worked?"

"He, well... coming every day, even my mom got moved." Mrs. Tian said helplessly: "Besides, how can we not be quick with someone on their deathbed?"

She looked at Old Man Bai.

Old Man Bai laughed as well.

Zheng Fa heard Mrs. Tian whisper softly, "Luckily I didn’t know before that you were Cultivators... I don’t want Old Bai to think that I agreed to marry him just because he cured me."

Old Bai’s eyes brightened up.

"..."

Zheng Fa glanced at the old couple and was somewhat moved.

After saying that, Mrs. Tian seemed a bit embarrassed and spoke up, "I heard from Old Bai that there is some kind of test before one can join the retirement home? That you know about Cultivation?"

Zheng Fa nodded and said, "Let’s take care of your illness first."

"Rules can’t be broken." Mrs. Tian was quite firm: "Knowing in advance is already not proper, the test must still be taken."

Zheng Fa looked at Old Man Bai, who nodded slightly and whispered, "That’s just her personality."

Zheng Fa could only relent, shooting a Dream Charm into Mrs. Tian’s forehead.

Mrs. Tian passed out into a deep sleep.

Above her head, black vapors slowly formed into a vortex.

Zheng Fa didn’t want to leave a bad impression on Mrs. Tian and chose to see her deepest desire.

In the center of the vortex, there was a laboratory.

Mrs. Tian, in a white lab coat, stood before some machine Zheng Fa wasn’t familiar with, surrounded by a few younger men and women.

They seemed to be her students.

The words coming from their mouths were half gibberish to Zheng Fa.

After all, he only had a high school biology background and wasn’t that interested, so understanding what Mrs. Tian was doing was a real challenge—but Zheng Fa could see the focus and excitement on Mrs. Tian’s face.

She was operating the instrument in front of her, endlessly talking to the students beside her.

"Is this... really Mrs. Tian’s deepest desire?"

Tang Lingwu didn’t quite understand either.

She asked somewhat perplexed.

"Heh..." Old Man Bai shook his head and said, "This gal has loved burying herself in the lab since she was young, finding it comfortable, so comfortable that she neglected to get married."

Zheng Fa nodded lightly, understanding Mrs. Tian a bit more.

"She’s purer than I am."

Indeed, at least Old Man Bai had the desire to show off with an award, but Mrs. Tian even dreamed about being in the lab.

Just when they thought that this was all there was to Mrs. Tian’s dream,

Suddenly, someone knocked on the laboratory door: "Professor Tian, your spouse is here to pick you up after work!"

Spouse?

Zheng Fa and the others were startled, wasn’t Mrs. Tian unmarried?

In the dream, Mrs. Tian muttered to herself, asking softly, "Old Bai is here?"

Hearing this, Old Man Bai couldn’t help but show a satisfied smile.

"Look! Look! This means she cares!" Old Man Bai said to Zheng Fa and the others; "Even in her dream, it’s me coming to pick her up after work!"

Tang Lingwu thought for a moment and then said, "A whole lifetime doing what you love, and having your loved one pick you up after work, sounds wonderful."

She voiced it with a hint of envy.

They watched as Mrs. Tian walked out of the lab, changed her clothes, and went downstairs.

Someone was waiting there...

"Sir Bai..." Tang Lingwu looked at the person waiting for Mrs. Tian, somewhat taken aback: "Who is this? Why does he look somewhat familiar?"

The person waiting for Mrs. Tian was the same height as Old Man Bai, dressed like Old Man Bai, even had Old Man Bai’s curly hair and expression—

The only difference was that he didn’t have Old Man Bai’s face.

It was a face that even Zheng Fa felt familiar with, but probably because it was placed on Old Man Bai that he didn’t recognize it immediately.

"... your relative."

"Ah?" Tang Lingwu recognized it: "Isn’t this..."

"Right, with a feather fan and you would have known." Old Man Bai sighed slightly: "Decades ago, he was famous, a renowned pretty boy."

In the scene, Mrs. Tian walked up smiling and said, "Old Bai, didn’t I tell you not to come pick me up?"

"..."

The three outside the scene fell silent.

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu exchanged glances, both carefully watching Old Man Bai’s expression.

This dream... was a bit hurtful.

Old Man Bai frowned, pondering something, seemingly a bit upset.

"... Zheng Fa."

He suddenly spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"Do you have any spell for Changing Appearance?"

"Ah?"

"Teach it to me."

"..." After being silent for a while, Zheng Fa said, "Aren’t you angry?"

"Angry about what? You don’t understand... Who wouldn’t want to date a handsome man?" Old Man Bai waved his hand: "Doesn’t she like me? She does, but she doesn’t like my face... I’ll just change it, right?"

Zheng Fa was somewhat impressed.

That’s Old Man Bai for you, emotionally stable and still focusing on the main conflict.

"Plus, she could use some training later on."

"Ah?"

Old Man Bai gave him a contemptuous glance: "I had my fanboy moments when I was young, you know."

Zheng Fa was even more impressed.

Playing the game on a whole new level!

...

Mrs. Tian woke up groggily from the bed, seemingly confused.

She looked around, her gaze falling on Old Man Bai’s face, as if she remembered something: "Old Bai, did I dream about you?"

"Yes, we saw it too."

"It just felt like something was off..."

"Nothing was wrong, that was me." Old Man Bai declared decisively.