The door was pushed open, but the person standing there wasn’t the "first paying customer" John had been praying for. It was a familiar silhouette.

  It was Margaret.

  She held onto the door frame for support, her face paler than usual. The crystallization on the left side of her body seemed to have worsened; even the blood vessels in her neck pulsed with an eerie, translucent blue light. The noise outside had woken her, and the piercing pain made sleep impossible anyway.

  "John... what are you doing?"

  Margaret looked at the rows of plastic chairs in the living room, the strange meridian charts plastered on the walls, and the skeleton—Bone—standing like a gatekeeper at the entrance. Her eyes were filled with confusion and worry.

  "Mom, why are you up?" John’s heart tightened. He rushed over to support her. "Go back to bed, it’s cold out here."

  "I’m not cold." Margaret gently pushed his hand away. Her gaze landed on the crude, hand-written sign. "'Community Medical Service Point'? John, are you planning to... practice medicine?"

  "I..." John stammered. He hadn't figured out how to explain this insane plan to his mother yet.

  "Don't be silly, child." Margaret sighed, looking at him with the eyes one uses for a naive toddler. "You haven't even gotten your diploma. How can you treat patients? This is illegal. If the Guild finds out..."

  "The Guild doesn't give a damn if we live or die!" John suddenly raised his voice, the long-suppressed anger finally erupting. "Mom, you only have enough medicine for this week! The black market is dry! If I don't do something, are we supposed to just sit here and wait for the end?"

  Margaret froze. She looked at her son’s red-rimmed eyes—the look of a cornered beast desperate to survive.

  "I don't want you to die." John’s voice softened, turning into a plea. "I want to try. Really. There’s a way in here."

  He pointed to the tablet that was still glowing in his hand.

  Margaret remained silent for a long time. She reached out with her right hand—the one not yet crystallized—and gently touched John’s face.

  "Okay. Let's try."

  She sat down on the single bed covered with a white sheet, as if she had made a decision.

  "Since you're open for business, you need a patient. I'll be your first patient."

  John’s heart trembled violently.

  He hadn't expected his first patient to be the person he wanted to save the most—and the one he was most afraid of hurting.

  If it were anyone else, he might have dared to experiment with those half-understood charms. But this was his mom. If he messed up...

  "No! I can't use you as a guinea pig!" John instinctively refused.

  "If you don't experiment, how will you know if it works?" Margaret smiled, though the expression was twisted by pain. "Come on. This body is running on borrowed time anyway."

  John looked at his mother. He looked at her arm, now completely transformed into something resembling blue sapphire, and saw the deep-seated agony in her eyes.

  He knew his mother was using her own life to pave the road for his "Black Clinic."

  "Okay."

  John took a deep breath.

  He couldn't treat her himself. Absolutely not.

  He turned around and gripped the tablet he had been holding all along.

  His finger hovered over the [SUMMON] button, trembling slightly.

  Merit Points: 0. To summon, he would have to "credit" the account through Singularity again, or overdraft his own life force.

  But he didn't care anymore.

  "Bone, guard the door. Don't let anyone in."

  Bone nodded, gripped his battle axe, and stood like a statue blocking the entrance.

  John closed his eyes and chanted silently in his heart.

  I want the best doctor. I don't care how much it costs. I don't care what the price is. Just save her.

  In the search bar, with shaking fingers, he typed in the name:

  [Hua Tuo]

  The Divine Doctor of the Jian'an Era. The Surgical Saint. The madman who dared to propose cracking open the skull of Warlord Cao Cao.

  "Summon!"

  Ding!

  [Strong rescue intent detected.]

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  [High-risk patient detected (Margaret).]

  [Matching responder...]

  [Match Success!]

  [Responder Callsign: The Healer.]

  [Summon Trait: Cynical.]

  [Cost: Credit (Paid by Daoist Singularity).]

  BOOM!

  This time, there was no gale-force wind, no digital snow.

  Instead, a thick, rich scent of herbal medicine—bitter yet strangely refreshing—instantly filled the room. The smell was so potent it overpowered the lingering moldy stench of the Lower Sector.

  An old man appeared by the bedside out of thin air. He wore grey hemp robes, carried a battered wooden medicine chest, and sported a white beard that bristled with energy.

  He didn't look at John. He didn't look at Bone.

  His gaze landed directly on Margaret lying on the bed.

  Hua Tuo.

  His brows knitted together tightly. He took two steps to the bedside, reached out with a hand that was calloused but incredibly clean, and placed his fingers on Margaret’s wrist.

  Pulse reading.

  There were no golden special effects. Just a simple, tactile pulse reading.

  But as the seconds ticked by, Hua Tuo’s face grew darker. His frown deepened until his eyebrows were practically tied in a knot.

  "Quacks! They are all quacks!"

  Hua Tuo suddenly exploded.

  He let go of her wrist, grabbed a handful of silver needles from his chest, his beard trembling with rage. He pointed at the empty bottles of "Crystallization Inhibitor" on the nightstand and roared:

  "Who prescribed this?! Huh?! Is this fit for human consumption?!"

  John jumped, startled. He hurriedly explained, "That’s... that’s the special medicine from the Guild Hospital. It’s very expensive..."

  "Special medicine?!" Hua Tuo sneered. He grabbed a bottle, sniffed it, and then threw it onto the floor with disgust. "This is nothing but high-concentration mana steroids! Laced with sedatives and addictive toxins!"

  "Sure, it stops the pain. It temporarily suppresses the crystallization. But the principle is overdrafting the patient's life force to fight the virus! It’s like... like pouring gasoline into a dying oil lamp!"

  " The flame burns brighter for a second, but the oil runs dry even faster!"

  Hua Tuo pointed at Margaret’s crystallized arm.

  "Look at the color! It started as a disease of the flesh, but now the poison has attacked the heart! If she keeps taking that bullshit inhibitor, in less than three months, this won't be Crystallization Syndrome anymore—she'll turn into a statue!"

  "These Western quacks! For the sake of profit, to keep patients on medication for life, they actually developed a poison that farms the disease instead of curing it!"

  "This is simply... treating people like livestock!"

  John felt a chill run through his bones.

  He had always thought it was life-saving medicine. He had almost sold his kidney for it. He had risked his life for it. And it turned out... the medicine was a death warrant?

  "Then... is there still hope?" John’s voice trembled.

  "With me here, even the King of Hell has to wait in line."

  Hua Tuo huffed coldly, the arrogance of a Divine Doctor flaring up.

  "Kid, boil some water! I want rolling boiling water!"

  "And you, skeleton rack! Don't just stand there like an idiot. Come over here and hold the patient down! This is going to hurt!"

  Bone immediately stepped forward and gently pinned Margaret’s shoulders.

  Hua Tuo opened his medicine chest.

  Rows of silver needles glinted coldly under the dim light.

  "This disease is caused by evil toxins invading the body, combined with a deficit of Qi and blood. Since Western medicine tries to 'block' it, I will 'flush' it!"

  "Five Animal Frolics · Tiger Style · Bone Penetrating Needle!"

  Hua Tuo moved with lightning speed.

  Thwip, thwip, thwip!

  Three silver needles accurately pierced key acupoints on Margaret’s crystallized arm.

  "Ugh!" Margaret let out a muffled groan as cold sweat instantly broke out on her forehead.

  "Endure it!" Hua Tuo didn't stop his hands. "I'm forcing the poison out! These crystals aren't stone; they are congealed magical energy! We have to drain it!"

  As he twisted the needles, cracks began to appear on the hard blue crystal surface.

  Immediately after, threads of black, foul-smelling liquid began to ooze from the needle holes.

  With every drop that flowed out, the color of the crystal faded a shade lighter.

  Although Margaret’s face was pale, the excruciating, bone-deep pain that had been torturing her miraculously began to subside.

  Thirty minutes later.

  Hua Tuo retracted the needles.

  Margaret fell into a deep sleep. Her breathing was steady. Although her arm hadn't fully recovered, the terrifying ghostly blue hue had faded significantly, revealing hints of her original skin tone.

  "Her life is secure."

  Hua Tuo wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat on a nearby chair, looking slightly exhausted.

  "But to cure the root cause, acupuncture isn't enough. She needs medicine."

  He picked up a pen and paper, scribbling down a prescription in wild cursive.

  "Go find the herbs on this list. Don't go to those big pharmacies. Go to the junkyards, go to the ruins. The potency of those mutated wild weeds is a hundred times stronger than the greenhouse garbage."

  John took the prescription, staring at the names that were both familiar and strange: Mutated Earthworm, Radiation Reishi, Sewer Moss...

  "Sir... thank you." John looked at his sleeping mother, tears threatening to fall.

  "Don't thank me." Hua Tuo waved his hand, staring out the window at the grey sky with a cynical sorrow. "I just can't stand this world. A doctor should have a benevolent heart, but the human hearts in this era... are harder to cure than the diseases."

  "Kid, since you're opening a clinic, remember one thing."

  Hua Tuo stood up, his figure beginning to fade (summoning time was up).

  "Don't worry about licenses. Don't worry about what others say."

  "If it saves a life, it's good medicine."

  "Don't turn into one of those... animals who treat humans like pigs for money."

  The light dissipated.

  Hua Tuo was gone.

  Leaving behind a life-saving prescription and a room filled with the faint scent of herbs.

  John clutched the prescription tightly, looking at his mother’s visibly relaxed brow. The heavy stone hanging over his heart finally crashed to the ground.

  Just then, the tablet in his arms vibrated, emitting a delightfully crisp notification sound.

  Ding!

  John checked the screen.

  [Treatment Complete.]

  [Patient: Margaret Doe.]

  [Treatment Effect: Excellent (Accumulated toxins cleared, vitals stabilizing).]

  [Patient Feedback: Extreme Gratitude (Kinship Bond Bonus).]

  [Merit Points Gained: 500.]

  [Current Summon Cost: 100 (Kinship Discount).]

  [Current Balance: 400 Merit Points.]

  [System Note: Don't forget you still owe me 5,000 credits in principal! Interest is calculated separately! — Singularity.]

  John froze.

  500 points.

  This was more than he earned catching ghosts for Old Wang.

  He looked at the number and suddenly understood what Daoist Singularity meant: "Merit is a response to 'need'."

  Although his mother hadn't paid money, her intense desire to live and be with her son, and the gratitude from the depths of her soul after her pain was relieved, were the most valuable currency in this system.

  "So that's how it works..."

  John smiled.

  This wasn't just saving a life; this was "earning."

  As long as he could cure more people—even poor folks like Grandma Lee—as long as they were genuinely grateful, he could generate a steady stream of Merit. With Merit, he could summon Hua Tuo, and with Hua Tuo, he could cure more people.

  It was a perfect, positive loop.

  And it was his capital to fight against this cold world.

  He turned to look at Bone, a new hope burning in his eyes.

  "Bone, get ready to work."

  "We're going scavenging. To find medicine... for Mom."

  "This clinic isn't just going to stay open. It's going to... expand."

  [Message from Singularity]

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