Two Realms: From Glass Beads to Divine Skills, Invincible

Chapter 1: 7 Days to Live.

New Mexico.

In a park on St. Bix Street.

Everywhere were men and women in tattered clothes and dirty hats, standing or crawling in extremely distorted and bizarre postures.

Bai Chen carefully avoided these pitiful lunatics.

He knew that these people, though seemingly alive, were actually just walking corpses.

We found a relatively quiet place.

Bai Chen carefully looked around to make sure he was safe before taking out his phone and making a cross-border call.

Beep beep... The call is connected.

"Hey~ Ah Chen!"

"Uncle, cross-border phone calls are expensive, so please keep it short."

Bai Chen lowered his voice, trying not to attract attention, and said urgently:

"I've wired some money back, it should be around 12,000 yuan. I'm entrusting the child's matter to you."

"Ah Chen, don't worry about the child. We'll take care of him for you."

My uncle's deep, muffled voice came from the other end of the phone.

"But you, Ah Chen, being in a foreign country, you must be careful..."

Before the old man on the other end could finish speaking, he slammed the phone down.

The time was exactly 28 seconds!

Bai Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

If a call lasts longer than 30 seconds, it will be charged as one minute, and you will be charged five dollars, which is enough to buy two high-calorie fast food meals.

There's nothing we can do; he's an unregistered resident.

Normal international calls aren't this expensive, but for unregistered individuals like him, the only way to contact people in China is to buy phone cards through special channels.

"Phew~"

Bai Chen put his phone back in his pocket, glanced at the sign, and then walked quickly toward the west side of the park.

On the west side of the park, there is a Chinese community, also known as Chinatown.

Having just finished his drug trial work, he needed to hurry to Chinatown to find a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner to recuperate.

The labor agency told him all of this.

.....

After getting close to the Chinese community.

The streets became visibly cleaner, and the living dead, tormented by opioids, gradually disappeared.

The shops on both sides have also changed to both Chinese and English signs.

Shaxian snacks, Lanzhou ramen, Chaoshan beef balls, Cantonese restaurants... Yang's Health Center... and so on.

Bai Chen walked quickly toward Yang's Medical Clinic.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but ever since he started trying the drug, he felt his body had become weaker.

I was already out of breath after walking for only a short while!

Push open the door of the clinic.

The first thing you see is a dark brown table with a cushion and a stethoscope on it.

Behind the wooden table sat a middle-aged man with a goatee and wearing a dark blue long gown.

"Master!" Bai Chen greeted him respectfully.

"Hello, where does it hurt?" The man's eyes scanned Bai Chen up and down.

"My name is Bai Chen... I went to try the drug. The labor agency said that after the trial, I must come to you for treatment."

Bai Chen's tone was somewhat hesitant, and he felt a sense of shame and inferiority.

"Please have a seat!"

The middle-aged man didn't say much, clearly used to this kind of thing, and simply ordered, "Put your hands on the mat."

Bai Chen did as instructed.

Then.

As the middle-aged man took Bai Chen's pulse, he looked him up and down, his expression becoming increasingly serious.

"Open your mouth and stick your tongue out."

Then, using a stethoscope, they listened to Bai Chen's chest and lungs for quite a while.

"Are you out of breath when you walk?"

"I'm a little out of breath, and I feel like I can't catch my breath."

...

As the question and answer continued, the middle-aged man's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Master, is something wrong?" The old Chinese medicine doctor's series of actions made Bai Chen feel uneasy.

"Ugh!"

The middle-aged man sighed, but instead of mentioning his illness, he asked:

"Young man, how long have you been here?"

"It's been almost two months."

Bai Chen found it strange that the other party didn't talk about the illness but instead asked him these questions, but he still answered honestly.

"Why not find a job instead of going into drug testing?"

Listening to the middle-aged man's words,

Bai Chen gave a wry smile and explained, "I'm working. I'll be washing dishes at the restaurant when I get back."

"It's really my bad luck. I just got paid last month, and before I could even wire the money, Lao Hei robbed me."

My child back home has kidney failure and is desperately needing money to save his life. I heard from a labor agency that drug trials can be profitable, but there are some risks involved...

After listening to Bai Chen's words.

The middle-aged man opened his mouth, his expression somewhat complicated.

I initially thought it was another person seeking freedom, but it turns out to be a pitiful person with nowhere else to turn.

"Young man, your days are numbered."

One sentence left Bai Chen completely stunned.

Time... is running out?

Bai Chen's throat bobbed as he tentatively asked, "Master, what...does this mean?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the medication you're testing this time is related to the lungs, right?"

The middle-aged man didn't answer; instead, he asked a question in return.

"Hmm, they say it's some new drug for treating asthma, and the reward is quite substantial..." Bai Chen said nervously.

"Your lung atrophy is severe, to the point where your lung lobes are withered and your qi and yin are exhausted... Your pulse is weak and thready, and your tongue is dark purple with no coating..."

Seeing Bai Chen's puzzled expression,

The middle-aged man paused for a moment, then put it in simpler terms, "In Western medical terms, your lungs have already started to fibrose."

Lung fibrosis...

Bai Chen's face was pale, and he was filled with panic and fear.

There is great terror between life and death.

More importantly, with his death, the medical expenses for his son back home will also be cut off.

"Why...why?"

Bai Chen's lips moved, but he felt it becoming increasingly difficult to breathe.

Why is God so unfair to me?

She was going to die, and before long, her son, who had no money for medical treatment, would also die.

A long time passed.

Bai Chen finally caught his breath, gripping the armrest of the chair for support, and managed a forced, bitter smile.

"Master, how much longer can I live?"

"By controlling lung function with pirfenidone, he can barely survive for another month."

The middle-aged man hesitated slightly, "If no intervention is taken, it should take... about a week."

boom!

Bai Chen's body swayed precariously.

Even though he knew he wouldn't live much longer, he never expected it would only be a short week.

As for using medication to control it, he never even considered it.

As an unregistered resident, the only medicine he could afford was painkillers from Walmart.

.....

The underground parking garage in the slum.

The place is filled with rusty metal shipping containers.

Each box represents the home of an unregistered person.

now.

Bai Chen lay there listlessly, staring blankly at the rusty ceiling.

He was in a state of utter confusion, and didn't even know how he got back.

His life countdown has only one week left, or even less.

It is said that before a person dies, they will recall their life.

Although Bai Chen wasn't dead yet, he couldn't help but... begin to reflect on his terrible life!

.....