Chapter 462: Two Months in a Coma?

“Ahh! Shui Miao is awake, Shui Miao is awake!!”

Right after that, another excited shout rang out.

Shui Miao turned around and saw a figure running out of the house. Judging from the back, it looked very much like Chen Bing.

“Huh?”

Shui Miao looked around the room. Wasn’t this exactly his grandfather’s house?

He looked down at his clothes. He was wearing baggy shorts and a black sleeveless undershirt.

“Oh my God! This is just too amazing!”

Shui Miao pinched his thigh hard. The pain was so intense that tears almost came out.

Quickly licking his lips, Shui Miao sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind, trying to reach a meditative state. After about ten seconds, he sighed in disappointment. Forget about reaching a meditative state—he couldn’t even sense any spiritual energy. His dantian felt completely empty, and all he felt was hunger.

“Grandpa, hurry, hurry up! Shui Miao is really awake!”

Chen Bing excitedly brought the old man into the room.

When Grandpa Xiong Ying saw Shui Miao sitting up, his eyes sparkling with life, tears of joy immediately flowed from his aged eyes.

Chen Bing jumped up and down excitedly. “Haha! I told you this brat wouldn’t die, right? Look—he’s come back to life! You little brat, do you know how many days you’ve been unconscious? You scared us to death! You’ve been in a coma for almost two months!”

“What!?” Shui Miao was shocked. He immediately got out of bed.

Seeing this, Grandpa Xiong quickly wiped away his tears and pushed Shui Miao back onto the bed, covering him with a blanket. He felt Shui Miao’s forehead and took his pulse, tears again welling up in his eyes. “You little brat, you’re finally awake. Your body is still weak. Lie in bed and rest. I’ll go heat up some chicken soup for you. Chen Bing, take good care of him. Don’t let him run around…”

Grandpa Xiong sighed deeply and hurried to the kitchen.

Shui Miao immediately grabbed Chen Bing’s arm. He had obviously lost weight. “You little brat, quickly tell me what happened! Two months?”

“Brother! You really don’t remember!?”

Chen Bing was so excited he almost lost control.

“Do you remember that night we went to the乱坟岗 to catch fish?”

“Of course I remember. Later we met a water ghost too.” Shui Miao was back in the moment, his memories vivid as ever.

Chen Bing slapped his thigh. “Exactly! Later you went to the back of the boat and accidentally fell into the water. When we pulled you out, you had already stopped breathing. Fortunately, Grandpa arrived in time. He ran several miles with you upside down on his back, finally saving your life. But since then, you’ve been in a coma. Grandpa invited the old grandma from the Li Zhuang village behind us to take a look. She said most of your three souls and seven spirits were gone—they were taken away by an immortal. To bring you back to life, that immortal must return your soul.”

Old Grandma San was blind. She was a famous local shaman. Whenever anyone had a problem, they went to her—even if they just lost their wallet, she could calculate where it was.

“No way…”

Shui Miao was stunned. This sounded too incredible!

Listening to Chen Bing, Shui Miao couldn’t help but feel that maybe he really had been in a coma for days, and that all those experiences had just been a dream.

“What do you mean ‘no way’! I even skipped work in Zhonghai to stay by your side every day. You kept mumbling names in your sleep, always dreaming about that girl Xiao Tang.” Chen Bing gave him a look of disdain, as if saying, “You were lying in bed having sweet dreams while I skipped work to take care of you, and now that you’re awake, you’re still doubting me and not even saying thank you.”

Shui Miao’s eyes sparkled. “What about Lin Haiyang? Where are Ye Haibing and Li Hua?”

“What? You still don’t believe me!?” Chen Bing stood up in frustration, grabbed the calendar, and pointed at the date, spitting as he spoke. “Look! Look! Today is already July 19th. In ten days, it’ll have been exactly two months. They don’t have the loyalty I have—they’ve all gone back to work. And still you doubt me…”

Shui Miao took the calendar and looked. The pages were clearly worn from being flipped through many times.

Shui Miao tried to get out of bed again, but Chen Bing stopped him.

“No, no, no! Grandpa said you can’t get out of bed yet.”

“I need to pee!”

Shui Miao wanted to go outside to check the reeds by the riverbank. In his memory, he clearly remembered how they had grown. According to what Chen Bing said, after more than a month, those reeds should have grown very tall.

But to his surprise, Chen Bing pulled out a chamber pot from under the bed.

“Are you serious? You want me to use this in broad daylight?” Shui Miao was hungry, but his energy was surprisingly good.

Chen Bing glared at him. “What’s wrong with using this? You even wet the bed while lying there.”

“Whatever. I’m fine now. I’m going outside to take a look.”

Shui Miao stubbornly got out of bed.

It was mid-July, very hot, and this afternoon was particularly muggy and uncomfortable.

Inside the house, the stifling heat was unbearable.

Outside, in the northwest corner, a large parasol tree, big enough for two people to embrace, was filled with cicadas shrieking nonstop.

Seeing Shui Miao insist on getting up, Chen Bing couldn’t stop him and went to call Grandpa.

Shui Miao rushed out the door, immediately hit by a wave of hot air. His body was still weak, and he felt short of breath.

Just outside the door, there was a bench by the wall. Shui Miao quickly sat down. Fortunately, Grandpa Xiong didn’t say anything. He had Chen Bing bring out a small wooden table, set out bowls and chopsticks, and brought over a steel pot of heated chicken soup. Everyone had a big bowl for lunch, celebrating Shui Miao’s awakening.

But Shui Miao’s eyes were fixed on the tall, thick reeds by the river to the south. They were so tall and dense that they couldn’t have grown like that in just a few days.

“So I really was in a coma?”

“Was everything before just a dream?”

“No way! How could it feel so real?”

Shui Miao murmured to himself, feeling the unbearable confusion between dreams and reality.

“Shui Miao, stop spacing out. It’s good that you’re awake. I was originally worried you’d be in a coma forever. Now that you’re awake, you should be happy. Rest here today. Tomorrow I’ll buy some gifts, and we’ll go together to thank Old Grandma San.” Grandpa Xiong had also lost weight. These days had been tough on him.

Chen Bing hadn’t had a good meal in days and was slurping his soup like a pig.

Shui Miao looked up at his grandfather, seeing the bloodshot eyes, and felt a pang in his heart. He silently vowed that no matter whether all this was a dream or reality, he would take good care of his grandfather and repay him for raising him.

“Grandpa, my body is fine. Please eat more.”

Shui Miao took Grandpa’s almost empty bowl and exchanged it with his own full bowl of chicken soup.

Grandpa Xiong was slightly taken aback.

Shui Miao said, “Grandpa, please eat. If you don’t, I’ll feel terrible. From now on, I’ll take care of you. I won’t let you worry or work hard anymore.”

“Ahh, okay, okay… good child…”

Grandpa Xiong was deeply moved, almost shedding tears again.

Chen Bing put down his bowl and looked at Shui Miao, laughing foolishly. He was so happy. If Shui Miao hadn’t woken up, he would have regretted it for life. Now that Shui Miao was awake, he was overjoyed. In the future, they could once again chat, play together, go out to work, and travel the world.

Gulping down a big bowl of chicken soup, Shui Miao felt his strength returning. He stood up and started moving his neck.

At first, Grandpa Xiong was still worried.

But after a few minutes, Shui Miao’s face turned rosy, his color normal, his eyes bright. Grandpa Xiong finally relaxed.

After finishing his soup, Grandpa Xiong was about to clear the dishes when Shui Miao quickly took over.

Grandpa Xiong said, “No, no. A recovering patient shouldn’t catch a chill. If you get hit by a cold wind, you’ll get sick again.”

Chen Bing chuckled and quickly grabbed the dishes, running toward the river.

Watching Chen Bing’s back, Grandpa Xiong sighed. “Ah! These days have been hard on Chen Bing too. You must treat him well in the future. We shouldn’t forget a sincere friend like him.”

“Grandpa, I know. I will treat him well.” Suddenly, a thought struck Shui Miao. “By the way, Grandpa, do you know how Chen Xiang is doing? Has she been okay lately?”

“Chen Xiang! She comes to see you every day, but her father is no saint.” Grandpa Xiong made a face, clearly not fond of Chen Jianguo.

“Plunk!”

Suddenly, a splash echoed!

Shui Miao and Grandpa turned their heads and saw Chen Bing fall into the river.

Both were startled and rushed to the riverside. But just as they arrived, Chen Bing threw a big turtle onto the bank!

The turtle was belly-up, flailing its legs, about the size of a washbasin, at least three and a half pounds.

Chen Bing climbed out of the water, laughing. “Today’s luck is just too good! I spotted it and jumped in. This guy must have been confused and actually ran into my arms! Grandpa, quickly catch it and make turtle soup for Shui Miao…”

Grandpa Xiong also grinned, stepping on the turtle with one foot as it tried to flip over.

“Haha! Chen Bing, this time you’ve really done something great…”

Wild turtles are a great tonic, perfect for someone recovering from a serious illness.

Grandpa Xiong hadn’t had much money left. He had been thinking about buying another chicken for Shui Miao and using the rest to buy gifts for Old Grandma San, wondering how they would manage the days ahead. Now that Chen Bing had caught a big turtle, the money for the chicken was saved, and they could have nourishing soup for a couple more days. In two days, he could go out and do some feng shui work to earn some money.

“I’ll go get the knife and kill it right away…”

Chen Bing was excited, running to the kitchen to grab a cleaver.

Grandpa Xiong told Chen Bing to go change clothes. He would take care of killing the turtle.

It was very hot, already past one in the afternoon. Chen Bing went back to his room, grabbed a pair of shorts, changed, and ran back naked from the waist down.

He had brought his clothes here to take care of Shui Miao.

Grandpa Xiong was in a good mood, happily removing the turtle’s organs while saying, “Rest today. Tomorrow morning, after thanking Old Grandma San, we’ll go to the city together. There’s a rich fool who’s been asking me to do feng shui for quite some time. I’ve kept putting him off. We’ll get there before 11 tomorrow and let him treat us to a big meal at a fancy restaurant.”

“Grandpa, is the person you’re talking about named Wang Yong?”

A thought suddenly struck Shui Miao. This might be the chance to confirm whether he was still dreaming or not.