Chapter 131: Is This Ever Going to End?

“Brother Yang, what on earth is wrong with you?” Guo Xiaoxiao’s displeased voice rang out from the other end of the phone. Had Lin Yang been standing in front of her, she would probably have drowned him alive in a shower of spittle.

Guo Xiaoxiao’s sharp scolding finally brought Lin Yang back to his senses. Still lost in thoughts of the incident at the abandoned factory, he hurriedly straightened up. In the blink of an eye, his usual sly grin had returned to his face.

During the battle, his left arm had been struck by a bullet that tore through the biceps and damaged the muscle tissue. On top of that, he had been caught in the blast wave. Although Lin Yang had reacted in time and dropped flat on the ground, the power of the rocket launcher had been astonishing. The scrap metal surrounding them had been hurled through the air by the explosion, scattering in every direction like bullets. Its destructive force had been considerable. Within the blast radius, Lin Yang had suffered numerous scrapes and cuts, and had even been pierced in several places.

With his body suffering such severe trauma, driving would obviously have been dangerous. Thus, after Bai Jing repeatedly insisted, one of her subordinates took the wheel of Lin Yang’s car, while Lin Yang was placed in the back seat, allowing him both to rest and to remain safe.

“What is it, Xiaoxiao?” Having successfully changed the subject, Lin Yang went straight to the reason for Guo Xiaoxiao’s call. A girl calling him late at night—and not a lover, either—would hardly be wasting her time sharing her feelings with him for no reason. Lin Yang was indeed clever. Though he did not necessarily lose out when dealing with women, even gaining the upper hand was hardly something worth boasting about.

His maneuver worked perfectly. Guo Xiaoxiao had been in a foul mood because of his earlier shouting, but after he said that, she forgot all about it and immediately explained why she had called.

After hearing Guo Xiaoxiao’s suggestion, Lin Yang found himself troubled. He had only just offended Secretary Zhu. Although the man had not openly shown any resentment, Lin Yang had clearly seen his expression as he left. Forget asking him for help in the future—even if he refrained from secretly tripping Lin Yang up, that alone would count as extraordinary kindness. Under such circumstances, Lin Yang truly was not mentally prepared to compete for the position of president of Aihua Hospital.

Yet if he wanted the right to compete for the presidency of the Medical Association, he could not let this rare opportunity slip away.

Ever since the previous Medical Association competition, when plastic surgeons had been barred from participating, Lin Yang had been deeply troubled by the matter. He considered himself a doctor with a conscience, after all.

Everyone cared about their dignity, let alone Lin Yang, whose pride rose several peaks higher than Mount Everest. The humiliation he had suffered back then had long been etched in his heart. Although his performance in the previous competition had given everyone a clear impression of his abilities, the Medical Association’s contempt for plastic surgeons had not changed in the slightest.

The contestants remembered only Lin Yang’s extraordinary medical skills. They still refused to acknowledge plastic surgery itself, branding it a crooked and unorthodox discipline. This left Lin Yang deeply displeased. After all, he was determined to spread the ancient art of plastic surgery. Their attitude was a challenge to his ideals, and he would never permit it to continue.

He would become president of Aihua Hospital—and he would do the job well. As for the presidency of the Medical Association, he absolutely would not allow anyone else to claim it. Otherwise, the contempt directed at plastic surgeons would never be erased.

The previous president of the Medical Association had been dead for nearly a week, so electing a new acting president was an urgent matter. But ultimately, the former president’s death could be traced back to Lin Yang. The man had wanted Lin Yang dead simply because Lin Yang had stolen the spotlight and made the Medical Association lose face. That only showed how narrow-minded the former president had been. His death was nothing more than the consequence of his own actions for provoking Lin Yang.

The election for the new president of the Medical Association would take place in a week. In other words, Lin Yang had seven days to prepare. The prerequisite, however, was that he possess sufficient standing. With his current status as an obscure itinerant doctor, he was not even qualified to become a candidate.

The presidency of the Medical Association was unlike authority in government offices, where power was generally handed down by superiors or obtained through successive promotions. On the surface, it was decided through an election that appeared fair and impartial. In reality, it differed little from official politics: secret struggles and the use of outside forces were constant.

After learning the general situation, Lin Yang ended the call, but sank into deep thought. As Guo Xiaoxiao had said, if he wanted to qualify as a candidate, he first had to become president of Aihua Plastic Surgery Hospital, the most famous hospital of its kind in Jin Hai City. Otherwise, the idea was practically a pipe dream.

Seeing Lin Yang lost in thought, Bai Jing secretly furrowed her delicate brows. Although the phone had been held at a low volume, she had been sitting beside him and had vaguely heard some of the conversation.

“Xiaoyang, is there anything I can help you with?” Bai Jing hesitated before asking softly.

Apart from her profound gratitude toward Lin Yang, Bai Jing also harbored a quiet affection for him. She concealed it so well that Lin Yang had never noticed. But that did not mean she lacked the selfish desire to make him hers. Human beings were selfish by nature, and women could be even more so. Whenever Lin Yang needed help, Bai Jing would naturally offer it without hesitation.

Lin Yang had been pondering how to become president of Aihua Hospital when Bai Jing suddenly interrupted him. Turning to look at her concerned face, the slight irritation he had felt vanished, replaced by a faint smile. He shook his head to indicate that nothing was wrong.

“Nothing? You looked terribly troubled just now. What happened? You don’t even want to tell your big sister?” A woman’s intuition was truly remarkable. Lin Yang had experienced it often enough to know. It was like the time Tang Yixue had met the little girl Leng Nini for the first time and immediately sensed that Leng Nini liked Lin Yang. Although Lin Yang had said nothing, the faint worry on his face had still been noticed by Bai Jing. Determined to get to the bottom of the matter, she clearly had no intention of letting him brush her off this time.

It was not a particularly serious secret. Since a beautiful woman was sincerely pressing him for an answer, continuing to hem and haw would make him look too timid. With no alternative, Lin Yang told her everything about the presidency of the Medical Association.

After hearing him out, Bai Jing did not immediately speak. Instead, she fell into thought.

Seeing her thinking, Lin Yang tactfully refrained from disturbing her. He turned his head and looked out the window, watching the ruins gradually recede into the distance. Suddenly, an ominous premonition surged through him. Though faint, it left him certain that danger was approaching.

“Xiaoyang, this isn’t difficult at all. Why are you so worried? With your connections, becoming president of Aihua Hospital shouldn’t be a problem!” After thinking for half a minute, Bai Jing slightly knitted her delicate brows. Her cherry lips parted, revealing a row of pearly white teeth, and her pleasant voice drifted into Lin Yang’s ears.

“Shh.”

Lin Yang’s response was a strange, exaggerated shushing sound. With his furtive eyes and sneaky expression, he looked much like a thief or some lecherous bandit.

Bai Jing did not understand what was happening. Seeing his shameless expression, her pretty face instantly lengthened into something resembling a mule’s face—though even a mule’s face could hardly have looked more beautiful. Pouting, she demanded unhappily, “Xiaoyang, what are you—”

Before she could finish, Lin Yang reached out and covered her mouth. Watching her eyes widen, he secretly shook his head. This woman was truly difficult to deal with. He leaned closer and whispered, “We’re being followed. They mean us no good. I can sense murderous intent.”

Those few simple words conveyed the seriousness of the situation.

Anyone capable of becoming a vice president was bound to be exceptionally intelligent. Bai Jing naturally understood the deeper meaning in Lin Yang’s brief explanation. What puzzled her was how he had sensed it. Murderous intent was such an intangible, almost mystical thing—how had he detected it?

Without paying attention to what Bai Jing might be thinking, Lin Yang secretly swept his gaze across the surroundings. As his eyes scanned every direction, his brows drew tighter and tighter.

“This is strange. Could I have been mistaken? Impossible. I definitely sensed it.” Unable to detect the murderous intent that had appeared moments earlier, Lin Yang muttered to himself in confusion.

His voice was low, but Bai Jing, concerned for him, heard every word. Seeing his tightly furrowed brows, she kindly suggested, “Xiaoyang, could the brutal battle this afternoon and the blood loss have caused hallucinations? I know that excessive blood loss can make people hear or see things that aren’t there. Could this be a lingering effect of losing too much blood?”

Lin Yang would never believe that blood loss had caused him to hallucinate. Yet after carefully surveying the surroundings, he had found nothing at all, and that truly puzzled him. After all, whenever he had experienced this sensation in the past, he had been attacked soon afterward—and it had happened more than once.

Just as he began to think it really had been an illusion, the vanished murderous intent suddenly returned. This time, there was more than before, and the sensation was even stronger. It was coming from both sides of the road.

The abandoned factory stood in a remote area, a desolate wasteland in every sense of the word. On both sides of the road leading to it stretched endless ruins, uneven mounds of dirt, tangled weeds, and discarded trash scattered everywhere. If someone deliberately concealed themselves, Lin Yang had no doubt that, with his current abilities, finding them would be a fantasy.

Perhaps his repeated brushes with death had sharpened his sensitivity to murderous intent. Whatever the reason, he had undeniably sensed it.

“They’re going to make their move.” Lin Yang’s eyes suddenly widened. His voice turned grave as he looked directly at the driver and shouted, “Faster! Veer right! Quickly!”

The shout came without warning. Even Bai Jing, whose attention had been focused on Lin Yang, failed to react immediately, let alone the young driver concentrating on the road. Still, Lin Yang’s warning had its effect.

Fortunately, the young driver’s skills were excellent. Within ten seconds of Lin Yang’s shout, he abruptly turned the steering wheel. The car accelerated and executed a beautiful drift.

At the exact spot where the car had been moments earlier, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted.

Although the vehicle had just escaped, the violent shock wave still hurled it several meters forward. Fortunately, it had already left the blast’s effective range. Otherwise, it was impossible to say whether the car could have remained intact under such tremendous explosive force.

“Damn it, will this never end?” Having once again fallen victim to a bomb attack, Lin Yang could not restrain his furious roar. Being attacked by explosions twice in a single day would have driven even the most good-natured person into a rage.