Chapter 674: Chapter 230: History Repeats Itself

The night’s wind and snow were harsh.

The raging wind swept up the snow, blurring almost everything in sight, leaving the dilapidated temple nearly invisible, just a faint shadow lingering.

Lu Tong hurried to the Plague Hospital and had just reached the entrance when he heard Cuicui’s heart-wrenching cries.

"Dad, Dad——"

The patients who had gathered around the Plague Hospital laughing during the day, now all fell silent, their faces in the dim light looking utterly desperate.

Lu Tong pushed aside the curtain, and as he entered, was instantly assaulted by a strong, metallic scent of blood.

Ding Yong lay on the couch, his complexion turned an eerie shade of green. Astonishing patches of purple plaques covered the arms that hung off the side of the bed, and he was vomiting blood.

Medical Officers at his sides were pressing on his arms, the spouting blood staining the sheets beneath him red.

Cuicui knelt beside the bed, her voice hoarse from crying. Seeing Lu Tong enter, she suddenly threw herself in front of her.

"Doctor Lu," she cried out, "what’s happened to my dad? He was getting better, his rash had faded, why did this suddenly happen?"

Lu Tong looked at Ding Yong on the couch, and before he could speak, Cuicui suddenly moved forward on her knees, bowed her head, and with a "thud," knocked her forehead against the ground before her.

"Cuicui——" Lin Danqing came over to pull her up.

But Cuicui refused to be consoled, stubbornly clutching the hem of Lu Tong’s dress, like she was grasping at the last straw.

"Doctor Lu, please save him, I, I can sell myself to you, I can do anything, please save my dad, I’ll do anything——"

She wailed, her forehead heavily hitting the cold, wet floor of the Plague Hospital, and suddenly a flower of blood bloomed.

Lu Tong was jolted, taking an involuntary step back.

For a moment, she was transported back many years.

It was snow just like this, in the bitter winter days, when she, with no place to turn, met Lady Yun, knelt before her, and was willing to trade her body for a slim chance of survival for her family.

Life’s uncertainties, like the turning of the clouds, displayed their startling and enigmatic power at this moment. The impetuous and vulnerable girl from Changwu County she was in her youth suddenly overlaid with the helpless and pitiable little girl before her from Su Nan amidst the epidemic. Lu Tong had become the Lady Yun, the "Bodhisattva" people leaned on for hope.

Lady Yun’s face seemed to appear before her eyes.

The woman looked at her, smiling, gently touching her face.

"Give up, Little Shiqi, you can’t save anyone."

Cuicui’s cries grew even more sorrowful. Ding Yong, who lay confused on the bed, seemed to wake from her cries. Struggling to prop himself up, he cast a tender look at Cuicui before gasping out, "Take her away——"

"Dad——" Cuicui cried, rushing forward.

"Don’t let her see," he struggled to turn away, not wanting his daughter to witness the blood gushing from his mouth: "Don’t let her see... don’t let her..."

The man’s eyes bulged with pain, veins throbbing on his forehead, and although he tried to suppress his groans, the blood spilling from his mouth made his restraint all the more tragic and horrifying.

Cuicui was led out by the Medical Officers, and seeing his daughter leave, Ding Yong relaxed, his grip on the bedding loosening.

"Ding Yong, Ding Yong!" Chang Jin tried to administer acupuncture, but it was too late to help.

Lu Tong knelt beside Ding Yong’s couch, cleaning the blood that kept bubbling from his mouth and nose, blood that poured forth like a crimson spring that couldn’t be stopped.

A hand suddenly grasped Lu Tong’s wrist.

Lu Tong looked up, and Ding Yong gazed at her pleadingly.

"Medical Officer Lu," he stammered, "I only have Cuicui, my daughter... They say you’re the best doctor, the best in Shengjing. Cuicui likes you the most, please treat her... let her live, let her survive..."

In a daze, Lu Tong felt warmth filling her eyes, and she clasped Ding Yong’s hand, "She will live."

"Good..."

Comforted by this assurance, Ding Yong managed a relieved smile. Perhaps pain clouded his senses, for he began to fail to recognize her, holding Lu Tong’s hand, he said: "Girl, your dad is leaving... don’t keep thinking about dad. I’ve told you before, look ahead, don’t dwell on the unhappy things. When you grow up, study hard, live well. When you marry, I’ll be watching from heaven. You must live to be a hundred... In the next life, dad will make you grasshopper cages..."

Lu Tong stared at him blankly.

"Dad’s good daughter..."

He muttered, "you must... live well..."

The gaunt hand, covered in purple plaques, suddenly dropped. She reached out to catch it but grasped only air.

"Dad——"

A heart-rending scream echoed from behind her.

That moment seemed to stretch forever.

The girl, breaking free from the Medical Officers’ grasp, rushed to the bedside, and over and over, she wailed: "Dad, Dad, look at me, Dad, look at me..."

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