Ninth In the World

Panda Novel

Di Jiu did not have a complete memory of his past life, but during his present life on Earth he had most definitely not gone to university, so when he heard Fang Xue’s question, he hesitated before replying, “I followed around a man called Xue Tuo, who gathered herbs. I didn’t go to medical school.”

Xue Tuo was the Ji Nation’s top doctor, yet Di Jiu had demoted him to an herb gatherer.

“Xiao Mu…” An excited, surprised voice reached their ears as a middle-aged man, followed by about five firefighters wearing camouflage clothing, approached them.

Based on the sweaty skin and tired expressions on their faces, it was easy to guess that they had been searching the area the entire night.

“Dad!” Yu Mu ran over to her dad with so much excitement that, the moment she took a step forward, she fell flat on the ground.

When the middle-aged man rushed forward to help her up, Di Jiu heaved a sigh of relief. Even though he could see the buildings of Wang Chuan Temple, he knew that they must still have been very far. Now that help had come, he did not have to carry Yu Mu anymore.

“Dad, this is Brother Di Jiu. He saved me and carried me all the way here.” Yu Mu gushed about her savior.

It was evident that the man doted on his daughter very much, because he immediately turned to face Di Jiu and gripped both his hands to express his profound gratitude. “Thank you! Thank you so much for saving my daughter!”

Judging by his expression, Di Jiu could tell that the man was genuinely thankful.

“Dad, Brother Di has also studied medicine. He was the one who removed the snake venom from my body,” Yu Mu added.

His daughter’s words made the man even happier. “My name is Yu Jianfu and I am the director of the Ai Bo Hospital in Lin Chuan City,” he introduced himself. “If you would like to engage in medicine, feel free to come to my hospital and find me.”

While he was speaking, Yu Jianfu took out his business card, added a few sentences on it and handed it over to Di Jiu. “You can bring this business card to the hospital anytime, Student Di.”

There were many positions at the Ai Bo Hospital, so assigning him to one would most likely not pose a problem. Considering that Di Jiu had been able to remove the venom under these conditions, his medical skills had to be at a decent level.

“Thank you, Director.” Di Jiu accepted the business card unceremoniously. He was new to this world, so even if he could not find a place to stay in the future, having a job would not be a bad idea.

Now that there was someone there to lead the way, Di Jiu could not rest. He followed the rest of the group as they trekked through the mountain road for the next 12 hours. Finally, when it was almost dusk, they reached the side of a highway that circled around the mountain.

Yu Jianfu asked him numerous questions as they walked, but Di Jiu replied vaguely. When he was asked how he had saved Yu Mu, Di Jiu could only say that he had some experience with removing such venom before.

Yu Jianfu was unaware that Di Jiu himself was unsure of his past, so he thought that he was just unwilling to reveal more about himself. Thus, he did not press him any further.

There was a bus already parked by the side of the road. As soon as Di Jiu boarded it, he fell asleep. On the way, the bus kept jolting on the rocky terrain. It swerved left and right for almost eight hours before it finally stopped outside the temple.

The moment it stopped, Di Jiu woke up from his slumber. Fang Xue and Yu Mu were still fast asleep.

Yu Jianfu was worried about his daughter’s health, so he suggested that Di Jiu accompany them to Lin Chuan to get her examined. However, Di Jiu rejected his offer. The others rested outside the temple briefly before they set off again for Lin Chuan City on the minibus.

…

Once Yu Jianfu and the others were gone, Di Jiu left the carpark and stood in front of the large temple. The words “Wang Chuan Temple” were carved on it in shining gold.

It was early in the morning, so the place was deserted. The three words glimmered in the moonlight, giving off an air of mystery.

Di Jiu sat outside the temple and leaned against the stone statue of a Buddha as he struggled to stay awake.

Nobody knew how much time had passed before a noise woke Di Jiu up. He opened his eyes and realized with a start that the place was already teeming with people.

Considering that Wang Chuan Temple was embedded in the deepest region of the mountain, its popularity was astounding. Tourists and devotees came in groups to light candles. Many kind-hearted souls who saw his disheveled hair and tattered clothes walked up to him and offered him some bread and water.

“Di Zimo…” A surprised voice stopped Di Jiu in his tracks as he was eating. He lifted his head up and saw a young woman in a tight dress. The woman, who was carrying a bag, had a shocked expression on her face.

Behind the young woman was an even younger man clad in black exercise clothes, who was carrying a large traveling harvest sack.

Although Di Jiu remembered a part of his past life thanks to the gray stone, his memory was not complete. Thus, he did not recognize the pair of people who stood before him.

“Don’t you recognize me, Di Zimo? I am Liang Xi, your high school classmate…” Liang Xi did not continue her sentence, as she sensed that he probably suffered from some mental trauma that made him disorientated. Otherwise, he would not have traveled to such a distant rural area and gotten into such a sloppy state. She sighed inwardly. She could not do anything about such matters.

“I have 1,000 here. Why don’t you take it? I can’t help you in any other way.” Liang Xi took out her wallet and handed him 10 bills.

“I have a few hundred here,” said the man standing behind Liang Xi, who quickly fished out his own money and handed it to Di Jiu as well.

Di Jiu stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth before standing up and waving the money away. “Thank you, Liang Xi, but I don’t need money at the moment. I need help regarding another matter.”

“Ah…” Liang Xi heaved a sigh of relief as she replied, “Di Zimo, I thought that you were suffering from mental trauma because of the issue with Ziyu.”

As she said this, Liang Xi still had some doubts in her heart. She could tell from his eyes that there was something he could not reveal. It was something she had not seen in his eyes before.

Di Jiu recognized the name Ziyu. That was the woman he had gotten a divorce from in his previous life. Her full name was Shen Ziyu.

His ex-wife was the least of his concerns right now, though. He realized that, in order to survive there, he needed to find out more about his past identity as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to borrow it.

His memory of his past life was incomplete, so he had to ask the people who knew him a few questions.

“Go ahead and ask. I’ll help as much as I can…” Liang Xi paused before she added, “Di Zimo, if this has anything to do with Ziyu, I don’t think I can help much. Besides…”

Di Jiu smiled. “I used to brood over my issues with Ziyu, but I have experienced so much ever since. I am over it now. I require your assistance with something else.”