In the Green Forest City quarantine area, a noble mansion marked as Ward No. 3.
Luo Ling pushed open the door of a "ward" and saw Song Hongyang lying inside. Unlike the doctors and nurses around her, she did not wear a shallow shield to isolate toxins. Instead, she was wearing a simple shirt and jeans.
Song Hongyang was one of the first infected people in the Guards, but because his fighting spirit level had reached the intermediate level, he survived longer than several of his soldiers. However, his condition had reached a very critical stage, and black had covered 80% of his skin, and those black spots had surrounded almost all parts of his body except his cheeks and forehead.
When Luo Ling went in, Feng Yao was just finishing the final checkup. Song Hongyang asked weakly, "Doctor Feng, tell me the truth. Am I dying? I can't feel my limbs anymore since last night. Now I'm using my fighting spirit to protect my body and head, but I can't hold on any longer..."
Luo Ling listened quietly and felt the despair of a soul trapped in a rotting body, as if he was falling into the abyss.
Feng Yao looked haggard in the shield. She hadn't slept for more than a day. "No, how could it be? You can still hold on. We are trying our best to find a way to save you. Although we are still a little short, but please continue to hold on. I invited Luo Ling here to let her do a short-term positive energy flush to help you suppress the invasion of these bacteria."
"It... hurts a lot." Song Hongyang said in a weak voice.
"What did you say?" Feng Yao didn't hear what he said clearly.
"I say, positive energy really hurts. I don't feel anything anymore, but... at that time, it really felt like it was burning me. It hurts..." Song Hongyang murmured.
Feng Yao asked a few more questions, and Song Hongyang turned away and refused to speak. She turned to Luo Ling helplessly and said, "Teacher Luo, please take care of the next thing."
Luo Ling asked quietly: "How long does he have?"
Feng Yao said: "According to the current state of his body being eroded, he can only hold on for a few hours at most. In other words, he will not survive tonight."
Luo Ling said: "I understand. I want to talk to him alone before casting the spell."
"Why?"
"Just think of it as encouragement. Didn't you notice he wasn't very cooperative? I think too many people in the room would make him more irritated."
"Okay." Feng Yao walked out of the room with the nurse beside her, leaving Luo Ling alone.
Seeing Feng Yao and the others leave, Song Hongyang turned back and slowly said to Luo Ling: "Teacher Luo, can I... ask you for a favor, can you cast a sleeping spell on me, so that I will not wake up after I fall asleep."
Luo Ling asked: "Don't you want to persist anymore?"
"I can feel my body collapsing. My hands, feet and parts of my body have turned into a puddle of mud. What's the point of trying to save my life? I feel like I'm being eaten by them. Can you understand the feeling of being bitten off bite by bite? I don't want my entire body to become their food before I die, and then turn into a puddle of stinking black water. I know how disgusting I am now. No one wants to look at me more, and no one wants to get close to me. So, please help me and let me die without knowing it." Song Hongyang's voice became coherent and loud. You can imagine how anxious he was.
Luo Ling knew that this was a last gasp, and that he really didn't have much time left. She asked, "Have you mentioned this to Dr. Feng?"
Song Hongyang shook his head imperceptibly and said, "I've said it, but it's useless. Those people only talk nonsense like persistence and hope. Hope is something that not everyone is qualified to have. Do you know how cruel it is to talk about hope with someone who is definitely in despair? I don't even have a piece of wood, what's the point of them telling me to ride the wind and waves? I don't want to hear this. My hope is to end my life with dignity."
Luo Ling said: "Maybe... you have another choice. Have you heard of spirit servants?"
"Spirit Servant... I've heard of it. Does that mean I will become a shadow in your mind? Do I really exist then?" Song Hongyang asked.
"No, you really exist." Luo Ling said, "Just like I really exist now."
Luo Ling stretched out her hand and gently placed the back of her fingers on Song Hongyang's cheek. Song Hongyang felt the temperature of that hand, which was slightly warm. He closed his eyes and couldn't stop crying...
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Luo Ling walked out of the room, and Feng Yao just came out of the next room. She asked, "What happened?"
"He has become my spirit servant, and his body has been purified by me." Luo Ling said.
"What?" Feng Yao was so anxious that scales appeared on the back of her hands and cheeks. She pushed open the door of the ward with her strength. She saw that the person on the bed disappeared by himself, leaving only a bed with marks on it. The bed was obviously burned by positive energy and fire magic. There was also a burning smell in the room. "You, how could you do this? Maybe, maybe he can still hold on..."
"Stop! I don't want to hear you continue talking about this topic." Luo Ling interrupted Feng Yao rudely, "You and I both know the progress of the treatment plan research. Holding on will only make him suffer for a few more hours. Choosing to let him endure is just to alleviate your own moral pain, but you are not really thinking about him.
You are shirking your responsibility as a healer. If you can't heal him, you should give him the least painful end, right?"
"No, that's not the case... I'm also thinking about him. What if there's a one in ten thousand chance?" Feng Yao was still defending herself.
"That's just your unrealistic delusion. If you ignore other people's pain and their own choices just to satisfy your own peace of mind, what else can you do if not be selfish?" Luo Ling's question left Feng Yao speechless.
"Becoming a spirit servant doesn't mean they are really dead. They can still live and grow in my meditation world. On the contrary, when they really die, their souls may not have the strength to gather together and become a spirit servant."
"Are you talking about 'they'? Are there any other people who want to become spirit servants?" Feng Yao asked.
"That's right. Until a method to save them is developed, this is the only way to help them."
Luo Ling looked at the silent medical staff and said, "Let's leave the moral judgment to the people behind us. We don't have the time to waste on this kind of thing. Just do what you should do." (To be continued)