In the early hours of the morning, the emergency center of the Second People's Hospital in Hechuan City received two "hedgehogs."
Dr. Hao, who reportedly had over twenty years of experience in trauma emergency care, had never witnessed such a scene.
Two individuals, resembling bloody gourds, lay before him. The elder one had six long arrows embedded in his body, while the younger one had eight.
"From which dynasty did you two time-travel?" Dr. Hao, ever experienced, knew from their relatively steady breathing that the wounds were not fatal. He thus jested.
"Dr. Hao, who's on duty in internal medicine today?"
After Ping An and Zhang Xiao'ao, there was Lin Dang lying in the back.
"What's the situation with this young lady?" Dr. Hao looked at Ping An and Zhang Xiao'ao, then suddenly realized, "Could it be hidden weapons? What kind of hidden weapons? So potent!"
"Be gentle, she's my wife!" Ping An, gritting his teeth through the pain, couldn't hold back and yelled.
"Doctor, be careful, my Shiniang is pregnant," Zhang Xiao'ao said as if waking from a deep sleep. "My Shiniang fainted from being scared by me and my Shifu..."
Su Tang was the busiest person that night. Out of four family members, three had arrived. She couldn't bother with tidying up Zhang Xiao'ao or asking her Shifu what had happened. Armed with her bank card, she rushed around the hospital registering and picking up medication.
As dawn approached, Ping An and Zhang Xiao'ao, father and son, were admitted to the same general ward.
"I know you two can't sleep!" Su Tang said, narrowing her eyes at her Shifu's feigned sleep, anger bubbling up. "Think hard and make up a good story, lest I investigate you one by one! I need to know, what exactly is going on with our family! Fratricide?"
"Shijie, Shifu and I didn't intend to kill each other!" Zhang Xiao'ao, who had been pretending to sleep, mumbled softly.
"Get lost! You still consider me your Shijie!" Su Tang, who had been holding back tears, cried again.
Ping An, who had been consistently feigning sleep, let out a helpless sigh. Alas, this situation was even more perilous than before.
Su Tang eventually left, as there was another person lying in a ward in the adjacent building, whose condition seemed even more dire than theirs.
"Are you Zhang Xiao'ao or Ping Fan now?" Ping An suddenly asked.
"I am Zhang Xiao'ao!" Zhang Xiao'ao said after a long pause. "But I always feel like I should have been called Ping Fan before..."
After finally being "released from confinement," Ping An immediately took Zhang Xiao'ao to Beijing to see a specialist in neurosurgery.
Previously, during the investigation of Mr. Ke's case, this expert had studied Ma Delu's daughter. Following conservative drug treatment, Ma Delu's daughter had fully regained her original self, treating Ma Delu's memories as just a dream.
"Zhang Xiao'ao's situation is different from Ma Delu's. The technology used for Ma Delu's daughter was very mature. However, when Zhang Xiao'ao was duplicated, the inferior technology left a significant imprint." The expert said, "Fortunately, this imprint is small. If he doesn't want to remember these things, he won't. And through my hypnotic treatment, because Zhang Xiao'ao did bad things to you, out of guilt, he has temporarily protectively sealed Ping Fan's memories. In the future, without a special 'awakening,' he will be fine."
Finally reassured, Ping An contentedly brought Zhang Xiao'ao home.
The house was as usual. Lin Dang had already calmed down. Seeing Ping An return, she greeted him warmly. Su Tang, however, glared at the two of them.
"I've already met Gao Da, and I know everything. Are you going to tell me yourself, or should I force it out of you?" Su Tang said angrily.
Unable to lie to his family any longer, Ping An finally told the truth, assuring them that Zhang Xiao'ao was completely fine now.
"Shifu, how could you accept such a melodramatic plot?" Su Tang asked.
"That's why Xiao'ao and I resorted to hurting each other to vent our frustrations," Ping An said with a smile.
...
At the National Autumn Games, Zhang Xiao'ao, representing Shanhe Province as an archery athlete, fought his way through and emerged victorious.
Watching the ecstatic Zhang Xiao'ao, excited like a teenager, Ping An mused— youth is truly wonderful.
At this moment, whether Zhang Xiao'ao was Ping Fan or not was entirely unimportant. Even if he were, so what? Seeing him excitedly hugging Su Tang and laughing, enjoying the joy of winning, Ping An knew that Zhang Xiao'ao was Zhang Xiao'ao. Even if he were Ping Fan, he would wish for this.
Youth is truly wonderful. Unbeknownst to him, Ping An was now in his mid-thirties. Fortunately, he finally had a lover by his side, a child on the way, and two disciples inheriting his profound knowledge in deduction and archery.
Life like this, what more could one ask for.
However, as Ping An looked up at the sky, he saw the arduous journey he had traveled since he was fifteen.
How many times had he faced near-death and survived, only to gain the most precious of friends.
How many times had he been betrayed, how many times had he been disappointed, yet he still stood up again.
Such a good youth. If he could start over, Ping An would live it with even greater vigor.
Can I be young again?
(The End)