As night fell, Shan City was enveloped in a vast darkness. The stars in the sky looked as small and dense as dust, and the light among the lofty mountains shone like rainbows. It was a prosperous scene of flourishing age.

In Shan City Medical University.

At 18 sharp, Ning Tao discreetly tucked an acceptance letter into his pants pocket and walked out of the entrance guard room. With his back to the magnificent classroom building and facing the street in front of the gate, he stood upright on the duty platform for guards.

This was the last time he took over other’s shift.

“Mom, dad, your son didn’t disappoint you. I will go to the Affiliated Hospital of Shan City Medical University tomorrow and start my internship. Are you happy for me?” Ning Tao murmured in his heart as he looked up at the vast sky, as if he had seen the faces of his father and mother who had died in a car accident four years ago.

At this time, a BMW 745Li slowly came towards the school gate.

Casting a glance at the license plate, Ning Tao recognized it was Yang Hai’s car.

Yang Hai was his classmate, who did nothing but evil relying on his rich family.

Ning Tao only took a glimpse at the car before he looked up at the classroom building, where it seemed that someone was calling him.

However, the BMW 745Li stopped beside Ning Tao and the car window opened. Yang Hai in a Mohawk leaned out of the passenger seat and looked at Ning Tao with a smile on his face. “Hi, Ning Tao, we are old classmates. Why don’t you say hello when you see me?” He asked.

Ning Tao managed a weak smile at the corner of his mouth, and replied, “Hi, Yang Hai, are you going out?”

At this time, a girl from the front passenger seat leant to Yang Hai, put her face on Yang Hai’s chest and softly said, “Hai, why do you say hello to a security guard? Let’s go.”

“He is not a security guard. He is an excellent student in my class. Since his parents died in a car crash, the school took care of him and gave him a job to earn some money.” Yang Hai explained to the girl in a weird voice. “Am I right, Ning Tao?”

Ning Tao said nothing but looked at him calmly. It was a deep scar on his heart, but after four years of living alone without his parents, he had developed the habit of keeping his emotions close to his heart.

The girl squinted at Ning Tao and said to Yang Hai in an affectedly sweet voice, “I am desperately hungry. When are we going to the restaurant?”

In fact, Ning Tao also knew the girl. She was Tang Ling, the daughter of Tang Wanlin, the director of the school’s office of teaching and instruction. She worked in the administrative department of the Affiliated Hospital of Shan City Medical University.

Toot! Toot!

The driver of a car behind Yang Hai, tired of waiting, honked the horn.

However, Yang Hai was not in a hurry to leave, but continued jokingly, “Ning Tao, give me a military salute, let me have a feeling that I’m going to the battlefield.”

In a twinkling, a smile appeared on Ning Tao’s face. “You must be a magical artilleryman that will hit your target every time.” He flattered Yang Hai.

Pleased by his words, Yang Hai let out a good laugh.

Then Ning Tao leaned over to the car window and whispered, “I know a good Japanese restaurant on Liberating Road which is decent and classy. Your sweetheart will love it.”

A shy smile lit Tang Ling’s face as she heard the word “sweetheart”.

Then Ning Tao leaned over to Yang Hai’s ear and said in a smaller voice, “There’s a theme hotel next to that Japanese restaurant. There are full of interesting things. You will know the essence of Japanese culture if you go to the hotel.”

“Really?” Yang Hai’s eyes seemed to have lit up.

“The one who lied to you is a dog.” Ning Tao said, then straightened up and gave Yang Hai a military-like salute.

At 1.85 meters tall, with a sunny and angular face, he had the air of a flag bearer.

Yang Hai smiled and said, “You’re an incredible friend to me. See you later.”

The BMW 745Li sped out of the gate.

After that, Ning Tao took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

A few seconds later, a man’s voice came from his phone, “Hello, who’s that?”

“Director Tang, I saw a guy leave school with your daughter,” Ning Tao said, covering his mouth with a hand. “That guy is a jerk. I heard there was a girl who was pregnant with his baby and had an abortion… He will take your daughter to a Japanese restaurant next to a love hotel for dinner and then check into the hotel. I suggest you take some students who are good at sport to… Address? Well, 78 Liberating Road… Who am I? I am your former student. Have you forgotten me? I am…”

“Don’t ask me who I am,” Ning Tao went on solemnly in his heart as he hung up the phone.

“I am a Lei Feng of selflessness.”

Ning Tao then put his phone away and looked out the school gate.

Yang Hai’s BMW that was stopped at a red light a second ago was getting into the driveway.

Suddenly, a black dog rushed into the driveway from the green belt across the road, trying to cross the road. Yang Hai’s BMW didn’t stop and hit the dog.

Bang!

“Woo…” A wail sounded as the black dog was immediately knocked into the air.

Yang Hai pulled over quickly and got out to check the car. As he found that the car was not damaged, he swore, got in and drove away.

The black dog lay dying on the road. Cars were driving past him. He could be run over at any moment.

Ning Tao, who took pity on him, rushed out of the gate and headed for the black dog.

“Do you want to die?” A driver, who had to stop because of Ning Tao, stuck his head out of the cab and scolded.

Ning Tao didn’t argue with him. He picked up the black dog lying on the ground and quickly left the driveway.

The black dog that Yang Hai hit was a little special. He looked like a half dachshund and a half teddy. He was thin and with smooth fur and beautiful green eyes. His right leg was broken and bleeding.

Ning Tao took the black dog to the sidewalk and wanted to put it on the ground. However, he couldn’t bear to leave him when he saw the poor look in the dog’s eyes. So he took the black dog back to school, asked his colleagues to work for him, and then took the black dog to the basement below the laboratory.

There were a lot of discarded tables, chairs, and experimental equipment in the basement, and in the corner there was a small room where he lived. He was also responsible for fixing broken desk chairs and the like, so he took up the small room. In this way, it was convenient for him to work and he had a clean living environment.

The little room was crammed with books, all about medicine.

Ning Tao put the injured black dog on the table and then found some disinfectant to clean the wound for the dog.

The disinfectant would cause stinging pain but the black dog lay quietly and did not seem to feel the pain.

“Good dog, why did you come out alone?” Ning Tao inquired.

The black dog stared straight at Ning Tao, his dark green eyes looking mysterious.

“You poor dog, your bones are broken. You have to endure the pain. I don’t have any anesthetic here, but I have to set your bone in place and put your broken leg in splints.” Ning Tao treated the black dog’s leg as he spoke. He had apparently taken the dog for his first patient and was trying to distract him by talking.

In the absence of anesthetic, however, the black dog remained quiet and did not even bark when the bone was set.

It took Ning Tao more than ten minutes to fix the black dog’s broken leg. After that, his heart was full of pride. “Blackie, you are my first patient, I won’t charge you for your medicine, your surgery, or your hospitalization.”

“Woof!” The black dog gave a bark.

Ning Tao reached for the black dog’s head and smiled, “You’re welcome. It is the duty of doctors to heal the wounded and rescue the dying.”

Surprisingly, the black dog took a bite at Ning Tao’s wrist all of a sudden.

“Ouch!” The dog’s teeth pierced his skin, and the burning pain was instantly transmitted to every nerve of his body. Ning Tao let out a scream of pain.

Then the black dog opened his mouth and loosened Ning Tao’s wrist. He rolled over and jumped off the table, standing on his four legs.

Scarlet blood dripped from Ning Tao’s wrist onto the floor, looking shocking. Surprised and furious, Ning Tao grabbed a bench and threw it at the dog’s head. “You mad dog! I just saved your life. How dare you bite me? I’m killing you!”

The black dog darted to the door faster than a normal dog.

Ning Tao stood there dumbfounded, holding up the bench.

“Woof…” The black dog looked back at Ning Tao. Then he kicked his injured leg on the ground and ran out in a flash.

Ning Tao tried to chase him, but a fit of dizziness suddenly swept over him. Then darkness came over his eyes, and he fell on the ground…

After some time, Ning Tao slowly opened his eyes. He struggled to his feet and looked at his right wrist. The wound from the black dog had scarred over, but he still felt a dull ache in it.

“That damn mad dog!” Ning Tao got angry at the thought of the black dog.

Boom!

There was a sudden jolt in Ning Tao’s mind, like a door was opened and something was flooding into his head!

It was smell, all kinds of smell.

He smelled the blood, the disinfectant, the dust, the plastic, the iron, the synthetic fiber, even his own smell…

There was no telling how many smells came into his nose and his brain processed them into corresponding messages, some clear, some vague, some familiar, some strange which he had never sensed.

“I…” Ning Tao stood stupefied.

Momentarily, he remembered the black dog and the knowledge of dogs.

Dogs were capable of smelling two million different odors and finding and targeting the odors they were looking for in a complex array of scents. Besides, dogs could also detect odors at concentrations 100 million times lower than those that humans could detect.

“Is… is the dog that bit me… the deified dog?” A strange idea suddenly came upon Ning Tao.

“Oh…”

“That ungrateful dog!”

Ning Tao’s nose twitched a little, and he found the dog’s scent among thousands of complex smells. The smells were like footprints in the air, reaching down to the stairs.

Ning Tao followed the smell of the black dog to the door of his small room, and then was surprised to see a very strange blood on the ground, which looked like an arrow indicating the direction!

Ning Tao had no intention of looking for the black dog, but he changed his mind when he saw the arrow-like blood stains. He proceeded along the scent of the black dog.

Outside the laboratory building was quiet, and the campus was bathed in bright moonlight.

Ning Tao checked the time on his phone and realized he had been in a coma for about five hours.

The smell left by the black dog extended towards the school gate, and Ning Tao locked it on the ground and chased it all the way. Unwilling to admit it, he now acted like a trained search dog.

Along the scent, Ning Tao left the school gate, crossed several streets, and finally tracked down to the mountain behind a community.

In the moonlight, the trees and rocks on the mountain were hazy, and an old dirt path stretched upward. The foliage swayed and whimpered in the night wind.

Walking along the path, listening to the ghostly crying, Ning Tao was a little scared. “There are no ghosts in the world. Besides, I haven’t done anything evil, so I should not be afraid even if there are really ghosts… I must find that black dog, I must find out what it is…”

Halfway up the hill, an old house came into view on a flat ground. The house was made of clay tiles, earthen walls, a fenced courtyard wall covered with honeysuckle and mottled and decaying gates which seemed to have existed for hundreds of years.

The old house was dark without light.

The smell of black dog lingered in the yard.

Ning Tao came to the gate, got up his courage, knocked on the door. “Excuse me, is anyone there?” He asked.

There was no response.

Ning Tao knocked on the door again. “Excuse me, I’m coming in.”

Then a light came on in one of the rooms, and an old man’s voice said, “Who is it? It is already midnight.”

Ning Tao’s frayed nerve was reduced a little. He answered, “Mister, I am a student of the Shan City Medical University. Your dog bit me.”

“Are you here to ask me for money?” The old man’s voice asked.

Ning Tao hurriedly denied, “No, no, no, I just want to have a look at the dog. I’m not here for money.”

“Come in, the door is unlocked.”

So, Ning Tao pushed the door open, crossed the threshold and went to the lighted room.

The door of the room opened and an old man appeared in the doorway. He was white-haired and dressed in a Chinese Tang costume, looking like an artist living in seclusion in the mountains.

His room was also quite old, made of wooden beams and walls, hung with landscape calligraphy and paintings, with signs of age everywhere. It was a simple room, with a square table, four stools, and a shrine. Strangely, the shrine was not dedicated to gods and ancestors, but a rather ancient looking thread-bound book.

This was Ning Tao’s first impression of the room. After all, it would be embarrassed to observe carefully. He cut to the chase, “Mister, I’d like to see your dog…”

Splash!

The old man fell flat on his back before Ning Tao could finish speaking.

“Mister?” Ning Tao exclaimed and hurriedly went inside to help the old man, but the old man lay motionless on the ground no matter how Ning Tao pulled him.

Ning Tao immediately knelt beside the old man and put his hand under his nose. The old man had stopped breathing. Ning Tao instantly felt his carotid artery, and found that his pulse stopped.

“He’s dead?” Ning Tao’s heart nearly popped out of his throat.

But as a medical student, he had not only dissected the body but also slept in the room where the body was, so he soon regained his composure and performed CPR on the old man. He first pressed on the old man’s chest, then breathed into his mouth.

About a minute later, a strange sound came from the old man’s throat, and then his heartbeat and breathing returned, and his eyes opened.

Ning Tao took out his cell phone to call the ambulance.

The old man suddenly reached out and grabbed Ning Tao by the wrist and said in a weak voice, “Don’t call the ambulance, young man… I don’t want to go to the hospital…”

“No,” Ning Tao anxiously said. “You’re in a dangerous condition. You have to go to the hospital for a physical and hospitalization.”

The old man shook his head and spoke disjointedly, “Young man, ahem… I am 99, an age when I’m failing. I could die any minute, ahem… What’s the difference between going to the hospital or not? I don’t want to die in a hospital bed… Besides, I don’t have the money to go to the hospital…”

Ning Tao worriedly argued, “But…”

“Do me a favor, young man. Fetch me the, the medical book from… the shrine.”

Ning Tao could not refuse. He got up and took the medical book from the shrine and put it in the old man’s hand. He glanced at the medical book, but there was no title on the yellowing cover.

The old man’s voice grew weaker. “Ahem… You are a good man, young man. I, Chen Pingdao, have never owed one in my life. You saved me, I want to repay you… My family has practiced medicine for generations, and handed down this nameless medical book and a clinic. I have no children. I will give them to you tonight.”

“What?” Ning Tao immediately got flustered and quickly refused, “No, no, no, you misunderstood me, Mister. I’m a medical student. It’s my duty to save lives. I can’t accept your stuff.”

The old man, who called himself Chen Pingdao, blinked his eyes and burst into tears. He made a choking noise and said, “This is it. I, I am dying tonight. Do you want me to die with regret? Then how can I meet my ancestors… Woo…”

By this time, Ning Tao’s mind was in a turmoil. He was here looking for the dog. How did this come to be?

“Ooh… Ho…” Chen Pingdao made a sound of hard breathing, his eyes beginning to turn white, but he managed to speak, “You, you go and take the, the contract out of the drawer under the desk… If you don’t accept my medical book and clinic, I’ll die unsatisfied and haunt you as a ghost!”

“Well, I’ll get it. I’ll get it now. Don’t get excited. You’re going to be fine.” Ning Tao hurriedly went to the square table, opened the drawer and took out the contents.

It was a prepared real estate transfer contract, even with a pen for signing.

“Sign, sign it… I’m dying… Quickly!” Chen Pingdao quavered, looking ready to die.

Ning Tao opened the contract and took a look. It was indeed a real estate transfer contract. The contract was very simple, which basically said Chen Pingdao was willing to transfer the ownership of the Sky Clinic in Garden Street to the signatory. The contract had the seal of the notary office and the signature of Chen Pingdao on it, which looked very formal.

Worried that the old man’s excitement might cause other heart problems, Ning Tao sucked it up and signed the contract.

Chen Pingdao continued in a trembling voice, “It’s fate, young man, that lead us to meet each other. I have no wine here, but there is tea on the table. Make two cups of tea, and let’s drink a cup of tea instead of wine, to toast our fate. Then, I’ll have no regrets on the way to… Ahem…”

Ning Tao, who was also affected by his mood, felt a little bitter. He unscrewed the teapot on the table and made two cups of tea. Then he lifted Chen Pingdao up and leaned him in his arms. After clinking the two cups, he gulped down the tea in his cup.

The smell of the tea was sweet. A mentally cool and refreshing taste ran through Ning Tao’s mouth. He found it very fancy. After drinking this cup of tea, Ning Tao felt totally comfortable. “What kind of tea is this, Mister?” He tried to distract the old man.

“It’s the common bamboo leaf-green tea, but I put a little medicine in it.” Chen Pingdao answered, his voice no longer trembling.

Ning Tao was instantly taken aback. “Why… What kind of medicine is that?”

Chen Pingdao suddenly got up from Ning Tao’s arms. “Don’t worry. It’s just a small Nirvana Elixir. It has the effect of clearing your marrow and renewing your muscles, removing toxins from your body, awakening your innate spirituality and talent, enhancing your strength and speed, and sharpening your sense of smell and vision.” He told Ning Tao. “In short, it is the foundational medicine for your cultivation journey. When I bit you, I gave you a little bit of cultivation, as my compensation for you. Also, remember, go to the clinic as soon as you wake up. The longer you wait, the worse it will be.”

“You liar…” Ning Tao didn’t even finish what he was about to say when he fell to the ground with a thud.

“I’m free at last! There’s a divine justice after all! Hahaha!” Chen Pingdao shouted like a madman, completely different from what he acted before.

Ning Tao vaguely heard what Chen Pingdao said before his mind went completely dark…

Several hours later, Ning Tao was slowly back to full consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he saw the dense tree canopy and the golden sunlight pouring down from the branches and leaves.

Ning Tao rolled out of the ground and looked around. There was no old house or Chen Pingdao around. He was standing on a hillside with trees, thorns and weeds all round but without even a path! However, the medical book and the transfer contract that Chen Pingdao gave him were still in his hands, and they were real, not an illusion.

“Oh!” Ning Tao suddenly remembered something. “Chen Pingdao smells exactly like that black dog, and he said he had given me a bit of cultivation. He’s the black dog! Have… have I really run into a ghost?”

After pausing for a short while, Ning Tao opened the medical book to read it.

The content of the medical book was quite concise, with only four chapters, namely, looking, smelling, elixirs and acupuncture. The four chapters were less than 1,000 words in all. It was really an economy with words.

“Looking, smelling, elixirs and acupuncture? Isn’t the diagnosis method in traditional Chinese medicine looking, hearing, asking and touching?” Intrigued, Ning Tao perused the content. As the contents written in the classical literary style of the medical book were difficult to understand, he could not tell whether they were true or false for the time being.

Then he opened the contract. The contents were exactly the same as what he read last night, and his signature was also on the paper.

The contract contained a key, a very dark key of an old type. It was heavy, neither made of iron nor bronze. Ning Tao didn’t know what it was made of.

The key was engraved with the traditional characters “The Sky Clinic”.

Ning Tao was puzzled. “The old house has disappeared, and so has the dog Chen Pingdao. Then does that clinic exist?”

Suddenly, a disgusting and unpleasant smell wafted into his nostrils. He quickly ducked his head and found himself covered with black and sticky oil, just as if he had just been picked up from the gutter oil. He was so sick by the smell that he almost threw up.

He thought of the cup of tea Chen Pingdao had given him the night before, and…

“Oh, no! I have to go to the Affiliated Hospital of Shan City Medical University today!” Ning Tao suddenly remembered this. Instantly, he started running down the hill, no longer cared about the old house or Chen Pingdao.

The slopes were pathless and steep, strewn with rocks and vines.

Ning Tao raced, ignoring whether it was dangerous.

Suddenly a stone about two meters high appeared on his way. He unconsciously jumped up. With the whistle of the wind, he jumped over the stone!

Then Ning Tao was shocked to remember what Chen Pingdao had said. “Does that little Nirvana Elixir really have that effect? Who the hell is Chen Pingdao? No, what kind of dog is he? After checking in at the hospital, I must go to that clinic to have a look!”

The he ran all the way…

Two hours later.

Ning Tao stood outside the personnel department office of the Affiliated Hospital of Shan City Medical University and straightened the short-sleeved shirt with pilling neckline.

Just as he raised his hand to knock on the door, a coquettish female voice came from behind the door, “Uncle Ma, this is Yang Hai’s file. Please have a look.”

Ning Tao’s hand instantly paused in the air. He seemed to have heard the voice, and it belonged to Tang Ling. He felt very strange that Yang Hai did not get the internship qualification of the Affiliated Hospital of Shan City Medical University due to his poor grades. So why was his file sent to the personnel department?

“Yang Hai isn’t here?” A man’s voice came from the office.

“He has an important visitor to his house, and he has to entertain the guest, so he asked me to bring his file here. Is that okay?” Asked the girl’s voice.

“Sure, sure. He just wants an experience. With his family connections, he would sooner or later become an official in the health system. Please take care of me by then.”

“Uncle Ma, don’t make fun of me… The one to be replaced…”

Ning Tao knocked on the door, not wanting to hear any more of this disgusting conversation.

“Come in.” Said the man’s voice.

Then Ning Tao pushed the door open and walked into the office.

There was a man and a girl in the office. As he guessed, the girl was Tang Ling. The man was apparently Ma Fuquan, the chief of the personnel department at the hospital.

He was a little surprised to see Tang Ling in Ma Fuquan’s office, but he kept a calm expression on his face and politely said, “Chief Ma, I’m Ning Tao, a senior from Shan City Medical University. I’m here to report for duty.”

Ma Fuquan cast a glance at Tang Ling and Tang Ling nodded.

“You are Ning Tao?” Ma Fuquan stood up and questioned in a lukewarm voice, “What time is it?”

Ning Tao certainly knew what time it was. He braced himself and replied, “It’s… ten o’clock.”

Ma Fuquan’s tone turned harsh. “How can you stand here when you know it’s ten o’clock? You’re two hours late!” He snapped. “Maybe you will two hours late for your surgery in the future when you’re two hours late for your first check-in. It’s a matter of life! Leave, we don’t want people with no sense of time!”

Ning Tao hurriedly explained, “Chief Ma, I’m in a little bit of a special situation…”

“Shut up!” Ma Fuquan interrupted him rudely. “I don’t want to hear any of your explanations!”

“How could this be?”

Ning Tao felt buzzing and aching in his head.

Tang Ling looked at him with glee and sneered, “Some people are so shameless. What are you still doing here?”

Ning Tao’s eyes suddenly fall on a form on the desk, and he saw his name crossed out and filled in Yang Hai’s name instead. At once he understood the meaning of the conversation he had heard outside the door. It was he who was replaced and it had nothing to do with his being late but was premeditated.

“Chief Ma!” Ning Tao fumed and questioned, “You gave my spot to Yang Hai, didn’t you? How could you do that? You must give me a convincing explanation!”

Tang Ling moved across and took Yang Hai’s file bag to cover the form.

“What are you? Why do I have to explain to you! Get out of here, or I’ll set you straight!” Ma Fuquan snarled while walking over to Ning Tao.

Bang!

Ning Tao felt that his head seemed to have been hit by a hammer and he had a sudden blackout. He swayed and almost fell to the ground. The sensation of agony lasted only a second and then disappeared. When his vision returned to his eyes, he found that everything he saw had changed.

In his vision, Ma Fuquan and Tang Ling were both wrapped in a colorful ball of aura that formed an eggshell-shaped field. Different colors corresponded to different body parts. The skin had the aura, and so had the stomach, the liver, the large intestine and other organs.

He saw that he also had the aura, and it was rather strange, half white and half black; the white aura looked pure, and the black appeared deep.

Ning Tao felt like something just woke up in his body.

“Get out of here!” In front of Ning Tao, Ma Fuquan pushed him on his shoulder.

Boom!

Ning Tao completely exploded!

“Son of a bitch!” Ning Tao bellowed and punched Ma Fuquan in the face.

Bang!

The collision between the fist and the face made Ma Fuquan’s nose out of joint immediately, blood gushing out, and one of Ma Fuquan’s front teeth knocked out, flying out with blood.

“Ah…” Ma Fuquan’s shriek was as shrill as a slaughtered pig.

“You jerk!” Ning Tao roared like a wild animal. Before Ma Fuquan fell to the ground, Ning Tao kicked him in the belly.

Bam!

Ma Fuquan was kicked into the air, knocked over the desk, and then fell to the ground. The cell phone, folders, pens, ink and so on were scattered all over the floor.

Ma Fuquan was kicked into a coma.

“Ah…” Tang Ling screamed and fainted.

Ning Tao looked at the two on the ground, his eyes turning from cold to calm. Then he turned and walked out of the office. He was going to leave the hospital for Chen Pingdao’s clinic.