Chapter 12: Running Into a Classmate

Reid Quinny didn't say anything. He followed Jada Thubron downstairs and slid into the Audi's passenger seat. Jada Thubron was strikingly beautiful. Sitting in the Audi, she gave off that unmistakable vibe of a gorgeous woman paired with a luxury car. They sped along and soon reached an intersection, stopping for a red light. Then-boom! A deafening crash erupted across the street. A truck at the opposite junction suddenly lost control and slammed into a black Mercedes. The Mercedes lurched forward and plowed into the Audi ahead of Reid and Jada Thubron, turning the intersection into a chain-reaction wreck right before their eyes. Chaos swallowed the scene. Wails, furious shouting, and the shrill crying of children and adults tangled together into a single ugly roar. Jada Thubron's face drained of color. "Thank God there was a car in front of us. If not, that would've been us." When the light turned green, she eased forward and drove past at a crawl. Reid glanced over. The road was a wreckage-strewn mess. A short, stocky truck driver climbed down from his cab. The moment he saw what he'd done, his legs gave out and he dropped hard onto the pavement. A few seconds later, he spotted the victims charging at him with faces twisted in rage. He let out a strangled cry and bolted. From the Mercedes that had taken the worst of it, a woman in a black dress crawled out. She looked to be in her thirties, still carrying an elegant, mature beauty. Blood ran down her face, but she didn't even spare herself a glance. She clawed at the rear door like a madwoman, screaming, "Joy! Joy, are you okay? Please, please don't let anything happen to you…" "Someone, help! Please! My daughter's still inside!" A group rushed over. Working together, they smashed the door open and lifted out an unconscious little girl. "Joy… Joy, wake up. Don't scare Mommy like this…" The woman trembled all over as she patted the girl's cheeks again and again. A man nearby, still holding on to some composure, shouted, "She's badly hurt! Call an ambulance!" The woman clearly couldn't think anymore. The man had to call 120 for her. "Move aside, move aside. I'm a doctor. Let me take a look!" A girl strode in with long, confident steps. She wore a pink cartoon T-shirt, a denim mini skirt, and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Her long legs caught the sunlight with every step. Reid paused in the car, momentarily stunned. It was Cameron Lyson-his middle school classmate, one of the campus belles back then. "Doctor, please save my daughter!" "I only have one child. If something happens to her… I… I don't want to live either…" The woman sobbed as she spoke, but at least she seemed to regain a sliver of clarity. Cameron Lyson's pretty face tightened with seriousness. "Lay her on the ground. Don't move her around!" Terrified, the woman carefully lowered the girl. Cameron Lyson moved fast, pulling a jacket from her car and spreading it on the pavement. She leaned down and checked the child's breathing. Her heart sank. "Her breath is barely there. She's hanging by a thread." "N-No… that can't be!" "Doctor, please! Save my daughter! I'm begging you-save her! I'll pay whatever you want, whatever it takes, just save her…" The woman sounded close to losing her mind. There was no pain worse than watching the young go before the old. Cameron Lyson clenched her teeth. "I'll do everything I can." She snapped her head up and called to an assistant not far away. "Bring me the first-aid kit from my car!" The assistant hurried to a white Hyundai, grabbed a medical case, and ran back. Cameron Lyson took out a box of silver needles, disinfected them, and with practiced precision drove them into three major acupoints. "In three minutes," she said coldly, "if she doesn't wake up, you should start preparing for the worst." Inside the Audi, Jada Thubron let out a soft sigh. "Poor kid…" Suddenly, a sharp glint flashed through Reid's eyes. He saw something no one else could. A little girl, six or seven years old, stood near the Mercedes's crumpled front end. Her eyes were empty, her gaze fixed blankly on the sky. Two pigtails. A Peppa Pig T-shirt. She looked exactly like the child lying on the ground. Reid threw the door open and stepped out, heading across the road. "Hey! What are you doing?" Jada Thubron shouted after him. "Saving someone," Reid answered without looking back. He vaulted the roadside barrier and strode straight to the little girl. Jada Thubron hurried out too, leaning over the barrier as she yelled, "Hey! You're not a doctor! What are you saving?" "This isn't the time to play tough! People die from this!" Reid ignored her. As he walked, his fingers subtly formed the signs of a Soul Summoning Spell. A faint white glimmer flickered at his fingertips, easy to miss. The little girl by the Mercedes jerked as if tugged by an invisible thread, then shot toward him. "Back where you belong." Reid lifted his palm and slapped the girl on the head. "You bastard! What the hell are you doing!" a man nearby roared, glaring at him. The woman snapped out of her panic and screamed hoarsely, "My daughter's already like this! Why are you still hitting her?" "If anything happens to her, I'll kill you!" Reid's voice stayed flat. "If you don't want her to die, shut your mouth." As the soul tried to sit up and slip out again, Reid slapped the girl's forehead a second time. "You lunatic, get out of the way!" The woman lunged to shove him, but Reid didn't budge an inch. People around them erupted in furious curses. "Where'd this madman come from? The kid's practically dead and he's still abusing her body!" "Call the cops! Arrest him!" "Yeah, throw him in jail!" Seeing the crowd's righteous outrage, Jada Thubron shrank back from the barrier and retreated into the car. "That jerk. Running his mouth is one thing, but he just has to show off too." "Great. Let's see how you get out of this." "Hmph. Don't expect me to care if you live or die. Just don't drag me down with you." She drove to the side of the road and parked, keeping her distance from Reid. Just as the crowd was about to rush in and yank him away, Cameron Lyson's face suddenly lit with surprise. "Wait!" "She's awake!" The intersection fell dead silent. Joy's eyes fluttered open. She swept a weak gaze over the faces around her and whispered, "Mom… it hurts…" At that moment, a piercing siren wailed. An ambulance arrived at speed. "Quick! Get her to the hospital, right now!" Cameron Lyson shouted, pulling out the needles. As two nurses in white lifted Joy onto the stretcher and loaded her into the ambulance, Cameron Lyson finally let out a long breath. Joy's mother dropped to her knees with a thud. "Thank you… thank you, both of you, for saving my daughter!" "I'm sorry. I misunderstood you earlier. Please forgive me!" Reid said lightly, "It's fine." "Sir, could you leave me your contact information? I'll take my daughter to the hospital first, then I'll come back and repay you both properly!" "No need. It was nothing." Reid hadn't saved her for money, and he didn't want trouble clinging to him. Cultivation was what mattered most to him at the moment. "Please," the woman insisted, voice trembling. "Just leave me a way to reach you. If I can't repay you, I won't be able to live with myself." There was another reason, too. What Reid had done didn't look like medicine at all. She had a sharp eye for people, and she didn't believe he was ordinary. Getting his number was a safeguard for her daughter. Cameron Lyson also urged, "Just give it to her." "Write it down." Reid glanced at the woman and recited his number, fully aware of what she was thinking. "Thank you, thank you…" She hurriedly saved it, excitement and relief breaking through her tears as she rushed after the ambulance. The onlookers began to murmur in amazement. "To think they're so young, and their medical skills are that incredible…" "Heroes really do come in the young!" Those who had accused Reid earlier stood there red-faced and awkward, suddenly finding the ground far more interesting than anyone else.