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    Chapter 16: Health Entrusted, Life Entrusted

    Grett was instantly horrified.

    He had witnessed countless medical disputes, from unreasonable arguing that lasted four hours, to people carrying wreaths and burning paper money in the emergency room; from swinging intravenous stands to strike people, to directly drawing swords to attack them—oh, the last one, he had only witnessed the aftermath after security had taken care of it.

    But never had he felt so close to death.

    Blasphemy! Religious Inquisition! The stake!

    Just the first day after transmigrating, he had barely escaped one crisis, and now he was going to be burned at the stake?

    Grett was covered in cold sweat, wishing he could run away immediately. But as he looked at the cold blade tip of the Roman Knight, at the pale face of Captain Kalen, a surge of anger rose in him, making him forget all fear:

    You want to do something, do it to me! What do you mean by drawing your sword at my patient?

    Grett abruptly stood up. His heart thumped violently in his chest, his eardrums buzzing with the sound of rushing blood. Before he could speak, Donald, the priest beside him, frowned and shouted:

    “Roman! Put your sword away!”

    Since his own priest had spoken, the Roman Knight couldn’t refuse. He snorted coldly and slowly sheathed his sword, still looking unwilling to back down. Across from Grett, the young pastor Johannes also stood up, his hand pressed on the table as he leaned forward, his voice indignant:

    “Grett can use Healing Techniques! I swear by the War God’s name, I saw it with my own eyes today! You said you don’t know him, you lords in the city, how could you not know the servant of the Natural God?!”

    Grett: “…”

    Come on, is the Natural God’s church that poor?

    Several more memories surfaced in his mind.

    Grett shivered and finally remembered why he felt like the Natural God didn’t have a temple—

    Indeed, they didn’t. This church didn’t have temples like those of the War God and the Spring Water Goddess. They usually just found a small hill, used stones to enclose a circle on top, and worshipped their deity there. If there wasn’t even a stone circle, they would simply find an oak tree and everyone would stand beneath it to pray…

    The priests of the Spring Water Goddess wore silk robes, going in and out by carriage;

    The War God Temple was right behind the City Guard’s barracks, and the high-level priests there wore shining armor, one hand holding a shield, the other a war hammer, running in the ranks of the warriors, looking more like warriors than the warriors themselves;

    While the servants of the Natural God wore plain grey coarse linen robes in their daily lives, each carrying a wooden staff with budding leaves, going from the slums to the field ridges, then from the field ridges to the forest. In a word, poor.

    Even the elders weren’t much better off. Grett remembered someone gossiping to him, saying that when the City Lord summoned high-level spellcasters for a meeting, the elder of the Natural God’s sect just wore a linen robe, carried a wooden staff, and walked there on his two legs…

    No wonder when he claimed to receive divine revelation from the Natural God, his teammates weren’t surprised at all, but rather disappointed.

    Which parent wouldn’t be disappointed when they knew their child had entered a terribly poor new company, where even promotions wouldn’t result in much of a raise? Just like in his previous life, when his mother knew he had applied to the emergency department, she felt both heartache and reluctance to object…

    Grett fell into reminiscence. His heart felt a pang of sadness and tenderness, until a roar brought him back to reality:

    “You saw him cast Healing Technique, did you also see the Natural God give him divine revelation? You say it is, so it is? Are you not afraid of blaspheming the divine?!”

    Grett was startled by his shout. The Roman Knight was half a head taller than him, his face was rugged, his short dark brown hair stood up one by one, and his roar was particularly intimidating. Grett subconsciously shrank back, but before he could refute, Johannes stood up to him:

    “Then you say it isn’t, so it isn’t?!”

    The young pastor faced him head-on.

    Although one was a powerful knight and the other just a priest apprentice, the knights of the Spring Water Goddess’s temple couldn’t control the priests of the War God.

    There was no need to offend people for no reason. When it came to defending his comrades, Johannes would argue righteously:

    “Grett has displayed so many unheard-of skills, yet it still cannot be confirmed whether this is divine revelation? Can you confirm that the great Natural God has not given him any revelation? Or do you doubt the grace of the Natural God?!”

    Immediately, a wave of high and low laughter erupted.

    The half-grown boys on the farm giggled and snickered, the older farmers turned their heads to steal a laugh, and Grett’s teammates all openly grinned.

    Unlike the War God temple, which had always protected everyone, and unlike the Natural God’s sect, which dressed plainly and often helped everyone treat their cows, look at their dogs, and teach them how to farm, the temple of the Spring Water Goddess was full of “lords in the city” who put on airs, didn’t do much, and everyone really had no good feelings towards them.

    The Roman Knight’s face was grim. Even Donald’s face couldn’t help but lose some of its composure: a knight and a priest apprentice from another temple, bickering and quarreling was nothing, but when it came to accusing each other of blasphemy, that couldn’t be taken lightly.

    Donald coughed softly, stood up gracefully, his demeanor elegant and dignified, he smiled slightly and surveyed the crowd. The laughter in the hall gradually quieted down. Donald turned to Grett, leaning forward slightly:

    “Mr. Nordmark, to be honest, I am also very interested in your Healing Technique. It just so happens that your companion is also injured…”

    He simply left his seat, pulling Grett all the way to Captain Kalen:

    “I’m sure you want to heal him very much. I wonder, could you please cast a Healing Technique for us to observe?”

    “This…”

    Grett hesitated. The young priest across from him called out again:

    “He already used it today! It’s so late, how could he possibly use it again?”

    “It’s alright if you can’t cast tonight.” Donald smiled, not at all offended: “You can cast it tomorrow as well, be sure to call me over then…”

    The two of them were subtly bickering. Grett ignored them, his eyes glazed over, trying to think:

    Healing Technique… Healing Technique…

    How did I cast it?

    Right, I was thinking at that time, if possible, I hope Uncle Kalen’s injury would heal quickly…

    No response.

    Think again.

    Still no response.

    Grett adjusted his breathing, concentrating. Recalling the original owner’s relationship with Uncle Kalen, fully mobilizing his emotions, then he silently recited word by word:

    “If possible, I hope Uncle Kalen’s injury would heal quickly.”

    Still no response… This kind of esoteric stuff, I really suck at it T_T

    Grett seriously reflected on himself, deciding to return to rationality. Don’t rush, he told himself, analyze it, there might be several prerequisites for releasing Healing Technique?

    Target, method, motive?

    1. Target, strong desire. This is probably fulfilled, but it didn’t release, which means it’s a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition;

    2. Method, understanding the magical model. When he first cast Healing Technique, there was no magical model in his mind, so this probably isn’t a necessary condition, at least within the scope of the lowest level Healing Technique…?

    3. Motive. If the power source of a car is gasoline, the power source of magic is mana, then the power source of Divine Technique… should be faith, right?

    What is my faith?

    “Almighty Natural God…”

    Silent prayer. No response.

    The Natural God really doesn’t pay attention to me. Divine revelation, it was all a bluff.

    “Apollo, the god of medicine, Asclepius, and all the gods of heaven and earth bear witness, I solemnly swear…”

    No response.

    In the dimly lit hall, only the torches on the wall crackled and burned, as if mocking him.

    Grett’s forehead was slightly damp. Why was there no response, why couldn’t he cast Healing Technique, could it really be as those Westerners said, that Chinese people have no faith…

    Impossible!

    Chinese people have faith! I – I have faith!

    Calm down!

    Think again!

    What exactly is my faith?!

    Is it my homeland? My homeland is far away in another time and space, I can’t go back, and it can no longer be the driving force for my struggle;

    Is it Marxism-Leninism? Back then, he didn’t join the party, his faith wasn’t pure enough for that;

    Is it ancestors, is it history? Grett didn’t think that ancestors and history were the driving force for his constant forward movement…

    So, what exactly is it?

    If I have faith, if I truly have faith—

    Then, it should be, saving lives!

    Winning back one life after another, treating one patient after another;

    One white shift after another, one night shift after another, every time I was exhausted to death, I heard the sound of the 120 ambulance, and I would shake off my fatigue and rush out;

    Sometimes I cure, often I help, always I comfort…

    That was all the love and sincerity accumulated in the seven years of undergraduate and graduate studies, and the ten years of clinical work, since entering the medical world!

    Unconsciously, Grett raised his right fist to his ear. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, as if there was a bright red flag waving violently in the void in front of him:

    “Health entrusted, life entrusted…”

    The familiar oath rolled off his tongue, word by word. Every syllable was heavy, heavy as a thousand pounds.

    Pure, abundant white light silently descended.

    At that moment, Grett was filled with tears.

    (End of Chapter)

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