Upon seeing the white clouds, Ye Tian thought of that green bird; when he left home, he had seen it on a tree. The airport was a no-fly zone for birds—surely that silly bird wouldn’t risk its life to follow him here, right? Ye Tian suddenly recalled the intense gust of wind that day and how that silly bird fanned away a hawk with a single flap of its wing. He couldn’t help but mumble about his unnecessary worries. That bird could even bring a soaring eagle to heel; flying a few rounds in the sky was nothing.
Ye Tian’s brow relaxed, but soon it knotted up again.
Something in his stomach did not feel right.
It was still that alternating sensation of cold and warmth, which had almost healed and had not acted up for nearly a week. Why was it reacting now? And there was some abnormality during the security check earlier on. Could it be because they had flown high into the sky?
The airplane continued to climb, and Ye Tian saw the increasingly thick cumulus clouds. Initially, he could still see the checkerboard-like pattern of the city below, but later on, he could only make out the land where yellow met green until they flew high enough that he could only see clouds that seemed to be stationary. At this point, Ye Tian felt the discomfort in his stomach even more clearly.
This was not a good sign.
Ye Tian leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. Through the window, he saw his own eyes above the bridge of his nose seemingly change color, probably to red. To avoid alarming others, Ye Tian closed his eyes and then began to feel a burning pain.
I couldn’t possibly have gone astray, could I? But I haven’t achieved any supernatural powers.
The cold and warm energies in his abdomen began to circulate again. The two streams of air alternately switched positions, forming a circle. Ye Tian felt the two breaths starting to contest with each other. Previous experiences told him that if he could just hold on for a while, his condition would improve on its own. But now, the situation, which usually settled by itself, did not go as expected.
Instead of harmonizing, the two streams of cold and warm air began to tear at each other, causing severe pain that grew increasingly intense until it became excruciating, as if his bones were aching. Ye Tian did not know how to cope with this situation. The pain in his eyes intensified, as if they were burning in flames, and large beads of sweat began to fall down. Amidst the pain, Ye Tian could still feel the sweat sliding from his forehead down his cheeks and dripping from his chin.
What the hell is going on!
"Young man? Young man? Are you feeling unwell?"
The old man who had swapped seats with Qin Chuan noticed Ye Tian dripping with sweat and assumed he was suffering from some sort of acute illness, so he asked anxiously. When he tentatively placed his hand on Ye Tian’s forehead and quickly withdrew it, he murmured, "This young man has a fever, it’s burning hot. Miss, miss, someone is sick!"
The ’miss’ he was probably calling was a flight attendant. A young girl sitting next to the aisle stood up to give the seat to the old man, then pressed the call button above the luggage compartment. Soon after, a flight attendant dressed in a red uniform approached, "How may I assist you?"
The old man attempted to stand up but was pushed back down by the girl next to him, "Grandpa, you sit down first. He seems to be feeling unwell."
The girl spoke very stiffly, pointing at Ye Tian, nowhere near as concerned as the old man.
The flight attendant crouched beside Ye Tian, who was still dripping with large droplets of sweat and obviously, this situation was within her range of duties; all cabin crew members are trained to handle various medical emergencies.
Ye Tian heard her but couldn’t open his eyes, almost as if someone had poked his eyes with a burning stick, unbearable pain, and that bright red color hadn’t faded yet. Opening his eyes now would likely scare people, and moreover, the tugging battle between the two breaths in his stomach didn’t allow him a chance to breathe. Fearing that letting out a breath might disperse all the energy in his body, Ye Tian knew he really wouldn’t be able to hold on. There’s a saying, "Life hangs on a breath," and that was exactly the case now.
"Sir, if you can’t speak, could you please nod or shake your head to show what you mean?"
Ye Tian nodded, still silent.
Seeing his response, the flight attendant’s face showed a glimmer of hope, "Have you had an appendectomy?"
Ye Tian shook his head.
The onlookers understood most of the situation and speculated that it might be acute appendicitis, all the while admiring the flight attendant’s professional knowledge.
The onlookers were impressed, but the flight attendant wasn’t relieved. She extended her hand and touched Ye Tian’s abdomen, pressing gently with her slender fingers on his left side, then looked up. The passenger didn’t exhibit excruciating pain more than before.
This meant, the passenger didn’t have an appendicitis attack.
Her colleague who hurried over saw the situation and grew anxious.
"Hui, announce on the intercom to ask if there’s a doctor on the plane. Say the patient is experiencing severe pain and can’t speak, and also... seems to be unable to open his eyes."
"Is this okay, Jingzhi? Should we really do this?"
"Trust me, follow the training protocols."
The attendant called Hui nodded, then rushed to the connection point of the cabin. Shortly after, an announcement seeking a doctor resounded throughout the airplane cabin.