Ten Merits

When consciousness returned, I found myself lying in bed.My body ached with stiffness, my mind foggy and heavy, devoid of even a shred of strength.

"Ning." My father's voice cracked through the haze, rough with sleeplessness yet bright with relief. I turned toward the sound, my body protesting like rusted machinery. His face swam into view - bloodshot eyes, stubbled jaw, the permanent crease between his brows deepened into a canyon.

"Dad, I—"

"Don't," He interrupted, hastily tucking the blankets around me with hands that shook slightly. "You've been out cold for five days." His throat worked as he glanced toward the window. "If Master Lingxi hadn't... Well. Thank the heavens she found you when she did."

I followed his gaze to the figure framed by frost-kissed glass. The young woman stood motionless, winter sunlight gilding her porcelain complexion as she studied a weathered tome. Her snow-white down jacket should have looked mundane, yet it somehow enhanced her otherworldly aura - from the raven hair cascading down her back like spilled ink, restrained by a single burnt orange ribbon, to lips shaped like a cherub's bow. But it was her eyes that arrested me: twin pools of still water reflecting ancient wisdom, their calm scrutiny cutting through my feverish haze.

She turned a page with slender fingers, the gesture containing entire philosophies. When those fathomless eyes finally met mine, her expression remained as serene as undisturbed water, giving no quarter to pity nor curiosity. In that moment, I understood two truths: this was no ordinary healer, and my life had just irrevocably changed.

"Th-thank you." The words stumbled from my lips like clumsy sparrows. Truth be told, I'd never seen anyone so ethereal - not even the airbrushed celebrities on TV. It wasn't just her porcelain features, but the tranquility radiating from her like a lotus blooming in secluded mountain valleys, solitary yet untainted by worldly dust.

"Gratitude is premature." Lingxi's inscrutable eyes narrowed as she snapped the ancient tome shut. "The malevolent entity within you remains. I've merely contained it temporarily." Her fingernails, painted with fading cinnabar charms, tapped the book's cracked . "Celestial Official Pig incarnate as mortal vessels to endure heavenly trials. The darkness they spawn isn't some common graveyard phantom."

A sigh escaped her lips, misting in the chilly air. "When mortal affairs entangle with celestial designs..." She trailed off, staring at the frost patterns on the windowpane. "I should never have accepted this commission. Now we're both caught in karma's web."

"Master Lingxi!" My father clutched the bedrail, his knuckles whitening. "Ning's only eighteen. His college entrance exams—"

"Exams?" Her lips curved in a humorless smile. "Your son has precisely one path to survival." She held up ten slender fingers, each gesture precise as a temple bell's chime. "Ten great merits. Only through extraordinary acts of compassion can the darkness be purified and returned to the celestial realm."

"If your son fails to redeem the malevolent entity within three years," Lingxi's jade bracelet chimed as she traced the frost patterns on the window, "death awaits." "Ten great merits, each through life-saving deeds."

She settled into the room's sole intact chair. "As the sutras teach, saving one life surpasses the merit of building a seven-story pagoda." Her fingernails, adorned with peeling cinnabar charms, tapped the well-thumbed ancient tome in her lap. "Daily recitations of the Ksitigarbha Sutra will amplify the purification."

Eldest Uncle finally broke his statue-like silence near the medicine cabinet. "We'll follow Master Lingxi's guidance," he declared, slapping the rusted bed frame. "Survival comes first!"

Father's gaze lingered on me, seeking confirmation.

"What's the damn hesitation for?" the Eldest Uncle snapped, his pipe clattering against the tea tray. "Book learning won't save your neck. What good is a crimson diploma if you're dead in a coffin?"

"I'll take a leave of absence." The words clawed their way out, my throat raw as if I'd swallowed broken glass. My eyelids drifted shut not in peace, but like rusted theater curtains collapsing after a final, disastrous performance. Somewhere beneath my ribs, a soul-deep ache pulsed—not for lost academic glory, but for the cruel irony of trading ink-stained study nights for a gamble with death's arithmetic.

"Now we're talking!" Eldest Uncle's grin revealed a missing molar. "Three years is nothing. You can always re-enroll later—college kids dig older guys anyway. More… seasoned." He winked with satisfaction.

"Three years is nothing," Father waved his hand,"But these ten great acts of compassion—how exactly are we supposed to…" His voice frayed like old prayer beads.

Master Lingxi tilted her head, the fading cinnabar charms on her nails catching fire in the sunlight. "Didn't I clarify? Preserving life itself is the ultimate merit."

Eldest Uncle stammered in bewilderment, 'Your meaning is… our Ningzi must save ten lives?

"Essentially." Lingxi examined a strand of her raven-black hair with theatrical nonchalance.

Father's face crumpled like a discarded lottery ticket. "But Master Lingxi, my son's entire existence revolves around textbooks. How's he supposed to—"

Lingxi tucked an errant lock behind her ear, all wide-eyed innocence. "Our contract specified reviving him. Banishing dark entities?" Her jade bracelet chimled as she shrugged. "That wasn't in your sister Su Tongyuan's $1.6 million retainer.

At that moment, Lingxi's phone rang. "Excuse me." She glided out, leaving her leather-bound tome open to an illustration of tormented souls.

I stared at the water-stained ceiling, my chest tightening with something sharper than the IV needle. Su Tongyuan. The half-sister who'd vanished when Ma died. The name tasted like rust and honey.

"My name is Su Ning, born in Taoshan Village along the Jiangnan coast. Eighteen years old now. When I was seven, my mother met some wealthy guy, divorced Dad, and took my older sister Su Tongyuan—three years my senior. Overnight, I became that 'motherless kid' everyone whispered about. For eleven years, they never visited. Never called. Honestly, I'd stopped imagining their faces.

"My mother's departure has always been like a thorn that pierced my heart, impossible to let go or forgive. But now, the miraculous healer Lingxi who saved my life was actually hired by my long-lost sister whom I haven't seen for eleven years. This shocking revelation made me laugh bitterly at the absurdity - turns out I still have a biological mother and sister."

"Ning, don't blame your father. He had no choice." My Eldest uncle pulled up a chair beside my hospital bed and whispered: "That night when you collapsed unconscious - face turned dark, foaming at the mouth - you scared us half to death."

"Your Second uncle rushed you to the town hospital overnight. They worked till dawn but the doctors couldn't cure you, just kept suggesting transfers to bigger hospitals."

"Your father knelt on the floor wailing, kowtowing to every doctor and nurse on duty, begging them to save you."

"When all options were exhausted, I made him contact that woman." My Eldest uncle sighed heavily. "After all, you're still her son. Especially Tong Yuan - she's been secretly slipping your dad money all these years."

"With your father's temper, he never wanted anything to do with them. But your grandfather said our family's poor - you'll need money for marriage and starting a family someday. Your dad's just a lifelong farmer with no prospects."

"That's why we kept this hidden, worried you'd dwell on it." My Eldest uncle leaned closer, voice dropping gravely low. "This is their debt to you. Whether to accept or refuse can wait. Right now, exorcising this evil spirit and saving your life comes first."

My father added timidly: "I never touched any of Tong Yuan's money. It's all saved in the bank. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can return it to her yourself after you recover."

"I know." I drew a deep breath, temporarily burying the storm of emotions within.

Just as Eldest Uncle said, what I need most now is to exorcise the malevolent spirit. The mere thought of this gives me a throbbing headache that churns my heart with dread.

The reason the vengeful spirit of the Celestial Official Pig clings to me is simply because I was present on the slaughtering day. If Grandfather was the culprit who took its life, then I was the accomplice. Since the culprit is dead, the accomplice must follow suit. Yet to dispel this evil entity, I must accumulate ten major life-saving merits.

 But I'm just an ordinary mortal without any exceptional skills - how could I possibly save human lives?