Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Diagnosis, Differential, and Emergency Management of Angina Pectoris

Thump.

The moment Lin Jianyuan stepped into the room, his heart gave a violent lurch.

Thump. Thump. In the darkness, it felt as though something else beat in time with his heart.

Lin Jianyuan raised his phone to light the way—at once, a tide of crimson surged into view.

The floor, the walls—everywhere, latticed veins crawled and twisted.

At the center of this tangled vascular web pulsed a monstrous, blood-red tumor, beating with an uncanny rhythm like a heart.

Thick veins suspended it from the ceiling, and with each pulse, the entire mass swung ever so slightly.

Thump.

Startled, Lin Jianyuan jerked, frowning as his hand flew to his chest.

Each time the tumor throbbed, his own heart slammed hard against his ribs in synchrony.

A suffocating pressure seized his chest, cutting off his breath, while the air around him grew oppressively hot.

Lin Jianyuan broke out in a cold sweat in a single heartbeat.

Thump. Thump.

The huge tumor throbbed slowly. Countless veins slithered closer, silent and unseen.

This sensation—so familiar. That constricting pain in his chest, the breathless panic…

Without hesitation, Lin Jianyuan pulled out his quick-acting heart pills, twisted off the cap, and poured them into his mouth.

The tumor: “?”

The giant tumor’s pulsing froze for an instant, then resumed—vibrating, faster and faster!

Thump-thump-thump.

Ba-dum-ba-dum-thump. Thump. Ba-dum-thump. Thump-thump-thump.

The blood-red tumor shook in a frenzy.

Lin Jianyuan’s own heart started to quiver erratically, the wild, arrhythmic beats unable to pump blood anywhere.

Sensing disaster, Lin Jianyuan urgently dumped the rest of the bottle down his throat.

But nothing eased. It felt like a heavy boulder crushed his chest, wringing pain that radiated through his arms and back, knocking him nearly to his knees.

This was…

This overwhelming sense of impending death…

With a dull smack, his phone fell to the floor.

Light glowed up from below, illuminating Lin Jianyuan’s pain-paled face.

Thump. Thump.

The monstrous tumor pulsed now, slow and content.

A few more minutes… no, half a minute at most, and this human would collapse.

When that happened, the fool who trespassed would be nothing but a helpless pile of flesh—good for nothing except being drained of life.

In the darkness, thick veins wove themselves into a dense net, encircling Lin Jianyuan from all sides.

Thump. Thump.

The tumor savored the human’s agony, watching sweat pour down his tormented face.

But in the next instant, the human pulled another vial from his pocket.

Useless. No matter how much medicine—hm?

To the tumor’s surprise, this time the human didn’t dump the whole bottle in. Instead, he swiftly tipped out a single tablet, and tucked it precisely under his tongue.

A heartbeat passed.

The human jolted upright, energy flooding back into his limbs!

Tumor: “???”

“Shit, I really forgot to take them sublingually—all those heart pills wasted.” Annoyed, Lin Jianyuan stood up.

Sure enough, his diagnosis had been spot-on!

That familiar brush with death—it was something he experienced every time he worked late into the night—

Angina pectoris!!!

It wasn’t that the quick-acting pills didn’t work for angina—he’d just taken them wrong in the panic.

Swallowing them meant waiting for his gut to absorb them. Only under the tongue could the drug shoot directly into his bloodstream, straight to the heart.

So when angina struck, nitroglycerin had to go under the tongue!

—Wait, was he… cured?!

The massive tumor stared at him in disbelief.

Its beat spiraled into a mad panic.

The tumor thrashed violently!

Yet this time, the human showed not even a flicker of pain—instead, brow furrowed, he eyed the tumor suspiciously and drew closer.

Something was wrong!

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! Dangerously wrong!!!

The tumor shrieked, “What happened to you? Who are you? Why aren’t you dead?!”

In a flash, a swarm of veins surged forward, tangled like tree roots, smashing headlong at the unarmed human!

“Enough already!” Lin Jianyuan roared, charging forward and slamming his fist down on the tumor, hard!

Bang!

A dull, heavy thud!

The tumor caved in on the spot, a dent punched deep into its mass!

What the hell!

This human could actually hurt it?!

Sensing real danger, the tumor decided to flee!

It tore itself free from the thick veins on the ceiling and hurled its whole mass at the wall, full force.

Crash! Plaster rained down in clouds!

But there was no escape beyond the wall.

Instead—an impenetrable web of vines?!

Rope-thick vines intertwined in a lush, heavy barrier.

“Eye Vines?! You’re this human’s lackey too?” The tumor froze, then sneered, “But you? Just a C-rank trash…”

Veins gathered beneath it, the whole tumor coiling back to spring, gathering all its force.

Then it lunged!

Crash!

The tumor smashed into the vines—only to be bounced cleanly back, flung right in front of Lin Jianyuan!

The tumor reeled!

What’s going on?! Since when were C-rank Eye Vines this tough?

Impossible! This was not C-rank strength!!

As the tumor bounced back toward him, Lin Jianyuan landed two fierce punches, blood vessels bursting; the entire tumor nearly stopped beating.

The surrounding vein-nets spasmed in sympathy, freezing as if shocked.

The tumor slammed into the vines again, only to be bounced back yet again.

“Still at it?” Lin Jianyuan glared at the bouncing tumor, rage bubbling over with nowhere else to go.

He decided he’d had enough.

He was going to take it all out on this idiotic whatever-the-hell-it-was!!!

Damn that dumbass in Finance! Couldn’t say there was an issue in the initial review—had to wait until everything was signed off, then bounce it back so I have to redo all the paperwork! Fucking idiot!

Shit, that bastard Jiang Chen! Never does a damn thing—just calls fucking meeting after meeting, every goddamn day! Eat shit, you asshole!

And that asshole landlord! Only knows how to raise the rent and bitch and moan, acting all high and mighty! Where’s the appliance warranty you promised? The air conditioner’s been dead for days and you still haven’t fixed it! Still haven’t fixed it!

Fuck this entire goddamn world! Go eat shit! Eat shit, eat shit, eat shit, eat shit!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His fists hammered down, every blow landing hard and true!

The tumor was battered black and blue; every time it tried to escape, it found vines blocking every angle!

Just a pitiful C-rank Eye Vines—yet, while it wasn’t looking, the vines had already burrowed through every inch of the basement walls!

Now the whole basement was laced tight, not a crack for it to slip through!

It had actually been trapped by a single Eye Vines stalk!

A mere C-rank!

A mighty B, laid low in exile, bullied by a C!

Thud! Bam, bam, bam!

The springy tumor ricocheted between the taut vine-web and Lin Jianyuan’s iron fists, again and again.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!!

The tumor started seeing stars.

For real—not a hallucination.

With each heavy blow, showers of golden stars erupted from the tumor!

Lin Jianyuan: “?”

Suspicious, he glared at the golden specks drifting in the air. “What the hell is this shit now?!”

“Stop—please, stop…” the tumor pleaded feebly, squeezing out another spray of golden stars from its deflated chamber. “Here, take it, your life energy, I’m giving it back…”

Lin Jianyuan: “?”

Lin Jianyuan’s expression grew even stranger. “You can talk too?”

Tumor: “?”

Lin Jianyuan muttered, “Why can every damn hallucination talk?”

Tumor: “?? No, I—”

Lin Jianyuan had no patience for hallucinations’ nonsense. The thought of having to redo his reports in the OA system stoked his rage anew.

Not even waiting for the Eye Vines net to bounce it back, he grabbed the tumor outright, slammed it to the ground, and unleashed a fresh barrage of punches.

“Ah! Ahhh!”

The tumor howled helplessly.

With every scream, another burst of stars erupted.

In no time, the pitch-black room floated with golden starlight.

The shimmering flecks lit the room; all the veins writhed and shrank, fading back to reveal plain walls and concrete floors beneath.

“Why… why are you…” the tumor sobbed, “Why are you beating me?! We had no quarrel…”

“Work is a pain in the ass.” Lin Jianyuan coolly landed two more blows. “My boss is an asshole, finance is a joke, clients are all morons, the whole goddamn world is full of idiots. My job is fucking misery!”

Tumor: “? Then beat them up, why me?!”

Lin Jianyuan: “Beating people’s illegal!!”

Tumor: “???”

Amid the tumor’s crushing sobs, Lin Jianyuan at last vented to his heart’s content!

Good!

After half an hour of relentless pummeling, Lin Jianyuan had not only purged all his office frustration—he'd worked up a prodigious sweat and torched a few calories!

And Lin Jianyuan suddenly realized what the tumor really was!

It was a punching bag!

Had to be—some other working stiff, drowning in stress, had stashed a punching bag down here!

Everyone knew punching bags were perfect: good for a workout, perfect for stress relief!

Bottom line, it was just one word—

Excellent!

Spent from beating the punching bag, Lin Jianyuan paused to catch his breath. Only now did it occur to him that his knuckles hurt a bit.

He raised his hand, squinting down at the bloody scrapes across his skin.

“Please, have mercy, let me go, sob sob…” the tumor pleaded in its best feeble whimper.

Behind Lin Jianyuan’s back, a tiny cluster of veins crept mercilessly closer.

Lin Jianyuan heard a faint sound and moved to turn—too late; the twitching vein lashed out like a needle for the nape of his neck!

Sizzle!

A small shower of sparks burst to life at the back of his neck!

Lin Jianyuan: “?”

Tumor: “???”

The tumor stared, stunned, as its probing tendril vanished in thin air.

What happened? What did it hit? Why was its tentacle just—gone?

And what was this weird burning sensation…

Refusing to quit, the tumor sent out more tendrils, striking again from behind!

Sizzle! Sizzle-sizzle!

Lin Jianyuan: “??”

Lin Jianyuan turned, again and again, but each time it was already too late.

Tiny sparks flared for just a second; whenever he looked back, there was nothing but darkness.

Lin Jianyuan: “???”

What the hell was that sparking noise?

The tumor despaired.

It could only watch as its blood-red tendrils were burnt away to nothing, helpless to even cry.

No matter what, Lin Jianyuan had gotten a damn good workout.

He reset the fallen punching bag, hung it up on the ceiling where it belonged, straightened his clothes, and strode out of the underground gym feeling renewed.

The corridor’s lights had come back on as well. The squish toy thief and Little Stone were both plopping along, hurrying toward him.

“Lin Jianyuan, are you alright?” the squish toy called, sliding over in a hurry, its squishy body leaving a long, wet trail behind.

“You’re alive! You’re actually still alive!” Little Stone rolled up, stammering with wonder and disbelief.

Lin Jianyuan had zero interest in explaining anything to his own hallucinations.

But the way these two little guys bounced and hopped toward him was actually kind of adorable.

Casually, he gave each little toy a satisfying head-rub—one on the left, one on the right—then stuffed them back into his pockets. “Let’s go.”

Squish toy: “Huh?”

Little Stone: “Wh-why’d you suddenly pat my head…”

Squish toy: “Hello? Why’s that the focus here? You’re gross, man! Can you please not do that? No, seriously, you’re disgusting…”

Little Stone: “…Sorry, I upset you again. I just wanted to express how I really feel, I didn’t know you hated it.”

Squish toy: “Damn! Disgusting just opened the damn door and said ‘I’m disgusted to death!’ Seriously, I’m begging you, shut up! I’m gonna puke! Will you just stop talking?!”

Little Stone: “Sorry, I’ll try harder next time…”

Lin Jianyuan: “.”

Noisy as hell.

A vein bulged on Lin Jianyuan’s forehead. He yanked both toys out, one in each hand, and banged them against the wall—bam, bam.

Squish toy & Little Stone: “@_@ …”

The two little toys were instantly knocked senseless.

Peace at last.

After Lin Jianyuan left, who knows how much time passed.

Footsteps echoed through the silent hall once more.

“Is this the place?”

“Should be. This is where the repair ticket was filed.”

Two electricians trudged up, tools slung over their shoulders.

Reaching the end of the hall, they paused before a bare stretch of wall, exchanging a confused look.

“Aren’t all the lights down here working fine? Where’s this flickering they reported?” one asked.

“Yeah, and the new ventilation system’s fine. Temperature and humidity are all normal,” said the other.

They glanced at each other again.

Electrician A: “Dumbasses.”

Electrician B: “Whatever. Let’s go home and sleep. These idiots’ll put in repair tickets for a fart—I swear, I’m done with this bullshit.”