The Film Emperor Is Sick, I have No Cure - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The deafening roar of the helicopter thundered through the night sky.

Blinding beams from the searchlights tore through the curtain of rain, scattering and converging in midair, finally gathering into a bright spot of light beneath the overpass, locking firmly onto the black sports car speeding along the road.

The Bugatti weaved between the overpasses, each change of direction seeming as if it would crash headlong into the guardrail, yet always managing to straighten at the last moment, forcing its way back to the center of the road.

Xing Cheng gripped the steering wheel with all his strength.

The tires churned up mud and dust, letting out a terrifying screech against the road, like a trapped beast roaring in the night.
The tail of the car swung wildly from side to side, nearly sending both car and driver plunging into the icy river beneath the bridge.

The complex tangle of overpasses successfully blocked the helicopter behind, but he knew this wouldn’t last long.

Even if he had shaken off the pursuers for the moment, the situation had not improved in the slightest.

“Stop the car immediately… stop… or else…”

Hiss—hiss—

The car radio emitted a raspy burst of static, a man’s voice repeating the cold warning again and again.

Xing Cheng smashed the radio’s control panel with one punch, eyes fixed straight ahead, his gaze already bloodshot.

The rain was getting heavier.

——

“Doctor Xiao Lu, off work?”

“Mm.” Removing his white coat, Lu Danggui smiled at the cleaning lady, the corners of his eyes curling into two crescent moons.
“Just packing up and heading home.”

The clock struck eleven, yet the affiliated hospital of S University was still brightly lit. The elevator doors slowly closed, and the endless noise outside faded away with them.

All around was silent, only the hum of the elevator’s wheel axle could be heard. Lu Danggui put away the smile on his face, let out a long breath, and leaned back against the glass wall behind him.

After a whole day of busyness, only now could he enjoy a moment of peace.

He was about to be made permanent. Tonight, the director had specially called him to the office, asking him, since he planned to stay in the hospital, what his career plans were for the future.

“Xiao Lu, work is work, life is life, you need to learn to balance the two.”

“In our line of work, what matters most is ‘lasting.’ At your young age, working this hard, even an iron body won’t be able to take it.”

Rubbing his temples a few times, Lu Danggui let out an almost inaudible sigh.

He couldn’t possibly tell the director that it wasn’t about working hard, it was that he truly needed money.

If it weren’t for the fact that a doctor’s benefits after becoming permanent were indeed quite good, just paying for the medical expenses and daily costs of that little ancestor at home was already becoming a strain for him.

The elevator stopped midway, and a group of psychiatric nurses working the night shift came in. The girls had been chatting away merrily, but upon seeing who was inside, they all fell silent and greeted Lu Danggui warmly.

“Doctor Xiao Lu, why are you leaving in such a hurry today?” someone teased with a smile.
“Could it be you’re rushing home to accompany your girlfriend?”

Lu Danggui reached out a hand to hold the elevator doors open for them. “It’s too late, my little sister’s home alone, I’m not at ease.”

Doctor Lu’s little sister?
The nurses all grew a bit curious.

“I remember now,” one of the nurses spoke up. “Last week a girl came to the front desk looking for Doctor Lu. The little sister was sitting in a wheelchair, her legs and feet not very convenient, I even helped her register—”

Halfway through speaking, the nurse sensed a shift in the atmosphere inside the elevator and quickly shut her mouth.

Lu Danggui only smiled and did not respond.

The elevator stopped at the first-floor lobby. He stepped out first, turned his head, and bid farewell to everyone in a warm voice, “You’ve all worked hard. See you next week.”

The elevator doors slowly closed, and a dull rumble of thunder came from outside the building.

Raising a hand to press at his brow a few times, Lu Danggui opened the ride-hailing app on his phone.

Why did it have to rain at this time…

There were already more than fifty people in line ahead waiting for cars, and with each refresh, the number kept rising. He refreshed the page again and again, completely ignoring the “Please do not operate frequently” prompt on the screen.

He just wanted to get back to the apartment as quickly as possible. Wenfei was timid, on a stormy night like this, she couldn’t be left home alone.

Lu Wenfei had probably already gone to sleep, she hadn’t replied to her brother’s messages for a long while.

“Heartless little thing,” Lu Danggui thought.

In weather like this, he still worried she might be scared alone.

Ever since his younger sister lost her legs in an accident a few years ago, he, as her older brother, had been the one taking care of her closely. Next month Wenfei would be going to S University, moving into the dorms arranged by the school, and the siblings would no longer be able to see each other as often as they did now.

Lu Danggui felt very much like a brother marrying off his sister, like water splashed out and gone.

While his mind wandered aimlessly, he absentmindedly scrolled through the messages on his phone.

The phone gave a faint vibration in his palm, and a breaking local news alert popped up at the top of the screen, instantly catching his attention.

“Five minutes ago, a serious traffic accident occurred on West River Avenue. Casualties are currently unknown. The outbound expressway has been temporarily closed, citizens are advised to avoid the accident area—”

“Emergency vehicle coming through, make way!”

A sharp honk sounded from behind, startling Lu Danggui.

Before he could react, an ambulance roared past him, brushing right by and charging straight out through the hospital gates.

Splashed head-to-toe by the water kicked up as it passed, Lu Danggui staggered a little in front of the barrier arm, only managing to steady himself with difficulty.

He didn’t get angry. Saving lives came first, if the ambulance was in such a rush, the situation must be extremely urgent.

He wondered who could be so unlucky, in the middle of the night…

Brushing the droplets of water from his clothes, Lu Danggui refocused on his phone, intending to finish the news article he’d been reading.

The accompanying image was a photo from the scene of the crash: a flashy black sports car had slammed head-on into the retaining wall of an overpass. Shards from the soundproofing panels were scattered all over the ground, the whole scene a mess of devastation.

Lifting his gaze from the phone screen, Lu Danggui looked toward the direction where the hospital ambulance had gone, siren wailing into the distance.

The affiliated hospital of S University was located in the west district, it really was one of the closest hospitals to the crash site.

…It couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it?

——

Xing Cheng lifted his head.

Several helicopters were circling above the sports car, searchlights forming a great net of woven light that trapped the vehicle firmly in place, leaving it no room to move.

200… 180… 160…

He was almost crushing the accelerator into the floor, but as the fuel ran out, this steel beast let out a powerless roar and began to falter.

Watching the speed on the dashboard drop lower and lower, Xing Cheng knew he was about to lose completely.

Ahead lay a roadblock, behind were pursuers, he had reached a dead end.

The helicopter overhead was shouting at him, ordering him to stop immediately. A hundred meters remained before the roadblock; to the left was a rock wall, to the right was a cliff, and below the cliff churned the stormy sea, boiling under the thunder and rain.

The left wrist had gone numb, hanging twisted in an unnatural angle beneath the seat. Yet Xing Cheng seemed completely unaware of any pain, he slowly turned his head, fixing his gaze on the passenger seat.

A bolt of lightning split the curtain of rain, thunder booming overhead. Several dark figures suddenly appeared in Xing Cheng’s rearview mirror. At some point, a group of motorcyclists had closed in, surrounding the Bugatti on all sides.

“Stop the car!”

He heard the man in the lead roar, “Stop!”

Dream on.

Xing Cheng narrowed his eyes and suddenly began to smile.

Those same beautiful eyes that had once made countless girls fall under their spell on the silver screen now brimmed with sudden, sharp killing intent.

He drew the pistol from his waist and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger toward the black-clad figure standing ahead.

But the expected gunshot never came.

Xing Cheng froze for a second, then looked down at the gun in his hand—

Only to find nothing there at all.

As if the pistol from moments ago had been nothing but a figment of his imagination.

The roar of the helicopters once again filled the night sky.

The sports car was burning through its last scraps of power as it hurtled forward. He had less than ten seconds left to think.

Enough.

He could lose, but he wouldn’t let anyone win.

Xing Cheng lightly set his right hand on the steering wheel, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back against the seat.

8, 7, 6…

This way, at least he could take that secret with him into the grave—it wasn’t such a bad ending.

5, 4, 3…

Xing Cheng stretched his body slightly, tightening his grip on the wheel.

2, 1—

Xing Cheng’s eyes snapped open, and he wrenched the steering wheel hard.

The sports car tilted sharply to one side at a terrifying angle, then completely flipped over. Under the force of the air currents and friction, the entire vehicle began to spin, shattering apart before it even hit the ground.

From the helicopter loudspeaker, the voice came out warped with fear: “Young Master Cheng!!!”

The killing intent in Xing Cheng’s eyes gradually faded, replaced by a long-lost calm.

At last, he had kept his promise.

He wasn’t sick. He also wasn’t the so-called young master in these people’s mouths…

He was…

…

Who was he?

Xing Cheng’s eyes suddenly widened in terror.

He struggled to twist his head, trying, amid the car’s destructive spin, to make out in the rearview mirror that face so utterly familiar, yet so strange.

Bang.

—

“Hello, hello—Is this Mr. Lu?”

After waiting in the heavy rain for nearly half an hour, the rideshare driver finally called Lu Danggui.

The noise on the other end was chaotic, filled with blaring car horns: “Mr. Lu, there seems to have been some accident near West River Avenue, and with the traffic control I can’t get through for now. How about you cancel the order?”

“…Alright, sorry to trouble you.”

Hanging up, Lu Danggui felt his eyelids twitch uncontrollably.

It was already past midnight. Since the road was blocked, he couldn’t get back to the apartment outside the city anyway. He might as well make do at the office for the night and head back in the morning.

Lu Danggui closed his phone, turned toward the lobby, and headed for the elevator to return to the psychiatry department.

The night wind, wrapped in a torrential downpour, lashed against the glass doors of the hospital building. Just as he reached the entrance, he suddenly noticed that, far beyond the curtain of rain, something seemed to be flickering.

Several points of light were moving swiftly through the night sky, faint and intermittent, like fireflies that could vanish at any moment into the heavy rain.

Lu Danggui stopped in his tracks, focusing his gaze on the pitch-black sky.

What on earth had happened, to warrant sending out helicopters in this kind of weather?

After buying a cup of instant noodles from a self-service machine on the basement level, Lu Danggui returned to the elevator and pressed the button for the psychiatry department, but the elevator stopped at the first-floor lobby first.

The doors slid open slowly to both sides, and several medical staff rushed in, all familiar faces from the ER.
They had no time to greet Dr. Lu; pushing a transfer stretcher, they hurried straight into the elevator.

“Sixth floor, to the surgical passage!” one emergency responder called out.

Lu Danggui, standing closest to the panel, saw that none of his colleagues had a free hand. Quickly, he grabbed the access card hanging on his chest and swiped it to send the elevator to the sixth floor.

The patient was a young man, wearing a respiratory mask, his eyes shut tight. His head rested back against the bed, a small gash on his forehead from the impact. Thin trails of crimson seeped down along his brow bone, soaking the white collar of his shirt.

His neck and left arm had been temporarily immobilized, likely a sprain at best, a fracture at worst.

The man seemed to have a sliver of consciousness left; upon hearing the surrounding noise, his eyelids trembled slightly, and his brows furrowed faintly.

Under the stark white lighting, Lu Danggui saw the mole at the corner of his eye.

A teardrop mole, submerged in sticky blood, carrying a beauty both cruel and suffocating.

The elevator stopped on the sixth floor. The medical staff pushed the stretcher out in haste.

At the end of the hallway, the red glow of the “In Emergency” sign flashed, as if quietly awaiting the arrival of death.

As the elevator doors slowly closed before him, Lu Danggui’s gaze lingered on the man’s palm—clenching, then loosening again.

In his mind, countless familiar fragments suddenly flashed by. An inexplicable sense of déjà vu spread rapidly through his brain.

Lu Danggui froze in place.

This man… he seemed to know him.