Divine Level Witch Doctor

In the backstage rest area, Yang Jing found Zhang Chao and said, ”Your magic show is up next. Hurry and get ready to go on stage. Don’t just sit here spacing out.”

”O-Okay...” Zhang Chao replied, his voice trembling and his face pale.

Yang Jing noticed this and asked with concern, ”What’s wrong? Are you nervous?”

Zhang Chao nodded and swayed to his feet. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt his heart start to beat extremely fast and irregularly. At the same time, his breathing became rapid and shallow, and he couldn’t draw in enough air.

His vision went black and his body went limp. Zhang Chao collapsed.

The sudden turn of events startled the students in the rest area. Some crowded around to see what was happening, while others shouted for someone to get a teacher.

Zhao Yuan was also in the rest area. Seeing Zhang Chao suddenly collapse, he hurried over, pushing through the crowd while yelling, ”Everyone, make way! Don’t crowd around him.”

Seeing Zhao Yuan, the students seemed to have found their pillar of support. They breathed a collective sigh of relief and began to say:

”It’s okay, it’s okay, Zhao Yuan is here!”

”With Zhao here, there’s definitely not going to be a problem!”

”Zhao’s medical skills were enough to take down the entire Jinling Zhao Family. How could he not be able to treat a student who suddenly fell ill?”

The students surrounding Zhang Chao obediently dispersed.

Zhao Yuan rushed to his side. A single glance was all it took for him to diagnose Zhang Chao’s condition as cardiogenic shock brought on by extreme anxiety.

Because the rest area was crowded and all eyes were on him, Zhao Yuan couldn’t very well take out his Golden Needle to perform acupuncture on Zhang Chao. He could only use the Acupressure Method to treat him.

The Acupressure Method mentioned here is a technique in Traditional Chinese Medicine massage, not the mythical martial arts skill from wuxia novels that can immobilize a person with a single touch.

Zhao Yuan placed one hand on Zhang Chao’s Renzhong Acupoint and the other on his Neiguan Acupoint, simultaneously applying pressure and rubbing the points. After a moment of this, Zhang Chao slowly opened his eyes.

”How are you feeling?” Zhao Yuan asked.

Zhang Chao opened his mouth and replied, ”Much better.”

Meanwhile, a large choir performance on the main stage had just concluded. The two hosts, unaware of the incident in the rest area, walked on stage to announce the next act.

The female host said with a beaming smile, ”That choir performance was truly magnificent, showcasing the masculine spirit of our school’s Acupuncture and Tuina Massage Department. And our next act is filled with mystery and magic!”

The male host immediately picked up the thread, ”Next, please enjoy a magic performance by Zhang Chao from Class 3 of the Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine program!”

In the back rows, the students of the visiting singers and dancers started their snarky commentary again.

”Finally, something that isn’t singing or dancing. Each of those acts was worse than the last. For us, it was pure torture!”

”Don’t get your hopes up. If their singing and dancing are that bad, how good can their magic possibly be?”

”Just watch it like it’s a comedy. Won’t it be fun to see where he messes up and exposes the trick?”

As they spoke, their gazes fell on a young man to their left. One of them said with a smile, ”Han Ping, I remember you didn’t just study dance; you also studied magic under a master, right? How about you debunk the tricks for us later?”

”No problem,” Han Ping nodded. ”Even though the magic circle has a rule against exposing tricks, I doubt anyone at West China Medical University can perform any real magic. At best, it’ll be some played-out, beginner-level stuff. Debunking that doesn’t matter!”

Someone joked, ”Don’t tell us you won’t be able to figure it out!”

Han Ping was instantly annoyed. He shot the person a glare and huffed, ”Are you kidding me? My main focus is dance, but I also studied magic under a famous master and have been practicing diligently! Forget some school’s New Year’s gala; I could debunk the magic tricks on the national Spring Festival Gala!”

As they were chatting, they suddenly realized something was wrong.

The two hosts had announced the act a while ago, but no one had come on stage to perform the magic show.

With their extensive stage experience, they immediately understood what must have happened.

”Looks like there’s been an incident backstage.”

”Amateurs will be amateurs. An incident happens backstage, and they don’t even know how to cover for it. Couldn’t they just throw on any random act? They’re just letting the stage go cold!”

These people shook their heads, feeling more and more that this New Year’s gala was not worth watching.

After another moment, the students of West Hua Medical University also sensed that something was amiss and began to murmur among themselves.

In the front row, Ma Guotao’s face was grim. He instructed a vice-principal beside him, ”Hurry backstage and see what’s going on.”

The vice-principal rushed to the rest area and demanded, ”What happened? Where is Zhang Chao? Why isn’t he on stage performing?”

Someone explained, ”Zhang Chao went into shock from extreme nervousness just now. Zhao Yuan just revived him.”

”What?” The vice-principal was stunned. He hadn’t expected a situation like this to occur. He first showed concern for Zhang Chao’s condition, then asked, ”How is he? Can you still go on stage?”

”I’m afraid he can’t go on,” Zhao Yuan said. ”His heartbeat is still irregular. If he goes on stage now, the stress and stimulation could cause another incident right on stage!”

The vice-principal considered this and realized it was true. If Zhang Chao forced himself to go on stage and something really happened, neither he nor the university could bear that responsibility.

The vice-principal thought for a moment and said, ”We’ll just have to skip this act...”

Before he could finish, someone backstage muttered, ”If we skip this act, won’t those students from the other schools laugh their heads off at us?”

Even though they were all backstage, they had heard from their classmates via their phones about how the students of the visiting musicians and dancers were mocking the performances. This was also the reason for Zhang Chao’s excessive nervousness.

The vice-principal frowned, and everyone else began to whisper among themselves.

”Then what do we do? Find someone to take his place?”

”How? This is a magic show! It’s not something just anyone can do!”

Zhang Chao was deeply ashamed. He forced himself to stand, wanting to go on stage and perform.

”You just rest,” Zhao Yuan said, pushing him back down into his seat. ”I’ll perform your act for you!”

’Zhao Yuan didn’t know any magic, but that didn’t matter. He had the Storage Ring.’

’Magic is just making things appear and disappear, right?’

’With the Storage Ring, how could he fail? Besides, in addition to the Storage Ring, he also had the Thought Borrowing Technique. He could access all sorts of skills left behind by Wu Peng through the miscellaneous knowledge in the Information Leaf!’

’So you look down on West Hua Medical University’s performances, huh?’

’You like to heckle, do you?’

’You like to boo?’

’You like to mock and ridicule us?’

’Well today, I’m going to show you something truly spectacular!’

’Open your damn eyes and get ready to scream!’