My mom is waiting for treatment, and you're summoning me to be a hero?

Lin Feng was the first to calm himself down. With trembling hands, he picked up the old cell phone again.

She murmured, "Son... how are you now? Why did you leave so suddenly last time? Were you in danger?"

Zhou Xiaomei, lying in her hospital bed, already had tears in her eyes.

Lin Mo looked at her parents, her heart touched.

But he knew the purpose of this medicine delivery.

So I used all my strength to type a line of small text on my phone.

On the screen, words appeared quickly, but they were not a response to the father's concern:

[Dad, Mom, I brought a doctor over to examine Mom.]

The handwriting has slight pauses.

[Dad, let's go out for a bit.]

Lin Feng was taken aback, but immediately understood what his son meant.

The examination requires a relatively private space, especially since this doctor from another world is likely to have extraordinary abilities, and it is not advisable for outsiders to be present to disturb him.

Without hesitation, he nodded vigorously to his wife, his voice hoarse: "Okay! Okay! Xiaomei, I'll be right outside the door. Call me immediately if you need anything."

After saying this, he suppressed his reluctance and worry, quickly left the ward, and gently closed the door.

Lin Mo's illusory figure turned towards Liu Yishou. Although he could not speak, his thoughts were clearly conveyed.

"Master Liu, please. Hurry, I can't hold on much longer."

Liu Yishou also forcibly pulled himself back from the initial shock.

He nodded solemnly and began to carefully "observe" Zhou Xiaomei's complexion, pupils, and breathing.

At the same time, he extended a semi-transparent hand, hovering above Zhou Xiaomei's body, trying to sense the flow of life energy within her body and the location of the lesions.

Seeing that Liu Yishou was now fully focused on using his mental perception to investigate his mother's condition.

Lin Mo took one last deep look at her mother, who was cooperating and keeping quiet on the hospital bed.

Immediately, his consciousness silently passed through the closed ward door and arrived in the corridor outside.

……

In the corridor, Lin Feng leaned against the wall, head down, his fingers unconsciously stroking his old phone case.

His figure appeared somewhat hunched and lonely under the pale light.

At the same time, Lin Mo also heard the discussions of other patients or their families in the corridor.

"Look, Lao Lin is at it again... staring blankly at the air while holding his phone, sigh."

"This family is really something... the wife is so sick, and the son is nowhere to be found..."

"Who can argue with that? The pressure must have been immense. But his son is the same... he ran off with all the money the family borrowed..."

"Shh, keep your voice down..."

……

These tiny, fragmented discussions were clearly audible to Lin Mo, whose mental focus was highly concentrated.

Each word was like an ice spike, piercing the depths of his consciousness.

He didn't care that these people misunderstood him.

Instead, images of the oppression and loneliness her father endured as he navigated these gazes and whispers every day surfaced in her mind.

The mother battled the illness inside the hospital room, while the father fought off rumors outside...

But Lin Feng seemed oblivious to the surrounding discussions, or perhaps he had simply gotten used to it.

Lin Mo reached out and touched Lin Feng's hand.

Lin Feng seemed to sense something and suddenly raised his head.

His gaze swept eagerly across the empty space beside him before finally settling back on the phone screen.

It was as if that cold machine was the only connection he had with his son.

He simply gripped his phone tightly, his voice trembling as he asked:

"Son...how have you been over there these past few days? Have you... gotten hurt? Are you eating enough?"

This simplest and most unassuming question pierced Lin Mo's defenses more effectively than any sword or blade.

He slaughtered and struggled in another world, allied with the Demon King, and regarded the strong as ants.

But at this moment, faced with his father's humble concern, he felt somewhat powerless.

He did not answer his father's question directly.

There's no point in talking about those things except to make my father even more restless and unable to eat or sleep.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself down completely.

Then type another line on your phone:

[Dad, was there something you didn't tell me about last time?]

Lin Feng froze when he saw the words that suddenly appeared.

The urgency and worry on his face receded like the tide, replaced by astonishment.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but no sound came out.

The noise in the corridor seemed to fade away, leaving only the silent conversation between father and son.

Lin Mo was waiting.

He recalled the hesitant look on his father's face when he last came back to deliver medicine.

It's probably related to my mother's illness.

Time passed in silence, each second feeling exceptionally long.

Finally, as if he had used up all his strength, Lin Feng exhaled.

His voice became lower and hoarser:

"Actually... after the doctor spoke with your mother and me last time... the date for the surgery had already been set."

He paused, each word uttered with immense difficulty.

"Just... a week later."

After saying that, he seemed to have unloaded a huge burden, or as if his spine had been removed.

A week later?!

Lin Mo felt a tightness in his heart.

Such an important matter! My father actually...kept it from me?!

Just then, Lin Feng's voice rang out again, sounding forced.

He kept his head down, staring at his phone, as if talking to himself to comfort himself, or perhaps trying to convince his unseen son:

"I just... I just didn't want you to worry. What can you do even if you find out..."

He looked up, trying to force a smile, but it looked worse than crying, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Son, don't overthink it. Dad's here. I'll keep an eye on your mom. Everything'll be fine... really."

His voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible:

"You over there... take good care of yourself, stay safe and sound, that's more important than anything... really, more important than anything..."

His final words were less a way of comforting his son and more a way of comforting himself.

At this moment, all of Lin Mo's emotions were washed away by her father's humble yet feigned strength.

He suddenly understood why his father had kept it a secret.

That was the only thing an ordinary man could do in the face of the immense tragedy of his wife being critically ill and his son going missing.

I can't put any more pressure on my son.

Lin Mo's consciousness trembled as he realized this.

Although it has no physical form, one can still feel a sense of suffocation.

He once again gathered his remaining mental energy and manipulated the cursor on the phone screen.

One word at a time, a promise was made.

Every word seemed to have been written with all his might, carrying the weight of his entire soul:

I will definitely come back, I promise.

This line of text, though without punctuation, is more resolute than any vow.

Lin Feng's gaze was fixed on that line of small print.

He stared at it for a very long time.

Then, this man, who had endured countless pressures and strange looks, finally could no longer hold back.

He didn't make a sound, but his shoulders began to heave violently and uncontrollably.

Large tears fell onto the phone screen.

He hunched over and covered his mouth tightly with his hand.

He suppressed the sobs churning in his throat.

Seeing this, the surrounding patients and their families moved even further away; there might have been some sympathy in their eyes, but most of them avoided the situation altogether.

Lin Mo's consciousness could only quietly stay by his weeping father's side.