I’m Someone Else

Thomas reached out and squished Chloe’s cheek to open her mouth. Then, he let the bright red blood trickle from his slashed
wrist into her mouth.
On the other hand, Quincy was dumbstruck by the sight and gaped in horror. “Blood of the Blazing Sun!” That phrase consumed
his entire train of thought because he had not anticipated Thomas having that blood type.
It was a legendary blood type only known from the tattered remains of ancient books. Apparently, the blood has mystical
properties, and one drop would be enough to bring the patient back to life as long as they were still alive. All the wealth in the
world couldn’t buy even a single drop of that blood.
He always dismissed the story as another fabricated legend, but on this day, he witnessed the miraculous healing power of the
Blood of the Blazing Sun firsthand.
Meanwhile, Thomas had no idea how to treat Chloe’s illness. If he had known sooner, he could have devised a recipe to aid in
her recovery. Unfortunately, he learned of it too late, and she was already clinging to life too weakly to benefit from anything he
could offer her. He knew when death was imminent, only his blood could make a difference.
One of his greatest secrets was Blood of the Blazing Sun. The crazy old man who raised him told him that his blood was unique
as it had the power to heal and save lives, but warned him that if word got out, he would be killed.
At this point, Thomas was too distraught to care; he might as well be killed now, as Chloe’s life was more important than his own.
Since he had been unaware of Zachary’s illness, he had been plagued by guilt. He had often thought that the Hahns might have
avoided tragedy if he had been more thoughtful and spared Zachary’s life in the event of mission failure. Still, he had no choice
because he wanted to give Zachary a painless death; a bullet was the best way to do so.
As the minutes passed, he felt weaker and paler as he fed her blood without knowing how much he had given her.
Cough! Cough! She started coughing violently, which racked her entire body, signaling she was finally reacting to the blood.
When Thomas noticed this, he quickly pulled his hand away to clean and dress his wound because his blood was a valuable
commodity. If Chloe had remained unresponsive, he would have died from blood loss before she could wake up. Following that,
dark spots appeared in his vision as he was overcome by nausea. Therefore, he closed his eyes and stood still.
In the meantime, Quincy did not dare disturb him because he knew Thomas was struggling to overcome the dizziness brought
on by blood loss.

Two minutes later, Thomas finally opened his eyes and said, “Hand me your needles.”
“Okay.” Quincy did not hesitate before pulling out his acupuncture needles and handing them to him.
Swish! Swoosh! Thomas’ movements were lightning-fast, and Chloe’s entire body was pierced with needles in the blink of an
eye.
Bleurgh! As soon as she opened her mouth, she vomited a mouthful of blackened blood.
Meanwhile, Quincy stared at the scene before him, dumbfounded and utterly in awe of Thomas’ godlike skills. Previously, he had
only known Thomas was good because of what his son had said, but today he realized just how great Thomas truly was. He
noticed not only that Thomas had such blood but also that the man had acted so quickly and with such precision that he knew
Thomas’ abilities were far superior to his.
Crash! Once Thomas was done, his legs gave out under the weight of his body, and he fell to the ground.
“Thomas!” Quincy hurried forward and helped him over to a chair. “Are you okay?” He had never seen Thomas look so frail
before, and he knew Thomas didn’t appear this bad even when he crawled back to life after the explosion.
Thomas shook his head in response and uttered, “Please, Dr. Hofstead. Could you help me prepare something? I’ll give you the
recipe now.”
“Of course.” After jotting down the recipe with a pen and a piece of paper, Quincy hastily strode out of the operating theater.
However, Thomas remained seated on the chair and lit a cigarette. As he took a puff, he felt a deep appreciation for his unique
body, without which he surely would have died after losing so much blood. He was also grateful for Quincy’s efforts in sealing off
Chloe’s major acupuncture points before she passed away. He could have bled himself dry before she was even saved if she
hadn’t had those few moments of life left in her. It was a debt he would never forget, so he decided to teach Quincy something
exceptional in exchange. Moreover, he was not a fool, and he knew Quincy was only being friendly because he wanted to learn
something from him, so he might as well grant Quincy his wish.
After snuffing out and discarding the cigarette, he checked Chloe’s pulse and noticed it was calm and steady. He was confident
she would recover after drinking his concoction.
A few minutes later, Quincy returned with a bowl. Then, Thomas slowly spooned the concoction from the bowl to her.

In the meantime, she was assigned to a VIP ward under the direction of Quincy. At that moment, Adam’s eyes welled up with
tears as Quincy explained that his daughter would be dead by now if it weren’t for Thomas.
“Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!” Adam even moved to kneel before Thomas.
Thomas was startled by the old man’s actions and said, “Please! It’s fine.” Then, he grabbed Adam’s hands and continued, “You
might not recognize me, but Zachary and I were brothers in arms. Since Chloe is like a sister to me, it’s my responsibility to save
her.”
“You’re... Zachary’s friend?” Adam asked.
Thomas had once visited Adam, but he was so frail at the time that he was constantly asleep. As such, this was technically their
first meeting.
After that, he nodded to Adam before leading Quincy to a secluded corner of the hospital.
“I have something for you, Dr. Hofstead. Before I do so, I ask that you kneel and swear on your life that you would not let anyone
know about this without my permission,” Thomas stated with a serious look.
“Kneel?” Quincy was shocked by what he had just heard. I am the hospital’s director, the best of the best in Irieson. Does he
believe I am the type of man who will kneel simply because I am asked to?
Thomas silently stares back at Quincy. What I am about to hand over to him is too crucial to bypass this step. The person who
knows I have the Blood of the Blazing Sun will be killed as soon as the word gets out.
After two minutes of deliberation, Quincy finally got on his knees. “I, Quincy Hofstead, solemnly swear that without the
permission of Thomas Clifford, I will never tell anyone about what he is about to hand to me. Otherwise, may the gods strike me
down where I stand.”
With a nod of satisfaction, Thomas helped Quincy to his feet before pulling a rather old book from his pocket. The pages of the
book were yellowed from the passage of time. “This is ‘The Imperial Acupuncture,’ a compilation of the great Shian’s decades of
experience. It is now yours. As for how much you can learn from it, that is up to you.”