# Chapter 1: Bronze Ring and Night in the Emergency Department
**Time: 2:17 am | Location: Jiangcheng First People's Hospital, Emergency Department**
The smell of disinfectant was like a thick, lingering film that clung to Lu Fan's nasal cavity. Mixed with the faint smell of blood and excrement, it formed the unique smell of the emergency department of this tertiary hospital late at night. The light in the corridor was pale, reflecting the water stains that had been hastily dragged but not dried on the tiles, reflecting tired and distorted shadows. The monotonous "beep" sound of the ECG monitor is the eternal background sound here, occasionally punctured by a suppressed groan or the uncontrollable cry of a family member.
Lu Fan leaned against the cold metal table of the nurse's station. The cuffs of his white coat were stained with light yellow medicine from someone unknown. He had been on duty for more than thirty hours continuously. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and his temples felt like two small hammers were beating alternately. In the pocket, the rusty bronze ring that he had worn since childhood was pressed against the skin of his thigh, emitting a subtle and continuous warmth.
This feeling started three days ago when my father Lu Mingyuan said hurriedly on the phone, "Put your things away, don't ask, wait for news from me." Then he lost contact completely. The ring is an old thing that has been passed down to the Lu family for countless generations. It is said that it belongs to the old man from the "Jishitang" of his ancestors. Apart from the strange material, it has never been different. Until now.
"Lu Fan! Lu Fan! Where did he die?!"
A rough roar came like a whip. Liu Jingui, deputy director of the emergency department, had a beer belly and his shiny forehead looked like a moving light bulb under the light.
