Chapter 55
Doctor Zhu led their group of nine to the three-story building and Lin Yi took advantage of this moment to tell Qin Zhou what he had just seen.
There were nine patients, three women and six men — the same number and gender composition as their group.
Sure enough, when Qin Zhou heard this, his expression turned a little somber. His eyelids half drooped in thought.
The two buildings are very close to each other and it took them less than 5 minutes to get from the building where the interview was conducted to the patients’ three storey building.
Doctor Zhu first took them to the first floor; Room 101.
Dean Zhu gently knocked on the door: “Mr. 101, are you ready? Can I come in?”
He directly used the room numbers to refer to the patients staying within.
After Doctor Zhu said this, the expressions on their faces turned somber. They were all afraid of the patients here.
The person in Room 101 said, “Come in.”
Doctor Zhu pushed down the door handle. The door wasn’t locked, neither from outside nor from inside.
Once the door was open, the first thing that attracted the attention of the participants was the smell of tea. When Doctor Zhu opened the door completely, they saw Patient 101 sitting behind a coffee table, holding a cup of tea in his hands.
He had on a look of contentment.
Lin Yi looked at Patient 101. He seemed like a hale and hearty old man of about 70 years old.
Dean Zhu said to Patient 101, “Mr. 101, these are our new nursing aides. See if there is anyone you like.”
Patient 101 raised his eyes to look at the group. Lin Yi found that Patient 101’s eyes didn’t fall on any of the three girls; instead he looked back and forth between the six boys.
Then he pointed to Zheng Anjian.
Zheng Anjian’s face turned pale. He kept backing away and when he seemed about to make a run for it, Qin Zhou gave him a cold look and stepped forward to block the door.
The nine participants corresponded to the nine patients. All nine of them were going to eventually be selected. If Zheng Anjian ran away, there would be one patient without an aide.
Qin Zhou couldn’t even think about the consequences of such a situation and he directly prevented such a thing from happening.
This was actually a relatively hate-inducing move and Lin Yi looked admiringly at Qin Zhou.
A dark tide was raging on the side of the participants and the way many of the students looked at Qin Zhou changed. Originally they thought that Qin Zhou’s presence would guarantee their survival but Qin Zhou didn’t seem to care about them.
Qin Zhou didn’t care about what the participants thought of him. He looked at Zheng Anjian coldly. “Go back.”
On one side was the patient, a complete mystery and on the other side was the unkind Qin Zhou. While Zheng Anjian was at a loss as to what to do, Doctor Zhu waved to Zheng Anjian. “Xiao Zheng, come here.”
Zheng Anjian gulped. He had no choice but to, cowering, step forward.
Once Zheng Anjian stepped forward, Patient 101 focused on Zheng Anjian. He didn’t hide his scrutiny and looked at Zheng Anjian several times from head to foot. He finally looked away, looking satisfied and continued to drink his tea.
Doctor Zhu asked happily, “So, Mr. 101, are you sure you want Xiao Zheng? I need to remind you that once you’ve decided you can no longer change aides.”
“I’m sure, I’m sure.” Patient 101 spoke slowly. It seemed that he was very satisfied with Zheng Anjian and was even pouring a cup of tea for him, “Xiao Zheng, have a taste.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Zheng Anjian looked back at Lin Yi, then at his girlfriend. Shi Xuan had her mouth covered with her hands as she looked at him in horror.
Zheng Anjian gulped again. Hesitantly, he stepped forward and carefully picked up the tea handed to him by Patient 101. Carefully and hesitantly, he raised the teacup to his mouth, closed his eyes and was about to drink it all in one go when Shi Xuan suddenly let out a worried yell, “Anjian!”
Bam–
The teacup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Zheng Anjian was so frightened that he took several steps back.
Doctor Zhu’s face completely sank now. Lin Yi could vaguely feel that Zheng Anjian was a bit in danger.
When Shi Xuan also saw Doctor Zhu’s face, she was almost speechless in fright. Qin Zhou looked at Shi Xuan, a complicated look in his eyes. Shi Xuan couldn’t understand Qin Zhou expression, but she could feel that Qin Zhou bore no good intentions. She shook her head and muttered, “I…I just want Anjian to b-be careful.”
Doctor Zhu first apologized to Patient 101 on behalf of Zheng Anjian. He then squatted down and picked up the fragments of the teacup from off the ground, letting out a regretful sigh.
After cleaning up the broken pieces, Doctor Zhu did nothing to Zheng Anjian, simply patting Anjian on the shoulder: “Xiao Zheng, go and mop up the tea. Don’t let Mr. 101 slip. There’s cleaning tools behind the door of the adjoining bathroom.”
After Zheng Anjian realized that he had done something wrong, he immediately went to find the cleaning tools, trying to make up for his mistake.
Doctor Zhu glanced outside the window, “It’s getting late, we won’t disturb your rest.”
Mr. 101 said, “Go on your way, Doctor Zhu.”
Doctor Zhu looked at the remaining eight participants, “Everyone, please follow me.”
There was still a short distance from Ward 101 to Ward 102, Lin Yi was about to ask something when Qin Zhou asked Doctor Zhu first, “Was the broken teacup expensive?”
Lin Yi fell silent. It seemed that Qin Zhou had also noticed the regret on Doctor Zhu’s face.
But even Lin Yi could tell that Zheng Anjian’s broken teacup was very ordinary, like a rough clay bowl.
Doctor Zhu said as he walked: “It’s not very expensive, it’s just an imitation of some Tang Dynasty pottery. Its significance though is more important than the price.”
“A wayu.” Lin Yi repeated, “Is it an imitation of the cup used by ‘Emperor Hui of Jin to drink rough tea’?”
Doctor Zhu stopped in his tracks and glanced at Lin Yi, “Oh, so you’re familiar with this story?”
“Well, the story behind it has been recorded.” Lin Yi said.
Seeing that other people were somewhat puzzled, Lin Yi said, “Wayu is a kind of clay bowl. Emperor Hui of Jin was installed as a figurehead by Sima Yue. He was emperor only in name. One night, Emperor Hui of Jin’s close ministers secretly made him a bowl of tea. It was served in a wayu but Emperor Hui of Jin drank it very happily. This story mainly reflects the helplessness of a lonely minister who has no way to serve his emperor, able only offer rough tea in a crude bowl to quench the emperor’s thirst.”
Doctor Zhu sneered, “What lonely ministers? That tea was poisoned. Was this point recorded as well?”
Lin Yi shook his head: “No.”
Doctor Zhu said, “Many historical stories are fabricated by later generations. Having never seen it with their own eyes, how could they write the facts? Emperor Hui of Jin was imprisoned by Sima Yue. How could Emperor Jin Hui’s close officials know that Emperor Jin was thirsty and would want a drink? How were they able to enter the palace without hindrance? And why would they even have a bowl of tea with them?”
Though Lin Yu wanted to add something more, Doctor Zhu was already standing in front of Room 102. He interrupted Lin Yi and said, “If we get the chance, let’s discuss history again. Now we need to see the second patient.”
Lin Yi put away what he wanted to say.
There was an old lady in Room 102 who looked to be about the same age as Patient 101. She chose Shi Xuan to be her aide. With Zheng Anjian as precedent, it seemed that being chosen wasn’t a fatal matter; although Shi Xuan was afraid, she did not resist.
When Patient 102 chose Shi Xuan, Lin Yi raised his head and glanced at Qin Zhou. Qin Zhou nodded slightly at him, affirming Lin Yi’s conjecture.
Lin Yi was chosen by Patient 203, a man who had a large area of his face burned. He had lost sight in one eye and his eye socket was covered with horrible burn scars.
He was the fourth nursing aide selected and he would need to rely on Qin Zhou to know the rest of the situation.
When Doctor Zhu left with the remaining five people, Qin Zhou quickly said in Lin Yi’s ear, “Little genius, be careful.”
Although this sentence was a bit PTSD-inducing for Lin Yi, he still nodded stiffly.
After the others left, Lin Yi turned his head and immediately met Patient 203’s gaze. Patient 203’s remaining eye was also cloudy, which reminded Lin Yi of the old housekeeper in the 7-7 rule world. But when Patient 203 looked at him, Lin Yi didn’t feel that he was being watched rather Lin Yi felt like he was a piece of fresh meat on the chopping board.
“My face is pretty scary, isn’t it?” Patient 203 saw Lin Yi’s awkward expression so he stopped staring at Lin Yi and walked towards the hospital bed, opening the bedside table and taking something out.
It was a mask. He put the mask on his face and then asked Lin Yi, “Is this better?”
The mask was custom made and looked expensive.
“It’s okay, I’m not afraid.” Lin Yi quickly shook his head and said, “I will always take care of you. You can’t be wearing a mask all the time, it won’t be comfortable.”
Patient 203 froze for a moment, then took off his mask. “Do you know why I chose you among so many nursing aides?”
Lin Yi shook his head to express that he didn’t know.
Patient 203 put the mask back into the drawer of the bedside table closed the drawer. “Because I like your appearance very much. Your eyes are very bright and beautiful, as if you can fit the whole world into your eyes. Oh and your skin. I had great skin before too. I wouldn’t tan no matter what.”
Lin Yi squeezed the palm of his hand. A thought flashed through his mind.
Patient 203 didn’t notice Lin Yi’s little move and said as though talking to himself. “It seems that I hadn’t chosen wrong. I am very satisfied with my choice and we’ll get along quite well in the future.”
Lin Yi didn’t know what to answer, so he simply smiled.
Patient 203 looked at Lin Yi’s smile and was momentarily dazed. After a while, Patient 203 reluctantly looked away. He pointed to a small partitioned off area and said, “There’s a small room for nurses. Go and see if it’s got all you need. If there’s anything else you need, you can tell me and I’ll ask Doctor Zhu to prepare it for you.”
After saying so, Patient 203 paused, “But it’s getting dark and this is when Doctor Zhu is busiest. You’ll have to make do until the morning.”
Lin Yi nodded and Patient 203 said, “Then hurry up and rest. Early to bed and early to rise is good for the skin.”
After speaking, he smiled at Lin Yi, pulling at the swath of burn scar on his face. Even if his tone was friendly, it was difficult to dispel the strangeness brought about by his face.
Lin Yi said, “Okay.”
Patient 203 lay down on the hospital bed after washing up in the bathroom.
Lin Yi watched quietly in his cubicle. He waited for the sound of even breathing from the side of the partition before he sat down on his own small bed.
Before entering the 16-8 rule world, Lin Yi managed to have a good rest, so he was no longer worried that his thinking would let ‘It’ come out. He began to sort out the thoughts in his mind.
The electrified iron fence with the warning signs facing in all point towards the patients in the sanatorium most likely being locked up. Only “trapped” can correspond to “escape”. Otherwise, the iron fence set up halfway up the mountain would be meaningless. It’s only purpose would be to prevent people in the sanatorium home from running out.
But Doctor Zhu’s attitude towards patients could be regarded as respectful. Even the doors to their rooms weren’t locked. During the interview, Doctor Zhu also said that the nursing aides should accompany the patients to walk around and look at the scenery. The sanatorium was only so big and the landscaping wasn’t up to standard. The only place they could take a walk around at is the back mountain and the only scenery they could admire were the sceneries of wild nature.
In other words, Doctor Zhu wasn’t restricting the patients’ movement at all. And the patient had no intention to leave. Otherwise, With Doctor Zhu being the only one in the entire sanatorium, so long as the nine patients worked together, escape wouldn’t be difficult.
Lin Yi thought back to Patient 203. In addition to the burns on his face, Lin Yi noticed that his hands were also burnt. The extreme necrosis was enough to send one’s heart beating in agitation and one’s scalp going numb.
Lin Yi’s guess was that Patient 203 had suffered from severe burns; possibly fourth degree burns.
A fourth degree burn patient has possibly lost a large area of skin. The necrotic skin tissue could have also produced a large amount of toxins, which could have caused serious damage to important organs such as the heart, liver, kidney, and lungs. During the follow-up recovery treatment, scab removal and skin grafting operations would be required. ①
Lin Yi could tell from the conversation with Patient 203 that Patient 203 envied Lin Yi, who had intact skin. Only when one had need did one have envy but Patient 203 hadn’t gone to regular hospital to get scab removal surgery or skin grafting; instead, he went to this sanatorium. This was a matter for thought.
It was impossible that Patient 203 didn’t have the money for surgery. Lin Yi felts that the mask itself was enough for Patient 203 to pay for at least ten surgeries.
If you were disgusted by your own face, would you willingly show it to others? Lin Yi also felt that it was impossible,. If he didn’t want to show it to others, Patient 203 wouldn’t have chosen a nursing aide first. He would have simply settled for whoever wasn’t selected by the other patient in order to avoid being seen by the other nursing aides.
This, combined with Doctor Zhu apparent not restricting the patients’ movements, Lin Yi had his answer.
It wasn’t difficult to speculate why patients would voluntarily stay in a sanatorium. Because this sanatorium could treat their diseases.
It is common sense stay int he hospital when you’re sick and leave when you’re well.
So, this sanatorium should be able to heal Patient 203’s burned skin and heal it even better than several rounds of scab removals and skin grafting. This was the only explanation why Patient 203, who was obviously rich, gave up conventional treatment to come to this sanatorium.
Thinking of this, Lin Yi was silent for a while. He then looked down at the skin of his arm.
It seemed he was on to something.
But these having these conjectures were all meaningless now that it’s gotten dark. Lin Yi wouldn’t be able to find anything about the 16-8 Rule World Rules of Death from these guesses.
He was able to at least guess that how the participants who violate the Rules of Death would die, would most likely be as medicine to treat these patients.
Anyway, Lin Yi couldn’t sleep so his plan was to go through what he had seen today. No one could guarantee whether the Rule of Death on the first night would come for him. It was better to be prepared.
Lin Yi started recalling when they inspected the iron fence. As soon as he raised his head, he smelled an earthy smell that was hard to ignore.
It seemed to be coming in from outside the window. He then heard a rustling sound in the room beyond the partition. Lin Yi thought for a while and called softly, “Mr. 203, are you up? Do you need me to help you?”
Patient 203 didn’t answer so Lin Yi sat up from his bed.
But he didn’t make any movement. Lin Yi quieted his steps and walked out of the cubicle. The rustling sound was indeed made by Patient 203. He had gotten up from the hospital bed and walked to the window, staring out with his only remaining eye.
Obviously, the skin on Patient 203’s face had gone necrotic but Lin Yi seemed to still be able to see his expression at this time — impatient and envious.
Only then did Lin Yi make a noise, deliberately saying, “It’s windy outside, Mr. 203. Do you need me to close the window?”
There was no window in his cubicle and Lin Yi, without knowing the Rules of Death, needed a reasonable excuse to go to the window and look out.
Lin Yi didn’t dare to actually close the window so he only pretended to close it, taking the chance to look out.
What he saw, almost made Lin Yi almost spit out the milk tea Qin Zhou had treated him to.
Ahem! I had a few thoughts about what could happen, based on the following: 203 wants Lin Yi’s skin. The students have something the patients want, that’s how they’re chosen, that’s why it took so long to start the rule world officially.
Next is a theory on how:
Directly kill the person and somehow become them, which… like, in Lin Yi’s case, kill him, peel off his skin and put it on?
Mind invasion. Make an error, the mind will be polluted by the patients, and it ends with the patient taking over the student’s body and the patient’s body dying.
Transfer. Transfer the old age to the young person and get their youth, transfer the burns to the person with good skin and get their skin…
That’s what I thought of, but as I know this story, it’s probably none of that.
Also the electrified fence might be there to prevent the students from running as they’re being hunted down by the patients or whatever is outside (should it be a “someone/something” and not a “something happening”) for their “desirable” qualities.
Thanks for the chapter!
The patients taking over the bodies of the victims when they break a rule is my best guess too. How? Who knows, these rule worlds run on weird logic so anything’s possible.
Sorry, but this is fascinating. My mind went the opposite direction. After they break the rule, the doctor will transfer patients brains(mind) to the chosen nursed body
The first thing that comes to my mind right now for what’s outside the window is a naked Qin Zhou.
Don’t ask how my mind works please.
I am going to ask.
How does your mind function?
🤔🤔
Me too…I also wanna know🤔
The skin that doesn’t tan easily is really enviable.. sigh ~
Thank you for the update ❤️💯