Chapter 57
The cubicle prepared for the nursing aide was actually supposed to be a storage room for cleaning tools. The cubicle was right next to the bathroom. In order to make it easier for patients, it hadn’t been installed with a door.
Additionally, the lights in the cubicle were sound activated and they were very sensitive, reacting even at the slightest sound. This was also for the convenience of the patient; in case the patient were to fall on the way to the bathroom.
The pen tip landed on the paper once again and Lin Yi continued to write.
Seeing the shadow against the small table shorten and become thicker, Lin Yi knew that Patient 203 was probably standing immediately behind him.
He could now even hear Patient 203’s breathing. He then turned his head. He pretended to startled at first before reacting, “Mr. 203, you…you haven’t gone to sleep yet? Or did you wake up?”
Lin Yi quickly closed the medical record book and then jumped off the narrow bed, as if to help Patient 203 to the bathroom.
Patient 203 waved his hand and said, “I just saw that the light in your cubicle was still on so I came over to have a look. Did I scare you?”
Lin Yi gave no answer, simply smiling awkwardly but politely at Patient 203.
Patient 203 stared at Lin Yi for a while, then his eyes fell once again on his medical record book. The conversation suddenly changed, “Xiao Lin, what were you writing this late?”
“Nothing in particular.” Lin Yi said shyly, “Just a diary.”
He had previously determined that Patient 203 had already gone to sleep. So Patient 203 waking up now must be because he had flushed that note down the toilet.
Lin Yi estimated the time. It looked like three or four minutes had passed since he threw that note into the toilet. Patient 203 hadn’t been standing behind him for very long and there was a high probability that he hadn’t actually seen what Lin Yi had been writing.
So Lin Yi simply said that he was writing a diary. A diary is a very personal thing. Even if he closed the medical record book in front of Patient 203, it was a normal reaction.
He was betting on Patient 203 saying nothing about wanting to read it.
Sure enough, Patient 203 just stared at the medical record book for a few more moments, his one cloudy eye faintly flickering with excitement and curiosity. But in the end, he looked away and simply said, “Keeping a diary is a good habit to have.”
Lin Yi gave an honest-looking smile, “Thank you.”
Patient 203 added, “Head right to bed early after you finish writing. Staying up late isn’t good for the skin.”
Lin Yi nodded.
Patient 203 went back to his part of the room. Lin Yi didn’t hear him get into bed, instead that fishy smell entered his nose. This smell was a bit different from the earthy smell last night. This smell carried with it the tang of seawater.
Lin Yi put down the medical record book and walked out of his cubicle.
Patient 203 was standing by the window again, looking out with envious and impatient eyes. Lin Yi asked, sounding concerned, “Mr. 203, are you unable to sleep? Is there something the matter?”
While he talked, Lin Yi looked out the window.
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.
He had gotten there a little late and all he saw was Doctor Zhu walking into their three-story building. But this time, Lin Yi was looking purposefully and he immediately zeroed in on what Doctor Zhu was holding.
Pa kjr j agjcrqjgfca ybz jujlc yea lcrafjv bo vjwq rbli jcv fjgatkbgwr, la kjr j ildelv klat yief iluta. Ktf yief iluta glqqifv yjmx jcv obgat lc atf ildelv, jr lo la kfgf jilnf.
Olc Tl klatvgfk tlr ujhf joafg atlr delmx ibbx. Lf abiv Ujalfca 203 ab gfra fjgis jcv atfc gfaegcfv ab tlr meylmif.
After he heard the sound of Patient 203 returning to bed, Lin Yi took out the medical record book and continued writing.
Earthworms could have many therapeutic uses but the strange thing was none of those were of any use to Patient 101’s symptoms. Lin Yi now suspected that the earthworms were a prop for changing bodies.
Tonight, Doctor Zhu took another box, this time containing comb jellies.
One thing earthworms and comb jellies have in common is the ability to regenerate.
Doctor Zhu must be using the earthworms and the comb jellies to complete the body transfer between patients and nursing aides. Senior, I feel that we have to get close to Zheng Anjian and we have to find Patient 101’s body.
Senior, do you think it would be useful to sneak out while the patient is asleep? (I’m just thinking about it, I haven’t done it yet)
Regarding who the 16-8 Monster has chosen to possess, I have the same idea as Senior. But I feel like it’s too simple.
Senior, you be careful too.
After he finishing writing, Lin Yi tore off the note, folded it into a small cube and put it in his pocket.
He then set aside the medical record book and lay on the bed. He hadn’t slept at all last night and today, he’d gone on a hike with Patient 203. Lin Yi felt quite tired. He had to rest well tonight. If Qin Zhou agreed with what he planned, he would look for opportunities to act.
Lying on the bed, Lin Yi closed his eyes.
Because Patient 203 was still in the room, Lin Yi could only play the sounds recorded in the MP4 in his mind. Given the strained surroundings, it was still difficult for Lin Yi to fall asleep, thoughts kept intruding into his mind.
They’ve been in the 16-8 Rule World for more than 24 hours. Although the nine participants hadn’t introduced themselves, Lin Yi matched them up one by one according to the introduction on Qin Zhou’s note.
Of the nine participants, he and Qin Zhou were the first to enter the 16-8 Rule World.
Followed by Shi Xuan and Zheng Anjian. Zheng Anjian’s patient was Old Man 101 and Shi Xuan’s patient was Old Lady 102.
The fifth person to get drawn in was Zhang Yunyan. His patient was Patient 103 who has a heart problem.
The sixth person was the second girl, Jiang Man, who was in charge of Patient 201, a female.
The seventh participant was the third girl, Wen Xiaoxuan, who is taking care of Patient 202, also a female patient.
The eighth person was Chen Yang for Patient 301.
The ninth participant was Yi Jiayue for Patient 302.
Lin Yi had seen them and their patients in the cafeteria during the day. He became more and more certain that the 16-8 Monster had indeed selected the participants for the instance — the characteristics of the participants all matched the situation of the patients.
Patient 101 and Patient 102 were husband and wife, corresponding to the couple Shi Xuan and Zheng Anjian.
Patient 103 was suffering from heart problems, while Zheng Yunyan, tanned and rugged, looked to be in the peak of health.
Patient 201 should have undergone breast cancer surgery and had her breasts removed. Jiang Man had a very good figure.
Patient 202 had a botched plastic surgery and Wen Xiaoxuan was beautiful.
Patient 203 suffered from burns throughout his whole body and has lost one eye. He had taken a fancy to Lin Yi’s skin and eyes.
Patient 301 was a little person. Chen Yang was very tall, about the same height as Qin Zhou.
Patient 302’s tongue was deformed, even more distorted than a w-shaped tongue. Yi Jiayue articulated his words very clearly and his pronunciation was very standard.
Patient 303 has muscle atrophy and Qin Zhou’s muscles… en. Lin Yi thought back to how well Qin Zhou’s clothes hung on him. He must have beautifully sculpted muscles.
According to Qin Zhou’s note, except for Zheng Anjian, who ran into trouble when he was selected yesterday, the others resigned themselves to being selected despite being afraid.
And tonight, Doctor Zhu had brought comb jellyfish to their building. Someone must have violated the Rule of Death.
Lin Yi couldn’t imagine who it was.
Right now, he has no way to find clues pertaining to the Rules of Death. All he could do was start from the relationship between patient and nursing aide and see if he could find anything from that.
While drowsiness was brewing, his thoughts diverged but as time passed, Lin Yi still couldn’t think of the connection between the Rules of Death and these relationships. He still couldn’t fall asleep. He thought it might because his sleeping position wasn’t very comfortable and so, he tried turning over.
After turning over, Lin Yi’s body stiffened.
He had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t realized that he could no longer hear Patient 203’s deep even breathing that indicated sleep. And the reason why he suddenly thought of it now was because Lin Yi heard footsteps retreating behind him.
Patient 203 was behind him again!
And his turning over had scared Patient 203.
Lin Yi didn’t know what Patient 203 was up to. He had appeared behind him twice this night. He closed his eyes and listened to the movement behind him.
Probably because he mistakenly thought that Lin Yi was asleep, Patient 203, dawdling, came from the aisle leading to the cubicle. He first purposely called out a couple times to Lin Yi.
Lin Yi gave no answer, continuing to feign sleep.
Hearing no answer from Lin Yi, Patient 203 tiptoed towards him.
Lin Yi’s palms were covered with sweat. Since Qin Zhou told Lin Yi in his note not to let the patient discover that he was looking for clues, Qin Zhou must have discovered something.
The patients were definitely a threat to them, but Qin Zhou didn’t fully state it on the note.
Lin Yi tried his best not to let his wildly beating heart give away to Patient 203 that he was only pretending to be asleep. He quietly adjusted his breathing while pricking up his ears to listen to the movements behind him.
Patient 203 stopped about two or three steps behind him. Although Lin Yi had his back to him, he could feel Patient 203’s eyes roving all over him.
Patient 203 looked at him for who knows how long but finally there came a shift in movement behind Lin Yi. Patient 203 walked to the small table at the foot of the bed, and then gently searched for something.
Lin Yi now understood that it was the “diary” he had mentioned that had drawn in Patient 203. After all, Lin Yi’s body will be Patient 203’s soon. In other words, Patient 203 will be “Lin Yi” in the future. He was curious about Lin Yi’s diary and this made Patient 203 return.
After a while, Patient 203 found the medical record book and Lin Yi heard the sound of him flipping the cover.
He felt a layer of cold sweat cover his back.
Patient 203 turned to the first page.
The weather was cloudy on X, X, 20XX
I landed a job today and the boss said that if I do a good job, my monthly salary will be 100,000 a year. In just two months, I can have enough saved for a down payment to a house.
The weather was fine on X, X, 20XX
Today I went for a hike with Mr. 203 and I’m a little tired.
Mr. 203 has a good temper. I hope his condition remains stable.
There were only two pages and the rest of the medical record book was blank.
Patient 203 was a little disappointed. He’s seen Lin Yi writing for so long. He didn’t expect the diary to be so sparse. But Patient 203 was still very satisfied. He liked Lin Yi very much, so he suppressed his original character and temper. He didn’t want to scare Lin Yi away. That would affect his body.
Patient 203 wanted a perfect body.
Patient 203 put the medical record back but he didn’t return to bed immediately. He spent a few moments looking greedily at the person lying on the narrow bed.
Soon, soon this body will be his.
Lin Yi on the bed slowly let out a shaky breath.
Good. Fortunately, he’d had the foresight to fill in the diary and fortunately, Patient 203 hadn’t looked any further, otherwise he would have found that half of a page of the medical record had been torn out.
He didn’t know how long it took but Patient 203 was finally willing to go back to bed. Despite this, Lin Yi didn’t relax, not even a bit.
The purpose of accompanying the patients 24 hours a day wasn’t for the nursing aides to take better care of them but to allow the patients to keep tabs on their future bodies every moment of the day.
Lin Yi thought, ‘we’re constantly being monitored’.
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
It’s like raising pigs to slaughter.. Creepy 0_0
No wonder they were promised all the money they asked for. They were never supposed to get it
If their actions are limited, I wonder how will they look for clues about the rule and how to best it.
There is no free time to plan here, looks like this would be difficult.