Chapter 58
Lin Yi was in Room 203 and Qin Zhou’s Room 303 was right above. When Lin Yi heard the sound of the door opening and then closing heavily, he quickly sat up from the narrow bed and called to Patient 203 to get up.
Judging from yesterday’s breakfast situation, Patient 203 was one of the early risers. Patient 303 was not. At breakfast yesterday, Patient 303 looked like he hadn’t slept well. Qin Zhou must have woken Patient 303 early in order to pass that note to Lin Yi.
Qin Zhou was even earlier today than yesterday and with the door closing so loudly, Lin Yi guessed that Qin Zhou had clues to give him and was signaling him to follow. And so, Lin Yi quickly called Patient 203 to get up as well.
“Mr. 203.” Lin Yi said shyly, clutching his stomach, “I’m sorry to wake you up so early but I’m so hungry. Can we go to the cafeteria to eat a bit earlier?”
Patient 203 looked at Lin Yi gloomily. Lin Yi looked at him nervously and then repeated softly, “Mr. 203, is it alright?”
Hearing this, Patient 203 paused for a moment, as though he were just coming back to his senses, he smiled kindly, “Of course, it’s no problem.”
Only that the scars on his face made the kind expression look grim.
Lin Yi waited for Patient 203 to finish washing up. After washing up himself, they headed to the cafeteria.
When passing by Rooms 102 and 101, Lin Yi quietly looked out the corner of his eye. A strong earthy smell was coming from Room 101 and Room 102, as it was right next to Room 101, was somewhat contaminated with the same earthy smell. But Lin Yi was also smelling that fishy smell of the sea from last night. But Room 103 also had that fishy smell.
He didn’t know whether the fishy smell was coming from Room 102 or Room 103.
The one who died last night was either Shi Xuan or Zhang Yunyan.
Lin Yi withdrew his gaze and went to the cafeteria with Patient 203.
Lin Yi had hurriedly woken up Patient 203 after hearing Qin Zhou’s door closing. Although it took a while for Patient 203 to wash up, he ended up just a step behind Qin Zhou.
In the cafeteria, only Qin Zhou and Patient 303 had arrived before Lin Yi.
Lin Yi arranged for Patient 203 to sit down first. He used the reason as yesterday, that he’d be too nervous with Patient 203 right next to him and this would make his hands shake.
Although Patient 203 didn’t know what kind of strange ailment Lin Yi had, he sat down obediently out of concern for Lin Yi’s skin.
After Lin Yi asked patient 203 what he wanted to eat, he headed for the self-service area. He picked up the ladle to scoop up some porridge and while pouring porridge into the bowls, he carefully took out the note that Qin Zhou had stuffed in the handle.
Since he was so restrained, Lin Yi had only two goals for today. One was to get Qin Zhou’s note and the other was to give Qin Zhou the note he had written.
Now that he has gotten Qin Zhou’s note, all that remained was to figure out how to get his own note to Qin Zhou.
Lin Yi stared at the handle of the ladle. If he copied Qin Zhou and stuffed the note into the handle, Lin Yi wasn’t sure whether Qin Zhou could get it.
Mainly because Qin Zhou had already gotten food. If he wanted to prevent the patients from discovering their clues, their only chance was when getting food at the self-service area. However, Qin Zhou has to feed Patient 303 first. Only after Patient 303 has eaten, can he himself eat. He’ll have to wait for Qin Zhou to finish his meal so that going for seconds would not appear so deliberate.
But Patient 303 ate very slowly. While Patient 303 and Qin Zhou are eating, the note might be found out by the other patients who would soon be coming in.
It would be fine if the person to find it was a student but it would be over for them if a patient discovers it, or worse, if the 16-8 Monster discovers it.
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.
Olc Tl tjv cb mtblmf yea ab gfpfma atlr wfatbv obg vfilnfglcu tlr cbaf.
Coafg Olc Tl uba atflg wfjir, tf rja cfza ab Ujalfca 203. Lf delfais raeoofv atf cbaf Hlc Itbe ujnf tlw lcab tlr ifoa agberfg qbmxfa. Llr bkc cbaf kjr lc tlr gluta agberfg qbmxfa, wjxlcu atf akb fjrlfg ab vlralcuelrt.
Lin Yi really was a little hungry. It seemed that the passage of time here wasn’t as fast as in the 7-7 and 2-6 Rule Worlds. In those two, he basically hadn’t felt any hunger.
While Lin Yi was eating, all the others arrived as well.
As Lin Yi ate his food, he didn’t forget to look up as well. Almost every time a patient-nursing aide pair came in, he would take a look.
When Zheng Anjian walked into the cafeteria, Lin Yi’s eyes focused all on him.
Zheng Anjian’s arrival made the faces of the other participants change and they all shrank to stay away from him.
Zheng Anjian didn’t care at all about them. He was still carrying around his teacup. Lin Yi watched as he walked to the self-service area. Though he carried a plate, it didn’t seem like he had any intention of getting food. In the end, he simply walked back with an empty plate and sat down.
He was looking at the doors of the cafeteria. It seemed that he was looking to see if Shi Xuan or Old Lady 102 was coming.
After just one glance, Zheng Anjian hastily withdrew his gaze, as though shying away from the light. He then lifted the lid of his teacup.
From where Lin Yi was sitting, he happened to clearly see Zheng Anjian spit after taking a sip of tea. .
After Zheng Anjian spit out the tea, he opened his mouth and stretched out his tongue. He raised his hand pulling off the tea leaves stuck to his tongue. It seemed he had been intending to throw it away but who knows what got into Zheng Anjian’s head. Instead of throwing the tea leaves away, he put it back into his mouth. He then threw out all the tea and ate the remaining tea leaves.
Zheng Anjian’s weird behavior frightened Jiang Mian, who was closest to him. Jiang Mian took Patient 201 and sat a little farther away.
Lin Yi pursed his lips. Earthworms mainly eat rotting plants, parts like roots and leaves. Just now, Lin Yi had seen that the color of the tea leaves on Zheng Anjian’s tongue was very dark. It looked like tea that had been steeped overnight.
Even though tea steeped overnight isn’t exactly rotten, it was a better meal for an earthworm than fresh food.
Lin Yi looked at Zheng Anjian. He couldn’t see any obvious wounds on Zheng Anjian. Lin Yi didn’t actually expect to see any clues about the Rules of Death from Zheng Anjian’s body, so he wasn’t disappointed.
He withdrew his gaze and continued to eat, waiting for either Shi Xuan to appear alone or for Zhang Yunyan to appear alone.
It didn’t take long before he had his answer,
Zhang Yunyan brought Patient 103 to the cafeteria for breakfast. So it was Shi Xuan who died last night. The fishy smell was coming from Room 102. But because Room 102 was right next to Room 101, the smell was diluted by the stronger earthy smell.
Not long after Zhang Yunyan arrived at the cafeteria, Shi Xuan finally arrived. Just like Zheng Anjian yesterday, she no longer had her patient with her. She walked in alone, looking shrewdly around the cafeteria until she spotted Zheng Anjian.
She walked quickly to him and hit Zheng Anjian on the arm with a ‘slap’. She muttered, “Still dinking your stinky tea so early in the morning! You never learn, do you?”
Zheng Anjian was stunned by the slap. Shi Xuan threw a few more words at him but Zheng Anjian didn’t dare say a word, like a child who’d been caught doing something wrong. Probably because he didn’t want to continue listening to Shi Xuan’s lecture, Zheng Anjian hurriedly got up and went to get food for Shi Xuan.
Lin Yi looked at the two of them. It was so strange seeing them sitting side by side.
The other participants also noticed this strangeness. Faces pale, they didn’t dare to speak.
While peeling eggs, Lin Yi, from time to time, would peeked in the direction of the two; answers and questions floating in his mind.
At breakfast yesterday, everyone saw that Shi Xuan had made Old Lady 102 unhappy. That night, Shi Xuan died because she had violated the Rules of Death.
Zheng Anjian had dropped his teacup when he had been selected by Old Man 101. That could be regarded as making Old Man 101 unhappy.
But Lin Yi felt that something wasn’t quite right and that he could find out if he thought about it a little deeper. The teacup must belong to Doctor Zhu. After Zheng Anjian dropped the teacup, Doctor Zhu looked even angrier than the old man.
But regret followed Doctor Zhu’s anger. They then briefly talked about the origin and significance of the teacup.
A piece from the Tang Dynasty, it was an imitation of the Emperor Hui of Jin’s bowl. Doctor Zhu then revealed a secret that hadn’t been recorded in any of the stories; that the reason why the lonely minister offered tea to Emperor Hui of Jin was to poison him.
He said it with so much certainty, as if Doctor Zhu had been there himself.
Regardless of whether Doctor Zhu experienced the event personally, because the teacup had belonged to Doctor Zhu, when Zheng Anjian dropped it, it should have been Doctor Zhu who was angrier. What Lin Yi saw in these past two nights must have been Doctor Zhu taking those boxes to find victims. It was Doctor Zhu who carried out the killings, that is to say, the Rule of Death that Zheng Anjian and Shi Xuan violated must be related to Doctor Zhu.
At the moment, Lin Yi’s guess for the Rule of Death was — offending the patients in their care, the patients that Doctor Zhu asked them to take care of wholeheartedly. Although it seemed that there was a connection, Lin Yi felt that it was too far-fetched.
Lin Yi had gone hiking with Patient 203 yesterday. He didn’t know what had happened in the sanatorium while they were away. Thus he didn’t know if Shi Xuan had done anything other than make Old Lady 102 unhappy during breakfast. If there was, Lin Yi believed that Qin Zhou’s note should have this.
Speaking of the note, Lin Yi glanced in the direction of Qin Zhou and Patient 303 just in time to see Qin Zhou clearing up the plates on the table. Qin Zhou then got up and started pushing Patient 303 out of the cafeteria.
Lin Yi glanced at the full glass of water in his hand. He then said to Patient 203, “Mr. 203, this water’s gone cold. I’ll get another glass. Would you like one too?”
Afraid that Patient 203 would disagree with him, Lin Yi added, “Drinking plenty of warm water is good for the skin.”
Patient 203 heard Lin Yi’s words and said, “I don’t need any but you go and get yourself some.”
Lin Yi nodded. “Okay.”
Then, aiming for Qin Zhou, when Qin Zhou was pushing Patient 303 past him, he grabbed the glass of water and stood up, bumping into Qin Zhou.
The water in the glass splashed onto Qin Zhou’s clothes. Lin Yi momentarily froze, then said, “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t see you.”
After saying so, Lin Yi rummaged his trouser pocket, pretending to want to take out something to wipe the water off of Qin Zhou, but found nothing.
Patient 203 said, “Xiao Lin, I have tissues here.”
Lin Yi took the paper towel handed over by Patient 203 and went to wipe the spilled water off of Qin Zhou. Qin Zhou stretched out his hand and pushed him away. Taking advantage of this moment, Lin Yi handed the note to Qin Zhou.
Qin Zhou said, “That’s enough.”
When Qin Zhou pushed him, Lin Yi staggered a couple of steps back. Patient 203 and Patient 303 were distracted by Lin Yi’s almost fall. Qin Zhou quietly hid the note.
Patient 203 was startled, “Xiao Lin, are you okay?”
After asking, he glared at Qin Zhou. “It was an accident and Xiao Lin already apologized. Why did you have to push him?”
Qin Zhou ignored Patient 203 and made to leave with Patient 303.
Lin Yi thought about the contents of his note and throwing aside any concern about being watched by other people, he shouted at Qin Zhou. “You’re too much! I apologized but you still hit me. Since you like hitting so much why don’t we see who hits harder, huh!?.”
Qin Zhou stopped for a moment, thinking about the meaning of Lin Yi’s words. But the words were too straightforward, any hidden meaning could easily be misunderstood.
He deliberately walked slowly, guessing that Lin Yi would give him another hint.
Then Lin Yi said, “What? Are you afraid to fight?”
In order not to let the patients and the 16-8 Monster hiding among them notice his deliberate pause, Qin Zhou adjusted the blanket covering Patient 303 and then walked out.
Once Qin Zhou left, Lin Yi said to Patient 203, “Mr. 203, I’m sorry. I made you watch something ridiculous.”
“What do you mean ridiculous? It was that nursing aide who was ridiculous!” Patient 203 said angrily, “If I still had my temper before…”
Patient 203 paused at this point and then said to Lin Yi, “You’re all wet, let’s go back so you can change.”
Lin Yi nodded. “OK.”
Back in Room 203, Lin Yi went to the cubicle to get the nursing aide’s uniform. Patient 203 was watching him from the side. Lin Yi noticed that he planned to watch him through the whole thing.
Lin Yi first lifted up his shirt calmly. Then, suddenly, his arms went around his stomach.
Patient 203 was startled. “What’s wrong?”
“Ugh, my stomach hurts.” Lin Yi grabbed the clothes and under the worried eyes of Patient 203, he rushed into the bathroom without hesitation and closed the door.
He didn’t give Patient 203 any time to react. Patient 203 probably won’t go so far as to watch him take a crap.
But Lin Yi still had lingering fears from when Patient 203 appeared behind him twice last night. He carefully unfolded the note Qin Zhou gave him and quickly scanned the contents of the note. He then threw it straight into the toilet.
Qin Zhou didn’t mention Shi Xuan doing anything else strange. Because the note had been written last night, the information couldn’t be synchronized with their latest developments. Just like Lin Yi mentioning Shi Xuan as his prime suspect for the 16-8 Monster, this note also had a sentence from Qin Zhou: ‘Except for Shi Xuan, because I haven’t had contact with any of the others, I haven’t seen them do anything odd.’
The most important content of the note was the information regarding the layout of the sanatorium.
Yesterday Lin Yi and Patient 203 had go0ne hiking, while Qin Zhou pushed Patient 303 to explore every corner of the sanatorium.
The three-story building were patient rooms. In the building next to the three-story building was a moderately sized reception area on the first floor. Lin Yi knew about that. On the evening of the interview, the nine participants had followed Doctor Zhu through this area.
Lin Yi remembered that there was an information desk in the center of the hall, the desk was dusty and it looked to long have been unused.
Across the reception area was the meeting room where they had the interview. Further in this meeting room was Doctor Zhu’s office. There was a storage room and a medicine storage on the second floor of this building. The doors to these two rooms weren’t locked. The storage room contained some old medical equipment, some supplies like syringes and some empty medicine bottles. In the medical storage were unused medicines, most of which are anesthetics and sedatives.
Of note was a locked room which was the source of the building’s smell.
The last building was the one with the canteen. The canteen and kitchen were on the first floor.
The second floor was the morgue.
Looking in through the glass on the door panel of the morgue, there were two six-drawer mortuary cabinets standing side by side, able to hold a total of twelve corpses. However, the corpse of Patient 101 was not placed in the cabinet but on the dissecting table.
The last sentence on the note was: Little genius, I’ll tell you all I discover but don’t go doing anything dangerous.
A horde of body snatchers .. Damn this world is so creepy !!!
Thanks for the chapter..