Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Zhang Hua's final throw landed on a steady three points.

The corners of her eyes and brows finally revealed a smug expression as she confidently walked to the 14th space, the Free Space.

Gao Zhong quickly announced, “This space belongs to Zhang Hua! The game continues, it’s your turn, little cutie Zhou Rong!”

The loli, who had been sitting on the ground watching the game, suddenly stood up. She was extremely thin, with short playful hair and big, shiny eyes that seemed quite clever. Her demeanor reminded some of Du Li.

The system pulled Zhou Rong directly to the starting space. She pouted, then immediately threw the dice.

Three points, the fourth space! Another survival space!

All the broadcasters focused on the little girl, wondering if she was like Sun Xiuyan, someone whose outward appearance could be deceiving, capable of enduring immense physical and mental challenges.

Zhou Rong remained completely unfazed, taking large steps and jumping onto the fourth space, disappearing in an instant.

After about three minutes, she fell from the air, elegantly kneeling on one knee, completely unharmed, showing no sign of what she had just experienced.

...As expected, she was skilled.

Ignoring the surprised looks from others, Zhou Rong picked up the dice and threw it again.

It was four points! She landed on the 8th space, the Induction Space!

Gao Zhong immediately got excited, “Oh my god, the second bottle of induction agent is about to be taken! What an incredible stroke of luck!”

Zhou Rong lifted her chin, running to the glowing orange 8th space, catching the induction agent bottle that fell from the sky. The bottle had a small icon that looked like a bullet, but there was still no other clue.

Xiyu furrowed her brows as she watched the girl, who clearly had no clue about the connection between the diseases and the induction agents.

Zhou Rong, clearly a decisive person, didn’t hesitate in the slightest. She threw the dice for the third time!

Six points!

Zhang Hua coldly waited for her to land on the 14th space, then immediately raised her arms, imitating Xiyu's style of questioning: “Who is the person you trust most in this game?”

Zhou Rong proudly replied, “No one, I only trust myself!”

Gao Zhong smiled in the center of the space: “Good answer, indeed, other than yourself, there is no one in this world worth trusting—alright, it’s finally your turn, Qi Juexiao, go ahead.”Dean Gao obviously has a preference for beautiful women, yet he didn’t say much to the next female broadcaster, clearly unimpressed by her excessive makeup. The broadcaster, naturally displeased, pursed her lips and swayed her waist as she climbed to the starting space. With a very ladylike posture, she picked up the dice and threw it forward.

Her strength was so light that the dice should have simply fallen straight down.

But the system would never allow someone to cheat.

The dice automatically spun a few times and landed on the unluckiest space, the fourth one!

Qi Juexiao's expression changed slightly, clearly reluctant as she walked forward. Just before disappearing, her face looked particularly ugly.

In theory, any broadcaster who made it to the official round had some skill, but the broadcasters nearby either showed a hint of contempt or remained expressionless.

Zhou Rong, who clearly had quite the personality, scoffed, “The winter of the green tea b**** has arrived!”

Two and a half minutes later, Qi Juexiao fell to the ground with a thud, her thigh bleeding heavily.

Dean Gao shook his head and sighed, “You failed, lose one point of health!”

Qi Juexiao's eyes welled up with tears as she pleaded, “But I can’t walk anymore. Can I not continue?”

“Of course you can’t, if you refuse the game, it’s an automatic disqualification penalty!” Dean Gao immediately became very strict.

Qi Juexiao struggled to grab the dice and threw it to the ground. To her surprise, the dice landed on five points, and the ninth space was a damage space!

“...” Xiyu thought to herself, “Could this girl be the ultimate unlucky one?”

The bright red blood had already spilled outside the space, and Qi Juexiao struggled to crawl forward, taking a long time to reach the ninth space. As soon as she stepped on it, an air blade immediately slashed across her back!

The pain made Qi Juexiao sob uncontrollably.

Dean Gao urged, “Keep going, keep going, you’re running out of time!”

Qi Juexiao, with cold sweat mixing with her tears, trembled as she threw the dice again. She then sighed in relief as the dice landed on one point, and the space in front of her was a green healing space!

The soft green light looked very gentle. As Qi Juexiao crawled onto the space, the pain in her leg was healed.

Sitting in the healing space, Sun Xiuyan watched coldly as Qi Juexiao lay on the ground, unable to get up.

Dean Gao, hands on hips, said, “It’s getting late, looks like we need to speed things up. The remaining four gentlemen, don’t be shy! Yao Shengming, stop laughing, you go first!”The previously talkative and refined male broadcaster cleared his throat and said, "Alright."

He was pulled to the starting space by the system, quickly picked up the dice, and eagerly threw them.

Two points, third space, a blank space.

Yao Shengming looked disappointed and threw the dice again, only for them to land on six points, the ninth space, a damage space!

Qi Juexiao, who was curled up in the tenth space with Zhou Rong, sniffed, watching him walk beside her. The air blade appeared without mercy, immediately slashing him deeply!

Yao Shengming's brow twitched slightly. He picked up the dice with one hand and threw them again!

Three points, twelfth space, the host space.

He was finally somewhat satisfied, walking over to Dean Gao and asking, "Could you tell me where I can find the nutrition liquid?"

Dean Gao gave a strange smile and leaned in, mumbling a few words.

Yao Shengming, with polite gratitude, replied, "Thank you."

Now that he knew the location of the life-saving item, the other broadcasters shot him envious glances.

Dean Gao seemed to enjoy the tension between the broadcasters. His excited expression grew more obvious. "Sun Xin, you're usually so eloquent, why aren't you speaking today? Go ahead!"

A muscular man with tanned skin flashed a smile, leaped to the starting space, and immediately tossed the dice near the dean's feet.

Four points, fifth space, a free space.

As the space owner, Xiyu pondered for a moment and asked, "Of all the broadcasters today, who do you have the most hostility toward?"

Sun Xin stepped forward and answered with a smile, "You."

The system had reminded that answers must be truthful, so it was clear that he really didn't like Xiyu.

But why? They had never met before.

Xiyu blinked.

Ruo Xi, who was almost falling asleep, scoffed, "Why ask him that? He's on good terms with Mu Yuan.""Not necessarily that good. If it were really good, why has he never saved Mu Yuan?" Xiyu wasn't polite, saying this before turning her head away.

Sun Xin's gaze sharpened as he looked at Xiyu, a slight smirk on his lips, showing no ill intent. He threw the dice forcefully, landing on five points, reaching the tenth space, a blank space. Without hesitation, he threw again: four points, landing on Zhang Hua's free space!

At this moment, both Zhang Hua and Zhou Rong were already standing in that space, making it quite cramped.

Sun Xin swaggered over, crossing his arms, "Goddess, what do you want to know?"

Zhang Hua moved to the corner with distaste, "I want to know, who do you most want to get rid of?"

Sun Xin chuckled, "Ying Zhixing!"

The male broadcaster called out was handsome and tall, with a model-like figure, but he remained expressionless when he heard this.

Dean Gao, who had been eagerly watching the commotion, urged, "Ying Zhixing, it's finally your turn. Don't let your pride get the better of you again!"

Ying Zhixing furrowed his brow and jumped to the starting space, tossing the dice.

Three points, fourth space, a survival space.

Without fear, Ying Zhixing stepped forward, disappearing immediately.

Zhou Rong clicked her tongue, "Isn't the probability in this space a bit too high? Dean, you're not playing with us, are you?"

Dean Gao shrugged, "I am the fairest host, as for the one coming tomorrow, that's another story."

Xiyu asked, "Why do you change hosts every day? Is there a pattern to it?"

Dean Gao rubbed his chin, "How would I know? I'm just going along with it too."

Unexpectedly, while they were chatting, Ying Zhixing's figure had already appeared and jumped down, unscathed, immediately kicking the dice aside!

The dice spun for two rounds and landed on five points.

A damage space!

Was this unlucky guy in the same boat as Ruo Xi?

Xiyu curiously watched as he stepped forward with determination, the air blade slashing mercilessly across Ying Zhixing's abdomen. He didn’t even blink and continued to throw the dice.Four points, twelfth space, the host space.

Ying Zhixing walked while speaking, "Dean Gao, could you please tell us about the daily schedule of this rehabilitation center?"

Dean Gao was silent for a moment before replying, "The center only provides breakfast and dinner. In the morning, you are free to engage in activities, and in the afternoon, you will undergo treatment with the doctor. The rest of the time, you must sleep in the patient rooms."

Zhou Rong commented, "Even raising pigs has a more meticulous schedule than this."

Dean Gao said, "Don't overthink it. Everything is for your own good! Alright, the sneaky Fu Er, you're the last one!"

The brooding boy, finally called, reached the starting space. He didn’t say a word and immediately threw the dice.

One point, a blank space.

Fu Er threw again.

Five points, a blank space.

He bit his lip and threw the dice for the third time.

Five points, another blank space!

"How boring..." Dean Gao said, visibly disappointed, waving his hand. "It's getting late. Today's darkest moment ends here. Hopefully, you all survive to participate tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding Monopoly game board quickly disappeared along with the entire space.

Xiyu didn't even have a chance to react before being forcefully thrown out of this distorted world!

The surroundings were still the dark pharmacy, and Xiyu quickly reached out to check on the injured Ruo Xi. "Are you okay?"

Ruo Xi used what he could find to bandage himself with some gauze. "What's this? Let's go find the nutrients!"

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as they wished. Before they could fully get up, the handsome male nurse from their earlier encounter broke through the door. He blew the whistle hanging around his neck. "What are you doing? You're in such bad condition, go back to your room and rest now!"

While speaking, the male nurse started yelling for others to come, full of energy.

Ruo Xi whispered, "Looks like the free activity time is over. When we can slip out, wait for me at the door of your room."

Xiyu nodded.Ruo Xi kissed his forehead in the shadows, then stood up carelessly and said, "Stop yelling, I know already."

The male nurse showed a look of disappointment, as if saying, "You should have known better." "Don't run around anymore. If you collapse in some secluded place, even God can't save you!"

The ward was still the same one, covered in blood and unnaturally cold.

The doors, which were once wide open, were now mercilessly locked by the nurses. There were no windows here, and it seemed there was no way to escape easily.

The dark moment of the Monopoly game made Xiyu feel a bit exhausted. He silently lay down, enduring the filthy sheets, while his thoughts drifted through his mind. Eventually, the heavy sleepiness overtook him, and he gradually lost consciousness.

A night without dreams.

Around 6 a.m. the next morning, Xiyu, still in shallow sleep, was suddenly awakened by soft sounds. It turned out that the two male nurses from last night had come in, pushing a small cart. They began taking his temperature, drawing blood, and quickly recording their observations, working diligently.

Xiyu frowned slightly. "Excuse me, what exactly is wrong with me?"

The handsome male nurse answered evasively, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"But how can it be fine if I don’t even know what’s wrong with me?" Xiyu persisted, asking.

The male nurse snorted. "Even if you knew, could you cure it? Only the dean can cure you!"

Xiyu: "..."

The male nurse picked up his blood sample. "Alright, go have breakfast. The doctor will treat you this afternoon."

He then left, followed by his unpleasant colleague.

Xiyu rubbed the sore spot on his arm where the needle had been, and suddenly remembered the piece of paper on the back of his hand that had almost been discovered earlier.

He quickly tore off the bandage and took it down, pondering the meaning of "Fengxian had already planned to take Zhuo," as he left the ward to wait for Ruo Xi.

Unexpectedly, after walking just a few steps, he heard a soft female voice around the corner.

Xiyu leaned against the wall and saw that it was the fragile Yuan Wei, who had cornered the ugly male nurse. She whispered, "Dong, where did you work before? Why did you come to the Kunshan rehabilitation center?"

Dong, the nurse...

Xiyu thought about this curiously.The entangled Dong, the male nurse, replied irritably, "What’s it to you? Can’t I come here to work and earn money?"

With that, he left.

Yuan Wei was not discouraged. She glanced around, then turned and walked off in a different direction.

Dong the nurse—why such a strange last name?

Suddenly, Xiyu had a flash of insight. He quickly caught up with Dong the nurse and said, "So you’re Dong the nurse. This Kunshan rehabilitation center doesn’t have four nurses for the four seasons, does it?"

Dong the nurse responded, "So what? How does that affect you?"

Xiyu’s eyes lit up. "Really? Then where is the Spring nurse?"

"She’s a nurse, on duty in the office." Dong the nurse casually replied before quickly pushing his cart full of blood vials and disappearing.

Xiyu thought to himself: This is it! "Fengxian had already planned to take Zhuo" was just a riddle! "Fengxian," referring to the top part of the word "Feng," and "Zhuo's heart," referring to the sun in the middle of the character "Zhuo," together form the word "Spring!" The undercover nurse he needs to connect with must be the legendary Spring Nurse!

With this thought, Xiyu didn’t wait for Luo Xi anymore and hurriedly started searching for the nurse’s office.

"You! What’s going on with you? This camellia was hard to take care of, and you broke it! Are you doing this on purpose to anger me?!"

A woman’s angry voice echoed down the corridor.

Xiyu saw the sign for the nursing office, cautiously approached, and peeked inside. He saw a woman weighing almost 200 pounds angrily scolding a young nurse in front of her, as if she wanted to swallow her alive. The young nurse stood there, her head lowered, silently enduring the scolding.

The fat woman angrily kicked her and said in a domineering tone, "Pack this up right now! If the flower dies, you won’t live either!"

The young nurse choked up, "Okay..."

The fat woman left in a huff.

Xiyu quickly made way for her to pass and, once she was gone, cautiously entered the office and whispered, "Excuse me, is Spring Nurse here?"

The young nurse, who had been wiping away tears, held back her sobs and replied, "That's me. What’s wrong?"

Xiyu paused for a moment before saying, "Fengxian had already planned to take Zhuo’s heart."

Spring Nurse froze, carefully observed her surroundings, then ran to the door and shut it. In a low voice, she said, "Is it you?"Xiyu nodded.

Spring Nurse smiled happily. "Finally, someone is here to help me."

Xiyu quickly inquired, "What’s going on with this rehabilitation center?"

"The Kunshan Rehabilitation Center is not really a place for treatment," Spring Nurse explained. "It's a front for researching rare and terminal illnesses. They attract patients under the guise of treatment, but...," her expression turned serious, "Director Hao has already discovered methods for infecting people with terminal illnesses. Many healthy individuals are being used as experimental subjects. I’m a reporter from the 'Capital Evening News,' and I came here to expose their crimes!"

"So that's what’s going on…" Xiyu touched his patient gown. "No wonder I don’t even know what illness I have."

"We don’t know either. The disease was spread by Director Hao and Nurse Lin." Spring Nurse frowned. "The woman from earlier, her name is Lin Fengyang, and she's Director Hao’s wife."

... Director Hao’s interests are indeed puzzling, marrying a woman like that.

Xiyu was speechless for a moment. "Who’s the other informant?"

"There is no other informant, you’re the only one." Spring Nurse answered honestly.

Could there be other undercover agents?

Xiyu thought for a moment, then asked the crucial question, "Then... how do I survive without any nutrient solution?"

"I have some here. Take this for now." Spring Nurse finally opened a drawer and handed him two small glowing glass bottles.

The moment Xiyu took them, he heard the system’s prompt.

【The mission to contact the undercover agent is complete. Received nutrient solution x2.】

"Hide it well," Spring Nurse instructed. "If I need your help, I will come to you."

Since the system mentioned that there’s only one informant task per day, today’s issue was likely settled.

Xiyu nodded solemnly.

Spring Nurse then walked over to the window to clean up the broken flowerpot.

Xiyu wanted to learn more, so he followed her and asked, "Let me help you. What happened here?"

"I don’t know. It was like this when I came in this morning. The head nurse doesn't care about anything else, just flowers," Spring Nurse gestured toward the window. "Look, Kunshan is so barren, these flowers are really precious."Xiyu looked through the glass window at the vast barren land. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his face.

Spring Nurse widened her eyes and quickly pulled him away. "Don't let the sunlight hit you!"

Xiyu touched his face and found that there were blurred traces of blood.

Spring Nurse trembled all over. "You... you have porphyria, also known as porphyria... You must not be exposed to the sun for the next few days, or your skin will develop blisters and ulcerate. You will also become paler and paler. Be careful..."

Xiyu forced himself to calm down and asked, "Do you have a mask?"

Spring Nurse quickly found one for him.

Xiyu hurriedly put it on. He knew that the broadcasters were all well-informed and could easily guess what illness someone had if they showed obvious symptoms. When more and more inducing agents for the darkest hour appeared, there would be one that triggered porphyria. At that point, wouldn’t he be out of the game?

Thinking of this, he quickly prepared the nutrient solution. "I'm leaving now. If you need anything, feel free to find me."

Spring Nurse nodded.

Xiyu then lowered his head and left the nursing office, heading toward the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, as Xiyu was acting alone, Luo Xi had been searching for him desperately. Finally, they met in the narrow corridor, and Luo Xi hurried over, questioning, "Where did you go? I thought—"

"Sorry, I promised to wait for you." Xiyu covered his mask and tiptoed to explain in his ear.

Luo Xi gently lifted the mask. Seeing that Xiyu's previously smooth face was now covered with sores, he couldn't help but frown in sympathy, but he also remained rational. "Find another excuse to hide these scars and never go out in the sunlight again!"

"Mm." Xiyu agreed and smiled, his eyes curving. "My face is also injured now. We’re the same."

"Are you stupid? Can't you learn something good?" Luo Xi ruffled his short hair.

Xiyu asked, "You don’t have any symptoms at all?"

"Not a thing. Maybe I'm just too strong." Luo Xi said smugly before his eyes turned suspicious. "But today, I also saw Yuan Wei pestering the NC for information. I don’t know if she’s always this shameless, or if she’s on a mission. That woman is best friends with Zhang Hua, she’s definitely got a lot on her mind."

"Spring Nurse didn’t mention any other informants. Let’s observe for now." Xiyu advised. "You go to the cafeteria and bring me something to eat. It’s better if we’re not seen by them until I’ve figured out an excuse."

Luo Xi nodded.

"By the way, drink this." Xiyu, seeing that the surroundings were quiet, quickly took out the two bottles of nutrient solution.Luo Xi couldn't help but say, "Why does it feel like this game is always bullying the unlucky ones? Am I going to be taken care of by you?"

"Finally admitting your luck is bad?" Xiyu handed him the nutrient solution with a smile and clinked the bottles together. "Cheers."