Chapter 165.1 Frank Hospital
The power of words proved greater than expected.
The Wandering Corpse gazed at the telephone for three seconds and asked, “If I can’t give birth, will he kill me?”
Finally, he moved his hand from his belly and shook his head, replying to himself, “No.”
Rushing to save someone just to kill them didn’t make sense.
The “bandaged patient” had a slightly intrigued expression, but what concerned him most was where the Wandering Corpse’s hand had covered earlier. The seeds wouldn’t grow there.
The Wandering Corpse could be summed up as both foolish and shrewd. At this moment, he actually understood the true spirit’s intentions. “It shifted positions after evolving.”
As for the reason, he couldn’t explain.
On the other side, after ending the call, Wen Shi looked down at the weakened man and said seriously, “I’ll come back tonight…Wild Dash!”
Skill activated.
A figure shot back the way it came like a rocket.
Ji Yuanzhi inside the steam box: “……”
Are you here for a prison visit? Just leave when you’re done?
Wen Shi changed the exit location to the prayer room and, at the same time, located the Seventh Commandment Guild Leader in the【Kingdom】. He issued the first command: Check if there are people around the prayer room, and if so, help distract them.
It was uncertain whether the orders would be fully executed. The students of Mingzhu Academy were easy to control. Asking them to spread stories about King Asa privately would be done without hesitation. However, the willpower of Seventh Commandment Guild Leader was stronger, casting doubt upon the precise extent of his compliance. It would depend on the difficulty.
Assuming there were players guarding the prayer room, with no immediate danger, Seventh Commandment Guild Leader would undoubtedly execute the plan without hesitation. If the plump nurse were present, he might give it a brief try, but if A’Ao was nearby, Seventh Commandment Guild Leader would likely turn and leave.
Wen Shi also purchased a speed-boosting item and equipped it, striving to reach the underground as quickly as possible.
The God of Deception had miscalculated one thing. Wen Shi did indeed care about the notion of an important person dying, but he cared more about another sentence, the one he had originally planned to verify: “I suggest you act quickly.”
The true spirit didn’t lie. Time was crucial. However, the previous sentence reminded him to save Ji Yuanzhi promptly, as if something significant might occur if he didn’t act in time.
As a result, he had wasted a chance to borrow a path.
“Is it all truths and complete lies?” Wen Shi pondered this while running frantically, his brain working even faster.
Ultimately, this game was targeted at the Wandering Corpse.
The people in the hospital didn’t know about the Wandering Corpse’s relationship with himself. If his identity was exposed, it wouldn’t be possible for the Wandering Corpse to contact him directly. It was clear that the true spirit was behind it.
The Wild Dash skill made him too fast that his eyes became dry and swollen. The Wandering Corpse and the bandaged patient together, so if there was danger, both would face it.
Earlier, the system had announced that the quest to save an innocent victim had already been completed. The bandaged patient was obviously safe.
Innocent victim, abuse, and miserable life… Wen Shi suddenly thought of a possibility. “True spirit’s incarnation!”
Under this assumption, every word spoken by the true spirit needed to be dissected. He loathed the game, but the relationship between them wasn’t as adversarial as the true spirit had implied. The bandaged patient, manipulated by the true spirit, once assisted in issuing the quest【Delete File No. 82】 within the game.
Well, they’ve set up a complex trap for me.
The effects of the Wild Dash skill wore off, slowing him down by half. Wen Shi kept running, gasping for breath as he pondered the reasons behind the true spirit targeting the Wandering Corpse.
Why was it the Wandering Corpse?
Besides having a terrible singing voice, lacking humanity, low loyalty, and being a bit foolish, the Wandering Corpse didn’t have any other major issues.
Wen Shi recalled everything related to the Wandering Corpse, opened the attribute panel, repeatedly checked the data, and finally focused on the message【Your Wandering Corpse has a difficult-to-mention secret】. Suddenly, it was as if he had been struck by a sudden revelation.
“The power of misdirection through words is mighty. Could I have been misled?”
【00:05】
In the last five seconds, Wen Shi pushed through the final stretch of the path with determination.
The path behind him vanished, and he found himself in the empty prayer room. Without any buffer, Wen Shi pulled the table, turned the crucifix on the wall, and after the secret door opened, he rushed down at the fastest speed.
He had already visited the special treatment room once in the morning, so he navigated the quiet narrow passage with ease.
Every ten meters or so, there was a small light bulb overhead, providing much better illumination than the upper floors. The special treatment room’s door was locked, and pressing the button didn’t open it. The door seemed to be slightly bent outward, as if it was overly stuffed with something.
Wen Shi took a few steps back, drew the Greenwood Sword, and activated【One Strike Flattens All】.
The seemingly indestructible metal door became as a fragile a pancake. A sword mark appeared on the upper third, and another on the lower half, as if its head and lower body had each been sliced. Even when the target of the attack was a mere door, it still retained the traditional characteristic of being “flattened.”
【You have successfully used this skill more than four times.】
【Xie Tangyan has obtained the “Grand Swordmanship.”】
Wen Shi raised an eyebrow. Good news. Finally, he could give something back to his family.
No time for joy. After the door cracked open, a continuous stream of black liquid sprayed out. The smell and color immediately reminded Wen Shi of the liquid the nurse poured when burning bodies.
He mustn’t encounter sparks. Otherwise, he feared he’d get roasted.
After the door strongly loosened, a large amount of liquid overwhelmed the heavy metal door. Wen Shi retreated to a safe distance, avoiding the fate of being crushed into pulp.
Behind the door, the Wandering Corpse’s eyes stiffened briefly when he saw Wen Shi, and his loyalty increased by 0.2 points.
“Hurry!”
Wen Shi’s gaze passed directly over the bandaged patient as he shouted at the Wandering Corpse to leave. In another minute, the electrotherapy would begin, and they would all be done for.
“What’s the rush?”
The “bandaged patient” showed a gentle smile. His eyes became identical to his true form. The true spirit beckoned with his fingers, and all the black liquid was absorbed into that black eye.
The ground was as clean as before. Under the dazzling light of the incandescent lamps, the other almost pure-white eye looked even more eerie.
The lights suddenly went out.
All the electrified wires in the room vanished, leaving only ghostly flames for illumination. Even if it was time for electrotherapy now, the instruments wouldn’t work.
“I’m really surprised you came,” the true spirit lazily leaned against the iron bed, aiming at the Wandering Corpse’s belly. “Losing two important people is a nonsense literature, but I didn’t lie, did I? If you hadn’t come, it would have been one body but two lives gone.” [T/N: nonsense literature (废话文学) — statements that are so obviously redundant or pointless (ex: if you don’t close your eyes, you keep them open)]
He blinked at Wen Shi.
Monsters related to Frank Hospital all liked to use popular internet slangs from ten years ago.
Wen Shi stopped running toward the exit, turned around, and suddenly walked up to the true spirit. He slowly spoke a word, “Deceiver.”
The true spirit raised an eyebrow.
“After all this time, you still want to mislead me.”
After saying this, Wen Shi made an unexpected move.
He moved to the side of the Wandering Corpse, first placing his hand gently on the other’s belly, which was quite flat, and then crouching down and pressing his face against it.
For the first time, the Wandering Corpse lost control of his expression and was almost scared back to life!
Because his body was too stiff, he forgot to push Wen Shi away immediately.
“No fetal movement.” Wen Shi listened carefully with his eyes closed.
“!” The Wandering Corpse’s loyalty dropped by 0.1 due to shock. He wanted to push Wen Shi away, but the prior loss of strength left him seemingly caught in a trap.
Wen Shi remained indifferent, maintaining this posture, and only stood up after a few seconds.
The mutant pomegranate flower seeds, the change in seed rooting location, and the pregnancy examination report in Merfolk Shore… everything seemed to imply that the Wandering Corpse was carrying a living being.
However, any ghost child would have shown signs of consciousness upon seeing Wen Shi. If the Wandering Corpse was carrying a living being, after all this time, it should have developed some awareness and not remained as silent as it was now.
“What do you think he’s carrying?” He seemed to be asking the true spirit and talking to himself at the same time.
“Gather three keys to leave the game,” Wen Shi suddenly switched to another topic. Standing upright, he looked back at the true spirit. “I obtained one key in the sanatorium, and the other in the Crimson Sunset Cosmetic Surgery Hospital.”
To sum it up, all instances related to Frank Hospital had keys.
“Following this logic, I should have been given a key when I cleared the first instance.”
According to the clues from the mortuary in the previous instance, the key from the sanatorium came from the Grim Reaper, and the key from the Crimson Sunset Cosmetic Surgery Hospital came from the Mirror God. Each key was produced by true spirits.
It was evident who would provide the key for Frank Hospital.
Wen Shi stared firmly at the true spirit. The amusement in the latter’s eyes disappeared, replaced by a different kind of look directed at him.
“The one who makes the key is responsible for giving it out. I’ve been thinking all along on my way here, how someone with your personality would hand out keys.”
The Grim Reaper, with a name like an ill-fated star, didn’t like interacting with the outside world. It was normal for him to directly give the keys as special rewards. The Mirror God used mirrors to duplicate keys, making it quick and easy, so he generously distributed them. But the true spirit in front of him, who enjoyed deceiving people, must have a preference for distributing keys in a deceptive manner, given their style.
The smile that disappeared from the true spirit’s face transferred to Wen Shi’s. He asked with a grin, “The Wandering Corpse is carrying a key, right?”
Nobody knew what the seeds of the mutant pomegranate flower would yield once they matured, but based on the description, one would subconsciously think of a child.
Although it was a question, Wen Shi didn’t deliberately observe the reaction of the “bandaged patient”, confirming that this wasn’t a mere test. He had already arrived at this conclusion.
“If the Wandering Corpse dies before the key matures and falls, I’ll permanently lose this third key.” Wen Shi furrowed his brow slightly, as if troubled. “Keys can be replaced in the next instance, but since the key distributor is the true spirit, you’ll never give me a fourth key, right?
“…Tsk, that’s truly cruel.”
The expression on the true spirit’s face and the bandages on his body were equally tense.
It was as if a magician had been exposed without any remaining illusions. His gaze showed neither joy nor sorrow but became even more dangerous.
“You seem good at deceiving, but nowhere near as troublesome as the Mirror God. Back in the cosmetic surgery hospital, I was put through a lot,” Wen Shi decisively delivered a slight dig, hitting where it hurts, “You’re no match for him.”
Offending the true spirit could easily lead to trouble. In the live chat of “The Horror Club,” some monsters mentioned that the Mirror God’s true self was in Frank Hospital. Wen Shi attempted to butter them up to gain their favor, not necessarily to protect himself, but at least to prevent this Deception God from intentionally causing problems.
Whether it worked or not didn’t matter. After all, a few nice words wouldn’t cost him much.
When facing a place with reflective objects, Wen Shi showed a face filled with longing.
He looked up and repeated the supportive words from the monster’s chat on that day, “Seeking the truth through transcendental philosophy, Mirror God, my Eternal God!”
“……”
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