Chapter 42: She Was Almost Dead
“Name?”
“……”
“Age?”
“……”
After asking two questions in succession, the doctor, looking at the dazed Fu Xinyi, finally gave up on questioning, turned his head to look at Luxianbei, and his gaze unconsciously lingered on her face.
Having been a doctor here for several years and seen all sorts of people, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had met countless faces, but he had never seen such a beautiful woman—both ethereal and enchanting, pure yet alluring; the term seemed custom-made for her.
After taking several deep breaths, the doctor barely regained his composure. “Never mind, family member of the patient, you help her answer.”
After saying that, he silently added in his heart, the teacher was right; women really do affect our ability to treat patients.
“Um, no problem.” Luxianbei nodded.
“Name?”
“My name is Wang Xiaomei.”
“I’m asking about her!”
“Oh, oh, her name is Fu Xinyi, twenty years old, probably from Jiangcheng…”
Luxianbei actually didn’t know where Fu Xinyi was really from, but the professor who brought her to Tangcheng was from Jiangcheng University, so she just made something up.
The doctor looked at Fu Xinyi, then back at Luxianbei, surprised. “Probably? Aren’t you her sister?”
“Cousin. I’m her cousin. Our families haven’t been in touch for many years, and it’s only because she came to Tangcheng for an internship this time that she contacted me. I’m not sure if her family still lives at the old address.” Luxianbei said earnestly.
Having told so many lies, she had become increasingly skilled, quickly uttering the words with a steady tone, showing no signs of deceit.
“……” The doctor looked at Luxianbei in silence for a few seconds before continuing, “Tell me, how did she get hurt?”
“She slipped.” Luxianbei said, “You see, it has been snowing for several days, and the roads are slippery in the cold. She slipped and hit her head on the curb.”
On the way here, Luxianbei had already checked Fu Xinyi’s injuries; she had been knocked out by the sword of Ling Tai Purification, and the impact area was roughly the same as the curb.
After hearing this, the doctor bent over to write something in the medical record book. Then he got up to examine Fu Xinyi’s injuries and returned to his seat to fiddle with the computer, staring at the MRI images on the screen, frowning as his expression changed several times.
This expression… could it be that she has been knocked silly? Luxianbei thought, quietly probing, “Doctor, is her condition serious?”
The doctor shook his head, pondering slightly. “It’s not a question of seriousness; her situation is quite special, you understand?”
“What do you mean special?” Luxianbei pressed on.
“Hmm…” The doctor organized his thoughts before saying, “From the examination results, besides some bruising on the scalp, she has only a very mild concussion. However, as you can see, she has already shown very severe confusion, which is a symptom that typically indicates more serious brain injury…”
At this point, the doctor paused and glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of the computer screen, lowering his voice to ask, “You need to tell me honestly, did she encounter some urban legend?”
“In fact, there have been many patients in the hospital over the past two days who have no apparent organ abnormalities but display strange symptoms,” the doctor thought.
Among the patients admitted to the hospital, there was even an old man in his seventies who displayed bizarre symptoms of pregnancy and a surge in pregnancy hormones despite all bodily organs being normal. The doctor murmured.
It was precisely because of these patients with strange ailments that doctors and nurses at the hospital couldn’t help but gossip privately, saying there must be some urban legend incident in Tangcheng that affected the patients, causing them to develop Nightfall Syndrome.
Having seen Fu Xinyi’s examination results, the doctor immediately linked her with those patients that had been admitted earlier.
“No!” Luxianbei firmly denied, “I was with her the whole time before she got hurt; I didn’t see anything strange!”
“Hmm…” The doctor pondered for a few seconds, sighed, and said, “Then just like with the other patients, before the diagnosis, we’ll have to keep her here for observation for a while.”
Luxianbei, “……”
Many patients suffering from strange illnesses appeared within a few days?
This is very likely related to Solang Pema and Miss Rabbit’s group, residual spirit energy fluctuations left behind during the assassination of Stinky Sister. Luxianbei thought, her brow slightly furrowing.
Excessively strong residual spirit energy fluctuations indeed pose a high risk of causing ordinary subjects to show symptoms of spirit energy incompatibility, and in severe cases, they can develop Nightfall Syndrome.
Although after the incident, the three operatives of the Siye Society in Tangcheng immediately launched follow-up work, trying to minimize the harm, the residual spirit energy fluctuations had been exposed in the city for over five hours, meaning some ordinary people would still be affected.
But…
What is Fu Xinyi’s situation?
She is a Spiritual Ability User; she shouldn’t be affected by the residual spirit energy fluctuations. The hospital’s examination results also showed that she wasn’t injured at all…
Just being lightly struck by the coat of Ling Tai Purification, and she ended up like this. Could it be… Ling Tai Purification has some special ability I don’t know about?
Luxianbei thought, making a silent decision to ask the Ancestor later and then looked at the doctor.
“We can only do it this way for now, let her stay here for observation. Doctor, I will go help with the payment.”
“Wait!” Luxianbei had just stood up to leave when the doctor stopped her.
Luxianbei turned around, looking at the doctor in confusion, tilting her head, “Doctor, is there something else?”
The doctor, blushing, stuttered, “Miss Wang, could… could you give me a contact number? Maybe we could have a meal together another day?”
The moment Luxianbei stood up, he had a feeling that he might never see such an enchanting girl again; if he missed this chance, there would be no opportunity left.
Luxianbei, “……”
What on earth are you doing, doctor?
Though I can understand that even if I have the power to charm, an ordinary person would be subtly influenced, but dear, that is not love!
However, saying that… there’s free food, right? It feels great to mooch off someone now and then!
Luxianbei thought, quietly taking out her phone and showing the QR code.
————
After temporarily settling Fu Xinyi, Luxianbei walked out of the hospital, got into a taxi heading back to the Tangcheng Four Seasons Hotel, and unlocked her phone, staring at the friend request on WeChat, lost in thought.
What a bizarre day, mooching off food is nice, but in the past, I wouldn’t even consider one meal, let alone a hundred… uh, a hundred is too much, still quite hard to refuse, let’s make it ten meals.
Just ten meals, I won’t have a crush!
What on earth is happening today?
Luxianbei thought, pulling herself back to reality, and without hesitation, rejected the doctor’s friend request.
Outside the car window, small snowflakes danced in the air, the city’s landscape rushed by, and on such a night, someone was bound to feel heartbroken.
————
Back at the hotel, Luxianbei immediately logged into a certain social media platform, clicked on a friend with a yellow photo as their avatar, and sent a message.
Wang Buliu poked the little face of the Internet pervert 00.
Wang Buliu: “Are you there? I want to ask you something!”
After a few seconds of waiting, the bright yellow avatar jumped a few times, and a reply came back.
Internet pervert 00: “I’m here [shy], you finally showed up! Our boss is devastated because of you!”
Luxianbei, “???”
What the heck? What’s going on? I haven’t met with Void for a long time; are they trying to swindle me?
Wang Buliu: “Don’t talk nonsense, how did I affect it?”
Internet pervert 00: “Did you end up fighting the Old World Devourer? And win?”
Wang Buliu: “From a certain perspective, yes.”
Indeed, she had fought, and although it was after using some abnormal means, it counted as a victory, but what did that have to do with Void? Luxianbei thought.
Internet pervert 00: “Did I tell you before? Our boss learned from you and went to hunt the Old World Devourer, and it succeeded?”
Wang Buliu: “That sounds about right? [nervous]”
Internet pervert 00: “Then did you know that the core of the Old World Devourer’s urban legend is toxic? Our boss nearly got poisoned to d*ath!”
Luxianbei, “……”
Clearly, it was its own fault for not understanding the situation and wanting to act recklessly; it has nothing to do with me!
It’s not like I forced it to swallow anything.
But…
Wang Buliu: “What happened? Tell me specifically? Did it become tainted by the malice of the world? Is it already crispy and joining a fried chicken deluxe lunch?”
Although she would never admit that Void almost played itself to d*ath had anything to do with her, she was still very interested in the toxicity of the Old World Devourer’s urban legend core.
After sending the message to Internet pervert, Luxianbei waited for a good while until she was about to get impatient and send another message when she finally received a reply.
Not sure if it had gone to consult Void.
Internet pervert 00: “It has nothing to do with the malice of the world, our boss can easily withstand and return internet violence, would it fear such a bit of world malice?”
Wang Buliu: “Awesome…”
Internet pervert 00: “You should know that the existence of urban legends has a time limit, right?”
In the dimly lit hotel room, Luxianbei looked at the screen of her phone, frowning slightly.
This had been mentioned to her by Jumeng a long time ago. According to Jumeng, the time limit for urban legends is five thousand years. During those five thousand years, urban legends’ power is influenced by various factors, constantly changing and decaying, and after five thousand years, even gods can d*e.
This view was also confirmed in The Book of Siye; furthermore, according to The Book of Siye, most urban legends only last about two hundred years, much shorter than the five thousand years mentioned by Jumeng.
The Old World Devourers are indeed factors that once destroyed the world, but they are still urban legends, and their existence should also adhere to this rule. Even if they are not dead yet, a significant portion of their urban legend cores might have already decayed beyond recognition.
Could it be that Void swallowing the core of the Old World Devourer has something to do with this rule as well?
Wouldn’t that be a world-class big secret?
Luxianbei thought, watching the prompt above the chat box that said [The other party is typing…] and hurriedly sent a message before Internet pervert could.
Her fingers moved quickly, deserving of nineteen years of being single, making Internet pervert embarrassed as a digital Spiritual Ability User; what a pity she almost became a keyboard warrior.
Wang Buliu: “Wait a minute, what you’re about to say isn’t going to involve any world-class big secrets, right? If so, you might as well keep it to yourself.”
Some things become more dangerous the more you know about them.
Don’t tell me about some ideals of glimpsing the truth of the world; I have no such dreams!
After all, living without dreams is hardly different from living carefree, Luxianbei thought.
Internet pervert 00: “As expected of you! But it’s not as terrifying as you think; knowing might be alright.”
Luxianbei looked at her phone screen, hesitated for a moment, and replied, “Then go ahead and tell me.”
Internet pervert 00: “Okay, this matter is lengthy, let me organize my thoughts.”
Internet pervert 00: “At first, our boss learned from you to hunt the Old World Devourer; in fact, there was a target in mind. After sufficient investigation, it picked an Old World Devourer whose abilities bore some similarity to its own.”
“……”
An Old World Devourer with abilities similar to Void? What kind of urban legend could be similar to it? Rumors and gossip urban legends? Luxianbei thought.
Internet pervert 00: “Its original plan was to complete the hunt and, by swallowing the cores of the urban legend of an Old World Devourer with similar powers, achieve the goal of completing its own urban legend core. However, after completing the swallowing, it discovered something terrible.”
Wang Buliu: “Something terrible?”
Internet pervert 00: “Setting aside the malice of the world, our boss found that its existence was strongly affected, simply put, it’s been shortened in lifespan! Fortunately, it was discovered early, so there’s still time to remedy it. It has now already formatted its urban legend core and is reinstalling the system.”
Luxianbei, “???”
What kind of nonsense is that!
The urban legend core can still be formatted and then reinstalled?
What kind of urban legend core is that? Can you give me one too?
Internet pervert 00: “It asked me to remind you, if you swallow the urban legend core of the Old World Devourer, it’s best to expel their powers as soon as possible; it would be too late if you fully merged.”
Luxianbei, “……”
I would love to, but I don’t know how to format my own urban legend core!
If I could, I would have formatted those Witch species and Mythological species long ago and found a beefcake “system” to install. Luxianbei thought.
Wang Buliu: “Thanks for letting me know; however, I came to find you today for something else.”
Internet pervert 00: “What?”
Wang Buliu: “Help me investigate whether Jumeng is doing anything unusual lately?”
Internet pervert 00: “Oh, I know you’re in Tangcheng; our informants have already reported it. But why are you investigating her? She’s almost dead.”
Luxianbei, “???”
Almost dead… what does that mean? She was clearly still full of life just a moment ago!
