Chapter 167.

Chapter 167.

If the two unsigned medical discharge papers hinted at something, it became glaringly obvious when both Dr. Bu Jiuzhao and Dr. Bu picked up their pens and signed their names at the bottom right corner.

But Lu Shuo still wanted to confirm, "Is this the reward you're offering us?"

"Indeed," Aunt Mary dangled the two recovery certificates, teasingly showing them to everyone, "The one who exposes the mastermind gets to leave the hospital early."

Chen Yun skeptically questioned Aunt Mary's statement, "Is leaving the hospital that arbitrary?"

In fact, she found it hard to trust Aunt Mary's words, let alone those of Doctor Bu.

As the saying goes, beauty confounds and treasures allure. The more tantalizing the prospect of "early discharge" seemed, the more it felt like a sugared poison to her.

Sensing Chen Yun's disbelief, Aunt Mary chuckled. Her high heels clicked rhythmically against the floor, moving her behind Chen Yun. Like a cold, slithery snake, her fingers slowly wrapped around the girl's neck, tightening slightly, "You may choose to stay silent and leave the chance of early discharge to someone else in need."

With her neck being grasped, Chen Yun, for the moment, found it wise to hold her tongue.

Patting her gently on the head, Aunt Mary returned to her original spot, hands braced against the table, "Now, let's discover who orchestrated this scheme..."

But before she could finish, Xie Yin Xue raised her hand, pointing squarely at Doctor Bu.

Seeing this, Liu Bu Hua immediately backed Xie Yin Xue's claim, speaking rapidly, "He promised that if we brought him the recovery certificate, he'd sign it and let us leave the hospital early."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. No lies allowed," Aunt Mary waggled her finger, "Defaming a doctor is serious, but I'll let it slide considering your condition."

"Did I ever say that?" Doctor Bu folded his arms, looking indifferent, "Who can testify?"

Liu Bu Hua confidently responded, "All of us patients can."

Aunt Mary let out a sardonic laugh, "The ravings of madmen can't be trusted."

In the Qing Shan Mental Hospital instance, only nurses and doctors were bound by the rule not to lie to patients. When Doctor Bu made the promise, he had dismissed all nurse participants, leaving no one to verify the claim. As Aunt Mary declared their words as mere "ravings," even if Doctor Bu didn't admit it, they were at a loss.

However...

There was still another person seated at the long table — right opposite Xie Yin Xue, the silent Doctor Bu Jiu Zhao.

"Doctor Bu," Xie Yin Xue laced her fingers, resting her chin on her hands, her eyes curving as she softly called the man with gray eyes sitting opposite her, "You were there in the morning. Speak some truth, won't you?"

Truth?

If it wasn't inappropriate, the bystander Xiang Fei would've interjected: these two doctors, clearly in cahoots with Aunt Mary, were hardly going to side with the patients.

Xiang Fei rubbed her arms, feeling anxious for the patients. She whispered to Lin Yue Qing, "Thank goodness we're not in the patient team. The challenges faced by patients and nurses are worlds apart."

"Indeed." Lin Yue sighed, carefully and discreetly casting her gaze towards the doctor with vertical pupils, fearing that any intense gaze might draw his attention.

And for good reason—how could a normal person have eyes with such pupil shapes?

Despite his present appearance in a white lab coat, he might revert to his true nature come nightfall. There's a good chance he's the one who bit off Hu Li's legs.

Lin Yue's gaze then drifted to Xie Yin Xue.

Xie Yin Xue had exposed Hu Li's lies the previous night, and among all the participants, Lin Yue held the most favor towards him. She scrutinized the young man's slender physique and silently prayed: If robust Hu Li lost two legs, Xie Yin Xue, if caught by this doctor, might be gnawed at least up to his waist. She hoped Xie Yin Xue would escape this doctor's clutches, and that scum like Hu Li would be the one consumed instead.

However, the next moment, the doctor with the peculiar eyes, who appeared capable of cannibalism, unexpectedly betrayed his "teammate" without hesitation. To add insult to injury, he said, "Yes, Doctor Bu did say that. He's old and often forgets what he's said. I'm younger and remember clearly."

“……”

Doctor Bu burst into laughter, "You're young? Seems to me you're seriously ill. Perhaps you should be admitted here as well."

"I respect the old and care for the young. You go first." While saying "respect the old", Bu Jiu Zhao glanced sideways at Doctor Bu and shifted his gaze back to Xie Yin Xue when mentioning "care for the young".

"You're obedient, I see." Observing this, Doctor Bu's eyes darted between the two, and after a few moments, he looked at the others with a casual tone, full of sarcasm. "Alright, I remember saying that. But you guys weren't discreet about it; the entire hospital heard your commotion. What could I do?"

That was true.

The noise from the medical clearance forms exploding from behind the dean's portrait was deafening. Even the earless Auntie Mary could hear, let alone those with ears.

So, from the beginning to the end, it was all a trap, raising their hopes only to shatter them, leaving them in despair.

Even if they now penned down the mastermind's name, and left the hospital with a doctor's signed medical clearance, they wouldn't clear the level. Xie Yin Xue and Liu Bu Hua wouldn't write, and those like Chen Yun, Lu Shuo, Xiao Si Yu, including Bian Yu Chen and Shi San, had no intention of doing so either.

"No one wants to tell the truth?" Auntie Mary seemed eager to see them fight over the early discharge spot. "If we don't have a single suspect, all of you will be punished."

"Wait—"

Xie Yin Xue slightly raised his right hand. Auntie Mary, thinking he had changed his mind, turned to him, only to hear him drag Doctor Bu into the matter again, "It's also illegal to release patients without a proper clearance."

"Exactly." Liu Bu Hua, ever the loyal follower of Xie Yin Xue, chimed in, "His attempted wrongdoing is just as punishable. If we face punishment, shouldn't he also be confined for a couple of days?"

Auntie Mary: "..."

"Auntie Mary," Doctor Bu's tone seemed displeased. He wasn't just irritable with patients; he had a short temper with everyone. "If they're not writing, then pack up the paper and pen. Patients come to our hospital for treatment, not punishment. If you're bored, go clean the restrooms."

"Every villain has their nemesis, and in this instance, Aunt Mary isn't the apex predator of this realm. With that realization, she promptly went over to Thirteen to collect pen and paper from the patients."

"You really don’t intend to write...?"

Su Xunlan lowered her lashes, casting a sidelong glance at Hu Li next to her. Was he truly not planning to write anyone's name?

But what she genuinely wanted to ask Hu Li was: "Tonight, you're on the verge of death. Your only options are seeking the Ferryman NPC or opting for an early discharge. Why not give it a shot? As for whose name to write – it should be Bian Yuchen's. He was a nurse in the previous realm and knows more clues than any of us. If he were to aid you, you might survive a bit longer..."

In short, Su Xunlan hoped to see Hu Li write down Bian Yuchen's name.

Hu Li did put pen to paper, but he wrote the character "Xie."

In the entire realm, only one person bore the surname "Xie."

This wasn’t what Su Xunlan had anticipated. Her eyes widened in astonishment, and she blurted out, loud enough to alert Xie Yinxue, "Xie? You mean to write Xie Yinxue's name?"

Upon hearing her shout, Hu Li hesitated momentarily but then continued writing with even greater urgency.

According to Aunt Mary, the mastermind would face solitary confinement, which doesn’t sound lethal. However, Xie Yinxue would certainly not stand idly by, allowing Hu Li to finish writing his name. Thus, he braced against the table, attempting to snatch the pen.

However, someone was quicker than him. So swift that even Xie Yinxue couldn't track the move. Before he could act, Aunt Mary pierced his hand with a dark pen, pinning it to the table with a technique reminiscent of their past confrontations.

Unlike previous encounters, where Xie Yinxue maintained a serene demeanor amidst such injuries, this time was different.

Blood oozed from his wound, and before it could pool under the shadows of his hand, he slumped onto the table, coughing up blood. His exquisite silver bracelet, with golden bud details, broke into several pieces, the splinters falling like gemstones with a sharp, yet eerie chime.

Bu Jiu looked up sharply, standing up so suddenly the makeshift long table the nurses had assembled nearly toppled over. He instinctively reached out to Xie Yinxue but halted, recalling something.

Simultaneously, Hu Li triumphantly raised the paper with Xie Yinxue's name, joining voices with Liu Buhua: "I've written it!"

Their exclamations pulled everyone's attention away from Xie Yinxue and Aunt Mary, and onto them.

Dr. Bu, intrigued, queried, "Both of you wrote names?"

Liu Buhua replied, "Yes, I did."

It was clear Hu Li wrote Xie Yinxue's name. However, Liu Buhua wrote... his own name.

"I am the mastermind, only me," Liu Buhua declared, as calm as a felon facing execution. Addressing Aunt Mary and Dr. Bu, he confessed, "I wanted to forge a medical clearance to escape this hospital. Take me and confine me."

"Only you?" Bu Yi countered, "But there's another name written here."