Chapter 57: Station 22: Pills

Chapter 57: Station 22: Pills

Eyes of deep purple shimmered in the night.

The chef's room was not hard to identify, nor was it particularly challenging to enter.

When Ming Yiyang stepped into the disorderly space, he couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly.

Though he had no idea why it looked like this, the way things were scattered around suggested that whoever did this was certain the room's owner would never return.

So, after the dinner party, someone had come here and searched through some documents.

Ming Yiyang crouched down, picking up an empty pill bottle from the mess. Various colored pills were scattered across the floor.

The label on the bottle read Sacubitril/Valsartan tablets.

Such medication was commonly used to treat chronic heart failure, reducing the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization due to heart failure. Apart from indicating that the chef had a cardiovascular condition, there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy about it.

However, two handwritten letters were deliberately marked on this particular pill bottle with a marker: PO.

In medical terms, this means "taken orally."

The medicine was meant to be taken orally in the first place. Why would it need to be specified?

He held the pill bottle and rummaged through the scattered items on the floor to find other different types of bottles. However, all the other bottles were clean, but only this one had a label.

Ming Yiyang formulated a hypothesis.

Perhaps the chef had also been infected with that strange, frenzied condition. Due to his cardiovascular disease, he might have accidentally discovered that this losartan-hydrochlorothiazide tablet could slow down his symptoms, so he specially marked it.

However, with pills scattered all over the floor now, he couldn't confirm what medication the bottle originally contained. He randomly grabbed a handful of pills from the nearby pile and put them back into the bottle, planning to examine them more closely when he returned.

At this point, he could deduce a few things. First, the person who searched through the items wasn't looking for an antidote, or they wouldn't have left the medications scattered around.

Second, whatever the person was searching for must not have been very large, considering they even checked the pill bottles and recipe book open. This suggested that the object was not just small, but possibly very tiny.

What could the chef possess that was worth searching for?

His thoughts drifted to the chef's corpse.

Back then, the water tank had been directly handled by the staff; he hadn't searched the chef's pockets yet.

He couldn't verify the authenticity of the pill right now, so he decided to search the chef directly. Generally, guests with cardiovascular diseases carried their medication with them.

If he recalled correctly, the water tank should have been returned to the kitchen area in the basement.

Exiting the room, he heard faint crackling sounds of wood chopping and distant laughter in the darkness, as if another revelry was taking place elsewhere in the hotel.

Without hesitation, he swiftly slipped into the deserted kitchen area, where he found the massive water tank that still needed processing.

The water in the tank had been drained, revealing three bloated corpses floating on the surface.

No one had attended to them. The frenzied employees were too eager to begin their "treasure hunt" in the guest rooms, indulging in an endless spree of violence.

The Spirit Shackles slithered into the water tank, and he indeed discovered the same pill bottle in the chef's pants pocket.

The label on the sacubitril/valsartan tablets had been softened by water, but the PO inscription was still discernible, confirming it wasn't a coincidence.

However, at that precise moment, he detected an exceedingly faint sound.

With heightened senses, he turned to discover the only exit from the basement illuminated by a faint beam of white light from a flashlight.

He was startled and quickly sensed something amiss.

... How did these people find their way here?! He was sure he hadn't made any additional noise. Could there be a hidden surveillance room somewhere?!

He quickly regained his composure and turned to hide in the direction of the underground parking lot.

But as he turned around, he saw – his reflection in the water tank before him silently showed the back of his head.

Ming Yiyang gazed at it intently, slightly lifting his left hand in the darkness.

The "him" in the tank remained facing away, mirroring his action by raising its left hand too.

He took a deep breath and looked behind him once more.

The flashlight's light had vanished entirely, leaving only darkness beyond—no trace that anyone had ever been in the basement.

He knew he had fallen into the trap of the world within the painting.

Striking Mandu's head twice, Mandu sat up with a crack, and Ming Yiyang said,

"Yan Qiling, come find me in the painting."

Then, amid the overwhelming killing intent, he walked towards the aquarium.

Ming Yiyang passed through the aquarium, and the door to vitality slammed shut behind him, followed by a surging pressure!

Ada's grass ring instantly turned to ashes, and he had to dodge the spirit's attack at almost a running pace.

Darkness continuously formed into contorted, frenzied walls, dividing the path before him and forcing him to make a choice.

The killing intent was so close, tinged with an unyielding urge to eliminate it immediately.

It seemed that just a slight touch from it would mercilessly grind him into dust!

Ming Yiyang had to temporarily abandon reason and rely solely on his intuition to decide his direction.

He darted through the continually intersecting darkness, dashing towards one fork in the road after another. He didn't know how long he had been running; the constant sprint left his throat dry, but he couldn't afford to stop.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a faint light ahead.

Without thinking, he ran towards it, only to discover that it was indeed an exit, but far narrower than he could have imagined.

If Si Shuhao or Yan Qiling were here, he believed they would be able to squeeze through.

For him, however, the exit was too small.

Like a sudden enlightenment, he realized what had happened to the figures trapped in those miniature frames in the hall.

The frames offered an escape for those who thought they had cracked the rules, but the exit itself was a deception.

Even if the glass were shattered, the figures in the portraits couldn't possibly break free.

...Again with this trick.

Ming Yiyang unsheathed his sword with determination. Amidst the blazing white flames, his eyes shimmered like blooming wisteria flowers as the swinging blade sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, cutting down the ecstatic assault of the malevolent spirit!

Frustrated by its inability to breach his defenses, the spirit eventually retreated temporarily.

The young man's chest rose and fell violently as he frowned, guarding this small patch of light.

He had no choice but to find a new exit. Even if he fought to his death here, it was impossible to escape from such a narrow space!

But suddenly, he heard Yan Qiling's voice:

"Come on, left."

The crisp voice, like shattered jade dropping into water, soothed the rising anxiety in Ming Yiyang's heart. Without hesitation, he swung his blade around him based on intuition, continuously severing something as he slowly moved to the left.

The white flames burned even more fiercely at that moment, illuminating him like a blazing fireball.

His strength drained away at an unprecedented rate. Ming Yiyang gritted his teeth and continued to swing his blade relentlessly, defending against the onslaught of malevolent spirits with all he had.

His side was sliced open by an untimely strike, and the floating down feathers were swiftly swallowed by the darkness. The spirits, fueled by an immense, impatient rage, attacked him frenziedly!

He didn't know how long he would have to keep going left, but Ming Yiyang persisted in that direction.

Just then, a sound of shattering echoed, followed by a sudden burst of light emanating from his leg.

A pair of pale arms emerged from the light, clamping around his legs and dragging him out!

Ming Yiyang felt as if he had plunged into the depths of the ocean.

The roaring blackness burst through the frame, its gargoyle form swiftly beheaded by the man's unfolding white paper fan.

The head thumped to the ground, dissolving into a kaleidoscope of colors.

Behind the shattered mirror, vibrant hues flowed out, akin to the burnt remains of the previous portrait, now silenced forever.

Half-kneeling in the man's embrace, Ming Yiyang's hands bled profusely, his body weakened from the intense exertion.

Yan Qiling helped him up with some effort, supporting him against his shoulder.

Tall and robust, Ming Yiyang wrapped his arms around the man's neck. Yan Qiling appeared to yield to him meekly, but in reality, he was holding Ming Yiyang up with incredible strength, whispering softly,

"Everything's alright now. Let's walk."

Ming Yiyang felt more obedient than ever before.

Again, he caught the faint trace of that refreshing lemon scent, so subtle that it might have been an illusion caused by his accelerated heartbeat, as he later thought.

At that moment, his burning cheek pressed against the cool crown of the other's head, touching a body devoid of warmth. He had never felt more alive than in that instant.

Blood flowed swiftly from the wound on his side, quickly soaking through the fabric beneath.

He was laid down on a guest room bed, and Yan Qiling pulled aside his coat, rolling up the sweater from the hem to reveal the firm, well-defined abdomen of the young man, marked with intersecting old scars.

The blood stain spread around, chilling air seeping into the wound.

Yan Qiling calmly assessed the injury and said,

"There's no first-aid kit now. Bear with it for a moment, I'll tie it tightly."

The young man, lying on the bed, nodded slightly with his chin raised, his strong profile beautiful in its determination, signifying consent.

He heard the sound of Yan Qiling cutting the bedsheet with a paper cutter, hardly imagining such a small tool being used with such intricate skill.

After some thought, he said,

"A triangular bandage will be needed for the abdomen, the bigger the better."

The sound of cutting fabric paused, then after a while, Yan Qiling brought over a piece of cloth and asked,

"Is this what you meant?"

Looking at the rhombus-shaped cloth with pointed ends, Ming Yiyang nodded. He propped himself up, straightened his back, then stood up and stretched out his arms.

"It's time for the dressing now. We need to stop the bleeding first."

Yan Qiling remained still, softly sighing,

"Could you please close your eyes?"

Ming Yiyang was puzzled.

"Why?"

"I want you to close your eyes."

Despite the peculiar and inexplicable request, Ming Yiyang complied.

Yan Qiling first used the previously cut bandage to bind and stem the bleeding.

Ming Yiyang sensed that the bandage might have been damp, but he couldn't be certain, as his blood quickly seeped through the cloth used for dressing the wound.

He began to feel cold, an ominous sign.

With no means to stitch the wound, the healing process would now be left to fate. If the bleeding didn't stop or if the wound became infected... Let's hope the worst-case scenario doesn't happen. At least, he needed to hold on for another day.

Yan Qiling arranged the triangular bandage around the wrapped area, looping it around his thigh before securing it. He then lowered the man's sweater and enveloped him in the down jacket. Carefully, he wrapped the man's palm as well, not rushing to reunite with Chi Zihe and the others:

"You shouldn't move around in your current state. Rest here for now. I'll fetch some water for you."

The man helped him unfold the blanket and supported him onto the bed. He didn't remove the down jacket, simply covering him with the blanket, followed by draping his own dark gray coat over it. With a thoughtful expression, he said:

"This should keep you warm and prevent a chill."

Surrounded on all sides, Ming Yiyang: "..."

Thank you, but it's not necessary at all.