Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Luo Qingyue vanished like the White Rabbit from *Alice in Wonderland*, disappearing into the darkness ahead in the blink of an eye.

Bai Fuling steered his character in hot pursuit. The background roared with wind, rain, thunder, and whistling gales. Dim lighting severely restricted the visible on-screen area. Fortunately, the path was perfectly straight—no turns, no risk of losing him.

After dashing through a narrow corridor, he entered a room. The door stood unlocked and slightly ajar—Bai Fuling slipped right in.

The room was crammed with clutter. Bai Fuling’s character groped his way from the center toward the walls, where several wide bookshelves had been jammed into a corner. Years of dampness had left them moldy, speckled with black and green pixels.

And Luo Qingyue had vanished—mysteriously, inexplicably—right here in this room. There was no other exit.

A secret chamber? A hidden passage? Bai Fuling wondered. This might be the underground storage room Luo Qingyue had mentioned earlier.

He paced his character back and forth across the room, clicking indiscriminately on every object—high, low, near, far—hoping to stumble upon the correct switch. As any seasoned gamer knows: when clues vanish, mash the screen at random! You *will* hit it eventually.

With each click, lines of text popped up on screen:

“Obtained discarded library card ×3”

“Obtained worn rag ×1”

…

Random clicking unearthed nothing but junk. Bai Fuling scooped them up—only to discard them immediately.

“Obtained moldy book *Practical Urban Pig Farming Guide* ×1”

“Obtained moldy book *Overview of Town Public Facilities* ×1”

“Obtained brand-new book *Pure-Hearted Tentacles, Fiery Passion* ×1”

*Why are all the useful books moldy,* he thought, *while the bizarre ones stay pristine?*

Out of habit, he picked up a few more books—then paused mid-discard. *Wait—players can ingest old books stacked here!* This time, with no one watching, he could devour them freely.

—And eating them would clear space, making it easier to spot hidden passages.

Brilliant! Bai Fuling’s eyes lit up. He switched his character’s action mode and clicked rapidly, cramming every book within reach into his mouth.

His personal library archive successfully registered silhouettes of several titles—but alongside them came sudden fluctuations in his health bar, and text prompts flooded the screen:

“Ate moldy book, HP −10”

“Ate moldy book, HP −10”

Bai Fuling: ?

…*Why the HP penalty?!* Players could even eat raw river fish without worrying about parasites—yet moldy books *hurt* him?

He grumbled under his breath—then noticed his health bar, after dipping briefly, surged upward again.

“Ate brand-new book *Pure-Hearted Tentacles, Fiery Passion*, HP +100”

Bai Fuling: ???

He rubbed his eyes, staring incredulously at the screen.

It *increased* his HP? A full *100 points*???

He double-checked his health bar, then scoured the pile for another copy of *Pure-Hearted Tentacles, Fiery Passion*. He directed his character to grasp the book—hesitated a second—then clicked to eat it again.

As ~[HP+100]~ flashed, a bright green plus sign bloomed above his character’s head.

—Proof he wasn’t hallucinating. This *actually* boosted HP.

What an abstract healing method! Bai Fuling’s eyes widened in shock. Had he not accidentally consumed it along with the rest, he’d never have discovered this hidden restorative item.

He paused, weighing whether the HP boost came from the prefix “[brand-new]” or the title itself. Most likely the latter.

After all, books aren’t food. HP-boosting books must be special items—akin to medkits. Perhaps the system, detecting his backpack lacked healing supplies, had quietly dropped a welfare gift.

Now *that* was a player-friendly game!

Either way—it was good news. Free HP restoration? Absolutely worth grabbing.

Bai Fuling lowered his head and began sifting through the books scattered on the floor, cheerfully stuffing every copy of *Pure-Hearted Tentacles, Fiery Passion* into his backpack.

Once he’d collected all copies of that title, he also grabbed several others with similar naming conventions: *The Overbearing Tentacle Falls for Me*, *The Runaway Little Wife of the □□ Tentacle*, and *The School Hunk’s Personal Tentacle*.

The titles were painfully dated! The content bafflingly abstract! But Bai Fuling didn’t care—he was a pragmatist. Any book that raised HP was, by definition, a *good* book.

As for the recurring tentacle motif… paired with the tentacle monster he’d seen earlier guiding him to new maps—this must be the game’s mascot, right? Or perhaps the mysterious tentacle creature was actually a “welfare provider,” appearing solely to hand out bonuses.

Bai Fuling let his imagination soar as he packed these oddities into the expanded grid slots of his backpack.

Once he’d cleared away the stack of old-fashioned-titled books, traces of newspapers emerged beneath—yellowed, brittle, pressed deep at the bottom, their pages nearly obscured by pixelated mold; they looked utterly filthy.

Bai Fuling reached down and pulled them out.

“Some old newspapers: Yellowed, unidentifiable remnants from past years.”

Thankfully, this was a pixel-art game—not a full simulation—otherwise Bai Fuling would’ve recoiled from the overwhelming stench of damp rot. Still, the game’s realism was impressive: when he shook the papers loose, tiny pixel spiders tumbled off.

Two newspapers from fifteen years ago. One from fourteen years ago. One from thirteen years ago. Seven or eight from ten years ago.

Bai Fuling opened them chronologically—from oldest to newest—scanning the headlines:

“#Liao Family Announces Acquisition of Multiple Town Pharmaceutical Factories; Expansion to Create Jobs, Town Undergoing Major Upgrade#”

“#Innovative Technology: Kate Injection Needle—Strengthens Body, Revitalizes Energy! Aims to Aid More Bedridden Patients in Future#”

“#Tianxin Hospital Research Institute Engulfed in Sudden Fire! Major Safety Accident Claims 13 Lives, Leaves 28 Injured…#”

“#The Lie of the Era! The Kate Injection Needle#”

“#Tianxin Hospital Declares Bankruptcy; Original Site to Be Rebuilt as New Town Psychiatric Hospital#”

Bai Fuling scanned top to bottom—his gaze locking onto the thirteen-year-old edition. If his memory served, the torn newspaper fragment found in the psychiatric hospital—and the accident Pang Chengyu’s mother suffered—both occurred twelve or thirteen years ago.

Pang Chengyu’s mother had been a researcher at the hospital. According to Pang Chengyu, it was a medical accident—but the newspaper called it a *safety* accident… Could the fire have been staged to cover up the truth?

That presumed “cat” which drove Pang Chengyu’s mother to mental collapse—was it linked to this research institute?

The “Kate Injection Needle” was a critical clue. Incidentally, “Kate” sounded suspiciously like “CAT”—Bai Fuling couldn’t help but mutter a quiet吐槽.

And right at the beginning—the Liao family. Were both the hospital and the drug backed by them? Liao Zhiqiu’s family?

Liao Zhiqiu wasn’t just some idle rich second-generation heir, was he? His family seemed more like a shadowy underworld syndicate—perhaps shaped by corporate disasters and bankruptcies.

He didn't recall Liao Zhiqiu ever mentioning his parents; the only relative he ever mentioned was "grandfather."

A flurry of thoughts raced through Bai Fuling's mind, his focus drifting as his fingers resting on the phone slid slightly.

He maneuvered the on-screen character a few steps back, moving toward the wall. Then, as if touching something, the floor beneath suddenly cracked, and the character plummeted straight down!

Bai Fuling: What the?!

Even for a game, Bai Fuling was startled by this sudden change.

Although he was indeed exploring secret passages in the room, he hadn't expected it to happen so abruptly. Now this really was like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland!

He quickly pulled out a copy of "Pure-Hearted Tentacle Passion" from his backpack, ready to heal up after he landed.

—However, this time Bai Fuling wasn't falling from a great height. He found that after his character fell in, it was like sliding down a slide, whooshing through a dim pipe to the very bottom and sliding out of a wide tube.

The scene around him transformed completely. Now, Bai Fuling had arrived in an underground space.

The walls and floor were clean and new, with LED lights embedded in the ceiling. Gone was the limited, dim view from before. The structure here resembled a laboratory.

The area was empty, with no sign of Luo Qingyue. He had spent a short while flipping through books upstairs, and Luo Qingyue had already gone who-knows-where.

Bai Fuling stood up. He was never one to feel shy in a new place; his only thought was: Great, another new map to loot!

He began excitedly poking and prodding around. Since the flashlight had broken not long ago, Bai Fuling intended to find a new lighting tool. So, he took out the sickle from his backpack, climbed onto the wide lab table, and started prying at the indicator light embedded in a curved column on the side.

Although there was a 90% chance this light was connected by wires, there was still a 10% possibility it was battery-powered and removable. Anyway, he'd pry it open and see!

Bai Fuling was busily prying when he heard the sound of conversation and footsteps gradually approaching from the background. He paused his actions, decisively chose to put away the sickle, and hid to the side first.

Just like when exploring the mental hospital, the NPCs here were probably deeply hostile to outsiders. He couldn't be discovered for now!

The white bedsheet he'd snagged from the mental hospital finally came in handy. Bai Fuling covered the half-pried light with it and prepared to hide under the table.

But before he could let go of the light column he was holding and successfully hide, the door beside him slid open first. Someone appeared at the entrance.

Bai Fuling looked over and saw a familiar NPC with dark circles under his eyes—it was Liao Zhiqiu!

Just as he hadn't expected to see Liao Zhiqiu again, Liao Zhiqiu also seemed surprised to find someone inside. A '!' icon popped up over his head, and he stopped at the doorway.

A voice came from the background: "What's wrong, Young Master Qiu? Is someone inside?!"

"..." Liao Zhiqiu looked at the figure in the room.

Bai Fuling was still clinging to the curved light column on the lab table, not having had time to climb down. He widened his round eyes.

Liao Zhiqiu calmly replied to the voice outside: "No." He said, "There's no one here."

Bai Fuling: ...Well, this is a new one! Thank you, NPC, for not counting me as human!

Author's Note:

Bai Fuling: Are these weird books the manufacturer sneaking in their own agenda? ()