Chapter 29

Zhu Xiaoke stammered the whole way, but she managed to finish telling the entire story. Everyone’s attention turned to the weapon as the bespectacled guy had hoped.

“Where’s the gun?”

The doctor who came in with Liu Yixun asked that question. The bespectacled man unknowingly hung his head. Song Qingxiao gripped the gun as her heart pounded rapidly. At that moment, having the gun meant that she had an extra layer of protection. It was important beyond words. However, she knew that it would be tough for her to keep it.

“After the bodyguards entered and subdued the newcomer. I… I took the gun…”

Zhu Xiaoke looked a little flustered after she was questioned. She quickly looked around the room in a state of utter panic. She could not remember who the gun ended up with.

None of the people who entered the office had left. The large chap had been subdued, but he had not been moved to the patient area. A look flashed across the bespectacled guy’s face, and he was about to speak when Song Qingxiao cut in and rushed to say, “It’s with me.”

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She raised her arm. The gun lay in her palm. As soon as the bespectacled man saw the gun, a hint of glee seemed to flash across his eyes. Once he heard Song Qingxiao’s words, a gloomy look appeared on his face.

If he managed to speak first, he would have suggested carrying out a body search, and Song Qingxiao would have been forced into a passive position. She would not be able to hide the gun, and once the others discovered it on her, everyone would immediately be suspicious of her.

However, she had taken the initiative to surrender the gun so naturally, no one would suspect her of anything. The bespectacled guy’s plan had fallen through, but he quickly recovered, and his composure returned.

Song Qingxiao continued to say, “Miss Zhu was in such a state of terror before, so she handed the gun over to me temporarily.”

Her explanation would give the others no cause to suspect her. Everyone had already expected it from the way Zhu Xiaoke reacted earlier. The two doctors nodded in response.

Since they had ‘found’ the weapon, a doctor suggested, “Xiaoke, you should lock the gun away. When the road leading down the mountain has been repaired in five days, we can hand it over to the police when we lodge our report.”

As soon as the doctor finished speaking, Liu Yixun took out his handphone and looked at it. That action made Song Qingxiao recall his appearance as number four in the first trial as he held his phone and discovered that there was no signal. It made her clench her damp palms tightly.

Since an incident like that had transpired in the hospital, the atmosphere became more gloomy. The large chap was transported by the bodyguards in the direction of the patient area. Doctor Zhou’s corpse had been lifted and placed inside a body bag.

The office was still covered in bloodstains. Sunlight streamed through the windows to light up the room. Tiny dust particles floating around could be seen with the naked eye under the sunlight. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as they worked carefully. It made the atmosphere silent and eerie.

The zipper of the body bag was done up by a nurse in a prolonged manner. The zipper made an unpleasant sound as it was moved. Song Qingxiao was still upset that the ace up her sleeve had been taken away. On the bright side, she may not have gotten the gun, but similarly, the bespectacled guy did not gain any advantages.

Besides that, she still had plenty of opportunities. As long as she paid attention to who hid the gun after that, she may still be able to come up with another idea to obtain the gun within the time frame of the mission.

The sound of more footsteps could be heard. Before the person had arrived, the voice of a woman rang out.

“Has something happened to Doctor Zhou?”

As the words were uttered, a woman dressed in a doctor’s coat rushed into the office. She had not seen that doctor before, but she was followed closely by the red whip lady who was also dressed up as a doctor. Number four, who had been missing all the while, had finally appeared. As soon as Song Qingxiao saw her, she let out a sigh of relief.

Since all six trial participants were in the hospital, their numbers were complete.

Number four had also discovered that Song Qingxiao and the bespectacled guy dressed up as a doctor were in the office. Their eyes met, but they all quickly turned away in tacit understanding, all pretending to not know each other.

The doctor who had just arrived was in the patient area the whole time. She rushed over when she heard about what had happened. Number four was one of the new doctors, so she was shadowing that doctor on the job.

Once the matters had been settled, the bespectacled guy left with Doctor Hu, who had rushed over in the end. Liu Yixun also left with two nurses to deal with Doctor Zhou’s corpse. Song Qingxiao and Nurse Zhang were responsible for cleaning up the office. It was late by the time they left. The sun hung low in the west sky. It was time for dinner, and loud voices could be heard from the cafeteria.

Since someone had died in the hospital, everyone was in a solemn mood. Nurse Zhang and the others were somber because Doctor Zhou died. Song Qingxiao was silent because time was running out. The numbers in her vision had become 114: 53: 21. The time left in the mission was four days and nineteen hours.

Since she was new, she did not need to work the night shift that night. Once she had finished her dinner, she went with Nurse Zhang to patrol the patient area before returning to the dormitory.

Song Qingxiao lay on her bed after she was done washing up. Her tense emotions had not relaxed one bit. Nurse Zhang had turned off the lights. The hospital in the night time gave off an indescribable ghastly feeling. She constantly felt as though there was danger lurking in every corner, but perhaps that was because she was within the trial space.

During the day, she could not hear any sounds coming from the patient area. However, the silence in the night time seemed to amplify those sounds. She could hear someone singing at the top of their lungs. She shut her eyes. The ticking sound in her mind continued like a shadow that was always by her side.

When she opened her eyes, she could still clearly see the numbers flashing despite the darkness.

109: 47: 35.

“Qingxiao, are you asleep?”

Nurse Zhang moved to look down from the top bunk. In the darkness, her face looked ghastly pale. Her long hair that was usually kept under her nurse’s cap during the day hung down on both sides of her face, swaying with her movements.

The moonlight that streamed in through the windows seemed to elongate the shadow of her hair. The shadow of her hair reflected on the walls looked like a cluster of tentacles about to capture Song Qingxiao.

“No, I’m not.”

Song Qingxiao realized how dry her throat was after she opened her mouth to speak. Nurse Zhang assumed that the oddness of her voice was due to the injury she sustained earlier in the day. Hence, she did not take it to heart and even reassured her.

“Are you still thinking about the incident that happened this morning?” She paused momentarily, “Don’t worry too much about it. Get some sleep. After five days, everything will be settled.”

“Okay.”

The passing of five days would not be able to solve Song Qingxiao’s problems. The instructions in her mind stayed the same as it was in the afternoon.

‘Protect the people. Obliterate failure. Upon completion of task: 950 credits.’

The time displayed on the countdown was 109: 45: 55.

Nurse Zhang lay down and fell into a deep sleep after she consoled Song Qingxiao. As she slept, she did not make a sound. The silence of the room and the sound of singing outside made for an interesting contrast. The ticking sound of the grandfather clock in her mind seemed to become more sonorous, making it harder for her to ignore it.

The mission of the trial was set in a psychiatric hospital. There were a total of six participants, and they could pick between being a medical staff or a patient. She remembered that Nurse Zhang described the hospital to her during her introduction yesterday.

There were 27 patients at the hospital, six doctors, and twelve nurses, including Song Qingxiao. Number five and number six were included among the 27 patients. At the moment, she was the only participant who was a nurse.

According to Zhu Xiaoke in the office of the dead Doctor Zhou, Doctor Lee had left the hospital, and Doctor Guo was on leave. That meant that there were two vacancies among the six doctor positions. However, the arrival of the bespectacled guy and the red whip lady had filled these two vacancies. The large chap with the gun killed Doctor Zhou, so he lost his right to choose and automatically became a patient.

In other words, there was another vacancy among the doctors because of Doctor Zhou’s death. Song Qingxiao had also lost 50 credits because of it. In comparison,  the patient numbers had increased by one compared to the number that Nurse Zhang had mentioned previously, which was 27 in total.

She vaguely felt as though she had grasped a vital clue but still lacked a crucial point to link everything together. The instructions in her consciousness did not change. She once again paid attention to the instruction ‘Upon completion of task: 950 credits’ and felt as though something did not quite add up.

What was strange about it?

In the darkness of the night, she shut her eyes and went deep into thought. The faint singing seemed to drift over leisurely from afar. The numbers in her vision continued to drop.

109: 41: 27…

109: 41: 26…

109: 41: 25…

109: 37: 31…

Song Qingxiao sat up with a jolt! Her movements were so exaggerated that the bed let out an ear-piercing screech. She was completely drenched in cold sweat. She had suddenly thought about a serious problem that she had completely missed the whole time.

After Doctor Zhou died, the reward had decreased by 50 credits. She thought that the death triggered the change in the task instructions. The time in her vision continued to go down. The period of five days seemed to be a rope that was strangling her mind, constantly reminding her about the importance of the time period.

However, it nearly caused her to forget that even though she would get 1000 credits if she completed the task, 50 credits would be deducted from the total each time a person died. In that case, what would happen if all the credits were deducted?

If the people she had to protect were the medical staff, and if each of the 18 medical staff, including the doctors and nurses, contributed 50 credits, 1000 credits would be sufficient. However, if things followed the pattern of the previous trial where the participants were required to kill one another, Song Qingxiao had the faint feeling that things would not be that simple.

If the people referred to in the task included all the doctors, nurses, and patients, that would mean that the total number of people was extremely large. The total number of all these people was as many as 45 people. If more than half the people died, her credits would be completely wiped out from all the deductions. It would not take the entire five-day period of the task before she died!

In that type of situation, what could cause so many people to die within five days?

She thought about that important question that she had earlier today when she was in the patient area. She forgot all about it because she was so startled after being tapped on the shoulder by Tu Xiaoyun.

When she entered the trial scene, she was given two choices, either to become a medical staff or a patient. Hence, was it possible that there were two options regarding the task in the trial?

Since there were participants tasked with protecting the people, surely there were participants tasked to kill the people?