Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Doctors from every department had gathered, and since only a handful of them had ever seen Zhu Xiangfeng, Shen Zhiwang had Zhu Xiangfeng stay with the other doctors. Then he found a girl with a similar build to stand in for her.

The Cloth Doll would only be effective in Zhu Xiangfeng’s hands. If it ended up with some other girl, all Shen Zhiwang had to do was snatch it away and destroy it.

The first to arrive was Qin Genan.

To be precise, Shen Zhiwang knew almost all the Player members of Zone F Team. When he saw Qin Genan, he couldn’t help feeling relieved that Nan-ge’s partner, Zhuang Yao, was in the Destruction Faction. Otherwise, this brawny type really would have been hard to fool.

Qin Genan came in quite openly.

She disguised herself as a newly arrived patient at the hospital. Before that, she had already memorized every doctor and nurse who recognized her face. After smoothly avoiding every NPC who knew her, Qin Genan swaggered right up to Shen Zhiwang, took out a Cloth Doll, and handed it to the little girl beside him. “Little friend, this Cloth Doll is for you.”

In full view of everyone, Shen Zhiwang had to maintain the refined, mild-mannered persona that came with his identity. He couldn’t refuse her outright.

Nor was he going to.

Shen Zhiwang glanced at the digital clock hanging in the hospital lobby. It read 11:07.

To keep Qin Genan from noticing Zhu Xiangfeng hidden among the doctors, he took the little girl back to his office.

Qin Genan followed him the entire way.

Shen Zhiwang watched his watch and counted down the time.

At exactly noon, Shen Zhiwang caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of Qin Genan-who had been following him all this time-finally leaving. The corner of his mouth lifted.

He had won the first round of the game.

Whether the requirement to give the little girl the Cloth Doll was completed or not, the Player side would receive no prompt, just as “Find the Cloth Doll” would never appear on the mission list.

He had not exposed the little girl’s identity, so he continued letting her act as “Zhu Xiangfeng.”

Because of that, once Shen Zhiwang returned to his office, he had no idea what happened in the hospital lobby after he left.

According to the plan, Shen Zhiwang would take “Zhu Xiangfeng” and act as the decoy while Ning Wang and the others stalled Ning Shuo’s group. Even if they failed to hold them back, it didn’t matter. They knew where Zhu Xiangfeng was, so they had the advantage from the start.

Based on the timing, Ning Wang and the others should have already picked up Zhu Xiangfeng by now.

…

Ning Wang had not picked her up.

Or rather, he had, but by then the time limit had already passed.

When Ning Shuo went to look for Qin Genan and the others, Ning Wang had planned to trip them up along the way.

Ideally, he would make them discover later that the girl beside Shen Zhiwang was not Zhu Xiangfeng. Even if they did notice, it still wouldn’t be too late for him to get to the real Zhu Xiangfeng first.

Ning Wang and the others had been following Ning Shuo the whole time. Who would have thought that after they turned one corner, only Zou Ling and Yu Qian would be left ahead of them?

There was still time to catch up to Ning Shuo, so Ning Wang immediately went to the outpatient hall.

At that moment, Shen Zhiwang had just left with “Zhu Xiangfeng.”

Qin Genan followed Shen Zhiwang away. Ning Wang searched around but couldn’t find Ning Shuo, so he assumed Ning Shuo had been influenced by Qin Genan and had followed Shen Zhiwang as well.

When Ning Wang went to pick up Zhu Xiangfeng, he saw a doctor holding a little boy by the hand. As they passed by, Ning Wang’s steps paused slightly.

That figure… looked a little familiar.

The doctor had his head lowered as he spoke to the little boy, so Ning Wang couldn’t see his face clearly. He looked at the doctor’s name badge.

His surname was Zhao. Ning Wang had seen this name among Shen Zhiwang’s files. He was a pediatrician.

The side of his face did indeed look like that doctor’s.

Suspicion rose in Ning Wang’s heart, but he did not investigate further. Then he went to the doctors and took a look.

…Where was Zhu Xiangfeng?

Ning Wang questioned those doctors. One pediatrician said, “That little girl? Xiao Zhao picked her up. Xiao Zhao knows Doctor Shen, so there’s no problem.”

Thanks to Ning Shuo immediately exchanging points for a miniature Camera that afternoon after discovering the Faction problem, then using it to photograph Zhu Xiangfeng’s face, Qin Genan knew the moment she saw the little girl beside Shen Zhiwang that the other side was planning to feint east and strike west.
He had originally only come to keep an eye on where the two of them were going. The moment the other side started trying something fancy, he immediately pretended he’d fallen for it, and even exchanged for another Cloth Doll from the System Shop to throw Shen Zhiwang off.

Just as Qin Genan had never seen Zhu Xiangfeng before, Shen Zhiwang had never seen the Cloth Doll either.

The former was pretending. Shen Zhiwang genuinely hadn’t.

Qin Genan pretended she had never noticed why Shen Zhiwang didn’t destroy the Cloth Doll she handed over, while Shen Zhiwang congratulated himself that the Cloth Doll had been given to the wrong person, perfectly muddying the waters.

After the clock reset at midnight, he returned to his ward.

A little boy and a doctor in a white coat were already waiting there.

The name tag on the doctor’s chest had the surname Zhao. He tore the Disguise mask off his face and smiled in satisfaction. “Dodging Ningning really isn’t easy. If he looked closely, this Disguise honestly wouldn’t fool him.”

Aside from the Disguise item Zhuang Yao had obtained in a special instance, items exchanged from the shop had no effect on NPCs.

So Ning Shuo had done it himself.

By now, he had basically memorized the faces of the psychiatrists. On the way over, he had also swiped a few name tags, just in case.

After shaking off Ning Wang, Ning Shuo had immediately found an empty ward and put on a Disguise, then swiped a doctor’s white coat.

All of it was swiped. He hadn’t spent a single cent.

Bliss.

When Ning Wang rushed to the outpatient lobby, Ning Shuo openly received Zhu Xiangfeng from the group of doctors. Once they were out of sight, he put a boy’s wig on Zhu Xiangfeng.

The wig had been exchanged from the System Shop and cost quite a bit. He’d go get Ning Wang to reimburse him after they got out.

Zhu Xiangfeng was wearing a hospital gown. With the swap complete, Ning Shuo lowered his head and spoke gently to Zhu Xiangfeng as Ning Wang brushed right past them.

It was all about the thrill.

[Now this is the kind of Disguise I live for!]

[Ning Wang? Why didn’t you recognize your brother? Just because you were in a hurry? Just because he had his head down? Just because they were both completely covered up? Are you telling me this isn’t true love?]

[I’m dying. I came over from Ning Wang’s side. After he realized Ning Shuo had tricked him, he immediately went looking for them, and those two hid in the women’s restroom.]

[And the women’s restroom just happened to be empty. If anyone had been inside, Ning Shuo would’ve been hunted down by the NPCs on the spot.]

However, while the first round of maneuvering had succeeded, none of them had an identity that allowed them to properly take care of Zhu Xiangfeng. So even after succeeding this round, they still had to send her back.

After all, there were four people on the other side. One was a doctor, and another was Zhu Xiangfeng’s friend. No matter how you looked at it, they were more convenient than two mental patients, one half-paralyzed patient, and one medical miracle being monitored by multiple hepatology doctors.

Qin Genan was bewildered. “In the eyes of another Player, am I already so simple-minded that I wouldn’t find it strange even if he never destroyed the Cloth Doll?”

Ning Shuo comforted her. “Players like comparing you to Sister Yao. Sister Yao does data analysis, so it’s normal for her mind to be a bit more agile than yours, Nan-ge.”

At the mention of Zhuang Yao, Ning Shuo thought of Yu Qian and Zou Ling.

They had worked hard too, holding back a High-level Player for so long.

Ning Wang was the first to arrive at their ward. Before he could speak, Ning Shuo smiled and placed the little girl’s hand into his palm. “Ningning, perfect timing. Help us send Xiangfeng back to Doctor Shen.”

He wore the posture of a victor. “But Ningning, you still need to train your brain more. Don’t always rely on fighting and killing. That’s not good.”

Using the tone of someone who put his pants on and denied responsibility, he made Ning Wang clean up the aftermath for them, then tossed in a round of mockery afterward.

And Ning Wang was still on the opposing side.

He was so angry he laughed. He pulled Ning Shuo out with him, then caged him in his arms in an empty corner, bending down as he deliberately put on an aggrieved expression. “Ge, who wins and still mocks the loser like you do?”

Of course a winner could mock the loser. Xie Ning’s guiding principle in life was that no matter whether he won or lost, he had to win with his mouth.

Faced with this guy deliberately acting pitiful in front of him, Ning Shuo lightly kissed the corner of his lips and coaxed, “Then if I make it up to you like this, will you let me win a few more times in the next few rounds?”