Chapter 249

Chapter 249

“Those two are Fifth Xu and Sixth Xu. They’re human traffickers, and neither of them has any mental illness. There were once rumors that Huicheng Mental Hospital cooperated with people like them, but investigators found nothing at the time. Someone saw the pair inside the hospital, but they were never heard from again afterward. Be careful. They may be targeting the two of you.”

Xiaoshuai smoked without betraying any reaction. Across from him, Fifth Xu spoke.

“Little brother, it’s pretty boring in here. How about a game of cards?”

Fifth Xu produced a deck. Sensing that the pair were up to no good, Liu Sibo grabbed Xiaoshuai’s arm.

Xiaoshuai walked over anyway.

The instant he drew close, a sharp glint flashed through both men’s eyes. They immediately rose to pounce on him.

They had barely stood when their bodies swayed, and both dropped heavily back to the floor.

“You… your… cigarettes…”

The two struggled to keep their eyes open. They had never imagined Xiaoshuai would scheme against them from the moment they met.

Seeing Liu Sibo’s confusion, Xiaoshuai smiled.

“When I collected the sleeping pills earlier, I took a few extra. I have to admit, they work remarkably well when inhaled.”

Xiaoshuai walked over to the struggling men and spoke helplessly.

“Didn’t your families ever tell you not to accept things from strangers?”

His mouth moved. When he opened it and extended his tongue, a razor blade rested on top.

He approached the unconscious pair and used the blade to sever the tendons in their wrists and ankles.

The process was extremely bloody. The blade was too small to cut through directly, so Xiaoshuai first opened a wound, hooked each tendon out, and then sliced it apart.

When he finished, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned around. Liu Sibo was staring at him in terror.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m a good person. I only did this to prevent them from attacking us. You heard them yourself-they suffer from bipolar disorder. We’re all going to be roommates from now on, so I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Liu Sibo had nothing to say.

He was beginning to doubt Xiaoshuai’s earlier claims. Could someone like this truly have been bullied?

Some of the viewers online also began asking questions.

“Why not just kill them?”

“Exactly. Going to all that trouble to cut their tendons-are you some kind of psychopath?”

“What a monster!”

“They may have wanted to attack you, but you still can’t do something like this!”

A wave of abuse suddenly filled the chat. Xiaoshuai paid it no attention. If a dog bit him, he could hardly bite the dog back.

Of course, he was not a psychopath. He had done this entirely because of what Liu Sibo had said earlier.

If this solitary ward had a horrifying legend, there was almost certainly a Fiend inside.

Under those circumstances, two wounded, muscular men would surely prove more tempting than two scrawny youths.

“Remember: no matter what you hear tonight, don’t make a sound. Just be good and go to sleep.”

With that, Xiaoshuai went to his bunk, pulled the filthy blanket over himself, and fell asleep.

Liu Sibo wanted to suggest that they share a bed. But Xiaoshuai had already closed his eyes, so he could only abandon the idea.

He curled up alone on his bunk and forced his eyes shut.

An unknown amount of time passed. Just as Liu Sibo was beginning to drift off, a faint rustling sound jolted him awake.

He turned his head groggily. The sight before him made his eyes fly wide open.
A mass of black shadow crouched on Fifth Xu’s body, constantly producing sickening crunches. Fifth Xu’s eyes bulged, but he had already stopped breathing.

Liu Sibo nearly screamed. Fortunately, he remembered Xiaoshuai’s warning and hurriedly turned away, clapping both hands over his mouth.

His psychological defenses completely collapsed. He had never been brave. If he were, he would not have let others bully him.

He had thought they would only have to face a few evil men. Who could have imagined there was a Fiend here too?

Now he felt immensely grateful for what Xiaoshuai had done. With those two men present, perhaps the Fiend would fill its stomach and leave them alone.

After waiting a little longer, he cautiously looked back.

Whoosh!

Two bloodred eyes stared straight into his.

“Aaaagh!”

Liu Sibo screamed and sat bolt upright.

“What’s wrong?” Xiaoshuai’s voice came from below.

Liu Sibo had intended to explain what happened, but for some reason, he suddenly did not feel as afraid. It was as though he had lost something.

“Nothing,” Liu Sibo replied calmly.

“Then let’s eat. It’s morning.”

Xiaoshuai smiled.

Liu Sibo climbed down from his bunk and accepted the food Xiaoshuai handed him. He brought it back to his bed but did not eat. Instead, he secretly tipped it onto the sheets. He did not know why. He simply felt instinctively that he should not touch the food.

Xiaoshuai, meanwhile, lay on his bed and ate with relish.

He watched the comments on the screen before him, where footage from the previous night was now playing. Thank heavens for the System’s ability to record every angle without a single blind spot.

The footage showed a Fiend with bloodred eyes devouring the Xu brothers before crawling onto Liu Sibo’s bed and merging into his body.

As this happened, the System’s voice had sounded in Xiaoshuai’s mind.

[Ding! Body puzzle piece found-Eye!]

Xiaoshuai forwarded the System notification to John.

“What do you think?”

“Judging by his behavior just now, the Fiend must have altered certain parts of him, but Liu Sibo himself remains in control. It seems these so-called body pieces are actually Fiends. Each time he experiences a supernatural incident, he merges with another Fiend. Once the process is complete, he’ll probably become the Wang Xu we know!”

Xiaoshuai had reached the same conclusion.

“But that creates a problem.”

Xiaoshuai silently typed on the floating screen.

“That is indeed the normal sequence. If I don’t help Liu Sibo complete the puzzle, I can’t leave. If I do complete it, I’ll have to face Wang Xu in his complete form. Mission Objective 2 is to escape the hospital, and that seems impossible either way. Following the mission’s normal path leads straight into a dead end!”

“But Brother Liu is there with you now. Even a complete Wang Xu shouldn’t be his match.”

“I’m not afraid Wang Xu will be too strong. I’m afraid he won’t be strong enough.”

The moment Xiaoshuai thought of Brother Liu, his head began to throb. Who could have imagined that the greatest danger in this mission would be his own strongest ally?

Just then, a flood of private messages arrived.

“Go find Liu Ye! He’s about to wake up. Those bastards want to operate on him. If this goes wrong, every last one of them will die, and then we’ll truly be in danger!”