Chapter 65
“Well, do you want to eat this?” Shopkeeper Shi handed the doll to Jiang Li again. “You should like it.”
A trace of doubt rose in Jiang Li’s heart.
She smiled lightly and declined.
“How about a mouse, or fish? I have both here.” Shopkeeper Shi rummaged through a large cardboard box.
Animals that like to eat mice and fish are cats.
Jiang Li had already guessed it.
Perhaps, in Shopkeeper Shi’s eyes, Jiang Li was both a pig and a cat.
At this moment, Jiang Li recalled those mutated Stray Cats on Floor 4 and Floor 3.
Fatty had told her that patients with a health score below 80 lived on Floor 4.
Patients with scores from 81 to 95 lived on Floor 3.
Those above 95 could be discharged directly.
If those “Stray Cats” were actually patients, could it be that the patients’ scores corresponded to the degree of mutation?
Fatty had once told Jiang Li.
He said he found a tattooed fellow patient who “scored high and was discharged” in the pork served at the Cafeteria.
So, patients discharged with scores above 95, was their final destination actually the “Morgue,” or perhaps the “Back Kitchen Warehouse”?
Jiang Li broke out in a cold sweat.
The terrifying part of this was that Jiang Li had never taken even a single pill given by the doctors!
Even without taking medicine, mutation would occur.
Jiang Li now needed to control her score so it wouldn’t get too high.
But she also needed to make sure her score wasn’t deducted too harshly, or she’d be locked in the Dark Room!
Or, perhaps, there was another way-
Jiang Li looked up. “Shopkeeper Shi, do you have a Pass for the asylum? I’d like to buy one.”
Hearing Jiang Li ask for a “Pass” right off the bat, Shopkeeper Shi was quite surprised.
“You want to buy a Pass?” Shopkeeper Shi frowned.
Jiang Li nodded.
Shopkeeper Shi flipped through his ledger, sounding a bit troubled.
“Everything in my shop was left here by other customers, trading back and forth. So far, no one has been willing to trade a Pass with me.”
No Pass.
Jiang Li was a little disappointed.
It seemed the plan to leave with a Pass had fallen through.
Actually, if she really needed a document, she could try to kill or rob one of the Back Kitchen Warehouse Staff Members and take theirs.
However, those Staff Members always acted in groups.
If Jiang Li acted rashly, she would definitely be besieged.
At that point, things would only get more dangerous.
Jiang Li pondered for a few seconds.
She thought of the Emergency Room in the hospital.
Whenever the Emergency Room lights turned on, the black mist on Floor 0 seemed especially thick.
There seemed to be some mysterious connection between the Emergency Room and Floor 0.
“Do you have a Surgical Gown? If you do, I want one,” Jiang Li said to Shopkeeper Shi.
“Let me check…” Shopkeeper Shi flipped to the yellowed pages of his ledger. “This… Eh? I actually do!”
Shopkeeper Shi perked up.
He put down the ledger and walked over to an old wooden chest.
The chest was covered in thick dust, as if it hadn’t been touched in years.
“You’re in luck. Someone traded a Surgical Gown here three years ago.” Shopkeeper Shi blew off some dust and opened the chest.
He pulled out a wrinkled green Surgical Gown.
Jiang Li took it and unfolded it.
The Surgical Gown was not large; it was sized for a woman.
Jiang Li held it up to herself-it fit perfectly.
But there was one flaw: there was a knife cut on the abdomen, with dried bloodstains around it.
Shopkeeper Shi said, “This is a doctor’s Surgical Gown. It also comes with a set of Doctor’s Rules.
If you want it, I’ll give you the rules as well.”
Jiang Li’s eyes flashed.
“How much for this?” Jiang Li asked.
Shopkeeper Shi thought for a moment. “You can trade me a palm for it.”
Jiang Li recalled this Instance; in this one, she was bound to her father.
She immediately rejected this option. “Not this time… maybe next time.”
“Can you see if you can trade something else?” Jiang Li asked.
Shopkeeper Shi replied, “Besides body organs, items with Aberration power of equivalent value can also be exchanged.”
The third rule of the Madhouse Nighttime Snack Shop:
[This shop sells goods by barter, adhering to the principle of equivalent exchange.]
Jiang Li thought for a moment, then took out the Peace Amulet Lock from her Space.
It was left from the previous Instance.
It belonged to the eerie Little Boy.
“Will this do?” Jiang Li held a Peace Amulet Lock in her palm.
Shopkeeper Shi’s eyes lit up. “Yes, yes! That’s perfect!”
He reached out and snatched the Little Golden Lock. “Deal is done, no take-backs.”
Jiang Li didn’t feel she’d lost out.
After all, the Peace Amulet Lock had just been lying around; using it was even better.
“Here, since you’re so generous today, I’ll give you something extra!” Shopkeeper Shi put away the Peace Amulet Lock.
He opened a wooden drawer under the counter, took out a box of Little Match, and handed it to Jiang Li.
“This… is a good thing!” Shopkeeper Shi said mysteriously.
He continued, “You know Doctor Hao in this hospital, right?
He’s tried to buy this from me many times, but what he offers is never worth much. Every time, I tell him I’m out of stock and refuse to give it to him.”
Shopkeeper Shi’s mysterious words made Jiang Li laugh.
Maybe, just maybe, this Little Match really was something special.
“Thank you,” Jiang Li said, putting away the Doctor’s Rules.
She also put the Surgical Gown and the Little Match into her Space.
Jiang Li left the Snack Shop, walked to the entrance, and knocked three times on the vertical sign at the door.
The sign, engraved with “Nighttime Snack Shop,” gave a “thud, thud, thud” sound.
Snack Shop Rule Six:
[Before leaving the shop, please knock three times on the vertical sign at the entrance.]
No wonder Doctor Hao knocked three times that time.
Thinking this, Jiang Li stepped out of the shop.
After leaving the Snack Shop, Jiang Li went straight back to the hospital building, to Ward 402 on the fourth floor.
She was so exhausted that night, she actually slept straight through until morning.
The next morning.
As soon as Jiang Li opened her eyes, she heard the wailing of the Middle-aged Woman.
“My son… wuwuwu, you died such a terrible death…”
Next to her, the Middle-aged Woman from Patient ID 526 was hugging the body parts of her Fake Son, laying them out one by one on the bed.
The Middle-aged Woman was crying so hard her tears were nearly dried up.
Meanwhile, the Old Man beside her sat on a chair, dozing off with his head propped up.
Jiang Li lifted her eyelids and glanced over.
Both the Old Man and the Middle-aged Woman in the room had deep dark circles under their eyes.
So… these two lunatics really did hide outside all night!
They didn’t close their eyes for even a moment.
Still shocked, Jiang Li got out of bed and went to the Restroom to wash up.
When she came out, she could clearly feel the Middle-aged Woman’s resentful gaze.
But Jiang Li didn’t care at all what that woman thought.
Seeing that it was about time, Jiang Li left and went to Ward 409.
She knocked on the door and called Red Infant out for breakfast.
Red Infant was so sleepy he couldn’t open his eyes. He rolled over, mumbled a couple of words, and couldn’t get up.
Jiang Li sighed and could only let Red Infant continue sleeping.
She left Ward 409 and followed a few other patients down towards the Stairs.
Behind Jiang Li, a pair of venomous eyes watched her closely through the crack in the door of Room 402.
Only after seeing Jiang Li disappear down the Stairs did the person withdraw their gaze.
Immediately afterward, she slipped out of the room and quietly pushed open the door to Room 409.