Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Qin Ying couldn’t remember how many vials of blood had been drawn.

By the time the ordeal was over, it was nearly evening. Qin Ying pressed a cotton swab against the puncture site as Yin Minmin handed her a large bottle of honey milk.

Given the extraordinary nature of the situation, Qin Ying’s test results came back quickly.

Back in the same office, Dean Tan sat with his reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, flipping through pages of reports one by one.

Qin Ying sipped her milk, her eyes downcast as she wondered if she had indeed been infected. If so, she pondered whether brewing the Yao Grass Han Lie had sacrificed into a tea would work.

After all, according to Han Lie, Yao Grass was a rare treasure used for healing and extending life.

Even a dying old man could cling to life for another year after consuming it.

If Yao Grass didn’t work, Qin Ying could also try the Fei Yi, which was said to drive away parasites and pestilence, or search for a way to save herself within the World in the Box.

Because of these options, she remained relatively calm.

Old Miao and the others, however, knew nothing of this. They were as anxious as ants on a hot griddle.

Finally, Dean Tan set down the stack of test results.

Old Miao scrutinized the man’s expression, and his heart sank.

Sure enough, Dean Tan frowned and said, “Eosinophils and white blood cells are both elevated. Hemoglobin is currently normal, but the overall outlook isn’t optimistic.”

He sighed and looked at Old Miao. “It looks like a reaction to a parasitic infection. You should report this to the Cultural Preservation Institute higher-ups as soon as possible.”

Old Miao looked at Qin Ying and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll report it immediately. Everything will be fine.”

Despite his words, his face was pale as he stepped out with his phone.

The faint sound of his voice on the call drifted in from the hallway.

Yin Minmin took Qin Ying’s hand, looking a bit frightened. “Sister Ying, please don’t be scared.”

Qin Ying gave her a small smile, but her attention was focused more on the “Cultural Preservation Institute higher-ups” Dean Tan had mentioned.

Seeing how the Cultural Preservation Institute seemed destitute and full of slackers, she hadn’t expected it to actually have a high-level leadership tier.

Moreover, judging by the police recommendation letter and the way the hospital had given them the green light at every turn, perhaps the Cultural Preservation Institute wasn’t the amateur operation she had initially assumed.

Regardless of her thoughts, Old Miao soon returned from his call.

At the same time, Wen Hao and Laodao arrived with takeout boxes.

It was impossible for Qin Ying to go home now.

Zhang Tao was sleeping so soundly that even a slap to the face wouldn’t wake him; they would have to stay at the hospital tonight.

As a subject under close observation, Qin Ying was ushered to bed by Old Miao as soon as she finished her meal.

No matter how bad the situation truly was, she needed to conserve her strength.

Qin Ying lay on the hospital bed, the rhythmic beeping of the monitor in her ears, with several people standing guard nearby.

Under these circumstances, only a saint could actually fall asleep.

She stared at the ceiling until nine o’clock in the evening.

Old Miao was at a loss for words. Just as he was about to say something, the sound of pitter-pattering footsteps came from the hallway outside the ward.

Old Miao thought it was Laodao, who was supposed to be guarding Zhang Tao next door.

“Laodao, someone needs to stay with Zhang Tao!” Old Miao called out, instinctively turning toward the door.

Instead of Laodao, he saw a face silently pressed against the small observation window of the ward door.

It was Zhang Tao!

Old Miao cursed instinctively, and Yin Minmin stood up abruptly.

Qin Ying couldn’t see from her angle on the bed, but she knew something was wrong and rolled out of bed in an instant.

Their movements weren’t loud, yet they startled the ‘Zhang Tao’ outside.

Zhang Tao bolted like a rabbit.

Qin Ying and the others gave chase, only to see his back as he ran toward the end of the corridor-where there was a window.

To prevent suicides or accidental falls, all the hospital windows were fitted with limiters that only allowed them to open halfway.

Zhang Tao headed straight for that window, which could only open a gap the width of a palm.

Old Miao shouted from behind, “Why are you running?”

Qin Ying pursued him nimbly; even wearing slippers didn’t hinder her speed.

But Zhang Tao was faster. It was as if his feet didn’t even touch the ground as he reached the window in the blink of an eye.

Then, under the watchful eyes of Old Miao, Qin Ying, and Yin Minmin, he squeezed through the narrow gap of the window like a boneless clump of cotton.

There was no tragedy of a fall from the ninth floor. Once his upper half cleared the window, Zhang Tao dissolved into a cloud of ash in the wind before their very eyes.

Qin Ying stopped in her tracks.

With a creak, another ward door opened.

Laodao asked, looking bewildered, “What are you guys running for?”

From the room behind him came the sound of thunderous snoring.

Qin Ying and Old Miao exchanged a look and walked over to that ward to check.

There, on the hospital bed, Zhang Tao was tucked under the covers, snoring loudly.

Yin Minmin saw him too, her face turning deathly pale as she began to stutter. “Then… the thing that just fell out… was that his soul?”

“A soul departure?”

Qin Ying shook her head. “No. It was something else that looked exactly like Zhang Tao.”

She gestured for everyone to look at the floor.

On the hospital’s clean, pale green floor, a trail of ash had abruptly appeared.

There wasn’t much ash, and it would have been hard to notice elsewhere, but on the hospital floor, it was quite conspicuous.

The trail had been scuffed by Qin Ying and the others, but the trajectory was still faintly visible.

It led from the window to the door of Qin Ying’s ward, and then back to the source-inside Zhang Tao’s room.

It extended all the way onto Zhang Tao’s bed.

Looking at the thin layer of ash on Zhang Tao’s bed, Yin Minmin swallowed hard. “That thing that looked exactly like Zhang Tao… it came out of his mouth?”

Yin Minmin pointed to the dust lingering at the corners of Zhang Tao’s mouth.

In truth, she didn’t need to say it; the answer was already obvious.

Qin Ying said coldly, “Perhaps that thing was peering through the door to check on me.”
“Just like that shadow falling into the Sewage Pool… it was going to see Zhang Tao.”

Words alone weren’t enough, but Qin Ying and the others soon found critical evidence.

In the surveillance footage of the ninth-floor ward, Zhang Tao never appeared at all. There were only the figures of Qin Ying, Old Miao, and the others as they chased after him.

Watching this, Yin Minmin grabbed Qin Ying’s hand in fear. She was about to say something when she suddenly shuddered.

“Sister Ying, why is your hand so hot? Do you have a fever?”

Under the fluorescent lights of the ward, everyone could see Qin Ying’s face turning visibly red.

“I…” Qin Ying swayed, her eyelids feeling incredibly heavy.

Before an irresistible drowsiness overcame her, she looked at Old Miao and murmured, “I…”

Whatever Qin Ying wanted to say was forgotten as she stumbled and fainted, falling into a deep dream.

With her eyes tightly shut, it felt as though she were sleeping in a lightless, soundless black hole, plummeting continuously in one direction.

Perhaps it was only a moment, or perhaps a long time had passed.

Qin Ying was suddenly startled awake by a voice.

“Supreme Deity, what is wrong?”

The voice was abrupt, pulling Qin Ying sharply from her deep slumber.

Her consciousness returned, but her body could not move.

Qin Ying was very familiar with this feeling of Sleep Paralysis.

Before she reached adulthood, she had experienced Sleep Paralysis almost every night for as long as she could remember.

Sometimes she would dream of bizarre and fantastical scenes; other times, she would only dream of a Shadowy Figure crouching at the edge of the bed, tightly covering her mouth and nose.

Qin Ying was very experienced in dealing with Sleep Paralysis.

In moments like this, she just had to rely on willpower to sit up.

But this time was difficult; it felt as if a mountain were pressing down on her.

Just as Qin Ying wondered how much longer she would fall into the darkness and hoped someone would wake her, the voice spoke again.

“Supreme Deity, are you calling for me?”

Qin Ying jolted, recognizing the voice.

She wanted to speak, but even after exerting all her strength to part her lips a fraction, she only managed a weak groan.

But it was enough.

The falling Qin Ying was caught in an embrace.

Her shoulder blade bumped against something round, like a wooden bead.

That slight sting of pain cleared her mind further.

Leaning against a solid chest, she could even feel breath brushing against her ear.

“Han Lie?” she called out, her voice filled with uncertainty.

“Present!”

The person behind her answered, steadying her body by her shoulders.

Standing in the darkness, Qin Ying wanted to turn around to look, but she couldn’t. She only heard Han Lie’s voice from behind her.

“Han Lie has come at your call.”

Suddenly, a faint light flickered to life.

They were abruptly standing on a red wasteland filled with dancing fireflies.

Qin Ying’s feet were buried in thick, fluffy dust.

As far as the eye could see, there were plants three times the height of a person, deep red like cattails.

Qin Ying’s expression shifted as she asked, “Where is this? What are those plants?”

She couldn’t turn her head, but she heard Han Lie’s voice: “This is your dream. Those are Dream-Embracing Grass.”

Dream-Embracing Grass!

Qin Ying was overjoyed. “Why are you in my dream? What is Dream-Embracing Grass? Is there a way to wake me up?”

Before her questions could be answered, Old Miao’s voice reached her first.

“Qin Ying, wake up.”

The entire wasteland began to shake; Qin Ying was about to wake.

It felt like standing on a speeding roller coaster; the weightlessness made her instinctively reach back for support.

Perhaps sensing her unease, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist to steady her.

“Do not fear, Supreme Deity. Simply consume the leaves of the Dream-Embracing Grass to no longer be controlled.”

“The Ghost-Shadow Vine grows alongside the Dream-Embracing Grass.”

“Be careful… someone… malicious…”

Han Lie’s voice faded. Qin Ying wanted to look back one last time, but the thought shattered.

The ward’s fluorescent lights were blinding as she suddenly sat up from the hospital bed.

Dean Tan, Old Miao, and the others surrounding her let out long sighs of relief.

***

World in the Box

Han Lie woke up on a pile of straw, drenched in a cold sweat.

The campfire beside the straw cast flickering light across his profile.

He had led a team out of Yunwu County City and was currently patrolling to drive away the Fei Yi Monstrous Beasts.

Sitting by the fire, Wang Chang laughed. “How old are you, still having nightmares? Don’t tell me those little rascals from earlier today scared you?”

Han Lie didn’t answer. He raised a hand to press against the cinnabar-red dot in the center of his chest.

*Qin Ying.*

He whispered her name in his heart.

Why did the Supreme Deity call him into her dream? Had she encountered danger? Were there also conflicts in the Divine Realm?

He looked up at the endless night sky and flipped himself up.

While pulling on his leather armor, he asked Wang Chang, “There is Dream-Embracing Grass in the Youyun Marsh south of Yunwu County, right?”

Wang Chang nodded blankly. “Yes, why?”

Han Lie snatched his saber from the side and hung it at his waist. “I’ll leave things here to you, brother. I must go to Youyun Marsh to retrieve Dream-Embracing Grass.”

The Supreme Deity must have encountered a thorny problem. Although she hadn’t given an explicit order, Han Lie felt he had to find the leaves of the Dream-Embracing Grass to offer to her as soon as possible.

He didn’t know if his meager strength could help, but even if it proved futile, he had to try.

Han Lie’s sudden outburst left Wang Chang staring with his mouth open. “Did you just wake up in the middle of the night to sing a tune? What do you want Dream-Embracing Grass for?”

People in the accompanying party began to wake up one after another, looking over.

Han Lie led a horse over and leaped onto its back. “I’ll leave the matter of driving away the Fei Yi to all of you for now. I’ll be back soon!”

As he spoke, he had already galloped into the night.

“Hey!” Wang Chang’s mouth opened and closed several times before he finally just shouted after him, “There’s always Ghost-Shadow Vine near Dream-Embracing Grass! Be careful!”