Chapter 23
Chapter 23
A coldness rose from Song Qingxiao’s feet, and it spread quickly to her limbs. Her heart pumped blood rapidly through her body, spurred on by her extreme anxiety. Her scalp tingled. She clutched her body with one arm and held onto her dagger in the other. Her entire body trembled.
The doctor who stared at her from behind his desk was clearly the doctor she killed in the first trial!
She wondered if she only imagined it because of how terrified she was. She shut her eyes tightly. However, when she opened them, the doctor still sat there in his white coat. His expression was so peaceful that it appeared almost indifferent. There was a nametag on his white coat which displayed the word, ‘Liu Yixun’.
The doctor rested his arms on the table as he held a form in one hand. His sleeves had crept up slightly, exposing part of his wrist and his wristwatch. The same watch that he had shown to everyone in the first trial. He indicated that the watch hands went wild because of the disruption of a magnetic field.
The table was neat and orderly. There was a computer on it. An uncapped fountain pen lay on top of a patient’s chart. Song Qingxiao was extremely well-acquainted with that pen. Her cheek tingled slightly. The wound on her cheek where the doctor had scratched her with his pen had healed entirely a while ago. However, she felt a slight pain there at that moment.
What was going on?
Song Qingxiao was speechless. She wanted to take a few steps back away from the doctor, but she was frozen on the spot. Her body no longer responded to her orders and stood there unmovingly.
The environment around her was peaceful yet strange. The ticking noise could still be heard in her ears. It was like she had a bomb strapped to her, giving her a sense of urgency as though an explosion could destroy her at any moment.
The doctor’s face looked a little pale. In Song Qingxiao’s line of vision, the odd numbers were displayed on the top of his forehead, still in their countdown.
119: 58: 46.
“Are you alright?”
The doctor’s gaze landed on Song Qingxiao. He frowned, and his voice sounded a little odd. It was monotonous and flat, devoid of emotion. It seemed stiff and unnatural, like a robot’s voice.
Song Qingxiao still remembered their last fight. The pain of being suffocated came back to her mind, and her throat seemed to still be strangled tightly by the doctor with the mouse cord.
She did not need to look in a mirror to know that her complexion was ashen and unsightly. All the odd occurrences that came in quick succession wrought Song Qingxiao’s nerves to their limits. Thankfully, the doctor did not pounce to attack Song Qingxiao as soon as she appeared. If that happened, she would have definitely broken down a long time ago.
The sound of her heart pounding rapidly in her chest and the ticking noise in her mind nearly drowned out the doctor’s words. Song Qingxiao forced herself to keep a lid over her terror and once again calm herself down.
She had entered the test space. Everything that happened here would be beyond her understanding. Furthermore, the doctor was not that scary. Since she had managed to kill him once, she would definitely be able to kill him again.
She touched her arm. The feeling of the dagger there soothed the erratic pounding of her heart.
“Are you alright?”
The doctor repeated his question. His gaze landed on the arm that she was holding. Song Qingxiao’s body stiffened. She swallowed her spit a couple of times and used her unyielding willpower to resist her instinct. She let go of the arm where the dagger was hidden and slowly nodded her head.
Her actions seemed to have used up all of the energy in her body. A frown appeared on the doctor’s face. It appeared that he was suspicious of her answer and whether she was really ‘alright’. However, he did not question her further. Instead, he moved his stiff lips to put on an awkward smile.
“It’s good that you’re alright. I’ve read your resume. Even though you lack experience, the hospital is understaffed right now.”
He put down the file in his hand and stood up. “Song Qingxiao, welcome to our hospital. We’re colleagues now.”
His smile did not reach his eyes. Not only did it not make her feel more relaxed, but his face also caused Song Qingxiao to recall the picture on the card when it flipped, causing her to feel more terrified.
“Now, I’m going to get Nurse Zhang to bring you around the hospital to familiarize yourself with the environment and job role. You should also get changed.”
So many things had happened in rapid succession over a short period of time. Song Qingxiao had become numb to all of it. She watched as the doctor called out loudly. The door opened, and someone walked in.
She thought that she would be unfazed even if the person that Liu Yixun called into the room was someone familiar. However, it did not happen as Song Qingxiao had imagined. The person who walked in was a young woman who looked about twenty-five years old. She wore a nurse’s uniform, and her hair was neatly tucked under her nurse’s cap. She had a hand on the door as she said, “Doctor Liu, did you call for me?”
Her voice was clear, and it seemed to breathe a little life into the eerily quiet office. The woman smiled brightly. Her lips were curved into a lovely smile as they revealed her prominent and adorable canines. Her smile was undoubtedly more genuine than Liu Yixun’s smile that was so stiff it made her skin crawl. It allowed Song Qingxiao, who was in a state of extreme tension and anxiety, to relax slightly.
“Yes, I did.”
The doctor nodded his head and introduced Song Qingxiao to her. He gave her instructions regarding the duties that he had assigned her. Nurse Zhang nodded her head in response.
When Song Qingxiao stepped out of the doctor’s office, she was covered in cold sweat. She looked as drenched as if she had been fished out of water. She kept wiping her forehead with her hand.
Her legs were clenched tightly due to her nerves, and they felt uncomfortable since she had stopped clenching. Each step she took made her foot break out in pins and needles. It felt as if she walked on a path covered in thorns.
The ticking noise continued to ring out in her mind. The countdown continued as the numbers decreased rapidly.
“Our hospital is a psychiatric hospital for severe cases and is under a fully-closed management style,” explained Nurse Zhang as she led Song Qingxiao down a long corridor, giving her an introduction to the hospital.
At that moment, Song Qingxiao noticed another problematic issue. The ticking noise in her mind was constant. She needed to pay utmost attention to hear what Nurse Zhang said. Otherwise, it would be easy for her to miss Nurse Zhang’s words.
The environment in the trial was different from the previous one. The situation seemed to be more complicated than the one before. At that moment, Song Qingxiao understood very little about the situation, and she had many questions in her head. There were things that she would need to investigate. If she let the ticking sound in her head affect her, she might miss out on important clues.
In that situation, it would be advantageous for her to gather as much information as she could. She ignored the shock she felt when she saw the doctor, the ticking noise, and the countdown. From Nurse Zhang, she learned that she was in a psychiatric hospital that was managed as a fully-closed system. That meant that she would not be in contact with any outsiders.
Song Qingxiao forced herself to ignore the strange noise. However, her expression led Nurse Zhang to misunderstand her. She smiled and said, “We have special supplies delivered every five days.”
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
The noise continued to disturb her. Song Qingxiao heard it, and her sharp senses picked up on the information and tried to find a connection. She thought that she was onto something, but the distracting messages in her head, the countdown, and the change in environment, not to mention the strange appearance of the doctor, messed with her thoughts. The clues seemed to dangle right before her. She was close, but she just could not get to it.
Song Qingxiao started to feel a little frustrated and uneasy in that situation. Nurse Zhang turned over to look at her, “There are a total of 27 patients in our hospital. There are 6 doctors and 11 nurses. However, now that you’ve joined, we have 12.”
As soon as Nurse Zhang finished speaking, she paused and noticed that Song Qingxiao was extremely pale. She had been mopping the sweat off her forehead non-stop. Her figure was skinny and weak. After she had left Doctor Liu’s office, she had not spoken. Nurse Zhang had been the only one who spoke the whole way.
She quickly stopped walking and asked apologetically, “Have I been speaking too much?”
“Not at all.” Song Qingxiao quickly shook her head. In her mind, Song Qingxiao thought that she had shaken her head forcefully. However, it appeared to Nurse Zhang as though she had merely lightly swayed her head twice.
When Nurse Zhang saw her expression and heard her words, she assumed that her new colleague was just extremely introverted. She smiled again and said, “Are you a little nervous because you’re starting a new job?”
After all, it was a psychiatric hospital, one that treated severe cases. The patients were mainly aggressive with violent tendencies. It was normal for new starters to be a little scared.
Song Qingxiao focused all attention on her words, worried that she would miss a single one. When she heard Nurse Zhang’s words, she nodded in agreement and said, “Yes.”
She was indeed highly nervous. It was not because she had entered a psychiatric hospital, but Nurse Zhang had helped her think of a reasonable excuse. Naturally, Song Qingxiao would go along and admit to that. As soon as she responded, Nurse Zhang spoke to reassure her just as Song Qingxiao had expected she would.
She smiled. “Truthfully, there is no need to be nervous. When we all arrived, we were all terrified. However, as time went by, everyone got used to it. They are all patients, so we shouldn’t take things to heart.”
Sunlight beamed into the corridor through the windows. Nurse Zhang’s face looked warm and gentle under the sunlight at that moment. “Take it slow, and you’ll be alright.”
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick…
Song Qingxiao turned to look at her. The numbers above her cheeks had dropped.
119: 51: 23.
She blinked her eyes.
119: 51: 18.
Nurse Zhang continued to smile. Song Qingxiao could not help but think about her mission.
‘Protect the people.’
She learned from Nurse Zhang that it was a mental hospital that treated severe cases. The patients might attack. Did the people in the task instructions refer to the doctors? Did she need to protect the doctors from being killed by the aggressive psychiatric patients?
She wanted to lift her hand to rub her aching head. However, she tried a few times but found that she could not move on her own volition. The day had been extremely traumatizing. She had not fully relaxed and recovered.
Nurse Zhang noticed her actions and reached out to take her hand. Her fingertips had barely brushed against Song Qingxiao’s palm when Song Qingxiao felt an electric jolt. She subconsciously wanted to push her aside.
“Oh, your hands are so cold!”
Nurse Zhang held Song Qingxiao’s hand tightly. She did not seem to mind her little struggle. In fact, she even smiled when she saw Song Qingxiao’s defensive reaction and said, “Your expression now looks pretty similar to some of our patients.”
She spoke casually, but it sounded like a warning bell to Song Qingxiao, making her hang her head. Nurse Zhang finished speaking and continued to tug Song Qingxiao along with her.
“Our work schedule is a five-day shift pattern. When we’re on shift, we need to stay in the hospital. We eat and sleep here. Since you’re new, you might not be used to it. Why don’t you share a dorm with me?” She paused momentarily, then continued, “Come on. I’ll show you to the dorms first and get you changed.”
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
The ticking continued. The numbers in her head had dropped.
119: 46: 57.
Five days!
Song Qingxiao noticed that Nurse Zhang had already mentioned it twice. The deliveries happened every five days. The nurses change shifts every five days. She realized that the time was a key to the task. However, the irritating noise in her mind and the numbers before her eyes constantly distracted her. She could not ponder in peace. She felt a little restless and uneasy. What was the significance of those five days?
Nurse Zhang still spoke as she pointed out places in the building to Song Qingxiao. She nodded her head perfunctorily, slowing her breathing over and over again as she tried to not get overwhelmed by her emotions.
Five days. The sound of the grandfather clock ticking in her mind. The countdown before her eyes. The mission to protect the people.
When she put all the clues together, they formed a coherent pattern. Song Qingxiao figured out the key. It was time!
The period of five days and the ticking noise both pointed at time. The mission to protect the people might have a time limit. As for the odd numbers that appeared before her eyes, the number had dropped to 119: 44: 27. However, she clearly remembered that the initial number that first appeared was 119: 59: 59.
She was shocked by the unexpected situation when the prompt in her consciousness gave her a choice, leaving her no time to think. After she entered the scene and was confronted by the doctor she had killed, she ignored the number.
However, after careful consideration, the figures seemed to be a countdown for precisely five days! It meant that the row of numbers was likely to represent the amount of time she had left for the task. Her task was to protect the people in these five days!
As soon as she thought about it, Song Qingxiao did not know if she should let out a breath of relief because she had figured out the clues or if she should feel more anxious because of the time limit on her task…