Chapter 220: Frog Hospital (12) Parasites

Qi Si had long anticipated this.

As the number of cleared instances increased, the quality of the players he encountered would become higher and higher. It would be difficult for him to easily manipulate opponents and gain significant advantages as before.

All he could do was meticulously extract small benefits on the basis of an equal Contract, and secretly bide his time, striving for the dominant position in cooperation.

Qi Si placed his hand on his knee and tapped it idly: “Interesting, you proactively proposed cooperation, but made many demands. Are you so sure I won’t reject your requests?”

Huang Xiaofei raised an eyebrow: “You draft the terms, and I sign them. That’s fair. What’s more, I have a fallback. At worst, I’ll just give up on solving the puzzle and trigger the minimum death count mechanism to clear the instance—you know, although the cost is huge, I can do that.”

Lu Zimo looked at her, then at Qi Si, and did not chime in.

Huang Xiaofei didn’t look at Lu Zimo. A blackened sheet of paper appeared in her right hand, its edges rough and uneven, the material unknown.

Under Qi Si’s gaze, she picked up a black pen and copied the Contract terms onto the paper, but didn’t rush to sign her name. Instead, she cast a scrutinizing gaze at Qi Si.

Two seconds later, Qi Si chuckled lightly and waved his hand, dispelling the phantom of the blood-colored scroll: “You’re right. Although I have key information and puzzle-solving methods, it’s difficult for me to execute them successfully with my own strength. I do need your power.”

Huang Xiaofei smiled, placed the paper on her palm, and signed three flowing characters: “I can promise you that in this instance, I will provide you with the maximum possible assistance within a reasonable scope.”

The conditions for a normal Contract are not strict; a verbal agreement can take effect, let alone one written on paper.

At this moment, a cold electronic voice promptly sounded in the ears of both parties to the Contract:

【Contract signed. This Contract is guaranteed by the rules of the world, and no entity may defy it】

Huang Xiaofei calmly folded the paper, put it into her bosom, and said with a smile, “I hope our cooperation is pleasant.”

Qi Si’s eyes curved, and his lips curled into a smile: “I also hope we can trust each other.”

The two groups who were attacking each other not long ago shook hands and made peace. Sun Dekuan stood by, dumbfounded, and couldn’t help but lightly slap himself.

Should I say they’re worthy of being Veteran Players? This is playing the art of thick black to perfection… Under Sun Dekuan’s respectful gaze, Qi Si recounted what he had seen and heard during the day, including his speculations about the historical background, the tadpoles in the kitchen, the pond Cheng Xiaoyu led them to, and… the time-reversal-like situation that occurred at the end.

He subtly omitted the fact that he had collected some tadpoles in a sugar jar, and Sun Dekuan naturally didn’t bother to speak up.

Huang Xiaofei said: “The medical record copy I gave you is real. Besides that, I also found some records pointing to a plan for exploring at night.

“The shift records mention that the hospital’s nursing assistants take turns on night duty to patrol the corridors. The person on duty will wear a duty badge around their neck, which is probably the key to nighttime actions.

“Sometimes, some patients or doctors in the hospital need to leave urgently at night and seem to get an exit permit approved by the dean…”

Under the constraints of the Contract, these words were undoubtedly true.

Huang Xiaofei paused and looked at Qi Si: “It’s too late today. Tomorrow, we can split up to explore the duty room and the dean’s office—did you see any offices or similar places on your way?”

Qi Si nodded lightly, lowering his head to read the four paper copies of medical records in his hand.

Huang Xiaofei’s handwriting was very messy, but fortunately, the wording was clear and accurate, so the specific content could be understood.

Cheng An’s medical record clearly stated “hemophobia,” and the treatment method column said “to be determined,” which looked suspicious no matter how you viewed it.

Huang Xiaofei’s and Lu Zimo’s conditions were the same as their judgment on the first day, with surgery scheduled for the fifth day as the treatment method. Combined with the information that “those cursed by frogs will die on the operating table,” it’s no wonder they were eager to seek cooperation.

Sun Dekuan also needed surgery, also scheduled for the fifth day.

He leaned next to Qi Si, and upon seeing the words “vasectomy” written on the medical record, he cried with a long face: “I’m not saying this, but I didn’t even have it done in reality, so how can I not escape it in the instance?”

This instance was clearly related to fertility, so such a development, though unlucky, was reasonable.

Qi Si returned the medical records to Huang Xiaofei and said unhurriedly: “If nothing unexpected happens, by the fifth day, we will all die on the operating table. We must complete the current task before the surgery. There must be other ways to cure the illness in this instance.

“Of course, we can also directly abandon the current task, complete the main quest in advance, and leave the instance.

“Yesterday, Lin Chen said on the phone that there was an infant statue in the center of their pond, which should be the so-called ‘Holy Son.’ We just need to find a way to go to their side, or have them come to our side, and that will be it.

“I suspect that the Blue Frog Hospital and Green Frog Hospital scenarios have a significant connection, or are even interconnected. It’s just unknown where the passage is.”

Based on the known information, almost everyone could infer this conclusion.

Huang Xiaofei pondered for a moment, lit a cigarette, and spoke faintly: “I suspect that the essence of this instance is a small ghost domain.

“You just said that after you came out of the room, all the NPCs’ attitudes towards you reverted to a day earlier. instances based on large-scale supernatural events, besides the eerie aspects, will try to adhere to common sense in most details and would never be so crude.

“It can only maintain a one-day cycle and cannot erase players’ memories. At most, this is a small-scale vortex. Although it continuously draws nearby living beings into it, it’s not difficult to deal with once the root cause is found.

“I even speculate that this hospital area is just a virtual world built by a single person or an eerie entity, used to satisfy some desire or as the foundation for a certain ritual.”

Sun Dekuan blinked twice and said, “Ah”: “I’m not saying this, but is this still’small-scale’ and ‘not difficult to deal with’? Two spaces, different tasks, and last night we were chased and attacked twice by frogs and pregnant ghosts. If this is simple, what kind of instances have you encountered before?”

“It’s not calculated that way. A ghost domain is a ghost domain, and a instance is a instance. The tasks are, in the end, arranged for us by the Eerie Game, and do not belong to the ghost domain itself.”

Huang Xiaofei showed more patience than yesterday, shaking her head slightly: “Last night, we encountered so many dangers, yet we didn’t suffer substantial harm. Do you think this ghost domain doesn’t want to kill us?”

So there was this other reason… One can only say that Huang Xiaofei is indeed a Veteran Player. Even a slight revelation of the information she knows is invaluable to ordinary players who lack information gathering channels.

Qi Si sat by, seemingly listening casually, with an expression that suggested he already knew. At the same time, he seized the opportunity to store this information, which couldn’t be found on forums, into his mind palace.

No wonder he had felt that there were many inconsistencies in the details of this instance before.

Now it seemed his premonition was largely correct. The game system and the instance itself were not one entity. Players were more like pawns dispatched by the Eerie Game into this instance world to explore and do certain things.

The existence of the failure rate and various endless tasks was, in the end, all about urging players to take action secretly and actively.

Sun Dekuan also fell into deep thought, his eyes gradually glazing over, clearly lost in his own world.

In the silence, Lu Zimo softly explained: “My sister speculates that this ghost domain has limited capacity, and excessive casualties are also a burden for it, so it will ignore us as much as possible.”

Sun Dekuan scratched his head: “Does that mean we won’t die no matter what?”

The other three simultaneously cast looks of concern for children at him.

Huang Xiaofei held the cigarette between two fingers and exhaled a puff of smoke: “Heh, what determines our life and death has always been the Eerie Game.”

“Ding-a-ling-ling… Ding-a-ling-ling…”

The ringing of an old-fashioned telephone abruptly broke the heavy and oppressive air.

Qi Si got up and walked to the table in the corner, picking up the phone… Green Frog Hospital, staff dormitory.

Lin Chen sat by the landline phone, describing as clearly as possible into the receiver: “Brother Cheng, we asked around this morning, and it seems those tadpoles that are bred are used for contraception. Many hospitals get their supplies from us.

“The idea of tadpole contraception is not openly advocated, being called feudal superstition, but it seems to be very effective, so most hospitals secretly transport tadpoles… This might sound absurd, but that’s how this instance is set up… “Also, some nursing assistants here are discussing that several recent surgeries haven’t gone smoothly, mostly resulting in death from massive bleeding…”

After breakfast that morning, the three split into two groups. Yu Kun and Lin Chen were responsible for exploring the entire hospital and gathering information; the female teacher alone took on the task of raising frogs, guarding the hospital’s pond.

Lin Chen and Yu Kun worked together quite tacitly and efficiently, with one responsible for asking questions and the other for acting as a door god to scare NPCs, quickly figuring out everything they could.

They returned to the pond, but inexplicably triggered the main quest 【Find the Statue of the Holy Mother】, and were then inexplicably teleported back to the staff dormitory.

Yu Kun judged that the Statue of the Holy Mother was at the Blue Frog Hospital. The reason he so readily let Lin Chen call to report their findings now was also to test Qi Si and the others’ intentions.

At this moment, the female teacher was huddled in the corner of the bed, her head covered by a quilt, oblivious to the outside world. Yu Kun, on the other hand, was playing with a gleaming white dagger, sitting on the table, glaring at Lin Chen.

Qi Si asked: “How’s your task progress? I found a bucket of tadpoles here. Next, we should be able to find a way to make the NPCs eat more of them.”

Lin Chen felt the concern in his words and swallowed: “It shows here that 280 tadpoles have been eaten, and we’re still 720 short of the task goal… “Oh, and those tadpoles might cause some bad situations. The NPCs here are very secretive about the tadpoles and warned us to be careful not to accidentally eat them, saying something about parasites…”

On the phone, Qi Si’s voice was gentle and calm: “You’ve worked hard. We’ve also obtained some information, though its authenticity is unknown. It’s said that those who harm frogs will be cursed by them, and many patients have already died from the curse. One of the triggers for the curse is eating tadpoles.

“The large number of patients dying from massive bleeding on the operating table these days cannot be ruled out as being due to the frog’s curse. We’ve learned that almost all patients either ate tadpoles or drank tadpole soup.”

At this point, the young man forced a relaxed smile: “Of course, I’m very curious who would ultimately suffer the curse if frogs were fed tadpoles.”

The Big Boss still loves to joke… Lin Chen curved his lips with a hint of nostalgia, not forgetting the main business: “Brother Cheng, we’ve triggered a new main quest here: 【Find the Statue of the Holy Mother】.

“As I mentioned before, the infant stone statue in the center of our pond should be the Holy Son. I guess next, we need to find a way to combine the statues of the Holy Mother and the Holy Son.”

Qi Si said with a smile: “What a coincidence, our newly refreshed main quest here is 【Find the Statue of the Holy Son】. It seems we still need to find a way to bring the statues together for a meeting.”

“A meeting?”

Lin Chen had explored the entire hospital with Yu Kun and had already discovered that the hospital was completely sealed off, with no roads leading to the outside.

Players from Green Frog Hospital and Blue Frog Hospital couldn’t meet. He had realized this at the time and had been disappointed for a while.

But now, listening to Qi Si’s words, it seemed there was a possibility of meeting?

Lin Chen reviewed the clues from the beginning but still couldn’t think of a way to leave the hospital. However, he believed in his heart that Qi Si must have already discovered the key to breaking the situation.

After all, that was Qi Si, who had led him to te clearance in the Rose Manor instance… “Yes, from the main quest, this is the simplest solution.” Qi Si said, “We discovered that the essence of this instance is a small ghost domain, weaker in power than Rose Manor, and thus can only cycle time in one-day units.

“This kind of ghost domain is not difficult to deal with; as long as the root cause can be found, it can be easily broken. It’s not impossible for the two spaces to overlap and connect.”

Qi Si recounted the information he had just learned from Huang Xiaofei, lowered his eyes, and sighed: “Remember, what determines our life and death has always been the Eerie Game.”

Listening to the calm and composed tone on the other end of the phone, Lin Chen’s anxious heart also settled somewhat.

He took down the information, half-understanding, and asked: “Brother Cheng, where would the root cause of such a small ghost domain usually be?”

Qi Si said indifferently: “I’m not sure; more clues are needed to verify. But I feel it might be related to the pond.

“We also got a clue here: 【Blue Frog Hospital raises blue frogs, Green Frog Hospital raises green frogs】, but in fact, both hospitals have both types of frogs.”

“This precisely proves that there is a hidden passage in the hospital, difficult for humans to discover, but frogs can easily pass through.”

Lin Chen nodded slightly, already having a concrete idea of what to do next in his mind: “Mm-hmm! Brother Cheng, I’ll go check the pond again tomorrow!”

Even he himself didn’t notice that the anxiety that had filled his heart had completely disappeared after this phone call.

It seemed as long as Qi Si was there, everything would get better, and even the most difficult puzzles could be solved… “Be careful. No matter what happens, life comes first.” Qi Si’s voice had no fluctuations, yet it had a calming power. “We will also try to explore more places tomorrow and attempt to act at night to investigate the depths of this ghost domain…”

“Dong dong dong!” The staff dormitory door was suddenly knocked roughly.

Immediately after, a sharp female voice shrieked: “You demons! Give me back my child!”

“My child, my child…”

The voice came with an echo, as if spoken from countless mouths simultaneously, converging into one.

The phone in his hand had stopped at some point, leaving only a series of “beep beep” busy tones.

Lin Chen tremblingly placed the receiver back and looked in the direction of the sound.

He saw dark red blood pouring into the room from the crack of the tightly closed door, spreading in all directions at an unnatural speed…