Chapter 221: Frog Hospital (13) Black Umbrella

At Blue Frog Hospital, Qi Si’s eyebrows slightly raised as he listened to Lin Chen’s account over the phone.

This morning, the nurses delivered four bowls of tadpole soup. The players drank three bowls and poured out one, yet the number of eaten tadpoles displayed on Lin Chen’s side still steadily increased by 140.

Does this mean that only eating whole tadpoles raw counts towards the total?

It seems he’ll have to wait until tomorrow to figure out a way to conduct a control experiment to truly clarify the counting rules of this instance.

Qi Si calmly pondered in his mind, while not forgetting to reassure Lin Chen a few times to stabilize the tool’s mindset.

At the tenth minute, the call ended as expected.

Lu Zimo looked at Huang Xiaofei, appearing weak and frail, as if unable to withstand nourishment: “Sister, these tadpoles cause curses and have parasites. Should I continue eating them or not?”

Huang Xiaofei stared at a spot on the bedsheet, lost in thought.

Qi Si put down the phone and spoke at the right moment: “As far as I know, instances generally don’t set up scenarios for total party kills. Since the hospital requires each of us to drink tadpole soup, it precisely indicates that eating tadpoles is not a direct cause of death.

“If you’re really worried, just ask Brother Sun to help cook the tadpoles into tadpole soup before you consume them. There shouldn’t be any problems.”

Sun Dekuan, hearing this, gave Lu Zimo a simple and honest smile: “That’s right, Little Lu, it’s still early days, what are you afraid of? No matter how many parasites there are, won’t they all turn into protein after being cooked?”

Lu Zimo let out a soft breath, turning to Sun Dekuan and Qi Si with a grateful smile, seemingly relieved.

He unscrewed the jar filled with tadpoles, picked out fourteen tadpoles, and asked hesitantly, “But Brother Sun, it’s so late today, can we still go to the kitchen?”

As if to confirm his words, the sound of knocking on doors and shouting, identical to the first night, echoed in the distance.

“Get to bed early, lights out at 9:30. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy!”

“Don’t open the door or window after the lights are out. If you can’t sleep, just lie in bed and wait until the wake-up bell rings before getting up!”

Sun Dekuan waved his hands repeatedly: “Tonight is definitely out of the question. I’m telling you, these things need to be discussed earlier. Little Lu, why don’t you make do for another day and we’ll talk about it tomorrow?”

Lu Zimo’s expression immediately became distressed.

He hunched his shoulders and lowered his head, looking at the fourteen tadpoles on the bottle cap, his gaze gradually unfocused.

Huang Xiaofei, startled by the knocking, snapped back to attention and decisively made a decision: “Zimo, if you’re worried, don’t eat the tadpoles today. It’s perfectly normal for a patient to occasionally forget to take their medicine if no one reminds them.”

She pinched the cigarette butt with two fingers, dropped it on the ground, and said with a lazy smile, “Besides, these tadpoles are supposedly for contraception, and you don’t have that kind of need, do you?”

Lu Zimo gave her a faint look, mumbled a reply, and ultimately tossed the tadpoles he had just picked out back into the jar, screwing the lid on tightly.

The nurse’s knocking grew closer and closer, finally slamming “bang, bang” on the door of room 404, giving the illusion that even the floor was vibrating.

The players stopped talking, climbed into their beds, and covered themselves with their quilts.

Not long after, the room lights went out, and the surroundings plunged into deep darkness. Even the noise faded significantly, leaving only the sound of footsteps outside the door and breathing inside.

In the quiet, drowsiness quickly set in. Qi Si yawned and fell into a deep sleep without realizing it.

“Drip, drop…”

After an unknown amount of time, a sound suddenly appeared in his ears, gradually becoming clearer as time passed, one heavy, one light.

The smell of blood drilled into his nostrils like a venomous snake, coursing through his meridians to his limbs and bones. The sound of dripping water was sometimes fast, sometimes slow, always ringing about two or three meters away from Qi Si.

His deep dream was disturbed, the mist of illusion vibrated, drowsiness dissipated, and his brain instantly cleared.

Qi Si assessed the situation, estimating that he had entered a plot presented in the form of a hallucination, and was about to passively receive some important information.

He yawned and reluctantly opened his eyes.

Directly in front was a narrow hospital bed, on which lay a woman in white, or rather… a female corpse.

Her head was turned towards Qi Si, her wide-open eyes hollow and bewildered. Her face looked quite familiar; it was the same one who had been crawling under the bed last night.

According to the known information, her name should be “Wang Ying,” and she died of massive hemorrhage on the operating table.

At this moment, large patches of blood seeped from beneath her, already soaking the entire bedsheet, yet still showing no sign of stopping.

The unabsorbed blood flowed down the edge of the sheet, dripping and splashing, making a “drip-drop” sound.

Perhaps because he was in a dream, unrestricted by physical factors, Qi Si did not feel dizzy as he had before.

He stared for a moment, then tried to lower his head, only to find himself tied to a chair, fixed by ropes in a position facing the hospital bed. Although he could slightly adjust his angle, he could never move the bloody scene out of his sight.

“Stimulus therapy,” a young voice said.

Qi Si looked up and saw a person in a white coat, also tied to a chair in the shadows directly opposite him, facing him across the hospital bed, like looking into a mirror.

That person’s face was a blurry mist, reminding Qi Si of the chief surgeon in the illusion he saw after fainting last night.

He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Are you Cheng An?”

“Yes.” The person raised his head, his voice muffled as if he couldn’t open his mouth properly, “The Dean hopes I can recover quickly and return to the operating table. He heard that stimulus therapy is the most effective…”

“Aren’t you surprised to see me at all?” Qi Si interrupted him, smiling, “In a sense, I’ve taken over your body. It seems you’re fully aware of this and agree. I’m very curious about what’s going on.”

Cheng An was silent for a moment, then said, “I voluntarily gave my body to you because I… am afraid of the Dean.”

He trembled violently, as if recalling an old nightmare, and the chair rattled against the floor: “You must be careful of the Dean, the Dean has changed… He wasn’t like this before. He was a famous doctor in our area, saving many lives… Then suddenly one day, he turned into a devil!”

Hmm, a cliché plot to add a dramatic backstory.

Qi Si’s eyebrows slightly raised: “How so?”

Cheng An swallowed, continuing, “At that time, the policy came down to our county, and the stillbirth rate in our hospital suddenly increased. Everyone said it was a curse or something… Until that day, I saw the Dean personally strangle a baby girl… All the dead infants were thrown into the pond behind the mountain. Every time I was on night duty, I could hear ghost cries. I wanted to leave, but I didn’t dare… If the Dean found out, I would die.”

Under the policy, each family could have a limited number of children. Families who wanted boys naturally cooperated with the Dean, asking him to kill girls.

People conveniently disposed of unwanted children, the Dean obtained materials to feed the frogs, and perhaps even money as a token of gratitude… Everyone got what they needed, a win-win situation.

Cheng An stopped talking without realizing it, lowering his head in silence.

Qi Si pressed, “Why do you think you would die?”

Cheng An took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down: “Ever since I discovered that incident, I’ve been secretly investigating. The Dean knows many important figures and also helps them find some unmarried women to circumvent policies and give birth to children.

“If those women made a fuss after giving birth, they would soon die accidentally… It must have been the Dean’s doing; he really kills people…”

Qi Si looked at him with a half-smile: “So, what do you want me to do by telling me all this?”

Cheng An looked up, speaking quickly: “I made a deal with a god, giving up my body as a passage for you to enter our world. He said you would solve all problems… I want to ask you to help me kill the Dean and save those poor people…”

His voice carried a hint of pleading, and he nervously awaited Qi Si’s affirmative reply.

Qi Si tilted his head and looked at him for a long time, then suddenly burst out laughing: “What does that have to do with me?”

Cheng An was stunned, and after a long while, he uttered a single word: “…Huh?”

“You’re an adult, yet you don’t even understand such a simple principle?” Qi Si shook his head, his smile laced with sarcasm and venom, “Since it’s a deal you made with some unknown entity, then go find Him. What use is finding me?”

“But… but I gave my body to you… and they are all innocent victims…”

“See, you’re already flustered after a slight provocation from me, and you’re starting to play the moral blackmail card.”

Qi Si sighed faintly: “Firstly, I have no interest in your body. You begged me to descend, not that I intentionally seized it.

“Secondly, I have no obligation, interest, or mood to help you save the suffering and uphold justice. I’m more interested in committing suicide than saving people; rationally speaking, I don’t think the fate of those women and children has anything to do with you.

“Finally, I never do business at a loss. You want me to help you deal with the Dean, so tell me—what benefits are you willing to give me?”

…Green Frog Hospital.

The door to the staff dormitory was burst open, and blood-soaked female ghosts surged into the room like zombies, swaying unsteadily.

Without exception, they wore white dresses whose original color was indistinguishable, and black umbilical cords trailed behind them, leaving long bloody streaks on the floor.

Upon seeing the players, those umbilical cords flew up as if alive, striking at the players like venomous snakes.

Yu Kun swung his great saber forward, a cold glint flashed, and several dark umbilical cords fell to the ground, writhing like earthworms unwilling to die.

New umbilical cords quickly replaced them, followed by the female ghosts’ claws.

“Children, give us back our children…”

Each female ghost chanted the same phrase in the same tone, a buzzing noise pouring into the players’ ears from all directions, making them nauseous.

Their hands clawed at Yu Kun’s face and body, who was closest to the door. Yu Kun wielded his great saber, mercilessly chopping with all his might, and a pile of twisted severed hands quickly accumulated in front of him.

Yet, the female ghosts seemed to feel no pain, pressing in on Yu Kun one after another, muttering, “My child isn’t lost, he must still be alive, I want my child…”

Two fists are no match for four hands. Several female ghosts did manage to touch Yu Kun’s skin, leaving behind birthmark-like bloodstains that spread rapidly like red rashes.

“Damn it!” Yu Kun cursed, pulling a tinderbox from his backpack and throwing it onto the bed beside him.

Flames shot up into the sky. He yanked the bedsheet and flung it forward, and large sparks rained down on the female ghosts’ heads, igniting their hair.

The female ghosts let out wails, but their steps did not falter. Tufts of flame landed in various parts of the dormitory, quickly linking together to form a blaze, sending up billows of dense smoke.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, the female teacher had already gotten out of bed and retreated to the window.

Lin Chen retreated step by step, pulling a black umbrella from his inventory and shielding the female teacher.

【Name: Umbrella Filled with Pain】

【Type: Item】

【Effect: Summon the Shadow Ghost “Man in the Umbrella” for 30 seconds. Each summon must kill an existing being (cooldown 24 hours);

Shelter from wind and rain (1% chance of rain when holding an umbrella on a sunny day);

If you wish, you can use it to poke people.】

【Note: Every time he felt pain, he wrote a curse on black paper with a black pen; on a dark rainy day, he made a black umbrella from black paper, imagining it was a parachute, and jumped… Now, he is also black.】

This was the reward item Lin Chen received after achieving te clearance in No. 33 Middle School instance.

The latter two effects seemed humorous, but the first effect was powerful enough.

The strength of malevolent ghosts, from strongest to weakest, is as follows: Qing Ghost, Red-Clothed Malevolent Ghost, Shadow Ghost, Yellow Page Ghost, White-Shirt Ghost, Ash-Heart Ghost.

Being able to summon a third-tier Shadow Ghost directly propelled Lin Chen from an unknown nobody to the rookie rank.

“We’re going out the window,” Lin Chen whispered.

The moment the female teacher pushed open the window, he opened the black umbrella, and with a thought, activated Effect One.

Black smoke billowed from the black umbrella surface, condensing into an irregular black shadow in the air, enveloping Lin Chen.

The surrounding temperature abruptly plummeted, as if falling into an ice cave. The golden flames turned greenish-blue, leaping wildly.

A faint sense of suffocation swept over everyone, as if being stalked by a dangerous creature.

The nearest female ghost dissipated in a second, and the actions of the remaining female ghosts visibly slowed down. Some even stood frozen in place, at a loss.

Yu Kun finally caught his breath from the female ghosts’ attack. Turning his head, he saw Lin Chen pressed against the open window.

He almost immediately realized Lin Chen’s intention, quickly cut down two female ghosts blocking his way, and rushed over.

“Stop!” Yu Kun, seeing there was still some distance, drew a dagger from his waist and threw it at Lin Chen.

However, Lin Chen was faster, dodging sideways in an instant and shouting, “Go!”

The black shadow suddenly transformed into a pocket shape, enveloping Lin Chen and the female teacher, and leaped out the window as a black streak.

In the room, the female ghosts, freed from the black shadow’s suppression, became agitated again. Yu Kun had to turn back to defend, raising his great saber once more to contend with them.

Outside the hospital building, in the starless, moonless night, the black shadow, carrying two humans, sped along and landed in the dense woods behind the mountain.

Lin Chen, holding the black umbrella, landed on the ground, pulling the female teacher’s arm. The life-or-death tension made his heart pound and left him gasping for breath.

He released the female teacher’s hand, took out a flashlight from his inventory backpack, and turned it on, illuminating a small area of the scene.

“You have such an item, why didn’t you kill him just now?” the female teacher asked abruptly.

Lin Chen was startled. He looked down at the black umbrella in his hand and said hesitantly, “The note you gave me earlier said to cooperate and kill him on the fifth day. I thought you had some arrangement…”

The female teacher was silent for two seconds, then asked again, “When he killed Bai Xiaowei, why didn’t you kill him?”

Bai Xiaowei was the name of the female player Yu Kun killed.

The deliberately forgotten scene replayed in his memory: blood splattering, life fading in an instant.

Saber light, screams, the girl’s terrified eyes, the stinging pain… all surged up from the depths of his mind.

The joy of escaping was replaced by self-reproach and guilt. Lin Chen said hoarsely, “He moved too fast then; I never expected him to act, to kill… By the time I reacted, it was too late.”

He was still too weak; even with a powerful item, he couldn’t utilize it effectively… If Qi Si were here, he would surely do better, right?

“What about later?” The female teacher tilted her head, her light gray eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses filled with confusion, “Why didn’t you kill him later?”

Lin Chen froze.

Yes, why? Why had he never harbored the thought of killing then?

Before the female teacher reminded him, the most he thought about was merely controlling Yu Kun… What was at play? To put it nicely, it was kindness; to put it harshly, it was cowardice… The female teacher looked at Lin Chen, who was lost in thought, and suddenly smiled, saying faintly, “It’s fine, Yu Kun is already dead for sure.”

Lin Chen knew that most Veteran Players had trump cards for self-preservation, so he didn’t believe that Yu Kun’s threat would be so easily eliminated.

He pondered for a while and said, “Let’s find a hiding place first. This way, even if he’s still alive, we won’t have to worry about being found.”

No response.

Lin Chen looked at the female teacher in confusion, but she was staring intently behind him, as if she saw something that had arrived as expected, silently.

Lin Chen stiffly turned his head.

Through the dense jungle, white female figures, like ghosts, swayed unsteadily towards them…