Chapter 224 Frog Hospital (16) – Pilgrims Blessing

Qi Si watched Huang Xiaofei finish the bowl of tadpole soup and silently asked Lin Chen in his mind whether the count of swallowed tadpoles had changed.

Same as the first day, Lin Chen gave a negative answer, confirming once again that the tadpole soup was not tallied toward quest progress.

“Cherish food, stop waste—breakfast must be finished!”

Outside the door, the nurse yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice as hoarse as sandpaper.

Qi Si returned to his bed, lifted the tadpole soup from the bedside locker, and obediently sipped it mouthful by mouthful.

Counting yesterday, Sun Dekuan, Lu Zimo, and Huang Xiaofei had all drunk the soup; it was basically certain that drinking it wasn’t a sufficient trigger for death or crisis.

The tadpole soup definitely had a problem; drinking it wouldn’t necessarily kill you, but not drinking it absolutely guaranteed nothing would happen.

An ordinary person might figure “better safe than sorry”; since dumping the soup wouldn’t raise the failure rate, they could simply refuse.

But… Qi Si was no ordinary person.

Over the past two days, although the players had faced dangers, no one had actually lost their life; even the frogs felt more troublesome than Ghosts.

It was basically certain that the small ghost domain forming this instance disliked trouble and probably wouldn’t go looking for it.

If three of the four obediently drank the soup and only Qi Si refused, the simplest way for a trouble-averse mastermind to handle it would be to ignore Qi Si and leave him out of the game.

That was something Qi Si, who pursued a perfect clear, could not tolerate.

Therefore, he chose to advance by retreating—offer the enemy leverage and personally step into the trap.

The tadpole soup wasn’t as awful as imagined; the first taste carried a faint fishiness mixed with the pond’s muddy scent, lingering in nose and palate.

A careful sip revealed a mellow, velvety texture like syrup, delicious and sweetly lingering; among the instances Qi Si had experienced, its flavor ranked in the top three.

—provided you ignored what it was made from.

While drinking, Qi Si continued telepathic contact with Lin Chen, roughly mapping out his skills and item stock.

【Name: Pilgrims Blessing】

【Type: Skill】

【Passive Effect: Your devout faith makes you luckier than most—given four choices you’ll pick right half the time, and when lethal danger strikes you may narrowly escape.】

【Active Effect: Pray for any entity in the instance, slightly boosting its luck within this instance. (Once per instance)】

【Note: They say children loved by the gods are always luckier—perhaps because meeting a god has already exhausted their greatest misfortune.】

…【Name: Honor Student’s Scrap】

【Type: Item】

【Effect: Ask it a sincere question; it might write the correct answer! (Once per instance, 50% success rate.)】

【Note: Picture yourself in a crucial exam, staring at a blank paper. The top student hands in his sheet and slips you a scrap… SURPRISE!】

…【Name: Not-So-Ordinary Blade】

【Type: Item】

…【Name: Umbrella Filled with Pain】

【Type: Item】

…Hm, Lin Chen’s skill points were well balanced—support, puzzle-solving, and he could fight if needed.

After studying the system panel Lin Chen sent over, Qi Si focused on 【Pilgrims Blessing】. “Lin Chen, since entering the game, have you encountered anything like a god?”

“Huh? A god?” Lin Chen was puzzled but answered honestly, “I don’t recall clearly, but I might have met one—can’t say for sure.”

“In the ‘No. 33 Middle School’ instance, there’s a statue of the top scholar on the back hill; legend says a prayer will bring good exam scores. Lots of students leave oranges in front of it…”

It sounded like typical pre-exam superstition, but Qi Si asked seriously, “Did you pray? Any deeper interaction?”

Lin Chen, sensing Qi Si’s gravity, grew nervous. “Everyone else did, so I did too. Q-Qi-ge, is something wrong?”

Hearing Lin Chen’s clueless tone, Qi Si realized he was being oversensitive.

Lin Chen probably hadn’t been targeted by any god; an evil deity’s attention wasn’t that cheap, and the skill description might not refer to a specific event.

As for whether Lin Chen lied, Qi Si wasn’t worried—he’d been streaming the whole time; a quick check would expose any lie, so there was no point hiding something so easily verified.

His thoughts reached a conclusion, and Qi Si said flatly, “Lin Chen, turn off the stream.”

“Ah? O-okay!” Although confused, Lin Chen complied.

Only then did Qi Si end the telepathic link.

Before long, the players had all finished their tadpole soup and sat up in bed one after another.

Huang Xiaofei finally noticed the blue frog squatting in the corner and cleanly sliced it in half again.

Since she’d already killed a bunch of frogs, one more didn’t matter; when something obviously unlucky appeared, better to kill it than not.

Qi Si had already positioned himself by the door, his gaze flicking with interest between Huang Xiaofei and her brother.

Huang Xiaofei sensed it, stepped closer to the doorway, and looked up at Qi Si: “We have to finish this instance as soon as possible; going out at night to explore is imperative. Today we move together—we must find a way to get either the Duty Badge or an Entry Permit.”

Qi Si lounged lazily against the door. At her words he gave a slight nod: “Then let’s head to the Morgue first. Yesterday I promised Cheng Xiaoyu I’d give him lots of candy.”

“Candy?” Huang Xiaofei didn’t know the details; her brows drew together. “At a time like this you’re fussing over trivialities? The failure rate climbs twenty percent a day on average—we need to speed up…”

Qi Si said nothing. He simply took a re-wrapped, perfectly innocent-looking candy jar from his backpack.

Under her irritated stare he smiled, gentle and harmless: “There’s only one Duty Badge, but the Director can approve as many Entry Permits as he likes, can’t he?”

“You plan to butter up the Director’s son so he’ll beg his father for permits?” Huang Xiaofei’s expression turned odd. “I don’t see that working. As the core NPC, the Director’s stance is probably hostile; contacting him too early is risky.”

Since childhood she’d been used to keeping everything in the palm of her hand, relying on talent and luck to secure good results, and she couldn’t help carrying a hint of arrogance when advising others.

When she couldn’t see the whole plan, an inexplicable unease would surface, driving her to dig for more information.

Qi Si read her mind and temperament like an open book, yet he had no intention of easing her anxiety.

Huang Xiaofei waited for her temporary teammate to counter her concerns with facts, but the young man merely lifted his eyes, gave her a cryptic smile, and walked out without a backward glance.

He’s breaking the script? Could something in the plan work against me?

Dark conjectures flashed through her mind; her deep-black eyes narrowed involuntarily, her heart turning cold and grim.

She said in a low voice, “Your Contract is signed in my 【Book of the Dead】; when the instance ends, remind me to burn it.”

Sun Dekuan knew nothing of the twists involved. Hearing the out-of-context sentence, he scratched his head. “I’ll try to remember, but my memory’s not reliable.”

Seeing his careless attitude, Huang Xiaofei’s gaze darkened further.

“Sis, do I really not need to come with you?” Lu Zimo asked quietly.

Huang Xiaofei reined in the gloom in her eyes and turned to give her cousin a reassuring smile: “With your half-baked skills you’d just be in the way. Stay here and wait for good news from your big sister.”

Lu Zimo answered faintly, listless as a fish drowned in the deep sea, head lowered in unknown thoughts.

Huang Xiaofei ignored him and walked straight out.

Sun Dekuan peeked around for more drama; seeing none, he followed her out.

The Ward door closed behind him, leaving all three in the Corridor and Lu Zimo alone inside.

In the long, narrow hallway a nurse pushed an empty food cart, face masked entirely, moving in stiff steps and staring straight ahead as she patrolled.

(404 not found)

A cold, droning chant echoed along the Corridor, devoid of emotion, like a pre-recorded loop.

“Click…”

“Screeech—”

Coffin-like doors were pushed open from inside, popping out sallow, emaciated heads with rough, dull skin and jutting cheekbones, like skulls.

Patients who looked half-dead shuffled out, dragging their feet like walking corpses.

Men and women in yellowed hospital gowns filed onto the benches outside, perching in a row like sparrows on a wire, staring ahead with hollow eyes.

In the silence, radio announcements sprang from the Wards, the ceiling, the floor—layered, inescapable.

(404 not found)

Huang Xiaofei had barely stepped out when the eerie slogan smacked her in the face, a strange feeling rising as the corner of her eye twitched.

Sun Dekuan eagerly sidled up and began a vivid recounting of yesterday’s scene when he first heard the chants, including what he’d seen and heard in real life.

Qi Si walked ahead, retracing yesterday’s route toward the Morgue and the kitchen.

They passed the Surgery Wing where loud wails mingled with cold verdicts, the thick stench of blood accompanying pale corpses wheeled into the Corridor.

In this hospital, people seemed to die every minute.

Qi Si had long since avoided his Hemophobia by splitting from Cheng An; now he casually glanced at the waiting area outside the operating theater.

The man howling on the iron bench had an unfamiliar face, proving that today’s death differed from yesterday’s.

After all, by common sense, one person can’t die twice.

Behind him, Sun Dekuan muttered quietly: “(404 not found)”

“Sis Huang, d’you think this is a sin…”