Chapter 169: [Transplantation] Heading to the Clinic
“Sister Wen Xing, can we room together? If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes!”
Saying this, Bai Cha excitedly reached out to grab a broom, only to suddenly break into a fit of coughing.
The air quality inside the room was indeed atrocious.
It wasn’t damp, but because it was overly cold and shaded, the temperature was inherently low.
Coupled with the heavy layer of dust in the air, the moment anyone moved around, dust billowed everywhere.
Bai Cha coughed racking, agonizing coughs, though a good half of it was pure acting.
Still, it made her appear all the more delicate and frail, physiological tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. After wiping them away, her entire face wore a pitiful, utterly vulnerable look.
Wen Xing immediately pulled her outside with a barrage of gruff complaints.
“Stay out in the courtyard! There’s sun out here—go bask in it yourself.”
Bai Cha looked at her with a mix of gratitude and guilt.
“Is that really okay, Sister…?”
“Shut your mouth! Aren’t you annoying?! What are you acting so fragile for? Who’s your sister?!”
Wen Xing stomped off in a fit of irritation.
The remaining female players stepped out into the courtyard as well, briefly introducing themselves to one another, as the dusty odor inside the room was indeed far from pleasant.
The newbie girl was named Zhang Jia-ning, currently a college junior. She asked many of the typical questions a newcomer would ask:
“Is this really a horror game? Are there ghosts? Do people die? If we clear it, can we leave? Will we have to enter the game again in the future?”
Wen Xing clearly lacked the patience to answer.
Thus, the person answering her questions was a slightly older female player around twenty-eight or twenty-nine named Mu Qian-xin.
She spoke in a soft, gentle voice, appearing exceptionally patient.
Bai Cha noticed that, unlike herself, the tenderness and patience in Mu Qian-xin’s demeanor were completely genuine.
A personality like that was rare to come by, even in reality.
There were two other players: one named Xue Yue, and the other named Gao Bing-er.
In truth, Zhang Jia-ning had originally wanted to room with Bai Cha, but since Bai Cha had already chosen Wen Xing, Zhang Jia-ning ended up rooming with Mu Qian-xin, while Xue Yue and Gao Bing-er shared a room.
Each pair set about briefly cleaning their respective rooms. Bai Cha tried several times to pop in and help, but was kicked back out by Wen Xing every time.
The girl’s impatience and irritation were genuine.
Yet her underlying good nature was equally real.
Bai Cha offered her an even sweeter smile, earning a crisp roll of the eyes in return.
Though slacking off on chores wasn’t particularly chivalrous, Bai Cha didn’t sit around idle either.
Wood sorrel bloomed inside the courtyard as well. Sunlight didn’t reach this area very well, so the sorrel growing here didn’t bloom quite as vibrantly as the flowers outside.
She was indeed still running a fever right now. Old Qin had claimed he would send someone with medicine, yet no one had shown up after all this time, making it clear he had zero intention of caring.
His absence suited her just fine—it gave her the perfect excuse to drop by the clinic for a look. She wanted to see for herself what kind of health clinic refused to let women step inside.
Bai Cha plucked a flower.
This common variety of wood sorrel actually didn’t hold much ornamental value, but it made up for it by being easy to grow, boasting a long blooming period with recurring flowers.
Its leaves were heart-shaped, usually growing in sets of three, though occasionally four could be found. This plant was also frequently cultivated on school campuses; during their school days, girls in class would pluck them, referring to the four-leaved ones as four-leaf clovers.
Of course, some claimed true four-leaf clovers were actually shamrocks, which bore oval leaves with a distinct white band running down the center.
Regardless of the species, they were both bestowed with beautiful wishes for good luck.
Bai Cha twirled the flower in her fingers, deep in thought.
When they had first spotted these flowers earlier, Old Qin had offered a brief two-sentence introduction, mentioning that wood sorrel could be used in medicine. Their village cultivated them specifically, occasionally harvesting them in bulk to sell to pharmaceutical factories.
Which explained why every household had a few planted around their courtyards and doorways.
This courtyard was clearly uninhabited, yet these flowers were planted here nonetheless—or perhaps they had simply grown wild on their own.
Bai Cha scanned the courtyard, failing to find a shovel, but spotting a thin iron rod that resembled a fire-poking rod instead.
Picking it up, she poked at the soil twice.
Mhm… nothing buried here.
Fair enough.
Tossing the rod aside, Bai Cha glided back over to Wen Xing’s side.
“Sister, are you finished? Once you’re done, could you accompany me to the clinic to get some medicine? My head hurts so badly!”
Saying this, Bai Cha reached up to touch her forehead again, leaning close to Wen Xing. “Feel it, isn’t my fever still really high?”
Wen Xing’s face contorted slightly; she truly despised soft, cute girls like this.
They belonged to entirely different worlds.
“I don’t want to touch it, move away!”
“Then that means you agree to go to the clinic with me.” Bai Cha blinked her eyes innocently.
Wen Xing: “…”
Wearing a foul expression, Wen Xing trailed behind Bai Cha out the door.
Stepping outside, Bai Cha examined her surroundings with far greater scrutiny this time.
The villagers’ houses shared similar architecture—essentially two-to-three-story buildings, each featuring a small private courtyard.
Though they were purportedly here to research traditional decorative lanterns, they had yet to spot a single lantern up to this point.
Earlier, a player had asked Old Qin about it, only for Old Qin to reply that they would find out once night fell.
A few locals were idling around the village, mostly children.
To be precise, young boys.
By the doorways, an old man or two sat chatting occasionally.
The moment their gazes landed on the two girls, a wave of distinct contempt surfaced in their eyes.
It was the kind of look one would cast toward something utterly revolting.
Wen Xing’s brows knitted tightly on the spot.
If those old men weren’t so aged, she truly felt like marching over to land two solid punches, asking them what that look was supposed to mean—if they didn’t want their eyes, they could donate them.
The male players stepped outside as well; after all, they had no rooms that required cleaning.
They were strolling around the village as well.
The male player who had previously sat beside Bai Cha walked over.
“Hey there, my name is An Xiang. What about you guys?”
Bai Cha immediately shot him an extra glance.
“Your name sounds pretty auspicious.”
The moment she said it, Bai Cha felt those words sounded somewhat familiar.
An Xiang broke into a laugh.
“It’s inauspicious, isn’t it? Ever since I was little, people kept asking why I was given a name like this. In truth, it was because the registrar made a typo when inputting my name—it was originally supposed to be Xiang as in ‘soaring.’ But after entering the game, thinking about it, if one can pass away peacefully, that’s a good thing too.”
“True… My name is Bai Tao, you can call me Taozi, and she’s Wen Xing.”
Bai Cha put on the persona of a naive, sheltered girl raised in the lap of luxury.
“We’re planning to head over to the clinic. That Old Qin didn’t send me any medicine at all—how infuriating!”
Bai Cha gritted her teeth, after which her expression slumped again as she touched her head.
“My head is throbbing so hard I’m about to die.”
“Then I’ll go with you guys. Didn’t that Old Qin say women weren’t allowed inside the clinic?”
There were no clues to be found in the village right now anyway, and when trying to strike up a conversation with the locals, those people responded with cold indifference.
This instance was entirely too normal—normal to the point of making one feel deeply uneasy.
Watching the exchange between the two of them, Wen Xing’s brows knitted into a tight knot, her tone stiff and blunt: “Then you two go ahead.”
Bai Cha immediately grabbed her arm, pressing her whole body right against her.
“Sister, come with me! My head hurts so badly, and I feel a bit dizzy. If I can’t stand straight later, I’ll need you to help carry me back!”
Wen Xing’s face turned black.
“Can you stop being so… Do you even know where we are?”
“I know! A horror game!” Bai Cha answered without missing a beat.
Wen Xing felt her blood pressure surging.
She knows it’s a horror game, yet she’s still putting on this damn act!
“You’re really eager to shorten your own life, aren’t you?!” Wen Xing snapped irritably, though her feet fell back into step with them nonetheless.
“Sister, are you worried about me? You’re so sweet, Sister!”
Wen Xing: “…”
An Xiang silently cast a glance at Bai Cha.
He suddenly felt as though he understood how someone with her personality had managed to survive this far.
