Chapter 218: [Blessed with Longevity] Escaping the Ward
Bai Cha was awakened by pain once again.
The excruciating pain forced her to strain her eyes open, yet she could manage only a half-slit, her vision a blurry haze.
There were people beside her this time.
“Does she seem to be waking up?”
Someone leaned closer to Bai Cha.
Bai Cha couldn’t see clearly at all, and the voices she heard sounded muffled and distant, as if originating from somewhere far, far away.
“Bai Cha, are you awake?”
Bai Cha remained completely motionless from start to finish, her eyes hovering between half-open and closed.
Qin Fa thereupon straightened his posture once more, looking down at Bai Cha atop the operating table.
“It’s fine. Continue.”
One of Bai Cha’s arms had been entirely encased by the Tai Sui.
The Tai Sui was already creeping along her arm, growing toward her body.
The doctors and nurses inside the operating room carefully sliced the Tai Sui away, dividing it into uniform portions.
Both sides were lined with mirrored surfaces; the room hadn’t changed in truth, yet a concealed space lay hidden within.
Once the concealed space was opened, the operating table would be exposed.
Those portions of Tai Sui were exquisitely arranged on serving platters and delivered before those elderly individuals.
Every single one of them set about partaking greedily.
And their skin—originally wrinkled like chicken skin—was slowly regaining vitality and elasticity, transforming forcibly from the appearance of eighty- or ninety-year-olds into that of sixty- or seventy-year-olds.
The physical sense of lightness brought about by growing ten years younger proved utterly intoxicating.
“Splendid!”
Some even experienced their lost teeth beginning to sprout anew.
Within their eyes burned a insatiable desire that defied all satisfaction.
“Yet it’s far too slow! When will we be able to reverse our age overnight?! The money we’ve provided should be more than enough, shouldn’t it?! This entire nursing home was built on our dime!”
“Rest assured, ladies and gentlemen. These patients who have undergone treatment for as long as a year or two are nearly ready to wrap up. Please do not be in such a rush.”
As for what was said afterward, Bai Cha truly lost the ability to hear it clearly.
She succumbed to deep slumber once again.
When she awoke next, the situation differed little from noon—Qin Fa remained by her side.
Bai Cha’s mind was a complete, incoherent mush.
“Bai Cha? Are you alright, Bai Cha?”
Qin Fa crouched beside her, gazing at her with gentle warmth.
Bai Cha stared at him in a daze.
“Doctor Qin…”
She mumbled in a raspy voice.
“I’m here. How are you feeling? Is there anywhere that hurts?”
Doctor Qin fixated an intense stare on her.
“Bai Cha? Why aren’t you speaking?”
Bai Cha closed her eyes briefly, before straining them open once more, sitting up with great difficulty and rubbing her face.
Her arms ached so terribly she could barely lift them.
Yet the ache served as a crucial reminder to her.
“Doctor Qin, I am Li Yun. Why do you keep calling me Bai Cha? Stop calling me by that name all the time—my name is Li Yun.”
Bai Cha’s voice sounded somewhat faint and weak, yet her eyes carried a firm resolve.
My name isn’t Li Yun.
My name isn’t Li Yun.
Only then did Bai Cha raise her head to look at Doctor Qin.
“Doctor Qin, my arm hurts so much. I feel like I had a terrible dream, and I seemed to hear people talking, but I couldn’t make out a single word.”
Qin Fa fixated a stare on her for a moment longer; catching zero flaws, he finally nodded.
“It was likely just a dream. Dreams are like that sometimes. Let me accompany you out—you slept quite a long time this instance, a full five hours have passed.”
Bai Cha paused, looking toward the window, only to realize it wasn’t that the curtains were drawn, but that total darkness had fallen outside.
“Oh… alright.”
She stood up, her steps somewhat unsteady and wobbling.
Her entire mental state appeared visibly abnormal.
Yet Qin Fa offered not a single additional word, merely accompanying her to the elevator.
Bai Cha returned to her room in that exact state.
Lin Hong stepped inside directly shortly after, holding a meal box and an IV bottle in her hands.
“Li Yun, eat dinner first, then it’ll be time for your IV.”
Bai Cha accepted the meal box and took a few bites.
She held virtually zero appetite, her head throbbing with pain, her entire mind heavy and dizzy.
“I can’t eat any more.”
Lin Hong offered no persuasion, casually snatching the meal box away and tossing it into the trash bin, before inserting the IV needle into her hand.
Bai Cha permitted the Dodder Vine to replace her blood vessels as usual.
Nevertheless, she closed her eyes and slept for a brief while in truth.
When Lin Hong arrived to remove the needle, she awoke, yet refrained from opening her eyes.
She rolled onto her side, allowing the blanket to sag downward slightly.
Dodder vines emerged at her fingertips, creeping noiselessly along the bedframe, clinging tightly to the bedboards, looping beneath the bed to pass behind the nightstand, and weaving past the head of Li Xiang’s bed.
Just as she intended to trace the curtains upward to reach the surveillance camera, a wave of bone-chilling aura materialized out of thin air.
Beside Li Xiang—who had remained sound asleep all along—her deceased husband made his appearance once again.
Pausing briefly, Bai Cha simply controlled the Dodder Vine to plunge straight into the man’s body in an instant, draining his power away.
Though this form of energy converted from ghostly qi wasn’t as soothing as power gained through sacrifices, it served to alleviate her current mental exhaustion nonetheless.
Waste recycling, after all.
The man unleashed a furious roar, slashing frantically at the Dodder Vine on the floor.
Yet the Dodder Vine continuously sprouted new tendrils, wrapping around his blade and creeping up his hands.
Under a surge of rage and total desperation, the man dissolved completely into ash.
Bai Cha coiled the excess Dodder Vine beneath the table, while the remaining vine continued upward along its intended trajectory, evading the surveillance camera and reaching its rear side.
She destroyed the surveillance camera directly.
Following that, the Dodder Vines retracted along their original path, coiling entirely beneath her bedboard.
A moment later, footsteps indeed approached from outside.
“Looks like it’s that camera. How did it suddenly break?”
“Appears to be damaged. It can’t be fixed in short order—let’s just swap it for a new one.”
“That works too. Do you have a spare on hand right now?”
“Nope, I’ll need to purchase one. Let’s wait until tomorrow—they’re all fast asleep tonight anyway, so just tell the nurses to pay extra attention.”
“Fair enough.”
Having finished their exchange, the two departed.
Bai Cha opened her eyes.
Pulling the blanket up to cover her head, she opened the System Panel shop.
Puppet Doll: Upon dripping the user’s blood onto it, it transforms into an exact replica of the user, complete with breathing characteristics. However, it serves merely as a disguise and cannot move. Should anyone inspect it with instruments, it will definitely be detected as a fake; as long as it remains undamaged, it can be continuously used.
Invisibility Cloak: Grants invisibility across most locations, barring special circumstances, which require players to explore independently.
Bai Cha selected to purchase both.
The Puppet Doll transformed into her current likeness, lying in bed with its eyes closed, looking every bit like someone fast asleep.
Slipping into the Invisibility Cloak, Bai Cha retracted all the Dodder Vines, adjusting the puppet atop the bed to maintain her exact posture from moments ago.
She walked toward the doorway.
Scanning the hallway outside, absolute quiet reigned at this hour.
A nurse station stood a short distance away, where duty nurses were stationed.
Bai Cha refrained from pushing the door open immediately, given that the door would emit a sound upon being moved.
Furthermore, surveillance cameras lined the outside; even while invisible, a door opening on its own would look thoroughly abnormal.
She was waiting for a nurse patrol.
With the surveillance camera broken over here, the nurses ought to visit with higher frequency.
Sure enough, Lin Hong arrived a short while later.
She pressed her face against the window to peer inside first, before slowly pushing the door open.
Yet she didn’t step inside directly, merely poking her head through the gap.
Bai Cha extended a Dodder Vine straight across the floor, looping around her feet, contracting rapidly while pulling backward behind her with sudden force!
Lin Hong tumbled forward instantly, pushing the door wide open in the process.
Bai Cha retracted the Dodder Vine in a flash, leaping over her body to exit the room.
Lin Hong didn’t fall flat completely; thanks to the door frame, she merely dropped to her knees.
Gasping from the sharp pain, she looked down at her feet—what had tripped her just now? It felt like a rope.
Yet there was nothing there.
Standing up with a trace of confusion, she looked around, then cast a glance inside the room.
It was currently the peak hour for the sedatives’ effects; none of the three patients inside had awakened.
Retracting her gaze, Lin Hong shut the door, without taking the incident to heart overmuch.
Bai Cha, meanwhile, had already reached the emergency exit stairwell.
