Chapter 263: [Rotten Bones and Resurrected Flesh] Blocking the Way Again
Bai Cha believed that the vast crowd of people likely didn’t exist in reality.
Otherwise, the police officers wouldn’t be asking these questions. For a horrifying, news-worthy incident like hacking and injuring so many people on the street, a whole night had already passed—it ought to have broken out and exploded across the news by now.
After all, those individuals didn’t even possess facial features.
Therefore, she declared with absolute conviction, “I stole it from a mobile blood collection station.”
“…”
Written across the faces of the several police officers was: Are you pulling my leg?
When asked which blood collection station she stole it from, she couldn’t answer either, simply claiming she stole the blood to scare people.
At any rate, she adamantly refused to admit to hacking anyone, and whenever pressed too hard, she would begin coughing up blood.
“Setting that aside for now, let me ask you: what is your relationship with Liu Ruyi?” Having no other choice, the police officer changed the question first.
“Don’t know her.”
“Yet you told the receptionist that Liu Ruyi was your sister, and that you were there to save her.”
“Mm, I indeed went to save her. I saw her on the street, felt something was off, and followed them.”
“Where did you get the knife? If you don’t know each other, why did you save her?”
“Snatched the knife from a barbecue stall. The situation was urgent—can’t a person save someone without knowing them? You officers should have gathered the story from the receptionist and that man down there by now, right? If I hadn’t saved her, what would have happened to her?”
The police officer knocked on the table solemnly.
“We are the ones questioning you.”
Bai Cha closed her eyes weakly.
“She wouldn’t have just been violated—she might have died from an allergic reaction. Then it would end up on the news, and everyone would point fingers at her.”
“Some would say they probably failed to negotiate a price; some would say she brought it on herself for drinking so much late at night; some would say she brought it on herself for lacking awareness and getting drugged; and others would spin even more rumors.”
She refrained from answering the police’s questions altogether, because this world was merely a personal world belonging to Liu Ruyi to begin with.
The logic followed here ought to differ from reality after all.
Bai Cha still recalled that the current instance she was in revolved around item restoration.
She had managed to figure out a bit of the logic behind item restoration by now.
Wen Zhao’s level of cooperation had been relatively high, to the point where she actually failed to grasp it immediately.
Reflecting on it now, however, becoming a marionette was excruciating for Wen Zhao—moving from an immobile body into another frame that was effectively immobile as well.
What was more, his heart remained bound.
To Wen Zhao, he remained unfree.
Giving him his heart and granting him the chance at freedom ought to be the “restoration” meant for him.
The item restoration in this instance amounted in essence to providing “humanistic care” to these NPCs.
It might not be entirely correct, but the general direction ought to be this.
Or, if following the claim from Wen Zhao’s mouth, it could replace a player’s body.
To a certain extent, that might count as a form of restoration as well.
It was just that such a method inflicted far too much harm on players, so Bai Cha preferred offering humanistic care instead.
If it worked, great.
If it didn’t, she could resort only to physical care.
There was no way around it; she had to prioritize her own life first.
And as for her words, the police officers were naturally moved, yet one matter remained distinct from another.
“You could have chosen to call the police instead of charging up all by yourself while brandishing a knife to hack people! Have you considered what would happen if the other party held a knife too?”
“What’s there to fear? I’m almost dead anyway. Those scumbags deserved whatever punishment was coming to them!”
“That isn’t for you to decide either!” The police officer spoke with a trace of anger.
Bai Cha fell silent.
She cast a glance at them.
“I can’t be bothered to talk to you. Why don’t you sentence me instead? As it stands, my current body can’t earn money, can’t afford food, and coughs up blood from illness every day. I can’t afford medical bills, and I don’t have a single cent.”
Saying this, she began coughing up blood once more.
The police’s expressions turned exceedingly grim.
What they despised most was encountering people like this: afflicted with a terminal illness, completely indifferent toward death, devoid of money, finding life a burden, and viewing death as a relief instead. Individuals like this were the most stubbornly incorrigible.
This person was practically an unyielding piece of meat, yet fragile like a porcelain doll that couldn’t be touched.
Given Bai Cha’s condition, sending her to a detention center might mean she wouldn’t even survive the stay.
The room consequently plunged into a span of silence.
“I will ask you one last time: completely unacquainted, why did you go to save Liu Ruyi?”
When the police officer posed this question, the facial features on his face began steadily dissolving away.
Bai Cha didn’t even lift her eyelids, keeping her eyes closed, her voice carrying a trace of impatience amidst her weakness.
“I saved her because I saved her—why do you need so many reasons?”
The moment the words fell, the surrounding scene shifted.
Bai Cha felt a wave of dizzying disorientation.
Opening her eyes, she found herself back at the place where she had first arrived, with the difference being that it was daytime now, though the sky hung dark and overcast, looking as if it were about to rain.
Sitting on the ground, the pedestrians coming and going remained those faceless people.
Everyone was talking—either discussing in groups of two or three, or appearing to simply be typing on their phones—yet Bai Cha could hear clearly what they were saying.
“Did you see that news? A girl got drugged at a bar, ended up going into allergic shock, and nearly died. The guy who drugged her got scared something bad would happen and sent her to the hospital. Tsk tsk, going to a bar—doesn’t she deserve it? She’s just lucky she ran into that guy; seeing something off, he sent her to the hospital.”
“Indeed… if she ran into someone devoid of humanity, they wouldn’t care whether she lived or died.”
“That girl usually liked posting selfies online to seek attention. Look at that picture of her with dyed purple hair—does any decent person dye that color?”
“She has photos with yellow hair and red hair too. Girls who dye their hair at the drop of a hat are no good!”
“The collar on her clothes was so wide, exposing her shoulders—wasn’t she just trying to seduce people?”
“A friend of mine told me he knows this girl—she works professionally at bars.”
“Really? Then doesn’t she totally deserve it?”
“Girls still need to conduct themselves with self-respect. Lacking propriety will lead to trouble sooner or later. Look, trouble happened!”
Bai Cha narrowed her eyes slightly.
Uncertain if it was due to the scene shifting, she could utilize a tiny fraction of her power now, though her overall state remained suppressed.
This was a specter’s personal world, or rather her dreamscape, which the audience in the live stream room couldn’t view.
Bai Cha made a move without the slightest hesitation or mercy.
The Dodder Vines pierced into the heads of these “people,” yet failed to draw a single shred of energy.
These faceless people dissolved directly into thin air, yet those voices failed to dissipate alongside them.
Troublesome.
Bai Cha knitted her brows slightly; she could only go find Liu Ruyi first.
She seemed to still be at the hospital right now.
Letting out a sigh, Bai Cha hijacked an electric scooter from someone on the roadside, riding the vehicle as she sped toward the hospital.
Naturally, there were people blocking her path along the way, much like when she first arrived.
Every one of them was obstructing Bai Cha from saving Liu Ruyi.
Or rather, it was Liu Ruyi herself who was obstructing it.
The power Bai Cha could deploy was limited; watching the hospital come into view, she reached a point where she could no longer move forward at all.
This time, there was no kitchen knife on the roadside for her to grab.
