Chapter 213: [Blessed with Longevity] Roses in Bloom
Bai Cha cast another glance toward the young boy over there, her lips parting as if to speak several times before she finally stood up.
She walked over to the young boy with slow, unhurried steps.
Upon arriving before him, she simply lowered her head, quietly observing him.
After a moment, she asked the nurse in a soft voice, “Does he have autism?”
The nurse nodded.
“Yes, congenital autism. The child is quite pitiable, really. His parents are away working in the city, so only his grandfather used to care for him. But his grandfather passed away a while ago, and his parents have already had a second child out there. There was nowhere to raise him, and since he can’t speak and requires constant care, he was sent to the nursing home.”
Bai Cha nodded softly.
The young boy idly fiddled with the plush toy in his hands, completely oblivious to everything in his surroundings.
Bai Cha crouched down beside him and watched for a moment; his hands bore no needle marks.
The boy looked thoroughly dazed and vacant. Having never encountered an autistic child before, Bai Cha couldn’t tell if he truly suffered from autism or not.
Eventually, Bai Cha stood up and resumed walking across the lawn.
She made her way toward the outer perimeter.
The courtyard here featured a sheet-metal gate, flanked by high wire fences on either side that were densely overgrown with thorny roses, completely sealing the boundary.
Strictly speaking, this was an entirely isolated ward building.
“What are you doing here?” A nurse walked over.
Bai Cha turned around to look at her, then pointed at the roses.
“Looking at the flowers. Can I pick some?”
The nurse nodded.
“Sure, but be careful not to prick yourself on the thorns.” The nurse appeared quite gentle and mild-tempered.
Bai Cha then set about carefully selecting the prettiest blooms. With every stem she picked, she would meticulously strip away the thorns first, moving slowly along the length of the fence until her arms held a lavish, fragrant bundle.
She now stood beneath a locust tree. Looking up, the white blossoms were blooming exquisitely.
She felt no particular attachment to locust trees, yet the blossoming flowers remained undeniably pleasing to the eye.
It was simply that Qin Fa had asked about them earlier, and Bai Cha instinctively harbored a dislike for that doctor.
In Li Yun’s memories, there were no records of any medical procedures; every session felt as though she had merely slept through it.
Yet Bai Cha was no mere alter personality—she was a real, living human being. Since Li Yun lacked those memories, Bai Cha naturally wouldn’t possess additional memories of the treatments either.
However, during her dreams, that agonizing sensation of having an unknown substance injected into her veins—a pain so intense that no amount of desperate struggling could wake her—was something she would never forget.
Holding a massive armful of roses, Bai Cha prepared to head back.
The nurse had long since departed, given how exceedingly slow she had been.
Lowering her head, Bai Cha sniffed the sweet floral fragrance, a soft look of contentment gracing her face as if she were truly immersed in the beauty of the vivid blossoms.
Just as she took two steps forward, her pant leg felt a sudden tug.
Bai Cha looked down.
A dog.
A tiny puppy—black-furred, with a white belly and white paws.
It looked remarkably familiar.
Its little paw was hooked firmly into her pant leg.
Bai Cha gazed down at it thoughtfully.
Within the instance’s timeline, two years had passed since her last entry when she discovered this sub-instance.
Yet this little dog remained a tiny puppy.
“Is something wrong?” Bai Cha attempted to communicate.
The puppy looked toward the direction of the young boy in the distance, then turned its eyes back to Bai Cha, repeating the motion several times. Bai Cha was certain it was pointing toward that boy.
“Are you his pet?”
The little puppy stood up on its hind legs and gave a polite, pleading bow, then turned and trotted away.
Slipping through the dense rosebushes, it vanished from sight.
Retracting her gaze, Bai Cha couldn’t quite grasp what the puppy was trying to convey, given the barrier between species.
Still, this was undeniably an unexpected harvest.
Carrying the flowers along the way, whenever she encountered other patients on the lawn, she would hand out a bloom.
Some patients accepted them, while others—whose mental states had broken down completely—might even swat the flowers away.
Bai Cha also gave a stem to the young boy.
The young boy actually took it.
The nurse looked on with a trace of surprise.
“That’s the first time he’s shown a reaction to anything. Looks like he really likes flowers.”
Bai Cha offered a gentle smile and headed back with the remaining flowers.
Reaching the sixth floor, Bai Cha continued handing out flowers.
She caught sight of several familiar faces.
Those players spotted her as well, accepting the flowers from her hands as subtle glances were exchanged, before sinking back into their own worlds to play their respective roles.
By the time she returned to her room, four flowers remained in her hands.
Bai Cha distributed them to her two roomates.
He Yan accepted hers, yet maintained that same dazed, vacant expression—shifting from staring blankly at the ceiling to staring blankly at the flower in her hand.
Li Xiang refused to accept it entirely.
She remained curled up, her body trembling violently.
“Don’t come near me… don’t come near…”
“Don’t… don’t kill me…”
Bai Cha caught those fragmented words.
Sighing softly, she placed the flower gently beside Li Xiang’s pillow.
With two flowers left, she placed one beside her own pillow and walked out holding the last one.
She took the initiative to find Qin Fa.
Seeing her looking so cheerful, Qin Fa offered a warm smile as well.
“You seem to be in a wonderful mood today. I heard from the nurse just now that you were handing out flowers to patients everywhere.”
Bai Cha presented the rose to Qin Fa. As he took it, her fingers made slight, subtle contact with his.
[Would you like to parasitize the host, Qin Fa?]
Yes.
Her Dodder Vine had reached Level 3, granting her an additional seed, allowing her to parasitize two hosts within a single instance.
Qin Fa was not only her attending physician, but essentially oversaw many of the patients on the sixth floor as well.
Withdrawing her hand with natural grace, Bai Cha pulled out a chair and sat down across from Qin Fa.
“A little bit, yes. After soaking in the sun for a while and strolling by the flowers, seeing them blooming so beautifully gave me a sudden wave of emotion, so I picked them.”
A touch of wistful melancholy surfaced on her face. She couldn’t help stealing a glance at Qin Fa, before her eyes flickered and she lowered her head.
“Doctor Qin… when will I be considered fully cured?”
She turned her gaze toward the window outside.
“After you left today, I suddenly started wondering… since I was so terrified of those things, running away from them to the point of spawning an alter personality, shouldn’t I try facing them instead? Maybe that would be better?”
Qin Fa adopted the posture of a thoroughly qualified, attentive listener.
He lowered his eyes to look at the pink rose in his hand, then raised his gaze to fix it on Bai Cha.
He offered a gentle, reassuring smile.
“The flowers are indeed lovely, and the world is equally vibrant. You truly should face it.”
“However, given that your current condition remains unstable, do you truly possess the courage to face your fears head-on?”
Bai Cha hesitated.
Then she nodded.
“I think I do…”
“You think so…” Qin Fa let out a soft laugh. “That hardly sounds like someone brimming with confidence.”
“Still, there’s no need to worry about that. You’ve already recovered far better than before. Just wait a while longer until your condition stabilizes, and you’ll be able to leave the hospital.”
Bai Cha let out a soft smile as well.
She raised her eyes to look at Qin Fa, locking gazes with him for a brief second, before lowering her head in flustered haste. She casually smoothed her hair a couple of times, a distinct blush creeping over the tips of her ears.
“That’s good to hear. I…”
She paused, biting her lip tightly as if finding it difficult to speak.
In the end, she mustered her courage to look up at Qin Fa with utmost caution.
“After I’m discharged, can I still come back frequently to consult with you?”
Qin Fa sized Bai Cha up, nodding with a smile.
“Of course, no problem at all.”
Simultaneously, the gaze in his eyes seemed to lose a touch of its original warmth.
Bai Cha acted as though she hadn’t noticed, primarily because she didn’t quite dare to look at Qin Fa directly anyway.
She offered a nod and stood up.
“Then I won’t disturb you any longer!”
With that, she departed the room.
Qin Fa’s gaze followed her movements intently until her figure receded out of sight.
Taking off his glasses, he wiped them clean with a paper tissue. Glancing at the pink rose his fingers had touched, he let out a cold, contemptuous sneer and casually tossed it straight into the trash can.
