Chapter 223: [Blessed with Longevity] What Is That Smell?
Qin Fa went upstairs that morning with a thoroughly dark expression.
A salty, foul odor radiated from his body.
In fact, many of the doctors coming up from the first floor carried this same stench. It wasn’t overwhelmingly thick, per se, but rather hung subtly in the air.
Even at this very moment, a salted fish stink floated across the entire first floor of the ward building, including the outdoor courtyard.
Several hours had passed, so they had grown accustomed to the smell themselves.
Yet the moment they stepped upstairs and caught the instinctive reactions of the nurses about to off-shift, they knew the odor still clung to their bodies.
Qin Fa’s usual refined composure was nearly impossible to maintain.
Bai Cha sat up in bed that morning, letting out a sleepy yawn.
Lin Hong wasn’t working the night shift. When she came by for morning rounds and saw her already awake, she paused in surprise.
“Why are you up so early?”
“Not sure. It felt like I woke up right after a dream.” Saying this, she let out another yawn.
She wore a distinct look of not having slept well.
Lin Hong nodded. Observing her for another day, there likely wouldn’t be a need to increase her sedative dosage for now.
“Well, that’s fine then. Time for breakfast. You can get some more sleep after eating.”
As she spoke, she set the meal box on the table while calling out to He Yan and Li Xiang beside her.
Bai Cha twitched her nose, sniffing the air twice.
“What’s that smell? Is there salted fish in today’s breakfast?”
Lin Hong: “…”
She lowered her head to sniff herself.
Late last night, she had been woken up by the stench and gotten up to see what was happening.
Turns out Doctor Qin’s room was quite lively, and the smell was wafting right out of there.
Upon asking, she learned there was a problem with Doctor Qin’s bathroom.
Of course, when she asked Doctor Qin this morning whether the bathroom was fixed, he simply ignored her with a dark face.
A male colleague told her that there was nothing wrong with Doctor Qin’s bathroom; no one knew where the smell was coming from, and they hadn’t found the source after fussing all night.
Smells naturally drifted with the air, so everyone had more or less caught a bit of the stench on themselves.
Because they had grown accustomed to it, they couldn’t smell it on themselves anymore.
“Is there still a smell on me?” Lin Hong asked, feeling uncertain.
Bai Cha looked at her with a dazed expression, appearing groggy as if she hadn’t slept well, taking a long moment to snap back to reality.
“Oh, is that smell coming from you, Nurse Lin? It’s fine, it’s not very strong. I can’t smell it anymore now—just that brief whiff a second ago.”
Lin Hong: “…”
She walked out the door with a complex expression.
Bai Cha ate a few bites of breakfast. It tasted quite good; after killing Li Xiang’s husband, her mental state had recovered a bit, so she was enjoying her breakfast in earnest right now.
Flanking her on both sides, He Yan and Li Xiang looked somewhat vacant, not yet recovered from their drowsiness.
By the time Bai Cha finished eating, she looked a bit more spirited.
She turned her gaze toward He Yan.
He Yan seemed to be haunted by something as well, frequently suffering through nightmares in her sleep to the point of severe exhaustion, which left her in a terrible state during the day—eventually progressing to being afraid to sleep all night.
Her parents took her to see doctors, where she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and given psychiatric medication. Yet because her illness stemmed from metaphysics rather than science, medical treatment was not only useless, but caused her condition to deteriorate further.
Of course, for real-world illnesses of this nature, seeking proper medical treatment was still essential.
However, as for what specifically was haunting He Yan, that remained unclear, as Bai Cha hadn’t noticed any commotion over on He Yan’s end last night.
Bai Cha didn’t pry overmuch—there were so many patients here, after all.
She intended to go check on Doctor Qin instead.
“You…” Li Xiang spoke out of the blue.
Bai Cha looked over in surprise.
Li Xiang was exceedingly haggard, her body thin and frail. Forget about being in her thirties—if someone said she was fifty this year, people would believe it; the hair on both sides of her head had turned white.
Yet right now, a light gathered in her eyes as tears spilled over.
“Thank you.”
She uttered the words in a barely audible whisper.
Bai Cha didn’t hear it clearly, in truth, but it wasn’t hard to tell from her lip movements.
Pondering for a moment, she said, “You’re welcome.”
Li Xiang closed her eyes tightly, suppressing her emotions.
She couldn’t get too excited; if she displayed anything unusual, Bai Cha’s secret would be exposed.
She wasn’t truly sick—she knew everything.
He Yan’s gaze shifted, looking at Li Xiang, then watching Bai Cha leave the ward, ultimately remaining silent.
Bai Cha impolitely pushed the doctor’s office door open directly once again.
A male nurse was currently seated across from Qin Fa; the two appeared to be chatting.
Bai Cha paused.
“Am I interrupting you, Doctor Qin? Huh? What’s that smell?”
While saying she was interrupting, Bai Cha had already sniffed the air intently, stepping inside with natural ease.
“Eh? Is the medical staff eating salted fish today? How come you both have a foul, salty smell on you?”
The moment those words left her mouth, the expressions of both men in the room turned thoroughly unsightly.
Qin Fa looked down at himself, grit his teeth, picked up the alcohol spray bottle beside him, and spritzed himself.
However, if the scent of that salted fish prop were so easily dispelled, Bai Cha wouldn’t have redeemed a specialized odor neutralizer from the system shop in the first place.
As the alcohol spray blended with the stench on him, it wafted an even stranger odor.
The male nurse’s expression shifted as well.
“Um, Doctor Qin, I’ll chat with you again later. You should talk to the patient first.”
With that, he hurriedly departed the room.
Bai Cha couldn’t resist reaching up to cover her nose with the back of her hand, either.
Sensing Qin Fa’s sharp, piercing gaze sweeping over, Bai Cha put her hand down, held her breath, and said with total composure: “Doctor Qin, I don’t have anything special to ask—I just wanted to come by and check on you.”
Saying this, she couldn’t help looking at Qin Fa, but having run out of breath, she had to take another inhalation.
Failing to control her expression, she stepped back with a touch of awkwardness, pulling open the door behind her.
“Then I won’t disturb you any longer.”
With that, she thoughtfully shut the door.
Qin Fa’s facial expression inside the room turned horrifying beyond measure. The muscles beneath his skin twitched twice as if crawling, before finally settling back into composure.
With an expressionless face, he opened the window to let the room air out.
Bai Cha returned to her ward and stayed for a while longer. Hearing the sounds of patients pacing outside multiply, she stood up, intending to head downstairs.
“Something has been haunting me all this time. It eats me alive in my dreams—it hurts so much.”
He Yan suddenly spoke up.
Bai Cha’s footsteps paused. Turning around to shut the door behind her, she looked over at her.
“The doctor said it’s because of my illness—that I have unresolved trauma, that past events are causing me heartache, which manifests in my dreams. But I know that’s not it at all. I do have unresolved trauma, but that’s not…”
Staring at the ceiling, she seemed to be muttering to herself.
“It’s right there.”
Bai Cha raised her head.
The ceiling was completely empty.
No—looking closely, there appeared to be extremely fine, barely perceptible strands resembling a spiderweb.
They bore a striking resemblance to the black threads carrying the aura of the Tai Sui seen at the fence last night.
Bai Cha cast a glance outside. No one was paying attention to this spot, and the surveillance camera in the room hadn’t been replaced yet. Walking over, she extended her hand and snatched a handful from thin air.
