Chapter 234: Deciphering Parasitism

The Light Ward is a classroom. The Moderate Ward is a ward. The Severe Ward, however, is a prison. What Wen Xishu needs to determine now is which area holds the key to escape.

Only by confirming this can he guide the other two toward the correct path. He hopes it is the Moderate Ward, because only Zhou Fei can decipher the complete rules.

At this very moment, Zhou Fei's perspective is static. Because Wen Xishu is static.

He lies quietly in the ward, listening to the sound of insects crawling.

According to human anatomy, if such a sound of crawling could be produced inside the human body, the person would have died long ago.

This is also the point that Wen Xishu finds most baffling.

"I hear this sound... but theoretically, such a sound cannot be produced inside a human body. My current perception cannot even hear a heartbeat, yet I hear countless insects crawling."

Zhou Fei lies on the hospital bed, eyes wide open.

At this moment, an old man in the ward suddenly sits up.

It is dim here, looking as dark as night, but Wen Xishu can smell the scent emanating from the old man.

It is the smell of ash, which subconsciously reminds one of death.

On the old man, the sound of "them" crawling is very dense; Wen Xishu even feels that the old man has already been occupied by "them."

But just when Wen Xishu thinks the old man is going to get up to use the restroom, the old man's head suddenly rotates one hundred and eighty degrees while his body remains facing forward, turning to face Wen Xishu.

The old man reveals a creepy smile:

"Do you... want to buy tea?"

Wen Xishu's brain buzzes. The Tea-Selling Old Man again?

Wen Xishu says nothing, because the old man's head quickly rotates back, and then he sighs:

"Drifting too far, one forgets the way home."

Clang—the old man's body falls onto the bed as if he had never risen.

Wen Xishu is shocked.

He has seen the Tea-Selling Old Man more than once. It's just that this time, the man looked so old that Wen Xishu almost didn't recognize him.

What Wen Xishu finds very strange is that the ash smell on the old man begins to fade.

"Did he lock onto me?"

Wen Xishu feels a bit afraid.

Once, twice, three times... he has encountered the Tea-Selling Old Man. He has a feeling that he has been locked onto by the old man.

However, this locking seems always very brief; the Tea-Selling Old Man is not aggressive.

The previous two times he sold tea, but this time he only shouted the slogan and fell flat before he could even sell any.

"Did 'they' drive him away? Or did they perish together?"

The old man looks as if he is dead, without even a breath. Wen Xishu listens carefully, hearing only the sound of "them" crawling in other beds.

Yet he cannot hear the sound of "them" inside the old man's body.

"The old man and 'them' in this area are not the same group, just as the old man didn't belong to the Chosen Train back then."

Wen Xishu is not sure. In fact, sometimes he even wonders if the Tea-Selling Old Man might be some kind of opportunity for him, only he has missed it time and time again.

Wen Xishu is now keeping his eyes open, but he dares not move around.

He thinks:

"Zhou Fei is in the Moderate Ward, Chris is in the Severe Ward... could the difference in their symptoms be the degree of parasitism?"

Wen Xishu tries to empty his mind, not thinking about anything. This is actually a very difficult thing to do, because one always has to think about something.

So-called emptying the mind is often just closing one's eyes and feeling that darkness, not deliberately thinking about other things.

At this moment, Wen Xishu already feels something crawling inside his body.

The sound is not light; it is even quite noisy.

"Consistent with Chris..."

"Almost the same feeling. Looking at it this way, what distinguishes the Severe and Moderate wards is not the progress of parasitism..."

"Both Chris and Zhou Fei have 'them' inside their bodies, both longing to crawl to the brain while the two are not thinking. From the feeling, it seems to be the same degree."

"This crawling sound is truly terrifying."

*Rustle, rustle, rustle. *

Like thousands of cockroaches crawling.

But there is none inside Zhou Fei's body.

"Speaking of which, it's really strange. These people should have taken that white pill and entered a coma."

"Zhou Fei is the same. But after these people fell into a coma, they had no thoughts and no dreams. That gave those parasitic creatures the condition to crawl to the brain..."

"But Zhou Fei didn't fall into a coma?"

"Does he have drug resistance?"

The words "drug resistance" cause Wen Xishu to feel a sudden trance, and some memories begin to flood into Zhou Fei's mind.

"Little brother got first place in the grade again. Compared to him, big brother isn't doing so well, hahaha." The neighbors' voices appear in Wen Xishu's mind.

At the same time, Wen Xishu sees the awkward expression on Zhou Fei's uncle's face.

This was when Zhou Fei was in elementary school.

Soon, Zhou Fei reached middle school; Zhou Fei was still first in the grade, while Zhou Fei's brother, Zhou Ming, fell further and further behind.

By high school, Zhou Fei's uncle managed to get some medicine, claiming it was for calming the nerves and boosting the brain.

For a period of time, parents in Longxia would spend a lot of money on a certain type of product—things that supposedly improved children's memory. From milk to health supplements, all sorts of "factors" that could improve intelligence.

Both brothers, Zhou Fei and Zhou Ming, were taking some medicine.

For a while, Zhou Fei was extremely tired, easily fell asleep, and often stared blankly.

During that time, Zhou Fei's grades dropped significantly.

This made Zhou Fei's uncle secretly happy for a long time.

But interestingly, Wen Xishu also notices—the memories he has acquired include the expression of his uncle secretly rejoicing.

This means Zhou Fei knew all of this.

Zhou Fei's parents were abroad, and Zhou Fei was raised at his uncle's house, being very unwelcome. Everything Zhou Fei wanted, he had to earn himself, while Zhou Ming got whatever he wanted.

This sounds very much like a pair of brothers Wen Xishu knows, even their names containing "Fei" and "Ming."

But the difference is that Zhou Fei is not a loser; Zhou Fei is just eccentric, sullen, and quiet. Yet, he knows everything about the outside world.

In his memories, his uncle scolded Zhou Fei many times, cursing why Zhou Fei's father had made him so smart, while Zhou Ming was cheerful, lively, and handsome, yet not good at studying.

Zhou Fei looked gloomy, his hair covering his eyes; he looked like the kind of introverted child who is ignored at school, yet he was the one who could get first place in the grade.

At the dinner table, Zhou Fei was never allowed to sit at the table, eating the leftovers from the family of three.

Chores were also given to Zhou Fei as much as possible, but as long as they could weaken Zhou Fei's study state and squeeze his study time, the uncle's family would do it.

It was fine before high school, but after high school, they seemed to go crazy, starting to use medicine.

Zhou Fei's grades finally plummeted...

The uncle began to rejoice, and Zhou Ming worked hard, starting to climb up. Finally, Zhou Ming's grades surpassed Zhou Fei's.

Although Zhou Fei had crushed Zhou Ming for over a decade, the uncle always kept a low profile, acting as if he hadn't seen it. But when Zhou Ming won a mock exam once, the uncle set off fireworks to celebrate, making it known to everyone.

But they were all played by Zhou Fei.

Zhou Fei had finished all the courses in his sophomore year, only pretending to be weak to prevent the uncle's family from targeting him further.

After taking those medicines, Zhou Fei was indeed unable to focus on studying; Zhou Fei had discovered the clues early on and then pretended to be weak.

Later on, Zhou Fei started taking the medicine again, purely for fun. In short, Zhou Fei didn't really need to study much to get good grades.

This is truly a "cool novel" plot.

Zhou Fei, who had been pretending to be weak for months, shocked everyone in the college entrance exam, becoming the provincial top scorer.

In an interview, Zhou Fei revealed part of what his uncle's family had done, omitting the most malicious parts. Although the uncle's family was condemned by public opinion, the public only thought the uncle's family was biased.

And many people said, it wasn't their own son, so this was quite decent.

If the story ended here, it would be a decent ending. But unfortunately, due to Zhou Fei's soft heart, he didn't tell the most malicious things the uncle's family had done, which buried the seeds for Zhou Fei's later misfortune.

The memory ends.

Wen Xishu now understands one thing: Zhou Fei coming to this "Goodness Hall" is probably the evil deed of Zhou Fei's uncle.

"The three words 'drug resistance' actually made me recall so many memories..."

In fact, there were other memories, such as Zhou Fei being sickly since childhood and frequently taking medicine. Even at his uncle's house, whenever Zhou Fei got sick, his uncle seemed to use the most potent medicine.

In fact, for a common cold or fever, doctors would not suggest using the fastest-acting medicine for fear of developing drug resistance.

That way, it would be very difficult to treat with medicine in the future.

It can be said that Zhou Fei was naturally a medicine jar, especially having great resistance to drugs that cause drowsiness.

But the surprises Zhou Fei gives Wen Xishu don't stop there.

【You are acting out of character today; "they" will gradually focus their attention on you.】

The prompt appears. At this moment, many cameras in the ward begin to shift slowly.

Wen Xishu is a bit confused:

"I clearly didn't do anything, yet it prompts me that I'm acting out of character?"

Receiving such a prompt doesn't surprise Wen Xishu, because he understands one thing: this game is about finding a way to explore the three areas without attracting their attention.

But the problem is, why does it prompt that he is acting out of character when he hasn't done anything?

Could it be...

Wen Xishu quickly thinks of a possibility.

"Zhou Fei has strong drug resistance... he will wake up earlier than other patients in the ward, but he can't just stay awake and do nothing, right?"

Wen Xishu tries to sit up.

At this moment, Wen Xishu notices that two of the cameras seem uninterested in him and move away.

Wen Xishu is shocked.

Zhou Fei's second trait as the "Sage"—he has discovered it now! Zhou Fei can actually sleepwalk?

No, it's not pure sleepwalking, but that Zhou Fei has made everyone who knows him believe he sleepwalks.

Wen Xishu maintains a blank expression and begins to move out of bed.

He constantly uses the corner of his eye to feel the changes around him. He walks out of the ward and into the corridor.

The corridor outside the ward is empty, but many cameras are aimed at Wen Xishu. However, some move away again quickly.

"They can actually tacitly approve of Zhou Fei's sleepwalking..."

【Unlock Rule Five: Many eyes in the corridor are watching you; ensure your behavior appears illogical to them.】

Wen Xishu understands.

"Zhou Fei can see the complete rules, so he knows how not to arouse their suspicion... the best way is to ensure one's behavior is illogical."

"The best way is to walk around randomly, occasionally making some inexplicable movements."

"In this process, I can record the structure of these scenes."

Finding the breakthrough point makes Wen Xishu very excited.

He begins to walk around without rules.

Sometimes, Wen Xishu even walks up to a door and suddenly stops, but doesn't open it, just standing there fixedly.

Sometimes, Wen Xishu suddenly raises his head and stares blankly at the ceiling.

Of course, most of the time, he walks in a straight line to the end, and after touching the wall, Wen Xishu returns, doing this several times.

He looks like a retard, but Wen Xishu has already memorized all the routes in his brain during this process.

At the same time, he is also observing with the corner of his eye to see if there are any Easter eggs around.

"Great Homage" has placed some special game props throughout the Mysterious Tower area; these homages in the game are only visible to Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu actually finds something.

This thing is gray, like a rune.

It lies quietly at the corner of the stairs on the second-floor ward; these homages in the game are only visible to Wen Xishu.

In a sense, it can be seen as an airdrop support from Scorpio.

Wen Xishu continues to walk around illogically, while thinking in his mind about what the gray rune represents.

He seems to have thought of...

"It's that thing! This is truly a very critical item."

Wen Xishu remembers that in a very fun free-to-play game, on the battlefield river—there exist several types of runes; once touched, one gets a buff.

Red represents movement speed, blue represents damage, green represents recovery, yellow represents illusions, and gray represents invisibility.

"This is indeed a good thing for breaking the situation."

Wen Xishu doesn't pick it up immediately; he is still observing the surroundings. At this moment, Wen Xishu has already reached the first-floor corridor.

Everything is going smoothly so far; acting stupid is very simple for Wen Xishu.

But soon, he is almost exposed.

In the first-floor corridor, Wen Xishu encounters a bizarre scene. While he is walking randomly, several people in white coats are carrying the "corpse" of the Tea-Selling Old Man, coming down from the second floor and heading toward the courtyard outside the corridor.

Wen Xishu subconsciously wants to observe.

But as if smelling something...

The three people in white coats stand still, straight and stiff, turning their bodies to look at Wen Xishu.

Their eyes change from blankness at the beginning to a kind of suspicion.

In the first-floor corridor, Wen Xishu's footsteps move forward, while the three people in white coats stand at the entrance of the corridor leading to the courtyard, watching Wen Xishu silently.

If Wen Xishu continues to walk, he will only get closer and closer to the three people in white coats.

At this moment, Wen Xishu could choose to turn around. But he has already sensed the danger...

He is certain that he has been locked onto. If he turns around and leaves at this time, he might be identified as fleeing, which would provide logic.

Sure enough, one of the white coats suddenly takes a step forward; the corpse of the Tea-Selling Old Man seems to be no longer important.

The three white coats all walk toward Wen Xishu.

The aura they emit also changes from initial indifference to a kind of vigilance and caution.

And a more bizarre scene occurs: the Tea-Selling Old Man lying on the ground suddenly begins to twitch.

Having no life signs and seemingly already dead, the Tea-Selling Old Man... actually comes back to life at this moment.

His mouth begins to chant a strange and familiar sound to Wen Xishu:

"Parents call, answer without delay. Parents command, act without laziness. Parents teach, must respectfully listen. Parents blame, must obediently accept."

The old voice chants this passage that Wen Xishu heard in the Light Ward not long ago.

At this moment, Wen Xishu notices—

The label on the old man says "Treatment Complete."

And the three white coats have already surrounded Wen Xishu, pressing their ears against Wen Xishu's body.

This scene is extremely bizarre.

In the dim corridor, only the entrance to the courtyard has a little light.

And in the dimness, the three white coats stand motionless as if listening to a heartbeat, pressing against Wen Xishu's chest. Not far away, an old man is twitching and chanting bizarre lines.

Wen Xishu knows that if he cannot quickly decipher the meaning of this behavior...

He will immediately encounter danger.

And he quickly finds the answer.

Wen Xishu stares blankly ahead, emptying his mind, looking at the slight light in front, thinking of nothing.

The familiar and disgusting feeling appears.

The feeling of something crawling wildly inside his body appears. The three white coats finally stop being vigilant. That crawling sound, like the rustling of hundreds of cockroaches walking, allows Wen Xishu to survive.

Wen Xishu continues to walk around illogically, but next, his body begins to be tied up by the three white coats.

Wen Xishu doesn't panic; when in close contact, he empties his mind, letting the few white coats carry him.

And the Tea-Selling Old Man slowly walks toward the courtyard. He is still chanting that passage of "Di Zi Gui" in an old voice and a cheerful tune.

Clearly, the Tea-Selling Old Man is no longer the Tea-Selling Old Man, but "them," or rather, has become a so-called "Good Person."

The word "Good Person" now feels to Wen Xishu not like a kind person, but a non-human good at disguising.

At this moment... Wen Xishu suddenly understands.

"I understand, I was completely wrong! The Light Ward is the Severe Ward, and the Severe Ward is the Light Ward!"

Wen Xishu is quickly sent back to the bed, where ropes tie him up, making him unable to move. Fortunately, he is safe at this moment.

The three white coats don't seem to continue observing him.

Although he is already unable to move, Wen Xishu's harvest is fruitful.

Whether it is terrain exploration or that hidden rune. At the same time, he also knows the principle of that sound.

If there really is something inside the body that can crawl and make such a huge sound, then the person would have died long ago.

This is the point Wen Xishu didn't understand before, but now, he seems to have some directions for thinking.

At the same time, the familiar prompt appears.

【The current character is in a safe state and will not attract "their" attention in the short term, meeting the conditions for switching. Do you want to switch to the Brave or the Benevolent?】

Wen Xishu also needs to verify his guess.

"If my guess is correct, then the people around Britney now... are all 'Good People.' She is the one in the most dangerous situation."

(End of chapter)