Chapter 867: Inside the Medical Station
Originally, Lin Sanjiu was about to call forth the [Ability Polis.h.i.+ng Agent,] but she paused when she heard a distant, faint dripping sound.
The entire building was oppressively quiet. The weight of silence pressed down on her, and only the sound of dripping water echoed softly in the pitch-black darkness, devoid of any other noise.
...The severed head had been separated from the body for quite some time, appearing unreal in the dim light. After Lin Sanjiu"s vision adjusted to the darkness, the details of the surrounding environment gradually became visible. Blood covered the stairs, resembling layers of cascading black waterfalls. The handrail was missing half of its structure, and the sign hanging from it now lay on the ground amidst broken bricks and gla.s.s shards.
Rather than a medical station, it seemed more like a battlefield.
She activated [Pure Touch] and listened attentively for a while. Then, silently, she picked up a piece of broken gla.s.s and gently threw it towards the severed head. The gla.s.s bounced off the skin of the face, rolled down the stairs, and created a faint sound. It was indeed a thoroughly dead severed head, and the heavy stench in the air was not from iron.
Lin Sanjiu sidestepped and walked past the dead head, silently ascending to the second floor, following the edge of the staircase. The corridor appeared as if it had been trampled by a herd of mammoths. Whatever had destroyed it left no trace of its original shape, and there was nowhere to stand. Darkness enveloped everything except for a faint yellow light at the end of the corridor, seemingly emitted by a flashlight.
Approaching the room, she pressed her body against the wall and quickly glanced inside, instantly taken aback. A person sat facing the entrance, sitting on the floor and holding the flashlight. Before she could quickly withdraw her gaze, she only managed to see a thigh encased in jeans within the beam of light, while the rest remained hidden in the darkness beyond its glow.
Was it a person from the medical station?
Lin Sanjiu didn"t ask aloud but instead slowly poked her head out again in confusion. This time, she squinted her eyes and carefully observed the darkness behind the beam of light.
... Indeed, the person holding the flashlight had an empty s.p.a.ce on their shoulder—there was no head.
She sighed and walked toward the headless corpse, entering the room.
The original purpose of this room was no longer discernible. Cabinets, boxes, curtains, and bottles were strewn all over the floor. The dead body leaned on half of a single examination bed, while the other half was nowhere to be found. Blood, bodily fluids, and feces-like substances splattered the walls in large patches, creating a powerful and suffocating stench. However, the corpse"s clothes were still intact, not to mention any wounds.
Lin Sanjiu stood near the entrance of the room, glancing inside a few times. She couldn"t stay there any longer and was about to turn and leave. However, just as she turned her head, she paused when she saw the flashlight"s beam illuminating the corpse.
"Just before I entered...," she whispered to Mrs. Manas, "Was the beam of light like that?"
"How is that possible?" Mrs. Manas murmured.
Indeed, if there had been a line of text floating in the beam of light before she entered, Lin Sanjiu would have noticed it long ago.
Doubtful, Lin Sanjiu walked slowly toward the corpse holding the flashlight. The beam of light projected from the flashlight still quietly illuminated the wall across the corridor. However, in the brightest part of the beam"s center, there was now a projected line of text: "The way out lies outside."
It looked as if someone had cut out this line of text from paper and placed it in front of the flashlight.
She had only been inside for a short half-minute, and "Pure Touch" had been active the whole time. She had not noticed anything unusual. There had only been her alone here from start to finish, so...
"It must be this flashlight." Lin Sanjiu stopped beside the corpse, avoiding looking at the severed neck and focusing her gaze on the flashlight held by the body.
Upon closer inspection, it did indeed look different from an ordinary flashlight. On the same cylindrical body, this flashlight was covered in intricate and peculiar patterns, as well as abstracted depictions of faces, scepters, and animal totems.
"It seems to be a special item?"
Lin Sanjiu bent down and placed her fingers on the flashlight. The light was no match for the darkness, and in the dim light and shadows, the headless corpse, just within her reach, seemed to breathe along with the rise and fall of its chest. Her whole body involuntarily s.h.i.+vered, and she quickly pulled the cardified flashlight from the corpse"s hand. As darkness immediately enveloped the surroundings, the hand softly fell to the ground.
"It"s real!" Mrs. Manas raised her voice slightly and exclaimed, "It"s been a while since you obtained a special item."
"Too much greed is unproductive," Lin Sanjiu replied casually, taking out the Ability Polis.h.i.+ng Agent and carefully examining the card in her hand, illuminated by its silver light.
Having ten partially unfamiliar special items is not as good as having one thoroughly understood special item—although she understood this logic very well, her eyes still couldn"t help but brighten when she saw the contents of the card.
She desperately needed this item! No, perhaps it should be said that in the doomsday world, there was no one who didn"t need it, right?
[Guiding Flashlight]
This flashlight is infused with the mysterious ritual power of the ancient Xinxintis culture, allowing the user to pray for blessings and avoid calamities. Specifically, it guides the user by illuminating the path to follow, warning of dead ends, indicating possible rewards, and suggesting paths of potential gain through the light of the flashlight.
Instructions for use: When the user is trapped, please turn on the flashlight and follow the guidance within the beam of light.
"I understand. There were no living people in this room just now, so there was no text in the flashlight"s beam of light. But when I entered, the guidance appeared in the beam of light," Lin Sanjiu thought more and more and felt it was correct. "Later, when I entered, the guidance appeared."
Mrs. Manas remained silent.
"Did you hear that? Why aren"t you saying anything?"
"I mean," Mrs. Manas hesitated before speaking, "try cardifying the [Ability Polis.h.i.+ng Agent] again... and check its card content this time."
Lin Sanjiu had looked at this card countless times and didn"t understand why it was necessary to look at it again. But since Mrs. Manas suggested it, she followed her advice and cardified the [Ability Polis.h.i.+ng Agent]. The room immediately plunged into darkness once again. The overwhelming darkness with its pungent odor made her very uncomfortable, so she immediately activated the [Guiding Flashlight].
The four words "The way out lies outside" once again projected from the beam of light toward the door. Lin Sanjiu was about to lower her head to read the card content of the [Ability Polis.h.i.+ng Agent] in the light when suddenly, her body tensed, and she felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head.
"Wait," she silently said in her mind, slowly and silently moving towards the door. "This dead person, before dying, shone the flashlight towards the outside and maintained this posture even after losing their head... and the words "The way out lies outside" are written in the beam of light..."
In that case, isn"t the room a dead end?