IWOL Chapter 25: Mental Overload

Allen silently cursed and quickly took two steps to the side. The vegetation covered the pool of fresh blood and gradually formed a knot, wrapping the blood up in it.

“These things drink blood?!” Allen whispered incredulously.

Dong Zheng abruptly remembered the dried up plants, the rotten cloth, and the broken test tube in the corner of the mortuary, and realization suddenly dawned on him. “The blood could be used to lead them away. Let’s go to the fourth floor to bandage your wound. This floor should also have a blood collection lab. Let’s take a look and see if we can get some blood samples.”

They immediately ducked into the fourth floor. The nurse’s desk had a small medicine station behind it. Allen rummaged through it and turned up a small box of cephalosporin and swallowed two pills. Dong Zheng pulled out the drawer and found a flashlight and a fruit knife.

Now, they had a tool for light. The two people temporarily rested for three to four minutes. During this time, Dong Zheng discovered that a copy of the hospital’s floor plan had been abandoned on the ground. It indicated that the blood collection lab was indeed in the northern area of this floor.

At present, they still don’t know the difference in time flow between this secret realm and the outside world. They were only given four hours in the Labyrinth of Time. When they entered this place, they only had just a little more than two hours left. If they were unable to obtain the final treasure before Karls called them back, then it would be a big loss.

After being bandaged, Allen’s wound no longer bled. He and Dong Zheng both found the blood collection lab. Sure enough, there were many plants gathered in this place. Densely packed mints filled the entire window, making the situation inside completely invisible to them.

Mints were slightly better than vines. At least there were no thorns, and the stems were soft. Dong Zheng used the fruit knife and managed with difficulty to clear out a passage for a single person to pass through. This allowed Allen to squeeze into the lab.

All of the test tube racks placed outside were empty, and countless broken test tubes were scattered on the floor. There was a faint scent of mint in the air. Dong Zheng shook his head, feeling as if his mind had turned into a puddle.

The headache stubbornly persisted, so Dong Zheng’s brain had initiated a basic protective response and dulled his acute suffering. He’d been calling Cui Zuojing to return since the first wave of dizziness, but the teenager had not given him a response.

Dong Zheng was very somber and was worried that Cui Zuojing might have met with an accident when confronting the terrifying executioner. Despite these two contradictory feelings, there was nothing he could do but bear with it.

“There’s a safe,” Allen called.

Dong Zheng hurried over to see. It was naturally an electronic password safe. It was placed in a corner and was covered on top with a layer of mint leaves. The electronic password required four digits and the indicator light glowed, suggesting that the safe was still working.

Dong Zheng was very familiar with this type of safe. In his company, there were no shortages of this kind of things. In fact, the safes they do have were perhaps even more advanced.

He told Allen, “Look for the password. So long as something has numerals and letters, bring it over to study.”

Allen wasn’t stupid. He made an OK gesture and began searching. Dong Zheng opened the dusty file cabinet, covered his mouth and nose, scanned the contents inside, and pulled out a log book from the corner closest to the back cabinet wall.

Dong Zheng turned over two pages. On September 27, there were four numbers written on the page: 1753.

So simple?

He lowered his hand and squatted in front of the safe to enter 1756.

The indicator light turned green and, with a click, the safe opened.

Allen was still looking through the doctor’s stuff. When he saw Dong Zheng opening the safe box, he was startled. “WTF, you found the password so quickly?”

Dong Zheng hummed in agreement and showed him the number on the log book. “The date on the medical record that the doctor on the first floor was holding was September 30. This password was three days ago. Generally, the password for access control in the hospital or in a general control room will change every day. Many will use numeral accumulations to help people remember, so long as they remember at least one password every week. My company often does this.”

Allen let out a long o sound. “Oh, I’ve learned something new.”

The temperature inside the safe was very low. It had two rows of test tubes, all of which were filled with blood samples. There was a layer of light yellow liquid floating on top, indicating that the plasma had been stored for a long time and had almost coagulated.

Dong Zheng didn’t know whether this kind of blood would attract the plants. He took one of them and shook it. Then, he opened it and tipped over a few drops on to the top of the safe. After a short while, the mint leaves illuminated by the flashlight became visibly disturbed and rushed all at once to the drops of blood.

Dong Zheng was relieved. “Still useful. Come, let’s go upstairs.”

They divided the ten test tubes between the two of them and entered the stairwell once again. The blood that Allen had left on the ground had been completely absorbed. The vines firmly blocked off the path, and fungus covered the walls completely. The white plant had thoroughly perceived them as nourishment.

Dong Zheng took a deep breath, opened the test tube, poured blood on the corner of the stairwell, and moved back with Allen to wait.

The plant had been awakened by Allen’s blood and was quick to respond. It followed the smell of blood and crawled toward it, inadvertently leaving a narrow path for them.

Dong Zheng and Allen took the opportunity to go up. A few tendrils of leaves smelled the bloody scent that remained on Allen’s body and eagerly approached him. Allen hurriedly smashed another test tube into the corner and was finally temporarily safe.

However, at this moment, an intensely painful headache burst across Dong Zheng’s consciousness, so strong that it rendered him completely incapable of ignoring it. His eyes swelled with agony and an unprecedented nausea made him squeeze his eyes tight.  His body grew unsteady and began to shake. If Allen hadn’t hurriedly helped him, he would have fallen.

“What’s the matter? Not another headache?” Allen supported him, clearly sensing that Dong Zheng lacked the strength to support himself. His whole body leaned against him.

If his headache was so serious, without regards to time and occasion, then this buddy would experience a lot of danger inside the boxes in the future!

Plants were still continuously moving, and something dangerous could occur at any moment. Allen could only try his best to help Dong Zheng climb to the fifth floor. After smashing the test tubes to lead away the plants that blocked the staircase, he pushed through the door into the hall and rested for a moment.

Dong Zheng was in so much pain that he could not speak at all. He couldn’t even shake his head to give Allen a response. His forehead was beaded with a cold sweat and he was panting hard. His whole consciousness had completely scattered. In his last 26 years of life, he’d never experienced such pain.

Cui…Cui Zuojing!

Cui Zuojing climbed up from the ice lake, and the colorful fishes with their glazed ceramic texture flew over his head. The lake water crashed and poured over him into the same glazed ceramic sky, stirring up a ripple of rainbows that formed into a waterfall flowing backwards.

He was completely drenched. Drops of water rolled off his skin, fell to the ground, and immediately turned into colorful spherical gems that dropped into the lake. The executioner was still struggling in the lake, cutting quite a sorry figure. The tentacle in his left eye had been severed at the root, and only half of his right leg was left. The saw was nowhere to be found and his body was covered with blood.

Hearing the call that originated from the bottom of his heart, Cui Zuojing staggered unsteadily and almost fell down. He was unable to resist the fatigue that seemed to rise from the depths of his soul, leaving him almost no strength to lift his hand.

Had Dong Zheng been overdrawn?

The executioner was still splashing with some difficulties on the lake and wanted to swim up. The blood leaking from countless wounds on its body had nearly dyed the lake pink. Where was the terrifying creature that had struck fear into other people’s heart?

Cui Zuojing took a deep breath. He’d played enough. The executioner also looked like it wouldn’t last much longer.

In that case, it’s time to go back.

He closed his eyes and listened to the inner call from within his heart. His figure gradually became transparent.

The executioner gave an unwilling roar, and Cui Zuojing raised the corners of his lips, taking joy from its misery.

“Bye-bye.”

Dong Zheng had nearly collapsed against a corner. Allen tossed aside the IV stand and bit the flashlight between his teeth so that he could help him sit against the wall.

“Hey, brother, can you still walk?”

Dong Zheng panted heavily and shivered uncontrollably. His eyes were tightly squeezed shut, his head feeling as if it would explode in the next moment. He used his actions to answer Allen’s question.

What to do?

Allen was at a loss. He could leave Dong Zheng alone here. For now, he may be safe but there were so many monstrous vegetation outside and they could come in at any moment.

He squatted beside Dong Zheng, feeling uneasy. He looked around but couldn’t find any medicine that could be used. He could only temporarily put the IV stand on the ground and scan their surroundings with vigilance.

The fifth floor was an inpatient department. The doors between the wards were tightly closed. The windows were dark and the situation inside the ward couldn’t be clearly seen. The electronic sign above the hallway was wrapped with vegetation, and there were black lumps scattered on the floor.

The bodies of two nurses were slumped in the nurse’s station, which had been turned into a shelter for the plants. Unidentified leaves that were thick and broad stretched out and grew unscrupulously along the dark hallway.

Stopping in this environment where danger lurked at every side, Allen felt a chill from head to toes.

Dong Zheng’s brows tightened. His head had been resting on the wall for five minutes, which finally allowed him to speak with great difficulties. He took a deep breath, trying to ease the pain, and stubbornly pushed Allen. He said, “You explore the situation on this floor first. I just need to rest for a moment, and then I’ll be fine. You don’t need to stay here with me and delay time.”

Allen hesitated briefly before standing up. “Then, okay. You have a good rest and wait here. Don’t walk around. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Dong Zheng was in unbearable pain. He didn’t want to slow Allen down. He resisted the urge to kill a certain person and gritted his teeth. “Go.”

Allen hurriedly left to investigate the surrounding area.

Allen’s footsteps gradually faded away, but Dong Zheng didn’t have the energy to pay attention to them. He finally couldn’t prevent the painful whimper from escaping his lips. Then, unable to hold it any longer, he directly fainted.

A few seconds later, the imprint of the prison card on the back of Dong Zheng’s left hand flashed slightly, and Cui Zuojing materialized in front of him. The water droplets that he’d brought from another space continued to drip from the teenager, which then turned into countless crystal beads that scattered on the messy floor of the hospital corridor.

Finally, he’d returned to the owner. Dong Zheng’s completely overdrawn mental and spiritual condition also made Cui Zuojing extremely uncomfortable. The connection between them had become very weak.

Cui Zuojing resisted the urge to burrow back into the prisoner’s space to rest and instead immediately knelt down beside Dong Zheng. He took out the box of medicine from Dong Zheng’s clothes and pulled out the last pill. With cold fingers, he open the man’s closed lips and stuffed the medicine into his mouth.

Only after he’d finished this did Cui Zuojing finally let out a long sigh of relief. His body relaxed, though he still felt the after effects of fear and concern.

The power of the killer that he’d been most proud of had languished for far too long. Even if he’d managed to restore it after returning to the Pure White Realm, it was still far less than what it had once been. It was necessary for him to engage in battle to regain his strength.

However, in the process of dealing with the executioner, he’d completely become addicted to the long lost thrill that had once again filled his body. He’d heard Dong Zheng’s calls several times but chose to ignore them, which directly led to this current situation.

Although the emotion was very weak, Cui Zuojing still noticed the guilt that came from his heart. The fatigue on his body told him how bad Dong Zheng had been overdrawn. Now, he only wanted to return to the prisoner’s space and have a good rest.

But no, this didn’t look like a good place. With Dong Zheng’s current mental state, he wouldn’t  be able to summon him in the event of a crisis.

He’d caused this, so he must bear the consequences.

Cui Zuojing squeezed out his soaked clothes and sat down against the wall.

When he realized that, due to the blood contract, the closer he got to Dong Zheng, the faster Dong Zheng would recover, he moved sideways without hesitation and leaned tightly against the unconscious Dong Zheng.

The man’s warm body thawed out the chill that had pervaded his body the moment he’d fallen into the lake. At the same time, the contract between their souls and their blood strengthened, deeply connecting them together.

Cui Zuojing waited patiently for [Alice’s Medicine] to take effect. He felt that, since he’d gotten closer to Dong Zheng, he was indeed a lot more comfortable. After thinking about it, he silently wrapped one arm around the man.

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