"You can touch it, of course you can touch it," Li Yifei grinned.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the figure in the white coat at the door of the activity room, and his expression froze on his face…
Azhu followed Li Yifei's gaze with suspicion and saw Lin Qiye with an expressionless face. She exclaimed in surprise, quickly stood up and lowered her head, like a child who had done something wrong.
Only the Rubik's Cube on the side was still spinning rapidly, as if it were just an emotionless shuffling machine.
"Qiye... oh no, Dean, I... I was just leading the patients in some recreational activities, cough cough cough..." Li Yifei said somewhat awkwardly.
"Thanatos, you've returned..." Nyx said with a smile. She was clearly delighted to see Lin Qiye; although traces of fatigue lingered on her face, she concealed them well.
No matter how well she tried to conceal it, she could not hide the truth from Lin Qiye's discerning gaze; a golden glint flashed in his eyes as he examined Nyx. He could see that her divine soul had been significantly depleted—as if she had split off a large portion of it for someone else.
Under normal circumstances, Lin Xi Chen certainly would not have accepted this; however, it seems Nyx had lulled his younger sister to sleep and, unable to heal her using divine power, chose to sacrifice her own divine soul to suppress Lin Xi Chen's power.
Regardless of who "that person" was, he could easily guess that it was Lin Xi Chen. This inevitably made him sigh, for a mother's love is boundless—even when Nyx no longer recognizes her own child.
Pushing aside the growing sense of guilt within him, he needed Nyx's help. Lin Qiye looked at the trembling A'Zhu and the bewildered Li Yifei, and sighed helplessly.
"Why are you so nervous? Expanding recreational options for patients and improving their mental and physical well-being is a good thing. I'm not an unreasonable, heartless boss; I'm not going to deduct your wages, am I?"
"Well... that's assuming you have wages to deduct from."
Seeing Lin Qiye say this, Azhu and Li Yifei finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Qiye didn't have time to waste on these trivial matters. He walked straight up to Nyx and said with a somewhat serious expression:
"Mother, I might need your strength in a while, at that time..."
Nyx smiled slightly. "Thanatos, my child, I will always be by your side whenever you need me."
Hearing Nyx's reply, Lin Qiye felt a warmth in his heart, and his anxiety finally subsided. This was what it felt like to have a powerful backer...
At this moment, Merlin raised an eyebrow and carefully examined Lin Qiye.
"Your Excellency Dean, you seem to be facing a predicament."
Lin Qiye was taken aback. "Lord Merlin, you're right..."
"You're being hunted, and they all seem to be stronger than you now. There are probably... two? No, three..."
"Although Lady Vice-Dean is unconscious, there is currently no immediate danger around her."
Merlin's deep eyes seemed to see through Lin Qiye's fate, and in just a moment, he guessed most of Lin Qiye's situation.
Lin Qiye's eyes gradually brightened. "Lord Merlin, do you have a way to break this deadlock?"
Merlin shook his head. "I'm just a scholar imprisoned in a hospital; there's nothing I can do to help you..."
Just as regret appeared in Lin Qiye's eyes, Merlin continued, "But I know that brute force is often the best weapon to break through difficulties."
"But I can't beat them." Lin Qiye shook his head helplessly.
"True skill level isn't the only standard for measuring combat strength. There's also experience, wisdom, and... some subtle tricks." Merlin looked at Lin Qiye meaningfully and said slowly.
"For example, this miraculous hospital, and...they."
Merlin stretched out his hand and pointed to Li Yifei and Azhu, who were standing to the side in caregiver uniforms. The two were stunned, looked at each other blankly, and seemed not to understand what Merlin was talking about.
Lin Qiye was equally stunned. He looked at the two caregivers with a puzzled expression, shaking his head slightly. "But the caregivers can't get him out of here. I've already tried..."
"You can't follow the established rules in everything. If you want to become strong, you have to learn to break the rules with your own wisdom." Merlin gently picked up a mahjong tile from the table, a smile appearing on his lips, and then gently pushed over all the mahjong tiles in front of him.
"That's all the advice I can give you. The rest is up to you."
Merlin stood up unhurriedly, picked up the "Handbook for Health Preservation of Middle-aged and Elderly People" from beside his chair, and walked out of the activity room...
Lin Qiye stared blankly at the long string of winning tiles on the table, his brows furrowed tightly.
"Break the rules...break the rules..." he muttered to himself.
"Xiao Chen, you're cheating!" A memory of a conversation with Lin Xi Chen suddenly flashed through his mind—specifically, the time she had won numerous games against Lin Qiye, even after giving him a significant head start.
"Gege, it's not cheating! It's just a bug I accidentally stumbled upon while switching characters."
The game they were playing was a 2D fighting game where players select a character for PvP.
The bug Lin Xi Chen discovered involved switching characters so rapidly that a random skill from the previous character would be retained even after the switch.
She repeated this process until she was satisfied, allowing her to use all those accumulated skills on her desired character. It was essentially a game-breaking glitch.
A moment later, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly turned his head to look at Merlin's departing figure, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.
"Could it be...?"
He turned back to look at the bewildered Li Yifei and Azhu, as well as the Rubik's Cube squatting in the corner silently shuffling the cards, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"Dean...Dean, what do you want to do?" Li Yifei saw Lin Qiye's strange gaze, took two steps back warily, covered his chest with his hands, and spoke in a low voice.
"Nothing." Lin Qiye smiled and extended a finger, a mysterious and dazzling magic circle quickly forming at his fingertip. "I just want to talk to you all..."
Sign another contract....
In the dark and deep underground cave, Lin Qiye slowly opened his eyes, a hint of joy appearing in them.
He crouched down, patted the little mummy's head, and said softly, "You've worked hard. Go back and rest. Leave the rest to me..."
The little mummy tilted its head, seemingly a little worried, but as the magic circle unfolded, it obediently returned to its own world, waving goodbye to Lin Qiye with reluctance before leaving.
As the magic circle dissipated, only Lin Qiye remained in the empty underground cave.
In the darkness, his eyes shone exceptionally bright.
The remaining rainwater dripped from the hem of his black military overcoat to the ground. He slowly closed his eyes, placed one hand on the hilt of the straight knife at his waist, and walked step by step into the intricate cave.
"Now, it's my turn to be the hunter..."
...
From the same underground cave, a painful groan rang out.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." Baili Pangpang's mouth twitched as he endured the pain all over his body and struggled to get up from the ground.
When the landslide occurred, he was carrying the unconscious Shen Qingzhu towards Village No. 1. During the fall, he shielded Shen Qingzhu with his own body, taking all the impact for him.
Fortunately, he was protected by [Yaoguang], and he himself was also tough and thick-skinned, so he fell without being seriously injured despite the weight of two people.
"Where is this? Where's Zhai Ge?" Baili Pangpang looked around blankly, took out his monocle from his pocket and put it on, and quickly saw the surroundings in the dark.
"Cave?"
Baili Pangpang was stunned for a moment, and quickly found Shen Qingzhu lying not far away. Although Baili Pangpang had blocked the impact for him, he still suffered a lot of wounds during the fall. Although the sealing scroll could isolate the inside and outside, it did not have the effect of healing.
Shen Qingzhu's coat was almost completely soaked in blood. As time passed, his breathing became weaker and weaker, and bloody foam kept seeping from the corners of his mouth...
Baili Pangpang gritted his teeth, hesitated for a moment, then took out a cyan jade piece from his pocket and stuffed it into Shen Qingzhu's arms.
"Damn it, you got off easy... I've really lost out this time!"
Baili Pangpang muttered something to himself, then, enduring the pain, he carried Shen Qingzhu on his back and staggered forward.