Ancient Writing and the Doctor

The old door hinges let out a long "screeech—" as they engaged.

Because the windows and door had not been opened for a long time, the stale smell that had settled inside the room was released all at once.

Boss Aisath was not a person of this era, so it was hardly surprising that the furnishings in the room looked ancient.

You Ye had not followed Luo Qiu inside and was merely standing at the doorway. Perhaps it was out of respect for the previous boss, or perhaps out of awe.

Of course, it could have been something else.

In the eyes of a historian, this room would probably have been a rare treasure trove—but in truth, how could anything in this club not be called a treasure trove?

Luo Qiu walked to the area near the windows. The curtains were merely black Light Veil. There was also a small round table and a small square wooden chair. The chair had been pulled out, and there were countless scratches beneath its legs, probably caused by it being dragged back and forth for so long.

Luo Qiu sat directly on the chair and closed his eyes. Boss Aisath had probably spent a great deal of time sitting here every day. He did not know what purpose this served; he simply felt that he should experience what it was like to sit quietly here.

When he sat here, what had his gaze been focused on?

After a moment, Luo Qiu stood up self-mockingly, having found nothing, and began walking around the room. Against the opposite wall was a simple desk, but both its drawers and desktop were empty.

As for the wardrobe in the room, it contained only one set of clothes. The bed was there, and so was the bedside table. A candlestick sat atop the bedside table. At a glance, these were the only things in the room.

Thus, Luo Qiu did not see the music box You Ye had mentioned, the one that could produce a melody after its spring was wound.

It was as if, aside from that first letter, the previous boss had left Luo Qiu nothing of value. Luo Qiu could not help feeling disappointed. Just as he was about to leave, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. He returned to the round table, crouched down, and leaned over to examine the floor beneath it.

He used the same method to inspect the underside of the desk. He even turned the bed over and did not spare the backs of the drawers. Finally, he moved the wardrobe and examined the mottled cracks in the wall behind it, as well as the back of the wardrobe itself.

"Really, nothing was left behind... Or am I just overthinking this?" Luo Qiu muttered to himself.

In the end, he could only helplessly restore everything in the room to its original state.

Before he knew it, dawn had arrived. A gentle breeze blew open the Light Veil covering the windows, and sunlight shone across the glass. Only then did Luo Qiu realize that this was a stained-glass window. At that moment, the fragmented sunlight and the glass-colored stained glass combined into a dazzling, magnificent painting of light.

The room seemed to become much more vivid all at once.

Luo Qiu instinctively walked to the window, drew back the curtain, and pushed open the glass window. Outside was the commercial street, which was nearly empty in the early morning—a commercial street he knew well.

Luo Qiu closed the stained-glass window. He was just about to draw the black gauze curtain shut when he caught sight of the scene cast onto the wooden floor after the sunlight passed through the stained glass.

They were rows of neatly arranged patterns—but Luo Qiu suspected they were a kind of writing, composed of extremely ancient characters.

However, they seemed likely to disappear soon, probably because of the angle of the sunlight. Luo Qiu immediately grabbed his phone and snapped a picture of the scene on the floor. By then, the writing had already grown blurry and soon melted into a patch of fragmented light.

Luo Qiu showed the snapshot to You Ye. "You Ye, do you recognize these characters?"

You Ye merely shook her head, a look of surprise also appearing on her face.

Even though she had worked here for three hundred years, Maid had never entered Boss Aisath's room. This was probably her first time seeing something like this as well.

But if You Ye did not recognize it, then the writing was probably from three hundred years ago—or even older.

Luo Qiu tried placing his palm on the phone's screen, intending to use his appraisal ability, but the response he received from the altar was merely this:

The content of the writing has been lost. Use one thousand years of lifespan to repair and translate the content?

Luo Qiu felt that there should be a "What-The-FUCK" here.

But at that moment, the altar sent over another message.

Ten years of lifespan can be used to purchase the source.

Well, there really should be another "What-The-FUCK."

"Master?"

Seeing Luo Qiu's somewhat silent expression, You Ye asked tentatively.

Luo Qiu exhaled, composed himself, and said, "It's nothing. At least this wasn't completely fruitless. There's still a long time ahead. Besides, having a goal will probably make me more motivated."

Afterward, he instructed You Ye to continue working and returned to his former home.

At this time, Ren Ziling naturally had not yet awakened from her sleep.

Feeling that spending ten years to purchase the source of the writing was a terrible deal, Luo Qiu directly copied the snapshots onto the computer. He then used image-editing software to crop several of the clearest characters into separate images before piecing them together into a brand-new picture.

He uploaded it to Zhihu.

Title: Please identify the writing in this picture.

All he had to do next was wait for some helpful person to decipher it. If no one recognized it, he could also consider the foreign website Quora.

If no one recognized it there either... then he would just have to work hard to earn lifespan.

Speaking of working hard to earn lifespan, Luo Qiu had no choice but to start reviewing the information on the seven major clients Black Soul 9 had brought this time.

In theory, when issuing Black Cards bearing an imprint, he should choose targets who would remain profitable even after applying a discount.

This was not simply a process in which a customer bought something and he directly sacrificed the transaction money to obtain lifespan.

Through these few transactions, Luo Qiu had realized that he also counted as a customer of the club—only, he was its biggest customer. His lifespan was the only currency he possessed.

Purchasing information about transaction targets, appraising items, or freeing Taiyinzi's soul from the White Jade Token could all be carried out using his lifespan.

Then there was storage. Once something was placed into storage, it lost the ability to be sacrificed. In other words, during future transactions, if Luo Qiu took a fancy to a certain form of transaction currency, he would have to replace it with lifespan that he could obtain. Strictly speaking, this also counted as consumption, right?

Thus, his lifespan was not something that generated profit from nothing.

The first white card appeared in Luo Qiu's palm, then shattered and transformed into photons. Like a ball of mist, they coiled around his head.

Luo Qiu closed his eyes.

Jiang Chu had returned to the hospital early.

It was uncommon for a doctor of Jiang Chu's level to arrive at the hospital so early. He was in his early forties, refined in manner, and a highly renowned attending neurosurgeon.

With talent, fame, and wealth, he had divorced his former wife ten years ago and remained single. As a result, Jiang Chu was the object of admiration for many of the young women in the hospital.

Jiang Chu brewed himself a cup of coffee and sat down at his desk. Just as he was about to review the medical records of several patients, he found a Black Card bearing a strange golden pattern tucked inside one of the files...