Ye Xin couldn't take the stairs while pushing the cart, so she went to the Freight Elevator nearby and rode it to the second floor.
After leaving the elevator, she casually picked a room, pushed the patient inside, and locked the door.
Click.
When she turned around and swept the area with her Spirit Thread, she found another patient lying on a bed in the next room.
Compared to the attackers from before, there were no signs of rot on his body. His expression was normal, and he instead looked like an ordinary young man.
Ye Xin frowned slightly. Turning her head, she saw Shi Wenshan and the others had come over, so she motioned for them to wait where they were before entering the adjacent room herself.
The patient did not react.
She took a deep breath and began approaching her target.
"The doctor said these Patients were suffering from Corruption Pollution, and my ability is Purification. Could I possibly interfere with their condition this way?"
It was only an idea, but she decided to give it a try.
Just as she approached him, the guy suddenly opened his eyes.
"Cough, cough, Miss Nurse." The patient weakly opened his eyes and coughed a few times. "Am I... still saveable?"
"Yes, so please don't worry." Ye Xin immediately smiled.
Of course, it was entirely an act. She was observing his condition.
"I'm so thirsty. Could you give me... some water?" the patient asked weakly.
"Thirsty?"
Ye Xin's mind stirred. She walked over, poured him a cup of water, then reached out and touched the surface.
Purifying...
It really worked.
Ten seconds later, she held the cup out before the patient.
She slowly let the water enter his mouth. A few seconds later, his complexion visibly improved.
"Thank you, pretty nurse." The guy lowered his head, not daring to look at Ye Xin's face. Then his gaze accidentally landed on her black-stockinged legs, and his face instantly reddened.
"Emmmm..."
Ye Xin's mouth twitched as she set the cup aside.
This brat was a lecher.
"I have a question. Have you undergone surgery?"
"Surgery?" The young man froze. Then, abruptly, his face twisted viciously. He clutched his head and growled hoarsely, "Surgery... I don't want surgery, no surgery... Aaaah!"
The next moment, he suddenly went berserk. Opening his mouth to reveal sharp fangs, he lunged for Ye Xin's neck.
"Fuck."
Ye Xin hurriedly retreated. Without a second thought, she instantly unleashed her Spirit Thread and severed both his hands.
Unexpectedly, the patient vanished like a ghost. In a flash, he flickered to her left and launched a second attack.
"Damn!"
He could teleport too?
Ye Xin hurriedly rolled away, but a sharp pain had already shot through her left arm. It felt like the bone had been broken.
Without another word, her threads erupted, viciously strangling his neck. With a powerful pull backward, she sliced it clean through.
His head was separated from his body. She thought he would die there, but his head actually bit down on Ye Xin's foot.
"Hiss—"
She kicked him away, but the head rolled back on its own to bite her again. Ye Xin sliced the target apart once more, and only then did he finally die.
Gained 11 Life Energy.
Several teammates who had heard the sounds of fighting had already rushed in.
The moment they saw the scene on the floor, their expressions varied.
"There was a bit of an accident." Ye Xin covered her wound and spoke in an exceptionally weak voice.
"An accident? It's not serious, right?" Shi Wenshan ran over, intending to support her, but halfway through the motion, he froze. Clearly, he was somewhat embarrassed about touching her.
Instead, Xuan Ya ran over and supported Ye Xin.
Ye Xin glanced at the water nearby. That single cup had been finished by the patient who had just gone mad, and the thermos was actually empty.
She took a deep breath. "I saw a patient who seemed fairly normal. I wanted to probe him for useful information myself, but I didn't expect him to go mad too."
Honestly, Ye Xin had thought she could instantly kill him with her Spirit Thread. Who could have expected that bizarre patient to not only teleport, but to keep attacking even after his head was cut off? That was ridiculous.
She had the feeling that the missions in this world were not as simple as she had imagined.
Could this also be a world with supernatural powers?
"For now, we'll identify those doctors as the Source of Evil. But before we truly make a move, our task is still to deal with the Patients. The main objective is to obtain rewards."
At that moment, Shi Wenshan walked over and picked up a newspaper that looked badly damaged.
Cleared Out
The contents of the newspaper's front page were clearly displayed:
"On February 13th, an Unknown Virus appeared at West City Second Hospital, infecting a large number of doctors and patients. The infected developed symptoms such as dizziness, tinnitus, and extreme thirst. Some patients fell into severe states of madness, their entire bodies rotting as they attacked innocent civilians indiscriminately. To ensure public safety and prevent the virus from spreading, the relevant authorities have deployed police to maintain order and urgently evacuate the public. The hospital where the incident occurred and its surrounding area have been designated a Quarantine Zone. Entry and exit are strictly prohibited."
Only half of the newspaper remained, and the contents ended there.
"Could West City Second Hospital be where we are right now?" Shi Wenshan put down the newspaper.
"Was there an outbreak of an Unknown Virus here back then? Madness, full-body rot, indiscriminate attacks... Those symptoms do resemble the Patients." Ye Xin looked thoughtful.
"During that earlier surgery, the doctors seemed to inject the Patients with a virus, didn't they? Looking at it this way, this illness itself seems more like a conspiracy. The doctors in the hospital were conducting inhumane experiments on Patients to achieve their own goals? It seems the so-called Source of Evil really is those people."
The clues once again pointed toward the doctors.
Everyone exchanged meaningful looks, confirming their next course of action.
"Um... I found a knife next door. It might be useful." At that moment, the middle-aged man who had barely spoken until now, Newbie, walked over and placed a large fruit knife before them.
"A fruit knife? Good stuff! You're weak, so just use the cane to interfere with enemies from a distance."
Xuan Ya stepped forward and handed him the cane.
"Give me the knife."
"Okay." The middle-aged man did not think much of it and exchanged weapons with her.
"Since everyone has already identified the final target, let's start with the Patients on the second floor. After that, we'll explore higher up. Once the rewards are enough, we'll deal with the doctors."
"OK."
The battle against the Patients began.
The teammates' levels were there for all to see. Ye Xin merely tagged along for experience, secretly using her threads to strangle enemies whenever she found an opening. Before she knew it, she had taken out more than ten people.
"Ye Xin, why is your damage output so high? You're amazing!" Xuan Ya gradually noticed something was off.
"Hmph." Ye Xin proudly raised her head.
"Hahaha, so cute."
No matter what, being pretty made it easier to win people's favor.
The group made their way to the third floor.
In the hallway, a weak and helpless female patient lay on the ground.
Once they came within a certain distance, she suddenly sprang up and charged fiercely at Ye Xin and the others like a zombie.
They reacted quickly and immediately counterattacked with ferocity.
Slash after slash landed, sending blood and flesh flying.
After only a few strikes, the woman lost her ability to resist and collapsed completely onto the floor.
"Taken care of." Facing the lifeless woman, Shi Wenshan looked somewhat disappointed. "There was no possibility of communication at all."
"There's one suspicious point. If these Patients are so dangerous, why did the doctors leave them here so casually? If they got unlucky, wouldn't these Patients rush downstairs and attack?" Xuan Ya frowned.
"I think these Patients are harmless as long as no one approaches them proactively," Shi Wenshan judged.
They continued pushing forward.
Half an hour later, they discovered a ward on the third floor. More than twenty Patients who had not yet undergone surgery and seemed capable of communicating were being held there.
After trying to talk to them, they learned that this group had been imprisoned for a long time, unable to even receive enough basic food each day.
"So that's how it is?"
Ye Xin frowned and separately brought a little girl patient into the private room next door.
"Have you undergone surgery?" she asked gently.
"Surgery?" The little girl raised her head in confusion. "Is Nurse Sister going to perform surgery to treat me?"
"Emmmm... no."
She waited for a while and found that the little girl showed no signs of madness.
Yet the male patient from before had immediately gone mad when she said the keyword "surgery." She had no idea whether there was any connection between the two.
"Ye Xin, what are you doing?" Xuan Ya approached from the side.
"I'm trying to ask a few questions, but unfortunately there aren't any clues." She was a little helpless.
Shi Wenshan walked out of the ward. "There's no need to ask. The Source of Evil is most likely those doctors. Let's just make our move."
"OK." Ye Xin made a gesture.
Shi Wenshan revealed a satisfied smile. After killing so many Patients earlier, the Life Energy he had obtained was enough for him to gain a level.
This mission was far less difficult than expected.
They returned to the second floor via the stairs.
A doctor was actually standing beside the staircase. When he saw the four of them, his brows immediately furrowed. "What were you doing upstairs? I've been looking for you for a long time. Next, the Patients need to be examined, so stop wasting time."
Shi Wenshan answered him with a hammer.
"Die!"
Bang—
The heavy hammer crashed down. The doctor instinctively tried to dodge, but his shoulder was still struck. The intense pain made his eyes widen as he cried out and staggered back several steps.
"What are you doing?"
Before he had a chance to retaliate, Ye Xin had already secretly wrapped Spirit Thread around his arm. The scissors that followed stabbed mercilessly into his eye.
"Ah—"
The doctor screamed.
The fruit knife in Xuan Ya's hand chopped into his neck.
After several consecutive attacks...
Killed LV4 Doctor. Obtained: Exchange Points ×10 Extracting energy... Extraction complete. You obtained 40% of the energy from this kill, for a total of 6 points.
"Done. The rewards from doctors seem higher?" Xuan Ya said with a smile.
Shi Wenshan crouched down and searched the doctor's pockets, suddenly frowning.
"Is something wrong?" Ye Xin asked.
"I think... perhaps we could try dissecting this doctor?"
Xuan Ya: "???"