“Heh heh…” Han Yimo smiled bitterly. “Doctor Zhao, you’re overthinking it. As a novelist, what I least want to talk about is my own work… If I had leisure time, I’d want to temporarily forget everything in my work and relax properly.”

“Then let’s talk about something else!” Doctor Zhao was already slowly suturing the wound, but this wound was circular, making it more complex to suture than a normal wound. He steadied himself and asked again, “Tell me, besides writing, how do you usually relax?”

“I… play games.”

Doctor Zhao nodded. “That’s great. I play games after work too. What games do you play?”

Due to excessive blood loss, Han Yimo’s thinking was very slow now. After a long while, he said, “League of Legends… There’s a female ninja called ‘Akali.’ I really like this character.”

“Oh?” Doctor Zhao smiled. “What a coincidence. I also play League of Legends and really like Akali.”

Although he spoke in a steady tone, everyone saw his hands trembling slightly. After all, in all his years practicing medicine, this was the first time suturing a wound without anesthesia while the patient was conscious. Now no one knew whether he really liked this character or was simply trying to keep the conversation going along with Han Yimo’s topic.

“You like Akali too, Doctor Zhao?” Han Yimo nodded weakly. “I’m fascinated by everything about Akali… This female ninja called ‘Fist of Shadow,’ I feel her backstory is also…”

Doctor Zhao’s movements paused slightly, then he stroked Han Yimo’s face and asked, “Han Yimo, can you see me?”

“Hm?” Han Yimo didn’t know why Doctor Zhao suddenly asked this question and could only answer, “I can see you…”

“Who am I?”

“You’re Doctor Zhao…”

After hearing this, Doctor Zhao nodded again and said, “Han Yimo, you’re experiencing hallucinations now. You must stay conscious.”

“Hallucinations?” Han Yimo felt his current state was still fairly normal and didn’t understand what Doctor Zhao meant. “Aren’t I having a normal conversation with you? How could I be hallucinating…”

“It should be a symptom of excessive blood loss. Your brain isn’t getting enough blood supply. Like the Akali you mentioned, her champion title is ‘The Rogue Assassin,’ not ‘Fist of Shadow.'”

“The Rogue Assassin?” Han Yimo squinted his eyes and couldn’t help feeling somewhat uncertain. He had never heard this name before. Could this also be due to hallucinations?

Qiao Jiajin poked Qi Xia on the side and asked, “Liar, what are they talking about?”

“I don’t know.” Qi Xia shook his head. “I don’t play games, so I don’t understand.”

“I have played arcade games though.” Qiao Jiajin pursed his lips. “But I’ve never heard of this game they’re talking about. Is this hero versus hero game more interesting than ‘Fatal Fury’…”

Qi Xia didn’t want to participate in this topic. He walked to the side, found a clean stone, and sat down.

He was thinking about another matter.

Han Yimo and Doctor Zhao’s conversation also fell silent, presumably because Han Yimo’s hallucinations were too severe, making it impossible to continue the conversation.

The atmosphere among the group gradually became silent.

Lin Qin found she couldn’t help much, so she sat down beside Qi Xia.

“What are you thinking about?” Lin Qin asked.

Qi Xia turned to glance at Lin Qin, his expression cold.

“This is the second time you’ve asked me ‘what are you thinking.'” Qi Xia said. “Do you always ask your patients so directly when doing psychological counseling?”

“But you’re not my patient.” Lin Qin shook her head. “We also don’t call counseling clients ‘patients’—that would be very rude. I’m just purely curious. What exactly goes on in the mind of such an intelligent person like you?”

“It’s filled with my wife.” Qi Xia said with a melancholic expression.

“Your wife?” Lin Qin nodded silently. “Earlier you said someone was waiting for you outside. Is that person your wife?”

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded.

Lin Qin smiled slightly. “I didn’t expect that answer. So you’re already married?”

“Why can’t I be married?” Qi Xia felt Lin Qin seemed to be implying something.

“I didn’t mean to offend you. But you’re a liar. What kind of person is your wife?”

“You…” Qi Xia was rarely somewhat angry. He slowly stood up, his eyes ice-cold. “What do you mean? I’m a liar, so anyone who could marry me must also be from the dregs of society, is that it?”

“Ah? I…” Lin Qin was frightened by Qi Xia’s imposing manner. “I really didn’t mean to offend you. I’m just very curious…”

“I advise you not to be curious about me.” Qi Xia still said coldly. “I’m a liar. What I say won’t be the truth either.”

Their conversation ended unpleasantly, but Lin Qin’s expression didn’t seem to mind.

Doctor Zhao had also finally finished suturing the wound.

“That should do it…” Doctor Zhao said while wiping the blood from his hands. “We’ve done everything we currently can. Now we can only hope the wound doesn’t get infected.”

“Thank you…” Han Yimo’s lips were pale as he slowly said to Doctor Zhao.

Seeing that everything had come to an end, Qi Xia slowly stood up and said to everyone, “Everyone, it’s time to say goodbye.”

The other eight people all showed puzzlement upon hearing this.

Goodbye?

“Where are you going?” Qiao Jiajin asked.

“That’s none of your concern.” Qi Xia looked at the restaurant across the street, lost in thought.

“You’re not really going to look for ‘Dao,’ are you?!” Officer Li was stunned.

“What? Do you have any advice?” Qi Xia seemed to tacitly confirm this answer.

“With all due respect, you’re going to your death.” Officer Li helplessly shook his head. “Three thousand six hundred ‘Dao’! What kind of concept is three thousand six hundred ‘Dao’?! If you can obtain one ‘Dao’ each time, and with games like the previous one where you were on the brink of death, you’d have to complete three thousand six hundred of them!”

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded. “It sounds like the odds are extremely slim, but there’s still hope, isn’t there?”

“Hope?” Officer Li sighed. “Ten days, three thousand six hundred games, averaging three hundred sixty per day. Even if you did nothing but complete games every day, the time still wouldn’t be nearly enough. Moreover, you could die in the games at any moment, but if you do nothing, you’ll only die after ten days.”

After finishing, he paused and added, “And this ‘death’ is based on the premise that what ‘Man-Dragon’ said is completely true. In other words, we may not necessarily die after ten days, and this place may not necessarily be destroyed. Even if you gather all three thousand six hundred ‘Dao,’ he may not necessarily let you leave.”

“I understand all the reasoning.” Qi Xia interrupted Officer Li and said, “But I don’t plan to wait here. Even if I just go out for a walk, it’s better than staying here.”

“But you…” Officer Li still wanted to argue with Qi Xia when the employee break room door opened with a “creak” again.

Everyone turned to look. The female shop assistant from before walked out.

She was completely naked, her mouth full of grease, clutching something in her hand, her shriveled body seemingly nothing but bones.

Zhang Chenze furrowed her brow slightly, took off her women’s suit jacket, then walked up and draped it over her.

She turned to look at the several men, her face slightly angry. “What exactly did you men do when you went into that room? Where did this girl’s clothes go?”

Qiao Jiajin helplessly shook his head and said, “This can’t be explained in a short time. I advise you not to worry about her.”

“You’re such a good person.” The female shop assistant’s eyes stared blankly at the clothes draped over her, then looked at Zhang Chenze. “Too bad you’re not a man, otherwise I’d definitely sleep with you.”

“Sleep?” Zhang Chenze was startled by this girl. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Since we can’t sleep together, then I’ll give you this to eat…”

She opened her filthy hand, holding a boiled-to-mush infant’s arm.