Chapter 507: The Cursed Hospital (5)
Chapter 507: The Cursed Hospital (5)
"Ahh..." A dry groan came from behind the curtain, likely from the owner of the hand that had grabbed Feng Bu Jue's wrist.
Under normal circumstances, if this were a horror movie, the protagonist probably would have screamed in terror and collapsed in fear.
But Feng Bu Jue remained completely calm, his mind working rapidly through the situation...
"Left hand, wrinkled back of the hand, dry and thick nails, looks like an elderly person's hand, but with incredible grip strength; prominent blue veins under the skin, numerous puncture marks around the veins, indicating regular intravenous infusions. The skin is unnaturally pale, emitting a formaldehyde-like smell; reaching out and grabbing my wrist through the curtain was no coincidence..."
Feng Bu Jue's eyes darted around as his mind raced.
Right now, three plans immediately formed in his mind: First, stab the attacker with his folding knife; Second, twist the wrist and pull the person out to execute an over-the-shoulder throw; Third, simply pull the curtain aside to see what's going on...
Considering his current combat power was no different from an average person, Feng Bu Jue ultimately chose the more cautious approach. So, he extended his other hand (still concealing the small knife in his palm), pinched the long hospital curtain with his index finger and thumb, and began pulling it sideways.
Zzzzz...
The plastic rings at the top of the curtain scraped against the iron bar, producing an eerie sound.
The person on the hospital bed soon came into Feng Bu Jue's view...
Overall, it was an elderly man resembling a mummy. He was lying on his back wearing a light blue hospital gown, his skin deathly pale, his entire body stiff.
At first glance, Feng Bu Jue immediately realized this was probably not a "living person." Because his body surface had over a hundred IV lines inserted into it...
The ends of these tubes were all connected to the wall above the bed, with black liquid flowing through them. The IV needles at the front ends were inserted perpendicular to the old man's skin, almost covering his entire body. The needles were inserted in various places: forehead, neck, torso (through the clothing), soles of the feet, etc. These were bad enough, but the most shocking part was... there were IV lines inserted into both of his eyeballs... it was literally "painful to look at."
"Ugh..." The old man kept his grip on Feng Bu Jue's wrist, slowly turning his head. Although needles were inserted into both of his eyes, he still "looked" at Feng Bu Jue and spoke with difficulty, "So thirsty... I'm so thirsty..."
"Old man." Feng Bu Jue replied with a meaningful tone, "Have you heard the saying 'prefer oral medication to injections, prefer injections to Ivs'? The World Health Organization has emphasized this countless times..."
"So thirsty..." The old man ignored him, continuing with his own line.
Feng Bu Jue sighed, playing along with the typical Npc script, "Alright then... should I get you some water to drink?"
"I want to drink... ice-cold beer..." The old man replied.
"Old man, have you heard the saying 'Drink less, take care of your liver'?" Feng Bu Jue asked. "In your current condition, is it appropriate to consume alcoholic beverages?" He looked up at the wall above the bed, "By the way... what exactly is flowing from the wall into your body? Petroleum or Coca-Cola?"
"Dr. Pepper..." The old man replied.
"That's truly miserable..." Feng Bu Jue muttered with a twitching mouth.
(Dr. Pepper is a soft drink with the English name Dr_Pepper, also translated as Pepper or Dr. Pepper. This beverage has gained a large group of loyal followers worldwide due to its unique and controversial flavor. The taste is very subtle; in South Park, it was parodied as "the drink for agnostics.")
"I want to drink... ice-cold beer..." The old man repeated again.
"Alright... understood..." While conversing, Feng Bu Jue had continuously tried to pull his wrist free, but had failed each time. Therefore, he could basically conclude this was a side quest task that must be accepted once triggered, "I'll go get you some."
"Th... thank you..." The old man finally released Feng Bu Jue's wrist upon hearing those words.
At the same time, the system prompt appeared: [Side quest task has been triggered]
A new instruction was added to the task list: [Purchase an ice-cold beer from the vending machine in the dining hall lobby and deliver it to Mr. Harpo in Ward 216.]
"Oh, you're Mr. Harpo, right..." Feng Bu Jue looked at the game menu and asked the old man, "Could you also tell me how to get to the dining hall?"
"So thirsty... so thirsty..." Harpo ignored Feng Bu Jue's question and softly moaned to himself.
"Hmm... great." Feng Bu Jue shook his wrist that had been gripped so tightly it had gone numb, shrugging his shoulders, "Absolutely no hints at all. So damn interesting."
Although he had been forced to accept this side quest task, Feng Bu Jue was still somewhat hesitant about whether to complete it.
"Theoretically speaking, if I just stay in this room until morning, won't that complete the game?" Feng Bu Jue thought to himself. "However, based on this scenario's pattern, I probably won't be allowed to stay in one place for too long. Lingering in the corridor for too long will attract Chad, so staying in the ward for too long might also summon something else..."
At this point, he had already arrived at the second hospital bed, the one next to Mr. Harpo's.
This time, Feng Bu Jue boldly and directly pulled aside the curtain. However, this bed was completely empty.
"Hmph... do you think I'd fall for such a trick?" Feng Bu Jue sneered, pulling out his sunglasses.
Over the next five minutes, he carefully inspected every inch of the hospital bed from top to bottom, left to right, using both his sunglasses' perspective and naked eye view. He flipped the bed sheets over and over, thoroughly touching and smelling them, only stopping short of tasting them. After completing these checks, he even used his folding knife to tap on the bed frame, listening if there might be a key or something hidden inside.
Finally, after all this fussing and expending a lot of energy, he was 100% certain... this was simply an empty bed used as part of the set decoration.
"OK, next one." Feng Bu Jue showed no concern at this, maintaining a cheerful attitude even while doing what turned out to be unnecessary work.
"Hey, I say, staff." Just as Feng Bu Jue was preparing to walk toward the third bed, suddenly a voice came from behind him. It sounded like a middle-aged man's voice. "I'm here, behind you."
Upon hearing this, Feng Bu Jue turned around and looked in the direction of the voice. The voice came from the hospital bed in the middle of the opposite side of the room, a bed that was also completely surrounded by curtains.
"Are you calling me?" Feng Bu Jue cautiously asked.
"Exactly." The voice replied, "Could you come over here?"
"Sure." Feng Bu Jue said, carefully sneaking closer. When he approached a certain distance, he suddenly extended his hand and quickly pulled aside the curtain in front of the hospital bed, immediately jumping back like lightning.
"What are you doing?" The middle-aged man sitting on the bed looked at Feng Bu Jue and asked, his eyes seemingly saying, "Is this kid crazy or something?"
Feng Bu Jue gave the person a thorough once-over before asking directly, "Uh... are you a vampire?"
He asked this because the person's characteristics were quite obvious - his appearance basically matched the classic vampire image from Disney cartoons. He had a pale face, red lips, a slicked-back hairstyle, sharp fangs, a thin face, and a cold, gloomy aura. If this guy were wearing a suit instead of a hospital gown, Feng Bu Jue wouldn't have even bothered asking...
"Hey kid, do you know asking that kind of question is rude?" The vampire uncle replied, "Are you a racialist or something?"
"No, no... never mind I said anything." Feng Bu Jue quickly waved his hand and shook his head.
"My name is Richard Sutherland, you can call me Count Belmont." Count Belmont said.
"Don't listen to his nonsense." Another somewhat sharp voice came from the bed on the right side of Count Belmont, directly opposite Mr. Harpo's bed, "He's not really Count Belmont."
"Shut up! You drunkard!" Count Belmont shouted at the side.
The voice that had been called "drunkard" retorted, "Real Counts Belmont have castles! Does he have one?"
"That's complete nonsense!" Count Belmont countered, "Who made that rule anyway?"
"That's just how it is!" The drunkard replied.
While they were quarreling, Feng Bu Jue had already sidestepped a few steps and pulled aside the curtain next to the drunkard's bed.
On the bed sat a creature with green skin, extremely short in stature. It had a pointed nose and ears, with large eyes and mouth - unquestionably a goblin. And right now, it was wearing a hospital gown too.
"What are you doing? Don't you know to respect other people's privacy?" The goblin shouted at Feng Bu Jue after the curtain was pulled aside.
"Sorry... I didn't expect someone who eavesdrops and then intrudes on others' conversations would still care about privacy." Feng Bu Jue countered with a strong argument.
"Uh..." The goblin was immediately at a loss for words.
"Haha..." Count Belmont laughed, "Got told off! Victor, your day has come!"
"Oh... you're Victor?" Feng Bu Jue picked up the conversation to ask.
"I am the great Victor Reedwoks!" Victor replied, "A household name in trade!"
"He's just a smuggler of various alcohols and firearms." Count Belmont butted in to spoil the fun.
"Shut up! You fake noble!"
"Be quiet! You black-hearted speculator!"
They quickly started arguing back and forth again.
Feng Bu Jue sighed, watching them for a while, waiting until their speaking frequency had slightly slowed. Then, seizing an opening, he asked Count Belmont, "So... what exactly did you call me over for?"
"Oh right, right." Count Belmont turned his head to reply, "You're going to get beer for Harpo, right? I want you to pick up some plasma for me from the blood bank on your way back. Preferably type B, not much, two bags will do."
"Huh?" Feng Bu Jue replied weakly, "If you want to drink blood... you've got a perfectly good goblin right beside you, don't you?"
"Hey!" Victor immediately expressed dissatisfaction.
"Too savage! Drinking blood directly from a living creature is animal behavior." Count Belmont looked at Feng Bu Jue with a puzzled expression, "Young man, you've watched too many violent movies, haven't you?"
"Heh... hehehe..." Feng Bu Jue's mouth twitched as he dryly laughed a few times, "In some ways, your answer actually makes me feel a bit more at ease."
"Oh! Right, if you're going to the blood bank, could you also pick up something for me?" Victor suddenly spoke again, "Yesterday, I lost a key. I think I probably dropped it in the Pediatrics Consultation Room on the first floor. If you can help me find it, I can give you a generous reward!"
"No problem!" Feng Bu Jue immediately agreed. Among everything Victor had just said, the most crucial part was undoubtedly those five words at the end...
"I won't let you run this errand for nothing either." Count Belmont said, "You bring me the blood, and I'll also give you something in exchange."
"Great, sounds good." Feng Bu Jue reasoned at this point. Since he needed to go out running errands anyway, he might as well take on a few more tasks at once and collect everything before returning.
[Side quest task has been triggered]
As expected, the system prompt came up, and Feng Bu Jue's task bar had two new tasks added.
[Retrieve two bags of B-type blood plasma from the blood bank and deliver them to Richard Sutherland Count Belmont in Ward 216.]
[Find Victor Reedwoks' key in the Pediatrics Consultation Room on the first floor and return it to Victor Reedwoks in Ward 216.]
"Finally... I have one question." Feng Bu Jue looked at the two men in front of him and asked, "I can see you're both fully intact and not restrained in any way. Why don't you just go take care of these things yourselves?"
"I have cirrhosis, I shouldn't move around much." Victor replied.
Count Belmont's response was even more concise and straightforward: "Anemia."
(End of Chapter)
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