Non-Human Seeking Re-employment

Su Xiaoying was assigned to stay in the attic because there were no more vacant rooms on the second floor. She escorted the doctor upstairs, forced her to sit, and poured her a drink of water.

"Drink some water." Su Xiaoying spoke caringly, "You might feel better after drinking it."

The doctor sat motionless, holding the glass of water.

Su Xiaoying sat next to the doctor and inquired, "What\'s the matter?"

The doctor looked down at her right wrist. The towel had loosened and hung there freely, sliding off with a gentle tug.

The epidermis of the sarcomas growing on it had expanded to bursting point and grown translucent and bulbous in such a short amount of time, like a bunch of ripe grapes hanging on her skin.

The doctor was nauseated by her own condition and couldn\'t bear it.

Su Xiaoying covered her lips, yet her eyes were devoid of fear or revulsion. There was, however, some schadenfreude.

The doctor\'s face got paler after she stopped retching, and she murmured incoherently: "I\'ve been cursed. I grabbed a gold bracelet. Please help me! You must know how to break the curse, don\'t you? I didn\'t mean it! You have to save me!"

She was afraid to hold the gold bracelet and only did so through the cloth.

Su Xiaoying patted the doctor\'s intact left hand: "Don\'t be nervous. I\'ve lived in this town long enough to have heard of it more or less…"

With Su Xiaoying placating her, the doctor\'s mood gradually calmed down, and only her eyes remained red.

Su Xiaoying stated: "There is no way to break the curse, and returning the item is equally impossible. If you take it, you will be affected by the cause and effect."

The doctor\'s face was ashen after hearing this, as if she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her grip loosened, and the gold bracelet she was holding dropped to the floor, making a "tinkling" sound.

Su Xiaoying, however, changed her words: "Even so… the curse can be transferred."

The doctor\'s eyes gradually brightened.

The curse could be transferred.

It was always better for someone else to have sarcomas than for her to have them.

Su Xiaoying picked up the gold bracelet and stuffed it into the doctor\'s hand.

The doctor grasped the golden bracelet and remained silent. It was possible that her Sanity had been reduced too much for she did not realize even a bit that Su Xiaoying had touched the gold bracelet with her hands without hesitation while there was a curse on it.

"Alright." Su Xiaoying said lightly, "Drink some water."

The doctor raised her arm mechanically and took a sip of water.

The water tasted a little fishy, ​​but she ignored it completely and drained the glass of water.

"Just get some sleep," Su Xiaoying stroked the top of the doctor\'s head.

The doctor nodded.

Su Xiaoying saw her off at the door, remembered something, and asked: "Have you found my old notebook?"

Doctor: "No, no…"

Su Xiaoying smiled with satisfaction after confirming this: "Good girl. Go back, okay?"

The doctor returned to her room like a wandering spirit, still clutching the gold bracelet.

Shen Dongqing was motivated by what transpired in the cave just now. When he entered the room, he shoved down Zhou Wenyan and tried every means he could think of.

Then he heard the game say: [Player Zhou Wenyan has recovered his Sanity and is no longer insane.]

Mission accomplished satisfactorily!

Shen Dongqing propped himself up with one hand, but as soon as he moved, he was yanked back and securely locked in Zhou Wenyan\'s arms.

Shen Dongqing motioned with his eyes: "Still not okay?"

Zhou Wenyan: "I\'m fine. Can\'t I just hug you when I\'m okay?"

"How do you feel now?" Shen Dongqing asked after moving a little and finding a comfortable position to lie down.

Zhou Wenyan dropped his head and kissed the bangs on Shen Dongqing\'s forehead, thought for a moment, and smiled: "I\'m feeling really good. If the opportunity arises, I would like to repeat the experience."

Shen Dongqing swatted him and said angrily, "There\'ll be no next time."

Zhou Wenyan, who was in a state of madness, was clearly not himself. In this state, he might be able to shed all disguises and reveal all of his feelings in front of Shen Dongqing.

There was no need for restraint or repression.

Shen Dongqing: "Do you have any ideas now?"

Zhou Wenyan: "A little bit."

Shen Dongqing: "Let\'s hear it."

Zhou Wenyan rolled over and sat up, retrieving Su Xiaoying\'s diary off the bedside table.

The diary was thick and mostly filled.

"Haven\'t we read it?" Shen Dongqing asked, leaning closer.

Zhou Wenyan: "Maybe we neglected something."

Su Xiaoying was a literary girl who enjoyed writing. She would write about mundane events. What they had previously read was her diary after arriving in the ancient town. In that case, had she written any diary notes on the ancient town before visiting it?

Zhou Wenyan flipped from back to front and finally found the diary page before Shen Dongqing fell asleep.

[September 10, sunny.

My friends and I traveled to a small town to collect cultural material from the area. We asked the guide if there were any interesting places around out of curiosity. The guide seemed weird, as if he wanted to say something but was frightened to say it. Finally, after slipping a wad of money into his hand, he revealed that there is a remote ancient town that is cursed. People don\'t dare to go there, people who reside there never come out, and it\'s unknown if anyone still lives there.

My companions are intrigued by this mysterious place and want to arrange a trip there. The guide could only caution us not to buy gold there under any circumstances after failing to persuade us.

Gold? We didn\'t bring so much money, haha…]

Zhou Wenyan: "Gold?"

He remembered several details that he had overlooked.

For example, Uncle Driver, who drove them by tricycle, wore a thick gold chain around his neck, Aunt Innkeeper wore a full set of gold jewelry, the natives all wore some sort of a gold ornament, and the elderly lady\'s funerary items included gold utensils.

These were all details that you wouldn\'t pay attention to. After all, people with a little money will buy some gold jewelry.

But now…

Gold was definitely a key clue.

Gold, cave, and monster inside the cave.

Could the gold have been extracted from the cave?

Itbe Qfcsjc rfa atf cbafybbx vbkc jcv aegcfv ab ojmf Vtfc Gbcudlcu.

Vtfc Gbcudlcu tjv vbhfv boo ktlif ifjclcu bc tlr rtbeivfg, ygfjatlcu rboais.

Itbe Qfcsjc xlrrfv tlr ygbk, ijs vbkc klat atf qfgrbc lc tlr jgwr, jcv aegcfv boo atf iluta bcmf wbgf.

Ycis rlifcmf gfwjlcfv lc atf cluta.

The 18th of September was absolutely special. The detective couldn\'t sleep all night since he was thinking about this point. He somehow made it through and arrived at the first floor lobby about daybreak.

Aunt Innkeeper, who should have been watching the early morning program on TV, had disappeared.

But the detective didn\'t notice it.

Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing went downstairs after a while, followed by Su Xiaoying.

"Where is the doctor?" inquired the detective.

The detective was concerned about the doctor because she had the ability to heal and could be considered an important character.

They waited for a bit, and breakfast was over, but the doctor had still not appeared. "I\'ll go up and take a look," the detective stated as he stood up.

The detective had hardly gotten upstairs when he noticed the doctor coming down the stairs. She was wearing a large coat today and appeared to be in poor condition. She took her time descending the stairs, and as she passed the detective, her body tilted, and a golden-bright and brilliant thing fell out of her pocket.

Clink, clink, clink—

The golden bracelet rolled down the steps, spinning around until it came to a stop on the first floor.

"Can you pick it up for me?" the doctor asked, leaning on the stairwell\'s handrail and coughing weakly.

When did the doctor get a bracelet?

This thought flashed across the detective\'s mind, but he ignored it and bent over to pick up the gold bracelet.

A black light cut through the air before he touched the gold bracelet.

Wham—

A chopstick touched the detective\'s finger before slamming into the floor, only a small portion of it vibrating outside.

"What\'s wrong?" the detective gulped, looking at the spot where the chopstick flew over.

"Where did you get the gold bracelet?" Zhou Wenyan inquired, holding the remaining chopstick.

The doctor bowed her head and concealed her expression: "I brought it with me. I\'ve just never worn it before."

Detective: "Roll for Psychology."

[Psychology Check is successful.]

[You think nothing is wrong with what the doctor said. As for her pale face and trembling voice, she was probably scared yesterday and hasn\'t recovered yet.]

The detective returned his gaze to Zhou Wenyan.

Zhou Wenyan remained silent.

The detective\'s brain was still functioning. He pulled out the chopstick that had pierced the floor, used it to pick up the gold bracelet, and carefully handed it to the doctor.

The doctor was taken aback by his actions and stiffened for a moment before saying, "Thank, thank you…"

She put away the gold bracelet and sat down, preoccupied.

Everyone with eyes knew that the doctor had a guilty conscience, but the game declared she didn\'t lie.

The detective was confused.

After a while of silence, the detective looked around and questioned, "Are we still saving the photographer?"

Shen Dongqing: "Of course."

Detective: Then why aren\'t you the least concerned?

"Wait, I\'ll get a drink of water," Zhou Wenyan said as he stood up.

He approached the counter and poured himself a glass of water. Today\'s water was much stranger than yesterday\'s.

Even from afar, they could smell the fishy stink, and there appeared to be a layer of wisps of blood floating on the water.

Su Xiaoying nervously murmured, just as Zhou Wenyan was about to pour out the water, "I\'m a bit scared. Can I stay here?"

"I really don\'t want to go back there," she begged.

[Su Xiaoying used Persuasion on you.]

[Persuasion is successful.]

[You believe Su Xiaoying is exceptionally frail, like a delicate white blossom about to be blown away. She was also imprisoned for 18 years in an underground cave. It\'s natural to be terrified. Since that\'s the case…]

Shen Dongqing: "Knock her out and take her away."

[? ? ?]

Su Xiaoying: ?

Shen Dongqing soothed her despite his exasperatingly slow smile: "You can\'t see anything if you faint. So don\'t be scared."

Fuck you and your don\'t be scared!

Su Xiaoying laughed dryly: "No, no need—"

Shen Dongqing: "It\'s alright. This "I\'m scared" problem will be resolved all at once. It\'s very quick and will be over in no time."

Su Xiaoying hurriedly rose up when she saw Shen Dongqing about to approach: "Go! Let\'s go together!"

Shen Dongqing seemed to have some regrets: "Are you sure you don\'t need help?"

Su Xiaoying: "No, it\'s okay."

Finally, everyone came to an amicable understanding and prepared to set off to save the photographer.

"You were the sacrificial offering last time, so you should know where the ritual is held," the detective remarked.

Su Xiaoying was walking in the midst of the line with her head bowed. She claimed: "I forgot."

The detective didn\'t think much of it either.

After all, it was natural to forget after eighteen years.

The party hurried and caught up, arriving at the Girls\' Temple twice as quickly as before.

The Girls\' Temple looked brand new today. The weeds had been removed, the joss sticks and candles had been re-lit, and even the dead branches by the door had been made presentable by the addition of red cloth strips.

They walked in and noticed a coat on the Girl\'s stone statue.

Detective: "This belongs to the photographer!"

The garment was present, but the person was not.

Detective: "Roll for an Investigation Check!"

After the first two days of lessons, the detective was able to utilize numerous skills in a flexible manner. But what he didn\'t realize was that he was becoming increasingly reliant on this strategy.

The game quickly responded: [Check successful.]

[You find a jumbled collection of footprints at the entrance to the Girls\' Temple. There are many people on the opposing side. The footprints lead to a trail on the right side of the mountain.]

Detective: "They went to the right!"

He couldn\'t wait to get going. Halfway there, he discovered that the people behind him were not following him.

"What are you doing?" the detective looked back.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan were still at the Girls\' Temple. He had no idea what they were doing.

The detective stopped walking and turned back.

The Girls\' Temple had been cleaned up. The dust and cobwebs that had gathered on the walls for 18 years had been swept away, and the entire mural painted behind the stone statue of the Girl had been revealed.

The mural\'s colors had almost faded away, leaving only hazy shapes visible. Standing in front of the mural were Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing.

The rumor stated that the Girls\' Temple was to bless little girls to grow up smoothly, grown-up girls to succeed in everything, and young men and women\'s weddings. It wasn\'t a serious deity.

However, because the people of the ancient town had long believed in the Girls\' Temple, incense burning flourished.

Gradually, a profession was born in the ancient town. Namely, Miaozhu. People with this surname once served the goddess of girls.

And because the Girl Goddess loved cherry blossoms, the Miaozhu family would plant one in their courtyard.

Shen Dongqing immediately thought of the old lady hanging from the tree, oh no, it was the tree from which the old lady was hanging.

Su Xiaoying\'s voice rang from the side: "…Aren\'t you saving people?"

"We are," Shen Dongqing said, looking away from the mural.

Su Xiaoying\'s expression was mixed with anxiety: "If you don\'t go now, it will be too late!"

Shen Dongqing glanced at her: "You seem awfully anxious?"

Su Xiaoying: "I…" She stopped short and smiled awkwardly, "Isn\'t this your companion?"

Shen Dongqing, as light as a feather, dropped a bombshell: "She\'s not very important."

Detective and Su Xiaoying: …

"But she still has a photo in her camera that I want, so let\'s go save her," Shen Dongqing said after a brief pause.

The detective had a complicated look on his face.

So it\'s the photo that\'s more important?

Su Xiaoying smiled awkwardly and explained her anxiety just now: "After all, I used to be a victim. I don\'t want to witness another tragedy."

Shen Dongqing applauded: "Oh~ Rightly said."

Su Xiaoying stiffened.

Why did she keep feeling Shen Dongqing meant "you keep acting, and I\'ll watch"?

"Then let\'s hurry over there," Su Xiaoying said, dismissing the weird feeling.

The party exited the Girls\' Temple and proceeded up the path where the footprints were discovered.

A gust of wind blew from above halfway through, bearing the sounds of a ballad with it.

"Girl, Girl, she leaves home at sixteen, marries at seventeen, and looks like a flower at eighteen—"

"Cherry blossoms!" exclaimed the detective, raising his head.

The sounds of the ballad could also be heard from the top; perhaps they were performing a sacrificial ceremony.

Shen Dongqing raised his head and looked over.

The detective awaited his response.

Shen Dongqing unexpectedly observed it for a spell, then shook his head and stated, "It\'s really ugly. Just what I thought. If you are out of tune once, you will be out of tune for the rest of your life."

Detective: …

Why was the point he focused on so strange every time?

Shen Dongqing was baffled as well: "What are you doing staring at me? Hurry up and start climbing."

The detective paused before continuing forward, his head buried in his chest.

When they reached the top of the mountain, they found a group of natives as expected. They\'d all changed into uniform clothes – a burlap garment and a red belt – and were wearing odd smiles.

"It\'s inappropriate to gather a throng for feudal superstition," said Shen Dongqing, shaking his head.

Detective: "…Let\'s first hide and see what they\'re going to do."

Su Xiaoying said in a low voice, "They are going to offer sacrifices. It\'s best to interrupt them quickly."

They could see the photographer bound to a wooden frame from where they were standing. Her coat had been removed and replaced with a wide robe. She wanted to fight, but she was strapped too tightly. She even had a piece of cloth stuffed into her mouth and could only produce "um um um" sounds.

The natives gathered below didn\'t appear to notice her despair and sang the ballad in chorus: "Girl, Girl, she leaves home at sixteen, marries at seventeen, and looks like a flower at eighteen. She\'s a good girl, girl, good girl—"

The locals\' voices became silent, and they simultaneously peered at the photographer with fanatical anticipation in their eyes.

"Girl."

"You\'re a good girl."

"So, are you willing to…"

"Die in our stead?!"

No, I\'m not willing!

The photographer furiously shook her head.

However, the natives didn\'t care about her little resistance at all. For them, it was simply an insignificant step, a show.

Whether the photographer wanted to or not, she would be sacrificed to the gods.

An elderly man emerged from the swarm of locals. His beard and hair were all white, and he appeared to be extremely kind. Using his cane, he approached the photographer slowly, raised his hand, and left a crimson mark on the photographer\'s forehead.

The photographer seemed to have sensed something and tried to move back desperately, but she was unable to escape in the end. She felt a chill in the center of her forehead as a drop of dark red liquid flowed down.

The elderly man stepped back in satisfaction, dropped his walking stick, and raised his hands: "Begin—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the natives on the scene heard a voice from behind them.

"She doesn\'t want to."

The natives all turned their heads in unison.

Shen Dongqing approached confidently: "Are you all blind? She\'s clearly unwilling."

The natives\' gazes were gloomy and cold: "She is willing."

Shen Dongqing: "She is not."

The natives: "She… "

"Ask her if she\'s willing or not, and you\'re done," Shen Dongqing said, putting an end to the endless back and forth.

The photographer came back into focus. She almost spent her strength shaking her head under the circumstances of being unable to speak, falling just short of shaking it into a rattle-drum.

The natives began to brainwash: "…she\'s a good girl."

"She\'ll be willing."

"She\'s a good girl."

"Ptui!" The photographer eventually spit out the bit of fabric that had been shoved in her mouth. Her voice was gruff but full of power: "Good? You bastards, laozi is heinous and rife with vice; I smoke, drink, perm my hair, and have never been a fucking good girl—"

Perhaps the flawless logic had never been cracked, and the natives were stunned for a time, but they quickly determined that if she wasn\'t a good girl, they could make do with a bad girl.

However, before the sacrifice ceremony could begin, these troublemakers needed to be dealt with.

The natives grabbed various tools and marched menacingly towards Shen Dongqing with identical expressions.

They went up…

…attacked…

…and toppled over.

The natives were all lying on the ground, not one was missing, and the whole family was neat and tidy.

Shen Dongqing went over and freed the photographer.

The photographer fell to the ground because of softened legs.

But Shen Dongqing obviously had no intention of helping her up.

The photographer struggled to stand, her skin was pallid, and her mood was off: "Th, they…"

Shen Dongqing looked in the direction pointed by the photographer and saw the natives lying neatly on the ground: "What\'s wrong?"

"Don\'t you think there\'s something wrong with them?" the photographer swallowed.

Shen Dongqing: "Huh?"

Photographer: "Perhaps my Sanity has dropped too much, so…"

The photographer was abducted yesterday, and she was terrified all night. Every hour, the game tested her Sanity, and every time she failed, her Sanity was deducted.

Thankfully, she was lucky. Otherwise all those deductions would have turned her into a retard long ago!

It was possible that her Sanity had dropped to a certain level at the moment, for in her eyes, the locals in front of her looked…rather grotesquely shaped.

"Give me a Sanity Check," Shen Dongqing ordered the game as he kicked the nearest native with his toes.

Since you could see some special scenes if your Sanity plummeted to a particular level, he wanted to check it out!

[……]

[This is an unreasonable request.]

Shen Dongqing thought for a bit: "I\'m feeling very scared right now." He paused, then increased his pitch, "I\'m awfully scared."

The game agreed with his request to keep this wicked person from harassing it.

[You pass the Sanity Check.]

[You are completely calm and have no fear.]

Shen Dongqing: "Then roll for Investigation Check."

[Investigation Check, failed.]

[You look at the natives rolling on the ground and simply think they\'re amusing.]

Game: Feel free to check. I\'m a loser if I let you have your way.

Shen Dongqing: "Again."

[……]

The game felt like Shen Dongqing was going to exhaust the dice thrower to death.

[Check failed.]

[Check failed.]

… …

Shen Dongqing and the dice were spent: "Roll again!"

[Investigation Check is successful.]

[After staring at the natives in front of you for an absurdly long period, you find that the people lying on the ground are melting. That\'s right, the skin, muscles, and internal organs are all oozing down layer by layer like hot wax figures, almost turning into puddles of muck on the ground. They are wriggling and moaning on the ground, sarcomas popping out one after the other, densely packed and squeezed together…]

[Conducting Sanity check.]

[Sanity check failed. Deducting 5 Sanity points.]

Shen Dongqing looked at the photographer while rubbing his chin and asked, "Where\'s your camera?"

The photographer was dumbfounded: "Here…"

Click! Shen Dongqing took a photograph with the photographer\'s camera. He returned the camera to the photographer after capturing the image.

The photographer almost vomited when she saw the shot.

Shen Dongqing said, "Isn\'t your objective to take special photos? That\'ll do! Is it special enough?"

The photographer tried to weep, but failed to shed a tear.

It was way too special, that is… far too disgusting and truly unbearable.

At this point, an outburst from over there was heard: "What are you doing?!!"

The detective was the one who yelled. A gold bracelet slid from his grasp, glistening brightly on the brush.