Chapter 209 – Terrifying Ward
A human body model stood to my right, half of it with its muscles and nerves exposed after being skinned, a sight that was creepy in this dim environment.
Glass jars filled with specimens lined the cabinet in the corner. These were organs, eyeballs, and even some internal organs I couldn’t identify, seeming not to belong to humans.
I seemed to be lying on a bed, specifically a hospital bed. Beside the bed was an operating tool cart, with scalpels, surgical scissors, and syringes gleaming silver. What should have appeared clean was extremely terrifying in this setting.
I seemed to have arrived at a… hospital? Yet it didn’t feel like a ward, more like a… laboratory? How did I get here? No, my mind was a blur.
As I tried to struggle up, I found myself unable to move. My hands and feet were bound by soft straps attached to the bed, and they were tied very securely. I struggled for a few moments. Although I could move my limbs slightly, I couldn’t break free at all.
Then I discovered something even more terrifying: my clothes were gone, not a single piece left. I was lying naked on the hospital bed. If it weren’t for the blanket covering me, I would have definitely caught a cold by now.
But this also meant that my magic apparatus, the ruby, and my spellcasting materials were all gone. I was just a beginner and couldn’t cast spells without a staff or materials. In other words, I was in a state of being at the mercy of others.
Oh, not entirely. I still had one option: I could feel the maggots stirring in my left arm. Ever since the last battle where I suffered heavy losses, the Mark of the Maggots had been hidden within me, recuperating. Now, it had regained its combat power.
I began to seriously observe my surroundings. The Plague of Maggots wasn’t something I used often. I considered whether to release them now to help me chew through the restraints on the bed and regain my freedom, then seize the opportunity to escape.
However, just as I was preparing to release the maggots, a steady sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside. The clear, crisp sound of leather soles hitting the tiles echoed, and the footsteps stopped at the doorway.
My heart tightened, my breathing almost stopped. My mind had cleared up, and I recalled the scene before I fainted. My nose had been covered, and I was drugged with something like anesthetic.
Before I lost consciousness, I saw a white bird’s beak beside me. Combined with this place that resembled a hospital and a biological laboratory, it was obvious who had attacked me.
It must have been that bird-faced plague doctor. He was the only one with a grudge against me and a motive to attack. The problem was, how did he track me?
The Trade Fair had deliberately designed many doors and different tunnels leading in various directions, with time gaps, to prevent guests from being tracked. I had even taken special care to avoid being followed.
“Dong!” The door creaked open, and indeed, the bird-faced plague doctor entered, dressed in black, with only a white mask resembling a death bird on his face. In this dim laboratory, he looked exceptionally eerie.
“You!!” I struggled with all my might, but it was, as expected, futile. The restraints were tied very tightly.
“You’ve woken up, I figured you’d wake up around this time. Ah, no need to struggle, these are used to restrain lunatics or berserk patients. With your small frame, it’s impossible for you to break free,” the bird-faced doctor said coldly.
“You, why did you tie me up here?” I glared at him and asked.
“Ah ah, I forgot. I haven’t apologized yet. I was just too curious about how you concocted such a perfect Spirit Medicine. Since you wouldn’t sell it to me, I had to invite you for a chat,” the bird-faced plague doctor said.
“Is this how you invite someone for a chat? Besides, I didn’t concoct this medicine, I just bought it. It’s all gone now, so it’s no use looking for me,” I quickly clarified, realizing he was after the medicine.
At the same time, I deeply regretted my carelessness. I had underestimated the attraction of the Life Elixir I had refined. Seeing so many people spending a fortune at the Trade Fair, I subconsciously felt that these few bottles of potion, worth only a few gold coins, weren’t that special, and I had let down my guard and sold them directly.
Just then, the bird-faced plague doctor leaned closer to me, his bird-beak almost poking my face. “You’re lying. That’s the smell of a lie. When you said you didn’t concoct it yourself just now, your eyes shifted slightly, and your heart rate changed.”
I was startled. He was wearing a bird-beak mask that obstructed his vision and wasn’t holding a stethoscope, yet he could discern my gaze and heartbeat?
“Also, your angry reaction at the Trade Fair when I belittled your potion proves that you definitely concocted these potions yourself. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gotten so agitated.”
I was about to retort, but before I could even open my mouth, he interjected, “You don’t need to explain. I’m actually a psychiatrist too. Also, I suggest you just admit it honestly, because if you have no other value, I might not be able to resist turning you into a specimen. Who told you to have such a perfect body?”
“Can you even call yourself a doctor?!” I asked, my voice trembling. I was truly scared. This guy was definitely a lunatic, and a severely ill one at that.
“Of course, I am. I’m a certified member of the Royal Medical Association, the Royal Apothecary Society, and the Iberian Medical Order of the Cross. Would you like to see my medical license?” the bird-faced plague doctor said.
“Then what exactly do you want? What would it take for you to let me go?” I suppressed my fear and tried to negotiate with him. Since he hadn’t immediately turned hostile, it meant there was room for negotiation.
“Originally, I came for your Spirit Medicine. Ah, this is truly perfect. I’ve never seen such a perfect Spirit Medicine,” the bird-faced doctor took out a glass bottle from his pocket, sparkling like a ruby. It was the same style of potion bottle Old Golden Tooth had given me.
“My Spirit Medicine? Impossible! Didn’t I sell all of it to others? How did you get it?” I asked in surprise.
“With enough determination, nothing is unattainable. That wealthy patron you sold the medicine to seems to have a minor, unspeakable old ailment. I pointed it out to him and promised to transplant a Minotaur’s bull for him, so he readily gave me two bottles,” the doctor said, gazing at my potion bottle with rapture.
Holy crap, are doctors really this unscrupulous? At least I understood what he wanted. “Alright, I’ll transcribe the formula for the Life Elixir for you. Will you let me go then?”
“Hehe, who doesn’t know the formula for Life Elixir? Although a few of the medicinal herbs you have are quite special, I can identify them by smell. What’s truly amazing, little girl, is how you concocted such a perfect potion?” the doctor asked with great interest.
He had previously shown disdain for my medicine, but now he was so interested. I had to grit my teeth and say, “I don’t know either. Why don’t you release me, and I’ll concoct it for you to see?”
“Heh heh, let’s put aside the matter of potion brewing for now. What interests me even more is your body,” he said, uttering even more terrifying words.
