Chapter 216 The Efficacy of the Sedative
I began to seriously consider whether or not to cooperate with her. If I partnered with Amelia and became her assistant, I felt I could learn many unknown things. Old Golden Tooth was a merchant, after all, and there were many questions that were inconvenient to ask or that he wouldn’t know the answers to.
“Wait a moment.” While introducing me to her specimen collection, Amelia was busy rummaging through the medicine cabinets, taking out many herbs and potions.
She placed herbs on a hand-cranked grinder to chop them into powder, then used round pliers to extract juice from some berries. She weighed three different types of medicinal powder on a scale, mixed them into a cauldron, and stirred.
Amelia’s hands and feet were nimble, and her equipment was complete. She looked incredibly professional, which made me envious. I really wished I had a set of experimental tables like hers.
“Stone milk, seashell ash, and coca leaves. In the Middle Ages, Demon Hunters often chewed these leaves directly for temporary sedation,” Amelia muttered to herself as she prepared the mixture.
In just a few moments, she had prepared a sedative. Unlike the packaged ones that were handed over at the Trade Fair, this one was just in a test tube, filled with a colorful mixture of powders.
“Can this really be ingested? Are there no side effects?” I took the powder, feeling uncertain.
“There are no problems, apart from the potential side effects of mental fatigue or dependence. No major issues,” Amelia said.
“And you call that no major issues?” I grumbled as I tilted my head back and swallowed the powder. It was so bitter and difficult to swallow. I should have asked for a glass of water first.
I was already somewhat used to her way of speaking. Amelia particularly liked to list all sorts of terrifying-sounding side effects, but she herself didn’t seem to think they were a big deal.
As I swallowed, a clear stream flowed into my brain. In that instant, I felt that the surrounding environment, the atmosphere, and everything changed.
Water rippled before my eyes. For a moment, I felt like I was looking at flowers through a fog, then as if I had just woken from a deep dream. When I came to my senses, the surrounding environment felt different.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed nothing had changed. I was still standing in the bizarre specimen room, and Amelia was still there, preparing medicine. I hadn’t moved.
But there was a different atmosphere, as if it were less gloomy and oppressive. Even the specimens around me looked much better. They weren’t nearly as repulsive as when I first entered, though I couldn’t pinpoint what had changed.
“Alright, take this. It’s what you wanted. If you want to trade again next time, just come talk to me directly.” Amelia handed me two more sedatives.
In exchange, she took some of my blood. She used a strangely shaped bloodletting knife, somewhat like an old-fashioned razor used for haircuts. When pressed against the skin and closed, the sharp blade could cut my skin without me feeling any pain.
After drawing blood, Amelia also gave me some blood-replenishing powder. In reality, it was far inferior to my Life Elixir. I would need to drink a bottle of that when I got back.
Then Amelia offered to escort me out. I had been kidnapped when I arrived, but by the time we were leaving, our relationship had become quite good. At least on the surface, we were chatting very congenially.
As I passed the ward from before, I couldn’t help but look inside again. This time, I saw a scene that somewhat surprised me.
The person wrapped on the dissection table was gone. The white cloth, like a body bag, was still on the dissection table, but it was spotless and had no bloodstains. The tiles on the floor were also as smooth as jade. The pool of blood I had seen earlier had disappeared.
Strange, had someone cleaned up just now? But the bizarre scalpels, scissors, needles, and clamps were still stuck in the dissection table, looking like some kind of strange postmodern artwork.
“Uh, the experimental subject was taken away, so why leave the instruments on the bed?” I asked curiously.
“Huh? No, Samantha is still listening to the patient’s dream talk and doesn’t have time to clean up these experimental subjects,” Amelia said as if it were natural.
I felt something was wrong. The entire atmosphere of the clinic had changed. More specifically, the dark and oppressive atmosphere from when I arrived was gone. The faint screams I had heard earlier were also no longer audible.
Then I might have understood something. The experimental subject was still lying on the dissection table, but I could no longer see it.
Finally, ever since I transmigrated, I had been seeing more and more, with all sorts of bizarre and terrifying things appearing before my eyes. However, this time, for the first time, there was something I could no longer see.
The effect of the sedative was immediate. I no longer felt countless pieces of knowledge and inspiration echoing in my brain, nor did I feel a suppressed and terrifying atmosphere around me. The occasional screams and wails no longer reached my ears.
My Spirit Vision had finally subsided, and I was moved to tears.
“So where is Samantha now? What does listening to a patient’s dream talk entail?” I asked curiously. Is that also a form of treatment? Judging the illness by listening? It sounds quite advanced.
“She’s in this ward.” Amelia pointed to a ward very close to me. It was pitch black inside. She raised her voice and asked, “Samantha, did you hear anything valuable today?”
“No, it was all just ramblings. I’ve written it all down,” the little nurse’s voice came from inside.
“Very good.” Amelia continued to walk forward. As I passed, I looked into the ward and saw an even more bizarre scene.
The ward door was open. There seemed to be eight beds, four on each side. Because it was too dark, the faces of the patients lying on them were unclear. Infusion bottles hung from the IV poles beside the beds, and the long infusion tubes contained unknown medications.
I didn’t hear any dream talk. I only saw a chair placed in the middle of the ward, and the little nurse was sitting on it, motionless.
I couldn’t see her face hidden in the darkness, but I felt that her face was crooked, or rather, her body was tilted, as if she were asleep. The only thing that made me judge she was awake was that she was wearing that little nurse’s dress.
I felt a sense of doubt, but I had indeed heard Samantha’s voice just now. Her posture was too strange. Was she listening to the patient’s dream talk like this?
I couldn’t figure it out, but Amelia had already walked ahead. I only caught a fleeting glimpse of the scene inside the ward and couldn’t see clearly before passing. I didn’t think much of it, after all, Samantha’s voice had indeed come from inside just now.
When we reached the Hall, the clinic’s exit was now right in front of my eyes. Just a few more steps and I would be free. At that moment, I suddenly felt a familiar aura.
Amelia’s expression also suddenly changed, “There’s an intruder! Who is it?”
“Whoosh!” Two beams of light suddenly flashed from the left and right sides. One was a sacred golden light, and the other was a scarlet blood-red light, but both gave me a sense of familiarity.
