A floor-to-ceiling medicine cabinet greeted his eyes, with a long ladder leaning against it.
Various names of Chinese herbs were written in small, elegant script on the drawers, and a dust-covered brass scale sat on a wooden table nearby.
A dusty screen stood opposite the wooden table, though the exquisite embroidery of flowers, birds, and beasts suggested how beautiful it must have once been.
In ancient times, women were forbidden from seeing men outside their families, so the opera performers of Liping Garden likely had their pulses checked by doctors through the screen.
Jiang Siyan walked around the room once, but no illusion was triggered.
With a slight shift in thought, he sat down across from the wooden table.
Almost the moment he sat down, a dark silhouette appeared on the screen opposite him.
The figure sat quietly and motionless, her head adorned with ornate hairpins and her frame slender.
There wasn't a single ripple in Jiang Siyan's eyes as he spoke in a warm voice.
"Who has come today?"
The female voice coming from behind the screen was cold and stiff, sounding as if it were being squeezed out of her throat.
"...Su Niang."
Jiang Siyan nodded.
"Please reach out your hand; I will check your pulse."
A pale, ghastly hand reached out—it was clearly the hand of someone long dead.
Jiang Siyan used his sleeve to cover his fingers as he gently placed them on the wrist.
Even through the fabric, he could feel a dense, biting chill.
Jiang Siyan didn't actually know how to check a pulse, but a wisp of white energy flickered from his fingertips and entered the wrist.
Death energy, pain, despair...
He could no longer sense a single trace of humanity from the thing on the other side.
Jiang Siyan looked up and suddenly noticed that the silhouette seemed to have moved closer to the screen.
Was it just his imagination?
"Doctor, how is my illness?"
The moment the woman spoke, Jiang Siyan knew it wasn't an illusion; she was indeed closer to him.
"Well, you have a weak and cold constitution, and there are old injuries on your body. Your condition is quite serious."
Jiang Siyan withdrew his hand.
He wasn't lying; it was indeed very serious.
The woman on the other side let out two raspy giggles.
"Then what medicine do you think I should take, Doctor?"
Jiang Siyan stared at the silhouette on the screen.
The woman was now almost pressed against it, allowing him to see her bruised, rotting cheeks and skin mottled with livor mortis.
Her entire body seemed to have been stretched out, her head nearly reaching the top of the screen.
Jiang Siyan had a feeling that next time, she might crawl onto the screen itself.
Once there was no longer a screen separating them, things would become dangerous.
Jiang Siyan looked directly into the woman's cloudy, pupil-less white eyes and said calmly, "Medicine is useless. No matter how much medicine you take while staying here, it won't help."
Pearl flowers dulled by dust and strands of withered black hair appeared at the top of the screen.
However, the woman did not crawl over; she slowly returned to her original position, sitting far back.
"But I... I have no way to leave."
"The moment we were bought into the Zhou residence, our fate was sealed; we could never leave."
Jiang Siyan listened to the woman's sorrowful sobbing from behind the screen and offered gentle words of comfort, though the coldness behind his gentleness was perfectly concealed.
He didn't empathize with others; his emotions had long since withered.
This applied to himself, to others, and even more so to the NPCs or ghosts in missions that sought to take a scavenger's life.
The woman cried for a while before wiping her eyes with her water sleeves and sighing deeply.
"Thank you, Doctor. Just give me some medicine to warm my body and replenish my energy."
A pre-packaged triangular medicine pouch appeared by Jiang Siyan's hand, and he passed it over.
The silhouette behind the screen flickered and vanished.
Jiang Siyan looked down at his streaming screen; his tips had reached 480.
【This little brother is so calm. This streamer is pretty good!】
【That scared me just now. That shadow stretched so long; I was afraid she'd appear on the screen the next second.】
【I'm more afraid of her appearing right in front of the streaming screen...】
【Sigh, how pitiful.】
【Yeah, this prescription is just for show. Who would waste energy saving someone destined to die?】
Jiang Siyan's streaming duration ended, and the camera switched to another scavenger.
He didn't leave immediately, instead taking a turn around the pharmacy.
He discovered a hidden compartment in the lower right corner of a medicine cabinet, which opened into a cramped, crude bedroom.
He initially thought it was a place for the shop assistants to rest, but then he found two pearl flowers on the bedding.
A cold light flashed in Jiang Siyan's eyes.
It seemed that many women were forcibly locked in the Zhou residence; not only was Young Master Zhou a beast in human skin, but others were also taking advantage of the situation.
But no one cared about them, so naturally, no one cared about what they suffered.
Jiang Siyan didn't take the pearl flowers; he turned and headed downstairs.
It was his turn to stand guard, so he planned to go back and wait for the next day's stream to begin before discussing things further with Nan Yue and the others.
As Jiang Siyan reached the first floor and was about to leave, a sudden creaking sound echoed from the quiet room behind him.
The sound was very abrupt, following a rhythmic pattern behind Jiang Siyan.
The stairs, decayed by time, were unable to bear much weight, letting out a creak whenever someone stepped on them.
Someone... was behind Jiang Siyan!
It followed him down the stairs.
Jiang Siyan hesitated for only a moment before ultimately deciding not to look back.
He wasn't alone now; he had to prioritize the safety of the team.
Jiang Siyan returned to the wooden building without stopping.
Nan Yue had a very peaceful sleep, and she felt refreshed when Zhu Xi Ning woke her up.
It was now ten at night, and a strong wind was howling outside, sounding like the cries of countless vengeful spirits.
Nan Yue watched the streaming screen.
With the experience of the previous forty-six streamers, the remaining two were clearly more experienced than the ones at the start.
However, since those outside couldn't see the illusions when someone was pulled into them, Nan Yue couldn't judge whether they had encountered anything.
The last streamer was a boy Nan Yue had noticed earlier because he was extremely timid, looking as if he had been forced to participate by the others.
He streamed tremblingly for a while before being startled by a door that slammed shut due to the wind, after which he ran away crying.
The bullet comments were filled with mockery.
Nan Yue rubbed her temples; these kids were truly courting death.
Now that he was completely terrified, she didn't know if he had run off to hide or had left the mission entirely.
The boy had run so fast that he dropped his streaming equipment on the ground, leaving the last half hour of the stream showing nothing but the dark sky above the Zhou residence.
Five minutes later, Nan Yue woke the others.
Everyone had rested well, and they briefly summarized the situation.
There were two or three others who had been scared off like that last boy, but most people remained relatively calm, though many ignored the requests from the bullet comments.
Those requests were clearly dangerous, and ordinary NPCs wouldn't dare to fulfill them.
The five of them waited quietly for midnight to arrive.
Once it passed twelve, several large, blood-red words appeared on the screen.
【Congratulations to the remaining streamers for earning a second chance to stream.】
【The current number of survivors is 36. Streaming times will be redistributed. Please continue to work hard, streamers.】
The face of the blonde youth from the beginning appeared on the screen.
After this day, he no longer possessed his initial high spirits.
Rate on N.U.
