Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 598 The Allure of Money
Rule 1
Beware of mentally ill people; at this moment, their thoughts begin to materialize, so please follow their words and do not try to deny them.

(Note: If an unavoidable materialization occurs, kill them as soon as possible.)
Rule 2
Please begin the ward rounds according to the bed numbers on the ward rounds form. If any bed number is missed, one negative star will be added to your score for each missed bed number.

(Note: If the head nurse finds any omissions, an extra one will be added.)
Rule 3
Make sure every patient in the bed is asleep. If they are not asleep, please help them to sleep.

(Note: Each patient who wakes up adds one negative star to your account. When a mental patient's words become more concrete, negative stars are consumed. The more negative stars you have, the stronger the patient's concreteness becomes, up to a maximum of seven stars.)
Rule 4
If the patient is not in bed, you can determine their location using the personnel list on the ward rounds form.
(Note: Each time you use this, you will gain one negative star.)
Rule 5
If you enter the critical care zone, your negative star cap will double.

If you go to the third floor of the intensive care unit, the upper limit of negative stars will increase to 28.

(Note: Avoid going in if possible, it's very dangerous there!!!)
Looking at the strange tale rules that appeared in front of him, Xiao Ran frowned and looked at them carefully again.

"Has the riot started ahead of schedule? Does this rule mean I'm forcing myself to kill everyone?"

This rule is less for himself and more for the hospital's patients, and Xiao Ran has had some contact with these patients in the past few days.

I am very clear about the condition of these mental patients; in the past, their words and actions were no different from those of normal people.

But from time to time, they would utter some incomprehensible words.

For example, one second you're having a nice chat with him, and the next second his eyes change and he says to you, "Actually, I'm your father."

Don't think they're insulting you or trying to take advantage of you; at this moment, they're serious.

He might even fabricate a backstory for you.

Although this background cannot withstand any verification, it is at least logically plausible.

This is the really ridiculous part. Now, with the blessing of this supernatural rule, their words will begin to take on a concrete form. This is simply an incredible ability to make their words come true.

However, this rule also has some limitations, namely negative stars. Even if you collect seven negative stars, the other party will not be able to do anything too incredible.

Otherwise, this labyrinthine city would have been destroyed long ago.

For example, that ancient emperor in the intensive care unit—if things were really as he said, they might as well give up and just hang themselves.

But all of this is based on one person. If others join in at this time, then one person will have seven, two people will have fourteen, and the more people there are, the greater the number of negative stars will be. I don't know if an ancient emperor like Xiao Ran will emerge at that time.

But who knows, a chosen one might actually pop up for you.

"Fortunately, I managed to trick Ghost Master and the others out of the bathhouse, and then used the curse of Ghost Lighting the Lamp to force most of them into the bathhouse, where they were cooked into familiar faces by the Old Demon Qinghai. Otherwise, with so many people rushing in, each of them would have seven negative stars, and if we doubled that in the intensive care unit, who knows what kind of trouble would have ensued."

But then I thought about it again, and it's possible that it was because I made too much noise and tricked Ghost Master and the others out that the riot started ahead of schedule.

Every sip and every bite is interconnected; who can truly say for sure?

With Ghost Master and the others still around, how long can Golden Toad delay? Everything is uncertain.

Therefore, Xiao Ran was left with only two paths.

They could either steal the base at lightning speed and destroy the city, or simply go all out and kill all the patients. After all, the limit for the mild cases area is only seven stars. They could just take on all seven negative stars themselves, at least cutting off the influence of Ghost Lord and the others.

Xiao Ran had already quickly gone through this idea in her mind when she received the ward round form, but after thinking it over, she decided to give up on this option.

The rules of the Lost City are not fixed. If I kill all the patients, Ghost Master and the others might be affected by other rules. With Pumpkin around, I can't kill Ghost Master and the others all at once.

"Five doctors!"

When the head nurse saw Xiao Ran staring silently at the ward rounds schedule, she frowned, her eyes flashing with a cold light, and urged, "Dr. Wu, you'd better hurry up, we're very busy today."

"Oh, no problem."

Xiao Ran nodded, but then asked, "Head Nurse, why are you starting rounds so early today? Aren't they supposed to start in the evening?"

"How would I know about the hospital's notification? I was just responsible for relaying the message to you."

The head nurse said with a look of impatience.

Xiao Ran looked like she suddenly understood, put away the ward round form in her hand, and looked at the head nurse with a smile: "Then let me lend you something."

"Borrowing money is not an option?"

"I don't lend money." Xiao Ran slowly moved forward, one hand reaching out to take out a guillotine from her spatial storage.

The head nurse looked at Xiao Ran suspiciously, her face flushing red. She unconsciously placed her hands on her chest, staring at Xiao Ran warily. "Borrowing your looks won't work. How about you borrow money instead? But I don't have much; the hospital hasn't paid salaries in a long time..."

Xiao Ran: ………

"and many more!"

Upon hearing the head nurse's words, Xiao Ran was suddenly stunned. A flash of inspiration struck her, and she slapped her forehead, cursing inwardly, "How stupid of me! How could I not have thought of that?"

Xiao Ran's face lit up with a radiant smile as she said, "Haha, head nurse, don't take it personally. I just wanted to borrow a little time to accompany you on rounds."

Before the head nurse could refuse, Xiao Ran took out a thick wad of ghost money and stuffed it into her pocket. The head nurse was about to refuse, but Xiao Ran then took out another wad of ghost money. Looking at the large seal on the ghost money, the ghostly energy in her pocket grew stronger and stronger, and the head nurse's expression gradually softened.

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. If you can get something done with money, why bother doing it yourself?

He lacks everything except for ghost money.

Stacks of illicit banknotes were stuffed into the head nurse's pocket, and her expression changed with the weight in her pocket. In the end, the way she looked at Xiao Ran was even more fervent than when she looked at Jin Chanzi.

Sure enough, the head nurse knew how to enjoy life. Compared to a pretty boy like Jin Chanzi, Xiao Ran was much more charming as she slipped money into her pocket.

"Dr. Wu, you're too kind. It's our duty as nurses to serve you. There's no need for such talk of borrowing or not borrowing. Please come with me, let's start the examination from here."

The head nurse was now showing an unprecedented level of enthusiasm for Xiao Ran. She was willing to do anything for her, not just make rounds, but even accompany her in her room.

With the head nurse by her side, Xiao Ran immediately felt much more at ease.

Unlike the usual ward rounds, the head nurse didn't take Xiao Ran to check on each room one by one. Instead, she went straight past the first few rooms and arrived at the third ward.

Before I even entered, I could hear bursts of laughter and playful banter coming from inside.

The head nurse was already used to this. She walked to the door, gave Xiao Ran a look that said, "Watch me perform," and instead of pushing the door open, she gently knocked on it.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With the knocking, the sounds inside the room abruptly stopped, and a puzzled voice came from inside the door: "Who is it?"

The head nurse grinned and said in a low voice, "Old pig, old pig, I'm the fox."

"Fox, Fox, it's me, Old Pig. What do you want?" A hoarse voice came from inside the room.

The conversation between the two startled Xiao Ran, who was standing to the side. Why did it sound like a conversation between beginners?
Fortunately, their subsequent conversation helped Xiao Ran gradually understand.

"Old Pig, Old Pig, I just saw the Big Bad Wolf. He's sharpening his knife, planning to eat you."

"Okay, I understand, thank you, fox."

"Then open the door, I'll come in and talk to you."

"It's too late, let's do it another day, we're already asleep." After the voice finished speaking, the room fell silent.

At this moment, the head nurse gestured for Xiao Ran to open the door.

Xiao Ran opened the door and saw that the patients who were originally cheerful were now all lying obediently on their hospital beds.

Xiao Ran took the ward round form and checked each patient's bedside one by one. Only after confirming that there were no problems did she leave the ward.

After closing the door, Xiao Ran gave the head nurse a thumbs-up, and then quietly slipped a stack of illicit banknotes into the head nurse's pocket.

Then he pointed to the door and asked, "I didn't understand what you were saying just now. What did you mean? Was it a code?"

The head nurse smiled and reached out, pointing through the glass of the door to the bed on the left: "That's Old Pig. He especially loves reading fairy tales and sees himself as a wise man who can lead a group."

After saying that, the head nurse pulled Xiao Ran to the corner and gestured for her to wait a while.

After a while, the door opened and three patients came out furtively.

Then they made their way to the other wards.

Before Xiao Ran could ask, the head nurse explained for her, "This is the story of the Three Little Pigs, but instead of building a house, they are sent to call the police in other wards."

"So that's it."

Xiao Ran looked as if she had just realized something, and felt a pang of shame in her heart.

After arriving here, my attention was always on Master Gui and others from Changchun. Being on duty was just a facade; I didn't really get to know each patient properly.

If I seriously immerse myself in the role early on and understand the patients' conditions early on, I will know what to do even without the head nurse.

"It seems that in the future, I can't just focus on appearances in the Lost City. I must honestly play my role well."

Xiao Ran reflected on her own eagerness for quick success and instant benefits.

Actually, it's not Xiao Ran's fault. These people like to challenge the rules of the Lost City by relying on their strength. Little do they know that it's much simpler to follow the rules and act within them.

After reflecting on her actions, Xiao Ran quickly cleared her mind of distractions and decided to follow the rules.

After waiting for a while, the head nurse signaled Xiao Ran to continue her rounds.

This time, the head nurse told Xiao Ran to knock on the door. Xiao Ran immediately understood, walked to the ward, gently knocked on the door, suppressed a smile, and called out in a high-pitched voice, "Little pig, little pig, it's me, Old Wolf! Open the door quickly and let me in!!"

(End of this chapter)