Rules of the Strange: I Can See Through All the Weird

The morning exercise was interrupted, and the patient returned to the ward under the guidance of the nurse.

Qi Tong noticed during her morning exercises that there are currently ten wards here, and each ward is assigned two NPCs and one player.

This indicates that there are a total of thirty patients here, with each ward being cared for by a nurse. Including the nurse who shouts slogans during exercise, she seems to have more authority among these nurses, possibly because she is the head nurse.

That means there were eleven nurses.

What about the doctor?

Qi Tong carefully recalled the details of the injection that day, only remembering that the doctor was wrapped up tightly, with only his eyes showing.

But when Qi Tong tried to think about the features of those eyes, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her mind, as if preventing her from thinking about them.

Qi Tong gave up thinking about it, and the dull pain in her head suddenly stopped.

Inside the ward, 1065, who had been injected with the green medicine, seemed to have exhausted all his strength and lay back down on the bed, covered himself with the blanket, and continued to sleep.

Qi Tong suddenly thought of something else.

"Rokuko, can my item 'Koto's Tears' be appraised?"

Upon hearing Qi Tong's summons, System 666 quickly responded: "Yes, host! It can identify everything!"

Qi Tong took this opportunity to use the item "Xiao Qin's Tears" on 1065.

The test results sent chills down her spine.

1065's body actually has two sets of internal organs!

While others have one heart, she has two; while others have two kidneys, she has four!

Qi Tong suddenly had a bold idea forming in his mind.

She then used a prop to appraise 1066, who was still holding the rag doll.

1066's body was normal, as Qi Tong's gaze continued to sweep over the rag doll.

"Help me!"

A cry, like one from the soul, instantly reached Qi Tong's brain, causing her to close her eyes in shock.

When she opened her eyes again, the rag doll in her line of sight had transformed into a semi-transparent, spirit-like creature, repeatedly muttering, "Save me."

In her mind, 666's voice trembled: [Host... her emotions are so intense. There are two people in this doll—no, it's one person and something left for her by one person.]

"What do you mean?"

[This soul is crying for help, but the other one isn't a soul; it's... an obsession. It seems to be maternal love. Someone is repeatedly pouring maternal love into this rag doll, turning it into a vessel that can imprison a soul.]

Qi Tong looked at 1066, who was holding a rag doll and humming a lullaby softly.

"The one who bestowed maternal love...was her?"

Yes. She didn't know what she was doing. She thought she was putting her daughter to sleep. But there was no daughter in this doll. There was only a person sleeping, enveloped in maternal love.

The next moment, 1066 turned around while holding the doll, facing away from Qi Tong, thus blocking Qi Tong's "appraisal".

Qi Tong withdrew her gaze and stopped staring at 1066.

She sat down by her bed, pulled the blankets smooth, and pressed her fingers on the sheets, tracing the texture of the fabric with her fingernails—an old habit she had developed in the orphanage; when her mind was in turmoil, her hands couldn't be idle, otherwise her thoughts would only become more chaotic.

Two sets of internal organs. A soul sealed inside a rag doll. She needs to piece these pieces together.

Qi Tong pushed open the door and went out.

The corridor was quiet, the fluorescent lights hummed, and all the ward doors were closed. Through the small windows on the doors, you could see the shadows of patients in their gowns swaying inside.

She walked to Xu Ning's hospital room door, didn't knock, but simply thought about connecting the prop "Mind Bridge" in her mind, then leaned against the wall and waited. The door opened.

Xu Ning glanced at her, asked nothing, and stepped aside to let her in.

The layout of this ward is exactly the same as hers.

Windows, security bars, toilet, water dispenser, three beds.

One of Xu Ning's NPC wards was sitting on the edge of the bed talking to himself against the wall, while the other was sleeping, just like 1065, with half of his face covered by the blanket and not moving at all.

Qi Tong noticed that the paper cup on Xu Ning's bedside table was still there, but the pills inside were gone.

"Have you eaten?" Qi Tong asked in a low voice.

Xu Ning picked up the paper cup and showed it to her.

The bottom of the cup was dry, with no water stains. The pills had been removed, but not swallowed.

She put the paper cup back on the bedside table, took something out of her hospital gown pocket, and handed it to Qi Tong. A white pill, broken in half.

"You didn't eat?"

"I didn't take it. I put the pills away with lemon tea."

Qi Tong took the broken pill and held it up to the fluorescent light.

The pill contains compressed powder, but in the very center of the pill, there is a very small, angular solid.

She turned the pill over and pinched the edge of it with her fingers.

It was very hard, unlike the texture of a pill. It felt like a small bone fragment or a tooth.

"I didn't eat either. I used a teleportation item to leave."

Qi Tong continued to use the tools to identify the pill.

The pills this hospital gives its patients contain components made from human bone.

Qi Tong connected the two things that had been identified earlier.

1065 has two sets of internal organs, one of which is superfluous and was created by drugs, like an organ being cultured in a laboratory.

The rag doll in 1066 contains the soul of a living person, who keeps crying out, "Save me!"

"The carrier," Qi Tong said.

Xu Ning looked up at her.

Qi Tong placed the broken pill on the bedside table and pointed to the bone fragment embedded in the pill with her finger.

"The pills don't contain poison; they contain the body's tissue as a carrier. The patient takes this medicine every day, and extra organs grow inside their body. Once the organs are mature, they are removed—that's what's done in the operating room."

Qi Tong then strung together the conclusions she had just reached and shared them with Xu Ning.

"This mental hospital may be secretly conducting some illegal transactions."

Xu Ning looked at her, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "You're the only one who was brought into the operating room. If what you said is true, there are two possibilities. First, you already have mature organs inside you, and they're here to remove them."

"Secondly, they gave you a drug, along with pills, to accelerate the development of your organs. You are the next chosen vessel."

Qi Tong remained silent.

She glanced down at the needle mark on her arm. It was pale pink, the edges hadn't spread, and the color hadn't faded.

It's not a sign of removal, it's a sign of implantation. Someone planted something inside her.

It is very possible that she will be the container for the next organ.

She stood up, walked to the water dispenser, and touched the faucet.

"You can't drink the water in the ward. The rules in this instance don't say you can't eat the food in the cafeteria, they just say don't eat meat."

She pressed the tap, filled a small glass with water, and held it up to the fluorescent light to examine it—it was very clear, without any impurities.

"If the pill contains donor tissue, could there be some in the water as well?"

"You can drink mung bean soup. The rules say that if you're thirsty, you can only go to the cafeteria and ask the lady for mung bean soup. You can't eat the meat in the cafeteria, but you can drink the mung bean soup, which means that the mung bean soup in the cafeteria and the water in the ward are not from the same source. The water coming out of the tap in the ward may be more than just water."

Xu Ning took the water glass from her and poured the water into the flowerpot on the bedside table.

Qi Tong watched as the water seeped into the soil, leaving a ring of white scale around the edge of the flowerpot.

Scale. Normal water wouldn't leave such a thick layer of scale.

She bent down, rubbed the white mark on the edge of the flowerpot with her finger, and smelled it; there was no smell.

Qi Tong initiated the identification process as before, but the results were somewhat unexpected. There was nothing in the water; it was just water.

"I need to go to the operating room again," Qi Tong stood up. "And the basement. There's a rule that says, 'Don't go to the basement, it's dangerous there,' which means there must be something in the basement. If they're retrieving organs in the operating room, then the body from which the organs were removed should be in the basement."

Xu Ning also stood up.

"You can't get in. I've checked with the equipment. The operating room requires a doctor to swipe their card, and the basement door will most likely require authorization as well. There are nurses patrolling the corridors; you, as a patient, don't have permission to go anywhere."

She walked to the door, glanced into the corridor through the small window, and then turned back to look at Qi Tong.

"But the nurses have the authority. The nurses here can enter all the rooms. They have syringes and can administer any medication to the patients at any time. They can take any patient away, and no one will stop them, because here, patients are just numbers."

"How do you plan to take it?" Qi Tong asked, looking at her.

Xu Ning put the water glass back on the bedside table. "You're in charge of stalling the nurse who's coming to deliver the medicine tomorrow morning. Give me two minutes."