Chapter 4 Taking Medicine

Because there were no windows or clocks, when Li Xuan woke up, he had no way of knowing what time it was.

He walked to the door and pushed at it, and sure enough, it was locked again.

He silently counted off 3,600 beats in his head, but no bells rang from outside.

That meant the bells only rang at night, or at midnight.

He made a note of that in his mind.

If he wanted to escape the hospital, or clear the event, then he had to remember every abnormal thing he encountered and use those abnormalities to analyze and find the hidden route to survival.

Time was tight. He only had six days left.

Not long after, the door was opened from outside.

The ones who came in were still the same two flirtatious nurses who looked exactly alike.

Li Xuan glanced at their outfits.

Pink uniforms, with white thigh-high stockings.

Just like yesterday, the two nurses led him out of the ward.

The first half of the route was the same as last night, but the second half turned in another direction.

Before long, the three of them arrived at a spacious hall.

It looked like some kind of activity center for patients to spend time in.

Li Xuan looked around and found that there were still no windows here.

But at least there was a clock.

Li Xuan checked the time.

7:40.

He had probably arrived fairly early. There were still not many people in the activity center, and after looking around casually, he did not spot the gorgeous big-wave mature woman or the sleazy man he had crossed paths with yesterday.

There were quite a few entertainment options in the activity center: ping-pong tables, Chinese chess, Army Chess, and even a few people playing tabletop games. Li Xuan went over to take a look, but the group playing the tabletop game seemed extremely wary of him. The moment he got close, they all stopped what they were doing and stared at him in unison.

Li Xuan curled his lip, shrugged, and walked away.

These people were definitely up to something.

Most likely, it had something to do with that tabletop game.

Li Xuan guessed as much in his heart.

He wandered around a while longer, but did not find anything in the activity center that looked like a rule.

It seemed there were no new rules to obey here.

He drifted to the doorway and wanted to peek outside, but just as he reached the door, a nurse in a pink uniform somehow sprang out from nowhere and roughly shoved him back into the hall.

Li Xuan was caught off guard and nearly got pushed to the floor by the nurse.

Was this thing even human? How could she be that strong?

Still, the female doctor seemed better. She dressed just as seductively, but the doctor was much gentler and would even jerk him off.

As the time drew close to 8:00, more and more people gradually filled the hall. But Li Xuan noticed that compared with the crowd in the cafeteria yesterday, there were clearly fewer people here in the activity hall now.

It looked like not only his own room lock had failed last night; many others probably could not resist and had violated the rules by choosing to leave their wards.

Li Xuan casually found a spot and was preparing to sit down and observe the situation first, but before his butt even touched the seat, two burly attendants wearing dog-head masks walked into the activity center.

Following behind the attendants were three stunning female doctors in white and six female nurses in pink.

It seemed not only the nurses, but even the female doctors all looked as if they had been cast from the same mold.

The two attendants stood on the left and right sides of the entrance.

The three female doctors stood about a meter apart, then chattered at the patients in some incomprehensible language.

Each of them was followed by two nurses carrying trays, and on the trays were large transparent jars filled with tablets.

It looked like it was time to take their medicine.

Li Xuan deliberately dawdled in place for a while. Only after everyone else had lined up did he casually pick a queue and fall in behind it.

There were quite a few people with the same idea as him. In particular, the ones who had been playing tabletop games kept waiting until the attendants walked over to them before reluctantly choosing the longest line and standing at the back.

Li Xuan stroked his chin, now even more certain that these people definitely knew a lot of information.

He would have to find a chance to get in touch with them.

But they clustered together tightly and were extremely hostile toward outsiders, so ordinary methods would definitely not work.

Just as Li Xuan was thinking about how to find a reason to approach them, someone tugged at the hem of his clothes from behind.

Looking back, he saw it was the gorgeous big-wave mature woman from yesterday.

Earlier, Li Xuan had not found her in the hall and had thought she must have violated the rules last night too and left the ward, which was why she had disappeared without a trace.

It seemed she had simply arrived a little late.

The woman smiled at Li Xuan.

Li Xuan nodded, and was about to turn back when an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

Could he have this big-wave beauty go talk to those people?

He was a man, so they would definitely be on guard. But what if it was a ravishing beauty instead?

That group all looked like strapping, hot-blooded adults in their prime. Li Xuan refused to believe they were all iron-blooded straight arrows who were completely immune to women.

As long as there was even one bootlicker among them, the big-wave beauty ought to be able to pry some useful information out of them!

Thinking of that, Li Xuan first glanced around, then lowered his voice and said to the big-wave beauty, "Do you trust me?"

The big-wave beauty paused, then quickly nodded.

"After you take the medicine later, go straight to the toilet and make yourself throw it up. Make sure no one sees you."

The big-wave beauty hesitated for a moment, but out of trust in the fact that Li Xuan had helped her yesterday, she still nodded.

Li Xuan turned back around and said nothing more.

Soon, it was Li Xuan's turn.

The female doctor was still dressed as she had been yesterday: her white doctor’s coat was left unbuttoned, barely covering the three-point strap underwear over her nipples and lips, with suspender black stockings and high heels that made any man’s rod hard just looking at her.

Inside the entire activity center, as long as a man was present, there was a tent pitched in his crotch now, with the exception of the two attendants.

The nurse handed Li Xuan two tablets and motioned for him to swallow them.

The tablets looked pretty much like the cold medicine he had taken before. When they went into his mouth, there was a slight bitterness. Li Xuan did not dare leave them sitting in his mouth for long and hurriedly swallowed them down.

The female doctor signaled for him to open his mouth. Only after confirming that he had not hidden the tablets under his tongue or behind his teeth did she let him leave.

Li Xuan found a place to sit as if nothing had happened, and the big-wave beauty sat beside him after taking her own medicine.

After everyone had taken their pills, the doctors and nurses all left, but the two attendants remained behind.

Glancing at the big-wave beauty out of the corner of his eye, Li Xuan clutched his stomach and put on a show of needing the toilet, then walked up to the attendants and gestured wildly to indicate that he needed to have a bowel movement.

The attendant on the left pointed toward the back of the activity center. Li Xuan froze, thinking that he had not seen a toilet while wandering around the activity center just now.

But this was not the time to worry about that. He nodded to the attendant and walked in the direction indicated.

Damn.

No wonder he had not noticed the restroom hidden here before.

There was not even a sign on the door, and it was shut so tightly. When Li Xuan had passed by this place earlier, he had thought it was a storage room.

And this restroom was far too small. There was not even enough room to turn around, and there were no windows either.

It was practically on par with the restroom in the ward.

Luckily, Li Xuan was not here to use the toilet. After closing the door, he stuck a finger down his throat. Before long, the urge to vomit rose up in his throat, and after a few dry heaves, he brought up the tablet he had just swallowed.

Fortunately, not much time had passed, and the enteric coating on the tablet had not even been digested yet.

Li Xuan had spent the entire night thinking about how to follow the rule of taking medicine on time while at the same time not violating the reminder hidden behind the rule not to take the medicine.

Then he came up with a solution.

Swallow it first, then before the pill started to dissolve, throw it back up!

Not taking it was obviously impossible. He would probably get his head bashed in by the attendants. But what if he took it and the medicine really was dangerous?

By then, it would be too late to regret it.

He pressed the flush and washed away every trace of the vomit, then opened the restroom door.

Standing at the door was the big-wave mature beauty.

Besides her, there was also the five-person tabletop game group.

The big-wave beauty smiled gently and was just about to speak to Li Xuan, but Li Xuan subtly gave her a look, then acted as if he did not know her and stepped aside.

The big-wave beauty was stunned for a moment, but smartly did not ask any questions. Instead, she thanked Li Xuan like a stranger and went into the restroom.

Li Xuan found a place to sit and studied the tabletop game group from the corner of his eye.

The five of them did not notice Li Xuan’s gaze at all. Instead, they stood outside the restroom, exchanging knowing looks and whispering to each other. Judging from the sleazy expressions on their faces and the vulgar gestures they were making, they were probably fantasizing about the big-wave mature woman.

About ten minutes later, the big-wave mature beauty came out of the restroom.

When she passed the tabletop game group, one of them, a flat-cropped man who looked to be in his thirties, reached out and kneaded her plump ass.

"You!" The big-wave mature beauty shot him an angry glare, but the flat-cropped man only shrugged with a grin. She glared at him fiercely, then turned away in exasperation.

"Fuck, that woman’s ass is so soft."

"Damn it, if I’d known, I’d have had a feel too. Her tits are probably even bigger than those doctors’ and nurses’."

"Those doctors and nurses are pretty damn slutty too. I really want to pin them to the floor and fuck them once, damn it!"

"You’d better stop dreaming. Yesterday evening, when we were being examined, the guy in the room next to mine relied on the fact that he had trained before and tried to rape a female doctor. Then that female doctor grabbed and crushed his dick in one go. After that, he was taken away by the attendants, and nobody knows whether he’s dead or alive. I’m telling you, I’d rather mess with the female patients than touch the doctors and nurses."

The flat-cropped man went into the restroom, and the remaining four gathered together outside and whispered among themselves.

But Li Xuan noticed that among the five, the youngest-looking one, a fair-faced and handsome youth, did not join their conversation at all and instead stood off to the side at a loss.

Was he being excluded, or was it because he was still young enough to retain some basic moral line?

Li Xuan thought about it silently.

The big-wave mature beauty walked over to Li Xuan. After a moment’s hesitation, she chose to sit on the stool behind him.

Li Xuan propped both hands on the table, covered his mouth with his palm, and asked the big-wave mature beauty in a very low voice, "Did you throw up the medicine?"

"Mm, I did. I flushed it clean. There’s no trace left," the big-wave mature beauty said, making herself look unwell as she leaned on the table, tilting her head slightly toward the wall as if by accident. "Was there something wrong with that medicine?"

"I’m not sure yet, but at least I’m not sick. I don’t want to take medicine blindly."

The big-wave mature beauty quite agreed with Li Xuan’s reasoning.

"Did you notice those five people by the restroom just now?"

The big-wave mature beauty curled her lip. She had just had her ass groped, so it would have been hard not to notice.

"Those people should know quite a few useful things, but they’re very guarded around me. I want to ask you for a favor and see whether you can get something out of them."

"Ah... this..." The big-wave mature beauty hesitated. Those people clearly did not look like good types, especially that flat-cropped man. Yesterday in the cafeteria, even that sleazy man had not tried to grope her, yet this flat-cropped bastard had actually dared to grab her ass.

Li Xuan understood her concern, so he said softly, "You probably want to leave this hospital too, right? But if we rely only on ourselves, finding a way out bit by bit would be far too slow. And time is limited. There are so many bizarre things in this hospital; the farther we go, the more dangerous it’ll probably get. I’ll definitely keep you safe. I won’t let those people mess with you."

As he spoke, Li Xuan deliberately emphasized the word "we," pulling the mature beauty and himself onto the same side and thereby weakening the resistance in her heart.

The big-wave mature beauty was moved by his words. Since arriving here, she had been on edge every day. She did not even dare close her eyes when sleeping at night. If she stayed any longer, she was afraid she might go insane.

"Then... you promise you’ll protect me?"

"Mm, I promise!"

To give the mature beauty more confidence, Li Xuan quietly took her hand when no one was looking.

That smooth, tender feel did not seem at all like a woman in her thirties; it was practically as delicate as a little girl of ten or so.

Li Xuan’s palm was warm, and it inexplicably put the mature beauty at ease.

Her face reddened a little. After growing up this far, it was still the first time a man other than her father and husband had held her hand in his palm.

"It... it’s just a special situation... a special situation, that’s all!"

Silently comforting herself, after quite a while, Li Ruyao finally managed to calm her pounding heart.

"My name is Li Ruyao..."

If Li Xuan’s hearing had not been good, he would almost have missed the mature beauty’s voice, which was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.

"Mm, my name is Li Xuan."

"Then... then what do you want me to do?"

"See that youngest man among that group?"

Li Xuan pointed at the fair-faced youth among the four men.

"Mm," Li Ruyao nodded.

"Later, I’ll draw the others away. See if you can get him to tell you something useful."

"What kind of information counts as useful?"

Li Xuan tapped the tabletop with his finger.

"Ask him whether they’ve found a way to escape the hospital!"