LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 38: End
The transition from evening to night was rapid, and the sky darkened rapidly.
His heartbeat sped up unnaturally, and he turned pale as the maid returned to the room.
“I… I need to go for a walk.” He pushed past the maid, resisting his growing discomfort.
Seeing this, the maid hurriedly ran in front of him and blocked the door.
“Absolutely not! My mistress told me that you’re not allowed to leave after dark!”
Looking at the maid’s pouty face, a strong, unexplainable resentment rose in his heart, and it started to echo in his ears.
Bursts and flashes of tiny, inaudible whispers clawed at his eardrums. They roared, they cried, they giggled, they…
“Shut up! Be quiet!”
Yibei yelled as he kneeled on the ground, and he wasn’t sure if he was yelling to the whispers in his ears or to the maid blocking his way.
The maid did not expect Yibei’s sudden outburst and subconsciously shrank to the side.
“M-Mr. Rabbit is still out there! It’s dangerous for you to be out there! No matter what, I can’t let you out,” she explained, firm and persistent.
The discomfort in his chest became unbearable, and Yibei took a deep breath, attempting to mask the pain.
“I… I’m not a criminal, right? Just let me out for a bit, please.”
“Absolutely not! I can’t… Hey!”
Taking advantage of her stupor, he pushed open the door of the ward and rushed out.
She couldn’t believe he would go against her orders, and she forgot to chase after him.
With his back facing the maid, running towards him, Yibei waved his hand impatiently, “Come on! I’ll just take a walk around the hospital; I’ll be back before dark!”
If I transform into a girl, I won’t be coming back, though, he thought, quickening his pace.
Seeing his hand, the maid opened her mouth in astonishment.
‘You didn’t have to shout at me! Fine! Go outside and die!’
Although she thought so in her heart, she sighed as she fiddled with the badge on her chest, relaying the message to Jiangli.
“Miss? Yibei said he wanted to take a walk around the hospital. Should I follow him?”
With the little maid’s ability, she would be able to catch up to him in an instant. That was why she wasn’t worried that Yibei had already disappeared from her sight.
Soon, the badge trembled, and Jiangli’s voice could be heard coming from it.
“If he’s just going to take a walk around the hospital, let him. He isn’t a criminal, so let’s give him a little freedom.”
She couldn’t believe that her mistress would say the exact thing that he said.
“By the way,” Jiangli added. “Be careful of any fluctuations of psychic energy around you.”
“I understand.”
The final rays of sunlight dyed the hospital corridor an eerie, bloody red, and the whispers in Yibei’s ears became more and more intense. It was as if the empty corridor he was in was crowded.
His vision was blurry, and his senses were confused.
Boom!
He limped towards the familiar toilet and slammed the door open, then closed the door to the same stall that he was in.
As soon as he locked the door, the whispering stopped, and he was left in silence once again. The intermittent dripping sounds of water in the toilet made this silence even more strange.
The lights in the toilet weren’t on, so the entire toilet was plunged into darkness for a moment.
Lu Yibei suddenly curled forward as he felt his chest being torn apart and a cold numbness spreading from his chest. He couldn’t help but curl up and leant against the cubicle’s wall.
‘Something’s about to come out of my body… something’s about to come out of my body, out of my body, out of my body, my body…’
His eyes began to burn.s
It was as if his blood were ignited with fire, and golden light rushed along his blood vessels. He could feel every single pore opening, and sweat oozed out like a viscous liquid. The second the sweat touched his skin, it evaporated in wisps of white smoke.
A hot current rushed straight into his heart along the blood vessels, colliding with the cool air in his lungs. He felt his heart stop for a moment, and he slumped on the floor in pain.
“Argh…”
He felt as if he was about to explode at any moment.
Outside the window of the bathroom, there were cards that slammed themselves onto the window, accompanied by the sound of wings vibrating.
He neither has the time nor the guts to leave the stall. The coolness in his body receded, replaced by a scorching heat that rose his body temperature at a terrifying rate.
Immediately afterwards, he felt as if his consciousness was in limbo, and he fell forward. His hands and cheeks touched the toilet bowl, and the smell of burnt plastic was in the air.
‘I’m melting… I’m going to die…’
The quaint murmur he heard when he swallowed the Witch’s Egg suddenly flashed through his mind, and unconsciously, he repeated it in his mouth.
“There is a mountain… a woman. Look, a severe drought is stretching across the red land—you’re hatching… I’m hatching…!”
He bit through every word with great difficulty, and he could feel his voice becoming shrill and tender. As soon as he spoke those words, he returned to normal, and the scorching heat that threatened to melt him cooled down in an instant.
Crackle, crackle.
The light in the bathroom flickered on twice, illuminating the whole bathroom in a pale white.
He panted as he looked at his hands and was visibly shocked.
“I… I didn’t transform?”
He stood up and supported himself on the wall. Walking out of the cubicle, he looked out the window; the full moon under the night was like a bowl, and its silver light poured down like running water. He felt reborn.
Leaving the bathroom, he saw a patient who was visibly pale and terrified. Judging from the patient’s label, he seemed to be suffering from anal-related diseases.
Seeing Yibei made him jump, and he spoke, “Hey, um, are you… okay?”
“Oh?” He was confused at first but replied. “I’m okay; I can withstand the pain.”
“Listen to me,” the patient sighed as he patted him on the shoulder. “Cut it off. Long-term pain isn’t worth your sanity.”
“Excuse me?”
“You were the one in the stall this morning, too, right? I can recognise your voice.”
Yibei was visibly confused before seeing the words “haemorrhoids” printed on the patient’s number plate.
“Oh my god! Uh, it’s okay! I’m okay! Pain like this means nothing to me!”
Watching Yibei walk away with a swagger, the patient silently gave him a thumbs up: “He’s amazing.”
As soon as he turned the corner, he fell forward, catching himself on the wall.
Returning to the corridor where his ward was located, he saw the maid staring at him with contempt in the distance.
“Where did you go?” she reprimanded. “Do you know what time it is? You didn’t even wear the badge that my mistress gave you! Did you know that a strong psychic wave washed over the hospital just now?”
Of course. I do! I’m the source of it! He thought secretly. However, he wasn’t sure what a ‘psychic fluctuation’ was.
It seems that he had to change his hiding spot the next time he transforms. He was lucky to not be caught this time, but that didn’t mean he’d get away with it again.
“Isn’t that horrible?” he said in a terrified tone. “What happened? Are we in danger?”
“Oh, so you’re scared now?” The maid narrowed her eyes. “Still want to take a walk at night?”
“Absolutely not! I’m really scared! You need to protect me!”
“Hmph! Count yourself lucky. It only appeared for a few seconds before disappearing.”
Although she was teasing Yibei, she was terrified. That psychic wave was way more powerful than anything they had dealt with in the past.
“Stay in your room. I’ll go do my rounds and inform my mistress.”
“Wait a minute!”
“What is it?”
“Where did you keep my supper? I’m hungry…”
Boom!
The maid slammed the door on him and left.
“Hey!” Yibei shouted before sighing.
“Instant noodles. That’s all you’re getting!” The voice of the maid sounded from the corridor.
Instant noodles didn’t sound too bad after almost dying in the toilet.
(END OF VOLUME 1)