Tricked 052: Appraising Eyeballs

It’s hard to imagine such words coming from the mouth of an eight- or nine-year-old girl.

Jiang Yan stood up and wrung the water from her clothes. “Let’s go together.”

“I haven’t snapped a person before, but I imagine it must feel a lot like snapping a shoe heel,” she added.

Afraid Le Yi might be unwilling, Jiang Yan further encouraged, “The great escape from the sanatorium is the first step to conquering the world!”

Le Yi nodded in utmost satisfaction.

“You’re not half bad.”

She brandished her long needle in the air a few times, her small face icy cold, but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards despite herself.

“When I become ruler of the world, you’ll be my subordinate!”

Jiang Yan replied with exaggerated earnestness, “Then let’s both do our best.”

Le Yi snorted, chin lifted as she strode out of the room. The tip of the silver needle scraped a sharp arc across the floor, looking so menacing it seemed capable of skewering several throats at once.

*

The mortuary was deathly silent in the early hours.

Xiao Tian lay on the slab closest to the wall, so terrified that he began to hear a ringing in his ears.

Noises drifted by—sometimes bird calls, sometimes frogs. These sounds kept him wide awake; every passing second an agony.

He’d been deathly afraid of ghosts since he was young; he couldn’t bear to be near anything related to corpses. Hiding in the mortuary was a last resort.

The dissection room held bodies donated post-mortem by the hospital’s patients—one thinner than the next. Even if the previous searchers hadn’t been thorough, his figure would have stood out at a glance. Worse, he’d once tried hiding in the freezer; he hadn’t frozen to death, but now the sight of a cold storage room left him traumatized.

So he was left with the mortuary as his only refuge.

The minute hand made round after round on the clock.

Time lost all meaning inside the body bag. Darkness pressed in, absolute; he couldn’t see his own fingers right in front of his face.

The stench of decay was suffocating. Xiao Tian struggled to focus on anything else, desperate not to pass out.

He’d chosen this particular body bag because it once belonged to last week’s “lab rat”—an old man with cancer, sent here by his family. When the broadcast began, the old man hadn’t even bothered to move, content to sleep in his bed.

The outcome had been predictable.

The nurse never found them. After one search, they handed the old man over to the head nurse.

Xiao Tian never knew what happened in the end—he couldn’t possibly know. All he knew was that the old man died, and his family stopped answering calls. The matter faded away, as if it had never mattered.

He’d once asked Le Yi, somewhat sadly, why this was so. That old man was such an optimistic fellow, he’d even shared his biscuits. But Le Yi had said it was understandable.

Baishan Sanatorium was the cheapest medical facility in M City. No good medicine, poor equipment, terrible environment, and indifferent doctors. Terminal patients sent here were just waiting to die; the patients knew it, and so did their families.

The old man was a man already given up on—whether he lived or died, no one really cared.

Most patients at Baishan Sanatorium were in the same boat.

Le Yi, Le Yao, Xiao Jia, and Xiao Tian himself—all of them.

No one had paid for their hospital stay in a long time. If they hadn’t been thrown out, it was thanks to Le Yi alone. He’d overheard the nurses talking: they said Le Yi’s blood was more precious than gold, too valuable for words. Nurses constantly drew tube after tube from her, always drawing, never stopping. They’d laugh after each draw, but only Le Yi suffered—sometimes so badly she couldn’t get out of bed for days.

He knew Le Yi had convinced the director to let them stay. He didn’t want to end up homeless, so his gratitude for Le Yi ran deep, on every possible level.

His life had been saved by Le Yi, though he was too proud to admit it. Still, Le Yi was, without exception, his boss!

Lost in his thoughts, Xiao Tian’s emotions surged. His fists tightened. He must do his part to further his boss’s dream of world domination!

Just then, a cheerful whistling sounded down the corridor.

His reverie died instantaneously, all excitement doused.

Conquering the world was premised on survival, and staying alive here was almost impossible.

He trembled as he listened to the sounds outside the door.

The whistling was light, as if someone was singing “Happy Birthday”.

This wasn’t right—his hands and feet started to shake.

This wasn’t right.

It was only the second round. Normally, at this stage, ordinary patients would be searching sluggishly, half-heartedly, wandering aimlessly, grumbling all the while.

There shouldn’t be any nurses now. That’s how it always went before—why the change this time?!

Xiao Tian’s limbs had gone icy cold.

Outside, there came the crisp sound of high heels scraping the floor, the weird whistle echoing in the empty morgue. Xiao Tian felt as if drumsticks were beating inside his eardrums, the pain growing until his ears actually ached—only then did the sound finally stop.

“Creeeak—”

The whistling gave way to the sound of the door being pushed open.

The mortuary door eased inward.

Xiao Tian’s face was as white as paper. In a panic, he gripped his clothes tight, as if clinging to the last straw.

He didn’t think he could take on an adult, and even if he could—what good would that do?

If the nurse screamed, the whole sanatorium would know he was hiding on the basement floor. Then his companions would be trapped, and none of them would escape.

Normally, if things went wrong, Le Yi would lead them to another floor before the third round of the search.

So now, he must absolutely not draw attention to the others.

The closest body bag’s zipper was pulled open with a harsh “zziip”—Xiao Tian flinched violently.

Then another two bags were unzipped in quick succession. After a moment, a faint sigh sounded.

The nurse seemed extremely disappointed.

“None of these is any good.”

…What did she mean, ‘any good’?

What could be ‘good’ about corpses?

Was she going to do something to them? Why did she sound like a gourmet sampling delicacies?

To his despair, Xiao Tian realized he might not only lose his life—he might not even end up with a whole corpse.

“Terribly shriveled, color’s all faded, neither plump nor pretty, dried and limp with no elasticity—throw it on the floor and it won’t even bounce.”

Under Xiao Wa’s watchful eye, Yu Renwan jiggled the flashlight in her hand, gently closing the eyelids of the third corpse.

Finishing her inspection, she looked disappointedly at Xiao Wa. “What do you think, Xiao Wa? Like any of these?”

Xiao Wa blew an angry whistle. “Shhh—!”

It spat a gob of saliva at the body bag.

Yu Renwan bit back her words.

Xiao Wa hopped atop the fourth body bag, urging her on. “Caw!”

“All right, I’ll check a few more…”

Yu Renwan obediently unzipped the fourth body bag. “Don’t be mad, if there’s a nice one, I’d never keep it from you.”

A wave of pungent rot rolled out to meet her.

Yu Renwan reflexively held her breath. “This place just smells a little bad…”

Xiao Wa smacked Yu Renwan on the head with its wing.

Yu Renwan shrank her neck. “Not smelly, not smelly—just as fragrant as you.”

Xiao Wa’s beady eyes rolled, sensing something about that statement wasn’t quite right, but after sniffing herself, she still puffed out her little chest with pride.

“Mhm, smells amazing.”

Yu Renwan smoothed Xiao Wa’s feathers for a while, then carefully lifted the eyelid of the fourth corpse.

Xiao Wa craned eagerly. “!!”

Yu Renwan, too, looked delighted. “This one’s not bad at all.”

Inside the fifth body bag, Xiao Tian squeezed his eyes shut in agony. What exactly do they mean by ‘not bad’?!!

【Probably shouldn’t laugh, but pfffft—hahahaha】

【What’s the extent of Xiao Tian’s psychological trauma right now?】

【The autopsy-room duo will arrive on the scene in three… two… one…】

【Le Yi pierces Yu Renwan’s neck (0/1)】

【Jiang Yan assists Le Yi in snapping Yu Renwan’s neck (0/1)】

【Upstairs, you’re going to make me laugh my merits away :）】

【Wait wait wait—Yu Renwan is digging out eyeballs and you’re all laughing? Where’s your humanitarian spirit?】

【Think about how many missions Yu Renwan’s cleared, how many lives she’s saved. These corpse eyes are practically melting away as they rot. If you’re going to curse her, just do it—don’t start a mob.】

【A polite word of censure, then ruarua Xiao Wa】

Under the full gaze of the livestream audience, Yu Renwan handed a small knife to Xiao Wa, who flapped its wings excitedly, clamped the knife in its beak, and stabbed down swiftly and accurately.

A gust of wind cut through the air.

Out of the corner of her eye, silver flashed—a lock of Yu Renwan’s hair suddenly snipped and drifted slowly to the floor.

Hmm?

Yu Renwan glanced back in confusion—nothing but utter darkness. She turned back to the corpse, focusing intently on watching Xiao Wa gouge out the eyeball.

“……….”

Le Yi lay sprawled on the ground. “……..”

The half-person-high silver needle had clattered to the floor. Le Yi felt humiliation beyond words. She scrambled up, grabbed her needle, and lunged for Yu Renwan’s throat. But, just like last time, she slipped and fell before she could get within a meter of Yu Renwan.

This time, the thud was louder.

Yu Renwan immediately turned at the noise, sweeping her flashlight around. Still only darkness, not a soul in sight.

She began to feel uneasy.

“Is anyone there?”

“Xiao Wa, did you hear anything?”

Xiao Wa glanced back, fanned the air with its wings.

Yu Renwan quickly directed her flashlight downward. There, lying facedown, was a small girl, dusty and bedraggled. The oversized hospital clothes made her look frail, her skinny ankles exposed—like one could snap her with a single hand.

Le Yi slowly raised her face, eyes locked on Yu Renwan, voice icy cold: “You humiliated me. I’m going to kill you.”

Yu Renwan: “?”

She hastened to explain, “I—I didn’t humiliate you, why would I? I don’t even know you… even if you stare at me, I really don’t… don’t know you…”

Le Yi had no further interest in talking. She propped herself up and spun her needle, poised to strike again, only to catch sight of the intent little crow under the flashlight’s beam.

She frowned.

“Is that your pet?”

Yu Renwan froze, then quickly nodded. “Mhm, it’s mine.”

Le Yi studied Yu Renwan a moment, lowered her needle slightly. “I haven’t seen you before—are you a new nurse?”

“Yeah.” Yu Renwan answered cautiously. “Signed my contract about two hours ago…”

Le Yi: “So what are you doing in the mortuary?”

Yu Renwan pointed to the crow, then looked nervously at the girl.

She had to admit—the needle in the girl’s hand was terrifying, but the way she’d just slipped and fallen was oddly reassuring.

—At last, a normal person who actually gets unlucky!

Le Yi stared at Xiao Wa for a few seconds, then reversed her grip and lowered her needle.

“Oh, you’re here to find it some food.”

Yu Renwan tried to explain, “Xiao Wa eats steamed buns, not corpses…”

But Le Yi was clearly not interested. She turned toward the door. “You done watching yet?”

Hearing her cue, Jiang Yan slipped lightly in through the doorway.

Yu Renwan’s eyes lit up.

But she knew better than to give herself away, so she swallowed the “Jiang Jiang” that was already on the tip of her tongue.

Le Yi demanded, “Didn’t you say you’d cooperate? Where were you?”

Jiang Yan: “I did cooperate.”

Le Yi: “How was that cooperating?”

Jiang Yan: “When you fell just now, I very cooperatively looked away.”

Le Yi’s fists slowly clenched.

Jiang Yan had guessed the ‘nurse’ was Yu Renwan the moment she’d heard high heels in the hallway.

There was no reason for the search rules to suddenly change the night they’d arrived. Coupled with Xiao Wa’s peculiar habits, it was obvious who the nurse making a pit stop on the basement floor must be.

Seeing that the little girl’s temper was about to explode, Jiang Yan quickly added:

“But mainly, it’s because I trust your abilities. Kill if you want; leave if you don’t—people like us know when to get out of the way. For instance, right now, you don’t want to kill this nurse, do you?”

Le Yi frowned. “How dare you presume to guess my thoughts?”

Xiao Wa tilted its head. “?”

Yu Renwan leaned in and whispered, “I think so too; she’s probably read a lot of CEO romances.”

Le Yi clenched her fist again.

But just as Jiang Yan thought Le Yi would strike with her needle, her hand relaxed.

“You just stay on this floor,” Le Yi fixed her gaze on Yu Renwan, “or I’ll report your pet crow to the authorities in the morning.”

“……..”

Yu Renwan was silent for a moment, then ventured cautiously, “The Head nurse told everyone to find psychiatric patients. I’m not that stupid—you ‘lab rats’ from the broadcast, that’s you, isn’t it?”

“So you… I might not know what happens to lab rats, but you don’t seem to threaten me all that much. At the very least, you should be avoiding me…”

“No. I’m the safest one of anyone.”

Le Yi’s answer surprised everyone.

She analyzed coolly, “When dawn comes, all the nurses will be fully alert. They’d never let me become a lab rat—I keep the whole sanatorium running. Their designer bags are all bought with my blood.”

“So if I intentionally let myself get caught, then when they come to their senses, I can point you out. You’ll be tonight’s lab rat.”

Yu Renwan: “………”

Xiao Wa: “………”

Le Yi directed Yu Renwan, “Just stay on the basement floor. If any nurse comes down, you say you’re searching this level.”

“Barring the director and the two doctors exempt from searching, there are only five nurses on patrol, including you. If you claim this floor, no one but the head nurse will argue with you.”

“She rarely comes down anyway.”

Le Yi gave a leaderly wave. “That’s how it is tonight. Just patrol up and down the hallways.”