Xiao Qinxian had completely lost her patience and was no longer bothered by Zhao Yanbao's indecisive attitude.
"The beast will gradually lose its activity over time. We just need everyone's opinion now!" Xiao Qinxian herself was surprised that her voice could rise so high. "If you want to act like saints, then go ahead! You can simply abstain like that person did!"
Mu Yiran's voice wasn't loud, but it suppressed Xiao Qinxian with its imposing presence: "We are waiting for the deceased's family's attitude. Her attitude is crucial."
Xiao Qinxian: "Do we have to drag this out if something else happens later?!"
Ke Xun: "The rest is simple. We can sign our 'Corpse Disposal Opinion Form' now, deciding for ourselves how to handle the beast inside our bodies. Everyone is responsible for their own bodies, and whatever decision is made, everyone must respect it."
"You mean pre-sign?" Yu Ji asked.
"Yes."
Xiao Qinxian remained silent for a long time, somewhat avoiding the question. This mentality is like some people seeing news of someone winning the lottery jackpot and thinking they might win too, but seeing news of someone being struck by lightning and thinking it's impossible for them to win. Little do they know, scientific data shows that the probability of being struck by lightning is higher than the probability of winning the lottery jackpot.
"Oh, I already said that if anything happens to me, you girls can take the beast out of my body!" Lion said first.
"Me too," Yu Ji said.
Xiao Qinxian rolled her eyes at the two of them and muttered softly, "Some people don't even have the beast's mark, of course they can say it so easily."
Mu Yiran then turned her gaze to Zhao Yanbao, who lowered her head to think for a moment before slowly raising her head: "Okay, I agree to remove the beast from Chi Lei's body." She then added, "I hope Dr. Qin will personally perform the surgery. I don't trust anyone else."
Qin Ci nodded, and the tense atmosphere in the entire office immediately eased a lot.
Qin Ci immediately picked up the phone, first calling the body custodian at the Cocoon Detective Agency to have Chi Lei's body properly transported to the hospital; the second call was to the hospital office: "Please print ten copies of the 'Pre-signing Contract for Corpse Opinions'."
Hearing this decision, people couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Although they had already made up their minds, the thought of a living person having to sign their own opinions on the disposal of their corpse felt incredibly unlucky.
Wei Dong's first words upon returning to the office were: "It's already noon."
"Everyone, let's eat at the hospital cafeteria," Qin Ci said. "There's no time for surgery now. Let's place Chi Lei's body in the refrigeration room first. I need to rest a bit at noon, and the surgery will be performed at 2 PM."
"Everyone, please follow me," Su Benxin, as a hospital staff member, led everyone out. "There are private rooms in the cafeteria; we can eat and chat."
Zhao Yanbao had no appetite and decided to wait for the vehicle transporting Chi Lei at the hospital entrance, then personally escort her into the refrigeration room.
No one exchanged pleasantries; no one wanted to see a corpse before eating, as the day had already been quite traumatic.
"The hospital has enough caregivers; they'll handle these things," Su Benxin seemed to be reassuring the others.
Zhu Haowen said, "At times like this, Zhao Yanbao might want to spend some more time alone with Chi Lei."
Qin Ci looked at Zhu Haowen: "What's wrong with Haowen today?"
Zhu Haowen replied irrelevantly, "Your hospital also has a buffet?"
"Yes, a rather lavish buffet." Qin Ci didn't say anything more.
Everyone ate here by card, and the cafeteria staff clearly informed them: "Your card can still be used 37 times."
Wei Dong put away his card, thinking: It's like a life progress bar; each use reduces the number of uses.
Everyone took their food and then gathered in a relatively quiet private room to eat.
At first, no one spoke, as if afraid that conversation would affect their appetite.
After they had almost finished eating, Luo Wei wiped his mouth with a tissue. "I think what we urgently need to understand right now is the real cause of death for these people with the beast mark. Suicide might just be a symptom; the key factor should still be those beasts. What power did they use to cause these people's mental collapse?"
"Zhi Chun died by cutting his wrists. Maybe he wanted to get rid of the beast residing in his wrists," Ke Xun boldly speculated. "If, as Yi Ran said, the beast is the embodiment of a mental knot, then Zhi Chun's goal was to get rid of the knot and seek liberation."
"But the beast is located in a fatal location like an artery. To get rid of it, one can only pay the price with their life," Su Benxin said from the side.
"What is Zhi Chun's mental knot? Is it just that he can't afford a house? Is that enough to drive someone to suicide?" Yu Ji also joined the discussion.
Lion nodded, "Houses are very important, especially for us Chinese, we value them highly."
"We feel that only with a house can we have a home, especially the elderly in the family, who worry a lot about housing." Wei Dong took a sip of soup, "What kind of soup is this? It's delicious."
"Icelandic lobster soup, it's even better with bread." Qin Ci shared the bread from his plate with Wei Dong.
Xiao Qinxian chuckled softly, "This should be the appetizer soup."
Everyone ignored her, and Wei Dong picked up the tea next to him and took a sip, "This tea is labeled Icelandic Pu'er tea, is today a special Icelandic meal?"
Xiao Qinxian laughed for a long time, "You're so cute, Icelandic Pu'er tea is from Yunnan! How could tea trees grow in Iceland, Northern Europe!"
"Hmm?" Wei Dong looked at Qin Ci, "Really? This person is treacherous, I don't really trust her."
Xiao Qinxian: "..."
Qin Ci nodded, "Icelandic tea comes from Mengku Iceland Village in Yunnan, where a large-leaf variety of tea is produced, which is the best of Yunnan Pu'er tea."
"Old Qin, you've been to so many places." Wei Dong exclaimed.
Qin Ci: "I was passionate about independent travel during my university years, and after starting work, I attended medical conferences in various places, so I've been to quite a few places."
Wei Dong wanted to ask something more, but felt it was inappropriate. —Old Qin, didn't you have a travel companion back then? How could someone with your qualifications remain single? —It was really hard to ask in front of everyone.
Lion wasn't in the mood to discuss these things; he was still agonizing over Zhi Chun's cause of death: "So, Zhi Chun's inner conflict was about houses? Just houses?"
"Judging from the shape of the beast, snails are probably related to houses," Ke Xun said, "but when it comes to houses, it's not just about shelter; it might also involve family and love. —Mr. Yu said before that Zhi Chun broke up with his girlfriend because he didn't have a house, which probably hit him hard."
Qin Ci agreed with this statement: "In our familiar world, these things might not be life-threatening, but once a beast forms in the Heart City, it could be fatal at any time."
Theoretically, it seemed to make sense, but everyone still couldn't imagine what it would be like for the beast to "run rampage" inside the body.
"Chi Lei's situation is different from Zhi Chun's. Her heart suddenly failed, which is not something she can control, unless a beast is involved…" Qin Ci didn't know how to phrase it. What could a beast do in the middle of this? In what form does the beast exist before the host dies?
Mu Yiran seemed to see through Qin Ci's thoughts: "If it can't be detected by instruments, then the beast within the living host must exist abstractly, perhaps a secret, a resentment, or a magnetic field."
Luo Wei joined the discussion: "As of last night, seven people had the mark of a beast. Why did Hua choose Chi Lei and Zhi Chun first? What was the basis for this order?"
What commonalities do Chi Lei and Zhi Chun share compared to the others?
Wei Dong seemed to suddenly realize: "These two seem to be relatively young. Chi Lei is only about 23 years old, and Zhi Chun just graduated from medical school, so he's at most 25."
The people found to have the mark of a beast last night were: Qin Ci, Zhu Haowen, Yu Ji, Xiao Qinxian, Luo Wei, Zhi Chun, and Chi Lei.
Zhu Haowen: "I'm also 25."
"Maybe you're a little younger than him..." Wei Dong turned to Xiao Qinxian and asked, "What about you? Are you over 25?"
Xiao Qinxian looked at Wei Dong with a hint of anger, but still answered cooperatively, "Yes."
Qin Ci was a few years older than these people, Yu Ji was about the same age as Qin Ci, and Luo Wei's age... Luo Wei realized that he had been ignored by everyone again.
"If it's really divided by age, then the number of 'victims' each night is two? Is there a limit to this number?" Luo Wei continued to analyze.
Wei Dong exclaimed, "Oh dear, if we calculate it that way, Haowen'er should be next, and then there's this mushroom-headed guy."
Xiao Qinxian, the mushroom-headed guy, said irritably, "And there's Zhao Yanbao, she should be younger than me."
Luo Wei's question came again: "Zhao Yanbao's beastly mark only appeared today, should this situation be counted separately or combined with everyone else's?"
"I'm so confused, this is too complicated." Yu Ji complained from the side.
"No, it's not complicated. On the contrary, inferring based on age and time is too simplistic and mechanical," Mu Yiran spoke again. "It doesn't fit the beasts' 'modus operandi,' nor does it fit the city's 'romantic landmark style.'"
Everyone seemed thoughtful. A knot in one's heart, whether or not it can be visualized, is something that can only be understood intuitively and is difficult to explain. Trying to analyze it precisely is almost impossible.
Mu Yiran continued, "This order might be related to the severity of the 'beasts' presence. Perhaps some beasts are larger, have a stronger presence, or perhaps the beasts and their hosts established communication earlier."
This statement sent chills down everyone's spines again.
"This order might be from strong to weak, or it might be from weak to strong," Qin Ci analyzed. "Perhaps the answer will be clearer after we extract the beast from Chi Lei this afternoon."