Let's go check on the old lady this afternoon," Qin Ci suggested.
Su Benxin said, "Let's split up. It's a waste of manpower for everyone to go to the old lady."
"Then we can do whatever we want this afternoon. We'll meet at the same buffet restaurant as before for dinner," Mu Yiran said, having already finished her lunch.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Qin Ci was quite tired and decided to take a nap after lunch.
But this precious lunch break was interrupted by Xiao Qinxian. Qin Ci opened the door and looked at Xiao Qinxian standing there. The nurse beside him hurriedly explained, "After several hours of observation, Miss Xiao has calmed down, so we agreed to let her do whatever she wants for a while."
"It's alright, she's my friend," Qin Ci waved for the nurse to leave.
Xiao Qinxian resumed her usual aloof demeanor, her mushroom haircut neatly styled again: "I think this is a setup."
"Come in and sit down," Qin Ci invited Xiao Qinxian into the room, his seemingly calm expression concealing a scrutiny of the woman.
"It seems we're starting to follow the rules of this city step by step. For example, you're the doctor, Ke Xun is the policeman, Luo Wei is an outsider, and my role is... well, I'm the damn patient." Xiao Qinxian stood in a corner of the room with her arms crossed.
"Your behavior last night was indeed quite frightening. First you fainted, then you had a hysterical outburst." Qin Ci reminded Xiao Qinxian of her actions.
Xiao Qinxian's gaze was somewhat blank: "I don't remember those things very clearly… Last night, Lion scared everyone. I don't believe anyone else wasn't afraid."
Qin Ci didn't say anything more, but directly handed a stack of medical records to Xiao Qinxian from the table: "Take a look first, see if these conditions are true."
Xiao Qinxian picked up the medical records. When her eyes swept over Xiao Qinxian's name, her expression was still a little tense, but when her gaze spread to the personal information below, she suddenly chuckled softly: "I knew there was a mistake. This isn't my medical record at all."
Qin Ci's expression was full of doubt.
"My blood type is B, but this says O. The blood type is wrong, how can anyone believe the rest of the information!" Xiao Qinxian threw the medical record back onto the table.
"You're blood type B?" Qin Ci asked, emphasizing his words—this was crucial information; a hospital would never make such a basic mistake.
Xiao Qinxian shrugged and sneered, "Blood type isn't like other information that can be easily changed. It's determined at birth, like fingerprints, and can't be altered."
"Would you mind getting your blood type tested again?"
Xiao Qinxian initially thought this request was unreasonable, but to prove herself, she nodded, "Fine, I don't want to be treated like a patient, let alone a mental patient."
Qin Ci had already taken the medical record and walked into the corridor, with Xiao Qinxian following behind him. "This world is so insidious; it probably wants to turn everyone into a lunatic."
Qin Ci seemed oblivious to Xiao Qinxian's complaints, asking questions entirely according to his own train of thought: "Do you smoke?"
"I smoke occasionally, but I'm not addicted."
"Have you ever tried drugs?"
"..." Xiao Qinxian rolled her eyes and sneered, "Tch... this heartless hospital really knows how to label people randomly! Drug use? My God..."
And so, Xiao Qinxian had her blood tested again, but the medical staff responsible for blood analysis said the results wouldn't be available for three hours.
Qin Ci frowned. "Just a blood type test, and it takes this long?"
The medical staff smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Dr. Qin, there are too many blood samples today, we have to proceed in order."
"Alright." Qin Ci didn't want to use his status as a doctor to get special treatment. He waited briefly in the hospital lobby with Xiao Qinxian before meeting up with Ke Xun and the others.
Ke Xun, Mu Yiran, Wei Dong, and Luo Wei were all long-time members.
"Where's Haowen?" Qin Ci asked.
"He doesn't believe in these superstitious things. He went to observe the beast's exorcism ceremony with Zhao Yanbao, and Su Benxin went too," Luo Wei said.
Qin Ci gave a complicated smile—to observe the exorcism ceremony because he doesn't believe in superstitious things? Well…
Zhu Haowen was actually worried about Su Benxin. Zhao Yanbao and Su Benxin were acquaintances, about as familiar as Lion and Zhao Yanbao were. Zhu Haowen wasn't comfortable with the two of them acting alone.
"What kind of mystical stuff is this? What are we going to do?" Xiao Qinxian asked, ever since she was mistaken for a "crazy woman," she felt like these people were trying to scheme against her.
Ke Xun succinctly replied, "There's an old lady at the train station who probably has the ability to see ghosts; maybe she can see the signature."
"Oh." Ke Xun's suggestion was indeed very tempting, and Xiao Qinxian nodded, deciding to go with them.
The group left the hospital and hailed a taxi. Ke Xun got into the passenger seat, while Wei Dong, Qin Ci, and Xiao Qinxian sat in the back.
"Aren't they coming?" Xiao Qinxian asked.
"We'll split up; they want to learn more about the station's rules," Ke Xun didn't elaborate.
After lunch today, the group held a brief meeting and all agreed that the information at the train station was very valuable—since this city emphasized the distinction between the city center and the outskirts, there might be clues at the city's borders, and they might even find the signature.
"Luo Wei isn't with us; what if we can't find the old lady?" Qin Ci looked out the car window, somewhat worried.
"He gave me the address very clearly, there's no mistake." Ke Xun called for the car to stop at the right moment. "I've already seen her."
Right next to the flower bed at the entrance of the train station ticket hall, there was a simple fortune-telling stall. A blood-red cloth was spread on the ground, indicating that this was a business open for business.
The fortune-telling stall seemed rather deserted, far less bustling than the stalls selling snacks, toys, and trinkets.
Ke Xun, Qin Ci, and Wei Dong slowly walked forward, with Xiao Qin Xian following closely behind.
Behind the blood-red cloth, an old woman with a full head of white hair sat cross-legged. Judging from the wrinkles on her face, people would believe she was 120 years old.
The old woman seemed to be resting with her eyes closed, muttering in a language that no one could understand.
Hearing the footsteps of customers, the old woman slowly opened her eyes. Although everyone had heard beforehand that her eyes were different colors, they still couldn't help but be surprised—on this aged face, there was a pair of extremely clear eyes, almost like the eyes of a young child. These bright eyes, however, had an eerie color: the left eye was gray, and the right eye was red.
Of those eyes, only the gray one moved; the red one remained lifeless.
The gray eye glanced at Ke Xun, who was closest to her: "Fortune telling? 10 yuan for palm reading, 30 yuan for divination."
Luckily, Qin Ci had just received an advance from the hospital, a fairly generous amount, more than enough for the next few days in the city.
Ke Xun squatted down, meeting the old woman's gray eyes without saying a word.
The old woman's gray eyes flickered: "Maps are 5 yuan each, cheaper here than at the station."
Ke Xun still remained silent.
The old woman opened her tattered bundle and laid out several city maps and a few small glass jars.
She leaned closer to Ke Xun and whispered mysteriously, "I have some treasures here. Would you like to take a look, sir?"
Ke Xun glanced at the glass jars the old woman held in her hands; inside was a small beast.
Ke Xun exchanged a glance with Qin Ci beside him: Wasn't this old woman supposed to be able to see right through people? Why wasn't she talking about outsiders now? Was she regretting revealing too many secrets this morning?
Xiao Qinxian noticed the beasts the old woman had and squatted down with interest to examine them: "How many beasts do you have? How much do they weigh? How much do you want? Can you trade them for other beasts?"
The old woman's grey eyes, which had been gleaming with greed, stopped shining, and her entire attention shifted to Xiao Qinxian's face. Even more frighteningly, her blood-red eyes suddenly began to move, as if scrutinizing Xiao Qinxian from head to toe.
Xiao Qinxian was naturally terrified, almost collapsing to the ground. She instinctively grabbed Ke Xun beside her and took two steps back, distancing herself from the old woman.
The old woman's blood-red eyes, however, remained fixed on Xiao Qinxian. A few minutes later, the old woman suddenly let out a laugh like an owl: "Hehehe... If you're willing to trade your beast for it, I can introduce you to a more high-class client."
Xiao Qinxian broke out in a cold sweat, hiding behind Ke Xun's tall figure.
Ke Xun shielded his companion behind him and asked the old woman, "Grandma, can you see anything? Can you see the beast inside her?"
The old woman didn't answer, her blood-red eyes, as if they could curve, bulging out and following Xiao Qinxian.
Wei Dong, standing to the side, gaped in astonishment: This was practically an old chameleon in human skin… Only a chameleon's eyes would move like that…
"Logically speaking, animal marks only appear when a person dies, and only then can hospital equipment detect the beast within the deceased," Qin Ci said from the side.
"What I saw was also a beast from a dead person. I'm from the city, so naturally I don't have any special abilities," the old woman said.
"A beast from a dead person? But…" Qin Ci found this explanation truly terrifying.
"You've struck gold," the old woman chuckled, lighting a homemade cigarette, her voice hoarse as she said, "You've gotten a beast from a dead person for free, and a top-quality one at that."
"Can you explain yourself clearly?" Ke Xun asked directly.
The old woman tilted her head, her red eyes still glancing at Xiao Qinxian behind Ke Xun: "She's not alone; she has the souls of two people inside her. That woman looks a bit like her and has been following her for several years. I think this one is the most accurate; she's helped many people exorcise evil spirits."
Xiao Qinxian trembled behind Ke Xun.
"What we're afraid of now isn't her, it's the other woman inside her," the old woman said, a cigarette dangling from her lips, her expression somewhat arrogant. "When I was young, I subdued many such wandering ghosts."
Qin Ci roughly understood what she meant and asked, "So, if we use the special equipment at the hospital to examine beasts, we can find the exact location of the beast inside her, right?"
The old woman pulled a rusty little dagger from her somewhat shabby pocket: "No need for that trouble. Medical fees are so expensive. I can cut it out for you right here, but I'll get half of the beast…hehe…"