…I really can't remember. Anyway, I saw it in Heart City. I was born here and have never left…" The nurse felt the expectant looks on everyone's faces and apologized for not being able to help them.
Ke Xun looked at the disappointed crowd and could only clap his hands to encourage them: "Actually, this is a clue. At least we know that the three characters 'Yu Bei Guo' appeared as an artistic signature! Although I don't think these three characters should appear on the painting. The people we asked, such as the driver, passersby, and the nurse, are not people in the art world. They are unlikely to pay attention to artworks. Even for well-known famous paintings, no one would pay special attention to the signature."
Indeed, there were many famous paintings from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign, in the previous world, but the general public would only pay attention to the painting itself and not the signature or seal.
"If it's not on the painting, then it's in a place that people are familiar with in this city, such as a landmark building in the city center, or a famous square…" Mu Yiran speculated.
Ke Xun timely pulled out the map from his inner pocket: "Looks like this wasn't a waste of money; it might come in handy."
Mu Yiran looked at Ke Xun, feeling like he was a timely rain, magically producing a map of the Heart City region when she needed it most.
Qin Ci felt there were too many subplots in the map, and his brain was already exhausted, but he had to force himself to stay alert and said, "How about this, let's divide up today's tasks: some people go to the city's landmarks to find signatures, and the other group goes to the hospital entrance to wait for that expert. If it really is a 'free beast' as that old lady said, maybe we can collect the 13 kilograms of beasts sooner. That might help us see the next step of the situation more clearly."
"Can I ask how much the Xiao Qinxian sisters' beasts weigh? Please don't tell me they're another two kilograms." It was Wei Dong who spoke.
Qin Ci nodded helplessly: "You guessed right."
Wei Dong scratched his head: "Xiao Qinxian's sister doesn't count as one of us. So, does that mean we have an extra kilogram of beasts?"
Zhu Haowen: "If we calculate it that way, and if all the beasts came from our bodies, then in the end, we'll only have one survivor."
"Ptooey, ptooey! Quickly spit it out, it's bad luck!" Wei Dong grabbed Zhu Haowen's hand anxiously, making him touch the wooden door. "Quickly touch the wood, quickly spit it out!"
Zhu Haowen remained expressionless: "Ptooey, ptooey."
Su Benxin, seemingly lost in thought, suddenly said, "I think one of us has to stay. There are real-time surveillance cameras in the hospital wards. The scene of Xiao Qinxian's accident last night should have been captured on camera. Maybe we can find some clues in the footage. —Besides, there's a phone in that ward. Didn't everyone suspect that Xiao Qinxian might have answered the phone?"
Qin Ci agreed, "Then..."
Su Benxin said, "I'll stay. After all, Xiao Qinxian is a lady, it might be more appropriate for me to watch her video."
"Okay, hopefully the most dangerous scene won't leave you with any psychological trauma."
"Who cares about psychological trauma at a time like this? Besides, I can fast-forward, it won't interfere with Luo Wei and my afternoon schedule," Su Benxin said.
Thus, the itinerary was decided: Su Benxin stayed at the hospital to watch Xiao Qinxian's video; Zhu Haowen, Qin Ci, Wei Dong, and Zhao Yanbao went to look for autographs near several landmark buildings in the city; Luo Wei, Ke Xun, and Mu Yiran went to visit the legendary master at the hospital entrance.
...
The back entrance of the hospital was completely different from the front entrance. The back entrance was small and bordered a small street, completely lacking the feel of a large hospital.
Ke Xun's eyes swept over the sparse pedestrians; almost no one stopped there, and the extraordinary master he had imagined was nowhere to be seen.
Luo Wei's face looked even thinner, and his complexion was somewhat pale, but this did not prevent him from searching for people with sharp eyes: "That old lady said that the master stays at the back entrance of the hospital every weekend, for a whole day. I think he shouldn't be a pedestrian."
If he wasn't a pedestrian, then he could only be someone who stayed there for a long time.
Currently, there was only a fruit stand at the entrance, a maternity and baby supplies store across the street, and two restaurants.
Ke Xun first glanced at the fruit stall owner, a young man who looked like a beaver, his eyes shrewd: "My fruit is much cheaper than at Qianmen! Look at these strawberries, they're very sweet! I'll give it to you for six yuan! I'll give it to you for ten yuan for two jin, consider it making friends!"
Ke Xun was thinking about whether to inquire by buying fruit when Mu Yiran tugged at his sleeve: "Is it her?"
It was a ragged old woman scavenging for scraps, sitting by a wall on the street, guarding a large pile of junk.
When the three of them walked over, the old woman was enthusiastically matching bottle caps with the beverage bottles she had collected, 'assembling' a complete bottle, and even shaking it near her ear to listen to the sound, it was unclear what she was listening to.
Sensing the approach of the three men, the old woman waved her
hand, "You're blocking my light." Ke Xun moved closer to the side, "Grandma, I have something to ask you."
"I can't answer your questions," the old woman's voice was frail but clear, and she didn't stop what she was doing. "I'll come here on Saturday."
Ke Xun's heart skipped a beat; perhaps he had found the right person.
Without asking any more questions, Ke Xun squatted down and helped the old woman pack the large bundle of plastic water bottles into a woven bag. The old woman didn't say thank you; she just bundled and packed them herself.
Only after finishing the work did the old woman look up at Ke Xun. Because of the sunlight, her aged gray eyes appeared even lighter, like some kind of glass ball.
"Are you looking for a beast?" the old woman asked directly.
Unexpectedly, he was seen through immediately. Ke Xun told the truth: "We heard from others that there are powerful people here who bestow beasts upon us."
Hearing the word "powerful person," the old man laughed, a hint of mockery in his voice: "What do you want the beasts for?"
Ke Xun and his companions exchanged glances, then revealed the truth: "We want to leave this place, but we need to collect 13 kilograms of beasts."
The old man stared directly at the sun, as if enjoying it, and after a long while asked Ke Xun: "How much are you still missing?"
"We have 6 kilograms," Ke Xun replied.
The old man scrutinized the three of them with his gray eyes, and slowly said: "Once you leave, you'll never come back. Don't you regret it?"
A long silence followed after the question.
Ke Xun didn't know what he was hesitating about. He knew this wasn't a place for him, and this world wasn't lovely, but he felt an inability to leave. Unlike the paintings he'd seen before, which made him unable to stay even a second longer, this place held a special allure.
What if he collected 13 kilograms of beasts? What if death were eliminated from the nights in this world?
"No regrets," Mu Yiran's voice pulled Ke Xun back to reality. "We want to go back to our hometown."
Ke Xun shook his head; it felt like a fleeting dream, which he had just woken from.
Luo Wei's voice also rang out: "We want to go back."
The old lady didn't ask any more questions. She rummaged through a tattered cloth bag beside her for a while and took out three large beverage bottles. She looked at the labels: "This bottle is two liters, we're one liter short."
The bottles were filled with a red liquid that looked like tomato juice.
"There are two more 500ml bottles, that's enough, a total of seven jin." The old lady pushed the pile of large and small bottles towards Ke Xun.
"These…these bottles are all filled with beasts?" Ke Xun
was surprised to learn that there were beasts in liquid form. "They can't compare to those rare treasures, but the weight is enough," the old lady sighed softly, with a hint of compassion. "Hospitals are where there are the most beasts…Don't worry, these have all been released, and those souls have found peace. Take them and use them."
None of the three expected the old woman to give away seven jin of beasts so readily, especially to strangers she didn't know.
Mu Yiran couldn't help but say, "Grandma, you're scavenging near the hospital, but you're only picking up common plastic water bottles. Generally speaking, people who scavenge near hospitals tend to focus more on medical waste—although some collection may be illegal, the profits are huge."
"You're quite observant," the old lady looked up at Mu Yiran.
Indeed, if they only collected ordinary household waste, there was no need to come all the way to the hospital entrance, especially every Saturday. It was truly puzzling.
"I'm here to collect beasts," the old woman said slowly. "I told you before, hospitals are where the most beasts are. Do you know what the building closest to the back door is?"
Ke Xun looked at the building, vaguely remembering that the sign at the entrance seemed to be something like maternal and child health care.
"That's where babies are born," the old woman said to herself, "and also where babies are killed. There's a whole floor dedicated to abortions and induced labor."
The three men remained silent, vaguely understanding the source of these liquid beasts.
"Where there is life, there is death." The old woman looked up at the three young men. "How old are you? I think you're all under thirty, but you're probably around twenty-five. When I was young, I loved reading. There was a sentence in one of the books: 'At twenty, one knows the benefits of life; at twenty-five, one knows that where there is light, there is also darkness; and as for today, at thirty, one knows even more that where there is much light, there is also much darkness, and where joy is intense, sorrow is even heavier.'"
All three men were hearing this sentence for the first time, even the well-read Mu Yiran. Some words are not seen, but encountered, and they will be remembered for a lifetime.
The old woman shook the empty bottle in her hand, listened to it, and continued talking, though it was unclear what she heard: "Not everyone has a beast inside them, but these fetuses whose lives have been interrupted must be beasts, beasts in every mother's womb, beasts in their hearts, beasts they can never get rid of in their entire lives. These beasts can be big or small, depending on the size of the mother's inner pain and hatred. I once saw a fetus that was four months old, but its soul was heavy, dragged along by that beast and unable to move forward. When I took that beast out, I couldn't even lift it; it weighed several dozen pounds."