No one slept well that night.
Ke Xun even hallucinated several times, hearing the piercing ringing of the telephone.
The four of them stayed up until dawn.
Wei Dong drew back the curtains, saw the sunlight outside, and only then dared to ask Luo Wei, "Did you receive any calls last night?"
No one had asked him during the night, afraid that their question would prevent the mysterious call from coming in.
Luo Wei said definitively, "No calls came in."
As soon as he finished speaking, the piercing telephone rang out as if in retaliation. The four of them looked at each other for a second, and finally Luo Wei stepped forward to answer the phone: "...Okay, I understand, we're coming right now."
It was Qin Ci calling to bring news that Xiao Qinxian had an accident at the hospital last night...
Perhaps everyone was already mentally prepared, so they weren't too surprised—those sudden appearances of beastly signs often carried greater danger.
Just like Lion that night, and Xiao Qinxian last night.
The four members rushed to the hospital, still unable to understand why they hadn't received a phone call last night. According to custom, there should have been a mysterious call informing them of the exact location of the beast.
Wei Dong began to have terrifying speculations: "Could it be Xiao Qinxian who answered the phone? I mean, Xiao Qinxian's sister, she's also from outside the city."
In other words, Xiao Qinxian's sister received a call informing her that a beast would appear in a part of her body.
The thought alone was terrifying.
"No, that doesn't make much sense," said Mu Yiran. "First, we can't be sure if her soul disappeared after the beast was removed last night; second, she's 'missed' several calls before, like those about Chi Lei and Yu Ji, so last night's call about Xiao Qinxian could also be due to that."
Wei Dong: What to do… my brain is completely drained.
Everyone rushed to the hospital and saw Zhao Yanbao and Zhu Haowen, who had also arrived at the same time. They nodded to each other, having no time to celebrate being "alive," and hurried to the animal research lab.
Qin Ci and Su Benxin were waiting there.
"Last night, to deal with any emergencies, dedicated medical staff stayed with Xiao Qinxian all night, but the beast still emerged from her left ribcage…" Qin Ci's expression remained grave. "Everyone, come in with me and take a look at the beast."
When everyone entered the research room and saw the beast, they couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
Xiao Qinxian's beast was very similar to her sister's, also placed in a glass tank, arranged neatly like bricks, four in total: two long strips and two shorter ones.
The two shorter ones were placed side by side on top, and the two long strips were arranged in order below, forming three rows. Unlike her sister's beast, Xiao Qinxian's beast was suspended at the bottom of the tank.
"What are these things? The more I look at them, the more creepy they become…" Wei Dong really couldn't understand what these crimson bricks represented.
"This… is it the burden in their hearts?" Zhao Yanbao used her imagination to the fullest.
"The older sister has 5 pieces, and the younger sister has 4 pieces. The older sister's stack has one more piece than the younger sister's?" Su Benxin didn't dare to get too close to look. "But the arrangement is too neat, it's really weird."
Mu Yiran remained silent, observing the two glass tanks from various angles. After about ten minutes, she suddenly said, "Can we put the two sisters' beasts in the same glass tank?"
Qin Ci nodded and instructed the researchers in the research lab.
Researcher: "You need to think carefully. Putting two people's beasts together might cause an adverse reaction."
Mu Yiran: "Please do as I say."
When the two sisters' beasts were placed in the same glass tank, the older sister's 5 pieces remained suspended above, while the younger sister's remained suspended below, forming six neat rows.
Mu Yiran found an angle and stood there observing carefully for a long time: "Look, what does this look like?"
Everyone went to Mu Yiran's angle to look, and then they all felt like their brains were no longer their own. These long and short strips looked somewhat familiar, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what they resembled.
Zhao Yanbao guessed, "These things remind me of the Six Lines divination."
Mu Yiran nodded, "That's right, it's a hexagram."
Everyone: ( )/
"The Gui Mei hexagram is the name of the Zhen trigram above and Dui trigram below," Mu Yiran said.
Everyone was once again amazed by Mu Yiran's erudition.
"What does this Gui Mei hexagram mean?" Su Benxin asked from the side.
"It means a woman getting married." Mu Yiran pondered for a moment, "The hexagram text says, Gui Mei: An expedition is ominous, nothing is advantageous."
It turned out to be an ominous hexagram. How could a hexagram emerging from the depths of the two sisters' ribs be auspicious?
Xiao Qinxian's beast was peeled from her right rib, forming a perfect symmetry with her sister's beast.
Su Benxin couldn't help but ask again, "Why is a woman's marriage called 'returning to her husband'? It's clearly 'leaving,' so why say 'returning'?"
Zhao Yanbao explained from the side, "In ancient times, a woman's marriage was a true return. Even in modern times, a daughter's marriage is often referred to as finding her home."
The topic inadvertently veered towards the status of women, impossible to avoid.
Ke Xun, however, had a sudden inspiration: "I think this is particularly similar to our current situation. We've clearly entered the painting, left our original reality, but many people still feel a sense of returning."
Everyone thought about it and agreed that there was some truth to it.
Mu Yiran further explained the divination: "The elder sister, suspended above, is the guest hexagram; the younger sister, sunk below, is the host hexagram. The elder sister is borrowing the younger sister's body, and is herself a guest."
Zhu Haowen, standing furthest away, only glanced at the hexagram: "This is merely the inner world of the Xiao Qinxian sisters. I think our most important task now is to find their autographs."
Mu Yiran nodded, but still said, "Xiao Qinxian's situation is different from ours. She is a combination of two people, or even a combination of someone inside and outside the city. Her death might give us some insights."
Zhu Haowen remained silent, seemingly in agreement.
Zhao Yanbao explained from the side, "Ever since Ke Xun mentioned what that driver said yesterday, we both felt it was very important. On the way back last night, we asked some passersby about Yu Beiguo. The name sounded familiar, but they couldn't quite place where they'd heard of or seen it before. This is really perplexing."
"It is indeed quite important," Su Benxin said, walking to Luo Wei's side. "I'm thinking of going to the train station with Luo Wei today. We've already gotten to know some of the staff there quite well yesterday. Maybe we can find out more about Yu Beiguo at the city border."
Luo Wei nodded. "Although they don't have internet there, they have a list of everyone entering and leaving the city on their computers. Let's see if we can find out about Yu Beiguo."
Everyone felt this action was crucial. Qin Ci said, "We shouldn't delay; we should act immediately."
"The person in charge of that station yesterday has been wanting to buy a special asthma medication from our hospital. I'm thinking of getting him a few vials from the pharmacy, partly to build a connection," Su Benxin said.
"Okay, I'll call the pharmacy." Qin Ci nodded.
Su Benxin then said to the researcher, "Please refrigerate our animals promptly; leaving them at room temperature for too long will…"
The researcher nodded, "I'll put them in the refrigerator right away."
The group then followed Qin Ci back to his office. Qin Ci first called the pharmacy, only to be told that the asthma medication was sold out, and the earliest batch would arrive at 3:00 PM today.
It seemed that Luo Wei and Su Benxin's trip to the train station would have to be postponed until the afternoon.
"Alright, let's start assigning tasks for today." Qin Ci looked at the group. "The most important thing now is to find the name Yu Beiguo. After asking around, it seems the name Yu Beiguo is familiar to people in this city, but nobody can recall it. This must be due to the shielding provided by the painting."
Just then, a nurse came in to report on the condition of some patients in the ward.
Qin Ci nodded to indicate he understood, then asked the nurse, "Xiao Li, are you familiar with the person from Yu Bei Kingdom?"
"What Yu Bei Kingdom?" the nurse asked, puzzled. "I don't remember knowing anyone with the surname Yu."
Qin Ci wrote these three characters on a piece of paper: "These are the three characters."
The nurse looked enlightened: "Oh~ so these are the three characters! What, are these three characters a person's name?"
"What else? What do you think it could be?" Qin Ci countered.
"I don't know what it could be. I probably initially thought it was a country, or some kind of country name or era name. I don't know much about history." The nurse smiled apologetically.
Zhu Haowen couldn't help but ask, "Where have you seen these three characters before?"
The nurse thought carefully: "I really can't remember, but these three characters left a very deep impression on me. I must have seen them somewhere, I just forgot. I'm so sorry."
Zhu Haowen really wanted to ask if there were any medications that could help people recover certain memories; the way the person in the know hesitated to speak was really frustrating.
If it weren't for the fact that this was a smoke-free office, Zhu Haowen would have loved to light a cigarette and take a few deep drags. In his haste, he took two steps closer to the nurse: "What did those three characters look like? What font was it? What color was it?"
These questions were crucial; everyone's attention was on the nurse's face.
The nurse thought carefully for a long time: "I can't remember the color, but the font was very artistic. If, as you say, it's a person's name, it feels like the signature of a very unique painter."
"..." Everyone present seemed to hear their own hearts pounding with joy, and couldn't help but press: "Where did you see it? Think carefully, where was it?!"