DA chapter 45

There were still two of the three safe Fishman questions left. Out of consideration for Yan Xu, who was slowly playing along, Lin Jia did not ask another question. He slowly walked from the consultation desk back toward the group.

The way the Jin brothers, the curly-haired man, and the white-haired elder looked at him had changed.

The Fishman question that Lin Jia had asked had made significant progress in breaking the deadlock. Since the nurse knew everything about the inpatient building, they only needed to start with the nurse to search for more clues. If they were lucky enough, they might find the Soup Base of Fish Belly without asking more Fishman questions.

The only concern was whether the nurse was human.

Even NPCs had distinctions. If the NPC was human, they could try their luck. However, if the NPC was a monster, they would be unable to resist.

Jin Jian asked, “Mr. Lin, do you think the nurse will be human?”

If the nurse was not human, then the groaning creature in the ward was most likely not human either. If two non-human NPCs existed in Fish Belly at the same time, the difficulty would still be high, even if the nurse knew everything.

Lin Jia said clearly: “The answer will be revealed soon. What’s the point of asking me?”

Jin Jian’s friendly approach hit a cold wall, and he became awkward for a moment.

The curly-haired man also wanted to ask something, but after seeing Jin Jian’s example, he held back and only said, “I hope it’s human. After all…”

He looked up at the inpatient building. “There’s no reason a hospital would have only one nurse.”

With another pessimistic remark from the curly-haired man, everyone’s expression turned serious. It felt like clearly seeing hope, yet the road was still covered in countless thorns—wanting to successfully walk beneath the dawn and bathe in holy light was still very difficult.

Since the question had already been asked, all that was left to do was wait for the Fishman to materialize the nurse.

While waiting, Jin Jian wanted to speak with Lin Jia and learn about his background, but Lin Jia never gave him a glance. This only made Lin Jia seem more mysterious. Jin Jian was both curious about Lin Jia and wary of him.

Lin Jia ignored all gazes from others. He picked up the cat from beside his feet and waited while petting it.

The materialization in the three-star cloud layer happened quickly. They had not waited long before faint footsteps could be heard.

Xiao Yao reminded: “It’s coming.”

Xiao Tian immediately became nervous.

Everyone looked around, searching for the source of the footsteps. The footsteps grew louder and closer, clearly audible to all. Jin Jian’s expression changed and his voice tightened. “Not good.”

As the curly-haired man said, there were definitely more than one nurse in the hospital. The “nurse” in Lin Jia’s question about Fishman was a collective term, so every nurse in the inpatient building materialized.

The footsteps came one after another, many of them.

But they were not chaotic; they moved purposefully in the same direction.

Everyone listened to the footsteps, and finally identified the direction they were heading—

toward them!

Two nurses, three nurses… five nurses, eight nurses…

More than ten nurses came from all directions of the inpatient building—some from the third floor, some from the second, and some from outside the main entrance.

They hurried toward the eight individuals.

They were human.

But no one relaxed because of that; they saw all the nurses holding something in their hands. Upon closer inspection, they were syringes.

The sharp needle tips reflected silver light under the lamp, and liquid overflowed from the tips.

Something flashed through Lin Jia’s mind. He raised his head and saw Yan Xu standing in front of everyone, carrying a momentum like one person blocking ten thousand troops.

He knew the inspection team captain was protecting the people inside Fish Belly. Although Lin Jia was also one of the people caught up in the situation this time and was also within Yan Xu’s protection range, he stared at Yan Xu’s back and still evaluated him as an “idiot.”

Lin Jia knew he was extremely cold, so he could not fathom sacrificing oneself to protect others. However, he never commented on others’ behavior unless it affected his interests.

At this moment, Yan Xu’s behavior affected Lin Jia’s interests.

He threw the cat aside. Just as Yan Xu was about to take out his revolver, Lin Jia reached out and gripped Yan Xu’s wrist tightly.

When Yan Xu lowered his head to look at him, Lin Jia stepped forward and stood in front of Yan Xu.

Before Yan Xu could react, two nurses hurried up and restrained Lin Jia together.

“Why are you running around?” One of the nurses holding Lin Jia complained. “Quick, quick, take him back to the ward.”

At the nurse’s words, the other nurses quickened their pace, two restraining each person.

As if arranged by the Fishman, sixteen nurses materialized—two restraining each person.

Lin Jia allowed two nurses to hold both of his arms. He did not struggle. Perhaps because he was obedient, the nurses did not inject him with the syringe they held.

Even if the NPCs were human, the others found it difficult to resist them, not to mention that the NPCs outnumbered them two to one. Seeing even Lin Jia obediently captured, the others also showed obedience.

Only Yan Xu struggled slightly, put the revolver back into its holster, and then also obediently allowed himself to be restrained.

Beside them were the nurses’ complaints, blaming them for running around. But these complaints did not enter Yan Xu’s ears. He stared at Lin Jia, who was slightly ahead of him. The smile had left his face, and his brows slowly tightened.

If he hadn’t been mistaken, Lin Jia had just been…

protecting him?

Yes, it had to be protection. Otherwise, there was no explanation for why Lin Jia would stand in front of him. But that made things strange. Yan Xu originally thought that Lin Jia wanted his life, which is why he pulled him into Fish Belly. Now, however, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Then what did Lin Jia want?

What exactly was Lin Jia after?

What exactly was Lin Jia’s purpose?

Although Lin Jia did not turn back, Yan Xu could feel his gaze. Ever since entering Fish Belly, Lin Jia had clearly known every time Yan Xu observed and sized him up. He never stopped Yan Xu’s scrutiny, nor did he intend to.

Some prey thought they were hunters. This was normal.

The nurses kept talking nonstop: “How can you leave the ward without permission? Hurry back!”

They had already restrained eight individuals, and naturally, the individuals obeyed their arrangement. The nurses stayed in pairs, escorting the eight individuals toward the wards in the inpatient building.

Jin Jian and the curly-haired man were taken to Ward 201, and Jin Jie and the white-haired elder were taken to Ward 202, both on the second floor.

The remaining people went to the third floor.

Xiao Tian and Xiao Yao were taken to Ward 301. Before Xiao Yao was pushed into the room, he suddenly lunged toward Lin Jia.

“Ahhh—”

Because the patient had behaved obediently before, the nurses had lowered their guard. They did not expect Xiao Yao to suddenly struggle, and they lost their grip on him for a moment.

It took them several seconds to react after seeing Xiao Yao rush toward Lin Jia, but they hurriedly grabbed him again.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Xiao Yao stuffed several compressed biscuits into Lin Jia’s hand.

After all, no one knew what would happen next. Boss Zhou had entrusted Xiao Yao with taking care of Lin Jia. Right now, Sharp Knife depended on Lin Jia to earn Fish Spirit.

“Ah, why suddenly—”

The nurses hurriedly pulled Xiao Yao away. The two nurses holding Lin Jia quietly asked him, “Did you get hurt anywhere?”

Lin Jia shook his head.

He moved his fingers slightly, hiding the compressed biscuits in his sleeve without the nurses noticing.

“That’s good. Hurry back to the ward.” They said as they took him to Ward 302 on the third floor.

After entering the ward, the nurses released Lin Jia. One adjusted the hospital bed and pulled open the blanket, while the other hung the patient information card at the foot of the bed.

“Come sit on the bed,” said the nurse after arranging the bedding.

Since there had been no danger on the beds when searching the inpatient building earlier, Lin Jia sat down. He knew that, except for the VIP ward, all the other wards in this building had two beds.

The other patients had already been assigned rooms, so it was clear who belonged to the bed beside him.

Soon after, Yan Xu was brought in by two nurses.

Lin Jia raised his head to look at Yan Xu, who also looked at him.

Seeing the two look at each other, a nurse said, “You two should get along well.”

“Sure.” Yan Xu looked at Lin Jia. “Hello, roommate.”

Lin Jia: “Hello.”

Seeing the two of them being so friendly, the nurse could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The two nurses who escorted Yan Xu into the ward did the same as the two who escorted Lin Jia—one arranged the bed and the other hung the patient information card at the foot of the bed.

After the bed was made, Yan Xu sat down heavily.

The four nurses in the ward stood in a row at the foot of the beds.

All four nurses looked exactly the same. Not only the four nurses in Ward 302—even all sixteen nurses had the same appearance.

They opened their mouths at the same time: “You two should get along well. Don’t run around everywhere. Follow the doctor’s orders and don’t make us worry.”

Although their words were caring, because of their identical faces and tone, it felt eerie.

Their eyeballs rotated synchronously in their sockets, shifting their gaze first onto Lin Jia and then onto Yan Xu.

“Mm.” Seeing that they were waiting for a reply, Lin Jia answered.

The four nurses no longer looked at Lin Jia, but stared fixedly at Yan Xu, waiting for his response.

Yan Xu was rebellious by nature—if others wanted him to do something, he deliberately refused. He placed a pillow behind his back, crossed his long legs, and waited until he was completely comfortable before opening his mouth. But instead of replying, he asked: “By the way, what illness do I have?”

Lin Jia saw the cat cautiously enter from outside the ward door and quickly hide behind the curtain without the nurses noticing.

Only then did he glance at Yan Xu and evaluate: still the same plain, unadorned, and direct level of probing for information.

He wondered if these four nurses would be as easy to coax as the couple from the Yile Welfare Institute.

The four nurses said in unison, “What kind of illness is childbirth? Don’t run around. Follow the doctor’s orders, and the childbirth will go smoothly.”

Yan Xu was not surprised. After all, Soup Surface’s information was also related to pregnancy, so it was not strange that this inpatient building was an obstetrics department.

It was also within expectations that the people present were expectant fathers waiting for childbirth.

The only thing outside Yan Xu’s expectations was…

Lin Jia asked, “How long until his due date?”

Yan Xu: “…”

Yan Xu ground his back teeth lightly. He knew Lin Jia was also probing for information, but couldn’t this person at least ask about his own due date?

Still, he said nothing.

The four nurses again stared fixedly at Yan Xu, and this time they were staring at Yan Xu’s stomach.

Two seconds later, they spoke together. “There’s still no movement in his belly. When there is, childbirth will be arranged. No need to worry. Same for you.”

Yan Xu laughed softly.

Lin Jia’s face remained expressionless. Using Yan Xu’s blunt style of probing, he asked the nurses for a precise answer: “Is this a maternal and child health hospital?”

The nurses replied indifferently. “Of course. Otherwise, why would you come here?”

Yan Xu casually asked, “Oh, is the patient in the VIP ward next door also a pregnant woman waiting to deliver?”

The plain and direct probing suddenly stopped working here. The four nurses’ faces darkened instantly, and they responded in unison, their tone was serious and solemn: “Do not go to that ward.”

Seeing that Yan Xu still hadn’t responded to their instructions, they added in unison, “Don’t run around. Stay calm and wait for childbirth. Follow the doctor’s orders. Can you do that?”

Yan Xu did not take the nurses’ sudden change in expression to heart. He said, “I was just casually asking, exchanging some experiences as a—”

At this point, Yan Xu paused. After glancing at Lin Jia, he continued. “Exchanging some experiences as a male mom, that’s all. Don’t be so nervous.”

The phrase “male mom” was amusing, and Yan Xu glanced at Lin Jia again.

Lin Jia knew Yan Xu was still probing for information. Since they didn’t know what was inside the ward, knowing the gender was helpful, even if it wasn’t very useful.

Yan Xu’s words did not soothe the nurses. Their tone remained tense, solemn, and serious. “She is different from you. Do not approach that ward or her. Can you do that?”

Yan Xu still did not give the nurses a definitive answer. Using his nearly provocative level of probing, he continued, “Why can’t we approach? Are the patients in the VIP ward nobler than us? So, does your maternal and child hospital play favorites based on status?”

After Yan Xu said this, the four nurses’ faces turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Seeing that Yan Xu was clearly a troublemaker, Lin Jia said with a headache: “Miss Nightingales, what should we usually pay attention to?”

The four nurses withdrew their gaze and looked at Lin Jia instead. Their expressions eased slightly because Lin Jia’s playful yet respectful way of addressing them pleased them.

They said: “Just follow the doctor’s orders.”

Lin Jia: “Thank you.”

The four nurses looked at Yan Xu again, clearly determined to get a response from him or not let the matter go.

Lin Jia softly said: “Captain Yan?”

Yan Xu had no choice: “Alright, alright, alright. I won’t run around. I’ll follow the doctor’s orders, okay?”

Only then were the four nurses satisfied and they withdrew. They also closed the ward door behind them as they left.

Now, only Lin Jia and Yan Xu remained in the room.

Lin Jia got up to check the door and found that the nurses had not locked it.

When he turned back, he saw Yan Xu leaning fully backward with a pillow under his back and both hands supporting his head.

And this person’s gaze had been fixed on him the whole time—ever since Lin Jia stood up, Yan Xu had kept watching him.

Lin Jia parted his lips. “Captain Yan, have you looked enough?”

Yan Xu laughed without emotion. “You seem very used to being followed by gazes.”

Lin Jia neither agreed nor denied it, only saying: “The eyes are on Captain Yan. Can I stop them?”

Yan Xu looked at Lin Jia, then at the cat that had run out from behind the curtain.

Suddenly, he asked, “What does raising a child feel like?”

Lin Jia: “I don’t know. I don’t have children.”

Yan Xu stared at the cat and thought about how many people treat their pets like children. Lin Jia’s answer did not satisfy him, but he showed nothing and only asked: “Can I pet your cat?”

Lin Jia could clearly see Yan Xu’s fondness for the cat. However, the cat did not like Yan Xu. This was certain because the cat had made it clear many times that it disliked Yan Xu.

He said: “Captain Yan, what do you think this doctor’s order means?”

Yan Xu stopped looking at the cat and looked at Lin Jia. “Your topic change is way too stiff.”

Lin Jia: “Since you know I’m changing the topic, Captain Yan, cooperate a little.”

Yan Xu smiled. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the habit of cooperating with others.”

Lin Jia looked at him.

A troublemaker.

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