“We call this kind of condition contamination.”
Nan Junyi’s expression never changed. He pointed at the markings on Jiang Ning’s arms. “Other people have done what you did, either because they didn’t know, refused to believe it, or wanted to try reaching somewhere safer. They eventually discovered that once they moved a certain distance away from the mission location, black fissures immediately appeared on their bodies. Only returning to the original area eased them.”
“Contamination?” Jiang Ning murmured. She raised her hands, the black fissures reflected in her tear-blurred eyes. “Then… what happens to it? Will it heal?”
Lin Xue instinctively answered before Nan Junyi could. “Nothing will happen. Once we return to the cruise ship, it’ll be fine.”
“Return to the cruise ship?” Fang Luyao looked confused and cautiously asked, “What do you mean by returning to the cruise ship?”
Lin Xue fell silent for a moment, unsure how to put it. Nan Junyi answered casually, “It means we can’t go back. From the moment we receive an invitation, we’ve already become passengers aboard a gigantic cruise ship. Only after finding the mission item here will the cruise ship come and take us away from this place.”
“Invitation?”
“What invitation? And what mission item?”
“We don’t have any invitation.”
Everyone looked at one another in bewilderment. Nan Junyi shifted his gaze to Floral Shirt. The young man grew visibly uncomfortable under his stare and hurriedly turned his head away. “Why are you looking at me?”
“I’m waiting for you.”
“Waiting for what?”
“I’m waiting for you to decide.” Nan Junyi spoke without haste. “Whether you want to explain where your invitation is, or explain why you knew the name Prism Sanatorium.”
Floral Shirt opened his mouth and seemed about to gather his courage, but the moment his eyes met Nan Junyi’s, he deflated like a punctured balloon. He pulled an invitation from his pocket and held it out, saying quietly, “I found it in my pocket while we were starting the fire. It was right beside my lighter, but I don’t remember ever taking something this fancy. This place was already too creepy, so I didn’t dare say anything. I wasn’t hiding it on purpose.”
Nan Junyi glanced at it but did not take it.
Seeing that Floral Shirt was about to become the target of everyone’s anger, Lin Xue quickly added, “The rest of you should check your own pockets. You should be able to find identical invitations.”
Before anyone could accuse Floral Shirt of hiding information, they immediately began frantically searching every pocket on their bodies. Soon enough, each of them found an identical invitation in a different place.
Fang Luyao asked uncertainly, “Sister Lin, what are these for?”
“The cards provide mission information and can guide you when there isn’t a veteran around,” Lin Xue explained. “They also confirm that you really are newcomers chosen by the cruise ship, rather than some unclean thing that slipped into the group.”
The implication hidden in those words sent a chill through everyone. Qiu Chen had already turned his invitation over several times and found only two lines written on it.
Prism Sanatorium
Find the “Anchor Point”
“Uh, what’s this Anchor Point?” Qiu Chen pointed at the card. “Is it that mission item Brother Nan… Mr. Nan was talking about?”
Lin Xue nodded. “Yes. We don’t know what it is specifically. It’s different every time. Our mission is to find the Anchor Point inside the designated building.”
Qiu Chen suddenly understood, then could not resist muttering, “I’ve read novels like this before. Aren’t there usually role-playing setups? Like some key NPC who tells us what to do? There isn’t even any guidance here. Bad review!”
Whether the word guidance triggered something in Jiang Ning or not, she suddenly erupted. She lunged at Lin Xue and seized both her hands. “If that’s how it is! If you knew all this! Why… why didn’t you come sooner? Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
She screamed hysterically, her face covered in tears. “If you’d just come a little earlier, just a little bit earlier, then no one would’ve died!”
Fang Luyao and the others were startled. It took them several seconds before they remembered to pull Jiang Ning away. By the time they separated her from Lin Xue, obvious bruises had already been pinched into Lin Xue’s arms.
Jiang Ning seemed to have screamed herself completely hoarse. Once dragged away, she stayed where she was without moving, tears continuing to stream down her face.
Nan Junyi pulled the slightly dazed Lin Xue to her feet and said calmly, “We’re going outside for a moment. Don’t worry. We won’t go far.”
Fang Luyao opened her mouth and said awkwardly, “Sorry. She’s just… under too much mental strain.” She pressed her lips together, aware of how feeble the explanation sounded.
Nan Junyi said nothing and simply led Lin Xue out.
If Prism Sanatorium had one thing in abundance, it was rooms. Nan Junyi opened one at random. Judging by the furnishings, it had probably once been an office. The cabinets and desk remained, but all documents had been removed, and the numbers on the wall calendar had completely run together until the date was impossible to read.
He closed the door without much concern.
Lin Xue stood in the middle of the room with her face lowered and said nothing.
“You were originally planning to team up with Jiang Ning yourself. I’m not wrong, am I?” Nan Junyi sounded as though he were stating a fact rather than an unconfirmed guess. “People suffering from contamination are more likely to attract ghosts and supernatural creatures. You didn’t want Jiang Ning ostracized or isolated, so you hid that fact. But now that conflict has already happened, the two of you probably won’t be assigned together, and she won’t want to stay with you either.”
He paused. “Now this fairness will very quickly become unfairness to everyone else.”
“I understand.” Lin Xue closed her eyes and gripped her right arm, as if still trapped in the accusation from moments before. “Nan Junyi, tell me… if the cruise ship arranged for us to be with newcomers, why didn’t it let us arrive sooner? Why make meaningless sacrifices…”
Nan Junyi countered, “Are veterans obligated to help newcomers? If the veteran assigned to them had been a bad person, would you also ask why the cruise ship didn’t make that person arrive later, so the newcomers could find some clues first and avoid making meaningless sacrifices after being deceived?”
Lin Xue stared at him for a long time before giving a bitter smile. “But it isn’t fair to Jiang Ning. She’ll fall apart faster. She went to scout the road for everyone… and in the end she’s the only one bearing the consequences.”
“Unfortunately, that’s fate.” Nan Junyi’s voice held no ripple of emotion. “Compared with the unlucky man who died on the spot, at least she still has a chance to struggle. How was that fair to him?”
“I really want to argue with you, but I can’t find the words.” Lin Xue asked, “Do you have a cigarette?”
Nan Junyi looked at her for a moment, then took a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket and handed them over.
“I didn’t expect you to actually bring some.” Lin Xue smiled.
Bringing too many belongings off the cruise ship could itself cause a degree of contamination, so they had not brought many unnecessary things with them.
Lin Xue walked to the broken window and lit one. She smoked hard, burning through half the cigarette in no time. The smoke mingled with the rain, and before long a damp tobacco stink spread through the entire room.
“Let’s go.” Lin Xue stubbed out the cigarette and tiredly rubbed between her brows. “I’ll tell them myself. Hopefully she won’t think I’m taking revenge.”