Plague Doctor

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

“Our... Abyss... Death... the bone... the nerves... fruits... dying together....”

As Gu Jun muttered these words to himself, a sharp piercing shiver ran down his spine. While he had no idea what sentence these words formed, he could still clearly feel the desperation and fear within them.

As a medical student, Gu Jun knew that the death written in this journal was an actual loss of life and not some kind of metaphor. Furthermore, he saw this written in the final paragraphs of the three pages. Very likely, the definitive diagnosis was of the specimen’s “dying together”.

“Dying together, dying together...” Repeating the phrase several times under his breath, an inexplicable horror churned inexplicably within Gu Jun’s mind.

While the handwriting on these 3 journal pieces was steadier and calmer, the gloom and hopelessness that plagued the words were unmistakably denser. On the anatomical reference, there was a distinct frenzy, and a painful struggle to scour for survival chances. However, in this journal, the words were frighteningly still and calm as though the author had accepted the bleak chances of survival, patiently and quietly awaiting the gate of death to pull him in.

“What disease is this journal writing about?”

Looking at the foreign words, Gu Jun asked himself.

Was it related to the Banyan Malformation Disease? Or was it associated with the irregular species?

Tidying his thoughts, Gu Jun analyzed further. Then, he stared at the journal again for clues. Alas, there was nothing else he could find out from it. With a sigh, he closed the journal and the system message board.

“For some reason, I still feel like I failed to notice some crucial details in the vision of the basement...” f𝘳𝚎𝑒𝚠𝑒𝚋𝘯o𝘃eƖ.co𝓂

Gu Jun patted his head, forcing himself to recall the vision. This feeling had stricken him many times, just like that time when he had that illusion of that laboratory.

What is going on with these illusions? Is there any regularity in its appearance?

Once again, Gu Jun sunk deep into thought with this question.

“Firstly, the dream about Gurong Village is probably not the same as the other visions. Hmm, I think the first vision occurred at the bottom of the Longkan Seafloor Volcanic Belt. But that time, it was different. I couldn’t recall any specific image or sounds afterwards. The similar ones, the ones wherein I can vividly remember the scene only happened three times. ”

The laboratory vision, the pool of corpses vision, and the basement dissection table vion. These 3 illusions... are there any similarities?

“Similarities...” Gripping onto this idea, Gu Jun played back the 3 occasions over and over again in his mind. The dilapidated laboratory vision he had within the research laboratory, the pool of corpses he saw within the mortuary, and the dissection table within the dungeon which he saw as he stood beside his own dissection table. Perhaps a similar venue was a criterion, but there may be more.

I was also doing dissection personally, but why didn’t the basement dissection table vision occur while I was dissecting the Banyan Malformation Disease patient?

Suddenly, eureka struck. It was not enough to stand beside the dissection table or handle the dissection personally. A more direct connection was required before Gu Jun could trigger the visions.

In the research laboratory, the connection may be the sentence “fruits of darkness” which leads to the vision. While Gu Jun may have encountered that sentence at the bottom of the Longkan Seafloor Volcanic Belt, being in the research laboratory opened the entire vision.

The connection to the pool of corpse vision was the cadavers suffering from Banyan Malformation Disease. Now he could be sure, the bodies within the pool were all Banyan Malformation Disease patients in the bereavement stage. The chains were to separate the patients and prevent them from fusing together; most likely, they were already dead. However, the scratch reflex was still possible.

The link to the basement illusion was undoubtedly the incomplete anatomical reference. Also, they were dissecting the same creature.

The words, the view of the corpse, and the anatomical reference. They were products of his mind, forming a part of his consciousness and memory.

“That’s it.” The more Gu Jun pondered on this issue, the clearer the criterion was.

First, he had to be in a venue of similar purpose or he had to match the use of the equipment, just like the dissection tables. Second, he had to have a mental connection. Third, a similar event occurred, like an experiment, movement of cadavers, or dissection.

The three appearances of the visions met all three conditions at the same time.

This may not be all the rules required, but it seemed like it could be triggered this way.

“The contents of those three pages of the journal...” Gu Jun rolled his eyes. “It was probably the annotations of the doctor’s efforts to save the patients. Most likely, the shots were fruitless, and he could only watch the patients die together in the end. With this, I now have a direct mental connection. what’s missing is the same location and similar scenario.”

As this thought flashed through his mind, an idea suddenly surged in his heart.

Would witnessing a patient who had just died in the hospital be sufficient?

At this thought, Gu Jun’s heart raced uncontrollably. He had to test this out. This idea could not be suppressed anymore.

Those illusions could give him more information and a better understanding of the situation he was in. Perhaps they held a more critical role that he did not yet know.

If he could be preemptive, there would be definite benefits. He had to try to master triggering these illusions.

“Alright, I need to give this a shot,” muttering aloud to himself, he took a deep breath. The time shown on his phone was close to 7pm. Within the group chat with Professor Gu, there were still no new messages. Most likely, the clinical skills competition was still ongoing, and the others had yet to leave the stadium or retrieve their phones.

Gu Jun went to turn off the rice cooker, poured the whole pot of soup into the drain by the balcony, and then put the boiled mice back into the biohazards bag. He then took his student ID, put on a white coat, and left the dormitory with the naked mice corpses. As for the rice cooker, he casually left it for Cai Zixuan to wash up in his place.

After arriving outside the dormitory building, Gu Jun threw the biohazards bags into the designated yellow bin. Soon, these mice’s corpses would be sent to the incineration plant, leaving no traces behind. ƒ𝘳𝗲𝑒𝒘𝐞𝚋𝚗𝐨v𝘦l.𝒄o𝐦

Of course, the safest way would be for Gu Jun to eat them all. However, there was absolutely no way he would do that.

Next, Gu Jun proceeded to the Eastern University Affiliated Hospital on the west side of the campus on his bicycle. Quickly, he walked into the combined outpatient and inpatient complex.

It was now dinner time. There were not too many people visiting the clinic in the outpatient hall on the first floor. At this time, even the sight of doctors and nurses were also rare. The few present were quietly handling their work.

Roaming the area silently, Gu Jun did not find anything of interest. Then, he proceeds to the still bustling emergency department. Still, he had no findings. Within the hospital, births and deaths were a daily occurrence. Patients dying due to medical complications were an everyday thing. However, the department where deaths occured differed daily. Right now, it was difficult for him to find the exact location.

But there was still a guaranteed place...

The Mortuary.

According to Gu Jun’s understanding, when a patient dies, the body would generally be left in the ward for one to two hours, allowing the family some time to say goodbye. They were then transported to the morgue by the specialized staff. Afterwhich, arrangements were made with the family to send the deceased to the funeral home within a few days.

For those bodies entangled in controversial deaths, they would require an autopsy. These bodies were sent directly to the judicial appraisal centre which was also the forensic science building and never stepped foot into the mortuary.

As such, no matter whether it was a massive mortuary in the main medical complex or an independent morgue, the various hospitals, large and small, did not arrange heavy security measures. They were only guarded by one or two security guards plus a few specialized staff. After all, no one will be bored enough to go and hang around that kind of place.

The Eastern University-affiliated hospital did not have an external mortuary. Their mortuary was located in the basement floor and connected to the car park for ease of the funeral home’s vehicle to collect the deceased patient.

Walking out of the B1 lift lobby, Gu Jun put on his mask and tidied his majestic white medical robe. After which, he sauntered to the mortuary.

“Uh?” the security uncle who was guarding the security desk at the door narrowed his gaze onto the incoming young doctor and watched him walk in. He was utterly puzzled. Except for the family of the deceased, corpse transportation personnel, and funeral home staff, it seemed that no doctor would choose to enter the morgue.

“Looking for trouble.” Uncle security murmured and looked down at the video on his phone.