Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 199

Chapter 199

Gu Huaiwei gently moved Bai Yuzhen’s hand aside and, under her suspicious gaze, walked toward the dark little room next door.

The smell of medicine in the room could hardly mask the stench of rot. No lights were on; only a small stove burned with an orange-yellow flame.

The Library Director sat in a wheelchair. He was as thin as a skeleton, wearing thick padded pajamas and draped in a blanket, with a stack of old newspapers resting on his knees.

Han Zhusheng had already poured the brown herbal medicine into a ceramic bowl. Holding a ceramic spoon, he sat beside the Library Director’s wheelchair, scooped a mouthful, and held it to the Library Director’s lips to feed him.

The Library Director kept his lips tightly sealed.

Han Zhusheng used the spoon to poke at his mouth. Even when his flesh became a bloody mess, the Library Director refused to open up. His yellowed teeth remained clenched like a locked bronze gate.

Gu Huaiwei saw black blood oozing from the corners of the Library Director’s mouth.

“My father won’t drink the medicine I feed him. Can you help me?” Han Zhusheng’s expression was cold and dark. The bowl of medicine in his hand looked more like poison.

“I’ll try.” Gu Huaiwei walked over and took the medicine bowl. Her nose was very sensitive; despite the foul odor in the room, she could still smell the pungent, acrid scent of the medicine.

The Library Director looked at Gu Huaiwei with eyes full of resentment.

Gu Huaiwei scooped a spoonful of medicine, blew on it gently at her lips, and then held it to the Library Director’s mouth, speaking in a gentle, persuasive tone: “Uncle, you have to take your medicine properly to get well quickly.”

The Library Director still wouldn’t open his mouth.

“Uncle, if you don’t take your medicine, your family will worry.”

The Library Director opened his pitch-black mouth, but before Gu Huaiwei could feed him, he suddenly spat a jet of black fluid at her.

It shot toward Gu Huaiwei’s face like a powerful fountain.

Gu Huaiwei dodged to the side.

The black fluid landed on the wooden floor, corroding it instantly.

A few drops splashed onto her clothes, burning holes right through the fabric.

If this fluid had splashed onto an ordinary person, they would have been killed or at least severely maimed.

Han Zhusheng watched coldly from the side the entire time.

It wasn’t until the Library Director finished spitting that he said languidly, “Father, how can you treat a guest like that?”

Although the Library Director’s face was aged, his eyes were exactly like Han Zhusheng’s.

“Ka, ka, ka…” His mouth twitched, and black fluid kept oozing out, quickly staining the blanket on his lap.

Gu Huaiwei inspected the small holes in her clothes. The fluid had burned through to her skin in some places, but there were no scars on her body.

“It’s fine.” Some of the black fluid had splashed into the medicine bowl earlier. Gu Huaiwei pretended not to notice, stirred it with the spoon, and brought it back to the Library Director’s lips.

If he wouldn’t drink, she would pry his mouth open and force it in.

With a faint smile and her body leaned forward, Gu Huaiwei spoke in a soft, warm voice: “Is it too hot? Drink slowly, don’t be in such a rush. Look, it’s about to drip out.”

“You’re an adult; you should be more proactive about taking your medicine.”

“Open up. That’s it, don’t make me force you.”

“Uncle, you look like you’re in a lot of pain. Oh well, just bear with it. I’ll give you a piece of candy after you finish the medicine.”

The more medicine the Library Director drank, the more unstable his condition became.

He seemed to be in immense agony.

It wasn’t until the alarm in the Office rang that Bai Yuzhen walked in, carrying a bowl of steaming hot medicine.

She saw that Gu Huaiwei was covered in the corrosive black fluid yet remained unharmed. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her fingertips tightened silently around the medicine bowl.
What was going on?

The Library Director’s Office was governed by Rules.

There were fixed Rules regarding the timing and preparation of the medicine. Entering this small room outside of those designated times was a death sentence.

To Bai Yuzhen, Gu Huaiwei looked like an ordinary, recent college graduate with nothing special about her. She might have used her wits to get here, but how had she managed to survive outside the constraints of the Rules?

Bai Yuzhen was utterly perplexed.

However, she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She still had to help the Library Director organize his filthy clothes and feed him his medicine.

Gu Huaiwei watched as Bai Yuzhen first filled a plastic basin with a little warm water, then soaked a tattered towel to wipe away the black liquid the Library Director had vomited.

The towel was riddled with holes. As Bai Yuzhen wiped, her fingers inevitably brushed against the black filth. Even in its diluted state, the black liquid corroded the skin on her hands.

She endured the pain without making a sound.

“Use this,” Gu Huaiwei said, taking a clean towel from her Jade Bracelet and tossing it to Bai Yuzhen.

Bai Yuzhen had been entirely focused on the Library Director. By the time she snapped back to reality, a soft, brand-new towel was already in her hands.

She cast a grateful look at Gu Huaiwei.

Then, clutching the new towel, she quickly finished cleaning the Library Director’s mouth and neck.

Once that step was done, Bai Yuzhen took a deep breath, as if mentally bracing herself. Suppressing her nausea, she lifted the blanket covering the Library Director.

Gu Huaiwei took one look and felt her scalp go numb.

The Library Director’s body was covered in dense, tiny holes.

His stomach looked like a showerhead.

Though his limbs were skeletal, his belly was swollen, round and large.

It looked as if he were infected with Mist Lung Disease.

When it came time for the medicine, the Library Director was very cooperative.

He swallowed the liquid mouthful by mouthful.

His stomach seemed to shrink slightly.

However, black water continued to seep out of his navel, which was as large as a funnel.

While Bai Yuzhen cleaned the Library Director’s body, Han Zhusheng stared at her intently. He didn’t blink once, standing there as rigid as a dust-covered statue, trying to find any fault in her work.

Bai Yuzhen remained extremely calm. She performed her tasks with practiced skill, completely ignoring Han Zhusheng’s presence.

She even cracked jokes to the Library Director-who looked nothing like a human being-while feeding him his medicine. This quickly calmed him down.

Once her work was finished, Bai Yuzhen didn’t linger.

She gave Gu Huaiwei a pointed look, then picked up the empty medicine bowl and swiftly left the room.

After drinking the medicine, the Library Director drifted into a heavy sleep.

“Father always trusts outsiders too much, whether it’s Bella or these damn secretaries,” Han Zhusheng said, his gaze cold as he watched the Library Director sleep peacefully. “But in reality, only Mother and I truly have his best interests at heart.”

Gu Huaiwei glanced at the Chinese herbal medicine Han Zhusheng had asked her to feed him earlier.

Judging by the Library Director’s reaction, Han Zhusheng’s medicine would only make his condition more distorted and severe.

Gu Huaiwei wasn’t worried about offending these Anomalies.

“But your medicine isn’t as effective as the Secretary’s.”

Han Zhusheng didn’t deny it. “For a patient destined to die, which do you think is more cruel: letting him live in agony, or letting him die naturally without treatment?”