The Red-robed BOSS Says I Killed Him - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The safe point was an abandoned dispensary on the third floor.

The doors and windows were boarded up, and the walls were plastered with notes of rules written by the players themselves.

Some of the handwriting was completely distorted, likely due to the writers’ hands shaking as they wrote.

“Do not look in the mirror after 11:00 PM.”

“Do not speak until the Ward Round Song stops.”

“If you see a child in a white dress, pretend to be asleep.”

I stood at the door and watched for a while, suddenly feeling a wave of distress.

It wasn’t fear.

It was distress.

Like many years ago, when I had seen so many people desperately writing down their own paths to survival.

Like how I used to stand in a brighter place.

I had watched a group of imprisoned people, trembling as they left behind rules, escape routes, and their final breaths.

“Drink some water.”

Jiang Yichuan handed me a bottle of mineral water.

I took it and whispered a thank you.

Lin Xizhe sat in the corner wiping his glasses, looking on as if watching a show.

“Since she’s connected to the boss, we can’t just protect her like a normal newbie.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ji Qingyan’s tone immediately turned cold.

Lin Xizhe put his glasses back on, his tone still unhurried.

“It means she wasn’t left behind just because of good luck.”

“This instance has run for so many rounds, yet 0719 never spares anyone. Why does he recognize her?”

“Either she had a relationship with him before…”

“Or, she was originally a part of this place that was cast out and has now been found.”

As he spoke, his finger unconsciously tapped the mineral water bottle three times.

It was very light.

Yet it perfectly mimicked the rhythm used for recording data in the Experimental Layer.

My temple suddenly throbbed.

In my memory, there was also such a hand, separated by glass, tapping on a desk while looking at data.

“Literally speaking,” Lin Xizhe smiled, “she is the key.”

“Keys can die too,” Jiang Yichuan said coldly.

“But without the key, we all die together.”

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

I didn’t say anything.

Because although his words were harsh, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

At that moment, Jiang Yichuan took an old pamphlet out of his bag and placed it in front of me.

“Just found this in the archives.”

“Take a look.”

I flipped to the first page; the beginning seemed normal.

When I reached the end, there was only a single identification number.

0719.

Condition: High-risk cognitive contamination.

Responsible Observer: Luo Tinglan.

The edges of the paper were frayed, having been rubbed repeatedly by someone’s fingers.

As soon as my fingertips pressed against it, my mind went numb again.

This time, it wasn’t just the hospital ward.

I saw myself standing in front of a medical records cabinet. While flipping through the records, I secretly tucked several deleted observation forms into my clothes.

At the top of the forms was a line of text:

“Emotional Core 0719, seventh separation test failed.”

Someone called out to me from outside the door: “Engineer Luo, the Director is looking for you.”

My hand shook, and the entire stack of medical records almost fell to the floor.

And my first reaction wasn’t the fear of being discovered.

It was to hide the top record concerning Li Shuheng first.

My hands began to tremble.

Ji Qingyan immediately leaned over.

“Do you recognize this handwriting?”

“No.”

I said it, but my heart was already in a state of chaos.

Because I did recognize it.

More than just recognizing it.

I even knew that there should be a supplementary page after this record, which read: “Suspend injections; allow contact with low-stimulation grape-based sugar supplements.”

But that page was missing.

A sharp pain suddenly pierced my brain.

The images were severely fragmented.

White walls.

Restraint straps.

A young man tilted his head and bit my finger, saying with a cold face, “Who told you to feed me this?”

“I wanted to feed you myself, is that not allowed?”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll bite you to death?”

“Your teeth haven’t even fully grown in yet.”

In the next second, he bit down even harder.

But in the vision, I was smiling.

It wasn’t the tight, panicked smile I had now.

It was a familiar, very relaxed smile.

I suddenly pressed my hand against my forehead.

“Tinglan!”

“Are you okay?”

Jiang Yichuan supported me.

I took two breaths and was about to say I was fine when a bell suddenly rang from downstairs.

Three short rings, two long.

The expressions of everyone in the room changed instantly.

“The ward rounds are early,” Ji Qingyan cursed under her breath.

The lights were immediately extinguished.

Everyone held their breath.

The sound of a rolling gurney echoed outside, accompanied by a woman softly humming a song.

“Bed seventeen, bed eighteen.”

“Bed nineteen, who will pay the price?”

The voice stopped outside the door.

The doorknob turned slowly.

My heart leaped into my throat.

Just then, the black card in my pocket suddenly turned scalding hot.

The singing outside paused for a moment.

A moment later, the sound of the gurney slowly faded into the distance.

Only then did the people in the room dare to breathe.

Ji Qingyan looked at me, her voice tight.

“It’s protecting you.”

I looked down and clutched my pocket, but my heart didn’t feel light at all.

It wasn’t the card protecting me.

It was Li Shuheng protecting me.