Chapter 29: The Source of Infection

Those near the window simultaneously cast their gaze toward the man with a peculiar, sallow complexion.

His skin was not naturally yellow, but rather a sickly, jaundiced hue—a textbook symptom of jaundice. When the metabolism of bilirubin in the human body is impaired, symptoms appear on the exterior, specifically manifesting as the yellowing of the sclera, mucous membranes, skin, and other tissues. In Xia Shou’s memory, this seemed to be caused by certain liver diseases.

"Is it an anomaly?" Xia Shou turned around to look at the strange patient.

He was not the only one who had noticed. The patients and their families near the window had all immediately become aware of this eerie, yellow-skinned man.

The yellow-skinned patient slowly extended a hand toward the nearest sturdy man, his five sallow fingers clamping firmly onto the man’s wrist. Within mere seconds, the man’s healthy, ruddy skin rapidly turned yellow, and a look of nausea and distress contorted his face.

"Motherfucker!" the sturdy man roared. He wrenched his arm free and delivered a punch that sent the yellow-skinned patient sprawling to the ground. In a fit of shock and rage, he followed up with a powerful kick that landed squarely on the man’s face. A crisp sound of breaking bone echoed through the corridor; the patient’s nose was crushed and flattened, and a torrent of blood erupted from his nostrils.

This sudden violent incident sparked a chorus of screams in the corridor. The noisy crowd by the service desk ceased their commotion, instead drifting toward the end of the hallway, eager to catch a glimpse of the spectacle.

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Xia Shou peered through the eyes of the person at the very front using Alice’s Sight. He watched the scene expressionlessly, making no move to intervene, but silently analyzed the characteristics of this anomaly in his mind.

"Does it transmit the same disease through physical contact? But the anomaly’s own defense seems poor; even an ordinary person’s fists and feet can knock him down," Xia Shou muttered to himself.

"I’ll go finish him off," Su Weiyu said, drawing her blade as she stepped forward.

Xia Shou grabbed her arm to stop her. "Wait a moment. Something about that man seems wrong."

Su Weiyu frowned and turned her gaze back to the man who had initiated the violence. He had his mouth wide open, clutching his stomach as he collapsed in agony. Then, his cheeks puffed out, and he vomited a mass of foul-smelling matter.

"Call a doctor! Someone, call a doctor!" the man cried out in terror, looking up at the onlookers.

Yellow tears streamed from his eyes. He stared in dread at the strange patient slowly pulling himself up from the floor. Having lost all courage to fight back, his features twisted by extreme fear, he shrieked and scrambled away toward the crowd on his hands and knees.

Others scattered like people fleeing a plague. In his frantic flight, the man stumbled and fell before an elderly person in a wheelchair, his palm making contact with the elder’s body.

The next second, the yellow hue on the man’s skin began to fade, while the elder’s skin turned yellow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I... I’m okay?" The man looked at his recovering skin in surprise, a glimmer of relief appearing on his face.

But when he looked up and saw the elder, now completely yellow, he let out a shriek of terror, recoiling until he tumbled backward.

"It’s not my fault! You all saw it, it has nothing to do with me! I only turned like that because that guy touched me!" the man pleaded desperately, but everyone backed away from him in even greater fear.

"That person... he’s coming again!" a woman in the crowd pointed behind him.

Unnoticed, the yellow-skinned patient who had been knocked down was back on his feet, walking toward them with a slow, steady gait. Blood still gushed from his nose, yet his vacant face showed no trace of pain.

Seeing this, Xia Shou jumped onto the service desk and shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, get back into your rooms and lock the doors! That thing is not human; you’ll die if he touches you!"

The air in the corridor went silent for a heartbeat, then the crowd erupted in screams. Like a frightened flock of sheep, they scattered and fled in a panic. They scrambled into the nearest rooms like headless flies, clicking the doors shut and locking them from the inside.

In the blink of an eye, only Xia Shou and Su Weiyu remained in the corridor. Even the nurses at the service desk had ducked into the wards.

The yellow-skinned patient continued his slow, methodical march. His pace was so sluggish that even a child could easily outrun him. If this anomaly’s method of killing was through physical contact, then as long as one knew how it worked, no one should be killed by him.

Xia Shou attempted to use Alice’s ability to strip away the creature's vision, but found that his power had no effect on the entity.

Just then, a door opened behind Xia Shou, and Wang Long ran out from the room where Liu Guangyao was staying.

He wiped sweat from his brow as he approached Xia Shou. "I just heard the nurses—this is the anomaly, right?"

"Yes, but it’s safe for now, as long as you don't let it touch you."

"Do you think if we killed it instantly, it would resolve the situation?"

Xia Shou pondered for a moment and shook his head. "The man who punched him turned like that just from a single blow. If we kill him, something even more terrifying might happen. The worst-case scenario is becoming a contagion source just like him—and one that still possesses normal intelligence."

After a pause of several seconds, Xia Shou continued his analysis: "He walks very slowly, and his hand-to-hand combat ability is almost zero. If we have the security guards bring riot forks to subdue him, we might be able to restrain him without harming him."

"Or, could we lure him into a room and lock him in?" Su Weiyu proposed an alternative.

Xia Shou was noncommittal, turning instead to ask Wang Long, "Dr. Wang, have you reached the other wardens?"

"I have. They’re busy settling the civilians. Didn't the lights go out in our room earlier? During that time, there was a power outage outside. Several operating rooms suffered accidents, and quite a few people have already died."

"The hospital doesn't have a backup generator?!" Xia Shou was shocked.

"It does, but due to the domain, there was a delay in startup. In any case, the external power supply is cut off, and we’re running on emergency backup, which will only last 24 hours. After 24 hours... most of the critically ill patients, and those in the ICU..."

Wang Long sighed and shook his head, unable to continue.

*Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!*

The service desk phone suddenly rang. Wang Long reacted instinctively, rushing to the desk and picking up the receiver. "Hello? What’s the situation on your end?"

"What?! It appeared over there too?!"

"...Yes, we have one here as well! Whatever you do, don't attack the person, or you’ll be infected!"

"What?! You already killed him? Dammit, they walk so slowly, why didn't you just lock them up!"

"...What? How could this happen? ...Damn it, I understand."

Wang Long hung up the phone and turned to face Xia Shou, his face as pale as paper.