Mu Ke's memory wasn't as exaggerated as people imagined. He couldn't skim an entire bookcase and remember every word flawlessly in fifteen minutes. Even if he truly had a photographic memory, he couldn't flip through the pages that quickly. Mu Ke simply couldn't memorize things at that speed.
He would have to read through a large number of books to search for notes and clues hidden within them. His memory might be outstanding among ordinary people, but as he had told Bai Liu, he needed at least one full night. How could Mu Ke possibly stay in the ICU safely for an entire night?
Thinking of Bai Liu and his plan, Mu Ke looked at Miao Feichi with a hint of sincere pleading in his eyes. "I can't break into the ICU alone, but I can memorize its contents. You, on the other hand, can force your way in. Wouldn't it make sense to take me with you? You provide the strength, and I provide the memory. There's no better combination than that."
Miao Feichi studied Mu Ke for a moment before suddenly laughing. "So you came to seek refuge with us for this?"
Mu Ke lowered his head without answering. He fiddled with his fingers, silently acquiescing.
"You claim you can use shorthand, but why should we believe you?" Miao Feichi shot Miao Gaojiang a look, his tone tinged with faint displeasure. "An ordinary player even dares to use us… Forget it. Dad, go test his shorthand ability. If he can really remember things, we'll take him with us when we head to the ICU at nine tonight."
Miao Gaojiang glanced at Mu Ke and waved him over. "Come with me."
Mu Ke took a deep breath and followed.
At 8:30 p.m., on the first floor of the hospital—
Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang's confinement had only lasted until six in the evening. Once the clock struck six, the nurse allowed the two men to move freely.
Mu Ke passed Miao Gaojiang's memory test. He could recall the page numbers and even the footnotes of every page he had read. This shocked Miao Gaojiang to a certain extent. He had never encountered a purely natural genius like Mu Ke before. After all, Miao Feichi had been a poor student as a child and hadn't even passed the high school entrance examination. Miao Gaojiang had had to pay to get him admitted. He had never realized that children like Mu Ke existed in this world.
Earlier, at 7:30 p.m., the three of them had gone downstairs for dinner and discussed how to attack the ICU. The discussion itself was remarkably brief.
Miao Feichi declared, "I'll take A."
Miao Gaojiang frowned slightly. "You're going to that position?"
"The usual plan. How many sections will you open?"
"The same as you. That covers Bai Liu and the ICU monster. If we're quick, it'll be over in three minutes."
The tacit understanding they had developed after countless games meant they didn't need to spell out the details of their offensive strategy. No one knew how many monsters they had killed in level-two instances. A few short exchanges were enough to establish their positions.
Listening from the side, Mu Ke couldn't understand a single thing they were talking about. He gritted his teeth in frustration, cursing inwardly and wishing they would use words he could actually comprehend.
Mu Ke recalled how Bai Liu, despite being gravely injured, had still managed to remain rational enough to give him instructions through the keyboard caps. The memory made him both angry and envious of the seamless understanding between the Miao father and son. If only he and Bai Liu shared that kind of father–son-like tacit understanding… The thought left Mu Ke faintly melancholic.
It was 8:55 p.m.
One by one, the nurses on the first floor left the wards and corridors and returned to the nurses' office to begin their fifteen-minute shift debriefing. Without exchanging a word, Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang merely traded a glance. They drew their weapons and silently made their way toward the ICU.
A nurse was still inside, checking the patient's ventilator. After taking Bai Liu's temperature—and that of the other patient—one final time, she was urged by her colleagues to hurry. She stepped out of the ICU and shut the door behind her.
It was 8:57 p.m.
The nurse entered the nurse's office, turned, and closed the door. The instant it clicked shut, Miao Feichi flicked out his twin blades, his voice low and heavy. "I'll unlock the door. Follow me in."
Miao Feichi's weapons were long, sharply curved blades that bent almost into the shape of quarter moons. They had an elegant name—the Crescent Moon Curved Knives.
However, when Bai Liu had lived in the orphanage as a child, he and Lu Yizhan had occasionally been sent to do farm work—sometimes as a "learning experience," sometimes because it genuinely needed to be done, such as cutting ragweed. As a result, Bai Liu could never associate these blades with elegance.
To him, there was only one name for them: ragweed-cutting knives—ragweed knives for short.
When Bai Liu had discussed the plan with Mu Ke, he had referred to Miao Feichi's weapon in exactly that way. His tone had been so natural and matter-of-fact that Mu Ke had assumed that was the blade's actual name.
So now, watching Miao Feichi carefully slide the tip of the curved knife into the lock and pick it without alerting the nurse, Mu Ke couldn't help asking in confusion, "Why are you using a ragweed knife to pick the lock? Can't you just buy a lock-picking tool from the system?"
The moment the words "ragweed knife" left his mouth, both Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang's expressions twisted.
Miao Feichi had always taken pride in the formidable attack power of his twin blades. Hearing them reduced to "ragweed knives," his face flushed with rage. He stammered furiously, "Who told you this is a fucking pig knife?!"
He meant "ragweed," but in his agitation, he garbled the pronunciation. The first character of "ragweed," when separated, could also mean "pig," and what came out sounded like "pig knife" instead.
Mu Ke's eyes widened in shock. "This knife can… can fuck pigs?!"
What exactly did he usually do to pigs?!
Mu Ke was a genuine young master who knew absolutely nothing about farming. If someone told him a certain tool had a specific agricultural function, he would believe it without question. For a horrifying second, he genuinely suspected that Miao Feichi might use the blade for something that obscene. After all, this man even ate human flesh—what depravity would be beyond him?
Seeing Miao Feichi on the verge of exploding, Miao Gaojiang quickly grabbed his son to restrain him. In truth, Miao Gaojiang had also done farm work before. Now that Mu Ke had mentioned it, he had to admit that the blade did resemble a ragweed-cutting knife. But he would never dare say that aloud.
Miao Feichi was already furious enough to combust on the spot. His son would only ever accept one name for his weapons: the Crescent Moon Double Knives.
Miao Gaojiang slapped the back of the seething Miao Feichi and sternly reprimanded Mu Ke. Unfortunately, with the image of a ragweed knife lingering in his mind, his tongue slipped. "This isn't a ragweed knife—it's a double pig knife!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Miao Gaojiang froze. "..."
"Are you… doing it from both sides?" Mu Ke's eyes trembled slightly as the scene formed in his mind.
Miao Feichi was so furious that his hand shook while working the blade into the lock. He lowered his voice, anger barely contained. "This isn't a ragweed knife! This is my Cres—" he stumbled over his words, then snapped, "—my Crescent Moon Knife! These blades have extremely serious damage. They're weapons derived from my personal skill, rated A+. When fully unleashed, they can reach S-grade. I can kill you in seconds. It's much faster to use them to pick a lock than any system-bought lock-picking tool. Idiot."
As he spoke, he shot Mu Ke a vicious glare and ground his teeth. "Ragweed knife? How dare you call it that? In this entire game, there aren't many people who can withstand the damage and judgment value of these blades. Among you newcomers, only Mu Sicheng might be able to block a strike from me."
With a sneer, Miao Feichi pushed open the ICU door. Then he turned back and rudely flipped Mu Ke off. "Your brain had better be as useful as you claim, or I'll kill you later."
Mu Ke wisely kept silent and refrained from provoking him further.
The ICU door creaked open into the hospital's misty night.
The humidifiers inside were running at full capacity, far more numerous than those in the ordinary wards. White vapor drifted thickly through the air, turning the entire room into a fog where visibility didn't exceed a meter. The two beds were barely discernible through the haze. The patients lying on them were covered in white sheets, their breathing faint and shallow. Pale, thin limbs extended from beneath the cloth, dangling limply over the edges of the beds.
Two men with identical faces lay motionless. Dark eye bags sagged down to their cheekbones, and small mushroom-like spots dotted their skin, making them resemble corpses laid out in a morgue.
The ICU's soundproofing was excellent. Miao Feichi shut the door firmly behind them to ensure no noise escaped. Then he nudged Mu Ke with his foot. "Get over there and start reading."
Mu Ke lowered his head in acknowledgment. Clenching his teeth, he hurried to the bookcase. Under the dim lighting, he began flipping through the books at high speed, his heart trembling slightly.
The plan was about to begin.
As he turned the pages, Mu Ke's gaze flickered briefly toward the hands protruding from beneath the sheets. Something seemed wedged between the fingers of one of the patients. It was the "Enter" keycap. He quickly looked away, already certain that the patient on the outer bed was Bai Liu.
But he clearly remembered that when Bai Liu had been wheeled in, he had been placed on the inner bed. Had he done something while alone in the ICU?
Miao Gaojiang studied the two patients and frowned. "The monster hasn't been triggered by us yet. We don't need to fight it."
"We don't need to fight the monster," Miao Feichi replied coolly, narrowing his eyes as they moved between the beds, "but Bai Liu still has to die."
He frowned. "Which one of them is Bai Liu? They look identical. When he was brought in, there were differences. He was shorter than the other patient."
"And there were no spots on his skin before," Miao Gaojiang added after observing carefully.
This experienced player quickly reached a conclusion. "He's probably been alienated. He's been in the ICU with that critically ill monster for a whole day. After losing so much blood, his health value must have been extremely low. His mental resistance likely weakened, and he was assimilated by this patient."
Miao Gaojiang glanced at the skeletal figures on the beds. "In this condition, do you still want to eat Bai Liu's flesh?"
Miao Feichi grimaced in disgust. "Forget it. I'll eat the younger Bai Liu instead. This is revolting." His expression darkened. "He reminds me of the woman who gave birth to me. She was terminally ill, too. Disgusting."
Miao Gaojiang fell silent for a moment before asking, "Then which one should I kill?"
"Kill them both." Miao Feichi's eyes sank as he gripped the Crescent Moon Double Knives. He tested their weight in his hands and smiled coldly. "It's no trouble to kill one extra. I'd rather kill the wrong one than let him slip away."
[System prompt: Player Miao Feichi has used his personal skill weapon, Crescent Moon Double Knives.]
[Rating: A+ skill weapon with potential to reach S-grade. Base attack power: 3,100. One strike can instantly kill players rated below B.]