Circle of Inevitability

It's really Mushu Hospital… Lumian wasn't surprised at all by Xu Xinyang's answer.

He grunted in acknowledgment. "Alright, Team Lead."

He had thought about it. As an important base for evil gods to influence the dream city, and with some degree of cooperation with the Celestial Worthy, Mushu Hospital might be unavoidable for many things to come. It wasn't a matter of cautiously avoiding it or not entering, pretending it didn't exist.

So, rather than that, why not take advantage of the daytime, while their actions hadn't yet reached a critical stage, while he still had another chance to enter, and while he had a reasonable and legitimate excuse, to go take a look and investigate in person. Of course, the underground floors that likely represented the Abyss and Mr. Fool's psychological dark side still couldn't be recklessly entered.

After seeing off Xu Xinyang, Lumian stayed in the surveillance room until almost noon. He and his shift partner Old Xia waited for their colleagues to relieve them, then went downstairs together to the Intis Group staff cafeteria located in the annex building of the Tech Building for lunch.

They didn't get meal allowances, and the cafeteria wasn't free, but it had a wide variety of dishes, and the prices were kept quite cheap through company subsidies. So, whether from headquarters or branch offices, employees in this building all liked eating in the cafeteria. Even Mr. Huang himself would come eat there occasionally to check the quality of the food.

The only problem was that during the lunch rush, the cafeteria was packed. Higher-income employees preferred to order takeout or dine at nearby malls.

As security guards, when they could go to the cafeteria depended on when their colleagues came to relieve them. Everyone tacitly agreed to come a bit earlier to avoid the peak hours.

Lumian got steamed eggs with minced meat, stir-fried yellow chives and meat with pickled peppers, fried chicken leg, cucumber and pork soup, and a big bowl of rice. He found a corner spot with Old Xia and listened to him chat about the antics of the Aurora Company folks while eating.

Old Xia clicked his tongue and said, "Their boss is an exhibitionist, or the M in S&M, often with whip marks on his body…"

Say more, slander some more, I love hearing it… Lumian nodded along while inwardly muttering.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated twice.

He picked it up and saw a message from "A name that leaves a deep impression on you", which was Anderson Hood: "Is that friend you mentioned actually yourself?"

Lumian smiled and replied using voice input: "You could interpret it that way."

He felt that in conversations between Hunters, whoever got anxious first, whoever got angry first, whoever felt guilty first, would lose.

Only by adjusting oneself to a state where nothing mattered could one stand undefeated.

After about 20-30 seconds, Anderson replied: "Painting requires talent, I hope you have it.

"Our tutoring school doesn't have painting classes, but I know a decent studio, that's where I learned. If you're interested, tomorrow night at 7, meet me at the entrance of Jinxiu Dongfang Community on Sifang Street, and I'll take you for a tour."

At night? Lumian pondered for a moment before replying: "Alright, thank you."

He remembered that Colorful Hostel was on Sifang Street, but the interior renovation and decoration hadn't been completed yet.

…

In the Administrative Department, large office.

Luo Shan stretched lazily, walked over to Franca's desk, and asked with a smile, "What are you eating for lunch? I don't want to join the crowd at the cafeteria."

Without waiting for Franca to respond, she lowered her voice and said, "Other departments all find time to have team dinners to welcome new employees, only our Administrative Department doesn't.

"Mainly because those ladies don't want to or think little of us, which is fine, but the worry is that they'll insist on going, wanting to find some free helpers. Tsk, can you imagine how that would develop? Sarcasm and veiled barbs are the norm, with people crying, arguing, or even wanting to get physical not being uncommon. It left a bunch of trouble to deal with afterward, so Old Zhang simply stopped organizing departmental dinners. Those who get along well just gather privately, however they want."

Franca listened with relish and said expectantly, "I wonder when Mr. Huang will next come to the Administrative Department."

The scene then would surely be spectacular; she wanted to witness it.

Demonesses inevitably tended to have a bit of a chaos-loving inclination, which was very justifiable when it came to watching drama.

"Mr. Huang probably won't come in the next few days. He has VIPs to entertain, and even if he comes to the company, he'll go to the 16th floor," Luo Shan disclosed Mr. Huang's whereabouts.

Zaratulstra? Franca was very attentive and serious about this matter.

Besides the items listed in the action outline, they also had to guard against the Celestial Worthy and evil gods doing bad things to Zhou Mingrui in the dream city. They needed to discover and prevent it early.

Moreover, this could also accumulate inspiration to help them formulate an awakening plan—how the Celestial Worthy's subordinates did it, and they could try to do the opposite.

"What a pity," Franca said with a look of regret.

She then asked curiously, "Won't Mr. Huang bring the VIP to tour the company?"

"He has before," Luo Shan suddenly paused, her voice becoming even lower, "That day Zhou Mingrui happened to be on sick leave. Franca, could that long-named VIP be the destroyer you mentioned, sent from the future to the present by evil forces? Was Zhou Mingrui's sick leave arranged by your people?"

A Painter's spiritual intuition is quite strong… Franca smiled and said, "Is that VIP called Zaratulstra?"

Luo Shan nodded solemnly.

"Then it is," Franca confirmed her earlier guess.

Luo Shan was silent for a few seconds, then her eyes lit up and she said,

"Why don't I ask Zhou Mingrui to have dinner with us? That way you'll have a chance to meet and chat with him."

Holy crap… So fast? So direct? Franca felt a bit shocked.

She had thought it would take her and Lumian a week or two to naturally contact Zhou Mingrui through work matters before reaching a point where they could add each other on WeChat or have casual chats.

Who knew that on her first day of work, Luo Shan would invite Zhou Mingrui to have dinner together!

It's too, too fast…

This progress is too advanced; I'm not ready yet…

Seeing that Franca hadn't answered, Luo Shan smiled and said, "Zhou Mingrui owes me several meals. Every time he asks me for information, he says he'll treat me to a meal next time, but so far he's only done it once.

"Hmm, welcoming my bestie to the company is a good reason."

As she spoke, she picked up her phone and started tapping out a message to Zhou Mingrui.

After a while, Luo Shan waved her phone and said, "He agreed, but said it would be dinner tomorrow, because he has to work overtime tonight, and tech people have too little lunch break time to go eat something nice."

He agreed just like that… No stress reaction, no excuses? Franca suddenly recalled an old saying: The best way to get close to someone is to know the people around them.

Helping Luo Shan was indeed the right choice… This is karma rewarding kindness! Franca pondered for a moment, then said to Luo Shan, "Zhou Mingrui seemed a bit concerned about those paintings you had on your desk before. He didn't refuse your invitation, but agreed to it. Maybe he also wants to confirm or probe something…"

Without waiting for Luo Shan to respond, Franca added, "If that's really the case, it's a good thing."

The only question is, does dinner count as nighttime?

This goes against the plan in the action outline, and could lead to confusion and ambiguity in the experimental results…

It shouldn't count if it's not completely dark, right?

…

At 4:30 in the afternoon, after another round of patrolling the floors, Lumian and Old Xia came to the underground parking lot of the Tech Building. They saw Team Lead Xu Xinyang sitting in a dark gray SUV, reaching out from the passenger seat and waving at them.

"Over here."

Lumian and Old Xia walked over and sat in the spacious back seat.

"Just us few?" Old Xia looked out the window.

Xu Xinyang laughed.

"Who goes to visit patients at a hospital in a big group? The nurses wouldn't let us in!

"Just the four of us, Zhao is driving, the others will wait directly at the dinner place."

Zhao was the young man sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit chubby from the side.

At this time, the roads were still fairly clear. Before 5 o'clock, Lumian and the others had arrived outside Mushu Hospital.

Two young men each carrying a box of fruit and a bag of nutritional supplements followed behind Xu Xinyang and Old Xia as they walked in.

The lobby of Mushu Hospital was no different from when Lumian last came, ordinary, with people coming and going. Only occasionally could one notice certain orderlies with indifferent gazes and slightly mechanical movements.

Lumian withdrew his gaze, confirming that his spirituality gave no warning and there were no abnormalities around, then entered the elevator going up and arrived on the 12th floor.

Exiting the elevator area and turning into the ward, after pushing open the door, what met his eyes was a quiet nurses' station and a corridor extending into darkness.

The light at the end of the corridor seemed to be broken, not yet repaired.

Led by a nurse who looked very normal, they entered a double patient room where Old Wang and Old Ding were.

Before Lumian, Zhao, and Old Xia could get a clear look at the patients' condition, two bedside family members rushed in front of Xu Xinyang, speaking one after another:

"Team Lead Xu, this is definitely a work-related injury for our Old Wang!"

"Boohoo, Team Lead Xu, our Old Ding almost died, look at him, look at him, who knows how long it will take to recover."

"…"

Xu Xinyang finally found an opportunity and pressed his right hand down.

"Ladies, this will definitely count as a work injury. Mr. Huang said that not only will there be compensation according to national standards, but the company will also give an additional sum, as well as cover all medical expenses beyond insurance, and continue to pay normal wages until Old Wang and Old Ding fully recover and can return to work. We won't let one of us bleed, sweat, and cry!"

While Xu Xinyang was comforting the family members, Lumian and the others turned their gaze to the hospital beds, seeing the two patients wrapped from head to toe in white bandages, with only their eyes, noses, and mouths exposed.

Old Xia couldn't help but lean close to Lumian and say in a low voice, "I don't mean to be unkind, but they really look funny like this. I thought only TV shows wrapped people up like this. Didn't expect to see it in real life too."

Lumian didn't respond to Old Xia, because he thought of mummies.

Mummies that were said to have close connections with the Wraith pathway controlled by the Mother Tree of Desire.

And this was Mushu Hospital.

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