The next morning.
The six people gathered one after another, ready to head to the village chief's house.
Xu Xi followed behind the others and quietly yawned.
The knocking sounds had started last night during the same time period as the night before.
The old man was just as persistent, cornering him to ask if he had any gold.
Perhaps influenced by it, he dreamed at night that he was running ahead holding a stack of gold, with the old man chasing after him frantically, shouting as he ran: "You have gold! You have gold!"
...Absurd.
Xu Xi was just about to shake his head to throw this preposterous dream to the back of his mind when some commotion suddenly erupted up ahead.
He immediately stepped forward to check the situation.
He saw the Curly-Haired Woman, who had been walking ahead, now curled up on the ground, clutching her chest and breathing with difficulty.
Seeing the other person struggling to breathe, Xu Xi's first thought was—
"Poisoned."
Apart from not coughing up blood, the symptoms were exactly the same as when he ate the poisoned food in the previous run.
The words Xu Xi blurted out couldn't help but make the expressions of the other four turn grave.
Although they didn't know how the hoodie-wearing young man could be so sure that the Curly-Haired Woman's condition was due to poisoning and not some other factor, since he was the first to judge the food was poisoned, he must have some means in this regard.
"Let's take her to Village Chief Zhu first."
The Long Dress Girl was just about to go help the Curly-Haired Woman when the Tall, Skinny Guy had already picked her up first.
"Let's go."
The group hurried towards the direction of the village chief's house.
Village Chief Zhu's family had been greatly frightened by yesterday's poisoned food. This morning, they specifically went to borrow well water from another villager's house and caught a chicken to test for poison. Only after seeing there was no problem did they dare to eat.
Seeing the experts who had exposed the poisoned food last night arrive, just as they were about to reassure the experts to enjoy breakfast, they saw the Curly-Haired Woman being carried in the arms of the Tall, Skinny Guy, looking on the verge of death.
"What... what happened?" Wu Cuifen asked in surprise.
The Long Dress Girl explained at an extremely fast pace: "Poisoned. Does your village have a health station or any kind of medical facility?"
Village Chief Zhu hurriedly nodded: "Yes, yes. I'll take you to Xiao Gao right now."
Along the way, thanks to Village Chief Zhu's introduction, the players learned who Xiao Gao was.
Ninghe Village was relatively small, and most of the able-bodied young adults in the village had gone out to work, so the medical conditions weren't that developed either.
There was only one young man named Gao Zhuang who had studied at a clinic in the town for a few years before returning to the village to become a barefoot doctor. Usually, the villagers went to him when they were sick.
After walking for about ten minutes, a small clinic appeared before everyone's eyes.
Village Chief Zhu shouted loudly: "Xiao Gao, come out quickly, someone's been poisoned!"
A moment later, a thin young man walked out of the clinic. He quickly pulled open the main door: "Bring the person in first!"
The Tall, Skinny Guy went in first, carrying the Curly-Haired Woman.
Xu Xi walked last and couldn't help but glance at the young man named Gao Zhuang, who was neither tall nor strong in reality.
The clinic wasn't very big, and standing with eight people inside made it quite crowded.
Gao Zhuang checked the Curly-Haired Woman's condition, then hesitated and looked at Village Chief Zhu: "Chief, this... this is Auntie Mei Chan's curse."
"Where is it..."
Village Chief Zhu was just about to say where is it a curse, when he was interrupted by the Suited Man.
He asked Gao Zhuang: "Is there really no way to save her? Take another look."
Gao Zhuang shook his head: "This is the same symptom as those people before. I can't see what the problem is. Rather than coming to me, you should go find the Spirit Medium. She can communicate with the Mountain God; maybe she has a way."
Village Chief Zhu wanted to explain to him that the curse was actually just poisoning, but after being interrupted by the expert beside him, he slowly figured out that the experts obviously didn't want him to tell the truth.
Why was that?
"You're a doctor. How can you believe in nonsense like curses?" the Long Dress Girl said coldly. "We'll go directly to the town. There will always be a doctor who can identify the symptoms."
Xu Xi looked at the Curly-Haired Woman who had already started coughing, thinking she probably wouldn't hold on much longer, but she had lasted much longer than he did in his previous run.
The other players also knew the Curly-Haired Woman was actually doomed. Right now, they were mostly testing this young doctor named Gao Zhuang.
Gao Zhuang, having been scolded, flushed red, looking both ashamed and troubled: "But I really can't save her."
The next second, the Curly-Haired Woman suddenly grabbed Gao Zhuang's arm with such force that it wrinkled his white coat.
She moved her lips as if trying to say 'save me,' but before any sound came out, the light in her eyes went out.
After holding on for over ten minutes, the Curly-Haired Woman still lost her breath.
A player had died inexplicably, and so abruptly at that. A heavy atmosphere spread among the group.
Village Chief Zhu seemed very uneasy.
These experts were all invited by him, yet one of them had died in the village.
If it had really been a death from a curse or something, it would be one thing, but to die from poisoning...
He was probably in for trouble.
Gao Zhuang sighed: "I'm sorry I couldn't save her. With my level of medical skill, I really can't see what the problem is. I'm sorry."
He looked at Village Chief Zhu.
"Chief, this person's symptoms are exactly the same as those cursed villagers. I suggest you still go find the Spirit Medium."
Hearing this, Village Chief Zhu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He already knew this wasn't any curse; what use would finding the Spirit Medium be?
"A curse? Do things like curses really exist?" the Suited Man murmured softly.
"Then let's go find this so-called Spirit Medium and see," the Long Dress Girl said in a cold tone.
The two of them, playing off each other, turned and left. The Tall, Skinny Guy hoisted the Curly-Haired Woman's corpse, and he and the Baseball Cap Young Man walked out of the clinic one after the other.
Before leaving, Xu Xi glanced out of the corner of his eye at the fully stocked medicine cabinet.
After the group left the clinic, the Suited Man, seeing Village Chief Zhu rubbing his hands together uneasily, said directly: "We'll still have to trouble you, Village Chief, to help bury our companion. Don't worry. Death is commonplace in our line of work. Our team also has a rule: if someone dies during a mission, they are to be buried locally."
After hearing this, Village Chief Zhu relaxed a little and nodded repeatedly: "I'll go ask someone to help right away."
After Village Chief Zhu left, the Tall, Skinny Guy gently placed the Curly-Haired Woman's corpse on the ground.
The remaining players weren't experiencing a teammate's death for the first time. Apart from feeling a bit somber at first, their expressions had now returned to normal.
"This Gao Zhuang has a problem," the Suited Man stated with certainty.
The Long Dress Girl's expression was calm: "His words kept guiding us to go find the Spirit Medium."