Plague Doctor

Due to the heavy internet monitoring within the country, the video 'Man' was not that widespread and not many people knew about it. However, the situation was completely different outside the country. It soon gathered a cult following and that seemed to urge the creator to upload a second video. The video was uploaded by the user, WeWatched_2021. While the video, Man, was taken off Youtube, the account was not. Clearly FBM planned to fish the user out. WeWatched_2021 did not seem to fear the supervision either. They used the same account to upload a new video entitled, the Performer.

The video still took place at the same stage but instead of children, there was a mermaid-like monster covered in scale watching silently before the camera. It looked too real to be a CGI. Even though the 'Performer' did not include anything gory, the video evoked a sense of discomfiture in its watcher… Once Phecda saw the video, they recognized the actor in the video as the Deep One. The information was shared with FBM. This meant that the dermatology illness might really have to do with the Deep Ones. In the video, the Deep One stood silently for a minute before pictures of various celebrities flashed through in a collage. They consisted of famous individuals from all over the world. At the end of the video, a subtitle in both Chinese and English wrote, "Where are they now? Are they still okay? Your governments are lying to you. Go look for them and see for yourself what is really happening."

Similar to Man, the video had no voice but the watchers could hear a strange voice that sounded like both laughing and crying at the same time. If only one watcher reported this sensation, then it would be nothing but almost all the watchers had the same experience. This could only mean that the video could influence the watchers' mental state. Was it the effect of supernatural energy? In any case, that increased people's attention to the question asked at the end of the video. This was a video meant to create panic among the public and to taunt the government. Even though it was swifty banned, the question it posed already became a hot topic online. Indeed, what had happened to those celebrities? Were they in danger?

The celebrity effect is the ability of famous people to influence others. Regardless of WeWatched_2021's identity, his intention of using celebrities to initiate discussion was successful. Many celebrities soon responded on social media with claims and even selfies to prove that they were fine. Some bought their stories while others suspected this was just a media stunt.

The video naturally was blocked in China. However, some netizens still managed to get their hands on it. The question spread among the small circle.

"There is a picture of Xie Yiman among the collage!"

"Yiman was seen signing photographs for her fans outside the movie studio yesterday, she's fine. The video is just to scare people." Xie Yiman's fans were quite worried. After all, she did not show up on the scheduled internet talk show and her team had been radio silence on social media for the past two days. They prayed for the safety of their idol.

…

"Ah Jun, there are three types of anesthetic preparation model to RFL. The first is full body anesthesia, the second is to apply locational anesthesia after the puncture is in place, while the third is to abandon the anesthesia completely and instead opt for a slow increase in the temperature of the electrode after it has been plunged into place."

Inside the conference room at People's Hospital, a team of doctors were having a pre-opt meeting. Gu Jun sat at the table and frowned as he looked at the human facial diagram on screen while listening to the main surgeon, Si Kouxian. Si Kouxian, a neurological expert, was also the main surgeon during the lobotomy for the Nightmare Illness. He was mentally impacted during the surgery but he recovered perfectly. He was recruited to join the Spell Department after. Since the surgery was a type of neurological intervention therapy, he was naturally one of the main surgeons.

Gu Jun would act as the assistant for he had no experience performing this kind of surgery. He had not even operated the c-cam x-ray, which was the most common device in this kind of surgery. Dermatologists like Zhang Donghai and Sun Wei were sent away. The team of surgeons was sent over from the headquarters. Other than Si Kouxian, there were also other neurologists as well as doctors from the Spell Department like Cai Zixuan who were there to help and learn. There were also members from the Ancient Seal department. To ward against possible mental assault, cleansing stones were placed outside the surgical room.

Wu Siyu and Deng Ximei would provide mental support, currently, they were also seated at the conference table. If Uncle Dan had a say, he would bring Wang Ruoxiang into the team, but unfortunately…

"If we go for local anesthesia, we risk the drug going into the patient's blood or csf." Si Kouxian said, "That will only influence our ability to locate the trigeminus, thus lowering the quality of the surgery. The risk of ruining the nerves will increase. Furthermore, the radiation can only begin after the abatement of the first anesthesia, thus lengthening the surgical time. Lastly, locational anesthesia will influence the clarity of the surgery effect."

Gu Jun nodded silently. Facial surgery was different from other surgeries for one had to take into consideration the protection of the human skull.

"If we skip anesthesia though, the patient will be exposed to great pain." Si Kouxian looked around the table. "The patient has shown complication in her hemodynamics this afternoon, subsequent pain might cause cerebral vascular accidents. Ah Jun, you are most familiar with the patient's condition. You should decide the surgical method." The other doctors agreed. After all, Xie Yiman was Gu Jun's patient. Gu Jun had made many medical decisions that day and every single one of them could be fatal. He felt like he was walking on a tightrope over a chasm, one wrong step and he'd fall but the one dying would not be him but the patient. The heaviness of deciding someone's life was not something easy to bear.

"We'll skip the anesthesia." Gu Jun made the decision. "For one, there are simply too many negatives to the application of anesthesia; for another, the patient has already shown negative reaction to anesthesia during earlier treatment; lastly, the patient is already under constant pain, I do not think the surgical pain will make her keel over, if anything, the difference in pain might cause a diversion from the constant itchiness."

He was speaking from experience. When he was the Nightmare Wonder at Dylath-Leen, the hardest ordeal was the constant discomfiture, when another sensation came to refresh his sensation, even if it was just a different kind of pain, it would ease the tension in his mind.

"Okay then." The other doctors had no objection. Every decision came with its risk. It was hard to tell beforehand which would be the correct solution. This kind of RFL surgery was not that hard to perform. After the main decision was made, the meeting soon concluded. Just as the group prepared to leave the room, Gu Jun received a latest update from the command central.

Information regarding Patient Zero was found, it was an 18 years old girl by the name of Tian Yi. However, the girl was currently missing, in fact she had been missing for days already. Her doctor consultation was recorded to be 5 days earlier than Xie Yiman's.

…

The income from Webnovel is so low that the company has hinted for me to drop the book.

However, I will continue the translation thanks to your donation. I suffer from anxiety disorder so your donation will go towards footing my monthly medical bill.

To incentivize donation, I will do my best to provide perks depending on the platform the donation(s) is made.

Increase the weekly Release Rate to 17 Chapters/Week: https://www.patreon.com/lonelyman

Donate 6 USD to get 1 bonus chapter release: https://ko-fi.com/lonelytree

Thank you so much for your continued support. This project won't be possible without you.