Plague Doctor

Gu Jun was back. He brought with him much important information but most importantly, himself. He was the real deal. According to Wu Siyu, he was even better than before. She felt more connected to him. The people at Phecda couldn’t be happier, Elder Tong opened a 82 Laffite to celebrate. After the initial interrogation and quarantine, Gu Jun reconnected with his old friends. Cai Zixuan, Deng Ximei, Lou Xiaoning, Uncle Dan and the rest were overjoyed to see him. However, there was one thing that worried Gu Jun, Wang Ruoxiang was not in a good state.

Then Gu Jun was clued in on some latest update. He finally knew what happened to the giant flesh ball that arrived with the summoning of Shub-Niggorath. He looked at the recording that was taken back then. The meatball expanded until it covered the sky. Mo Bei darkened like there was an eclipse. Then suddenly, the fleshy forest disintegrated into dust. A sudden blast of wind carried the dust all over the world—it was confirmed by surveillance in different countries.

Phecda and other countries tried to sample and monitor their air composition to look for that dust particle, to investigate its influence on the human body and the ecosystem. However, at Mo Bei and all around the world, there was no trace of said dust to be found. The dust appeared to not be corporeal, it was some kind of energy. It might be visible at times but it had a property that was beyond current human comprehension. In any case, that was the state of things now. Humanity survived an apocalyptic tragedy but had paid a price, one that they did not know the extent of. If the dust was a pollutant, then the whole world was now polluted.

Gu Jun had predicted that. Even the foundation had said that the world would be in greater danger after being exposed to existence like Shub-Niggurath and Nyarlathotep. But for now, humanity could still save itself. In the past 100 days, there was peace at Phecda World. Perhaps it was the tragedy at Mo Bei that had silenced the other cultists. Based on information from Mysterium, even the cultists at their worlds had gone into inactivity…

However, that did not mean that they were safe. The cultists would not disappear just like that, they were probably planning something dangerous. The matter of alliance between Phecda World and Mysterium World had improved a lot but it was still not enough. Both parties could now cross into each other’s dimensions at the original desert wasteland, which was now dubbed, ‘The Gate of In-Between’. Perhaps one day they could even have a tourism program where normal citizens could travel between worlds. In any case, for now, there was a lack of push on both sides that prevented them from coming to a consensus on bigger issues. Hell, even smaller issues, there were plenty of problems. For example, the naming of the area of overlap had taken way too long to decide. Phecda world wanted to name it Gate of Phecda, and the Mysterium World wanted to name it Gate of Mysterium, in the end, they sought a compromise. There were so many arguments because neither world had someone who truly understood the severity of the situation. The sudden requirement to make an alliance with another world, that was too shocking for most.

Thankfully, things were finally looking up. 3 days after Gu Jun returned, Yu Chi had reappeared at the Mysterium World as well!

Gu Jun couldn’t stop his laughter when he heard that news. Then he received a video recording. It was Yu Chi who sent it to him through Mysterium and Yu Chi told him to look at it immediately. In the recording, Yu Chi looked disheveled. He had not cleaned up himself before he took this recording. Yu Chi began by explaining how he managed to escape from the danger. He too was sealed by Nyarlothep inside a King in Yellow world. He managed to escape because he insisted on his sanity and continued his research into the split cross.

In the study of symbols, Yu Chi was much more experienced than Gu Jun. Therefore, he managed to gain contact with the City of Dusk and the Rudolph Carter Foundation through that. With their aid, he returned home. The difference was the foundation did not provide Yu Chi with any new power because his body could not sustain their gifts. The people from the foundation told him that he had to gain contact with Gu Jun as soon as possible once he returned. Gu Jun was invested with their power and he’d slowly digest it. It was only a matter of time before he could find his way back to the City of Dusk. Therefore Yu Chi and the Mysterium World offered sincere cooperation for the sake of safety of both worlds.

“Captain Gu, you have great responsibilities on your shoulders!” Yu Chi scratched at his hair with excitement. His thick head of hair had signs of receding hairline but his beard was still as bushy as ever. “Our goal is to reach the City of Dusk, we mustn’t let more innocent people die anymore…” In this tragedy, like Gu Jun, Yu Chi had lost many good friends.

“Captain Yu, like what the man said, haste makes waste.” Gu Jun said in the reply video. “I am still waiting for the power to coagulate into a form that I can interact with. For now, what we need to do is to unite our worlds to form a strong alliance.” The news of the City of Dusk and the Foundation shocked both Phecda and Mysterium. It also helped push forward the desire to form an alliance. Both parties had the intention to form a new organization, one that would be flexible enough to deal with the new changes.

10 days after Gu Jun’s return, he could finally move freely. He decided to participate in some aftermath medical activities. Peacock and Kathlyn lost an arm but they were fitted with the latest mechanical arm. They had already mastered it. The desire to eat soil was still there but it was very negligible now. Many people were exposed to radiation, they needed to take care of themselves but even so the chance of them having cancer had increased exponentially, Deng Ximei was one of them. Even so, Deng Ximei had not rested. She had been participating in many frontline works.

However, Wang Ruoxiang was in a completely different state. On that day, she was the one who summoned the first batch of Byakee. Then she was the medium that channeled everyone’s power. She exhausted her mental power. But unlike Cai Zixuan and the rest who had moments of cardiac arrest, Wang Ruoxiang did not lose her consciousness but instead she dropped into a somnambulant state. She was pretty much like Wu Siyu when she lost her soul. After 100 days of resting, her corruption had been fully cleansed, the cleansing stone no longer reacted around her. However, Wang Ruoxiang still did not show any sign of recovery. Due to a lack of food ingestion, she had lost a lot of weight. She looked frail and weak. Her bones were showing. Everyone was worried about this. The medical team had been trying their best but they could not do anything to stop Wang Ruoxiang from wilting before their eyes.

That morning, when Gu Jun saw Wang Ruoxiang in the sickroom, his heart wrenched with sadness too. In his mind, Wang Ruoxiang was always ready to face the day. She woke up the earliest, studied the hardest. She worked hard at everything, however, she did not lose empathy due to her intellect or beauty. She would be a good doctor, no, she was already a good doctor. But now she was like a living zombie. The light in her eyes had disappeared. Accompanying Gu Jun that day were Wu Siyu, Cai Zixuan and Uncle Dan. The four’s presence had no effect on Wang Ruoxiang. Her mind appeared to be elsewhere.

Gu Jun picked up her patient’s records. The medical team conducted many stimulus treatment, psychotherapy but it was to no avail. To be honest, before he arrived, Gu Jun already had a supposition in his heart and when he saw Wang Ruoxiang in person, he could confirm it. The monitor was not there, she was mentally somewhere… The Wang Ruoxiang they saw was merely a shell and a lingering trace of her consciousness.

“I suspect she is trapped inside a King in Yellow world.” Gu Jun offered. The King in Yellow was related to The Seven Cryptical Book of Hsan and the Nine Mysterium Arts. In fact, to prevent this kind of mental entrapment, the Spell Department had already started training for its members just in case they found themselves trapped inside a script in the future. “Just like what happened to me and Captain Yu, the monitor is possibly pulled into a scripted world by Nyarlothep. The script keeps on moving and she cannot stay off the track as it moves towards the ending.”

Gu Jun did not know how yet but he knew they were running out of time to save Wang Ruoxiang.

Cai Zixuan sighed, “Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming that I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming that I am a man.”

“Well, there is still something we have not tried.” Wu Siyu said, “The snow white kind. Dirty-minded Jun, go ahead, I’ll give you a pass this time.”

“What are you talking about, there’s nothing between me and the monitor…” Gu Jun sighed. But he could not tell whether this was a trap by Wu Siyu or she was sincerely offering that suggestion.

“Give it a try, Ah Jun.” Uncle Dan added, “As a doctor, you’ll have to suck many things. In fact, Uncle Dan is so envious of you.”

Cai Zixuan recited the rest of the poem, “Between a man and a butterfly, there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things.”

‘Do kisses have magical power now?’ Gu Jun ignored them. In any case, he had other ideas in mind. The first idea was to have Wang Ruoxiang interact with the split cross. Gu Jun used a marker to draw the split cross out on a piece of paper. He then had Wang Ruoxiang sense it. It was unclear whether it helped or not, Wang Ruoxiang merely looked on blankly. Nothing happened. Then Gu Jun tried to make contact with the split cross and then tried to bridge his mind with Wang Ruoxiang’s.

Then something unexpected happened. Over the past few days, he had been paying attention to the new system interface in his mind. It was close to forming. In that moment, the golden light suffused his mind. The whole system interface was bathed in light as if exposed to the light in that heavenly city. Gu Jun felt rejuvenated. Positive emotions surged through his soul. It was like the first ray of sun had landed on his body. He felt warmed. The first spring roused life all around him. The young shoots of the trees and plants were so gorgeous. In his mind, he heard a tingle and a new interface arrived.

“Turn Towards Light, Never Despair. Rudolph Carter Foundation wishes you good luck. Please accept your newbie pack. Do not miss out on this one and only chance. Great prizes await you!”