Plague Doctor

Translator: Lonelytree

When Gu Jun finished drawing the inverse spiral triangle, the yellow talisman in his left hand gathered with a yellow light. Suddenly, Wang Ruoxiang’s pale face took on an expression that was different from usual. She grimaced from pain and groaned loudly. Uncle Dan instantly reported this update to the headquarters. Cai Zixuan called for the medical team from the base. Wu Siyu watched Gu Jun closely. However, only Gu Jun knew how it felt. His mind felt like it had been sucked into a whirlpool, no, a maze. It was more complicated than the most complicated neural network human beings had ever come up with. Gu Jun felt the responsibility to find Wang Ruoxiang and get her out. The endless neural pathways criss-crossed and each path led down a different direction, just like the endless possibilities of life…

He calmed down and tried to remember how to use the talisman. This was a play and not life. At this place, things had a predestined plot, working towards a conclusion. No matter how chaotic the stage was, there was always a main character, one who had gone insane from reading the King in Yellow… Suddenly, the ugly face of Mr. Wang Erde flashed before him. He had scratch marks on his face and a faded pair of pink artificial ears. “Mr. Gu… Can you not see the imminent arrival of Hastur’s kingdom? Do you not understand that the world would soon kneel before the night of Carcosa? Is that why you’re here? To partake in its glory? …Wait, you wish to ask, aren’t I dead? Hue hue, Mr. Gu, you’ve been through so much and you’re still hung up on minor concepts like life and death? You like movies, don’t you? As long as the movie is still playing, the characters inside it will be alive… Hue hue, accept death for death can give you the greatest release. Every new beginning will make your eyes wet, is that true?”

‘Demon, shove off, I’m not here to philosophize with you!’ Gu Jun gathered his strength, his mental condition was much stronger than before. A gush of energy burst forth. It carried with it the energy from the City of Dusk and the secret of the inverse spiral triangle.

“Tsk…” Mr. Wang Erde hissed. His whole body scorched like some kind of dark creature would after being exposed to bright light. Blood oozed out from its scarred face. The artificial ears dangled loose. His voice dripped with hatred, “Mr. Gu, do you have to do that? You’ve made a dumb choice, Hastur knows everything… Be careful, be careful… You’re moving towards destruction…”

Gu Jun was not threatened. There were so many cosmic threats on his tail, he didn’t mind one more. “Every human is moving towards ultimate destruction, I’m no different. We’re all beings towards death.”

Finally, the stage cleared. He reached out to grab at the figure that resembled Wang Ruoxiang. “Monitor, let’s go!”

“Gu Jun?” Wang Ruoxiang said blurrily as if waking from a deep slumber. However, she retained consciousness of things that happened around her. “You’ve saved me again.”

“Like Uncle Dan said…” Gu Jun pulled her up to the elevated stage and burst through the curtain, “It’s our responsibility as doctors to save people!”

At the same time, the inverse spiral triangle talisman dissolved into dust after glowing the brightest it ever had. Gu Jun’s heart squeezed. The image before his eyes condensed. He gasped for air. His mental power was half-drained…

“Tycoon Jun, how do you feel?” Cai Zixuan asked worriedly. The medical team was waiting outside, heart resuscitation, ECMO, they were ready for any contingency.

“Uncle Dan, give him heart compressions.” Wu Siyu stood beside Uncle Dan, “I’ll give him CPR.”

“I’m fine…” Gu Jun took another deep breath, “That won’t be necessary.”

Wang Ruoxiang’s eyelids fluttered, life returned to her eyes. She blinked and then blinked again. Her breath came more evenly and color returned to her cheeks. She was looking more like herself. Wang Ruoxiang shook her head and looked at the 4 around her. Then she opened her lips to mumble, “The Yith was wrong, the Yith was wrong…” Her eyes wetted. It was not until now that she tasted the joy of victory. Wu Siyu went forward to touch her shoulder. Her nose scrunched up and her brow raised, “The smell of Formalin… Yup, it’s the real deal!”

With the confirmation from Wu Siyu, the sound of celebration erupted in the room. Uncle Dan cheered and Cai Zixuan recited, “One who has never tasted what is bitter does not know what is sweet.”

Gu Jun was feeling excited too. ‘City of Dusk, Rudolph Carter Foundation, thank you.’

The news of Wang Ruoxiang’s awakening soon reached the headquarters. Elder Tong, Yao Sinian were joyous. A cloud above their head finally cleared. This was huge. The City of Dusk, the organization of humanity from multiverse had proven themselves an ally. That was like a ray of light in the dark. It was not the ray of dawn but the ray of dusk. It might disappear soon but it stayed on stubbornly even against the encroaching night.

Following protocol, after Wang Ruoxiang woke up, she was brought to examination and investigation. Indeed, she was brought to another King in Yellow world but different from Gu Jun and Yu Chi, she had experienced the same plot inside it for at least 1003 times already. No matter what she did or struggled, she could not stop the script from righting itself. The plot repeated itself again and again, from the end to the beginning, from the beginning to the end.

Going through one such tragedy was mind-breaking enough, much less thousands of them. Before Gu Jun arrived, she was already at the edge of madness. She even suspected her own identity. Even now she needed time to get used to the fact that she had really returned. The feeling of being a character and uncontrollable of one’s life would need time to process. She’d probably still wake up in the middle of the night covered in cold sweat.

The second day after Wang Ruoxiang’s awakening, Gu Jun communicated another issue with Elder Tong, “Mental Pillar Training Manual”. That would change the format of the Special Mobile Force, their membership construct and ensure more unity and bond between the members.