Deep in the Living
Chapter 83 - 77: The Dean’s Gift

Chapter 83: Chapter 77: The Dean’s Gift

After Director Wang’s coordination, Luo Di successfully returned to Fifth Hospital.

Moreover, after returning this time, he became much more "obedient."

Every day, even if he left the ward at abnormal times, he would not seek out any patients, nurses, or doctors to chat with, nor would he release critically ill patients or cause any disturbances.

Instead, he traveled "thousands of miles" from the deepest critical care wards [0510] after leaving, went straight downstairs, passed through the inter-floor corridor, and arrived at the outer compound building’s Dean’s Office.

He would cleverly avoid everyone, and even the surveillance equipment would malfunction as Luo Di passed by, occasionally capturing some strange images resembling ashes drifting in the air.

The Dean became a person he must visit daily,

Every day, Luo Di would come to the Dean’s Office, speaking a bunch of strange and incomprehensible words.

Occasionally, he would also slightly self-harm, showing a rather painful expression,

However, he did not do anything as extreme as last time, and the old Dean’s heart could hardly bear it a second time.

Later, the Dean seemed to get used to it, and he even proposed to move Luo Di’s ward opposite his own, so that the "prison break" process could be avoided, it would no longer disturb the hospital’s surveillance system, and he could directly come to his office.

But this friendly proposal was rejected by Luo Di,

It seemed that the intensive care area must be the starting point, it seemed that the 0510 ward had special significance to him,

Ten days passed,

The old Dean not only got used to it but began to treat Luo Di’s visits as one of his daily entertainment activities,

He would open the door early waiting for Luo Di’s arrival, although he couldn’t understand what Luo Di was saying, he would try to cooperate as much as possible based on Luo Di’s tone, expression, or actions.

It was quite entertaining, indeed.

Time flew by.

Today was the fourteenth meeting between Luo Di and the Dean,

The Dean not only opened the door early but even timed it perfectly to rise and greet him.

But today seemed different, Luo Di did not exhibit any particularly painful state, nor did he perform any form of self-harm.

He brought a chair over, sat across the desk, and for the first time, communicated with the Dean while sitting.

The Dean followed suit by sitting back at his desk, pretending to understand and responding.

[Perspective Switch]

The glamorous office turned into an eerie Preaching Room with the wallpaper torn off.

The one-armed Luo Di sat on a cushion, staring at the figure resembling the Dean, the master of Punishment Room,

After more than ten days of interaction, he had come to learn his title and identity among the realms of Hell.

"Hell Monk, represented by the letter H (Hook), a member of the Order"*

*Hereafter referred to as Mr. Hawke (Hook).

Meanwhile, Luo Di also gained three valuable pieces of information through their interaction.

1. This version of Hell has nothing to do with the "Corner" but is a unique world far away, even different in concept from the conventional world.

2. Luo Di belongs to a rare type among "the Spine," known as an "External Connector," due to some extreme reasons, he has made contact with True Hell. His consciousness body, projected there, endured the transformation of the spine, becoming a special member of Hell, or called an Angel Envoy from outside the domain.

He is permitted to move and develop freely in the external world, and as he grows, he will establish deeper connections with True Hell.

For now, he is considered the lowest level among the Spine, and his contact with the Punishment Room is purely coincidental and lucky.

3. More information about "True Hell" could not be revealed by H.

He only told him that the faction the Spine belonged to is different from Hawke’s Punishment Room; they should not have too deep of an interaction.

Let Luo Di follow his heart and grow in that world; True Hell does not take the weak, the stronger he becomes, the more information he can obtain.

...

Mr. Hawke, with hooks hanging on his back, his mouth cut of lips revealing a smile, was admiring Luo Di’s body.

During this time, their interaction wasn’t just chatting; he also conducted some minor, non Hell Contract-violating Punishment Room exercises on Luo Di.

Mr. Hawke extended his fingernail-less fingers,

Using the small hooks inserted between his fingernail flesh, he gently scraped on Luo Di’s body, merely leaving a red mark without even scraping off the epidermis.

"Your body is actually quite good, able to accept some base level of pain in just over ten days, your body’s tolerance level has significantly improved.

It’s such a pity~ why did you have to become one of the Spine; I really wanted to bring you into the [Punishment Room].

Alright, enough chit-chat, I’ve already helped you ’recover’ the item,

Remember our agreement, you have to bring me back a more valuable and interesting ’pituitary’. Otherwise, a person of broken promises will find it impossible to move a step in Hell."

"Mm."

Even though Luo Di was sitting on the cushion, trying his best to keep calm,

When he heard this sentence, his emotions immediately became agitated, and his breathing began to accelerate.

Today, upon arriving at the Preaching Room, Luo Di quickly scanned his surroundings, but apart from Mr. Hawke, he saw nothing.

He did not see the person he wanted to meet.

"This pituitary is the first of its kind I have seen, the entire recovery process was also much more troublesome than expected, even experiencing some strange spatial interference.

Moreover, its essence is not whole, her physical part seems to have been completely stripped away.

Thus, the final recovery is slightly flawed, but this is the limit what I can do, truly exhausting indeed."

Saying this,

Mr. Hawke’s right hand’s ring finger rose alone, pulling downwards.

A hook hanging from the ceiling of the Preaching Room immediately descended, and somehow, something was hanging from this hook,

Watching that thing descending felt like returning to some past memory,

In the corridor,

Luo Di watched the female classmate descending the stairs quickly, her black hair fluttering slightly as it did now.

However,

The only thing hanging on the hook was a single head.

Moreover, because of the angle of the hook, the head was turned away from Luo Di, with its face not visible.

When the hook lowered to the appropriate position, Mr. Hawke gestured for Luo Di to sit on the cushion without haste, as he seemed to need to complete the final handover process himself.

Holding the skull with both hands, following the angle of the hook,

Extract!

Smooth and stable,

The small hole left by the hook at the back of the head was clearly visible, but no liquid flowed out.

When Mr. Hawke held the head in his hands, his expression was not pleasant, as this reconstruction seemed to be the most difficult and worst he had ever done.

As Mr. Hawke turned around,

A familiar face came into Luo Di’s view, but the whole face was covered with evident sewing marks, showing no signs of awakening and utterly lifeless.

Luo Di didn’t say much, just relying on a brain pituitary to achieve this extent was already quite remarkable,

Even if this head would never wake up, he would always carry it, after all, it was one of his few "friends."

"I will complete the agreement soon."

"Um, see you next time..."

[Perspective switches back, one minute ago]

Under the crystal pendant with a hook structure,

The Dean saw Luo Di sitting opposite stretching out his right hand, seemingly wanting something,

After this period of interaction, the Dean seemed to have developed some "tacit understanding".

By observing the size and angle of Luo Di’s open right hand, the Dean quickly looked around his office, trying to find something to give to Luo Di.

He quickly found something.

A ball of paper made by a former patient who had been discharged, placed in the corner of the room, painted with a warm, cute smiling face and with words of gratitude to the Dean on the back.

The patient had been discharged over a decade ago, and this item had always been in the office.

Although it had sentimental value, it now seemed to be the only thing that could meet Luo Di’s needs, or rather, the Dean had already made up his mind to give this item, without changes.

Taking the paper ball,

he gently placed it into Luo Di’s hand,

It indeed seemed he found the right thing, as Luo Di’s eyes gradually became animated, and his thoughts slowly returned to reality.

Unlike usual, today Luo Di did not engage in casual conversation with the Dean after returning to normal, nor did he politely apologize, or even make basic eye contact.

He just stared at the paper ball in his hand,

Expressionless, yet with visible red blood vessels slowly creeping over his eyeballs.

"Dean."

Luo Di suddenly called out this way, also staring over with his bloodshot eyes, causing the Dean to twitch all over.

"What... what is it?"

"Do you have a backpack here? One that can fit this."

For Luo Di, who lived in the intensive care area, a backpack was considered contraband, and the Dean was well aware that it wasn’t something he should give.

However, the current question felt like a command, and the Dean’s brain seemed to completely crash, ignoring the hospital’s rules and trying his best to find a backpack.

He soon found one in a cabinet, a high-quality black hiking backpack bought at a high price last year, which the Dean always carried when building team spirit through mountain hiking.

Now, he quickly cleared the miscellaneous items inside the backpack, squeezed out a smile, and handed it to Luo Di,

"Thank you."

The recipient placed the hiking backpack on the office desk, opening it as wide as possible to ensure it was large enough inside.

Once assured, Luo Di carefully picked up the paper ball. Since he only had one hand, the entire process was very cautious.

Even while passing the zipper, he was fiddling with something with his fingers, seemingly worried something might catch on the zipper.

The Dean silently watched this process, faintly feeling that Luo Di’s mental state was not only unimproved but possibly even worsened.

Just as the paper ball was about to be placed into the backpack,

Maybe it was the Dean’s sudden distraction,

Maybe the angle of observation had changed,

Or maybe it was the lighting,

The Dean suddenly saw black hair that shouldn’t exist, saw the cold, pale skin held in Luo Di’s hands.

"Hmm!?"

The Dean quickly rubbed his eyes and stepped forward to look inside the hiking backpack,

The item inside was still just the paper ball given by the former patient, complete with the thank you note to the Dean.

As Luo Di left, the Dean collapsed into his chair, falling into self-doubt.

"I definitely had a good rest last night; I shouldn’t have seen it wrong due to tiredness, right? Could it be that the interaction during this period is affecting me too...

It shouldn’t be, it’s probably the influence brought by Luo Di as the Connector. It doesn’t matter, as long as he himself is normal, as long as he can work for the country and resist the invasion from the Corner.

He is going to the Investigation Bureau as an assistant tomorrow, let’s see how that goes then."