Chapter 99
Before they even reached the clinic, they could hear wails coming from the front door from a distance.
Jiang Liu took two steps forward and entered the door, only to see a group of people running around in the hall like headless flies.
She pulled Zhao Ziming in, closed the door tightly, and kicked down a patient who was trying to escape in the chaos. She found a moment to shout at Qiya, who was not far away, “Do you have any rope?”
Qiya’s face was grim. She pursed her lips and stared at Jiang Liu for a moment, then opened her mouth to scold her, “You shouldn’t treat patients like this.”
After speaking, she pushed Jiang Liu away angrily and helped up the patient who had been pinned down. But she was accidentally bitten on the arm by the person, causing her to gasp in pain.
Seeing that her grip had loosened, the person went crazy again and ran outside, not forgetting to turn around and glare fiercely at Qiya.
Being treated like this, Qiya was surprisingly not angry. Instead, she ignored her arm and once again ran after them.
This scene left Zhao Ziming stunned, thinking that this girl was quite dedicated.
Jiang Liu shook her head helplessly. Ignoring Qiya’s scolding, she continued to direct Zhao Ziming to help tie the people up and throw them on the hospital beds.
With yesterday’s experience, they were no longer in a flustered state and managed to deal with everyone in just half an hour.
“I told you not to treat patients like this!” Qiya’s voice was suppressed with anger. She glared at Jiang Liu, her expression so fierce it was as if she had committed some unforgivable crime.
Jiang Liu shrugged, not minding her tone, and said calmly, “You saw it yourself. My method is more efficient.”
Looking at the patients tied to the beds, Qiya was speechless for a long time, just snorting coldly. “You’re late. They eat breakfast at seven in the morning.”
After speaking, she glanced behind her again, looking a bit strange. “Where are the others?”
“It’s too cold here. They caught a cold and need to rest.” Jiang Liu lied without batting an eye, just staring at Qiya without blinking. “What do you want us to do next?”
“Aren’t you a doctor? Do you still need to ask me?” Qiya gave her a sarcastic look, clearly very angry about what Jiang Liu had just said. She seemed unwilling to even look at her and walked over to an empty bed on her own.
“She has quite a temper,” Zhao Ziming muttered under his breath, his eyes sizing up Qiya, trying to recall if there were any similarities between her and the ghostly old woman from last night.
Unfortunately, the person last night had appeared suddenly, and all his attention had been on the scriptures and the Holy Wall. He hadn’t had time to observe the old woman’s face, so naturally, he couldn’t recognize her now.
Besides, when people get old, their faces gradually sag, making it difficult to easily identify if they are the same person compared to when they were young.
He couldn’t really tell, so he tugged on Jiang Liu’s sleeve. “Sister Jiang, what do you think?”
Jiang Liu shook her head, not expressing her own opinion. She just pulled up an empty bed and sat next to Qiya, casually flipping through the patient record book from yesterday. “You’re right, so I have some questions about the illness I want to discuss.”
Qiya glanced at her. Although her expression was impatient, her words were still cooperative. “Go ahead.”
“Qiaose said they were cursed by the church. How did you come to that conclusion?”
“Because they all went to the church, and they became like this after they came back. Not long ago, the mayor organized people to demolish the church, but the disease spread too quickly, and the action was delayed.”
Qiya answered quickly, her voice sharp and thin, as if she had recited this line many times.
Jiang Liu’s eyes shifted, and she suddenly tilted her head and asked, “So the problem is with the church. If I demolish it tonight, will everything be solved?”
Her tone was very serious, and her eyes were fixed on Qiya’s face, not missing any expression.
But the old-looking girl just curled her lips in a sneer. “There are plenty of strong farmers in the town. We don’t need your help.”
Jiang Liu nodded seriously, then threw out another question. “So have you been inside the church?”
Qiya subconsciously pursed her lips. This small movement did not escape Jiang Liu’s sight. Her eyes flickered for a moment. “No, that’s why we’re not sick.”
Zhao Ziming also noticed her strangeness and subconsciously wanted to speak up and expose her, but was stopped by a look from Jiang Liu.
She held the record sheet in her hand, as if she were a truly dedicated doctor, seriously questioning the patient’s detailed condition.
“The patients seem to want to go out very much. What do they do after they go out?”
Qiya frowned slightly, trying to recall. “They run around everywhere. They run very fast, and several people can’t catch up. If it were summer, we could let them out for some fresh air, but it’s too cold right now.”
She shook her head. “You know their body temperature. They really can’t stand the cold.”
“I noticed they say some vague words. Do you know what they’re saying?” Jiang Liu asked again.
Qiya hummed in agreement, her gaze falling on a nearby bed. “I pray.”
“They must be possessed by the church, that’s why they’re desperately praying. But miss, this has nothing to do with the illness.”
Jiang Liu smiled brightly and waved her hand at her. “No, no, no, I’m very clear that they’re not sick, but possessed by a demon. What you need is not a doctor, but a priest.”
She said it with a straight face, reaching out and patting Zhao Ziming’s shoulder to push him forward, and said playfully, “Coincidentally, this gentleman next to me is a part-time priest.”
Zhao Ziming was stunned for a moment, then understood her meaning. He also cooperated with Jiang Liu’s words and coughed lightly, taking out the cross from his pocket and holding it in his palm. “That’s right.”
The two of them sang in perfect harmony, but this line was too ridiculous. Zhao Ziming was almost ready for Qiya to be enraged.
But she wasn’t.
When Jiang Liu brought up the word “priest,” a strong disgust had already appeared on her face, as if she were ready with a bellyful of words to curse them. But just as Zhao Ziming took out that cross—
Qiya froze on the spot.
She rarely failed to respond to their nonsense, but now she stared blankly at the strangely shaped Peach Wood Cross, her feet as if rooted to the spot, as quiet as a wooden stake.
“What’s wrong with her?” Zhao Ziming hadn’t expected to actually fool her and was at a loss for what to do. He looked at Jiang Liu and even tried to hand the cross over.
Could it be that this Qiya, including the Qiaose and others they had seen, were all ghosts?
With this thought in mind, Zhao Ziming slowly approached Qiya, trying to verify whether this thing had any effect on them.
The change happened in an instant—
The originally frozen Qiya went mad, her expression instantly becoming ferocious, turning her originally pretty face into that of a Vicious Ghost. Her expression could no longer be described with ordinary words.
Jiang Liu couldn’t distinguish what kind of emotion this was that erupted the moment Qiya saw the cross. It seemed like fear, yet also hatred, driving this already old and stooped girl to pounce forward and snatch the cross from Zhao Ziming’s hand.
“Damn it, give it back!” Seeing his treasure snatched away, Zhao Ziming also became anxious and took a step forward to grab it back. But the moment Qiya got the cross, her hunched back improved considerably, and a vigorous life force burst from her.
She nimbly dodged Zhao Ziming and ran with the cross.
How could Jiang Liu let her get her way?
Her figure shot behind Qiya at an even faster speed. She grabbed her shoulder with one hand to subdue her, but this girl was also a ruthless person. She actually forcefully dislocated her arm to evade Jiang Liu’s attack.
The excessive pain made her face look pale, but her expression was still crazed. She gritted her teeth and glared fiercely at Jiang Liu and the others, preparing to escape again.
Jiang Liu clicked her tongue, kicked her away, and unhesitatingly grabbed her sleeve and pulled hard—
With the sound of old fabric tearing, there was also a gasp of astonishment from Zhao Ziming.
“How could this be?!!”
The sound echoed throughout the clinic. Jiang Liu couldn’t help but look down and finally saw clearly the true face of Qiya, hidden under the thick clothes.
Her outer clothes had been torn by her, revealing the stooped and old body hidden underneath. Her thin arms were almost no different from those of the patients, as thin as skin and bones.
On it were age spots that were hard to cover, as well as various scars, which were out of place with her young face.
There was a deep wound on her right wrist, which Jiang Liu had seen when she raised her hand to carve words last night, thus confirming her guess.
This Miss Qiya was indeed the old woman she had seen last night.
The moment her clothes were torn, all the resentment and malice on Qiya’s face disappeared. She lay on the ground in a daze, trying to cover up her ugly body.
Seeing the panic on her face, Jiang Liu frowned slightly, took off her own coat to cover her, and bent down to take the cross from her hand.
Qiya no longer paid attention to this thing. Instead, she sniffed the smell on the coat, and her face turned pale again.
Her eyes were fixed on Jiang Liu. Ignoring any further cover-up, she struggled to get up and knelt before Jiang Liu with a thud, her expression filled with anxiety. “This is the smell of special candles. You’ve already been to the church?”
Jiang Liu bent down to meet her gaze, a hint of pity in her eyes. “You’ve been to the church too, right?”
Faced with her gentle voice, Qiya turned her face away, her mouth open but unable to speak.
It was unclear how long the silence lasted. The patients resting on the beds once again began to mutter their prayers. Only then did Qiya finally come to her senses and let out a plea, “Throw that thing away. You can’t go in there again.”
She seemed to have given up resisting. She put on Jiang Liu’s ill-fitting coat, her movements very slow. Her hands were still trembling from fear as she buttoned it up.
Qiya looked out of the house with a desolate gaze, her tone extremely complicated. “You’re right. There’s a demon hidden in the church, and we—we’ve all made a deal with it.”