Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 901: Shock and Awe

"Greetings, Master Song."

After Mr. Blind acknowledged him, Grandpa Song merely nodded at Song Haoran and asked with concern, "Mr. Blind, you mentioned earlier that he just inhaled a large amount of Jimsonweed flower scent... How do you know this?"

At this moment, Song Haoran explained, "It’s like this. Before we came to the hospital, we took a detour to that collapsed ancient castle to take a look... Um, this was Mr. Blind's request. He said that if zombies and blood-sucking monsters really appeared, it would be very dangerous and ordinary people would find it hard to deal with."

"Indeed," Song Da said with a wry smile. "I nearly lost my life; using the underground's suppressive advantage, I barely managed to kill one... If it were in an open area, I would have definitely died!"

Mr. Blind said calmly, "It's good that it was you. With your martial arts skills, if it were Song Er and Song San, even with the terrain advantage, they would likely have a very slim chance of survival."

Grandpa Song then asked, "What did you find out, sir?"

Mr. Blind's expression turned serious. "The place exudes a lot of death energy. I had Haoran describe the surrounding terrain for me and found that the ancient castle is situated in a naturally formed Yin Sha area, which is very suitable for raising corpses. If it were in the hands of certain people from Xiang River in China, it would be considered a Feng Shui treasure for refining corpses, so it's not surprising that zombies would appear."

(Note: 阴 (Yīn) refers to the "yin" energy, associated with darkness, cold, death, or the passive side of the yin-yang duality. 煞 (Shà) means a malevolent or harmful force, often associated with bad luck, death, or destructive energy.)

After a pause, Mr. Blind continued, "However, the castle has collapsed, and even if there are zombies, they are likely buried deep underground and shouldn't be able to come out in the short term... But I suggest that we should not allow officials to dig recklessly. If zombies show signs of reemergence and begin to spread, it would be a major disaster."

"I understand. I will contact them immediately to halt the digging," Song Tianyou nodded.This place is the Song family's stronghold. If a wave of zombies were to break out, the Song family would be the first to suffer.

"During the daytime, the Yang energy is strong, so the activity of zombies will be somewhat weakened," Mr. Blind added. "I will conduct a thorough investigation tomorrow, so I would appreciate it if you could provide some personnel, Master Song."

"Of course. Whatever you need, Mr. Blind, just let Haoran know," Grandpa Song agreed readily.

"Additionally, before I came here, I made a rough inquiry and found that there are many Jimsonweed flower petals inside the castle, along with residual scents," Mr. Blind said. "This type of Jimsonweed flower is different from common varieties; it has some hallucinogenic properties that can induce illusions, and in severe cases, lead to coma. I think this new young master of the Song family, since he has no external injuries, is likely affected by this flower."

"Is there a way to save him?" Grandpa Song asked urgently.

Mr. Blind replied calmly, "It’s not serious; he might wake up after sleeping for a day or two. Otherwise, I can prescribe some traditional Chinese medicine to invigorate and awaken him. That should suffice."

At this moment, Song Ying's phone suddenly rang. She quickly answered and then said, "Grandpa, Uncle Wu said that Luo Qiu has woken up..."

Then, Song Ying muttered softly, "Didn’t they say he’d need to sleep for a day or two?"

"Everyone's constitution is different," Mr. Blind said, looking at Song Ying. "It's not surprising for someone with a good constitution to wake up early; Miss Ying is just overthinking."

Song Ying gave her grandfather an awkward glance, but Grandpa Song said nothing, clearly relieved. "You tell Uncle Wu that I'll go up to see him shortly."

Song Ying stuck out her tongue.

At that moment, Song Tianyou suddenly said, "How about this? You should go wait for me upstairs; I still have some matters to discuss with Mr. Blind."

Song Ying didn’t insist on staying, nodded, and quickly left.

After that, Song Tianyou turned to Song Haoran and said, "Haoran, keep the personnel you selected earlier here for now. We may need to postpone our plan to return to China. Assist Mr. Blind fully in investigating this matter. This is the Song family's stronghold; we absolutely cannot have any disturbances. Is that clear?"

"Understood." Song Haoran nodded solemnly.

"Sir, I have some matters I would like to discuss with you privately," Song Tianyou said to Mr. Blind, inquiring softly, "May I?"

"Of course."

...

Song Ying did not immediately return to Luo Qiu's hospital room. Instead, noticing the absence of others around, she put on sunglasses and suddenly entered a back stairwell.

Not long after, a nurse quietly opened the door and met up with Song Ying... The nurse looked somewhat anxious, and upon seeing Song Ying, she pulled a test tube out from her work uniform.

"No one saw you, right?" Song Ying asked, staring at the nurse.

The nurse quickly replied, "No, no. Following your instructions, I quietly took it while drawing blood for this patient."

"Did you make any mistakes?" Song Ying asked in a low voice.

"Absolutely not!"

"Alright," Song Ying nodded. "You can go back to work. I'll have someone send your compensation later... Remember, this matter must not be known by a third party; otherwise, you know the consequences."

"Miss Song, rest assured, I will definitely not leak this."

Afterward, the nurse carefully left, while Song Ying examined the test tube in her hand—inside was Luo Qiu's blood.

"It's not that I doubt my uncle's capabilities..." Song Ying mumbled, "But since it concerns the future of the Song family, I must verify it myself... If you are truly a member of the Song family, then I..."

Song Ying couldn't articulate what she would do, eventually pouting, "At worst, I’ll just treat you a bit better..."

She slipped the test tube into her pocket, visited a department in the hospital, and soon came out, humming a cheerful tune as she headed toward the high-end patient area.

...

Unfortunately, Song Ying's good mood did not last long, as she soon encountered a very annoying woman—her arch-rival, the senior student Zhong Luoyue.

As the saying goes, "When enemies meet, their eyes turn red." Seeing Zhong Luoyue's disheveled appearance, Song Ying suddenly frowned.

Because she noticed that Zhong Luoyue was holding a jacket—this should be the one Luo Qiu was wearing.

The reason she wouldn’t mistake it is that she personally picked out this jacket… When did it end up in Zhong Luoyue's hands?

This is suspicious... Also, this annoying woman walking this way is probably going to see Luo Qiu too, right?

They met at the corner of the corridor, and without saying a word, each turned onto the same path.

"Congratulations, you weren't buried after all. How fortunate," Song Ying said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Zhong Luoyue was not one to back down either and smiled, "Yes. Actually, I walked through the gates of hell myself, but the King of Hell told me that there are still some pests alive, and that I, as a good person, should live a little longer, so he sent me back."

Song Ying chuckled, "That King of Hell must be blind."

“Who knows?” Zhong Luoyue smiled and said, “Anyway, I didn’t bring sunglasses, acting all sneaky.”

Song Ying shrugged, indifferent, and casually took off her sunglasses, then asked, “Do you have friends here?”

“Yes.” Zhong Luoyue suddenly handed over her coat, shyly lowering her head as she said, “Could you help me return this to my friend? Given the situation, I don’t think I can get in… Oh, and while you’re at it, could you tell him that the time spent with him was simply thrilling, unforgettable, and made my blood boil?”

Song Ying was taken aback, but Zhong Luoyue had already shoved the coat into her hands and left with someone.

“Thrilling? Unforgettable?? Blood boiling???”

“Hey! What do you mean by unforgettable? Be clearer! Zhong Luoyue!! Come back!!” Song Ying shouted as she chased after her, “Come back!”

Zhong Luoyue simply waved her hand dismissively without turning around.

“You sly fox!” Song Ying slammed the coat against the wall in frustration.

…

Song Ying was probably in a very bad mood... but Zhong Luoyue was feeling quite good at that moment; this was, after all, the most pleasant time of her day, even giving her the feeling of having truly returned to the normal world.

But she knew this feeling was just an illusion because on her way out, she happened to run into someone she knew.

It was Natasha, who had once teamed up with her in the basement maze and had since gone missing.

At this moment, Natasha looked dazed, with her head down, seemingly lost in thought. Perhaps too distracted, she didn’t notice a nurse pushing a gurney rushing towards her, and she ended up getting knocked to the ground.

“Miss, do you know her?” a bodyguard nearby asked.

Zhong Luoyue shook her head, turned in another direction, and said nonchalantly, “I don’t know her; I just saw her once in the castle… Let’s go, I’m a bit tired.”

She walked past Natasha just like that.

Natasha, who had been knocked to the ground, was helped up by someone, still looking absent-minded, before quickly moving away with the gurney.

What on earth happened... Natasha's mind was a mess.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a hospital, where it was said she had been discovered under rubble and was already unconscious by then.

After waking up, Natasha realized she was indeed safe, letting out a sigh of relief. However, everything that had happened in the castle was so clear in her mind that it terrified her.

Then, Natasha noticed something that frightened her even more—several survivors receiving treatment with her seemed to have forgotten what had happened in the basement.

There were no more survivors; including herself, it seemed only five had been found... but these four had forgotten everything that happened in the basement maze.

This made Natasha hesitant to reveal the truth, as she vaguely sensed invisible dark hands manipulating everything...

The doctor suggested she stay for observation for a few days, and Natasha agreed, preferring to be in a crowded place. She was making plans; if the survivors in the hospital didn’t remember anything in the coming days, she would act as if she didn’t know what had happened.

She didn’t want to get entangled in this horrifying situation again.

Natasha stood in place for a moment, feeling a bit dizzy, and decided to wash her face in the restroom—by now, it was past two in the morning, and there weren’t many people moving around in the hospital ward.

In the restroom, Natasha faced the mirror and slowly began to peel off the bandage from her face.

She remembered she must have scraped her face when she fell in the basement maze.

As for her arm, which was also wrapped in a bandage, Natasha didn’t remember when she had gotten hurt; the nurse who bandaged it told her the wound was quite deep and resembled a scratch.

She cautiously approached the mirror and began to peel off the bandage, trying to avoid getting it wet while washing her face. However, as the bandage slowly came off, Natasha was suddenly startled!

The wound on her face... had started to rot!

She then noticed her lips were purplish, and beneath her eyeball, there was a tinge of blood; her face looked as pale as… a corpse!

In horror, Natasha leaned closer to the mirror, using her fingers to pry open her eyelids, revealing the terrifying state of bloodshot eyes.

She was even more terrified and suddenly collapsed to the floor... Natasha trembled all over, feeling both cold and hot, her breathing suddenly becoming difficult… She seemed to remember something and quickly removed the bandage from her arm.

To her shock, that arm was now completely rotten.

In her panic, she called out for help, “Doctor…”

She fearfully shouted a single word, but at that moment, a fiery substance erupted from her throat... it was her own blood, pouring out from within!

Her teeth and lips were now covered in blood as she stared in horror at the blood on her hands, and her body convulsed violently, collapsing to the ground.

Just then, a cleaner opened the restroom door and saw Natasha lying on the floor.

“Miss, Miss? Are you okay?” The cleaner was startled and hurried over to check.

But at that moment, Natasha suddenly sat up, her eyes rolling back as she saw the cleaner, and she immediately opened her mouth and lunged forward to bite…

…

…

The moment Song Ying pushed open the door to the luxury hospital room, she happened to see Gan Hong feeding water to Luo Qiu… The previously annoyed Miss Song Ying now had a stern expression on her face.

Uncle Wu, looking at his young lady's demeanor, was puzzled by her sudden change but, as an experienced butler, he cleverly said, “Young Master Qiu, I’ll go see if the doctor has arrived. It’s strange; they’ve been gone for so long!”

“Thank you.” Luo Qiu nodded.

Playing the part of a patient had to be convincing; if he woke up and appeared energetic, it would probably raise suspicion. Thus, Luo Qiu was cooperating with Gan Hong and Uncle Wu’s care.

Song Ying frowned and sat down at the bedside with a thud, crossing her legs. “Tell me, what on earth happened?”

“What happened?” Luo Qiu asked curiously.

Song Ying replied, annoyed, “Don’t pretend to be clueless! I’ll tell you; you were the one who told us to wait in that room for Tu Shenyi, and what happened? Why did we all faint?”

Luo Qiu looked at Gan Hong in confusion… he appeared very innocent.

Gan Hong then quietly said in Song Ying’s ear, “Miss Ying, Young Master Qiu forgot what happened after he woke up. He only remembers what happened before he played chess with Mr. Tu in the vineyard.”

Song Ying was taken aback, blinking at Luo Qiu.

Luo Qiu blinked back at her, “So what happened?”

“You’re pretending!!!!!!!!” Song Ying yelled.

Just then, a scream suddenly rang out from outside the room… and it was a series of screams!