CH 66

The drawing from his sister and the key from his father, both of these storyline items could only increase the plot exploration progress by 1%.

But this one-eyed patch unexpectedly provided a 10% increase in exploration progress.

Based on his previous dungeon experience, the eye patch might play a decisive role.

Gu Yi put on the one-eyed mask, but nothing happened. Gu Yi didn't dare to assume too much and kept the eye patch close to him. No one knew when it would come into play.

Gu Yi left the old mansion and headed straight toward the hospital.

He ran all the way without holding back, basically sprinting, because he didn't know when he would be forcibly transported to the tutoring class.

"Hoo..."

Gu Yi supported his knees and took deep breaths.

He checked the countdown timer on his phone, [5 days, 23 hours, 04 minutes]. It took him twenty minutes to run from the old mansion to the hospital.

Gu Yi rested for a while before entering the hospital.

Although it was just the beginning of summer, the hospital had already turned on the air conditioning, and Gu Yi couldn't help but shiver.

He checked his phone.

The countdown was still ongoing. Time flowed the same way here as it did in the old mansion, so he had to make good use of his time.

"Hello, where can I find Han Chunzhu?"

"She's in Ward A on the third floor of the inpatient department."

"Thank you."

Gu Yi confirmed the location and immediately climbed the stairs to the ward.

Even though it was a small town in a mountainous area, it was unexpectedly crowded here. The patients and doctors in the ward didn't have the lifeless gaze similar to the small-town residents.

Gu Yi speculated.

Just like the old mansion, this place was a boundary between the surface world and the inner world, but it was slightly closer to the surface world, which meant his deduction abilities couldn't function properly here.

This hospital, despite being located in the small Town, was likely a tertiary hospital inside the big city in the surface world.

"Hello, can you tell me which room Han Chunzhu is in?"

"Han Chunzhu? Are you her family?"

"Yes."

"Han Chunzhu's medical expenses haven't been paid since her admission. It has been nearly a month without any payment. Are you her grandson? Where are your parents?"

Gu Yi was at a loss and could only appease the nurse, "They'll be here soon. Can you please tell me where the patient is?"

"Since no one has paid the bed fee, she is in the corridor over there, right across from the boiler room."

"Thank you."

Gu Yi nodded and ran toward the location pointed out by the nurse.

In the corridor, opposite the boiler room, there was a solitary hospital bed.

An emaciated old lady lay on the bed, her wrists covered in bruises, likely from frequent intravenous drips.

The old lady was incredibly thin, and Gu Yi didn't know if she was his grandmother or his maternal grandmother.

—He could only make a guess based on his instincts.

"Grandma?"

Gu Yi called softly and gently touched the back of the old lady's hand.

The old lady struggled to open her eyes, looking dazedly at the ceiling.

"It's me."

The old lady turned her head and looked at Gu Yi. Suddenly, a glimmer appeared in her gray eyes.

"Little Yi, you finally came to see Grandma?"

"What happened to you?"

Han Chunzhu struggled to raise her hand and touched Gu Yi's cheek. "Child, what happened to you? Have you suffered a lot?"

Gu Yi furrowed his brow. Was he not in a healthy state in the eyes of the old lady?

Han Chunzhu suddenly grabbed Gu Yi's hand and spoke slowly, word by word, "Child, you need to leave... quickly."

"Leave? Where should I go?"

"Your parents are no longer your parents." Tears welled up in Han Chunzhu's eyes. "They have long betrayed their conscience. You should leave them as soon as possible."

"What do you mean? Can you explain it clearly?"

"I'm telling you, Gu Jianjun is not..."

Han Chunzhu stopped halfway, and Gu Yi suddenly felt a palpitation.

He turned his head and saw a surge of the tidal void behind him.

Gu Yi held his breath, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found himself sitting in the tutoring class.

He blinked, and the sun outside was already slanting. His classmates were all preparing to go home with their backpacks.

[5 days, 13 hours, 07 minutes]

It was already evening.

Gu Yi didn't rush to pack his bag and go home. He sat at his desk, carefully contemplating his experience at the hospital.

"Grandma said that my parents have betrayed their conscience and are no longer my parents, asking me to leave them... So, does 'The family of three' refer to me, my sister, and my grandmother?"

The sudden inclusion of his grandmother overturned Gu Yi's speculation about the "Family of three." Neither "I" nor his sister were ghosts or excluded individuals.

—His parents were the two individuals excluded from the family!

Grandma was seriously ill but had to sleep in the hospital corridor. The nurse mentioned that she owed the hospital medical expenses.

If all this was true, then his parents were indeed the scoundrels who had betrayed their conscience!

Moreover, Grandma also said, "You have to leave."

This directly proved his speculation that this island Town was an illusory world.

But...

Could Grandma's words be trusted?

So far, his parents hadn't done anything to harm him, and they were no different from ordinary parents.

The only thing that caught Gu Yi's attention was that they, like his sister, possessed peculiar abilities.

In the inner world, both his parents and his sister had peculiar abilities. Do they also possess such abilities in the surface world?

The last words Grandma said were probably meant to hint at how he could escape from the inner world, but she didn't have enough time to explain it clearly. Gu Yi faintly heard Grandma mention his father's name.

Perhaps he should start investigating from his father's side?

After contemplating for a moment, Gu Yi decided to visit that hospital again.

But when Gu Yi arrived at the hospital, he found that it had transformed from a tertiary hospital into a small clinic. He took out Han Chunzhu's admission certificate, and it immediately turned into a pile of ashes.

"So, the admission certificate is just a one-time ticket. It allows me to briefly leave this town and go to the hospital where Grandma is."

Beep beep——

Gu Yi's phone rang. It was a call from his mother.

"Why haven't you come home yet?"

"The bus today was a bit hard to catch."

"Hurry up and come back."

"I'll be home in about ten minutes."

"We're waiting for you to have dinner."

Gu Yi hung up the phone and didn't head home immediately. Instead, he wandered around the area for about ten minutes.

After ten minutes, Gu Yi immediately teleported back home.

As Gu Yi had speculated, his parents were indeed the determining factor for the flow of time. This was another rule he could use. It greatly increased his mobility efficiency and reduced physical exertion.

Back at home, his family was already seated at the dining table.

Gu Yi picked up his bowl and started eating. At this point, he was still unaware of his parents' attitude towards his grandmother, so he decided to use his talent to inquire about Grandma.