Eldritch Horror Theatre

"How should we handle this?"

With only a delirious patient left in the room, there really seemed to be no need to keep their masks on.

Seeing this, Fu Qian casually pulled his off as well and took a closer look.

"In severe cases of boiling blood disease, the temperature differences across the patient's skin become less pronounced. That's why they need to be brought in here to cool down first."

Amira merely glanced at his action without objecting, and continued to explain the bizarre medical procedure.

"Considering the sheer number of blood beads that need clearing, tracking them down manually is already too much of a strain, so they came up with this method."

"These blood-sucking worms aren't particularly afraid of the cold—they can still move even in ice water. Their heat-seeking instinct remains intact. Once the patient is submerged in the pool, their dropping body temperature makes the hot blood beads even more attractive to them."

"That's a pretty clever approach."

Fu Qian listened intently, generous with his praise.

The chances of Amira faking her expertise were slim, because right at that moment, Fu Qian spotted one of the leeches twitching and then rapidly swelling.

Pop!

With a faint bursting sound, the leech's bloated abdomen finally gave way under the strain and ruptured.

It didn't leave behind a heavy spray of blood, because at that exact moment, its body also charred black.

"Let's get him out first."

Reginald issued the command from the side. Sure enough, his mask was already off.

Before his words even faded, the rattling of chains rang out.

The patient, along with the metal frame beneath him, was slowly hoisted out of the water.

...

"This thing has a hoist."

Fu Qian let go of the hand crank and gestured to the two staring at him.

"He looked like he was fading fast, so I took a look around."

There was no faulting his logic. The patient hadn't been a burly man to begin with, and with so many bloodletting tools clinging to him, a moment's inattention would turn him into a dried husk.

The five medical staffers from earlier hadn't been stationed here for nothing; the treatment itself required an incredibly fragile balance.

And yet, this new consultation team had just stood around chatting.

"Get the worms off him."

Seeing their forced laborer act with such initiative, Reginald seemed momentarily at a loss for words. Expressionless, he simply issued his next command.

Most of the leeches had already gorged themselves on blood, their bodies swelling significantly. Both the sight and the texture were revolting.

Fu Qian gave this critique as he tossed a fat one back into the pool.

To him, the shock value was practically zero. In fact, when he first heard of this therapy years ago, he had even imagined what it would feel like.

His execution now was flawless. Using both hands with high efficiency, he plucked the worms away while doing his utmost to avoid tearing the wounds.

Within minutes, the patient was left hanging stark naked in midair. His skin was frighteningly pale, and the wounds barely seeped any blood.

However, Fu Qian didn't worry about the man freezing to death, because just a few seconds later, multiple spots on the patient's skin became scalding hot.

Clearly, without the guidance of professional physicians, the boiling blood disease hadn't been purged completely.

The upside was that the very affliction torturing him was now saving him from freezing to death.

"So, what do you make of this, Anke?"

Unable to find room to intervene, Reginald took a deep breath. Following their established routine, he asked for Fu Qian's opinion.

"It's quite severe."

This obvious test of his judgment was entirely expected. Fu Qian, who had already been resting his chin in his hand to study the specimen, delivered his answer almost instantly.

"How can you be so sure?"

His positive diagnosis was so swift and decisive that even Amira couldn't help but ask.

"A professional exorcist must always dare to make a judgment."

Fu Qian shook his head and pointed at the patient's slightly distended lower abdomen.

"Even though bodily functions don't always follow logic inside a Nightmare, isn't that intestinal writhing a bit too fast and violent?"

"His Excellency Reginald said we need to combine surface symptoms with deep observation. I'd say the abdominal cavity is deep enough."

"...Are you saying there's something inside his stomach? The leeches burrowed in?"

As the one being quoted, Reginald felt compelled to offer an opinion.

"Hard to say. We don't have a detailed medical scan."

Fu Qian shook his head again.

"But his navel still looks completely intact. Maybe his body is spawning the worms itself. Either way, that's my preliminary diagnosis. I'll hand it over to you two now."

Not wanting to monopolize the conversation, Fu Qian chose to yield the floor back to the other consulting experts.

"You aren't experiencing any issues?"

Surprisingly, His Excellency Reginald's first response sounded almost like a personal attack.

Because as he asked it, he was looking up and down not at the patient, but at Fu Qian.

"Not at all, I feel fantastic!"

Expert Fu, however, displayed remarkable poise. Not only did he not take offense, he even raised his arms to showcase his condition.

...

Following Fu Qian's gesture, Reginald actually scrutinized him for a long moment. Finally, he exchanged a look with Amira, who shared his reaction.

"It seems our work here is going to end early."

The latter took a deep breath and delivered the consultation's final verdict.

"I agree with Anke's assessment. Something is genuinely eroding him. We have to purify him. Otherwise, when this guy wakes up in the Real World, it might mean more trouble for the Order Hunters."

"Of course, even if we succeed, this procedure will likely force him to wake up, cutting the inspection short."

Trouble for the Order Hunters? Did she mean a physical purification in the Real World?

Amira's phrasing naturally brought Harriet to mind.

"Anke, could you cut open his stomach for me?"

Amira suddenly made this new request, though it didn't sound mandatory.

She likely figured that even within a dream, the sheer extremity of it was still a bit much.

"Happy to."

However, their volunteer displayed unrivaled initiative. By the time he said this, his blade had already made the first incision.

The small, razor-sharp instrument had naturally been left behind by the medical staff, but given how smoothly Fu Qian wielded it, one could be forgiven for suspecting he'd been itching to use it.

His technique was even surprisingly adept.

With a few elegant strokes, the skin, fat, fascia, and muscle were methodically opened layer by layer.

Coupled with the agony he'd already suffered, the patient was clearly delirious. After the first cut, he barely reacted at all.

In the cavity presented to them a moment later, a tangled mass of leech-like flatworms of varying colors writhed together, as if they had differentiated directly from his various bodily tissues.

The one trait they all shared was an astonishing, burning heat that was still climbing.

"So the worms didn't burrow inside him after all..."

Even in her shock, Amira didn't forget to grit her teeth and explain.

"On top of boiling blood disease, the peripheral data in the Nightmare has already affected him. His entire state of existence has been corrupted."

"When he wakes up, there's a chance this corruption will be brought into the Real World."

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