"You..."
Syl recognized the child by these hands; it was the same child whose hand she had helped reattach last night.
"How did you find me?" Syl swallowed hard.
Compared to the child's hand, she was more concerned about how this child had found her.
Besides, an entire night had passed; that she could still find her was already in the realm of metaphysics, something Syl couldn't comprehend at all.
"The creature that the Host stitched up using [Flesh Stitching] and then absorbed [Calamitous Fate] blood can track the Host through the residual [Calamitous Fate] blood."
"Now, her mind is on the verge of madness, and she is about to transform into a monster. Congratulations, Host, you have acquired a controllable fusion."
"Wait, she will turn into a monster after a mental breakdown?" Hearing this, Syl felt that something was terribly wrong.
Syl hurriedly crouched down, ignoring the stains on the child's hands, reached out to hold the little girl's hands, and asked softly, "How are you feeling now? Are you okay?"
"Big Sister..." Hearing Syl's voice, the little girl's eyes regained a glimmer of light.
The girl knelt down weakly, sat on the ground looking at Syl who was crouching in front of her, and managed a difficult smile.
"Tha..." "Thank you..." "Big Sister..."
The girl's voice was almost inaudible, and after saying these words, it seemed to drain the last of her strength.
It was as if saying these words to Syl was the girl's final wish; the moment she finished speaking, the light faded from her eyes.
She wasn't dead yet, barely maintaining her life by relying on the blood Syl had left on her, but her mental strength had completely collapsed.
At this moment, a change occurred; the girl's thin, frail body suddenly stiffened.
What followed was an indescribable mutation occurring beneath her skin.
It was as if the flesh beneath her skin was dissolving; her body began to swell and fester due to high heat, and eventually, the dissolved skin mixed with blood vessels, muscles, and bones, constantly compressing.
Bone spurs pierced out through her unrecognizable skin, and her body shrank smaller and smaller, yet her appearance became increasingly terrifying.
Syl watched this scene, the corner of her mouth twitching as if she were desperately trying to control her expression; this unnatural state was exactly the same as when she was controlled by the clown card.
Just then, Syl suddenly laughed, extremely gently, as if she were a different person.
"I allowed you to extend your life; it is only reasonable that you sacrifice your flesh and blood to me after you die."
"Doing good deeds also requires a reward."
Syl smiled slightly, uttering hair-raising words in the gentlest tone.
Suddenly, Syl's face twitched, as if she were resisting something.
"Sys... System... Skill... Cancel..." Syl said intermittently, as if every word required all her strength.
"Do it! Damn it... cancel it!" Syl's face still wore a heartwarming smile, but tears were already falling from the corners of her eyes.
Syl's words worked, and the girl's mutation stopped.
But without the skill, the girl's body could no longer maintain itself; it collapsed directly into a pool of blood on the ground, leaving not even bones behind.
Only after the girl's body completely collapsed did Syl gradually feel that she had regained control of her body.
"Physician..." Syl's breathing grew heavy, as if she were suppressing her rage.
Syl was furious at what the physician card had said while controlling her body.
Especially since the physician card, when faced with such a little girl, would still use her corpse after she died, even leaving her without a whole body; this was something Syl found completely unacceptable.
Syl stood up unsteadily and looked around; no one had noticed what happened in the alley.
This place was not suitable for staying long.
Syl leaned against the wall and walked toward the main street, finally looking back at the pool of blood behind her.
The pool of blood was boiling and vaporizing, and even the bones were sublimating, rising in waves of blood mist; it was estimated that in a few seconds, the evidence that this girl had ever existed in this world would completely disappear.
Suddenly, Syl turned around and ran directly toward the blood, reaching into the pool of blood to retrieve the only remaining small piece of sharp bone.
After the bone fragment was removed, the blood vanished instantly.
And the sharp bone fragment in Syl's hand became the only proof that the little girl had lived.
Syl gripped the bone fragment in her hand tightly.
"You don't need to thank me... you were already very strong..."
The bone pierced Syl's palm, but she did not let go.
Only now did she fully understand the purpose of the physician card's two skills.
And understood why, after saving people twice, the physician card would cut its palm to let its own blood seep into the patient's body.
This was to let [Calamitous Fate] occupy that body.
And the physician card's kindness was merely a superficial warmheartedness.
Stitching a person back together, seemingly giving them a new, albeit twisted, life, actually meant that their fate had already been decided the moment they were eroded by [Calamitous Fate].
Syl understood what the system's prompt, "Well, here comes someone less mad... right?" meant.
She shouldn't have thought that the cards given by the system would be anything normal.
"System... you knew this would happen all along, didn't you?"
After a long wait, the system's voice finally came.
"This is the reality of this world; madness and mystery are everywhere, and you must learn to adapt."
"Heh... difficulty: madness," Syl stood up, put the broken bone into her pocket, and smiled self-deprecatingly, "I think I finally understand why the difficulty is called madness."
"System, check the physician fusion progress."
"Fusion progress: 50%"
The physician card's fusion progress had already reached 50%.
This was already the same as the clown card's progress; since Syl hadn't used the clown card for a long time, its fusion progress was still stuck at 50%.
Although this had happened, Syl had no intention of blaming the system or anyone else.
She hadn't continued to use the white card, the clown card, to hone her ability to resist character cards, but instead held onto wishful thinking and kept operating the blue card, the physician.
She thought the physician was just a good person card, but who knew.
That being a good person was just a facade, and the heart inside was a mad, twisted soul?
"Raise the clown fusion level for promotion as soon as possible... to avoid this kind of thing happening again in the future."
Syl planned a goal for herself internally: to quickly increase her proficiency in resisting character cards.
Syl didn't have much of a mind for lunch; she just walked slowly and aimlessly along the riverbank.
Under the physician card's monster-like recovery ability, the wound where the bone spur had pierced Syl's palm had already recovered as if it had never happened.
The dirty river, with absolutely no hygiene to speak of, and the mixed air on the street kept assaulting Syl's nose.
From time to time, people on the street looked at this beautiful and melancholic lady, but no one dared to approach her... because she was dressed too decently, and she didn't look like a commoner.
Syl just kept walking, praying in her heart for the unknown girl, while simultaneously firming her resolve to become stronger.
As long as she was strong enough, these uncontrollable tragedies would become controllable.
Syl pulled a pocket watch from the inside pocket of her trench coat, took a look, and then put it back.
It was time; it was time to go to the Salon.
Perhaps the secret to becoming stronger was hidden there.