Chapter 2: Live Experiment
Chapter 2: Live Experiment
Saul stood in place.
He was thinking, but he didn’t have much time left.
The candle flames on the walls had already shifted from dim yellow to dusky yellow. When they turned bright yellow, it meant dawn was near—and before the flames turned white, Saul had to return to the fourth floor.
These were the rules.
The pool of blood on the floor was still there.
If he left it alone, by the next day, he would become flower fertilizer.
But clean it?
He was just an ordinary person, with no extraordinary means—what could he possibly do against that strange, murderous blood?
Ask someone for help?
The boys who lived with Saul seemed to hold some hostility toward the pre-transmigration Saul. They definitely wouldn’t help him. Besides, they were just ordinary people too—incapable of doing anything.
Find the steward?
But the steward never appeared at night, and Saul had no idea where to look.
His entire accessible area currently was just the servant level on the fourth floor, and the 11th to 13th floors.
There was no other option.
Saul’s trembling fingers suddenly steadied.
He placed the mop back onto the cart and tidied up his clothes.
Then he walked to the door directly across from the room with the blood, raised his hand, and knocked lightly three times.
In the silent corridor, the three knocks rang out clearly.
Saul glanced down at the hardcover book.
There was no new death prediction written.
Just as he was about to knock again, the door in front of him suddenly opened.
Saul held his breath.
The door opened slowly, bit by bit.
A tall, slender figure appeared behind it.
It was a woman, wearing a black nightgown. Her body was full and curvy but not overweight. The skin exposed outside her clothes was very pale.
Saul looked up and saw a gracefully curved chin, full red lips, a high nose bridge, and above that… nothing.
The woman had only half a head!
In the dark of night, seeing such a sight, Saul felt like his soul was about to fly out of his body.
He forcibly suppressed his fear and didn’t let himself show any inappropriate expression.
But his teeth chattered uncontrollably.
The woman lowered her head—the upper half of her head was missing, and the exposed flesh at the cut was pale and rotting.
Where her eyes should have been, there was a half-spherical glass dome.
Inside the glass dome was a murky white liquid, and whenever she moved, something that looked like an eyeball bumped against the inner wall of the glass.
“What is it?”
The half-faced woman’s crimson lips moved slightly. Her voice was actually quite pleasant.
“Milady…” Saul heard his own voice trembling. He took a deep breath to steady himself. “Blood is leaking from the room across the hall. I’m powerless to handle it. Please, help me.”
The woman raised her head, and one eyeball inside the glass dome pressed tightly against the surface.
Then it disappeared again as she lowered her head and chuckled softly:
“Why should I help you?”
Saul knew he couldn’t be so lucky as to knock on a door and meet someone kind and willing to help.
“Milady, what would you require of me?” Saul lowered his head.
He was just a servant—not qualified to negotiate.
The woman used her slender fingers to support her chin.
“I need a live test subject. But lately, I’m short on credits. If you’re willing to volunteer as my experiment subject, I’ll deal with your little problem.”
Saul glanced sideways at the hardcover book floating over his left shoulder.
No reaction.
Right now, Saul was too weak. His only option was to bet everything on the death-warning feature of the hardcover book.
“Deal.”
The woman curved her red lips into a smile, clearly pleased with Saul’s decisiveness.
She stepped aside to let Saul enter her room, then went outside to do something unknown.
Saul stood in the woman’s room.
He found it much larger than the shared bunk room he lived in with the others. It even had a separate bedroom suite.
The living room was brightly lit by oil lamps, stable and steady—likely due to some magical enchantment.
In the center of the room was a long table filled with tools and materials Saul couldn’t even name.
Most eye-catching was a cauldron set on a small stove in the middle, bubbling with a pot of black liquid.
“It’s that thing you’re looking at,” the woman said, suddenly appearing beside him.
Saul turned his head—the door was already closed. He had no idea whether the pool of blood outside had been dealt with.
“I need you to put one hand into the cauldron, then take it out and tell me what you feel.”
The woman pulled out a long bench and sat on the opposite side of the table, crossing her legs, watching Saul’s reaction with interest.
Saul knew he had no right to bargain, so he didn’t try to beg or complain.
He rolled up the sleeve on his left hand, took a deep breath, stepped forward, and plunged his entire hand into the black liquid.
He didn’t test the waters with a finger—fearing it might annoy the woman.
“Hiss—” Saul gasped.
But he wasn’t burned—it was cold.
A bone-chilling cold.
“Clack clack clack”
His teeth chattered violently from the freezing sensation.
“You can take it out now.”
At the woman’s words, Saul quickly yanked his hand out.
But when he looked down and saw his hand, the breath he had just exhaled in relief was sucked right back in.
The skin and flesh on his hand were completely gone.
All that remained was a bare skeleton of his left hand, as clean as a human anatomy model in an art studio.
Worst of all—he felt no pain.
“Hah… hah…”
Saul panted heavily, gripping his left wrist with his right hand, both trembling together.
As his left hand shook, it made a sound like bones grinding together.
The woman across from him offered no comfort. She stood up, touching her chin thoughtfully.
“Seems like I used too much stomach acid from the Shesheli Python. How does your left hand feel now?”
“Clack clack clack… Cold… but not painful…”
Saul fought back his fear and shivering, trying his best to act like a professional researcher.
“I think I can still move it.”
As he spoke, he tried wiggling his fingers.
It was difficult, but… they moved.
“Not bad,” the woman smiled, seemingly satisfied with his answer.
She picked through the materials on the table, casually tossing a few into the cauldron.
The cauldron hissed and released two wisps of white steam, then returned to its calm bubbling.
“Now,” the woman sat back down, raising her chin with interest and pointing at the cauldron, “put your other hand in.”
Saul exhaled. He had already expected this.
The first experiment had obviously failed.
So the second one was only natural.
He let go of his left wrist and resolutely thrust his right hand into the cauldron.
“Ugh…”
Immediately, he felt like his whole arm was being frozen stiff.
His right hand submerged in the black liquid lost all sensation.
“That’s enough.”
At the woman’s command, Saul pulled his right hand out.
To his relief—this time it wasn’t a skeleton.
Not only that, but his once-scarred, callused palm was now smooth and fair.
Before the woman could prompt him, Saul reported proactively:
“Hah… Still very cold—colder than before… clack clack clack…”
He struggled to stop his teeth from chattering.
“…No pain. Still under control…”
He stretched his fingers and held up his hand for her to inspect.
The woman smiled again—this time more brightly. Saul saw the sharp white teeth behind her red lips.
“You really are a surprise.”
She stood up and even clapped her hands twice.
Then she walked to the other side of the room, took out a crystal vial from a cabinet, and handed it to Saul.
“Drink it.”
Seeing Saul’s face pale, she burst into a fit of laughter. Her head bobbed as the white fluid inside the dome sloshed around.
“Relax, this one isn’t an experiment. It’s a healing potion.”
(End of Chapter)
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