'The effect of the Hand of Bewitchment, when repeatedly applied to a single target, will gradually generate resistance. The second application will directly halve the effect, followed by a progressive reduction, until the thirteenth time, when it will become completely ineffective.'

The effects of the Hand of Bewitchment's Flower Proclamation flashed through Li Cheng頤's mind.

He chose to fix the children's feet to the wall, and that selection was also deliberate.

The wall was located on the side of the shelf.

From his perspective, he could clearly see all the dynamics of the two pairs of children's feet through the gap at the bottom of the shelf.

This way, every ten seconds or so, when he saw them about to break free, he would go up and add another strike.

Time slowly passed.

Finally.

On the seventh strike, ten minutes had passed.

Ding.

Li Cheng颐's vision blurred, and an intense sense of dizziness washed over him.

Everything in his field of vision began to distort, rotate, change color, and blur.

After about a few seconds.

The light in front of him suddenly dimmed.

Bang.

The Sword Orchid Scale Armor quickly dissipated.

Li Cheng颐 abruptly opened his eyes, looking at the bare wall in front of him.

He was standing in front of the gray-white wall between two storefronts.

His nose almost bumped into the wall.

The location of the wall was exactly where the Silent Shop had been.

But at this moment, where was any Silent Shop? There was only a concrete white wall that had been sealed off long ago.

Some messy rental advertisements were plastered on the wall.

'I'm out?'

Li Cheng颐 stood there, paused for a moment, and then slowly adapted to the surrounding noise flooding into his ears like a tide.

The sound of cars, people, and music in the distance, all drilled into his ears like vivid life.

These noises, which had just felt so annoying, now felt incredibly warm.

After standing in place for more than ten seconds, he slowly came back to his senses and turned to look at the street with its constant stream of vehicles.

"You're bleeding!" Suddenly a voice came from the side. It was a girl in a sundress passing by, who was standing there looking at him and exclaiming softly.

Li Cheng颐 covered his shoulder wound and smiled at her.

"It's okay. It's just a scratch."

He raised his other hand, looking at the bottle of mixed fruit juice he was holding.

Knowing that this time he hadn't come away empty-handed.

Sizzle.

Suddenly, a black SUV stopped by the roadside not far away.

The door opened, and Song Ran and Sima Gui got out together, hurrying towards him.

"You're injured! Get in the car first!" Song Ran grabbed Li Cheng颐, feeling the chill on his body, and was shocked.

"It's nothing… probably…" Li Cheng颐 wanted to refuse, but was stunned to find that his body was weak.

"Poisoned." Sima Gui helped to support Li Cheng颐, and the two of them helped him into the car.

Bang.

The door closed, and the SUV quickly started, heading back towards the company.

Leaving the girl by the roadside looking dazed, not knowing what had happened.

Inside the car.

Streaks of light from outside flashed across Li Cheng頤's body. He lay half-reclined on the back seat, his face pale, his lips gradually losing color.

"How did you get here?" Li Cheng颐 asked in a low voice, feeling his strength constantly draining away.

"All the equipment on you has the boss's special encryption and shielding, and it's constantly being adjusted by the headquarters department on the boss's side. As soon as you enter a blind spot, all the equipment on you will instantly lose all signal.

Unless you enter an environment that completely blocks any signal, you must have entered a blind spot."

Song Ran replied in a deep voice, "From the moment you joined the company, all the equipment on you has been protected by the company. It's not like any Tom, Dick, or Harry can invade and monitor it."

A trace of understanding flashed in Li Cheng頤's eyes.

In fact, he had somewhat sensed it, after all, he ran around everywhere and secretly changed clothes in many places. If his mobile phone and other equipment were being located, the problem would have been discovered long ago.

After all, in this world, it's not just cameras that can monitor people's whereabouts. Mobile phones, computers, AR glasses, any device with a chip can monitor a person's voice, location, and even images.

Secretly recording people's chats and conversations without their consent is nothing new in this information age.

"Feeling better?" Sima Gui quickly injected Li Cheng颐 with a purple potion.

The potion was taken from a first-aid kit in the car. The outer packaging was marked with rows of high-risk precautions, indicating that it was a fast-acting medicine with strong side effects.

"One shot of Green Shadow is enough, it can temporarily boost your body's metabolism and neutralize most kinds of toxins. Now start drinking plenty of water to speed up your metabolism," Song Ran said in a deep voice, "Can you determine which kind of toxin it is?"

"I'm not sure, there are no digestive system symptoms, it's mainly manifested in blood loss. His red blood cell concentration is decreasing, and it's happening fast!"

Sima Gui held a thermometer-like instrument tightly against Li Cheng頤's wrist, and said in a deep voice.

"Invasive microbial infection? Mixed with some kind of special hemolytic toxin?" Song Ran guessed.

"It's too fast, what hemolytic toxin can dissolve so many red blood cells so quickly!?" Sima Gui looked at the rapidly declining values on the instrument, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

He examined Li Cheng頤's wound. The wound was bleeding profusely, but there were no color changes.

"Damn it! What the hell is this! The instrument can't determine the source! The red blood cell concentration is almost at 30!! Think of something!!"

His voice became hurried. The normal value for an adult male is around 150, and 30 is extremely low.

"I'm not a doctor! Don't yell at me!" Song Ran's expression was solemn, and she switched the car to autopilot, bending down and opening a hidden compartment under the seat.

She took out a silver metal tube from it and threw it back.

"Inject him with this!"

"This is Dream Water! Are you crazy!?" Sima Gui caught the metal tube and instantly recognized it.

Dream Water, the most top-grade hallucinogenic and relaxing drug, was once very popular because it also had blood-replenishing effects, but it was later discovered to cause permanent damage to the nervous system, so it was classified as a prohibited item. This thing is also one of the most addictive drugs.

"Inject it! It's better than dying!" Song Ran raised her voice and shouted.

Sima Gui gritted his teeth and picked up the syringe to draw the medicine.

Snap.

Suddenly his hand was grabbed by Li Cheng颐.

"It's okay…" Li Cheng颐's face was pale, devoid of color, but at this moment, in the bright lights flashing through the car, a faint golden light swept across his body.

The golden light was very faint and weak, mixed in with the lights, and no one could detect it.

It was the Flower Proclamation of Fortification!

As the Flower Proclamation took effect, the blood loss on Li Cheng頤's body also began to slow down extremely.

"I can hold on, go to the hospital! Blood transfusion! Metabolic machine!" Li Cheng颐 said his last words, and his consciousness finally couldn't hold on, and he fell into a daze.

In a daze, he still maintained the lowest level of vigilance, watching Sima Gui and Song Ran stop the car and help him onto a stretcher.

Then there was the wailing sound of the ambulance, and the red and blue lights swayed in front of his eyes.

Perhaps it was the effect of the Flower Proclamation of Fortification that kept him conscious. Although his consciousness was muddled, his five senses could still see everything happening around him.

Entering the hospital, he was sent to the ICU. Machines were set up next to the hospital bed, and cold blood and medicine slowly entered his arm through an IV needle, and then flowed into his whole body.

The still-declining red blood cell index finally stabilized and began to slowly rise.

Li Cheng颐's eyes were slightly dark at this time, but he could still see through the floor-to-ceiling window that the boss, Sindella, was rushing over.

Through the glass, Sindella nodded heavily to him, and then swiped his card to pay.

"Don't worry, the company will take care of everything! It'll be reimbursed as a work injury," he said steadily through the intercom.

"Boss, you're so good!" Li Cheng颐 struggled to give him a thumbs up and squeezed out a smile.

"I'll take care of you until you're old," he said softly.

"You'd better live well yourself first," Sindella said speechlessly.

This kid, he still doesn't forget to joke even now.

He stood outside the ICU, looking at a test report handed over by a doctor next to him.

"The patient's body has a large amount of nerve toxins and hemolytic toxins of unknown composition. We can only stabilize his vital signs by completely replacing his blood. We took blood samples for testing, but the strange thing is that the blood samples we drew are all normal," the doctor said with a strong sense of incomprehension.

"His blood is completely normal human blood. Except for the red blood cell count being a little low, everything else is normal."

"Don't worry about so much, just tell me how much it will cost to cure him?" Sindella threw the form back to the doctor.

"At least three days, 50,000 a day. Fortunately, all of his organs are fine, which is incredible. The red blood cell count was so low, and it lasted for at least ten minutes before he was taken to the hospital, but all his organs are perfectly normal. This is simply…" the doctor said with an expression of incomprehension.

"Just cure him, the rest is none of your business," Sindella said lightly, his eyes looking through the glass at Li Cheng颐 lying in bed.

"You people…" the doctor narrowed his eyes, seemingly understanding something. Without saying anything else, he turned and shook his head and left.

"Boss, don't tell my family," Li Cheng颐 suddenly said.

"I know," Sindella said, "I'll help you hide it."

"Well, this time, I gained something. Although it was a bit dangerous, it should be worth it!" Li Cheng颐 said seriously.

He didn't expect the Silent Shop to be so dangerous. No wonder the label only said it would last for ten minutes.

Now that he thought about it, he was afraid that 99% of people wouldn't be able to survive those ten minutes.

In fact, if Song Ran and the others hadn't come, he estimated that he could have found a place to put on his Scale Armor and use the Fortification Flower Proclamation to stabilize his condition.

Of course, it was naturally better for them to come.

After all, the Fortification Flower Proclamation also has a time limit and needs to cool down.

"Gain? What gain?" Sindella asked in confusion.

"This." Li Cheng颐 raised his hand, revealing the mixed fruit juice he had been holding.

"What is that?"

To his surprise, Sindella couldn't see it at all. His eyes swept over his hand, where it was empty and there was nothing.

Li Cheng颐 looked at his expression and knew he wasn't faking it. The boss wasn't a person who liked to joke either.

Immediately, he understood.

"We'll talk when we get back to the company."

"Okay!"

The two quickly decided.

"Also, I need an AR that can be used offline. The cloud database being disconnected is completely useless," Li Cheng颐 said, speechless as he recalled the previous situation.

"We'll just add a storage device to your body," Sindella said with a smile.

"You should rest well, we'll talk when we get back."

"Okay."

Sindella turned and left, leaving Li Cheng颐 to slowly close his eyes on the bed and begin to rest.

This injury was the most severe he had suffered since entering the Dead Zone.

Li Cheng颐 stayed in the hospital for two full days before his condition basically stabilized. Once he was somewhat stable, he demanded to be discharged.

He was taken directly to a company apartment building in the city along with his hospital bed.

There were already people there to take care of him.

What surprised Li Cheng颐 was that no matter who he met along the way, whether it was doctors, nurses, Song Ran, Sima Gui, or other people from the company,

not a single one of them could see the bottle of fruit juice he was holding.

This strange phenomenon made him extremely curious about what was actually inside the bottle.

Similarly, this poisoning injury made him realize that he had to configure a special Flower Proclamation to deal with injuries, detoxification, and disease in his Flower God position.

Otherwise, it would be fine if he encountered a toxin that modern medicine could solve this time, but next time, if he contracted some kind of virus toxin that medicine was helpless with, he would definitely die.

In the Dead Zone, no one could say what dangers might appear.

He rested in the apartment for more than a day.

Sindella, Song Ran, and Sima Gui arrived together, finally coming to ask about what had happened that day.

Inside the spacious white bedroom.

Li Cheng颐 sat leaning against the bed, holding the bottle of mixed fruit juice in his hand. He looked at the three people sitting down opposite him.

He quickly described the situation in the Silent Shop.

"Silent Shop? Strange drink?" Sindella frowned slightly as he listened.

"I seem to have heard of this kind of Dead Zone somewhere…"

His eyes focused on Li Cheng颐's raised right hand. According to Li Cheng颐, there was a bottle of drink that others couldn't see there.

"In the past, there have been similar Dead Zones where people have obtained some rather strange things. Try opening it and see if you can pour anything out?" he suggested.

Li Cheng颐 nodded, reached out and pinched the cap, ready to unscrew it.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, attracted by the subtle writing on the bottle.

The strange writing that he had been completely unable to recognize before, now, as he concentrated, all twisted and transformed, turning into the Yi Country writing that he could understand!

And the strawberry and apple patterns on it had all turned into clusters of black and gray, hideous insects like centipedes.

These insects had human faces, expressions of resentment and pain, and their backs were covered with black-green moss.

Seeing these things, Li Cheng颐's hand, which was about to forcefully unscrew the cap, stopped.

He took a deep breath with a solemn expression, motioned for Sindella and the others to wait, and then carefully looked at the words on the bottle.

'Blood of the Resentful Shadow.'

'How to use: After opening the cap, aim it at a major blood vessel on your body, press it close, and continue for ten minutes to complete a blood exchange.'

'Effect: Gain a small amount of Resentful Shadow racial characteristics.'

'Side effects: Unknown.'

'Restrictions: Only for use by the acquirer, cannot be analyzed, cannot be separated from the body, cannot be perceived.'

(End of chapter)