013, Median Strip

Thud...

Alex's body heavily fell to the floor.

With her eyes tightly closed, her lovely features seemed twisted in pain. As her center of gravity shifted, her bent legs slowly parted, assuming a lying position.

Du Wei exhaled a murky breath, walked over to her, snapped shut the silver cross dagger, and tucked it into his clothing.

Behind him,

the bizarre Antique Clock was completely wrapped in a Shroud, and all the strange changes around it had vanished.

Everything seemed to have returned to normal.

...

Struggling to open her eyes, the back of her head and back faintly ached.

Alex frowned and murmured, shaking her head slightly as she sat up from the couch.

Opposite her, Du Wei, with a cool expression, was toying with a ring that faintly bore inscribed letters...val?

"You've slept for over an hour, Miss Alex."

"That long?"

Alex rubbed her shoulders, feeling as if something had happened while she had been asleep.

"I'm really sorry to have kept you waiting so long."

"It's fine."

Du Wei smiled at her and slipped the ring into his pocket. "First off, congratulations are in order. Your illness has improved. For the following period, as long as you take your medication regularly, there should be no issues."

"I'll take the medicine on time, but are you sure you didn't do anything to me while I was asleep?"

Alex felt the soreness in her body and looked at Du Wei with a strange expression.

Du Wei said somewhat helplessly, "Rest assured, I truly didn't do anything to you."

"Alright..."

Alex felt a bit down, and then she noticed something beside Du Wei wrapped in brown linen, a familiar shape.

"What is this?"

Alex was puzzled, recalling that when Du Wei had arrived, he didn't seem to have brought anything other than his medical case.

After a moment of silence, Du Wei said, "This is your family's Antique Clock."

"Ah?" Alex looked surprised and asked, "What do you mean? Do you like this Antique Clock that much?"

Du Wei's face stiffened as he replied, "Yes, I plan to buy it."

Alex's expression turned even more puzzled, and she cautiously asked, "You're going to buy this mid-18th-century Antique Clock? Do you know how much it costs?"

Du Wei: …

Mid-18th century?

That sounded rather expensive...

"How much?"

He looked into Alex's eyes, feeling quite reluctant inside.

Originally, he had ample time to take the abnormal Antique Clock away, but doing so would certainly cause a lot of trouble.

Furthermore, even if he told Alex that her problems were caused by the Antique Clock, it would be hard to believe and would only lead to more trouble.

After all, in the eyes of most people, the world is scientific, and evil spirits are just ancient legends, text in novels, images in movies.

And he had come as a doctor.

But if he were to buy it with money…

He might have money, but compared to Alex, the wealthy lady, there was a stark contrast between a poor man of moderate means and one with financial freedom.

Not to mention, just the furniture in Alex's home alone could probably buy out his psychotherapy clinic.

Alex, unaware of Du Wei's thoughts, said with a slight smile, "It's not expensive. I got it at an auction along with a batch of antiques. I originally planned to give it to my father, but then I found the Antique Clock quite interesting and kept it at home. I don't remember the exact price; it should only be eight hundred thousand."

Actually, Alex remembered very clearly that the price of the Antique Clock was one million eight hundred thousand. However, she thought that telling Du Wei the real price might frighten him.

There's a saying that the gap between the rich and the poor is not just monetary, but also a difference in values.

She didn't want Du Wei to feel a gulf between their living situations, so she deliberately deducted a million.

Du Wei, unaware of the woman's kindness in front of him, fell silent upon hearing the price of eight hundred thousand.

The exchange rates between currencies in this world haven't changed much.

Eight hundred thousand dollars converted into the currency of the East generally requires multiplying by about six or seven times.

Hmm...

That is a huge sum of money.

Du Wei really wanted to say he was sorry to disturb, but considering his current situation, he could only grit his teeth and say, "Can I take out a loan?"

"Pfft..."

Alex laughed, looking at Du Wei with a playful gaze, "Actually, it's broken now, and the technique to repair it has been lost. Its value isn't as high as I mentioned, probably just about two hundred thousand. I can sell it to you for a bit less if you want."

With that, she leaned forward, moving closer to Du Wei, and said seriously, "In fact, if you just ask, I could give it to you."

Upon hearing this, Du Wei couldn't help but recognize what Alex was suggesting. He gave a wry smile and rubbed his forehead.

"I will transfer the money to you right now."

Upon hearing this, a genuine tenderness flashed across Alex's eyes.

She felt like she was in love.

...

In the afternoon, at 16:34.

The rain had intensified, and the sky had turned even more overcast.

Du Wei was driving his Subaru Impreza on the road.

On the passenger seat, an antique clock, tightly wrapped in a shroud, was securely fastened by a seatbelt.

After purchasing the antique clock from Alex, Du Wei was feeling quite conflicted.

He had always been a rational person, not one to let certain things affect him, but this time he really owed a great favor.

Granted, he had also solved a problem for Alex.

But for her, everything was done unconsciously.

He had checked the price of this antique clock and only found an auction record for a later one from the 18th century that looked even more worn, at one million three hundred thousand.

But Alex had sold it to Du Wei for just two hundred thousand.

And as a price for the favor, on Tuesday the following week, which was the day after tomorrow, he had agreed to spend the whole day with Alex.

Du Wei sighed deeply and glanced at his face in the rearview mirror.

Calm, indifferent, seemingly unconcerned about anything.

But actually quite handsome...

...

At this moment.

Around the mental health clinic, isolation tape had already been put up.

Many pedestrians stood around watching, and reporters began to arrive one after another.

Several uniformed officers from the North Brook District were maintaining order; otherwise, these daring reporters and the public might do something out of line.

Take photos and post them online?

That would undoubtedly cause a commotion.

"Fuck!"

Officer Tom threw the burned-out cigarette butt on the ground, stomped it out with his foot, and his facial expression was incredibly grim.

"Damn it, the weird cases these past couple of days outnumber my visits to the Red Light District this month."

At that moment, he looked up and saw a brand-new Subaru Impreza parked across the street. His face darkened immediately, and he hurried over.

"Hey, Dr. Du Wei, I had someone notify you, but your phone has been unreachable. If you don't come back soon, I might have to put out a warrant for you."

Du Wei opened the car door and stepped out. The first sentence he heard made him frown.

"What do you mean?"

Tom turned his head and gestured towards the house behind him cordoned off with tape, "Two pieces of really bad news, your neighbor Roy has been found dead at home. Before dying, someone saw her passing your front door, so now you're connected to this case."

Du Wei's brow furrowed, "And the other?"

Tom looked him in the eyes and said, "I have to say, it's a miracle that you've been neighbors with this kind of person and are still alive."

As he said this, he moved closer to Du Wei, staring intently into his eyes: "Roy was a cultist. We found a lot of blood and some special symbols and ritual arrays in her home. You know, these people have water in their heads, and I can't guarantee that her friends won't have some dangerous ideas about you, like, slaughtering you."