Chapter 65: Madam Goldfish

After Wu Xian fled, he walked in the direction opposite to the city.

Regarding how to break the loop, Wu Xian had several hypotheses. One of them was to run far away and escape the scope of the loop.

However, before Wu Xian could run very far, he suddenly felt a sharp pain. The left half of his body felt as if it were being split open; his bones, internal organs, flesh, skin, and the soles of his feet all ached intensely. Furthermore, the greater the distance, the more violent the agony became.

Wu Xian had no choice but to stop in his tracks. Right on cue, two lines of text appeared in his vision:

[You have fled the detective's pursuit, but this is only temporary. Sooner or later, they will find you... no matter where you hide.]

[Legend has it that Xianwei City has a special plastic surgery clinic. Everyone who walks out of there sheds their old identity, leaves the past behind, and embraces a new life. Perhaps only by becoming someone else can you escape the pursuit.]

"Great, so you just won't let me leave."

"Fine, absolutely fantastic."

"Hiss... Wait, when I wanted to kill the evil spirit earlier, the Disciple Register came to stop me. Why didn't the register say a thing just now when I wanted to kill Wei Hao?"

Wu Xian's expression turned gloomy. A moment later, he let out a long sigh.

He draped the outer garment stained with black dog blood over his shoulder and trudged dejectedly back toward Xianwei City.

"Ah, it's so far... I might as well hitch a ride."

Wu Xian looked into the distance and saw a white sedan approaching just in time...

...

"Little brother, this is my contact information. Remember to come find me. The bed at my home is very big and very comfortable."

A voluptuous and charming young matron closed the car door, poked her head out of the window, blew a kiss at Wu Xian, and slowly drove away in her white BMW sedan.

Wu Xian waved at her enthusiastically. "Big sister, don't worry! Once I finish taking care of business, I will definitely come looking for you!"

As soon as the car drove out of sight, Wu Xian immediately dropped his smile into a deadpan expression.

To avoid having to walk all the way back to the city, he had been forced to sacrifice his looks and seduce a wealthy female driver into giving him a ride here.

Then he raised his head and looked up.

"Reincarnation Plastic Surgery Clinic... This is it."

Wu Xian pushed open the clinic doors.

The room inside was very simple, containing only two sofas. A woman wearing a white lab coat, bulging goldfish eyes, and smoking a long pipe sat with her legs crossed, watching a soap opera. Upon seeing Wu Xian enter, she flashed a strange smile.

"It's you, customer. Running out of options again?"

Wu Xian raised an eyebrow. "Have we met?"

The woman blew out a ring of smoke. "Of course. After all, the last time, I was the one who helped you 'get surgery'."

...

"Damn it!"

Wu Xian cursed under his breath.

If he had indeed undergone surgery with this woman before, it meant this plastic surgery clinic was also a part of this loop. Moreover, there had been multiple cases of criminals escaping the detectives' pursuit here, yet the loop still persisted.

From this perspective, it was the right decision for Wu Xian not to kill Wei Hao. If he wanted to break the loop, a few minor changes definitely wouldn't be enough.

He sat down opposite the woman.

"What should I call you, doctor?"

"Titles are just codes. You can call me Ms. Goldfish."

Wu Xian's mouth twitched. This name didn't sound like a doctor at all; it sounded more like a charlatan fortune-teller operating out of a tent, though it certainly matched her appearance.

"I saw on the billboard outside that getting surgery here can rid me of any past troubles. May I hear how you pull that off?"

Ms. Goldfish produced a form and showed it to Wu Xian.

"If you just want to avoid friends and family and restart your life, swapping a layer of skin is enough."

Wu Xian's eyes widened in disbelief.

Just swapping skin was enough?

That sounded so casual! Which plastic surgery clinic required replacing an entire layer of skin?

"If you've committed a serious offense and want to escape the pursuit of the Investigation Bureau, you need a blood transfusion in addition to a skin replacement. That way, even those inspectors and detectives won't be able to track you down."

Wu Xian recalled the four evil spirits residing within his body.

"Then... what if I want to escape a curse?"

Ms. Goldfish's thick lips curled upward.

"If you are burdened by a curse or targeted by an evil spirit, replacing skin and blood won't solve it."

"That requires replacing your entire body!"

Wu Xian realized this was what he needed. "If I replace my body, can I shake off the curse?"

Ms. Goldfish shook her head. "The curse will be temporarily left behind in your old body, but curses don't just vanish. It will eventually find you again. How to eliminate the curse before it enters your new body is entirely your own problem."

After listening to Ms. Goldfish's explanation, Wu Xian pondered inwardly.

Replacing an entire body sounded horrifying and utterly unacceptable.

However, the body Wu Xian was currently using wasn't his original one anyway.

Furthermore, if he didn't follow Ms. Goldfish's instructions, only one fate awaited him: either be hunted down by the detective for revenge, get shot by the Investigation Bureau, or suffer a lethal outbreak of the evil spirits within him.

...

But would changing his body truly guarantee safety?

This amounted to placing his life entirely in the hands of this deeply suspicious woman. If she decided to do something to him, Wu Xian wouldn't even know how he died.

After turning it over in his mind, Wu Xian let out a long sigh.

Since the Disciple Register demanded that he do this, then he would just have to do it.

Ms. Goldfish was not responsible for dealing with the curse, which meant that at least until the curse was resolved, Wu Xian would still be relatively safe. Thus, Wu Xian agreed.

Ms. Goldfish led Wu Xian to a spacious room.

As soon as he stepped inside, Wu Xian's expression shifted in shock once again.

"Go ahead and choose a physical vessel. See which one suits your taste."

This room bore a striking resemblance to the tailor's cloakroom, except instead of disassembled human body parts, it contained complete human bodies.

All of these bodies were male with slightly wavy hair, differing only slightly in height and build. Steel hooks pierced the skin of their backs, hanging them up like carcasses in a slaughterhouse.

The scene was rather bizarre.

Yet Wu Xian could accept it. He calmly asked Ms. Goldfish,

"After I swap my body here, I'll essentially have nothing left. How am I supposed to pay for the service?"

Ms. Goldfish took a puff of her pipe. "No payment required. I only need the physical body you leave behind. A fresh, living human body is extremely valuable."

No payment again?

Alright, this woman was definitely shady!

Wu Xian asked again, "Then... if my 'surgery' is successful, I'll lose my identity. How am I supposed to make a living afterward? I can't just become a homeless wanderer."

Ms. Goldfish smiled and pulled open a drawer.

The drawer was packed densely with identification documents, all of which belonged to doctors.

"I have connections at a psychiatric hospital. They happen to be short on doctors right now, and since you used to do this for a living anyway, I can place you in there."

"Given the state you're in, you shouldn't be picky about jobs anymore."

Wu Xian rolled his eyes.

Great, he was right back where he started, dammit. No matter what, he refused to follow the script of the loop this time.

Still, he played along verbally.

"Alright, being a doctor is my specialty."