International Waters, The Gambling Ship
Knock, knock, knock, knock!
Sharp, urgent knocks cut through the dead silence of the cruise liner.
"Miss Ye, it's urgent! The patient you treated earlier has suffered a sudden heart attack. Please come at once!"
Ye Jiuting jolted fully awake, leaped out of bed, grabbed her medical kit, and flung the door open.
She sprinted after the steward to the patient's suite.
In the luxurious room, casino chips littered the floor, mixed with disheveled clothes and rumpled sheets.
The air reeked of musk.
A thin man lay stiff on the floor, motionless.
A woman knelt beside him, her makeup streaked with tears.
The couple, surnamed Zhou, were Chinese nationals.
They were the very patients Ye Jiuting had treated not long ago.
Ye Jiuting knelt beside the man, set down her kit, flashed a penlight into his eyes.
His pupils were dilated and unresponsive.
She pressed two fingers to his carotid artery.
No pulse. His skin was already cool to the touch.
She listened with a stethoscope, then packed up her equipment and stood.
"He's been dead for roughly four hours. Why didn't you call for a doctor sooner?"
Mrs. Zhou broke down sobbing. "We… we were being intimate earlier. I thought he was just exhausted. I didn't think anything of it. When I woke up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I couldn't wake him."
She suddenly froze, eyes widening at Ye Jiuting.
"If he died four hours ago — that's less than an hour after you gave him that cold shot! You're a quack! A murderer!"
All eyes snapped to Ye Jiuting at once.
A false charge, a disaster out of nowhere.
Ye Jiuting calmly pulled off her mask.
"Do you have proof my medicine was faulty? When we dock, the coroner will perform an autopsy. If I am guilty, the law will punish me."
Mrs. Zhou shrieked, slamming her fists against her chest as she collapsed onto the floor, wailing.
"God in heaven! The murderer still acts so high and mighty! How are we victims supposed to live? Husband! I'm useless, I can't avenge you — I'll join you!"
With that, she snatched a fruit knife and pressed it to her own throat.
Security guards moved lightning-fast, grabbing her wrist.
Mrs. Zhou thrashed and screamed, hurling insults at Ye Jiuting, threatening to kill herself.
The cruise manager stepped in front of Ye Jiuting.
"Miss Ye, we paid handsomely to bring you aboard to safeguard everyone's health. Now this has happened. Please find a way to resolve this."
Ye Jiuting replied, "This was not my doing."
This was The Mortal Realm, one of the world's largest gambling ships, filled with powerful and wealthy people from all walks of life.
The ship's secret owner was a friend of her father's.
The ship's contracted doctor had been in a car accident, and with the vessel about to set sail, no reliable replacement could be found.
The owner had asked her father, who had personally spoken to her — that was the only reason she had agreed to step in.
Now this mess had fallen into her lap. She was frustrated too.
"Whether it was your fault or not will be determined by the autopsy," the manager said. "For now, we must calm Mrs. Zhou. I have an improper request."
"Say it."
"Your medicine is certainly fine. If you inject a dose in front of her — inject me, and I'll be unharmed. That will clear your name."
Ye Jiuting said, "They accuse me. Let them provide evidence. I do not need to prove my innocence."
The manager bowed deeply to her.
"Miss Ye, please — just help me. If another life is lost, I will be held responsible. I beg you."
He started to kneel.
Ye Jiuting reached out and held him up. She took a vial of the same antiviral injection she had given Mr. Zhou, and plunged it into her own arm.
"Is that enough?"
No one spoke. They only stared at her, motionless.
Ye Jiuting bent down, closed her medical kit, picked it up, and left.
Mrs. Zhou chased after her, shouting at her back: "We'll check on you in an hour! If you're dead, you're the murderer!"
Ye Jiuting ignored her, picking up her pace.
Moments later, her vision blurred. Her blood began to burn. Her limbs went weak.
The medical kit slipped from her hand and crashed onto the floor.
She bent to pick it up and nearly collapsed.
Ye Jiuting leaned against the wall, waiting for the feeling to pass.
But instead of fading, the symptoms only grew worse.
An unbearable, gnawing itch spread from her chest, seeping into her bones, invading every cell.
Her throat went dry. Her hands began stripping off her clothes, moving on their own.
Halfway, her mind snapped back to clarity.
This was an international-waters gambling ship. A den of thieves and predators.
If she collapsed naked in the corridor… she could not imagine the catastrophe that would follow.
What was happening to her?
Her mind felt foggy, thinking difficult.
But she understood in two seconds.
The injection.
Her medicine had been swapped.
She had been set up.
Realizing this, she could not stay still for a second longer.
Ye Jiuting tried to run, but her legs gave out. She fell to the floor, unable to get up.
She curled into a ball, hugging herself tightly, letting out soft, helpless whimpers without meaning to.
Suddenly, messy footsteps approached.
She lifted her blurry eyes. Several men in steward uniforms were running toward her.
"Miss, are you ill? Don't worry — we'll take you to the infirmary right away."
They reached for her body.
"I'm not sick. I just need to rest. Don't touch me."
They ignored her, lifting her roughly and carrying her away.
Ye Jiuting struggled desperately, but her body was completely limp. She could only watch, helpless, as they carried her off.
They had appeared far too quickly. This was planned. Premeditated.
If she was taken away, locked in some room…
She would scream until her throat was raw, and no one would answer. Life or death would be out of her hands.
Ye Jiuting bit her lip until it bled. The pain jolted her slightly more alert.
She screamed: "Help… someone, help me!"
"Gag her." A voice ordered.
A hand clamped over her mouth. She could only make muffled whimpers.
She watched helplessly as they stopped in front of a door.
Someone inside was already waiting, yanking it open.
At the very last second, a commanding, imposing voice boomed through the empty corridor.
"Stop. What do you think you're doing?"
Ye Jiuting turned her head. Through her blurred vision, a tall, elegantly built man was walking toward them.
He carried an overwhelming, authoritative presence. The entire area fell silent.
The stewards holding her immediately set her down, lined up, and bowed deeply, respectfully and fearfully.
"Mr. God of Gamblers."
The God of Gamblers was the most revered man on the ship. Everyone stepped aside for him.
There was a saying in the industry:
If you had not sat at his table, you were not truly in the game.
He was a legend at the gambling tables, mysterious, admired by all.
Ye Jiuting had heard of him. She knew — if he helped her, she would be safe.
She scrambled toward him on her hands and knees, clinging to his calf.
"Mr. God of Gamblers… save me."