Chapter 172: Finally A Solution! |
“No.”
【Correct answer. You may ask one question, and it shall be answered truthfully.】
Yu Xiao didn’t miss a beat. Still clutching the rogue sign, she fixed her gaze on the newly compliant one. “What’s the remedy for the intrusion of yin energy into the human body?”
“…”
The sign remained stubbornly blank.
She shrugged, unfazed. “Nightmare, you can step on it now. Just don’t break it.”
Another satisfying crunch echoed through the corridor as the sign met its colourful demise. Nightmare, now burdened with two signs and a smug expression, followed Yu Xiao deeper into the labyrinth.
**
【Yu Xiao and Zhou Xiao Zhen are both in danger. You can only save one. Whom do you choose to save?】
The question was a punch to the gut, but Zhao Lan had learned to expect the unexpected in this place. This was the cardiology department, after all; a playground for twisted games of the heart.
Both Smiley and Precious were dear friends, two of the few she’d had before illness landed her in this hospital. Losing either would be unbearable.
But panic wouldn’t help. Taking a deep breath, she answered, “I choose to save Yu Xiao.”
It wasn’t that Yu Xiao meant more to her. It was a strategy. Yu Xiao was clever, resourceful. If anyone could find a way to save them both, it was her.
【Correct answer. You may ask one question, and it shall be answered truthfully.】
Relief washed over her as the familiar black letters appeared. How these signs judged the “correctness” of an answer was a mystery, but at least she was moving in the right direction.
“How can I safely leave this instance?” she asked, wasting no time on pleasantries.
As if in answer, the left corridor lit up, a sign above it promising a green-tinged escape route. Relief warred with a spike of anxiety. So, failing the first question hadn’t completely doomed her.
But as she walked towards the exit, she rolled up her sleeve, her gaze falling on her left hand. Still grotesquely swollen, still twisted into a mockery of its former self. Getting a question right didn’t seem to undo the physical consequences.
A chill ran down her spine. One wrong answer, and part of her became a ghost. Six wrong answers… and what then?
The thought of her head turning into a ghost’s head sent shivers down Zhao Lan’s spine. She had always been a pessimist, her mind naturally gravitating towards worst-case scenarios. If escaping this nightmare meant being stuck with a ghostly left hand, one that couldn’t be fixed or hidden, well… she might just chop the damn thing off. Life with a haunted appendage wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time.
Lost in morbid contemplation, she reached another crossroads. And, as always, a sign stood sentinel, a new question etched across its surface.
【A person from the future once said that Yu Xiao would die in the hospital. To save her, would you be willing to sacrifice your own life?】
Silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating. Zhao Lan held her breath, her heart pounding. The question shouldn’t have surprised her. If she had been forced to choose between Smiley and Precious, then choosing between herself and Smiley was the natural progression, wasn’t it?
She exhaled, taking a long, shaky breath. It was just a question, a hypothetical. And somewhere out there, others were facing their own impossible choices. But still, she couldn’t help but put herself in that scenario, feel the weight of that decision.
This hospital wasn’t built for virtue or selflessness. This was the heart of the matter, the cardiology department. Maybe the “correct” answer was simply the truest one.
“Don’t be afraid of being selfish,” she told herself, steeling her resolve. Shame, hesitation, those could sway her answer. There was no shame in self-preservation.
Except… memories flickered, vivid and bright: the three of them, facing chemotherapy together, facing one terrifying ordeal after another in this cursed Sixth Hospital. The Time Hospital, Ye Tao’s cryptic words… She had said only she and Precious had made it out of the Sixth. That Smiley hadn’t.
The memory was like a cold fist squeezing her heart. What could possibly have happened that would leave Yu Xiao behind?
Zhao Lan wrestled with the question, searching for the truth buried deep within. Finally, she whispered, “I would.”
A strange sense of peace settled over her, like shackles falling away. This feeling wasn’t so terrible. To have someone worth dying for, didn’t that mean she had already won something precious?
And maybe, just maybe, if Yu Xiao lived, there was a chance for her too. Maybe she just couldn’t bear the thought of living with regret, with guilt. Whatever the reason, she had made her choice.
【Correct answer. You may ask one question, and it shall be answered truthfully.】
Confirmation. The truth,; that’s what these signs craved. The raw, unfiltered desires of the human heart.
Another question. This time, Zhao Lan wouldn’t waste it on escape routes. There was something else, something that had been nagging at her for a while. Smiley was hiding something, something important. Normally, she wouldn’t pry, even with her best friend. But these weren’t normal circumstances, were they?
The unease gnawed at her, a persistent itch she couldn’t scratch. What if Smiley’s secret was the key to why she won’t leave?
Taking a deep breath, she addressed the sign. “I want to know what Yu Xiao is concealing from us.”
The letters on the sign writhed, rearranging themselves into a dense block of text. Zhao Lan’s eyes scanned the words, her face paling with each passing second.
**
【Nightmare longs to be the most significant presence in your heart, but as long as Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiaozhen are alive, he cannot achieve this. To protect Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiaozhen, would you choose to kill Nightmare?】
Yu Xiao choked back a gasp. Beside her, Nightmare directed a venomous glare at the sign before turning his watery eyes to her.
“Don’t worry,” she muttered, “I’m not falling for that.”
Nightmare nodded, already plotting to kill Qing Niao once they escaped this twisted side quest.
“I will not kill Nightmare,” Yu Xiao declared, her voice firm.
【Correct answer. You may ask one question, and it shall be answered truthfully.】
Experience told her that repeating her previous question would be futile. Besides, she had a growing collection of signs to interrogate later.
“What is a domain?”
The sign remained stubbornly blank. Just as her frustration reached boiling point, words began to appear, densely packed, as if the sign itself resented the question.
【When the power of some deceased individuals becomes imbalanced, their longing for life creates a space in the world of the dead, representing the place most deeply ingrained in their memories from when they were alive…】
So that was a domain. No wonder the Director had said they were innate, not something you could just build. But what did “imbalanced power” even mean? And how large a part constituted “some”?
The more she thought about it, the more questions arose. She snatched another sign from Nightmare’s growing collection. “What was the reason for the predecessor who promised to take over the Director’s position suddenly reneging?”
The sign: “…”
Yu Xiao stared at the blank board, her patience finally snapping. “You can’t answer that either? What good are you? Nightmare, rip it to shreds and feed it to the three-headed dog!”
Nightmare didn’t hesitate. He snatched the offending sign, claws extended, ready to unleash his fury.
But just as he was about to strike, the sign flickered. A single line of text, faint as a whisper, materialised on its surface.
He held it out, and Yu Xiao squinted at the ghostly words.
【He had found a way to save the patients.】
Yu Xiao’s jaw dropped.
The words vanished as quickly as they’d appeared. On the signs Nightmare still held, one word blazed with fury.
【Traitor!】
The other sign, now abandoned on the floor, simply displayed a heartbroken emoticon.
【(ToT)】
- (（ToT）is an emoticon used in Chinese and global internet culture to express extreme sadness or despair, resembling a crying face.)
He’d found a way to save the patients! It was like a bolt of lightning had split the darkness. The predecessor had found a solution to the Yin energy problem!
The director didn’t choose his successors lightly. They had to be capable, yes, but they also had to possess a certain… humanity. A willingness to sacrifice for their companions, a flicker of compassion in the face of despair.
The predecessor had accepted the position, then changed his mind at the last moment. Not out of fear, but because he’d found another way. He didn’t need to be the hospital director anymore. He’d found a solution!
But something didn’t add up. Yu Xiao paced, her mind racing.
If he’d left with such confidence, it meant he hadn’t just found a solution, he’d told someone about it. Set a plan in motion.
And yet, all these years later, the patients were still suffering. The first hospital was practically a ghost town.
Something had gone wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong.
The predecessor must have done something before he left. Something that was then undone. Had the director interfered? Sabotaged any chance of a cure?
But the director didn’t seem to care about the hospital, not really. He wanted reincarnation, nothing more.
Yu Xiao raked her fingers through her hair, frustration building. Wait a minute…… why was she trying to solve this on her own?
Yu Xiao whirled around, grabbing the remaining sign, the one that had yet to provide a single answer. “Why did the precautions the predecessor left fail?”
The sign: 【…】
“Cat got your tongue?” she threatened sweetly. “Nightmare, tear it up and feed it to the dog.”
The sign: 【…】
Still nothing. This sign was more stubborn than a mule.
It was becoming increasingly clear that she wasn’t going to find a solution to the Yin energy problem here. She glared at the sign, genuinely tempted to follow through with her threat.
**
Zhou Xiao Zhen, having successfully navigated several questions, had a revelation. The questions appeared at regular intervals, whether she asked for directions or not. As long as she found the right path before time ran out, or she kicked the bucket, she was golden.
And if that was the case… well, this sign claimed to answer any question, didn’t it? Who was she to pass up such an opportunity?
At the next intersection, after dispatching the latest query, she addressed the sign. “What were the answers to all my exam subjects that year?”
The sign: 【…】
It remained blank, a monument to disappointment.
“Didn’t you say any question?” Zhou Xiao Zhen rolled her eyes. “Liars.”
Maybe it could only answer questions related to the hospital. “Right, how long until I can get discharged?”
The sign: 【…】
“Can’t answer that either?” Her eyes nearly rolled out of her head. “The audacity of this thing!”
The sign: 【…】
“Who does Smiley have a crush on?”
The sign: 【…】
“Did Misty ever date that guy she was sponsoring?”
The sign: 【…】
“What do I have to do to become a hospital bigwig like Smiley?”
The sign: 【…】
Zhou Xiao Zhen threw her hands up in the air. “Useless!”
**
She wasn’t the only one putting the sign to… alternative uses. Luo Jin, struck by a similar brainwave, decided to address his most pressing concern. “Will I be discharged?”
The sign: 【…】
Maybe it couldn’t answer questions about things that hadn’t happened yet. He tried a different tactic. “Can this whole Yin energy problem be solved?”
【Yes.】
Luo Jin’s heart skipped a beat.
“How?” he breathed, hope flaring like a beacon in the darkness.
Silence.
Luo Jin almost laughed. How could he forget? The sign had already answered his question. No matter. He was buzzing with newfound hope, ready to tackle whatever lay ahead.
**
Lu Xu, meanwhile, was attempting a different tactic. He stood before the sign, a sly grin spreading across his face. This… this was a clever question.
“Can Luo Jin and I be discharged together?”
Genius! That way, he’d find out about both of their fates in one go. What a magnificent brain he had!
But the sign remained stubbornly blank. Apparently, even inanimate objects weren’t immune to his friend’s unique brand of luck.
“Fine,” he muttered, adjusting his approach. “Can I be successfully discharged?”
The sign: 【…】
Nothing? Maybe discharge-related questions were off-limits. Time for a rethink. “When will I have enough points to be discharged?”
The sign: 【…】
Frustration bubbled up, hot and prickly. “You said you could answer anything!” he burst out. “If you’re so smart, tell me when old Luo last had a… a… spring dream!”
- (Spring dream (春梦; chūn mèng) – an idiomatic expression for a romantic or erotic dream, highlighting traditional Chinese cultural euphemisms for intimate subjects.)
【Two years, three months, and three days ago, at 11:26 pm.】
Lu Xu: 【…】
He stared at the sign, his mind a complete blank. Three full minutes ticked by before the words finally penetrated.
Old Luo… oh, Old Luo… Lu Xu slumped against the wall, tears pricking his eyes. You made me waste a question!
**
Yu Qing Lang eyed the sign, a thoughtful expression on her face. What question, what question… what valuable piece of information could she extract from this cryptic entity?
“When will I be discharged?” she finally asked.
The lack of response surprised no one. She clicked her tongue, a slow smile spreading across her face. This horror hospital wasn’t exactly known for its generosity. It wasn’t about to hand over any truly useful information.
“Right, new plan,” she murmured. “What’s the answer to the next question?”
The sign seemed to stall, the silence stretching on for several agonising minutes before an answer flickered into existence.
【I do.】
Yu Qing Lang chuckled. This instance was turning out to be ridiculously easy.