Chapter 174: Heart To Heart Chat |
The endless red arrows had started to feel less like guidance and more like a threat. Zhao Lan’s heart pounded with a fear that had nothing to do with ghosts or monsters. What if this path didn’t lead to Yu Xiao? What if it led nowhere at all?
She stopped, leaning against the cool wall, chest heaving. The corridor stretched before her, seemingly infinite. She glanced at her phone – four hours. Four hours she’d been walking, and still no end in sight. Had she been tricked, lured into some endless loop?
Should she turn back? Would she even be able to find her way back after all this time?
As she hesitated, two figures emerged from the gloom ahead. Zhao Lan’s eyes widened, her fingers already reaching for her talismans.
…
【Correct answer. You may ask one question, and it shall be answered truthfully.】
Yu Qing Lang read the familiar message, a sense of unease settling in her gut. Six questions, she’d answered correctly. Six questions, and she’d known the answers all along. But something wasn’t right. Each card only allowed one question. Asking about the question meant she couldn’t ask about the exit. Was that why she was still trapped here, because she was choosing her own path?
The cards didn’t just hold the right answers; they held the right questions. And the right question… was the way out.
“How do I leave this instance?” she asked, several intersections later.
**
Luo Jin stared at the question card, his vision blurring. It was blank. Utterly, infuriatingly blank. He closed his eyes, a long, weary sigh escaping his lips. So the hospital wouldn’t tell him how to get rid of the yin energy. Wouldn’t give him a glimpse of his future.
He could live with that. He could sleep now, thanks to Yu Xiao, and that made all the difference. Wide Sea and Sky had made it out. If he could just hold on, keep the darkness at bay…
He pushed the frustration aside. “How do I leave this instance?” he asked.
**
Lu Xu wasn’t taking any chances. One wasted question was enough. He stuck to asking for directions, each answer leading him further down the rabbit hole. At the eighth intersection, the corridor opened into a vast space, eerily familiar. It reminded him of the ground floor lobby of some hospitals.
A sign to his left caught his eye:
【Discharge procedures this way.】
He followed the arrow, arriving at a counter labelled “Inpatient Discharge Office”. A notice beside it instructed patients to queue. Several figures stood in line.
He could only see their backs, but something about them set his teeth on edge. They hadn’t come in with him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Xu joined the queue, choosing the very end.
Behind the counter sat a ghost in a black suit, her face a mask of deathly white save for the blood-red slash of her lips. Every now and then, she’d glance at the waiting patients, lips parting to reveal a set of sharp, needle-like teeth. It wasn’t a friendly smile.
Lu Xu frowned, catching a muttered curse from the figure in front of him. “Damn.”
He blinked. Ghosts swore?
Hesitantly, he reached out and tapped the ghost on the back. The figure stiffened, remaining utterly still.
That was… weird. It wasn’t like he’d hit a pressure point.
The ghost’s strange reaction put Lu Xu on edge. He was about to say something, anything, to break the tension when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to see Zhou Xiao Zhen hurrying towards him.
“You’re here too!” she exclaimed, relief flooding her features.
Lu Xu felt a sliver of his own apprehension melt away. “Get in line,” he said, gesturing to the queue.
Relieved to see a familiar face, Zhou Xiao Zhen didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings. “Are you the only one who made it?” she asked, rushing to join him.
“Looks like it,” Lu Xu said. “We’re the first ones here.”
“That’s weird,” Zhou Xiao Zhen frowned. “Smiley and Misty are usually faster than me.”
They chatted for a bit, catching up. Lu Xu had been wondering about something Yu Xiao had mentioned. “She said I’d have loads of stuff to sell after this instance. Is there something special about it?”
Zhou Xiao Zhen slapped her forehead. “Damn, I totally forgot!”
They’d each entered the instance with a bag full of bizarre props, courtesy of Jealousy. The plan had been to test them out on any ghosts they encountered. But apart from the attending doctor Qing Niao, they hadn’t seen a single one.
She eyed the queue ahead. “Think those are all ghosts?” she whispered.
Lu Xu nodded. “Probably. I poked the guy in front earlier, and he acted really strange. Not exactly a normal reaction.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen’s eyes lit up. Finally, a chance to experiment!
She was about to open her bag when the guy in front spun around, scowling. “Who doesn’t look like a living person?” he snapped. He jabbed a finger at Lu Xu. “I thought you were a ghost! What am I supposed to do if a ghost pokes me?!”
Lu Xu could only stare.
The rest of the queue, silent until now, erupted in a cacophony of surprised shouts.
“Bloody hell! You’re all alive?”
“I thought I was the only one!”
“Me too! I was too scared to say anything…”
“Did you all come from Cardiology?”
“…”
The previously hushed hall was suddenly buzzing with excited chatter. Everyone, that is, except Zhou Xiao Zhen. Her shoulders slumped. No ghost guinea pigs after all.
**
The figures had materialised from the shadows so silently, Zhao Lan swore her heart skipped a beat. She clutched her talisman, eyes glued to the approaching figures, and slowly, carefully, backed away.
Then, the taller figure tilted its head, and a familiar voice broke the silence.
“Misty?”
“Smiley?!” Relief washed over Zhao Lan, banishing the fear. “It’s you!”
As they drew closer, she could finally see their faces – Yu Xiao and Nightmare. She let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. “Don’t do that! You scared me half to death.”
“What are you doing here?” Confusion knitted Yu Xiao’s brows. They weren’t supposed to run into each other like this.
“I came to find you.”
Before Zhao Lan could explain, she noticed the redness in Yu Xiao’s eyes. “Smiley, what’s wrong?”
Yu Xiao didn’t answer. Nightmare did. “Flying to Someone Else’s Bed is dead.”
“What?” Zhao Lan stared, stunned. “How?”
“Let’s walk and talk.” Yu Xiao took her hand, turning back the way she’d come.
As they walked, she explained everything, leaving out the part about the Director.
Zhao Lan listened, a deep sadness settling over her. Bed Brother, gone? It felt impossible.
“So that’s how it works,” she murmured, squeezing Yu Xiao’s hand. “It’s alright to grieve, Smiley, but don’t let it cloud your judgement.”
Yu Xiao met her gaze, struck by the intensity in Zhao Lan’s eyes.
“I’ve known something was wrong ever since that… dog took you,” Zhao Lan said, her voice low and serious. “That’s why I started asking about you.”
Yu Xiao’s eyes widened. Zhao Lan held her gaze, her grip tightening. “You have to leave, Smiley. No matter what, don’t listen to the Director.”
Yu Xiao started to speak, but Zhao Lan cut her off. “I came here to tell you, if you ever choose to stay… because of me… I swear, even if I live to be a hundred, I’ll never know a moment of peace.”
Yu Xiao met Zhao Lan’s gaze for a long moment, then squeezed her hand, a silent promise passing between them.
Zhao Lan let out a relieved sigh. “I wanted to talk to you about this alone,” she said, falling into step beside her. “If Precious finds out, she’ll never let us hear the end of it.”
Yu Xiao managed a weak smile. She’d been so determined to leave, but Bed Brother’s death had shaken her. Besides, Zhao Lan was wrong about one thing. She wouldn’t be unhappy, because she wouldn’t remember any of this once she left.
“I asked about fixing the Yin energy,” she said, changing the subject. “There’s a way.”
Zhao Lan’s eyes widened. “You found the solution?”
“No,” Yu Xiao shook her head. “No answer. The hospital wouldn’t tell me something like that.”
Zhao Lan frowned, about to speak, when Yu Xiao continued. “But I know someone who did figure it out. The Director’s previous favourite. He already left.”
“And he didn’t tell anyone?” Understanding dawned in Zhao Lan’s eyes. “Did the hospital do something to stop people from finding out?”
Yu Xiao nodded. “That’s what I think. So I sent the singer ghost to contact any former patients she could find. See if they know anything.”
Zhao Lan nodded, approving of her initiative. They walked in silence for a while, eventually arriving back at the intersection where their paths had crossed.
“So we walked all this way,” Zhao Lan sighed, “and now we only get one question between us?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Yu Xiao said. “We’re both asking for directions, anyway.”
“True.”
**
The discharge counter was bustling now, patients chatting and laughing. Luo Jin and Zhou Xiao Zhen had gathered a small crowd around them, waiting their turn.
Yu Qing Lang frowned as she came to see this, watching the lively scene. Someone shouted, “New arrival!”
“Qing Lang, over here!” Zhou Xiao Zhen waved her over, her grin infectious. “Come cut the line!”
“Have some manners,” Wang Dong Dong muttered from behind them, scowling.
Yu Qing Lang’s gaze swept over the assembled crowd. “Where’s Yu Xiao?”
“Smiley and Misty aren’t here yet, and neither is Bed Brother,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said, waving a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry, if I can make it out, they’re definitely fine.”
Luo Jin, though silent, felt the same. He’d gotten to know the three women from the Sixth Hospital pretty well. Yu Xiao was the strongest, followed by Zhao Lan, then Zhou Xiao Zhen. If she was here, the others were sure to follow.
As the line dwindled, Zhou Xiao Zhen started to fidget. “What if I end up having to leave without you guys?”
Luo Jin chuckled. “As long as you don’t actually go through with the discharge, you can stay as long as you like.”
“Oh, right!”
And so they waited, making no move to leave.
They waited for what felt like an eternity, the nurse behind the counter – a fearsome woman who kept staring at them, head pillowed on her hand, drool pooling on the desk – only adding to the surreal atmosphere.
Finally, three figures appeared, fashionably late but very much alive.
“Smiley! Misty!” Zhou Xiao Zhen was on her feet instantly.
Yu Xiao and Zhao Lan walked hand-in-hand, Nightmare trailing behind them, holding the question mark sign like a bizarre trophy.
“You came together?” Wang Dong Dong frowned. “Where’s Flying to Someone Else’s Bed?”
Luo Jin and Lu Xu, who hadn’t met Nightmare before, exchanged confused glances. No one else seemed surprised by the new arrival.
“Smiley,” Zhou Xiao Zhen pointed at the sign. “Why’d you bring that thing?”
“Souvenir,” Yu Xiao said offhandedly. She turned her attention to Yu Qing Lang and Wang Dong Dong. “How long have you known Bed Brother?”
The question caught them off guard. “A few years,” Wang Dong Dong finally said. “Seven, maybe?”
“Six, for me,” Yu Qing Lang added. “Why?”
“Do you know his real name?”
Zhou Xiao Zhen snorted. “We always called him Bed Brother. He never told us his name. Maybe it’s something embarrassing?”
Yu Qing Lang shook her head, a perplexed frown on her face. “He never told me.”
Yu Xiao’s voice was soft, thick with unshed tears. “His name was Mei Huai Xin.”
“What characters are those?” Zhou Xiao Zhen tilted her head. “Sounds nice. Did he tell you himself, or did you asked the sign?”
“He’s dead.”
Silence descended, heavy and cold.
Yu Qing Lang stared, speechless, while Wang Dong Dong shook his head, refusing to believe. “No. No way. This instance… it was nothing for him.”
Yu Xiao licked her lips, the gesture unconsciously mirroring the drooling nurse behind the counter. Quietly, she told them everything.
By the time she was finished, Wang Dong Dong was openly weeping. He’d known Mei Huai Xin for seven years. They’d faced the horrors of the Second Hospital together, forged a bond in the face of unimaginable fear. He was supposed to be the one to make it out, the one with the best chance…
Yu Qing Lang swore under her breath, turning away to furiously scrub at her eyes.
Even Zhou Xiao Zhen felt tears pricking at her own eyes. They all knew death. It lived in the very walls of the hospital. But this… this was different. Mei Huai Xin had been one of them, had shared their laughter and their terror.
“Next time we see him,” she choked out, “he’ll be… another doctor we hate.”
The weight of Bed Brother’s death settled deep in Yu Xiao’s bones, a stark reminder: stay in this hospital, keep diving into these instances, and you die. It was that simple.
She wouldn’t do it anymore. Neither would the others in her ward. This time, when they went back, she was going to figure out every last one of their props, every function card. They’d sell them all. The points would be enough, she was sure of it. They could all leave.
She had friends here, Yu Qing Lang among them. But she wanted to live. She didn’t want to die in this godforsaken place.
“Come on,” Zhao Lan said, patting Zhou Xiao Zhen’s back, her gaze lingering on Yu Xiao with concern.
“What’s wrong with your hand?” Luo Jin’s sharp eyes had noticed Zhao Lan’s stillness. Zhou Xiao Zhen instantly reached out, pulling up her sleeve to reveal the ghastly truth – her hand, pale and swollen, the fingers twisted at unnatural angles.
“Misty?” Zhou Xiao Zhen breathed, her eyes wide with horror.
Zhao Lan gave a shaky smile. “Got a question wrong. My arm’s gone a bit… ghostly.”
“Can you fix it?” Lu Xu asked, his brow furrowed.
Yu Xiao shook her head. They’d already checked. The sign had been very clear: chop it off, let it regrow.
“It’s fine, really,” Zhao Lan said, forcing a lightness she didn’t feel. They’d figured it was probably only temporary, a side-effect of being trapped in the hospital’s Yin energy. Once they left, it would probably vanish.
Zhou Xiao Zhen took her hand, her worry evident. Zhao Lan squeezed back, offering a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about me.”