Chapter 143: Asking to Borrow a Piece of Skin
Guo Yu, refusing to believe what she was seeing, screamed again, but apart from her own shrill cries, there was no other sound on the entire floor.
“Stop screaming, it's no use. ” The man stopped in front of Guo Yu, a sinister grin spreading across his face as he spoke.
“W-what exactly do you want to do? ”
At this moment, Guo Yu had no mind left to wonder why everyone else on the floor had vanished; her wits utterly distraught, she only desperately sought an opportunity to escape from the man before her.
“Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. I merely want to borrow something from you. ”
The man's voice carried an indescribable eeriness that sent shivers down Guo Yu's spine.
“W-what do you want to borrow? ” Guo Yu managed to ask.
“My skin is all burned away, so I want to borrow yours for a while. Will you lend your skin to me? ”
Guo Yu hadn't even had time to fully comprehend the man's chilling words when, right before her eyes, his skin began to turn charred black. A foul stench of burning flesh wafted from his body, and the horrifying sight made Guo Yu scream once more.
Her eyes rolled back, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
“Guo Yu! Guo Yu, wake up, quick! ”
Feeling her body being shaken, Guo Yu snapped her eyes open, and with a scream, she shot bolt upright, startling everyone else in the room.
“What are you screaming about like a banshee? You scared me to death! ” the young nurse beside her complained, looking at Guo Yu with an annoyed expression.
Only then did Guo Yu fully come back to her senses. She found herself sitting at the workstation, not in the restroom, and besides her colleagues, there was no sign of the terrifying charred man.
Everything that had just happened seemed to have been nothing more than a dream.
Seeing Guo Yu's pale face and her stunned silence, the young nurse beside her looked at her with concern.
“Guo Yu, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? ”
Guo Yu turned her gaze to the nurse, a vacant look in her eyes. “Yes, what's wrong with me? What just happened? ”
Guo Yu's words left the young nurse completely bewildered.
“You just fell asleep here, leaning on the desk. I was about to wake you, but Ping Jie, considering it was your first night shift, stopped me and said to let you rest a bit. Who knew you'd start screaming and shouting so soon after falling asleep? I was worried something had happened, so I quickly woke you up. ”
The young nurse's explanation gradually brought Guo Yu back to her senses.
“It seems what just happened really was just a dream,” Guo Yu said, her face filled with lingering fear. “Thank goodness it was only a dream. ”
“What exactly is wrong with you? ” the young nurse asked, still a little worried.
“It's nothing, really,” Guo Yu explained. “I just had a nightmare that startled me. ”
“Oh, so that's it! What kind of nightmare was it? Tell me about it. ” The young nurse's face was alight with curiosity.
Guo Yu, whose complexion had just begun to improve, turned pale once more upon hearing the young nurse's words. Everything that had happened in the dream felt too real; thinking about it now still filled her with lingering dread.
“I-I'd rather not,” Guo Yu said with an awkward laugh.
A puzzled expression crossed the young nurse's face. In her mind, Guo Yu was known for being quite brave, so to see her react like this now truly left her bewildered.
The young nurse was naturally very curious, and the more Guo Yu refused to speak, the more intrigued she became.
“Just tell me, what kind of dream could scare you so badly? ” the young nurse pressed on, her face brimming with curiosity, clearly determined to get to the bottom of it.
Guo Yu couldn't argue with the young nurse, and reluctantly, she recounted everything that had happened in her dream.
After listening to Guo Yu's narration, the young nurse's face showed not a hint of fear; instead, it was alight with excitement, as if she had just finished listening to a thrilling ghost story.
However, her excited expression then froze. She seemed to have thought of something, and her gaze at Guo Yu shifted, now carrying a hint of fear.
“What's wrong with you? ” Guo Yu couldn't help but ask, seeing the young nurse's drastic change in expression.
“You just said that person was charred all over and asked to borrow a human skin from you. Could it be that burn patient who died in the hospital seven days ago? ”
As soon as the young nurse said this, Guo Yu's expression instantly underwent a drastic change. She hadn't even considered that possibility, but now, prompted by the young nurse, she finally remembered where she had seen the man from her dream.
Before entering the hospital tonight, she had had a major argument with the deceased's family at the hospital entrance. At the time, the family had been holding a portrait of the deceased, and the person in that portrait was precisely the man she had seen in her dream.
Guo Yu's entire body broke out in goosebumps. She suddenly felt that this entire situation was becoming ominous.
“Guo Yu, you had a big argument with the deceased's family at the hospital entrance tonight. Could it be that the deceased turned into a vengeful spirit and came back for revenge? ” the young nurse asked.
Guo Yu shivered at her words. She waved a dismissive hand, a displeased look on her face as she complained, “What nonsense are you spouting in the middle of the night? ”
Guo Yu's reaction made the young nurse burst into laughter, the fear on her face vanishing, replaced by pure amusement.
“Haha, usually you're quite brave. How did you get so scared tonight? ”
The smile on the young nurse's face clearly indicated that her previous look of terror had been feigned; she was deliberately trying to scare Guo Yu, and Guo Yu had indeed fallen for it.
Although she knew the young nurse was joking, Guo Yu's inner fear did not diminish in the slightest.
Suddenly, a pressing urge to urinate came over her. A troubled expression crossed Guo Yu's face as her gaze fell upon the young nurse beside her.
She was just about to ask the young nurse to accompany her to the restroom, but the words died on her lips. She felt it would be too utterly embarrassing, and she would undoubtedly become a laughingstock.
Yet, going to the restroom alone filled her with immense dread. Recalling the nightmare, the most terrifying part had taken place precisely in the restroom.
“What's wrong? ” the young nurse asked, seeing Guo Yu's uneasy expression.
Guo Yu shook her head. “Nothing, I'm fine. ”
Seeing Guo Yu insist, the young nurse didn't press further. She withdrew her gaze and began to busy herself with her own tasks.
“I'll just wait,” Guo Yu thought to herself. “Wait until I'm not so scared anymore, then I'll go to the restroom. ”
The idea was comforting, but reality was cruel. As time crept by, the fear in Guo Yu's heart didn't lessen; instead, it intensified, and she could barely hold her bladder anymore.
With no other option, Guo Yu could only steel herself and head to the restroom. Although she was terrified, she certainly couldn't wet her pants just because of it, could she?
Just like in her dream, the restroom tonight was exceptionally cold and eerily desolate.
Apart from herself, she saw no one else enter the restroom. Suppressing her inner fear, she finished her business as quickly as possible, then burst out of the restroom as if fleeing for her life.
A scene from her earlier dream replayed itself. The moment Guo Yu burst out of the restroom, she was startled by the sight before her eyes.
Outside the restroom, a man had appeared at some unknown moment. His face was twisted in a sinister grin, his gaze, cold and chilling, fixed on Guo Yu.
This man was identical to the one in her dream; even the sinister grin on his face was indistinguishable.
“Ah! ”
Guo Yu screamed in fright. The man floated closer to her, a sinister grin on his face as he spoke, “Beauty, my skin is all burned away. Can I borrow a piece of skin from you for a while? ”
As his words rang out, the scene that had previously appeared in her dream unfolded once more: the man's entire skin began to turn charred black, his appearance becoming utterly terrifying.
“Ah! Don't come any closer! Go away! Just go away! ”
Guo Yu screamed, frantically waving her hands, hoping to somehow drive away the terrifying man before her.
Rapid footsteps echoed on the floor. Soon, Ping Jie and the young nurse discovered Guo Yu. They saw her acting like a madwoman, yelling and shouting at the air, wildly waving her hands – she looked nothing like a normal person.
“Guo Yu! Guo Yu, what's wrong with you? Calm down! ”
The two rushed forward and embraced Guo Yu, but at that moment, Guo Yu seemed genuinely insane. While struggling violently, she frantically yelled words like, “Don't come any closer! Go away! ” into the air. Guo Yu appeared utterly deaf to anything they said.
Such a loud commotion not only drew the attention of medical staff, but also many patients and their families, who rushed over to witness the spectacle.
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