Chapter 110
Chapter 110
The hospital was freezing at night. The sharp reek of disinfectant rode the night wind in through the crack beneath the door.
Fan Jianqiang covered his nose and took a step back. The head nurse’s strange, emotionless voice echoed in his ears as she issued a critical condition notice for the streamer in Ward 604.
As the door opened, he saw the other man’s face through the crack.
The boy, who had only looked a little weak before, was now skin and bones, as if a single gust of wind could knock him over. Swaying on his feet, too feeble to resist, he was pressed down onto the bed.
Perhaps the pain had become too much during the process, because he couldn’t hold back and vomited a mouthful of blood.
Thick blood slid down the corner of his mouth. The usually delicate, fragile-looking boy now resembled a flower bud on the verge of withering, doing everything it could to bloom with the last of its beauty…
“After he enters the operating room, change him into a white shirt.”
The head nurse coldly gave the order to those expressionless walking corpses.
What?
Why did he need to change into a white shirt for surgery??
Fan Jianqiang didn’t understand, but a chill still ran through him on instinct.
After the streamer from Bed 604 was taken away, the head nurse walked to Ward 605 and rapped her knuckles against the door. “Patient in Bed 605, Chi Shang. Cause of illness: ALS…”
With a bang, something struck the door of Ward 605 with tremendous force.
Fan Jianqiang had no time to dwell on the head nurse’s eerie words. He hurriedly pressed himself to the crack in the door and desperately watched the movement in the corridor.
A broad sweep of black robes flashed past his eyes. The person had long snow-white hair and a pair of eyes so red they seemed ready to drip blood.
W-what the hell was going on??
Chi Shang’s face was dark as he looked at himself through the reflection in the glass.
This was the NPC image he had cosplayed a few days ago while filming an advertisement for a game company. He hadn’t expected this title to actually give him such a pleasant surprise.
With that thought, he lifted the long blade in his hand and charged straight at the head nurse without a shred of hesitation.
The next second, the head nurse’s slightly plump body was cleaved in two by the sharp blade. Her entire body collapsed rapidly like a punctured balloon, turning into a puddle of rotten sludge.
But what was startling was that the puddle of sludge seemed to be boiling, bubbling and steaming on the floor with wet, gurgling sounds.
A rotten stench instantly spread through the entire corridor.
“Ugh!” Chi Shang couldn’t hold back a dry heave. He retreated two steps in disgust and looked away.
After forcing himself to endure it, he quickly walked to a ward door and reached out to yank open the bolt that had been fastened from the outside.
Fortunately, the nurses following the head nurse all stood motionless in place. Without the head nurse’s orders, they were nothing more than walking corpses, and they didn’t cause Chi Shang any trouble.
When the door opened, Hua Mulan was still somewhat stunned by Chi Shang’s appearance, but Chi Shang had no time to explain. Still not fully used to the hand gripping the saber hilt, he gave it a slight shake. “Go let the other streamers out.”
The sheen along the blade looked like a silent threat…
Without waiting for Hua Mulan to speak, he turned and ran toward the operating room.
Hua Mulan watched his long white hair drift through the air and swallowed the words of gratitude she had been about to say. Then she hurried off to open the doors one by one.
The streamers who were released felt nauseated when they saw the puddle of the head nurse’s flesh and skin on the floor.
Blood and meat were mixed together as if they had been chewed up by a meat grinder, filthy and foul-smelling.
Everyone tacitly kept their distance from the head nurse’s “remains” and gathered together to discuss in low voices.
“What does Instance Lockdown mean?”
“No idea. I only know an Instance can mutate. This is the first time I’ve heard of an Instance being locked down.”
“If we can’t escape, is it true we’ll be erased?”
Fuck You nodded when he heard that. “Based on my experience clearing Instances, the Live Stream Room never lies.”
“Did any of you find a Review Card?” The moment Fan Jianqiang was released, he looked at the others.
But no one spoke. Everyone shook their heads helplessly.
“Son of a bitch. How are we supposed to get out without a Review Card?” Fan Jianqiang kicked the wall in a fit of rage. As his gaze shifted, he suddenly noticed the puddle of boiling chunks of flesh on the ground. “Fuck, what the hell is that bastard trying to do?”
That chunk of meat actually seemed to come alive, growing larger by the second.
“Holy shit, what the hell is going on?!”
Hearing him, Fuck You looked over too. He couldn’t hold back a cry of alarm, then retreated another stretch in disgust.
Being afraid of filth and stench was still fear. The jumble of emotions born from terror was captured in an instant, and the active flesh began to reassemble, gradually developing into a bizarre organism.
Its body was bright red, skin and flesh mashed together. Only its outline vaguely suggested a human form, like a clay figure that had been crushed and then sloppily stuck back together.
Its slowly writhing body was enormous, a good head taller than Fan Jianqiang.
The streamers were scared out of their wits by the sight. Some even couldn’t help screaming.
It sounded like a cry for help, and also like a reflex born from total collapse.
Everyone stared without blinking at the horrifying creature growing larger before them. When they finally snapped back to their senses, they screamed and fled in panic…
Qiao Yu and the other person on the other side knew nothing about it.
He leaned against the frame of the notice board by the entrance, flipping through old brochures.
“Ningping County First Private Hospital. No terminal illness we cannot cure.”
“Lu Shanshan, daughter of the chairman of Chengshan Technology, has been cured of her congenital heart disease. Director Zhou works miracles, healing the sick and saving the world.”
Qiao Yu gave a cold laugh. Holding the thin stack of color-printed pages in his hand, he lazily continued reading.
“AIDS has been conquered! Mr. Zhong Hongyuan, chairman of Dongzhou Solid Wood, has now been discharged. His postoperative condition is excellent.”
“To thank Director Zhou, Diao Deyi, head of Mingxuan Pharmaceuticals, has specially donated 50 million yuan worth of medicine to help more patients gain a new lease on life.”
“Chairman of Zhiyang Technology…”…
These rich and powerful big shots were people Qiao Yu had seen, more or less, in financial news. As if the suspicions in his heart had been confirmed, his gaze grew colder and colder.
And at the very end, there was a newspaper yellowed around the edges.
The date on it was from ten years ago. Yet despite all that time, it was still displayed in the most prominent spot on the notice board.
Mr. Tang Wen of Ningping County has contributed to public welfare many times. Recently, he participated in volunteer services for the New Era Civilization Practice initiative and actively cooperated with the government to help realize the people’s aspirations for a better life. Yuanyang Consortium has been praised as a conscientious national enterprise, and Mr. Tang Wen has been hailed as Ningping County’s guiding light.
Tang Wen…
That little bastard Tang Shenghong…
Guiding light?
Oh, right. The computer in the director’s office had a record saying that Mr. Tang Wen had Alzheimer’s disease.
So… that was what the “light” meant.
Having figured out the connection, Qiao Yu couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
That old man really was kind of interesting.
“Quick, catch her!”
Just then, a figure in a hospital gown suddenly ran out from the stairwell.
The girl dragged her sickly body toward the front doors with all her might, long black hair flying around her pale face.
Behind her were several medical workers in spotless white nurse uniforms, moving like walking corpses.
Just as the girl was about to dash out the entrance, Qiao Yu suddenly blocked her way. “Hua Mulan? What are you doing?”
Hua Mulan looked up at the young man stopping her. His pretty features seemed harmless, but his eyes were so dark and bright that against his pale skin, he looked like a malicious ghost that could walk beneath the sun-eerie and powerful.
“I don’t… I don’t want to die…” She shuddered and cautiously stretched out her arm.
Qiao Yu’s gaze shifted slightly, and he noticed there were actually restraint marks around her arm.
It was also at that moment that a bloody, mangled thing emerged, like a huge, irregular ball, twisting as it lunged toward them.
“Ah-” Hua Mulan let out a sharp scream. The Speed Talisman stuck to her body had expired, and it drifted slowly down…