Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Tu Nan made a special trip to find He Ling, hoping to ask for some advice regarding the night shift.

He Ling frowned as she thought it over. “I have worked a few night shifts, but nothing particularly strange ever happened. Occasionally, people come to pick up patients. As long as you check their documents carefully and find no issues, they just take the person and leave.”

It seemed Tu Nan would have to take things as they came.

“Don’t worry too much,” He Ling comforted her. “As long as you’re cautious, there usually won’t be any problems.”

Tu Nan nodded.

She wasn’t actually that worried. After the Fairy Tale Compendium finished digesting Lilith’s Heart, she had fed it the perfume she had swiped from the Madam’s secret room. In exchange, she had received a decent Skill Card, which should be enough to keep her safe through the night.

*

After eight o’clock, the nurses at the Nurse’s Station began to leave one by one.

By the time Tu Nan returned from her rounds in the wards, the Nurse’s Station was completely deserted.

To ensure the patients could rest properly, the lights on the fourth floor of the hospital were turned off at ten o’clock sharp. Only a single Oil Lamp was left at the Nurse’s Station for her use.

Tu Nan sat at her desk and took out a piece of paper. She began writing down everything she found suspicious, trying to organize her thoughts.

The Head Nurse and York; the Head Nurse and Little Red Riding Hood… what exactly was the Head Nurse’s role in all of this?

As ten o’clock approached, Tu Nan took the Oil Lamp to extinguish the lights. The corridor was instantly plunged into darkness, with only the dim, yellow glow of the lamp in her hand providing a small circle of light.

Her surroundings were deathly silent. The quiet was so profound it created the illusion that she was the only person left in this space. Tu Nan took a deep breath and hurried back to the Nurse’s Station with her lamp.

The silence did have its benefits, however; it allowed her to focus on the matter of Little Red Riding Hood.

On Visiting Day, Little Red Riding Hood’s parents had come to see her. As the primary nurse, Tu Nan had accompanied them and witnessed the entire encounter.

Little Red Riding Hood’s parents appeared to be an ordinary middle-aged couple. The moment her mother saw her, she couldn’t help but stand up and pull the girl into a tearful embrace.

Between sobs, she spoke haltingly about why Little Red Riding Hood had been in the hospital for so long without getting better-in fact, her symptoms seemed to be getting worse.

Her exact words were: “She was just a little spooked at first, a bit dazed. We sent her to the hospital just for peace of mind, but then they found a whole list of problems. She’s been here so long now, and every time we visit, they say she needs more observation and can’t be discharged.”

She wept as she said, “God help us, please don’t let us be separated.”

Standing to the side at the time, Tu Nan had felt a pang of bitterness watching the scene.

Both were parents, yet Little Red Riding Hood’s parents showed visible longing and affection for their daughter, while Maria’s parents only saw her as a tool to be used.

She had been so caught up in the contrast then that she hadn’t thought deeply about the mother’s words. Now that she reconsidered them, there was a major red flag.

Little Red Riding Hood had been in the Fairy Tale Hospital for quite some time, yet her condition showed no signs of improvement.

Combined with what Maria had told her once, the underlying reason was worth some serious thought.

In the Fairy Tale Hospital, only the Nobility could come and go as they pleased. A Commoner like Little Red Riding Hood enjoyed no such freedom.

Had Little Red Riding Hood’s condition gradually worsened only after she started taking the medicine given to her by the Head Nurse?

Tu Nan turned back and realized the paper in front of her was already covered in notes.
She set down her pen, picked up the paper, and held it over the flame of the Oil Lamp. Watching it crumble into ash before her eyes, she gave her hand a quick shake and tossed the remnants into the wastepaper basket.

The light from the Oil Lamp was too dim; staring at it for too long made her eyes ache, so she closed them and rubbed them gently.

The Rule didn’t specify when the night rounds had to be conducted, so Tu Nan planned to finish them early. If the night passed peacefully, all the better; if something happened in the early hours of the morning, she wouldn’t have to worry about unfinished rounds.

She opened her eyes and checked the time. It was just past eleven. Tu Nan picked up the Oil Lamp and headed toward the wards.

Night rounds weren’t difficult; she only needed to peer through the door windows of each ward to check on the patients inside.

The wards were incredibly dim and silent. The patients appeared to be fast asleep.

Tu Nan didn’t care whether they were actually sleeping or not, as long as they remained quiet so she could complete her task smoothly.

When she passed Ward 403, she took a closer look, only to be startled.

Little Red Riding Hood was sitting upright on her bed, staring straight ahead, motionless.

Tu Nan frowned, recalling what Little Red Riding Hood had told her that morning.

The girl had said that Sister Xia Xia had been asking her to come and keep her company lately.

The Sister Xia Xia Little Red Riding Hood spoke of had likely passed away. When the girl claimed to hear these things, was she actually hearing them, or did she have suicidal tendencies?

Tu Nan tapped lightly on the door.

Little Red Riding Hood looked over at her, her expression unreadable in the darkness.

Tu Nan made a gesture for her to lie down.

Fortunately, Little Red Riding Hood was obedient and lay back down without the slightest hesitation.

Tu Nan stood there for a moment to observe before moving on to the other wards.

On her way back, she made a point to check Ward 403 again. Little Red Riding Hood was still lying quietly in bed.

Tu Nan returned to the Nurse’s Station, set the Oil Lamp on the desk, and checked the time.

This round had taken her about half an hour; it was now nearly midnight.

Though everything was quiet and still for now, she couldn’t be sure if it would stay that way after midnight.

As the clock ticked closer to twelve, Tu Nan’s nerves grew increasingly taut.

The second hand ticked away. The moment the minute and hour hands met at twelve, midnight had arrived.

In the context of Strange Tales, midnight often signified deeper danger.

Tu Nan instinctively reached for the ID Badge hanging from her chest. Feeling the square shape of the badge provided her with an inevitable sense of security.

At the very least, she wouldn’t be snatched away as an outlier.

The horrific fates of the nurses who had lost their ID Badges, as described by Yi Weichun and He Ling in the dream, were still vivid in her mind. She had no desire to be mauled to death by some unknown Beast.

*Crack!*

A sudden sound broke the silence without warning.

Tu Nan’s heart jolted. She looked toward the source of the noise, only to realize it was just the wick of the Oil Lamp sparking.

She let out a sigh of relief.

The oil in the Oil Lamp was nearly gone. Tu Nan leaned down and opened the Oil Lamp to add more, but then she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the far end of the corridor.

Tap.

Tap.

One step after another, the sound seemed to beat against her very heart.

Who was it? Tu Nan’s heart leaped into her throat.

Was it a hospital employee coming to collect a patient for surgery, or was it a so-called “Intruder in the Hospital” mentioned in the Rule.