Chapter 182

Chapter 182

“Um, Brother Liu, I was only joking with you. Anyway, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading back.”

No. 7 had barely risen when Liu Ye grabbed him.

“Why is this old problem still bothering you? I’ve told you not to avoid treatment. Come on, I’ll give you a massage.”

Worst of all, No. 7’s own underlings helped Liu Ye hold him down.

“Whose side are you on? You can’t touch me! I’m a doctor! Aaaah! I was wrong! Brother Liu, I was wrong! Aaaah!”

No. 7’s screams echoed throughout the entire space.

His miserable fate was broadcast to the other patients through the hospital’s surveillance room.

They had planned to seize this opportunity to take revenge on Liu Ye. Now they all abandoned that thoroughly unreliable idea.

“Why would they do this to us? They gave us hope of revenge, then turned around and pissed all over it! Why?”

Patient No. 3 howled at the sky. Like the unlucky bastard downstairs, he had suffered profound psychological trauma at Liu Ye’s hands.

Even after learning Liu Ye was here, No. 3 had never considered revenge. He had only wanted to find somewhere to hide.

Instinct told him that brat was anything but ordinary. No. 3 had been so close to him before, yet failed to infect him.

But No. 7 refused to believe it. He simply had to test Liu Ye. And now look what had happened. They could hear his screams all the way up here.

“Keep your voice down! What if he hears you?” the old woman said anxiously.

“We should be fine. We’re so far away from him…”

The instant No. 3 finished, Sister Han cried out beside him. Unable to speak properly, her whole body trembled as she pointed at the screen below.

Everyone hurried to look. Liu Ye had raised his head as though searching for something. His gaze abruptly fixed on a surveillance camera, and a terrifying smile spread across his face.

“Oh no! He found us!”

“Don’t panic! This is when we must remain calm.”

The old woman knew Liu Ye reasonably well. The brat was honest to a fault, but something was missing in his head. Fighting him directly was impossible. They would have to outwit him.

“Wait. We all know one another, so why make things difficult for him? Why not let him clear the level? What exactly is the condition for passing this floor?”

“As patients, they have to survive seven days while we hunt them.”

They imagined themselves chasing Liu Ye for seven days.

Everyone was speechless.

That would be far too horrifying.

“That condition won’t work. I doubt we could survive seven days,” the old woman said miserably.

“There is one other way,” Patient No. 5 said. “A hidden passage here leads directly to the next level. If we find it and send him through, won’t that solve the problem?”

It was a good idea. They left No. 2 behind to watch the surveillance feeds and report Liu Ye’s movements. The others scattered to search for clues to the hidden passage.

Patient No. 5 was searching the first-floor cafeteria for the exit. He had not brought any Chang Ghosts with him. Anyone who saw those things would immediately know something was wrong.

While he searched, No. 2’s voice suddenly sounded in his earpiece. Liu Ye was heading his way. He needed to hide at once.

No. 5 hurried into a cabinet. The moment he shut the door, footsteps sounded outside. He immediately held his breath.

Soon, Liu Ye began whistling.

“Whee-whee-whee…”

The whistle seemed to possess some strange magic. No. 5’s mind grew hazy, and he instinctively wanted to emerge from the cabinet. At the last moment, he restrained himself.
“Strange. I could have sworn I saw someone come down here.” Liu Ye’s voice sounded right beside him.

No. 5’s heart pounded. He covered his mouth and did not dare move a muscle, terrified that Liu Ye would discover him.

Liu Ye searched the kitchen for a while. Eventually, his footsteps faded into the distance.

No. 5 breathed a sigh of relief. Even then, he waited another half hour before peeking out. Only after confirming Liu Ye had truly left did he emerge.

He wanted to hide there until the end of time, but he knew that was impossible. There was something profoundly unnatural about Liu Ye. Somehow, the brat would probably find him.

Their only real hope was to send him away as quickly as possible.

No. 5 continued searching the kitchen. Persistence eventually paid off. Among a pile of dirty, broken bowls, he found a small combination-locked box.

No. 5 was speechless.

Why the hell did this need a combination lock? Couldn’t they have left the contents out in the open? Why make things so difficult in this miserable place?

In truth, the puzzle had been designed for Zhang Ru’s group. They were meant to solve it while evading the patients hunting them. The setup had seemed wonderful when it was first designed. Now, it looked like nothing but a wretched nuisance.

No. 5 examined the note beside it. It read: **The Cafeteria Chef’s Birthday**.

He fell silent.

How was he supposed to know that?

He asked the others through his earpiece and learned that No. 7 had prepared the box. Unfortunately, No. 7 was currently in no condition to answer questions.

With no other choice, No. 5 put the box away for later.

Just then, another set of footsteps approached. No. 5 was about to hide again when Zhang Yanyan entered.

“Her?”

Seeing that it was not Liu Ye, No. 5 jumped out.

Zhang Yanyan was badly startled. The instant she saw No. 5, fear appeared on her face. She had not forgotten how she had fallen to him before. She turned to flee, but a terrifying wave of hunger twisted through her stomach. All strength left her body, and she collapsed.

“I’m finished!”

Zhang Yanyan had come looking for Liu Ye. He had announced that he was going to find the patients, then run off.

By the time the group reacted, he was already gone.

They decided to search for him, but a swarm of Chang Ghosts soon scattered them.

Zhang Yanyan watched No. 5 approach and closed her eyes, resigned to her fate.

Instead, the hunger vanished the next instant.

“Get up. I won’t kill you. At least, I won’t kill any of you for now. Let’s make a deal.”

Zhang Yanyan’s eyes widened as she stared at No. 5 in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Liu Ye was chasing Patient No. 6.

“Stop running! Did you skip your medicine again? There’s still some of the mixture I made last time. Hurry up and take it, or your condition might relapse!”

Liu Ye shouted from behind him. No. 6 thought, Take it, my ass! He could feed it to some Old Man. In the real world, Liu Ye’s medicine had already transformed him into that monstrous shape. Now the bastard wanted to dose him here too.

Just as Liu Ye was about to catch up, No. 6 spun around and fixed his eyes on him.

In that instant, Liu Ye saw No. 6’s body expand rapidly into a giant. Liu Ye himself seemed no larger than an ant before him.

No. 6 picked up a rock and hurled it at Liu Ye.

Boom!

Though it was only a small stone, it looked like an enormous meteor in Liu Ye’s eyes as it crashed toward him.

“Wow! This is amazing!”

Liu Ye marveled at the fantastical sights possible inside a dream. Then the rock buried him completely.

Success!

When no movement came from beneath the stone, No. 6 was overjoyed.

But the next instant…