The evil spirit carrying the Cursed Hospital on its back continued to grow larger, its lower body completely merged into the black fog, transforming into something monstrous.
It was just like the "past" Chen Ge had seen behind the Gate of the Unborn Child — both had been assimilated by recklessly absorbing things from the black fog, causing parts of their bodies to be consumed.
The only difference was that this evil spirit was far more ruthless than the Unborn Child. While the Unborn Child had only sent out a fraction of its consciousness to absorb the fog, this spirit had used its true body outright.
Chen Ge didn't know how the black fog had formed, nor what it contained, but he knew that devouring vast quantities of the energy within it would inevitably invite catastrophe and misfortune.
The black ocean churned and surged upward. When the evil spirit drove the black fog to launch its assault on Chen Ge and the others, they finally realized that the hospital had never been stationary — it had been moving through the black fog all along.
Now, with the evil spirit suddenly striking out, the Cursed Hospital hovered in the midst of the black ocean, like a floating island cut off from everything.
"The hospital is continuously absorbing the black fog. They're extracting something from it and pumping it into patients' bodies." Chen Ge was multitasking — his flesh was still merging with the organs inside the child in the jar, and all his abilities were being amplified to terrifying levels.
The most immediate change was that his Yin Eye could now not only see through curses, but penetrate the black fog itself.
Every floor of the hospital held countless patients. The black pills they took were manufactured from something found within the fog.
Chen Ge had taken those pills with the black filaments himself. He knew just how eerie and horrifying they were.
"The hospital wants to harness the black fog? All the patients are just test subjects?" The information in his mind was gradually linking together, and Chen Ge was beginning to understand the full picture.
The hospital drove ordinary people insane and cultivated patients through various methods.
Different patients served different purposes. The lowest-level patients were nothing more than vessels for purifying the black fog — fed massive quantities of black pills until they "burst," releasing intense resentment and curses. Those negative emotions clung to the hospital, stabilizing the island while also serving as the power source for the hospital's night-shift doctors and evil spirits.
More special patients received special treatment. The hospital bred them like gu, and their ultimate goal seemed to be cultivating something akin to Patient No. 1.
With his memories restored, Chen Ge had become far calmer. Repeated brushes with death had forged in him a willpower that transcended the limits of humanity.
"Don't touch anything inside the black fog! Everyone below Red-cloak rank, collapse to my position immediately!"
The Cursed Hospital bore a striking resemblance to the community behind the Gate of the Unborn Child. Perhaps the Unborn Child had been inspired by the hospital when it used curses to open a gate within the black fog.
Having learned from past experience, Chen Ge knew exactly how lethal the black fog was to ordinary ghosts and obsessions, so he issued his order at once.
This was the final battle of a four-star scenario. Those below Red-cloak rank no longer had any place on the battlefield — a single touch would mean instant annihilation.
Hearing Chen Ge's command, the numerous employees gathered around him.
One-Eye Chang Wenyu, Crimson Xiao Bu, Zhang Wenyu, and Red High Heels stepped forward on their own initiative. The four top-tier Red-cloaks struck simultaneously, unleashing tides of blood and cursed threads that shielded Chen Ge and all the employees within.
Under normal circumstances, even four top-tier Red-cloaks working together would not have been a match for the hospital's evil spirit. However, both Zhang Wenyu and Red High Heels had inherited and mastered certain abilities of evil spirits.
On top of that, the hospital's evil spirit had to split its attention to guard the lowest door of the hospital. As a result, the two sides had actually fallen into a stalemate.
Neither could overpower the other, but the overall situation was gravely unfavorable for Chen Ge.
Zhang Ya's abilities were a mystery. She kept cycling through different ghost powers, shifting and adapting, but even so, she was being pushed to the brink.
The wounds on her body had stopped healing. On her blood-stained Red-cloak, some of the black ghostly faces had begun to vanish — and once they disappeared, they never returned.
Though Zhang Ya's power was still climbing, she was approaching her absolute limit.
The two evil spirits besieging her had initially held back from killing blows for some reason. They had assumed they could capture Chen Ge and Zhang Ya without paying a heavy price.
But now, whether on Chen Ge's front or Zhang Ya's, both battlefields had thrown up unexpected variables.
They could afford to hold back no longer. At the cost of sustaining serious injuries, they would ensure Zhang Ya's soul was obliterated.
This evil spirit was simply too terrifying — without destroying her completely, there would be no chance to strike at Chen Ge.
The evil spirit surnamed "Devour" possessed the ability of consumption. It would go to extraordinary lengths to devour everything about its opponent — from obsessions to memories, every last thing could be taken.
So when fighting it, as long as it remained alive, it only grew stronger the longer the battle dragged on.
The hospital had originally intended for "Devour" to consume Zhang Ya, but with too many variables now in play, they no longer dared take the risk.
The "Devour" evil spirit clashed head-on with the completely berserk Zhang Ya, while the Director retreated and pulled from the dense web of curses a woman in a hospital gown.
Zhang Ya of Xinhai City should have vanished along with the city's collapse, but that was not what had happened.
This Zhang Ya, woven from Chen Ge's memories, lay unconscious amid the curses. On her still-beating heart, line after line of blood-red characters were inscribed.
Most of them were cruel and savage, drenched in killing, shredding, agony, and despair.
But nestled within those vicious blood characters, buried in the deepest part of the heart, a few faint, delicate lines of text still remained.
"I had a dream…"
"I dreamed that he and I walked home together under an umbrella. I dreamed that we waited for the bus at the station together…"
"I dreamed that I held him…"
The characters stained with the least blood were hidden at the very bottom of her heart. It was because of these words that the Zhang Ya in the hospital gown had not vanished along with Xinhai City. She was Zhang Ya's true feelings and her most precious obsession.
For a person who had died unjustly, this memory was like a lamp in the midst of infinite despair — utterly out of place in the blood-red world, yet still emitting a faint glow.
"Ordinary curses won't have much effect on you," the Director said, clad in his white coat, his hand clamped around Zhang Ya's throat. The hand covered in curses and faces pressed down on the crown of her head — he intended to extract every blood character from the heart of Hospital-Gown Zhang Ya.
The unconscious Zhang Ya felt searing agony, and the effect rippled through the battle-frenzied Zhang Ya, who was being held in check by the "Devour" evil spirit.
"The Director's curses are extremely fearsome," Sun Doctor observed, his attention locked on the Director. He knew that of everyone in the entire hospital, the most terrifying person was the Director. "Using an evil spirit's heart-blood to cast a curse — that could genuinely devastate Zhang Ya."
"The hospital has three evil spirits. Zhang Ya is holding down two of them. The one at the very bottom of the hospital seems unable to leave that door and can only attack us through the black fog." Chen Ge deliberated for only a moment before making his decision. "Tell Zhang Wenyu and the others to go all out and attack that door! Whatever lies behind it, they have to find a way to open it!"
The deeper they went, the closer they would be to that evil spirit, and the greater the resistance — but Chen Ge and his group had no other choice.
Zhang Ya's situation was dire, but for the top-tier Red-cloaks to snatch someone from the grip of an evil spirit was virtually impossible. Even if they could get close, they couldn't match the evil spirit's speed.
The only hope of breaking the deadlock was the door at the very bottom of the hospital. The door stood rooted in place, unable to move — the evil spirit guarding it could only defend passively.
Every decision Chen Ge made had been carefully considered. He had to find a sliver of hope in a situation that seemed utterly hopeless.