"There are screams coming from the hospital? But the iron gate is clearly locked, and every window around it has anti-theft bars — nobody from outside could get in." The doctor, worried that
"That's fair." The sight of the hospital reminded Chen Ge of the four-star haunted house in the eastern suburbs — in his experience, hospitals really weren't good places. "Then we'll come back later. Let's check out the other rooms first. I'm quite interested in that smiling dog."
"Interested or not, you can't go in there! Did I just talk for nothing? Do you think I'm joking? You have no idea what I just went through!" The drunkard struggled free from Chen Ge's grip. "Take it from your brother here — whatever you do, don't go in. Once you've seen that human-faced dog, it'll be too late for regrets!"
"Is the human-faced dog more dog, or more human? Can you describe what it looks like?"
Chen Ge clearly hadn't been listening closely, which drove the drunkard to stomp his feet in frustration. "Let's just go back to the bus. It's not safe here. There are ghosts in every building — I'm really not lying to you!"
"I know you're not lying." Chen Ge was about to say more when a sharp clatter rang out, as if someone had thrown something down to the ground below.
"They've spotted us in the hospital!" The drunkard leapt to his feet, his chest heaving violently, like a startled house cat. "Let's go! We can't stay here!"
"Calm down. The more danger approaches, the less you can afford to panic." Chen Ge walked toward the source of the sound. The doctor followed close behind, and the drunkard, unwilling to be left alone, trailed after them with a miserable expression.
Pushing through the thick fog, Chen Ge arrived at the other side of the hospital. On the ground lay a pair of scissors caked in dried blood.
"Isn't this that psychopath's weapon? How did it end up here?" Chen Ge activated his Yin Eye and looked up toward the rooftop. A wooden plank covering a third-floor window was swaying gently. "He's hiding in the hospital? But why throw his scissors out? That's his weapon — if he wanted to call for help, couldn't he just throw something else?"
Chen Ge couldn't quite make sense of the scissors' logic. He picked them up and stopped in front of the hospital gate.
"Let's get out of here — if we don't leave soon, it'll be too late." The drunkard huddled against the doctor. "I forgot to mention one more ghost. The road isn't safe either. When you pass an intersection, there's a waving ghost — it'll keep following you, and then its face will start to look more and more like yours. It says this is what you'll look like after you die."
The drunkard pleaded desperately, but Chen Ge paid no attention and walked up to the iron gate alone, giving it a few shakes.
"What's he doing?" The drunkard nudged the doctor's arm.
"Maybe testing whether the gate is sturdy?" The doctor gave a bitter smile. He had no idea how to explain Chen Ge to the drunkard.
"Do you think I'm drunk off my head? That everything I saw was a hallucination?" The drunkard grabbed the doctor's shoulders with both hands. "I'm not lying to you, I swear! Believe me! I'm trying to save you! Every single one of these buildings has ghosts hiding inside!"
His emotions on the verge of spinning out of control, he turned toward Chen Ge, trying to drag him away by force. "Get away from that gate! You'll get pulled in if you get too close!"
The moment the drunkard finished speaking, he watched the bright-faced, kind-looking young man pull a massive, menacing hammer from his backpack.
Their eyes met. The drunkard's eyelid twitched.
"Say whatever you have to say — after we get inside." Chen Ge raised the Skull Crusher high and brought it down on the lock.
Boom!
Thanks to the blood fog, the sound didn't travel far.
After striking the same spot three times in succession, Chen Ge smashed his way through. "Stay close to me. If you stray too far, I can't guarantee your safety."
Without much hesitation, the doctor walked over.
"Hey! What's the deal? You ride a bus carrying a hammer?" The drunkard seized the doctor's shoulder. "Have you guys been here before?"
"He used to work on props at an amusement park. Carrying a hammer around is perfectly normal for that line of work." The doctor repeated the explanation Chen Ge had given him.
"Props?" The drunkard was trying to work out the connection between an amusement park and a sledgehammer. Meanwhile, the doctor and Chen Ge had already entered the hospital. "Wait for me!"
Standing on the first floor, Chen Ge switched on the repeater, carrying two bags in one hand while dragging the Skull Crusher with the other. The spikes scraped along the ground with an eerie sound. His pupils slowly contracted as he stared down the corridor on the left side of the hospital.
"See anything?" The doctor seemed to understand just how dangerous this place was and stayed right at Chen Ge's side.
"Several passengers have been through this hospital." Chen Ge pointed at the footprints on the ground. "There's been heavy rain tonight. Most of the passengers on our bus were soaked through, so these footprints must be theirs. Look at the size and shape — four large and one small, which should belong to that family of three and that psychopath who calls himself Scissors."
Chen Ge's observation was meticulous. "The footprints lead left — they went into the left corridor."
"Damn, you're impressive! How can you see anything in this pitch black?" The drunkard looked at Chen Ge with newfound respect.
"Follow me." Chen Ge entered the left corridor, placed the white cat on his shoulder, then took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. "Both sides of the corridor are lined with hospital rooms. The doors are open — anything could come rushing out at any moment. Keep your eyes peeled."
"Bro, don't scare me."
"I'm not scaring you — I'm stating a fact." Chen Ge crouched down. "Look at these footprints. When they first entered the corridor, the prints were evenly spaced. But starting around the third and fourth rooms, the prints start overlapping and repeating. That means they ran into some kind of situation between rooms three and four and stayed here for a good while."
"So you're saying there's something nasty in rooms three and four?" The doctor immediately grasped what Chen Ge meant.
"Very likely, though we can't rule out other possibilities. Either way, be careful when we pass those two rooms." Chen Ge looked at the half-open doors on both sides of the corridor. From the pitch-black cracks, it seemed as though some horrifying creature could crawl out at any moment.
"Keep up. Don't fall behind." Chen Ge dragged the Skull Crusher into the long corridor. The silence here was terrifying.
Passing the first and second rooms, Chen Ge noticed nothing unusual. But as he approached the third room, the white cat on his shoulder suddenly let out a cry and shrank behind his neck.