“Come, we shouldn’t stay here.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang grabbed Han Fei by his arm and pulled him away. The surrounding looked normal, but Zhang Zhuangzhuang was acting very strangely. He was so nervous he was sweating.
“Don’t look around. If you saw something you shouldn’t, you’d stay here forever.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang whispered.
Han Fei didn’t want trouble. He followed the rest and left Building Four. The other staff didn’t look at the path. They turned at their corners and returned to their wards. In the end, only Han Fei and Zhang Zhuangzhuang returned to Building One. The temperature slowly rose back to normal. Zhang Zhuangzhuang sighed in great relief. His back was covered in a cold sweat.
“Is it that scary?” Han Fei approached the man, “What happened in that building? Why are you so afraid?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” Han Fei stopped Zhang Zhuangzhuang. He wanted to know an answer. Even though different people might experience different things, Zhang Zhuangzhuang’s experience could be a reference.
“My advice is still the same. Leave while you can. The more you know, the harder it is to leave. I’m not telling you for your sake.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang appeared to have a few more wrinkles on his face. “You need to leave, or you’ll regret it.”
“I’ll be honest with you. I don’t have much time left.” Han Fei was firm. “I can help you if you tell me everything you know. If you don’t, we’ll have to be enemies.”
“Enemies?” Zhang Zhuangzhuang studied Han Fei again. “Fine, I’m not trying to hide things from you, but I can’t remember many things myself…”
“You’ve forgotten many things?” Han Fei frowned.
“I’ve been to the other buildings before, but I have no memory of them. I only have a fear of them left. There is a voice telling me that I’d be tortured in the cruelest way if I didn’t leave.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang’s voice lowered, “There are many places you shouldn’t go and things you shouldn’t see at the hospital. If you do, you’ll forget important things like me.”
“You can’t remember anything you’ve seen?”
“I can only remember that fear.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang said seriously, “While you’re still complete, you better resign. Once your memory goes, it’ll be hard to escape. Or you’ll be lured back here due to certain reasons.” Then Zhang Zhuangzhuang revealed another secret. “My elder sister is a doctor here. I once received her call at midnight. She sounded like she was hiding in a corner. She was so afraid, and she begged me to bring her away. However, when I came here to find her, she said she didn’t call me. It was so strange.”
“You stayed because of that?”
“At first, I wanted to bring her with me, but now, even I can’t leave this place. Every time I wake up, I’ll be older. Something is living inside me, stealing my youth.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang touched his wrinkled face. “Only by returning here that the aging process will slow down. That is why I advise you to leave. If that thing infected you, then you wouldn’t be able to escape.”
“The body will age once you leave the hospital?” Han Fei nodded. “Then I have nothing to fear.”
“Why?” Zhang Zhuangzhuang was confused.
“I’m already in my life’s countdown.” Han Fei took out the hospital report from his pocket. He showed it to the man.
Zhang Zhuangzhuang read it, and his gaze changed, “I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to be. Actually, I’m here for the same reason as you.” Han Fei pointed deep into the hospital. “I have a friend working here as a doctor too. His surname is Yan.”
Han Fei used Zhang Zhuangzhuang’s story on himself. Soon, with the buff from masterful acting, he created a character who insisted on coming to the hospital to save his friend despite the fact he was dying.
“Notification for Player 0000! Friendliness level with Zhang Zhuangzhuang increases by 3!”
Zhang Zhuangzhuang’s tone was friendliness. The trust between them was building.
“Since we have the same goal, then I won’t hide anything from you.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang signaled for Han Fei to follow him. As they walked, he switched off their walkie-talkie. “This hospital is different in the morning and at night. I’ve discovered some secrets, and I hope they’ll be useful to you.” They walked side by side and communicated in a whisper.
“One, Building One is safest in the day. At night, only the safehouse is safe in the whole hospital.
“Two, doctors save people in the day, kill people at night.
“Three, not all patients are innocent. Some of them were doctors.
“Four, the night security and the front-desk receptionist died many years ago. You can approach them when they’re smiling. Run when they’re crying.
“Five, everyone here is in pursuit of extreme beauty. The more beautiful a person, the more dangerous they are. But this doesn’t mean ugly things are not dangerous.
“Six, the hospital has seven buildings, but the doctor said there’s a Building Eight.
“Seven, the hospital will gain a heavy case patient whenever the city has a disappearance.
“Eight, befriending the nurses can help you solve a lot of problems.
“Nine, the hospital has three kinds of ghosts. Red ghosts kill on sight. You can only run away from them; white ghosts are cleverer than people, they will steal something from you; black ghosts are the most mysterious, you’ll lose your memory whenever you see them.
“Ten, be it morning or night, there is always a pair of eyes patrolling at this hospital.
“Eleven, do not trust anyone, including me. The things I told you might be fake.”
Zhang Zhuangzhuang led Han Fei to the safehouse. He opened his locker, took out a small mirror, and gave it to Han Fei. “You should look at your face often. If you start to age, it means that you’re being haunted.”
“Thanks, but I carry a mirror with me always.” Compared to the mirror, Han Fei trusted the red paper doll more. As the world continued to mutate, the doll would get stronger.
“I need to go look after my patient. Good luck.” Zhang Zhuangzhuang switched on his walkie-talkie and left.
Han Fei sat on the chair. He remembered everything Zhang Zhuangzhuang said. “Both Zhang Zhuangzhuang and Cao Lingling mentioned three kinds of ghosts, but what do they represent?” Han Fei placed the doll beside him. He felt secure, which was very rare. However, his heart also beat faster. “I wonder if that dining table can fit an 11th person. Xu Qin is so good at cooking meat.”
Han Fei switched on the walkie-talkie, and immediately, he heard the fat nurse yell, “Fu Yi, how can you leave the client at the lobby?” “There was an emergency with another patient.”
“Come to VIP Room 4 on the 4th floor now!” The fat nurse looked after Han Fei. She didn’t have him do any manual labor. Han Fei was sad thinking about Love. He didn’t want to, but he had to leave the safehouse and take the worker’s elevator.
Han Fei walked down the corridor and stopped at the fourth-floor lobby. Love sat alone on the sofa. She closed her eyes to rest. Qiang Wei’s assistant and her friend sat opposite Love. For some reason, Love chose Room 4, and Qiang Wei’s assistant chose Room 3.
Love didn’t react when Han Fei arrived. However, Qiang Wei’s assistant’s friend suddenly walked towards Han Fei. Han Fei was about to avoid her when the female player grabbed Han Fei’s hand. Love opened her eyes, but the female player was not bothered. She was not tall and purposely took another step towards Han Fei. When she was close, she looked up at Han Fei. Her eyes rippled. Her body was mushy, like she didn’t have any energy.
“Don’t create trouble for me.” Han Fei had the gentlest smile, but his voice was intensely chilly. The female player had no idea what Han Fei had experienced in this hidden map. She didn’t know how fearful Han Fei was of Love and desire.
“We just received another message from Qiang Wei.” The female player wobbled towards Han Fei like she couldn’t stand independently. She whispered, “He told us Worm had been captured too. And he said the players held here will slowly their memory. He told us to contact you as soon as possible.”
The female player studied Han Fei’s face. She put her arms around Han Fei’s neck and suddenly plucked off Han Fei’s hair. She only retreated with a smile when she saw the warning in Han Fei’s eyes. She laughed as she told Qiang Wei’s assistant, “This caretaker is interesting. We’ll have him service us next time, okay?”
“Sure.”
“This way, please, ladies.” The manager was afraid that the two players might get into another conflict with Love, so she quickly urged them into Room 3.
“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll get the doctors. They will design the best treatment for you. Have you considered your caretakers?” The manager produced many files. Among them was Han Fei’s resume with his picture.
“Why don’t you leave them here, and we’ll look through them slowly.” The female player grabbed all the files and chased the manager out. She glanced at Han Fei in the lobby before locking the door. The moment the door closed, the sunniness on her face disappeared, “I’ve already shared with Han Fei the news. And I got his hair too. I want to see how capable he is that Boss Qiang Wei values him so greatly.”
“You can only use that talent three times a day, and you might fail. I still don’t think this is a good idea.” Qiang Wei’s assistant was careful. She took out her phone, and her face darkened as she went through the messages.
“It’ll be fine.” The female player walked to the window and closed the heavy curtains. Then, she took out several cards from her bag. She knelt before the cards and slit her wrist. Her blood covered the cards, and then she placed Han Fei’s resume on the cards. “Spirit Medium!” She twined her long hair with Han Fei’s and slowly closed her eyes. The room was quiet. The light bent, and the room darkened. The blood printed the pictures of the cards on Han Fei’s resume. The hair of Han Fei and the player shivered in the pool of blood. The woman’s expression pained as she mumbled something.
When she opened her eyes, her pupils were gone. Her expression was terrifying, as if some demon had possessed her. Her awkward arms moved downwards. She held the bloody resume and turned it over.
When she saw the picture in the first place, her face twisted. Her arms shook, and blood squirted out of her wrists.
“What’s going on?” Qiang Wei’s assistant rushed over. She had seen the woman use her talent before, but this had never happened!
The bloody resume turned thick with blood. The female player’s pupils rolled around. She turned the resume pages like she was mad. In the end, she suddenly screamed!
Her eyes pounded and bled. The female player tossed the resume away like it was burning. The pictures on the cards disappeared. The entwined hair broke. The female player landed on the ground. She held her head and eyes in pain.
“Sister Ling!” Qiang Wei’s assistant hugged her.
After a while, the female player opened her eyes. She grabbed her friend’s shirt and her eyes filled with terror.
“I looked through his resume, and every page is filled with one word—Death!”