CH 17

SuHe’s words brought a spark of hope – “a clue” meant that their chances of survival were once again increased.

“Let’s talk elsewhere,” SuHe continued. “XueYingying may be unconscious at the moment but if she is still possessed we may be overheard. It’s far better to be safe than sorry.”

At his suggestion, the three slipped into a neighbouring office, checking all the possible escape routes multiple times before settling down into discussion.

SuHe was the one to start.

“I’ve been considering possible solutions to the problem of the murderer for a long time. Engaging him head-on is by far the best option in terms of accomplishing this goal, but this comes at the cost of at least one or two deaths on our part, hence why I haven’t voiced this option,” he said measuredly, tapping out a gentle rhythm on his thumb with the pen. “There were a few new ideas I had to consider when Dr Lu and I went to the surveillance room in block A prior to this. We could say that the surveillance room is the central hub of information within the hospital considering the fact that it grants visuals for basically every major hallway in both buildings. The main reason we didn’t destroy the panels was because I thought we could use this system.

“The easiest way by far is to set a trap. If done carefully, even a simple plan may be sufficient in killing him. There have been incidents in the past where the oxygen storage tank exploded and killed many people – if we can lure him into a setup along these lines and light a fire, the chances of our success are considerably large.”

Dr Lu jumped up in excitement at SuHe’s proposal. “It’ll work! We don’t even need to go to the storage tanks since every ward is equipped with an oxygen unit. All we need to do is to raise the concentration of oxygen, slightly alter the electrical circuit to short-circuit the system and voila – a spark. I guarantee the explosion will be enough!”

QiLeren shook his head. “But we’ll need very precise calculation to time the explosion. This plan won’t work as well a second time if we fail on the first.”

“Precise control of the explosion, huh…” Dr Lu muttered. He and SuHe whipped around to QiLeren at the same time.

The look was one that QiLeren was all too familiar with – he had been subjected to the exact same look in the blood bank!

“You’re…not going to make me kill myself again, are you…?” he said with a reluctant pout.

“Look dude, you have a huge responsibility as bait for the sake of everyone’s lives,” Dr Lu sighed and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll treat you to all the best restaurants around the country when we get out of this bloody place – don’t underestimate the self-cultivation of a foodie!”

QiLeren expressed plainly that he had more interest in staying alive than the self-cultivation of a foodie.

SuHe silently watched this exchange, gently smiling at him. “We could come up with a better plan…”

QiLeren paused for a few seconds, conflicted, before giving in with a sigh. “It’s alright, if there really was a better idea I’m sure you would’ve brought it up earlier. I’ll go, but you have to guarantee my safety.”

“Unless you fall over while fleeing, or enter the wrong room, or forget to save a file, I don’t believe there will be a problem,” SuHe said lightly.

“…” This job was sounding more and more dangerous by the minute. QiLeren didn’t want to do it anymore.

After going over some rough schematics, the discussion turned to the subject of four thirteen.

“Didn’t you say that you had an inkling to what this may be about as well, SuHe? Mind filling us in?” Dr Lu said as he relaxed into a more comfortable position, splaying over the napping recliner bonelessly.

SuHe sat primly in his seat, fingers intertwined before him to support his chin. “Do you still remember the screen in the lobby? Our attention was focused on the time, but what happened in Director Li’s office reminded me that the problem was not actually the time.”

Something sparked in QiLeren’s mind. He took out the aged notebook and stared at the cover.

“The name!” “It’s the name of the hospital?!” Dr Lu and QiLeren exclaimed at the same time.

“So that’s what was off about that board – the name!” Dr Lu stood with a start and started pacing around the room, talking excitedly. “The hospital name on the board is the same as the one on QiLeren’s notebook, both missing the word “First”. This suggests that the building we’re in right now is the hospital twenty years ago before it changed its name, which means that the four thirteen on the board isn’t actually referring to the time tonight but…”

“…but four thirteen on a certain day more than twenty years ago,” SuHe finished.

Then it should’ve happened before he turned five, QiLeren thought. What happened to the hospital before he turned five? It must’ve been a big event, or had been documented somewhere within the hospital – making a normal person recall something that happened more than twenty years ago was absurd. What exactly happened on this certain day at four thirteen?

“Argh, there are no clues!” Dr Lu yelled. “God, do we really have to go to the bloody records room to flip through documents?!”

“There’s a records room in the hospital?” QiLeren asked, vexed.

“’Course, but there’s so much stuff in there we can spend all night and still not find anything!” Dr Lu grumbled, falling into his recliner. “I hate the part of mystery games where they make you go around the entire map to find evidence. The hospital’s huge and it’ll take forever to find anything.”

The three discussed this for a while but came to no conclusions, deciding to save the problem for later and focus on the murderer.

“Now that we have a plan, all that’s left is for us to put it into action. We must prevent any and all accidents that may occur. I don’t want you to get hurt,” SuHe said seriously, locking eyes with QiLeren.

QiLeren nodded slightly.

He was willing to take this risk, not only for his own safety but for these companions that he had known for a short few hours. If SuHe was willing to courageously step forward to save his life, then the least he could do was to do this for them. Deep down, he also wanted revenge for the three times he had been hunted down.

Besides…he had gotten used to dying.

“We don’t need to rush into this, there’s more than enough time for us to rest before taking action.” SuHe frowned at QiLeren’s pale complexion. “I’ve been wanting to ask this since we found you near the fishbowl, but does your skill have any side effects?” he asked, concerned. “Your face is rather pale.”

QiLeren brought a hand to his face and felt the coldness of his skin. The two saves he had loaded near the fishbowl seemed to have sapped him of his energy. He didn’t need a mirror to know that his face was ashen with the stress of the chase; even his body felt weak.

He was very tired.

“I’m not too sure…I don’t think the card said anything.” QiLeren slid the card out of its slot and studied its effects carefully, finding no mention of any side effects. His body’s condition could not be overlooked, however, and suggests that the skill does cause harm after repeated use.

“You should sleep. I’ll wake you at eleven and we can go to set the trap then,” SuHe said. He walked around the office, finding the blanket used by doctors during lunch break and deposited it in QiLeren’s lap.

QiLeren wrapped the blanket around himself, said “Thank you” and closed his eyes.

“I’ll go see how XueYingying’s doing,” he heard Dr Lu say to SuHe. He didn’t hear a reply, but Dr Lu’s footsteps slowly faded into the distance. The office door was gently shut, lights turned off, and soon the only sound left in the room was of QiLeren’s own breathing.

Was SuHe still in here with him? Half-asleep, QiLeren couldn’t resist turning around and cracking open one eyelid to sneak a look.

He could see SuHe quietly sitting by the window, staring out into the never-ending abyss of mist and fog. Slivers of light spilled through the glass panel on the door, coating his elegant profile in an ethereal glow; gentle, but so, so far, like a lighthouse seen miles away from shore, a beacon of guidance that strikes fear in people’s hearts.

This is a person different to rest of them, QiLeren thought sleepily. What a beautiful, extraordinary person.

SuHe’s gaze swept over him like a passing shadow. QiLeren thinks he may have smiled. There was no way to find out, however, as QiLeren closes his eyes to the call of sleep and falls, softly, into the darkness.