Translator: CinderTL
Without asking her how she could tell or any other nonsense, Huai Yi's reaction was exceptionally genuine. He immediately took two steps back, hunched his body, and cautiously surveyed the area.
It seemed as if the Gate might suddenly open at any moment.
The brief encounter with the Ghost had left a deep impression on Huai Yi. Last time, he had managed to escape largely due to luck, but this time... it was hard to say.
Staring at the Gate, Huai Yi felt a deep sense of unease.
"I think we should avoid complicating matters," Huai Yi suggested, his voice low and trembling. "There might not be any clues here, and that... that thing might be hiding inside. We should go find the others first."
It was unlikely that this place held any clues about the connection between Yin Zhennan and Zhang Zhaowei. Instead, there was a Mad Nurse who had been driven insane by the Ghost.
After a moment of hesitation, Lin Wan'er spoke up, "I want to go in and take a look."
Earlier, Lin Wan'er had discussed with Jiang Cheng that this Mad Nurse was not as simple as she seemed. Although her legs were almost useless, she would crawl out late at night, moving from the 9th floor all the way down to the 6th floor.
Last time, it was her who made the people in Ward 604 think they had encountered a Ghost, terrifying them.
What kind of obsession could drive someone to do all this?
And even now, no one knew what secrets lay behind the Mad Nurse.
From Huai Yi's experience, the unknown meant risk.
The greater the unknown, the greater the risk.
"Don't go in," Huai Yi said. "Listen to me, don't take the risk. If necessary, let's find the other teammates first, and then—"
Lin Wan'er turned her head and glanced at Huai Yi. "You don't have to come in," she said. "Just wait here for me."
Huai Yi was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected this woman to be so bold.
But Lin Wan'er didn't give him time to think further. She gently pressed her hand against the Gate and slowly pushed it open.
The expected creak didn't come; the Gate opened easily.
Inside, it was pitch black. Only when the light from the corridor seeped in could they barely make out the interior of the ward.
In the center was a bed.
There was no table, no wardrobe, and even the windows were mostly covered by thick curtains.
The room was almost devoid of decorations.
The half-exposed windowsill was empty, with no plants or flowers.
Just being here for a short while already gave a sense of oppression.
One could imagine that even on a sunny day, this place would always be shrouded in an inescapable gloom.
On the bed lay a person.
Their face was unclear.
They were motionless.
This ward gave Huai Yi a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, like a trap with its jaws wide open, waiting for someone to walk right in.
But before Huai Yi could stop her, Lin Wan'er had already stepped inside.
To be honest, Huai Yi absolutely did not want to go in. He felt both helpless and somewhat angry at Lin Wan'er's rash decision.
But after glancing around, the eerie atmosphere of the corridor also weighed heavily on him.
If he left now, something might happen.
And if he really waited outside as Lin Wan'er had suggested, Huai Yi's eyes flickered with conflict. He couldn't be sure whether Lin Wan'er would come out alive.
Even if someone came out, who could tell whether it was Lin Wan'er herself or a Ghost that had killed Lin Wan'er and then disguised itself as her?
Gritting his teeth, Huai Yi also stepped inside.
He was cautious and opened the Gate as wide as possible.
Not finding anything to prop the Gate open, he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out some leftover gauze, rolled it up, and stuffed it into the gap between the Gate and the floor.
This barely managed to keep the Gate in place.
Lin Wan'er stopped not far from the hospital bed.
Huai Yi's footsteps were light, as if he was worried about waking the slumbering Mad Nurse or something lurking in the darkness.
Both of them tacitly avoided turning on their phone flashlights.
As he approached, Huai Yi's expression changed. He saw the person on the bed curled up into a ball, their entire body hidden beneath the blanket.
The person under the blanket seemed terrified, visibly trembling slightly.
Were they afraid of the uninvited Lin Wan'er and himself?
Or were they afraid of those things?
This Mad Nurse might truly be insane, but her perception of those things still existed. Huai Yi had encountered a similar situation during a previous mission.
The fear of those beings was almost etched into her bones.
But judging by the Mad Nurse's reaction to the outside world, perhaps Lin Wan'er's judgment was correct. It was possible that she indeed knew some inside information.
"Don't be afraid," Huai Yi said in a very soft voice. "We're here to help you. If you need anything, you can tell us."
"If there's anything you think is important, you can also give it to us."
Upon hearing this, the Mad Nurse under the blanket trembled even more. But somewhat comically, the blanket wasn't as large as one might expect.
As the Mad Nurse continued to squirm, parts of her body gradually became visible.
From the outside, it looked like a twisted human form. The Mad Nurse clutched her head tightly, as if afraid to see or hear something.
Her two feet and part of her legs were exposed.
Her skin was extremely pale, the kind of pallor that could be noticed even in the dim light.
Even though it was clear she hadn't seen sunlight in a long time, it still made people feel uncomfortable.
The Mad Nurse seemed to sense that her legs were exposed, and her anxiety increased. She kept kicking her legs, trying to pull them back under the blanket.
Lin Wan'er reached out, grabbed the blanket, and pulled it down a bit, barely managing to cover her legs. The Mad Nurse's emotions gradually calmed down.
She stopped struggling.
Through the blanket, Lin Wan'er patted the Mad Nurse's leg and comforted her, "You're safe now. We know what you're afraid of. We can help you, but you need to tell us what exactly happened."
Lin Wan'er's voice seemed to have a soothing magic. The Mad Nurse treated Lin Wan'er much better than she treated Huai Yi.
Even though the words were almost the same, Huai Yi thought to himself.
The tightly wrapped figure under the blanket stopped trembling. After a moment, the position of her head moved slightly, as if nodding.
There's hope!
It seemed that this Mad Nurse could still communicate simply. Huai Yi couldn't help but feel excited. Having a firsthand account of the incident from 18 years ago would make things much clearer.
But just as Huai Yi was about to move closer to ask questions, Lin Wan'er extended a hand to stop him.
Then, she began to slowly back away from the bed.
Huai Yi immediately understood that Lin Wan'er must have discovered something. Was there something wrong with the Mad Nurse on the bed? Although he was puzzled, his body instinctively followed her as they retreated.
Just as the two of them backed away to about three meters, the lights in the corridor flickered a few times. In the dim light, Huai Yi caught a glimpse of a horrifying scene.
Under the hospital bed.
Someone was lying there.
(End of the Chapter)
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