DDT - Chapter 77
Chapter 77: Female Ghost × Little Pitiful One (7)
Time flew by. For the past two days, Yi Shuhan had continued her routine of going to the bathroom at midnight, standing before the massive mirror, and waiting for the hour to strike. Then, she would watch as the beautiful ghost materialized bit by bit behind her. She would tilt her head, her eyes curving into a smile, and greet the great ghost Chi.
Sometimes they didn't speak, simply standing before the mirror. Yi Shuhan would curiously tug at Chi Junluo's somewhat ethereal hand. Other times, Chi Junluo would float in mid-air and drape her long hair over Yi Shuhan's head. It didn't obstruct Yi Shuhan's vision at all, but in the mirror, it looked as if her own head had twisted 180 degrees, with the back of her head facing forward. It was quite a frightening sight.
But the girl and the ghost didn't find this little game improper in the slightest; on the contrary, they had a wonderful time playing it.
As a result, patients in the wards near the bathroom would often hear the booming, raucous laughter of two women coming from the bathroom late at night. It was a long, drawn-out, and hair-raising sound.
And so, following the incident with the life-reaping ghost's scream, a new legend was born in the bathrooms of the Third Hospital's inpatient department—the Barbell Ghost.
The ghost Chi Junluo hanging on Yi Shuhan's back, and Yi Shuhan with the ghost hanging on her back: ???
What the hell is a Barbell Ghost?!
The Heavenly Dao was already howling with laughter like a madman in Chi Junluo's sea of consciousness. As usual, Chi Junluo used the mental power in her sea of consciousness to drench the Heavenly Dao from head to toe.
The Heavenly Dao cheerfully wiped its face. "Cool to the core! Makes the heart soar!"
Ignoring the dramatic Heavenly Dao, Chi Junluo lazily hung on Yi Shuhan's back. After confirming that the familiar warmth was still there, Yi Shuhan stepped out of Room No. 1.
Today was the once-every-half-month "release day." Of course, "release day," a name more suited for a prison, was something the patients had come up with themselves. The Third Hospital called it "Activity Day." The purpose of Activity Day was to provide patients with a place for exercise and rehabilitation. The wide, open area between the back of the inpatient building and the old abandoned building was the patients' territory for their release day activities. Patients were not allowed to leave the inpatient department on their own.
On previous release days, Yi Shuhan would always sit quietly in a corner by the flowerbeds, either spacing out or silently watching the patients lazily shooting hoops by the basketball court.
It was utterly boring.
Today was different. She was carrying a fat baby doll on her back… scratch that, a beautiful ghost. According to the clever Yi Shuhan's deductions, the ghost Chi Chi must have been trapped in Room No. 1 ever since her tragic death, never seeing the light of day. What a miserable ghost, locked away year after year, day after day, in a dark, windowless room. Truly tragic.
Since it was release day, and since she, Yi Shuhan, had the ability and the means to bring the ghost Chi Chi out to see the sun, why wouldn't she?
After finishing lunch in the cafeteria as usual, Yi Shuhan patted her round little belly and couldn't help but marvel. Before meeting Chi Chi, she had no appetite for food or drink and had even fainted from malnutrition several times. Unexpectedly, after getting to know Chi Chi, she had started to love her meals, enjoying every dish. Whatever she ate tasted delicious. Her face had become visibly rounder, and her complexion had improved. If the hospital allowed it, Yi Shuhan thought, she could probably climb five flights of stairs in one go without breaking a sweat!
[Hands on hips.jpg]
What Yi Shuhan hadn't realized was that ever since she met Chi Junluo, her mood had improved, her emotions had stabilized, and she had even forgotten about self-harm.
Life, it seemed, was starting to move in a better direction.
Under the supervision of the nurses, the patients lined up and went downstairs, heading to the activity center through the back door of the inpatient building. The front door was the exit from the department, and patients who hadn't been discharged or weren't being picked up by family were not allowed to use it.
One by one, the patients went out the back door until only Yi Shuhan was left standing in the lobby. The nurses, accustomed to this, paid her no mind and left directly.
Yi Shuhan hesitated slightly. She looked around; everyone was gone. Only then did she whisper, "Chi Chi, can you be in the sun? Will you dissipate if you see the sun?"
Her tone was filled with worry.
Chi Junluo's expression darkened. She wasn't a zombie or a vampire, unable to see the sun lest she turn to ash. She was a ghost that ordinary people couldn't see.
Chi Junluo floated down from Yi Shuhan's back, placing one hand on her shoulder and gently writing on her back with the other.
Yi Shuhan first felt the warmth leave her back, and she suddenly felt a little panicked. Then, a finger-like object began to gently trace characters on her back.
A tingling, ticklish sensation spread from her back. Yi Shuhan shivered slightly, almost letting out a moan. It felt as if someone was sweeping a feather across her back.
Whether it was because Yi Shuhan was sensitive or Chi Junluo was doing it on purpose, the light, airy touch lingered, sending wave after wave of indescribable sensations through Yi Shuhan's entire body. It took several minutes before Yi Shuhan could barely make out a few words from the ghostly characters on her back: Not afraid of the sun.
Yi Shuhan nodded. "I understand, Chi Chi. Stop writing, it tickles."
Seeing that Yi Shuhan had gotten her meaning, Chi Junluo withdrew her hand and hung back onto Yi Shuhan's back, completely unaware of the strong reaction her actions had just caused.
A deep blush spread across Yi Shuhan's ears and the surrounding area. Feeling the ghost Chi Chi's finger leave her back and the warmth return, she breathed a small sigh of relief.
Since Chi Chi wasn't afraid of the sunlight, there was no need for her to worry.
And so, for the first time since coming to the Third Hospital, Yi Shuhan participated in the "Activity Day" release with a happy heart, bringing her ghost friend along.
In fact, before Chi Junluo had held her hand to complete that drawing a few days ago, Yi Shuhan had always been skeptical. There was no doubt that she had a mental illness. After her face-to-face meeting with Chi Junluo in the bathroom, Yi Shuhan had once suspected that Chi Junluo was a figment of her imagination. She had heard from other patients who experienced hallucinations that when they occurred, they couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion at all. The products of their hallucinations were so vivid that they even deceived their sense of touch.
Later, a patient had even whispered to her secretively, "Little girl, look, this is the squirrel I've been hiding. I've raised it for five years, feeding it vegetables every day. It's grown so strong. You must not tell the nurses, or they'll take me for electroshock therapy!"
Yi Shuhan had forced a smile as she looked at the patient's empty arms, then watched as he gently stroked something in thin air. The sight sent a chill down her spine. Psychosis was truly terrifying.
Yi Shuhan had once suspected she was also hallucinating, but she didn't dare tell the doctors, because no one but her could see Chi Junluo, and even she could only see her in the mirror at midnight.
It wasn't until that night when the Yellow-haired Man burst into the women's bathroom and was scared off by Chi Chi behind her that Yi Shuhan became a little more certain that Chi Chi wasn't her hallucination. After all, someone else had seen her in the mirror, right?
And then there was the drawing that Chi Chi had personally given her in the library that day.
She was now mostly certain that Chi Junluo was real. Yi Shuhan herself couldn't draw, let alone create such an exquisite portrait with just a pencil. It was impossible for her.
Under the sunlight, Yi Shuhan reached out and touched the well-protected drawing tucked into her waistband, feeling a sense of reassurance. Chi Chi was always by her side.
Chi Junluo had been in this world for many days, but this was the first time she had seen the sun, the first time she had been out of the building for a breath of fresh air. Although the inpatient department had a large balcony for patients to rest and sunbathe, it was different from truly stepping outside and breathing in the fresh air.
Yi Shuhan walked intently along the rubberized, track-like ground, not noticing a yellow-haired figure sneaking towards the old abandoned building.
Yi Shuhan was still leisurely strolling with a ghost on her back, unaware that she was already being targeted.
The family of the patient from Room No. 1 had little money, let alone any influence. They were just ordinary commoners. In the eyes of the Wang family, or rather, in Uncle Wang's eyes, they were less than dirt.
After investigating Yi Shuhan's complicated family situation and learning that no one from her family had visited her in over a year, Uncle Wang nodded. He was confident that after the Yellow-haired Man killed the little girl, he could make her existence vanish from the world entirely.
In Uncle Wang's view, there was nothing in this world that money couldn't solve. If there was, you just had to add more money.
The Yellow-haired Man called Uncle Wang. "Uncle, I had Huzi get the stuff ready for me yesterday. Third floor of the abandoned building, Room 302. It's all cleaned up. Have the nurses find a way to bring her here in a bit."
"Yes, Young Master." After hanging up, Uncle Wang immediately called the two nurses.
He had first given the hospital director a considerable sum of money, then gave these two nurses twenty thousand, instructing them to bring the person over and keep their mouths shut afterward, not leaking a single word.
The nurses' salaries were not high to begin with. Seeing such a good and easy opportunity to make money, their eyes lit up, and they immediately agreed. As for why these people were going to such lengths to deal with a little girl, they couldn't be bothered to care.
The two nurses saw that Yi Shuhan was already walking in a somewhat remote area by herself and were overjoyed. This way, they could lead her away without anyone noticing.
Yi Shuhan was walking numbly. The sun was starting to get stronger, and she was considering whether to sit down and rest in a shady spot to cool off. Just then, she saw two nurses walking toward her.
"Number 213, you're Yi Shuhan, right?" one of the nurses asked.
"Yes," Yi Shuhan replied.
"Your mother scheduled a visit for this afternoon. Xiao Zhang forgot about it during lunch, and now your mother is already waiting in the reception room. There are others waiting in line after her, so hurry up and come with us," the other nurse said in a business-like tone, a hint of impatience in her eyes, as if she was genuinely annoyed at having to make an extra trip because of a colleague's mistake.
Yi Shuhan had no reason to doubt them and even felt a little excited. "You're saying my mom came to see me?" She hadn't seen her mother in over a year, and Yi Shuhan was pleasantly surprised.
"Please take me there quickly."
The two nurses exchanged a look. This little girl was too easy to fool.
Immediately, they turned and walked away. "Follow us."
Yi Shuhan quickly scurried with her short legs to keep up. She never expected her mother would actually come to see her.
Chi Junluo, perched on Yi Shuhan's shoulder, felt something was strange. These two nurses seemed to be hiding something, their eyes darting about.
The two nurses led the elated Yi Shuhan toward the abandoned building across the way.
Everything was proceeding with incredible smoothness.
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