DDT - Chapter 78
Chapter 78: Female Ghost × Little Pitiful One (8)
Initially, Yi Shuhan had been happily following the two nurses. Soon, however, she realized something was wrong. The two quiet nurses were leading her toward the long-abandoned old building opposite the inpatient ward.
Yi Shuhan had been at Chang City Third Hospital long enough to have heard things from other patients.
The five-story building across from the inpatient ward was the hospital's old reception building. It had been completely abandoned two years ago, supposedly because it failed a safety inspection. To put it bluntly, it was a condemned building. The higher-ups had ordered its use to be discontinued, and it had gradually fallen into disuse. The departments originally in the old building had all been moved to the new building constructed with government funding.
So, if her mother was here to visit, why were the two nurses taking her to the old building?
"Um… Nurse, isn't that building ahead abandoned? Are we going over there?" Yi Shuhan felt a sense of unease and couldn't help but ask.
The nurse in front paused for a fraction of a second, her mind racing. She quickly composed herself. "The reception room in Building One was moved and is being renovated, so it's not usable right now. They've set up a temporary reception room in the old building." The nurse's slightly cold voice drifted back. She didn't even bother to turn her head, looking as if she couldn't wait to get this over with.
Although the reason sounded plausible, a bad feeling still lingered in Yi Shuhan's heart.
She even wondered if it was because her family hadn't paid enough, so her visit was just a perfunctory gesture. It was like the haunted Room No. 1 that nobody wanted to live in; because her family was unwilling to pay extra, they had thrown her into a room where someone had died.
Then again, Yi Shuhan thought, it was precisely because she lived in Room No. 1 that she had met the ghost, Chi Chi, and made her first-ever friend. Thinking about it that way, she hadn't lost out. The ghost, Chi Chi, was very good to her, keeping her company and even giving her such a precious gift. It was wonderful.
As Yi Shuhan walked, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. As her thoughts drifted, she stopped dwelling on why the reception room would be set up in an abandoned building.
The three of them left from a corner of the activity area without attracting anyone's attention. Everything was proceeding with incredible smoothness, just as planned.
Soon, under the somewhat scorching sun, the group arrived in front of the abandoned building.
Although the building had been vacant for a long time, the cleaning lady responsible for the activity area would come by to tidy up from time to time. As a result, the building's exterior didn't look much different from any other old building. It wasn't the scene of crumbling walls, withered branches, fallen leaves, and overgrown weeds she might have imagined.
Yi Shuhan, suspecting nothing, followed the two nurses through the main entrance of the old building.
Stepping into the building was like entering another world. Outside, the sun was high and bright, its heat stinging the skin. But the moment they walked through the doors, the three of them clearly felt the air turn cold and gloomy. Perhaps it was due to the angle, but not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate inside. A thick chill crawled up their spines. The two nurses instinctively wrapped their arms around themselves and rubbed them, mentally cursing how damn creepy and cold this abandoned old building was.
Yi Shuhan was fine. The chill only brushed past her back for a brief moment before quickly vanishing into a continuous stream of warmth.
The thought that she still had a ghost friend attached to her made the faint unease in her heart disappear completely.
All that remained was the nervousness of seeing her mother soon.
The two nurses led Yi Shuhan toward the stairwell. There had once been an elevator, but with the building abandoned for so long, it had long been out of service. They had no choice but to take the stairs.
Doubt arose in Yi Shuhan's mind once more. Temporarily placing a reception room in an abandoned building was strange enough. Now, judging by the nurses' actions, this reception room was probably on the second or third floor.
Logically, if one were to temporarily use an old building and wanted to avoid trouble, they would certainly choose to set up the reception room on the first floor. The fact that they were heading upstairs was truly odd.
Yi Shuhan was full of questions, but remembering how dismissive the nurses had been earlier, she figured they really didn't want to talk to her. So, she swallowed the questions that had risen to her throat. It was better not to bother others.
In any case, she would find out when she got there.
Ever since entering this abandoned old building, Chi Junluo had suddenly felt invigorated. She tried to sense the reason carefully but couldn't pinpoint it.
In her sea of consciousness, the Heavenly Dao saw her looking around like a restless monkey and had a good idea of what she was thinking. "Chi Chi, stop spinning around. You're making This Deity dizzy."
"This Deity has lived for so long and participated in world management for ages, so I am naturally knowledgeable. The yin qi in this building is too heavy." But not as heavy as yours.
The Heavenly Dao thought for a moment and decided not to say everything, including the fact that the building was quite lively.
When Chi Junluo heard that the old building was heavy with yin qi, she was reminded of the gloomy old mansions from horror movies she used to watch. Why did the atmosphere of this old building feel so similar?
Clinging to Yi Shuhan's shoulder, Chi Junluo suddenly saw a figure in white clothes at the turn of the stairs. The clothes had large, dark red, blood-like stains on them. Just as she was about to take a closer look, Yi Shuhan carried her up the stairs.
It was obvious that besides her, a ghost, none of the other three people had seen that figure. It was right there at the turn of the stairs, not far away—such a conspicuous figure, dressed like a cosplayer, standing there motionlessly…
The more Chi Junluo thought about it, the more something felt off. As a female ghost with a decade of experience, she actually felt a shiver run down her spine here, in a ghost's home turf so thick with yin qi.
She whipped her head around, staring directly behind her. The white figure was standing right in the middle of the landing. It looked like a man, his short black hair stained with dark red marks. His head was bowed deeply, and upon closer inspection, his feet were hovering in the air.
He didn't move, just stood there quietly. The sight made Chi Junluo's hair stand on end. It took all her effort not to scream.
However, having become a ghost, Chi Junluo was completely unaware that ghosts have no skeleton. In her current state, her four limbs were clinging to a girl's back while her entire head was twisted a full 180 degrees to face the male ghost.
The male ghost put on a ferocious expression and looked up slightly, only to be met with Chi Junluo's bizarre appearance. The male ghost shuddered in fright. Holy crap!
Chi Junluo was caught off guard by the sight of the male ghost's jumbled facial features, which looked as if they had been flattened by something. Red liquid covered his entire face. She almost let out a stream of curses, but then she saw an expression of terror on the male ghost's distorted face.
Chi Junluo: ??? Sir, are you trying to scare a ghost???
The male ghost trembled, his protruding eyeballs rolled around, and he floated away from the scene as fast as he could.
Completely oblivious to the fact that she had scared a ghost, Chi Junluo maintained her head-twisted-180-degrees posture, staring intently at the somewhat dim staircase, afraid that another messed-up-looking ghost would float out and scare her before she was mentally prepared to watch a real-life horror movie.
Anyway, Yi Shuhan and the others couldn't see them, so those ghosts could only scare her.
Maintaining this strange posture, Chi Junluo was carried up the spiraling staircase by Yi Shuhan, leaving that landing behind.
When she saw Yi Shuhan stop climbing, Chi Junluo leisurely turned her neck back. Her ghostly long hair fanned out in the air, brushing against the two nurses who had, at some point, ended up behind Yi Shuhan. It was already creepy enough in the abandoned old building, and being unexpectedly brushed by Chi Junluo's ghostly hair made them feel so cold they could almost shatter. The two exchanged a look behind Yi Shuhan's back and unconsciously quickened their pace.
They soon arrived at Room 302. The somewhat old wooden door was shut tight, and the metal "302" plate on it was rusted. Yi Shuhan's suspicion deepened. If this were just an ordinary reception room, the door should have been open and waiting for her. This tightly closed door made it seem like there was something inside that couldn't be seen by others.
Before Yi Shuhan could sort out her thoughts, the two nurses flanked her, blocking her escape. Then, one of them quickly reached out and opened the wooden door. It was pitch-black inside. Before Yi Shuhan could react, the two nurses roughly shoved her into Room 302. Then, with a "bang," they slammed the door shut. A "click" followed—the sound of a key being inserted into a lock and turned. Yi Shuhan immediately understood. She spun around, grabbed the doorknob, and twisted it hard several times. The wooden door was locked; the handle wouldn't turn. With this kind of old-fashioned wooden door, unless you had the key, there was no way to open it from the inside.
The key was certainly not on the little bunny who had fallen into the tiger's den. Yi Shuhan temporarily gave up on the idea of leaving. The wooden door looked quite sturdy; it didn't seem like something she could break through.
She turned around and carefully surveyed the room.
Room 302 must have had several large windows, but the completely opaque blackout curtains were all drawn and secured. The lights were off, making the room incredibly dark. Only a few slivers of golden sunlight shot in through the gaps in the improperly drawn curtains.
This gloomy place, this dilapidated old building—it was definitely not some damn reception room. Yi Shuhan felt a surge of anger. Fury ignited from the bottom of her heart. Some bastard had used news of her mother to lure her, completely defenseless, to this godforsaken place with ill intentions!
In an instant, the Yellow-haired Man's disgusting face appeared in her mind.
Damn it, could this be a trap set by the Yellow-haired Man?
Ever since entering this gloomy building, Chi Junluo had felt a long-lost sense of ease. After following Yi Shuhan into this room, Chi Junluo carefully floated up, releasing her hands and feet from Yi Shuhan's back. The powerful suction from Room No. 1 in the inpatient ward was gone. In this old building filled with gloomy, ghostly qi, Chi Junluo had gained temporary freedom. Her limbs were finally liberated!
Yi Shuhan was already warily scanning the darkness for unknown dangers when she suddenly felt a chill on her back. The familiar source of warmth was gone.
She suddenly felt a little panicked. Had Chi Chi been sucked back to Room No. 1? After interacting with Chi Junluo so many times, she was well aware of the influence Room No. 1 had on her.
But her panic didn't last long. She felt a cool, soft, familiar hand gently take her own, which had started to sweat.
A gentle, pleasant female voice sounded by her ear, "Shuhan, don't be afraid. I'm here."
A vicious beast lurked in the darkness, but in that instant, Yi Shuhan was no longer afraid of anything. She was not alone! She still had Chi Chi!
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