Translator: Reina Editor: Killian
Lu Xia stared blankly at the door. His eyes were hurting from all the rubbing, but Sun Zheng was still missing.
It took him a long time before he came to his senses and accepted reality: Sun Zheng had disappeared, and had disappeared inexplicably.
He pushed himself up from the ground with his hands. Countless thoughts and guesses ran through his mind. Was Sun Zheng taken away by a ghost? Did Sun Zheng turn into a ghost? Did Sun Zheng run away by himself (but how did he run so fast?)? Sun Zheng…Sun Zheng…Or perhaps there was never a person called Sun Zheng, and it was all a part of his hallucination?
The more he thought about it, the more absurd his thoughts became, and the more he thought about it, the more far-fetched his guesses became, and he couldn’t come up with any practical conclusions at all. He even lost his composure.
He smacked his head, which was in a mess due to anxiety and panic, and muttered to himself, “Calm down, Lu Xia, calm down, Zheng must still be somewhere in here…”
Any world, even from our viewpoint here, even with all of its impossibilities and absurdities, is bound by its own set of rules, even if we are not able to understand those same rules. And this world too, must be the same.
As long as you’re able to find its laws and rules, you will be able to find a way to save Sun Zheng.
Lu Xia tried to convince himself in this manner. Bracing himself on the chair, he slowly got up to his feet and lowered himself back onto the chair. Then, his gaze fell on the envelope on the table again.
“Brother, if it were you, what would you do?”
The brother in his memory has remained in his 2001’s appearance. He was always covered with a layer of mystery and an unapproachable air.
“Mom, Brother doesn’t sleep at night!”
He once complained to his mother like this when he was a child, and his mother covered his mouth and pulled him into her arms. “Don’t talk nonsense. Your brother is sick, if your neighbours hear that, they will regard him like a monster and drive him away!”
He often hid half of his head under the quilt and secretly looked at his ‘sick’ brother. Lu Xiaoyun sat by the window with his knees bent, staring at the night sky outside the window with his head turned sideways.
There is no moon and no stars, what is he looking at?
The night lives, and he lives in the night.
Sometimes when he wakes up in the middle of the night, Lu Xia will find that his brother is gone.
He vaguely realised that his brother was different from ordinary people. Sometimes his brother’s gaze when he looked at others, felt as though he was looking through them, at something else.
Mom must have had a headache over them. The teacher constantly drops by for house visits, complaining that Lu Xiaoyun was always sleeping in class, or that Lu Xia is mischievous and loves to pick fights.
The older brother was silent about all this. Since young, Lu Xia felt that there was some hidden power inside his brother, that all problems to him didn’t feel like they were problems, that they were never of concern, that there was no need to solve them.
As Lu Xia daydreamed, a wry smile inadvertently tilted up the corner of his mouth. If only he had half the talent of his brother, then he wouldn’t be so helpless now. Later, when he grew up, he vaguely found out some of his brother’s secrets. He researched using a lot of books in private, and even shadowed his brother, because he was interested and curious.
Now, Lu Xia was regretting that he’d never seriously discussed anything with Lu Xiaoyun. Maybe all along, he had just been doing all this out of mere curiosity and never took this kind of ghost story seriously!
“Look at how useless you are now…” Lu Xia looked at himself mockingly. His legs were still hurting so badly that he couldn’t even walk on his own. Even if he could walk along the wall and leave the archives, he would not be able to run away in any crisis. And even if he found Sun Zheng, if there was any danger, he would still be a liability because of his limited mobility.
The memory of Sun Zheng glaring at him angrily to the point where his upright facial features all wrinkled together, surfaced in his mind again. “I even made him angry…”
Lu Xia leaned his head on the back of the chair, and let out a deep sigh. Sadly, the feeling of frustration never does linger on him for more than a second. He suddenly sat up again, grabbing the flashlight.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
What did Sun Zheng say earlier?
Ktfgf jgf wjcs olifr klat fwqibsff’r lcobgwjalbc lc j qlif bc atf ugbecv, jcv wbra bo atfw atfgf tjnf flatfg gfrlucfv bg kfgf vfmfjrfv jgbecv 2000…
Lf wbnfv tlr oijrtiluta ab atf wfrrs ugbecv. Ktfgf kfgf ralii Vec Itfcu’r obbaqglcar bc rbwf bo atfw, jcv j rajmx bo bgvfgfv qjqfg ktlmt Vec Itfcu kjr rbgalcu bea.
Lu Xia bent down, picked up the stack of documents, and casually flipped through a few pages. Sure enough, Sun Zheng was way too rigorous and serious. In such a short period of time, he had already extracted the employee’s documents out from the pile and arranged them in the order of their numbers. From the first page to the last page, it was all the employees who either resigned or died 2000 to 2002. There were only documents pertaining to this time period, and no more after that.
He thought of Sun Zheng’s question again. Is this because the hospital was sorting the data regularly? But why would they only arrange data during this particular time period? It felt more like someone took these documents out on purpose. Even the letter from Liu Qunfang left on the table was odd too. Was it really a coincidence that there was someone looking through Liu Qunfang’s things at this very moment too?
He had a bad feeling. Could Sun Zheng’s disappearance have something to do with this… While pondering, Lu Xia began to carefully examine the things Sun Zheng left behind.
The first paper was for employees who resigned in 2000. In addition to the basic information and job title, there is also their notice of resignation. Almost every subsequent entry is the same, some would even write detailed reasons for their resignation and additional information. There was a small number at the end of each document, which could be the corresponding storage number for important objects and reference materials.
Lu Xia flipped through to the end, and the pile thinned out by the end of 2002.
He glanced down at the flashlight in his hand. The light seemed to have dimmed. The battery was probably running out. He frowned, looking back at the documents. He felt that something was wrong. Why did someone take out so many documents? What did they want to do?
Lu Xia no longer cared about the environment he was in now. Whether it was the hospital, an endless darkness, or elsewhere, he didn’t have the time to care anymore. He focused his attention on the text written on each page and subconsciously fiddled the corner of the pages with his fingers.
Flip through them again, page by page. Count them again, one by one.
Sure enough… it’s the number. There were a few pages missing in the middle of the sequential numbers. These documents should be in sequence. However, the files between B04 and B07 were missing; among the remaining untouched documents, there was no information about Liu Qunfang, who disappeared during this same time period.
Lu Xia was finally able to affirm his hypothesis: someone was looking for a piece of information, or they were deliberately hiding that information. And they did it recently.
What was in the document? Why was there a need to hide it? Who were they hiding it from?
Could it be… him?
Lu Xia did tell Sun Zheng a truth. He really did meet the dean before coming here. The gray-haired dean Lu had received him with a smile, and said that although he hadn’t heard anything about his brother, he was very welcome to investigate the hospital.
“I have a few documents and maps here, and there are some old documents in the archives. If you want, I can provide them at any time… In this Tonghua Hospital, some problems really give us a headache. Now that it has been converted into a private hospital, it is more convenient for us to solve some of these problems by ourselves… It would be great if your investigation can provide us with some clues…”
The dean specifically mentioned the archives, and the materials and maps were also provided by him. Since he was the first person who knew Lu Xia was going to investigate this place, he was naturally the most suspicious.
Were they trying to hide something related to Lu Xiaoyun? Was that why they took away a portion of documents?
Lu Xia felt a bout of aggrieved anger. He cursed the person who plotted against him in a low voice, and tossed the stack of documents onto the table.
No wonder he felt something was wrong. But the old dean would have never expected Lu Xia to be so lucky that he had entered the chasm before he even started conducting his investigation.
It’s not too late yet!
Lu Xia’s spirit suddenly lifted, and he immediately turned to the box on the table in front of him.
They are likely still cleaning up the contents of the box, and there was the envelope under the box earlier, that is to say, the folder containing Liu Qunfang had just been cleaned up…
He immediately pulled the box over, as if afraid someone would snatch it away at any moment.
The contents of the box was nearly completely cleared. The fact that the crucial letter was still left behind was a blessing. Flipping Liu Qunfang’s work ID application, he saw a thin photo lying on the bottom layer.
The photo shows a woman in her early 20s with a small child. The woman had straight bangs with her hair tied back, and she had a pristine and neat appearance. She was staring straight at the camera, the corners of her rosy lips raised slightly, displaying confidence.
Lu Xia glanced at the work ID again. This beautiful woman should be Liu Qunfang.
The boy next to her has a pair of round eyes with a bright round face, exuding cheeriness. His short hair was soft and dark, and his small lips were slightly pouted, displaying a childlike pride and arrogance.
Lu Xia turned the photo over and found a line of crooked words written on the back:
“Aunt Qunfang, ask Dr. Yan and that strange uncle to visit me!!”
The words were very domineering and spoiled. Judging from the appellation, it should be written by the little boy.
Dr. Yan and the strange uncle?
Someone who could be called a strange uncle… Lu Xia thought of his brother, Lu Xiaoyun.
If it was Lu Xiaoyun, then his brother had indeed been to this hospital and met Liu Qunfang. Not only that, but he should have stayed there for a long time—at least he got to know this honest and spoiled child.
However, Dr. Yan… Lu Xia grabbed the stack of documents and flipped through them hastily, but there was no information about any employee surnamed Yan.
In other words, the doctor could still be working here, or may have left and his information was taken away.
Lu Xia’s paranoia made him speculate more. Perhaps this Dr. Yan was the one who took away the documents…
*
Sun Zheng felt very cold. It was so cold that he sprung his eyes open.
So dark. Where is this place?
Just now…just now… a face and those pair of eyes resurfaced in his mind.
No, no, it was impossible… He slapped his face with almost stiff hands until he felt pain. This isn’t a dream. But…
He slowly sat up. The black mist had completely enveloped him, suffocating him to the point of breathlessness. He suddenly remembered that he was still holding a flashlight in his hand.
Click.
A beam of light shot out from the flashlight, and he couldn’t get used to the sudden brightness. Sun Zheng squinted his eyes in pain, and it took him some effort before he could gradually make out his surroundings.
This is… a corridor?
There was thick gloomy mist on both sides, and the lights seemed like they were going to be eroded by the secret darkness at any moment. He stood up in a daze. A gust of cool wind from god knows where latched onto him, following up along his trousers and climbing onto him. It was so cold that he broke out in a thin layer of startled sweat.
He didn’t even dare to move his feet.
Without Lu Xia’s playful voice, he only felt the deep fear of the strange and mysterious environment at the moment.
The light from the flashlight shone faintly on the front of the corridor, and the white cloud that it illuminated seemed to be the end of the corridor.
What’s around the end? A staircase leading to a more unknown place, or to a deeper corridor?
He didn’t know whether it was cold or fear, but he shivered involuntarily.
What’s behind him? He didn’t dare to look back. Lu Xia said, looking back will only make you more scared.
But the more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t help but want to turn around.
There was a rustling sound coming from behind. It seemed to be slowly moving across the ground, sneaking along the wall.
What could be making that sound? He thought nervously, or maybe it was just a hallucination…
The slightly cool wind seemed to penetrate into his limbs again and he moved his feet compulsively. One step, two steps, he was surprised he was walking without sound.
The halo of light from the flashlight on the wall at the end of the corridor grew bigger and bigger.
For the first time, he felt that it would be great if Lu Xia was with him…
Suddenly he halted in his tracks.
Because at the end of the corridor, there was no staircase or corner to walk around.
There was nothing but a door.
Sun Zheng took a step back involuntarily.
It was a tattered, run-down door. Even the metal handle was extremely old and rusty. It felt almost as if this was too old to be constructed when Tonghua Hospital was built. The door itself was covered with bloodstains. The dark red bloodstains seemed to be splashed onto it, splattering all over the place. Others looked like they’d seeped from somewhere, dripping onto and flowing in a path down to the bottom of the door.
Other than the blood stains, there were also countless scratches. Sun Zheng couldn’t tell what left these kinds of scratches. They were all varied, some deep, others shallow, some long, others short. He didn’t know how bad their mental state had to be for them to leave such scratches, and he didn’t want to think about it either. If he studied the scratches closely, he might find that they were done by human fingernails. But how much strength must one use, to be able to leave such a deep imprint on this kind of old wooden door with just their nails?
On the doorframe, there was a crookedly pasted string of red thread. Sun Zheng didn’t know what material the red thread was made of, or what was the substance that glued it on, but the string was pasted along all sides, framing the door neatly.
It was like… like…
Sun Zheng had the urge to turn around and run away, but his eyes seemed to be attracted by something and his attention shifted back to the door again.
What would be behind the door?
This strange and curious thought suddenly welled up in his mind.
As if in a trance, he took a step forward.
Suddenly, he heard a very slight, almost inaudible sound. The sound of scratching.
Something behind the door was scratching at it.
The voice was intangible, yet creepy as it ran down his back.
It was just a very light sound, but it felt like it was scratching at the door vigorously.
There was something behind this door, clawing and scratching at this door frantically, using their nails or maybe even fingertips without nails…
Sun Zheng felt his heart palpitating in his chest. He could clearly feel fear, but above that, was a deep inexplicable fascination for the door.
He took another step forward. The marks on the door and the sound behind it seemed to be urging him to come closer.
He stretched a hand out into the cold black mist and touched the door.
Another bad decision of reading this at night 😭
*wipes sweat