Translator: Reina Editor: Killian
Sun Zheng finished flipping through this record. Although the lingering mystery of the child made him break out in a cold sweat, he didn’t find the information about the bloodstain on the ground and the weird door.
He looked at the records spread out on the table with some dejection. He didn’t know what this record was trying to convey, he couldn’t make heads or tails of it at all.
Don’t tell him he was more stupid than Lu Xia?
He was taken aback by this sudden thought.
At this time, he heard a light knock on the door. Sun Zheng was stunned. Because the scene from the records was still fresh in his mind, he wondered if he’d misheard.
But then, there was another knock on the door.
What is out there? A human? Or a ghost?
Sun Zheng eyed the door, perplexed. Who knew what unknown things were outside of that closed door…
“Lu-Lu Xia?” He called out hesitantly.
There was a faint groan. Sun Zheng moved a little closer to the door, trying to hear it more clearly.
He didn’t mishear. There were indeed low groans accompanied by intermittent knocks on the door.
Sun Zheng clenched his fists nervously. Was it Lu Xia? Did he get injured again?
No, that’s impossible. How would Lu Xia know that he was here?
Then who else could it be? A… a ghost?
He turned and wanted to return to his seat, yet he couldn’t bring himself to ignore the groans and knocks.
It was as if they were asking him for help. Who was it? What was it?
He shifted the light down to the crack at the bottom of the door and crouched down, peeking through it.
There was nothing.
Sun Zheng fiercely struggled with himself internally. The third floor of Tonghua Hospital was a lot more dangerous than the other floors. From the moment they arrived on this floor, they had encountered too many horrifying and weird scenes one after another. He was not sure if he still had the mental capacity for another stimulus.
There was no one else in the hospital, there should be no one else here. But what if… What if there was really someone else, injured, or in danger…
At long last, Sun Zheng made up his mind. He stood up and strode towards the door, his heart clenching in fear.
Just a small crack. He’d just open the door a little.
Sun Zheng turned the doorknob lightly.
*
Lu Xia scratched his head, peering at the large pile of documents on the ground, and the pile which had just been sorted out. He didn’t manage to find the missing papers.
The only clue he had now was this box in front of him.
He returned his gaze to the box. He lifted it and scrutinised it on all sides, before finally finding a small serial number on a corner.
Fortunately, this box was still here, so he could still find related documents according to the serial number.
As the seconds ticked by in this space, the shadow of worry in Lu Xia’s heart grew larger and larger. He didn’t know where Sun Zheng was right now, or what danger the man had encountered. Furthermore, the longer they stayed in this chasm, the easier it would be for them to lose their original human form and gradually turn into a monster like that ‘thing’.
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.
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However, the problem was that these cabinets were locked. Lu Xia remembered the key had on him. Was that key to unlock this cabinet?
He pulled out the light-coloured key from his pocket. He had always been curious about this key which was mailed to him. Its colour and material were very unusual. Its craftsmanship was exquisite and there was even a glimmer to it, as though it was carved out from precious gems.
How much was this worth! He secretly signed as he inserted the key into the locks—trying them one by one.
But the keyholes were too small and the key didn’t fit into any of them.
Lu Xia grimaced, then returned the key back into his pocket. Seems like the only way is to use his initial unlawful method. Lu Xia took out the thin wire he had found when rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and began to pick the lock.
After some more effort, he finally pried open those cabinets. A lot of old things fell out, useless work permits, report cards, and even calculators, a tape recorder, and other miscellaneous items
Lu Xia found himself back at square one. He was a little disappointed. Everything here was relatively ordinary items. Could it be that all the important items had already been taken away by them?
At this moment, he suddenly heard a familiar voice, a loud terrified shout, coming from not far away—
“Lu Xia!!!!!!!”
He was startled. That was Zheng’s voice!
What happened to Sun Zheng?!
He spun around and strode towards the door immediately. Leaning heavily on his makeshift crutch, he took two steps forward before stopping again.
Was it really Sun Zheng? Didn’t Sun Zheng disappear at the door earlier, how could he…
Suddenly there was a loud bang, like the sound of a door slamming shut.
This isn’t the time to hesitate! Lu Xia didn’t know where he found the strength from, but his injured foot seemed to suddenly have strength again. Although he was hobbling, he steadily increased his pace, faster and faster, as though he wished he could tear off this injured foot and start sprinting.
He wrenched open the door of the archives and glanced around anxiously. Where? Where was it? Where did Zheng’s voice come from?
Suddenly, he saw a faint flickering light from the other end of the corridor. It was the light of a flashlight!
He raised his own flashlight towards that end of the dark corridor, and caught sight of a figure like Sun Zheng who seemed to be desperately clinging onto the doorknob. His other hand seemed to have been caught by something, and it was dragging him out desperately.
“Zheng!!!”
Lu Xia cried, sprinting towards the other end of the corridor with all his might. His burnt foot had already completely gone numb, and all he could think of at this moment was to run faster, even faster!
Hearing his voice, Sun Zheng turned his head. His face was terribly pale, and his expression was filled with fear and tension. He parted his lips to speak, but something seemingly yanked at him. His hand slipped from the sudden force and his centre of gravity shifted, causing his body to fall forward.
His fingers caught the doorknob in the nick of time, and he gritted his teeth.
What was the thing dragging Sun Zheng? Lu Xia hobbled along as quickly as he could while trying to distinguish what the monster could be.
Was it the crawling creature?
No… No, it wasn’t that…
Because of his large motions, the light from his flashlight swept all across the corridor, unable to be concentrated in a single spot long enough for him to identify the powerful creature which was trying to drag Sun Zheng out.
“Zheng, wait for me!”
Sun Zheng watched Lu Xia staggering over. His hand had already gone numb from grasping onto the doorknob and he was only able to continue holding onto it instinctively with the last of his strength.
He opened his mouth again, wanting to say something, but realised he couldn’t make a single sound at all.
It was just a corridor away, but this was the first time Lu Xia realised how far it could be. Sun Zheng was trying to say something to him, but he couldn’t hear him at all. What was it?
He looked at Sun Zheng’s lips.
Be… careful?
Perhaps because of that momentary distraction, Sun Zheng’s hand could no longer keep up anymore, and his entire body was dragged to the ground by the huge force.
Because of this, Lu Xia could finally see clearly what was dragging Sun Zheng.
There was nothing! Nothing at all!
He couldn’t see anything grabbing Sun Zheng, but there was an invisible force which was grabbing onto Sun Zheng’s wrist which was holding the flashlight, and dragged him towards the stairway.
“Zheng!!!”
He shouted hoarsely, watching helplessly. There was still a large distance between them, making it impossible for him to catch up.
If only, if only…
An idea appeared in Lu Xia’s mind
“Zheng, catch!”
A small item flashed in the darkness, leaving a white arc in the air as it flew towards Sun Zheng.
Half of Sun Zheng’s body was rolling in hot pain from being dragged across the ground and he subconsciously stretched out his hand to grasp at the last straw.
It was something small. Cold.
Reflexively, he stabbed that item towards the thing which was clutching his wrist.
The force vanished.
Sun Zheng also seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and just fell sideways on the ground, unmoving.
He was holding that item in his hand, which was shining like a white pearl in the darkness, the key.
Lu Xia finally made his way over to Sun Zheng. The latter was slumped on his side, panting, as if he couldn’t stand up anymore.
Lu Xia put his temporary crutch aside and carefully placed his hands under Sun Zheng’s shoulders, trying to help him up. Sun Zheng’s body twitched in response, and Lu Xia found himself being pulled into a sudden hug.
Sun Zheng clung to him desperately, his hands firmly gripping his back, and his head which was resting on one of Lu Xia’s shoulders, was still panting weakly.
Lu Xia could feel that Sun Zheng’s heart was beating quickly, the sweat trickling from his forehead seeping into his shirt.
He was suddenly at a loss. His hands stiffened and he didn’t know where to put them. He wanted to turn to look at Sun Zheng, but he only managed to catch a glimpse before embarrassedly turning back, feeling as though he’d just seen something that he shouldn’t see.
“Zheng, it’s… it’s alright now…” After freezing for a long time, Lu Xia finally raised his free hand to soothingly stroke Sun Zheng’s back as though he was coaxing a child.
He felt almost suffocated.
He didn’t know what happened to the person who was holding him or how frightened he was, but he had never thought that there would be a day when someone as stoic as Sun Zheng would cling to him so needily.
Lu Xia had always regarded himself as a nuisance which everyone disliked.
“Wait, wait, I’m about to suffocate…Zheng…” Sun Zheng was hugging him so tightly that Lu Xia couldn’t breathe. At first he was just lightly patting Sun Zheng’s back, but now the pats held a hint of struggle.
Sun Zheng pulled away from the presence which could make him feel at ease almost instantaneously.
He averted his reddening, and said, “Sorry, I lost my composure.”
With his arms suddenly empty, Lu Xia didn’t know if what he was feeling was relief or disappointment. “It’s good that you are fine.”
“I, I saw a lot of strange things…” Sun Zheng raised his face, his expression a little awkward. “It was a little, a little…”
Lu Xia grinned, revealing two dimples. “I understand, I was also terrified. Here, come over, let me comfort you again!” He spread his arms open, asking for a hug.
Sun Zheng rolled his eyes and shoved his arms away. Then, he opened his palm and revealed the glinting coloured key in his hand.
“What is this?”
“I mentioned to you earlier that a key was sent to me, and it seemed to have a connection with my brother.” Lu Xia lowered his hands. His eyes were still shining with the excitement and relief of Sun Zheng’s safe return.
“Such an important thing, aren’t you afraid of breaking it?”
“…I’m afraid.”
“…” There was a strange silence.
“Actually, the key was made from giant clams,” Lu Xia broke the silence hesitantly. “I remember that giant clams were able to ward off evil spirits, so I threw it over to you.”
Sun Zheng stared at Lu Xia’s face, a mix of complicated emotions surging up in him.
“Why save me?”
“Uh… isn’t it normal to?”
“The first time you risked your life to push me out of the door, and this time you threw such an important thing to me without hesitation. Is it worth it?”
“There are only the two of us in this world. If we couldn’t take care of each other, who else could we rely on?” Lu Xia tried to explain.
Sun Zheng was still staring at him, as if he wanted to ask more, dig deeper.
Lu Xia seemed a little embarrassed, coughing lightly. He paused, then grabbed Sun Zheng’s arm that had been pulled.
There is a black fingerprint on his arm, deeply printed on his wrist.
The two looked at the fingerprint in amazement.
Finally Sun Zheng broke the silence. “It’s a child’s handprint.”
Lu Xia nodded silently.
“Just now I was in Room 3 of the Department of General Surgery.” Sun Zheng pointed to the room beside them. “I heard knocking and groaning, as if someone was injured. So I opened the door. It was just one crack, but I felt something grab my wrist and pull me out with a strong force. Fortunately, I managed to hook onto the doorknob with my other hand…”
“You, you dare to open the door? ” Lu Xia showed a perplexed expression. “Besides my voice, you can’t believe anything else now. No, you can’t even believe my voice, maybe the me in front of you now is already actually something else.”
“Really?” Sun Zheng teasingly poked Lu Xia. “Seems like its disguise is pretty amazing.”
This was the first time Lu Xia heard Sun Zheng make fun of him. He burst out laughing, paused, then seemed to find that they had become too relaxed, so he held back his smile and said in a serious tone. “It’s still very dangerous here. Tell me everything you have encountered.”
The author has something to say: this chapter is gentler…and then we’ll add some emotional drama.
Swear Sun Zheng don’t be opening doors when there’s CLEARLY ghosts around 😭
I’m glad they reunited again lol better to be two than alone