Translator: Reina Editor: Killian
“Zheng! I found it!”
There was a burst of joyful cheers from across the room.
Sun Zheng shined his flashlight over and saw Lu Xia in the hazy light holding a pot containing a plant with slender branches and leaves hanging down, looking like elongated fingernails in the dim light.
Lu Xia grinned at him.
The brightness of the smile almost blinded him. He immediately put down the search on this side and walked towards that side.
“How is it? There seems to be only one pot of Chlorophytum here.” Lu Xia held out the pot to Sun Zheng.
Sun Zheng took it over. The branches and leaves stretching from its middle brushed against him, making it itchy, and the thick dust on the edges of the pot covered his hands.
“Is there anything unusual about it?” Sun Zheng looked suspiciously at Lu Xia. “Are you sure this is the same Chlorophytum from that many years ago?”
Lu Xia shrugged. “There’s no reason for the hospital to throw it away… Besides, in the tape, Liu Qunfang has already said that this is a plant no one dares to touch.”
Sun Zheng chuckled lightly, and weighed the pot in his hand: “I don’t see why this pot couldn’t be moved. Those ghost stories always like to demonise objects, but the truth is that those things never had any issues.”
“In either case, let’s take this potted plant apart and have a look first,” Lu Xia took the plant back and was about to smash it onto the ground.
Sun Zheng immediately stopped him. “Who’d destroy plants like this? At the very least…this can be considered as another living thing in the hospital other than us…”
Lu Xia burst out laughing. “Could it be that you are going to start advocating for plant protection? Besides, maybe there’s really something strange in this pot. After all, there has to be a reason why the hospital once worshipped this thing as a god.”
After finishing speaking, he grabbed those branches and leaves which were like the plant’s fangs and claws, and was about to snap them off, when Sun Zheng stopped him again.
“Show some common sense, okay?” Sun Zheng sighed helplessly. “This type of plant has to be repotted almost every two years, and everything in the pot would have disappeared long ago. If it’s really as haunted as you say it is, why haven’t any monsters and ghosts appeared after all the repotting?”
Lu Xia finally put the pot of Chlorophytum back in its original spot, and looked at Sun Zheng. “What do you think?” “
“Did any of those messy books you read say anything about the things certain plants will attract? The problem here might not lie with the pot or any other factors, but with the plant itself…”
“There are naturally differences between the plants themselves and their placement, but this issue and the issue we are discussing right now are two different matters. This pot of Chlorophytum has a special significance to the hospital. It was given by a patient rescued by the dean, so if there is ‘something’ attached to it… Why do I feel that we are getting more and more off topic…” In the end, Lu Xia started laughing.
Sun Zheng couldn’t bring himself to laugh. If they couldn’t solve this mystery with the Chlorophytum, then their clues will be interrupted again.
In fact, Lu Xia had long since been dissatisfied with that unreliable Dr. Yan. To think that he would leave behind a vague recording about a pot of Chlorophytum before slinking off. Chlorophytum? Who the heck knows what the hell is up with this plant! Lu Xiaoyun, how could you bear letting such an irresponsible person work with you?
“Oh, by the way,” Lu Xia had a sudden spark of inspiration. “There is another thing which might have a clue.”
Sun Zheng turned to look at him.
“Since this Chlorophytum is so mysterious, there must be entries about it.”
“You mean…the record book?”
“Of course.” Lu Xia smiled sweetly. “Surely you didn’t think that it would no longer serve any purpose, right?”
You were obviously the one who previously said that the record book was incomplete and would no longer be of use. Sun Zheng pursed his lips. He did not voice his thoughts out loud, only silently reached out and pulled the record book from his pocket.
.
Recorder: Qi Tian (a nurse during 1999 to 2000)
Honestly, I don’t know if it is appropriate for me to write about this. But if it can help others, I will write everything that happened before and after the incident down in as much detail as possible.
It started with Xiao Tian provoking that vicious aunt. Obviously Xiao Tian wanted to help water the pot of Chlorophytum with good intentions, but who knew that the aunt ran into it the moment she came back and lashed at Xiao Tian for it. We couldn’t see how rare that pot of Chlorophytum was, only the old aunt treated it like a treasure and put it next to her table.
Naturally, those in our laboratory all know that that pot cannot be touched. Xiao Tian came up to play at noon when she was free. Seeing that we were still busy arranging the blood samples and she didn’t dare to touch the machinery, she had nothing to do, so she decided to help water the plants. Who knew that something like this would happen.
Anyone who worked in the hospital for some time would know that this Aunt Liu had a bad temper and placed a lot of importance on seniority. She came in the same year as the dean and they all say they are old friends. Otherwise, with her poor service attitude, she would have probably been fired a long time ago.
This Chlorophytum was given to the dean by a patient. I don’t know how she got her hands on it and put it next to her office.
Oddly, ever since the hospital had gotten this pot, our situation had gradually improved. Even the major operations we take on occasionally have all been performed smoothly.
The funniest thing is, it is said that there are doctors who would come to find this pot of Chlorophytum for luck, and they all say that it is the dean’s blessing.
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.
This was of course an extremely rare case, but it had to be said that ever since the dean helped that patient, the situation in the hospital had indeed improved a lot.
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As a result, a group of us were still talking, when Aunt Liu came over suddenly. I still remember the look on her face and eyes.
Her face and skin were akin to a grey wall. Her eyes were wide and staring like a goldfish. And the discomfort she gave me was as uncomfortable as having my skin come into contact with the rough material of that snow-blue sweater she wore almost every day.
She smacked the table top and told us, “Is that girl still crying? Call her over to eat my food.”
Everyone had already disliked her, Xiao Zhang and the others glared at her a few times, and then the rest of us burst into laughter.
We wanted to make her angry, and as expected, she was so angry that her face froze, then turned around and walked away again.
How childish.
I often took care of my younger brothers and sisters, and I knew what this aunt wanted at a glance. It’s like a child who offended others. They wanted to make amends, yet couldn’t help but put on airs.
Her food? Who cares about that?
But she did learn this trick from us. When we took our dishes out to eat together during lunch break, that aunt sat silently by the side and stared at us with her goldfish-like eyes, all while eating her own food.
More often than not, there would be a long queue at the counters before lunch break is over. Seeing Xiao Yang alone and overwhelmed, we had no choice but to quickly finish our lunch and hurry back to work.
As such, Xiao Tian had no choice but to go down too, but just when she reached the door, we saw from afar that that aunt stopped her.
Thinking that she was going to get scolded again, Xiao Tian was so scared that she didn’t even dare to lift her head. As a result, she quickly darted away after Aunt Liu said something in a low voice to her, running down the stairs as though she was flying.
I wanted to go over to ask what happened, but there were two patients waiting urgently for blood collection, so I had to wait until after our shift.
However, I had completely forgotten about the matter after I got off work. Coincidentally, it was a friend’s birthday, so we all went to a restaurant until eight or nine, then wandered around the streets for a long time. When we were about to go home, Xiao Tian touched her pants pocket and suddenly cried out. Her keys were missing.
We went back to the restaurant and searched around, but couldn’t find it. Xiao Tian was so anxious she was about to cry. We all advised her to stay at one of our houses for the night, but she insisted on going back to the hospital to look for it.
It was only slightly after ten o’clock, so I accompanied Xiao Tian back to the hospital.
When we arrived there, I suddenly remembered what happened at noon, so I asked Xiao Tian, “What did that aunt tell you before noon?”
“She told me to eat her cooking.” Xiao Tian looked at me a little strangely.
“Not this. What did you say to you when you were leaving?”
“Oh!” Xiao Tian’s expression suddenly became a little unnatural. “I think it’s weird…she seems, seems to be scaring me.”
“That old hag, how did she scare you?”
“She said, in these few days, if you see a cat, you must quickly run away and don’t play with it.”
Naturally, I didn’t care at the time and had a good laugh over it with Xiao Tian. This aunt’s tricks to scare people were so poor, even resorting to occultic stuff like this.
When we arrived at the hospital, the corridor on the first floor was empty. The nurses in the nurse’s station were surprised to see us come back, so we just gave them some evening snacks.
Xiao Tian and I searched all over the nurse’s station and changing rooms, but we couldn’t find the key. It suddenly occurred to her that she had been to the laboratory at noon, and it might have fallen there.
I still regret my decision to this day. If only I had dragged Xiao Tian home with me. But, everything was definitely caused by that aunt! I wrote this record just to show that that aunt was definitely not up to any good!
The two of us mustered our courage, borrowed two torches from the nurse’s station, and walked to the second floor.
When I was on duty in the hospital, I often went to the toilet on the second floor, but that night, I felt that the hospital was unnaturally quiet.
We had only walked up a few steps of the stairs, but when we turned around, we found that there was only darkness behind us. I even grumbled, saying ‘this ghost hospital’.
“Was our hospital always so dark?” Xiao Tian asked me at the time, but I don’t remember what I answered her. But indeed, on the stairs on that floor, despite holding two flashlights, I felt that it was too dimly illuminated.
I also felt that the walk was taking very long, as if the stairs had suddenly increased by several steps. The only sound was Xiao Tian’s heels clacking against the stairs.
When we finally reached the second floor, the dark corridor frightened us both and we grabbed each other’s hands.
“If I knew it would be this dark, I’d ask Lao Wang the night watchman to find it for you,” I whispered to Xiao Tian.
Her shoulders suddenly trembled, and she cried out, “It’s so itchy!”
Before either of us could react, I saw the flashlight in her hand shaking.
“What’s wrong?”
“It felt so fluffy, and it even tickled me…” Xiao Tian said, touching her hand subconsciously.
Although it was a false alarm, the two of us suddenly slowed down unconsciously, as if we were afraid of alarming something.
Both sides of the corridor were familiar departments, but they felt incomparably strange under the cover of the night. The colours of the walls and doors were shrouded in darkness, making them all appear black.
“Maybe…” Xiaotian looked at the corridor and said again, “It’s a cat!”
She didn’t seem to remember anything, and I felt a little uncomfortable at that time.
“It’s so naughty,” Xiao Tian giggled to herself.
While saying that, her footsteps quickened unknowingly.
I had no choice but to quicken my pace too.
Suddenly she stopped, turned and peered around. “Little cat, is that you?”
I turned around suspiciously. A cat? Though a silent and fast-moving animal which might appear in the hospital at night would most likely be a cat, but…
I illuminated the corridor with my torch, and I felt that it felt very gloomy. Where was there any cat? I turned around and kept walking.
As soon as I entered the hall outside the laboratory, I felt that strange feeling again. The area where the flashlight can shine is the same as usual, but probably because there was no one queuing up now, it felt empty, lifeless.
“Kitten!” Xiao Tian suddenly turned around and yelled again. I didn’t stop in time and bumped into her.
I hurriedly turned my head in her direction, only to see the shadows of the rows of chairs from my peripheral vision. Because the light was too dim, when I passed by, the shadows almost made me think that the rows of chairs were full, with people sitting in them one by one.
Even if there was a cat, it was probably frightened by her movements and jumped far away.
“I caught it for a little bit, haha.” Xiao Tian was still smiling at that time.
When I heard her say that, I didn’t think much about it. Xiao Tian probably really likes small animals and it wasn’t surprising to have an occasional stray cat in the hospital.
If only I had been more vigilant then!
The moment I opened the door of the laboratory with the key, Xiao Tian immediately pushed the door and walked in quickly.
“Maybe it’s near Xiao Zhang’s desk,” I said while searching the area around Xiao Zhang’s seat. “Be careful not to damage or spill the reagents!”
I heard a lot of movement on Xiao Tian’s side. Even the chairs were moving. I was afraid she would break something, so I hurriedly stood up and took a look, only to find that she was there with her back hunched over. I couldn’t tell what she was doing.
“Xiao Tian?”
“Kitten!” Xiao Tian cheered, “Oh, is it there?”
I was a little angry at the time. I was thinking how bad it was that the cat ran into the laboratory area, and how terrible it would be if it were to make its way into the sterile room, and didn’t realise how odd this entire incident was.
“Don’t touch the cat!” I yelled then. I don’t know if that was because I remembered what the old aunt said, “I’ll get it out later!”
Xiao Tian fell silent again.
After searching around but being unable to find the key, I stood up, and found Xiao Tian standing by the aunt’s desk. She seemed a little strange, so I went over to the table. She was standing opposite the table at that time, motionless, looking over with bright eyes, and seemed to be smiling.
“There, It’s the kitty!”
I glanced around. Other than the old aunt’s office table, there was only that pot of Chlorophytum.
There was no sign of the cat she mentioned at all.
At that time, I was getting a little annoyed by her attitude. It was my fault. I didn’t think clearly then. At that time, I wanted to say a few words to her, but when I turned around, she disappeared again.
“I didn’t find the key, let’s drive the cat out!” I saw a figure walking beside me in my peripheral vision, and her footsteps were following me lightly and quickly, so I turned around and walked towards the door.
Just like this, one in front and one behind, we started making our way back.
On the journey there, I felt that her steps were too light, but I didn’t think too much about it.
Then when we were almost halfway there, I heard her yelling happily in a low voice from behind me.
“I caught you, kitten!”
It felt like she was breathing onto my neck. It was cold.
I was really infuriated at that time, thinking about how she dragged me back here to help her find her key, but all this while she was just obsessed with catching some kind of cat.
But after walking a few more steps, I suddenly felt that something was wrong, but by then it was too late.
I was actually looking for the cat then, but when I pointed my torch down, I suddenly discovered a strange problem.
Since Xiao Tian was walking close behind me, I should have seen two shadows.
But all I saw was my own shadow.
At that time, I felt goosebumps rise on my skin. I didn’t dare to look back. I almost screamed.
Hearing the sound of light footsteps behind me, I took a few steps and started running downstairs.
I don’t know why, but my instincts were telling me to run!
While running, I realised that many problems which I should have noticed a long time ago suddenly appeared in my mind.
It was normal for a cat to walk without making a sound, but why didn’t I hear even a single meow from the beginning to the end?
How was Xiao Tian’s footsteps so soft when she was running behind me while wearing heels?
That creepy feeling of running down a dark stairwell. Every time I think about it, I feel as if I am reliving it.
“Qi Tian, why are you running so fast?! In the middle of the night!”
Ma Ling’s voice woke me up suddenly. I heard from her that she saw me rushing in front of her, panting and nearly keeling over on the ground.
“Where’s Xiao Tian?”
Xiao Tian?
I turned around and scanned the area with the light of the flashlight. Where was the Xiao Tian behind me?
“Xiao Tian?” I called out anxiously.
This call received no reply.
Sometimes I felt that my mind was blank during that time. When I regained my composure, I realised that Xiao Tian had suddenly disappeared.
“Qi Tian, I heard you running fast on the stairs from so far away… Ah, come here quickly!” You-jie’s eyes suddenly opened wide.
I wanted to ask about Xiao Tian, but she covered my mouth all of a sudden, took out a small mirror and handed it to me.
She turned around, saying to the nurses in a very low voice. “Don’t ask anything about tonight. Don’t mention Xiao Tian, don’t run around anywhere. If you need the toilet, then just endure it. We’ll leave as soon as we finish our shift.”
Seeing her serious expression, I didn’t understand what she meant at first, until I saw my reflection in the mirror. I screamed.
On my neck, there were a pair of black marks. A five-finger handprint on each side.
They asked me in whispers what happened, but I was too frightened to say a full sentence.
Those few scenes kept flashing in my mind.
Xiao Tian standing across from Aunt Liu’s desk, staring, motionless.
Xiao Tian walking behind me, stretching out her hand, grabbing something, and letting out a small but happy cry.
“I got you, kitty!”
…..
I did not hallucinate. I know no one in the hospital believes me. However, the dean asked me to write this record, so doesn’t it mean that this matter I experience is possible?
You cannot touch that pot of Chlorophytum, and you cannot go there at night. And be careful of that Aunt Liu.
December 10, 2000
Attachment: After that, Tian Xiuxiu never showed up again. Qi Tian resigned and left the hospital three days later. The hospital investigated the matter and asked Liu Qin, a chemist, but did not get any relevant results. The relevant nurses and laboratory staff expressed that they did not know the specific situation.
Reina: This is such an odd arc in my opinion. Every other arc thus far felt a little creepy in some way, but this arc just made me feel “???” 
Also, apologies for being late in posting recently. Just finished my finals and thank god I’ll finally have more time to translate and reply to comments now!
Hope your finals went well!! This arc really is weird, I can’t think of what’s wrong with that plant!
this arc really weird but this chapter was so creepy tho??? love it!