Translator: Reina Editor: Killian
The tape is spinning in the recorder. There is no other sound except its stuttered hissing.
The two record books and map were spread out on the table, but the dim flashlight slowly rolled off the table and fell to the ground.
There was a clatter, startling awake the two dazed people.
Lu Xia picked up the flashlight and stuffed it into Sun Zheng’s hand, sighing. “These are all the clues we can find. We tried our best.”
Sun Zheng pursed his dry lips, despair welling in his heart.
“Judging from the record, the old hag they mentioned must be Liu Qin… After that incident, there were fewer hauntings in the hospital… Doesn’t this mean that the problem of chasm should have been solved?” Although Lu Xia was saying this, he didn’t have the confidence to back his words.
If it was solved, then what is this place they were in now?
If it was solved, then why would there be another person who entered the chasm in this record?
Patient… Ward 315A… Operating room…
Sun Zheng held his forehead, faintly feeling as if something was about to surface, but he couldn’t grasp it, there was still something missing… the last clue he needed was still missing…
“The ward that cannot be named is 315A?” Lu Xia continued to deduce to himself. “It must be. Though and who is that man? Has Deng Yun disappeared?”
“Perhaps this 315A doesn’t exist. The nurse has confirmed it, 314 is the ward at the end of the corridor,” Sun Zheng reminded Lu Xia.
“That’s right, this room doesn’t exist,” Lu Xia repeated. Something flashed in his mind, “But…”
Sun Zheng suddenly clutched at his head. The feeling of dizziness hit him again. He pushed the table away and stood up.
Lu Xia was taken aback by his actions. “What’s the matter?”
Sun Zheng’s forehead was already covered with cold sweat and his vision began to blur. He shook his head, gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s hurry out of here!”
“Leave here?” Lu Xia looked around, anxious and helpless. “Where else can we go?”
“I don’t know…” Sun Zheng shook his head again, his eyes became clearer, “I feel like there is something invisible drilling into my brain…”
Lu Xia looked at Sun Zheng. Under the dim light, the cold sweat on Sun Zheng’s face made his whole face seem to be shining. Then suddenly, a bold idea came into his mind.
He grabbed Sun Zheng’s hand. “Let’s go back to the third floor! Do you dare to go with me?”
“The third floor?!” Sun Zheng almost thought that Lu Xia was dizzy and not thinking straight too. “The third floor in this building?”
Countless memories of the third floor flooded up in an instant.
After finally escaping down here, after finally getting away from the third floor…the rustling creature, the little boy at the stairwell…and the operating room with an ajar door…
Going back to the third floor?! How could they…
“Zheng, just because we can’t find the ward doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Do you remember what I mentioned to you before?”
Sun Zheng shook his head vigorously, not knowing whether it was because he was rejecting the idea of returning to the third floor or to suggest that he didn’t remember Lu Xia’s words.
“Back when we were on the 6th floor, before we entered the chasm, I told you something jokingly,” Lu Xia said solemnly, holding Sun Zheng’s cold hand tightly, “That there is a ward in the internal medicine building opposite that can only be seen from the third floor of this building.”
Sun Zheng’s eyes lit up. He vaguely remembered this sentence, because these flippant words Lu Xia said at the beginning were exactly what gave Sun Zheng the impression that Lu Xia was full of nonsense and wasn’t reliable.
“You remember now, don’t you? Think again, why did Liu Qin ask them to push that emergency patient to Ward 315A? What’s the connection of that ward with the surgery performed upstairs? I am certain the ward Deng Yun mentioned is 315A, and 315A definitely has a close relation with the operating room!”
The operating room?
Sun Zheng’s hands trembled slightly. The operating room with the ajar door flashed through his mind. In the darkness behind the door, something seemed to be avidly watching, waiting…
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.
“My brother was also chasing Liu Qin into the operating room. Think about it, why would Operating Room (4) be on the third floor, and why was it untouched even after the renovation? Isn’t it strange?”
Vec Itfcu gjlrfv tlr tjcv ribkis, qblcalcu eq. “Tfr… atf nblmf bo ‘la’ P tfjgv pera cbk jirb mjwf ogbw atf atlgv oibbg.”
Llr abcf kjr jirb nfgs ribk, jr lo tf tjv jc fqlqtjcs, sfa tf jirb rffwfv ab yf reuufralcu rbwfatlcu.
Qjr atlr atf ijra tlca ulnfc ys Oe Wljbsec? Qjr atlr jirb atf qijmf ktfgf tf njclrtfv? Yqfgjalcu Ebbw (4)?
Lu Xia grabbed Sun Zheng’s hand, yanking the latter towards himself with barely concealed excitement. “Zheng, look at me, do you dare to go back with me?”
Sun Zheng raised his eyes and met Lu Xia’s gaze. There was an undeniable determination in Lu Xia’s eyes.
“Do you believe me?” Lu Xia stared at Sun Zheng, the two of them were almost face to face, their rapid breathing intermingling. “We came in together, so we will go back together too. This might be our last chance to leave this place together.”
Sun Zheng looked at the man in front of him, looked at his face, and a strange feeling slowly welled up in his heart.
It took only one night for two people to go from being ordinary friends to partners through life and death. There were obviously so many more things they could do, such as taking a slow stroll under the sun, or simply drinking tea and chatting, yet these everyday occurrences have become the greatest luxuries at this moment.
The time they have left is so short, so short that it might only be enough for them to run from the first floor to the third floor.
The undercurrents in the darkness surged. The mist shrouding the hospital thickened. There seemed to be countless black shadows emerging from the unknown, floating all around them.
Sun Zheng suddenly felt a force tightening around himself, and the air between the two of them was suddenly compressed, constricted, and they moved closer, their noses almost touching.
“I like you,” Lu Xia lowered his head and whispered to Sun Zheng.
Then, without waiting for any response, Lu Xia grabbed the map and the flashlight on the table with one hand and stuffed them into his pocket, then held Sun Zheng’s hand tightly with the other, slammed open the door of the observation room on the first floor and dashed into the surging darkness
If ‘it’ came at them, it would most likely focus on him. After all, the changes in him are already irreversibly obvious.
Even if something else came at them, they would probably focus on him too.
At the most critical time, he had to lure them away, so Sun Zheng would still have a chance to go out.
So, he had to hold on until the very last moment.
Lu Xia kept repeating these words in his mind as he dragged Sun Zheng out of the room with him.
Behind him, the stumbling Sun Zheng only had the time to take the tape recorder, and as he held it in his arms, he felt that his brain and heart were going out of control.
Messy images filled his mind, his heart beating violently, as if he was still affected by Lu Xia’s confession.
Rustle.
Rustle.
A familiar sound crept into his ear.
“Lu Xia?” he called out to the person pulling him.
Lu Xia didn’t seem to have heard the sounds behind them.
Rustle, rustle.
All the distracting thoughts in Sun Zheng’s mind suddenly became quiet. He carefully observed the rustling sounds around them, trying to discern them,
It seemed like there was more than one.
Rustle, rustle.
“Lu Xia?” he turned his head to survey their surroundings, and called out again.
“What?” Lu Xia seemed to have finally heard his voice, and was on alert.
“No, it’s nothing.” Sun Zheng switched off his flashlight. He closed his eyes and followed Lu Xia towards the stairs at a faster pace.
He couldn’t bear to say it. There were several faces hidden in the darkness behind him. There were several pairs of eyes, all staring straight in their direction.
Dragging themselves on the ground, rustling as they crawled, crawling in the direction of their footsteps…
He shook his head, trying to drive that image out of his mind. He just had to stay away from them, escape, escape from here, then he wouldn’t see them anymore.
Tap tap, tap tap.
Their footsteps echoed throughout the stairwell as they went upstairs.
Where did the giggling girl in the laboratory on the second floor go?
In this stairwell where they could only see the familiar darkness and hear their rapid breathing, were the traces of Lu Xiaoyun and Yan Yang who’d investigated the area step by step, and also full of memories of Sun Zheng and Lu Xia who’d bumbled through searching for clues while fleeing from danger.
Maybe there had been many others like them, like trapped beasts putting up a last struggle, running back and forth in the stairwell, or hiding behind a certain door and shivering.
‘It’ was not on the second floor.
Sun Zheng didn’t know why, but he was very certain about this.
‘It’ was on the third floor.
As soon as the two men stepped onto the third floor, they instinctively suppressed their breathing and slowed down.
Lu Xia slowly moved the flashlight, sweeping it across the ground, and only after not finding any of the trails of blood, led Sun Zheng to tiptoe towards the direction of the operating room.
The hospital was as silent and quiet as ever.
This kind of long-lasting silence was like a fine needle, twisting and penetrating into their bone marrow and nerve endings, causing the body to tremble uncontrollably; this kind of long-lasting silence was also like a silent touch, seeming like a cold breeze, but was actually countless invisible cold hands gently caressing every inch of exposed skin.
The light of the flashlight lit up the door of the operating room. The door was still slightly ajar and Lu Xia tentatively looked in through the opening.
The darkness within seemed bottomless, engulfing the faint light in an instant.
Lu Xia inhaled deeply. He was an atheist, but at this moment he crossed himself on his chest.
“Follow me.”
He tightened his grip on Sun Zheng’s hand tightly, and slowly approached the operating room with his flashlight.
Lu Xiaoyun once chased Liu Qin into this room.
What happened afterwards?
No one knew.
Creak.
Lu Xia pushed the door open.
According to what he remembered, there should be a corridor behind the door. After the corridor, there will be a disinfection room, and after that, there should be a sterile operating room.
He stepped in. Sun Zheng followed him with small steps.
Creak.
Due to both of them squeezing through the small space, the doors sounded again.
The corridor was gloomy. There was no movement from within. The flashlight illuminated the light-coloured inner walls, which were clean and bright.
Lu Xia suddenly felt Sun Zheng’s hand twitch.
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.
Sun Zheng didn’t speak. He continued following him with small steps.
After walking a few steps, the door of the disinfection room appeared before them.
Lu Xia tried to push on the door of the disinfection room, revealing a small gap. He turned to give Sun Zheng a look of glee, then increased his strength and pushed open the door of the disinfection room.
He didn’t dare to stay too long in this room. He just scanned the room with his flashlight hastily to make sure there was nothing that shouldn’t be there, then pulled Sun Zheng on.
“Strange,” he muttered.
“Huh?”
The flashlight flicked to the right.
“The door of the operating room is on the right, not in front,” Lu Xia glanced over and said pensively.
Sun Zheng’s hand twitched again.
“Did you think of something?” Lu Xia asked immediately.
The man still didn’t speak and just took several steps forward, following him.
Lu Xia’s hand finally touched the heavy door of the operating room. It felt cool to the touch, as if the chill inside was being released through the door.
He put the flashlight in the pocket of his trousers, freeing his hand, and pushed on the door of the operating room. Perhaps it was because he was too cautious and nervous, he didn’t dare to use too much force.
The door moved. Sun Zheng stretched out his other hand to help him, and together, they pushed open the door.
The smell of disinfectant washed over their faces, as if what greeted them was a scene of a busy operation.
Lu Xia took a deep breath, feeling that the secret was about to be revealed at this moment. He reached out and retrieved the flashlight from his pocket. The small movement caused the light of the flashlight to flicker across the operating room.
“Over there!” Sun Zheng called out suddenly. He shook off Lu Xia’s hand and ran towards a certain direction.
Lu Xia did not react in time. He couldn’t find Sun Zheng’s in the darkness, so he swung the flashlight around and scanned the surroundings, asking anxiously, “What did you say? Which side?”
Sun Zheng stood still. The cool sterilised air brushing across his cheeks.
“Didn’t you notice?” he asked. His voice sounded hoarse because he hadn’t drank water for a long time.
“Huh? Where are you?” Lu Xia noticed something strange. The operating room was obviously not huge, so why couldn’t he find the side Sun Zheng was standing at? Why did Sun Zheng run off alone all of a sudden?
“The structure of Operating Room (4) and the end of the corridor of the internal medicine building opposite are symmetrical structures.”
After entering Operating Room (4), there was a corridor. On the right side at the end of the corridor, there were no stairs, but instead, there was a room.
This configuration, which was originally impossible within the main building, was in Operating Room (4).
“Look, it’s that room!” Sun Zheng called out again.
A room diagonally across from them.
Blurred, pitch-black.
But there was a person sitting by the window. Their outline was shadowy but they seemed to be smiling at them.
Lu Xia suddenly felt something was terribly wrong! According to the windows of the operating room and their current light conditions, it would be impossible to see anything outside!
“Zheng!” he yelled, nervous and panicked.
The flashlight quickly swept around the entire operating room.
Light blue walls, console, shadowless lamp…
A dark figure stood by the window.
Lu Xia’s body was icy cold. The thing which had been crawling up from his thigh was about to crawl all over the rest of his body.
“Zheng? … Who are you?”
I was not expecting that; gave me the chills 😭