Translator: CinderTL
"Someone else?" The nurse frowned, glancing at the IV drip above the patient's head, momentarily confused.
Jiang Cheng didn't give her time to react. He coaxed and persuaded her to leave the room, then quickly closed the door behind her.
When he turned back, his expression had changed.
He strode toward Li Kaifeng, and the others sensed something was wrong. Wang Changguo tossed his cigarette butt to the ground, not even bothering to stamp it out, and followed.
Li Kaifeng lay on the hospital bed, eyes closed, eerily still.
Jiang Cheng observed the IV drip connected to the back of Li Kaifeng's hand. The transparent tube dripped the liquid at an unusually slow pace—almost seven or eight seconds between each drop.
It felt as though some resistance was hindering the fluid from entering the bloodstream.
He reached out, placing his hand on Li Kaifeng's neck. After a few seconds, he slowly withdrew it, his gaze shifting as he looked at her.
She was indeed dead.
Weiwei, who was closest, extended a trembling hand to check Li Kaifeng's breath. Immediately, she stumbled backward several steps, her face filled with indescribable terror.
"How... how could this happen?" Weiwei stammered. "Half an hour ago, she was still..."
"The nurse who came was fake," Lin Wan'er said.
The situation was now clear. Someone had impersonated a nurse and injected Li Kaifeng with an unknown substance.
That substance had taken her life.
"When did the nurse arrive?" Jiang Cheng asked, fixing his gaze on Wang Changguo.
"About... about half an hour ago," Wang Changguo replied, clearly flustered. He had been leisurely smoking when the nurse arrived.
Who could have guessed that the person was here to kill?
Jiang Cheng calculated the timing. Half an hour ago—that was roughly when he and Huai Yi had just left. The nurse had arrived shortly after.
Clearly, the perpetrator had taken advantage of their absence to strike.
"What did the nurse look like?" Jiang Cheng pressed. "If you saw her again, could you recognize her?"
Wang Changguo swallowed hard, then glanced at Weiwei. "I only remember she was wearing a mask. I was standing far away. Ask her."
Weiwei, still recovering from the shock of witnessing death, shook her head. "I don't know. The nurse was wearing a thick mask and a boat-shaped white cap. Most of her face was covered. And... and I was focused on Li Kaifeng. I... I never imagined..."
Jiang Cheng understood what she meant—she never imagined the nurse could be a threat.
Now, Li Kaifeng was dead.
She had died right in front of them.
And the two witnesses couldn't even determine whether the perpetrator was male or female.
Compared to Li Kaifeng's death, Jiang Cheng was more concerned about the identity of the killer. More precisely, was the killer human or a ghost? If it was a ghost, that would be one thing.
But if it was human... then the situation had just become far more complicated.
It would mean that, aside from Director Qi, who was determined to eliminate the ghost, there was another force within the hospital aiding the ghost.
This force knew they were here to assist Director Qi, which was why they had targeted them.
The immediate priority was to figure out what had truly happened in the hospital all those years ago.
And the identity of the ghost.
"Let's go," Jiang Cheng said, turning to Weiwei, who was still staring at Li Kaifeng. "We can't wait any longer. We need to go out and find clues."
Du Feng's throat moved involuntarily as he averted his gaze, then looked at Jiang Cheng and asked, "What about her?"
He was referring to Li Kaifeng's body.
Originally, Jiang Cheng wanted to say that they shouldn't bother, as the body might disappear by the time they returned. However, such a statement could easily expose his non-novice status.
Fortunately, Huai Yi and the others returned at that moment.
When they pushed open the door and saw the scene, everyone's expressions turned grim.
After some questioning, it turned out that Huai Yi and the others had also encountered the nurse carrying a tray. The observant Yu Yu had happened to notice the ward number taped onto the tray with white tape as they passed by.
After stopping the nurse and exchanging a few words, Huai Yi also realized something was wrong and hurried back.
After some thought, Huai Yi came to the same conclusion as Jiang Cheng. He instructed everyone to split up, exploring the hospital while separately looking for opportunities to gather information.
Glancing out the window, the sky was overcast, and it seemed a heavy rain was imminent.
"At this point, it seems Director Qi is likely suspicious. Everyone, don't trust his words," Huai Yi said, looking at Jiang Cheng. "Mr. Jiang, I'm thinking of going out to gather information. It might be dangerous. You…"
"I'm not going," Jiang Cheng immediately refused, then put on a pitiful and helpless expression. "I'm scared. I have a wife and children at home. I…"
"I'll go with you," Cao Yang volunteered.
Looking at Cao Yang's build, Huai Yi nodded. "Alright, it's settled then. Cao Yang and I will go to nearby restaurants and stores to gather information. The rest of you stay here and look for clues in the hospital."
From where they stood, through the window, they could see a row of simple single-story buildings not far from the hospital.
The buildings were rather crude, with many signs painted directly onto them, bearing names that felt distinctly old-fashioned.
Places like "Xi Ke Lai Restaurant" and "Gala Convenience Store."
Huai Yi then glanced at the wall clock. "We'll meet back here in two hours."
"Alright."
"What about her?" Yu Yu asked with concern. "Are we just going to leave her here like this?"
A dead body was no small matter. If the hospital discovered it, it could cause serious trouble.
But Huai Yi's reaction was surprisingly calm. He first wrapped Li Kaifeng's body in a blanket, then, with Jiang Cheng's help, placed it inside a wardrobe on the side.
This way, it wouldn't be visible unless the wardrobe was opened.
Huai Yi then explained that this world was different from the real one. A body left here would disappear quickly.
"Don't ask me why," Huai Yi sighed, looking at everyone with a somewhat helpless expression. "Because even if you ask, I can't answer. I only know the outcome."
After splitting up, Huai Yi and Cao Yang left the hospital building, taking advantage of the fact that it hadn't started raining yet, to ask around nearby. These long-established businesses should know a thing or two.
As Jiang Cheng and the others went upstairs to the fourth floor, he spotted a familiar figure in the distance.
In a small room separated by a glass door.
It was the nurse from earlier.
On the nearby wall, the words "Nurse Station" were posted.
"You all go and look around nearby, but don't go too far. We'll meet back here in an hour," Jiang Cheng instructed before hurrying off to find the nurse.
"Mr. Jiang… has he always been like this?" Yu Yu whispered.
Having just arrived in this world and having recently lost a teammate under mysterious circumstances, Yu Yu couldn't understand how Jiang Cheng could still be in such high spirits.
"Thud."
"Thud, thud."
Jiang Cheng knocked twice on the glass Gate.
The Nurse, who had been rubbing her shoulders with her back to Jiang Cheng, turned around upon hearing the sound and was greeted by Jiang Cheng's face pressed against the glass.
(End of the Chapter)
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