Translator: CinderTL
The old man glanced sideways at the elevator, then awkwardly shifted his gaze back to Jiang Cheng and said, "Don't stand here. Let's talk somewhere else."
"Alright," Jiang Cheng nodded.
At first, the old man seemed to want to invite Jiang Cheng into their ward, but after some thought, he dismissed the idea.
Even if he had wanted to, Jiang Cheng wouldn't have gone.
Eventually, they found a quiet spot in the lobby near a window. The old man skillfully flicked his cigarette ash outside.
It seemed this wasn't the first time he had secretly smoked here.
The old man coughed occasionally, his throat apparently not in the best condition.
"Don't take the elevator from now on," the old man whispered, "especially that one."
"It's somewhat better during the day, but especially at night!"
Jiang Cheng pretended not to understand. He looked away toward the elevator, then back at the old man, asking with feigned confusion, "Why?"
"Isn't the elevator there for people to use?" Jiang Cheng inquired.
The old man licked his lips and said mysteriously, "How long have you been here?"
"Not long," Jiang Cheng gave an ambiguous answer.
"Then, in the time you've been here, how many times have you seen someone take that elevator?"
"Well..." Jiang Cheng scratched his head, "I don't think I've seen anyone, but I haven't really paid attention."
"It's not that you haven't noticed—it's that no one takes it!" The old man swallowed and continued, "That elevator is rarely used, except for one thing."
"What thing?"
"Transporting the dead." The old man looked at Jiang Cheng with a strange expression, then added after a pause, "Haven't you noticed? That elevator's design is different from the others."
"It's about the same width, but it's noticeably longer than the others. That's to make it easier to transport bodies."
"That's the only elevator in the hospital used for transporting corpses."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng said, "I know that, but the elevator was likely designed that way to accommodate stretchers. Some critically ill patients are brought in on stretchers."
Jiang Cheng's implication was clear—he thought the old man was overreacting.
Seeing Jiang Cheng's reaction, the old man grew a bit anxious. "Young man, you're not from around here, are you? Everyone nearby knows that truly critical patients aren't sent to this hospital."
"Not far from here, there's another hospital. It's not as big as this one, but the conditions are much better."
"Young man, you seem like a decent person. Take my advice—if you don't have anything urgent, leave as soon as possible," the old man urged earnestly.
When the old man mentioned that Jiang Cheng seemed like a decent person, Wang Changguo secretly glanced at the old man but didn't dare look too long, afraid Jiang Cheng might notice.
"Old man," Jiang Cheng feigned curiosity, "has something happened here?"
The old man had finished his cigarette by now, and Jiang Cheng handed him another one.
Staring at the offered cigarette, the old man's face showed a hint of hesitation, but he eventually declined, "I need to go back for a card game. The other old guys are waiting for me. Young man, remember what I've told you."
"Click."
The crisp sound of a lighter rang out as Jiang Cheng lit his cigarette. Only then did he seem to realize and look at the old man, "This..."
The old man stared at the cigarette, his footsteps suddenly halting.
"Ah, I don't smoke either, so..." Jiang Cheng made a motion as if he was about to toss the cigarette out the window, but just as he raised his hand, the old man, looking pained, stopped him.
"Actually, the doctor told me not to smoke too much," the old man said, leaning against the windowsill. He took another indulgent puff and exhaled before continuing, "Said it's bad for my health."
"Don't listen to their nonsense. I'm a doctor," Jiang Cheng said. "If you don't smoke or drink, how can you live long?"
"Heh," the old man chuckled. "You're quite an interesting young man."
Wang Changguo, playing the role of a peripheral character, kept his mouth shut, not wanting to interrupt them.
"Old man," Jiang Cheng hesitated before speaking, "about the elevator you mentioned earlier..."
"Ah," the old man sighed, as if the topic had dampened his enthusiasm for smoking. "Something happened in that elevator."
Jiang Cheng immediately realized that the old man was likely referring to the female nurse who had stayed in Room 906.
He hadn't expected the old man to know about something that happened so long ago.
But after further questioning, he discovered that the two of them were actually talking about completely different incidents.
The incident the old man mentioned was much more recent, having occurred about one or two months ago.
"That's the only elevator in the entire hospital that leads to the morgue," the old man said in a hushed voice. "It's the only way."
"I remember there are staircases on both sides," Jiang Cheng said.
To Jiang Cheng's surprise, the old man shook his head after hearing this, glanced around mysteriously, and said, "It's no use. Only that elevator can get you there. The staircases on both sides have been sealed off."
"Sealed off?"
"Yes," the old man said. "I discovered it by chance."
The morgue was on the basement level, and sealing off the staircases leading to it seemed strange no matter how you looked at it.
Had something happened in the morgue?
Was that why the hospital had to take such measures?
As if sensing Jiang Cheng's confusion, the old man swallowed hard, gave him a firm look, and continued, "Young man, what I'm about to tell you might be hard to believe, but I assure you, every word is true."
"Someone... ran out of the morgue."
"Someone?" Wang Changguo felt a chill run down his spine, visibly frightened.
If it was just a person, the old man wouldn't have needed to build up the story so much. Jiang Cheng thought the old man likely meant that a corpse had come back to life.
No.
It would be more accurate to say it was a ghost.
"What do you mean?" Jiang Cheng asked. "Old man, I don't understand. Someone ran out of the morgue..."
"Ah, why don't you get it?" The old man's expression darkened as he brought it up. "What kind of place is the morgue? Don't you know?"
"Are you saying a corpse went missing?"
"Not missing, it ran away! The corpse ran away on its own!" The old man spoke rapidly, his breathing becoming erratic.
"When that person was first brought in, they were already dead. After the paperwork was done, they were taken to the morgue. But guess what? The next day, when they went to check, the body was gone!"
"At first, they suspected someone had stolen the body. It caused quite a stir, but after investigating, they found no clues."
"Then a newcomer suggested, 'Don't we have surveillance cameras? Let's check the footage!'"
At first, no one paid attention to him because the surveillance cameras were only installed in the hospital's main lobby. No matter how foolish the murderer was, it was unlikely they would steal a corpse and then leave through the hospital lobby.
After all, it was a corpse—it couldn't just be stuffed into a bag.
"But later, later..." At this point, the old man suddenly stopped speaking, and his expression turned grim.
(End of the Chapter)
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