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The hospital ward was always bustling, with patients unable to control their emotions often becoming agitated at various times, running and screaming was a common occurrence. During the day, a few patients would gather in the corridors to chat, discussing everything from astronomy and geography to human evolution, occasionally engaging in heated debates over philosophical questions.
But at this moment, the entire hospital was quiet, at least on the third and fourth floors. The doors of the patient rooms were tightly shut, and even pressing an ear against the cracks yielded no sound. Those patients who would usually become irritable at the mere mention of sleep seemed to have entered a deep slumber, unresponsive even to the most jarring disturbances.
Song Bunan and Xiao Mei walked through the corridor after disabling the surveillance cameras, feeling somewhat uneasy in this inexplicable eerie silence. They had never been on this floor at this hour; their contingency plan for dealing with troublesome patients felt like a joke now.
The railing on the east side of the fourth floor was secured with a brass lock. Xiao Mei scoffed, commenting that despite the hospital spending a fortune on renovations, they couldn't even afford to replace it with a smart lock. Song Bunan pulled out a piece of wire from his pocket and handed it to him, urging him not to dwell on it.
“If they switched to smart locks, we’d have come here for nothing tonight. This thing is merely a warning for family members that patients are in danger; it’s not meant to keep people out. Hurry up and open it; you’re getting rusty,” he said.
Song Bunan had realized Xiao Mei had a knack for thievery when he was twenty-five. At that time, Xiao Mei was still in school. One moonless night, he called Song Bunan for help. When he arrived, he found Xiao Mei had already picked the lock of the entire building with a piece of wire and was cradling a puppy, claiming he needed to keep it for the night.
Speechless, Song Bunan dragged the kid straight to the Jiang Family's residence. On the way, he tried to reason with him about how one should never resort to breaking and entering. Xiao Mei sat quietly in the backseat holding the dog while only the puppy occasionally barked in response to Song Bunan's lecture.
As soon as they stepped through the Jiang Family's door, they were met with smiles from the head of the family praising Xiao Mei for his cleverness. “Huh?” This left Song Bunan dumbfounded, his mind swirling with countless questions. The head explained that it was a test for Xiao Mei; although they had agreed on a deadline for submission by noon tomorrow, due to his actions, they had moved it up by ten hours.
What kind of good family teaches their children how to pick locks? Song Bunan nearly cursed in front of his godfather but managed to hold back and instead gave a thumbs-up, acknowledging their parenting skills.
“The surveillance here has also been disabled; let’s try not to make any noise. If we can push the door open, we’ll go in; if not, we’ll leave it,” he instructed as they covered their faces and tiptoed inside. Xiao Mei reached the first door first and gently pushed it only to find it locked; he immediately signaled to move on to the next one.
The corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectant so strong that it burned their nostrils. Song Bunan suspected they were using it to mask other odors. Xiao Mei leaned close to each door and sniffed carefully, claiming there was a smell of rotting meat mixed in.
“This indicates there are definitely many souls inside who haven’t fully integrated after their exchange; their bodies are starting to decay, which is why they’re hastily bringing in another batch of patients,” Song Bunan said as he placed a filter paper inside his mask in an attempt to ease some of the pungent odor entering his lungs.
After six tightly closed doors, they arrived at Copper Coin's room. Xiao Mei gently pushed against it and found surprisingly little resistance as he opened it just enough for them to slip through. They exchanged glances before crouching low and stepping inside.
Inside, there wasn’t a strong smell of disinfectant; instead, the stench of rotting meat was overwhelming as they fought back their urge to vomit and crawled forward.
The layout of the room was simple—apart from an IV stand, there were only two beds placed side by side. On one bed lay Copper Coin, either asleep or unconscious, with an unknown liquid being infused into his body through an IV drip.
Next to Copper Coin lay someone wrapped tightly in bandages; aside from their nose, no skin was visible— even their eyes were covered. Due to being under blankets, they couldn’t tell if this person was male or female, but it was clear that the foul odor emanated from this individual.
The furnishings were unremarkable, prompting the two of them to exit quickly. As they closed the door, they leaned against the wall and began to retch, with Song Bunan feeling tears welling up in his eyes. At that moment, the scent of disinfectant in the hallway was surprisingly pleasant, effectively soothing their stomachs that churned from the foul odor.
"It can't be that every room is set up like this," Xiao Mei remarked, glancing at the clock which read seven seventeen. They still had two-thirds of the hallway left to explore. Song Bunan waved his hand, stating that if they were to go back in, he would need a gas mask; for now, he just needed a place to vomit.
After a brief rest, Xiao Mei set a goal for their mission: they had to check the room in the middle by seven twenty-five. If they still couldn't push any doors open by then, they would leave.
"Let's go!" Song Bunan agreed. To speed things up, he and Xiao Mei each took a side and pushed against the doors. The few that opened allowed them only to peek inside; most were configured similarly to the one where Copper Coin was located, differing only in the number of occupants.
Without exception, everyone inside was fast asleep and unresponsive.
They simultaneously pushed open the two doors in the center, revealing empty rooms. Compared to before, Song Bunan detected no odors within. However, Xiao Mei's expression suddenly changed; without saying a word, he grabbed Song Bunan and ran outside.
As they fled, they remembered to lock the door behind them. They remained silent until they returned to their dormitory. Once inside, Xiao Mei removed his mask and breathed heavily, his expression grave as he declared that those two rooms were meant for nightmares.
"The scent belongs to nightmares; it's very strong. I can feel it still inside—if we had stayed longer, we would have been caught," he said. Seeing Xiao Mei visibly shaken, Song Bunan hurriedly poured him some water. He felt nothing unusual himself and pondered whether those rooms were left for the next "lucky" person.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, he mentally reviewed everything that had happened over the past two days, feeling as though he had overlooked something important. From the behavior of those in the laboratory, it seemed they were merely cautious of them without attempting to uncover their true identities. The Ghost Messenger they encountered at night seemed to have acted out of interest in their bodies but was hindered by physical limitations that prevented it from posing a threat.
However, according to their gathered information, many participants in the experiment had previously crossed paths with them; it was unlikely that no one noticed their arrival—unless they had always known.
"No, I think the people at the laboratory should know who we are; their lack of reaction might be because they don’t see us as a threat," Song Bunan suggested. He now believed that not being recognized was more like a ghost story.
Xiao Mei fell silent upon hearing this, frowning slightly as he contemplated its validity. After analyzing it further, he concluded that Song Bunan's perspective aligned best with their current situation.
"So from the very beginning, we’ve been exposed; they just haven’t pursued it," Song Bunan nodded and continued his line of thought. "Your and Shui Su's identities have never been secrets among several families; attending any event is completely normal for you. There are likely many people involved in the white affairs circle within the laboratory who should have seen me before. The Ghost Messenger we encountered last night probably viewed me as someone who could be brought into their fold."
If this were true, then all their subsequent actions would be even more perilous. Knowing their true identities while placing them in a hospital could mean either an understanding that they posed no significant threat or an intention to ensnare them as well. Xiao Mei realized that if things continued down this path of worst-case scenarios, only Song Bunan and Xin Yi would be in danger.
He and Shui Su had backing from the Jiang Family and wouldn't be passive; while Song Bunan had protection from his family head, he was still not considered part of the main family and could easily be overlooked. Xin Yi was even more out of place among them—if captured unexpectedly, there would be no immediate contingency plan available.
"That being said, Shui Su and I are the safest," he said, glancing at Song Bunan, who was sprawled on the bed, rubbing his eyes. The man grunted in agreement.
"The chances of me being targeted are slim. Compared to my build, Xin Yi is the better choice. Last night’s incident was a perfect example." They had been laughing all day about what Ghost Messenger had said regarding Xin Yi's body being used for experiments.
At that moment, Song Bunan brought it up again, and the two burst into laughter. Song Bunan exaggeratedly mimicked the person from last night, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face.
"The fact that he could choose self-detonation just shows he’s not very bright," Xiao Mei commented again, collectively disparaging the Ghost Messengers. "But really, if you could swap bodies with someone like Xin Yi, who wouldn't be tempted? No wonder that guy was drooling."
Song Bunan nodded in agreement, fully accepting his friend's praise for his partner. By now, they had both calmed down and were sitting on the bed, planning to play rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go shower first. The hospital dormitory was on the shady side; even during the day when temperatures were high outside, it felt chilly inside. By nightfall, the first person to shower would definitely shiver from the cold.
After three rounds of rock-paper-scissors, Xiao Mei won and went first. Song Bunan swore he wouldn’t crawl into bed dirty, which made Xiao Mei feel comfortable enough to go in. After all, compared to lying down, Song Bunan had more pressing matters to attend to.
Ming You replied to him using an old account she hadn’t activated in years. She mentioned that she had other reasons for working there and asked Song Bunan not to pry too much; if he needed help, he could ask directly. However, she couldn’t disclose anything about the laboratory in that hospital.
"The location of that photo is in the last room on the east side of the fourth floor. My advice is not to go there. It’s fine if you want to investigate, but don’t do it when you’re alone. Be careful! Don’t trust any nurse who asks you to check rooms at night!"
Song Bunan understood her warning. He wanted to ask more questions but realized that after sending her message, her account turned gray and disappeared from view.
He opened the duty roster again and checked; he confirmed he wasn’t scheduled for any shifts. Nighttime nurses? He instinctively glanced toward the door and indeed saw a shadow slipping through the crack beneath it.
It was a human figure.
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