Translator: CinderTL
"If it gets dark and they still haven't returned, could something have happened to them?" Cao Yang seemed genuinely concerned about the two teammates who had left.
Unfortunately, no one could answer that question.
"Thud."
"Thud."
"Thud."
A series of clear footsteps echoed from outside, growing closer until the door was pushed open, revealing an unfamiliar face.
It appeared to be a doctor, dressed in a white coat, looking to be in his early thirties, wearing black-framed glasses. He hadn't been seen before.
"Who is Mr. Huai?" the doctor asked, holding a piece of paper in his hand.
"He's gone out," Jiang Cheng replied. "You can tell me whatever it is."
"When he returns, please inform him to go to the inpatient department to re-fill out some forms," the doctor said after a moment, emphasizing, "He needs to go today."
Jiang Cheng glanced outside, then turned back and suggested in a negotiating tone, "It's too late today. How about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow won't work," the doctor shook his head. "There's an issue with some of the information he registered."
Weiwei stepped in to mediate, speaking politely, "How about this? When he returns, I'll have him call the inpatient department, and we can sort out any issues over the phone."
"Just leave us the inpatient department's phone number," Weiwei said, turning to look for something to write with.
Seeing Weiwei's actions, the doctor waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. That phone has been broken for a long time." He pointed to the only phone in the room. "Don't make things difficult for me. I'm just a messenger. Why don't you talk to Director Qi and have him coordinate with the inpatient department?"
No one paid attention to the latter part of his sentence. Instead, their eyes all turned to the old-fashioned phone on the small wooden cabinet by the bed.
Only after the doctor left did they react.
"Broken?" Yu Yu exclaimed in surprise. "How is that possible? Huai Yi used that phone to contact those people before he left."
Cao Yang, who had had contact with ghosts before, turned pale.
Jiang Cheng immediately walked over, thought for a moment, and picked up the phone. Instead of holding it to his ear, he looked at the small display screen.
The display was completely normal, showing the date and time.
Everything seemed perfectly reasonable.
Seeing this, Weiwei let out a long sigh of relief.
It seemed the doctor had made a mistake. After all, with how busy things were at the hospital, it was easy to misremember such details. But in the next second, Weiwei's thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
So did the gazes of Yu Yu, Wang Changguo, and the others. Cao Yang subconsciously swallowed hard, his fingers, which had been relaxed, suddenly clenched tightly.
Jiang Cheng forcefully moved the small wooden cabinet beneath the phone.
Behind the cabinet was a tangle of wires, and the one connected to the back of the phone was completely severed, as if it had been ripped apart by immense force.
The red insulation at the break was peeled back, clearly revealing the exposed metal wires inside.
Without any power, how had Huai Yi made that call?
And according to Yu Yu, he hadn't just made one call.
A chill ran through everyone's hearts.
"What's going on?" Wang Changguo panicked. When Huai Yi had made the call, he had been standing right behind him, even clearly hearing the voice on the other end.
"Could it be... could it be that the person on the other end wasn't human, but a ghost?!"
Wang Changguo's words completely ignited everyone's fear. The most unsettling thing was that Huai Yi and Du Feng had already gone to meet the appointment.
The one who invited them was a Ghost.
And they were completely unaware of it.
After calming down, Jiang Cheng turned to look at Lin Wan'er. Yu Yu's face was pale, and it was probably useless to ask her anything. "How long have Huai Yi and the others been gone?"
Lin Wan'er thought for a moment and replied, "About an hour."
Something had happened. Huai Yi wasn't a newcomer; he definitely knew how dangerous it was to stay outside at night. If he hadn't returned by now, something must have gone wrong.
Just as Jiang Cheng was pondering his next move, something even more unexpected happened.
"Ding ling ling"
"Ding ling ling"
Weiwei, who was relatively close, suddenly stepped back, only managing to steady herself after a few steps. She looked at the phone, which was flashing with an incoming call notification, her eyes filled with indescribable panic.
The phone was ringing.
Someone was calling! "Don't answer it!" Cao Yang shouted. He was only slightly better off than the women, with cold sweat covering his forehead.
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
The caller must be a Ghost! But no one answered, and the phone kept ringing, as if it was determined to outlast them. Yet, no one dared to step forward and hang it up.
A few seconds later, the ringing finally stopped.
But it wasn't because the other side had given up. It was because someone had picked up the phone.
Looking at Jiang Cheng, who had placed the receiver to his ear, Yu Yu's lips trembled, but she didn't dare make a sound, as if she was afraid the Ghost would hear her and come for her.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line was unusually urgent.
Jiang Cheng immediately recognized it as Huai Yi.
"Can you hear me?" Huai Yi's voice was very low, and there was a faint echo in the background, as if he was in an extremely confined space.
Jiang Cheng could even hear his rapid breathing.
But Jiang Cheng had no intention of replying. He was just listening.
The other side seemed to understand why and didn't waste any time, immediately starting to explain the current situation. "I'm trapped, and not just me. Du Feng is here too. We're both still alive."
Huai Yi swallowed hard and continued, "I'm calling from my own phone. I don't know why it's working."
"We didn't leave the hospital. We're currently trapped in the stairwell. We took the stairs when we were leaving, but the stairs seem to go on forever."
"By the time I realized something was wrong, it was too late. We're still stuck here. We've tried going up and down, but neither leads anywhere."
"There are no markings here, no indication of what floor we're on, and we haven't run into anyone."
"Oh," Huai Yi seemed to suddenly remember something, "Whatever you do, don't call those numbers again. There might be something wrong with them."
Jiang Cheng really wanted to tell him that it wasn't the numbers that were the problem—it was the phone.
"I think we've encountered a Ghost wall," Huai Yi said after a moment of silence, taking a deep breath and speaking in a pleading tone. "I know this is presumptuous, but I'm begging you to save us. There's a saying in my hometown that a Ghost wall can only be broken from the outside."
"If you can come, you might be able to interfere with the Ghost, and we can find a way to escape."
"If it doesn't work..." Huai Yi paused for about 10 seconds before his voice sounded again, this time tinged with helplessness, "In 10 minutes, the two of us will try to leave through the corridor."
"If we die or disappear, please remember, if you also encounter a Ghost wall, do not leave through the corridor. The corridor is also a dead end."
"Think... think of another way."
"Now... please, come and save us." Huai Yi's voice was heart-wrenching, "I beg you!"
(End of the Chapter)
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