Chapter 25: At the Hospital Gates
Dusk.
Jiangcheng County wasn’t a large county, located inland, surrounded by steep mountains.
Only the county center was somewhat prosperous, not exactly impoverished, but that was the extent of it.
The remote outskirts were practically indistinguishable from the countryside.
The Jiangcheng County branch of Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital was located in such a place, far from the bustling city center, with not even scattered farmhouses nearby.
After all… the patients in a psychiatric hospital weren’t ordinary patients. Some, in severe cases, might attack people indiscriminately without legal consequences.
If such dangerous patients were to reach a populated area… the consequences would be disastrous. Hence, Qingshan Hospital’s remote location.
Working at this hospital, infamous and avoided by everyone in Jiangcheng County, especially as a receptionist… was incredibly boring.
Only when particularly interesting patients arrived could she find some amusement.
Shen Miaoyun munched on sunflower seeds, her eyes glued to the soap opera playing on her phone, engrossed in the drama of love and hate.
It was Saturday, close to closing time, and she didn’t expect any more patients to arrive today, so she didn’t bother looking up, continuing to slack off.
Just then, a soft, childish voice called out.
“Excuse me…”
“Restroom, third corridor on the left, cafeteria, elevator to the first basement floor on the right. Hey, whose kid is this?”
Shen Miaoyun rattled off the usual directions before realizing a petite girl was standing at the reception desk.
She wore a black beanie that seemed stuffed with something, and a large mask covered most of her face, leaving only a pair of beautiful, curious eyes visible.
“I’m not looking for the restroom…” Luo Ling said helplessly.
“Ahem, there are always some lost patients,” Shen Miaoyun’s mood brightened at the sight of the cute little girl, and she asked gently, “Little girl, where are your parents? Should I help you find them?”
“I…” Luo Ling looked around, then lowered her voice. “I’m looking for someone.”
“Looking for someone? Is your family member in the hospital?” Shen Miaoyun was taken aback. “Are they… a medical staff member or…?”
Could she be the child of a mental patient?
How could they let such a young child come to a place like this…
Luo Ling hesitated for a moment, then took out the nameplate.
“Looking for her.”
The name on the nameplate was Wu Qin, the deceased Bone Doctor.
Ji Ying had given her the nameplate to use when she went to Qingshan Hospital, and this was the time to use it.
“So it really is a child of a mental patient…”
Shen Miaoyun saw the nameplate and immediately knew it belonged to a patient.
After a moment of contemplation, she glanced at the name and her expression changed slightly.
“…Wu Qin?”
Sister Wu Qin… wasn’t she dead?
Even her body had disappeared…
How did her nameplate end up in this little girl’s hands?
Shen Miaoyun looked at Luo Ling in astonishment. Could it be that this cute little girl… was that woman’s child? Or subordinate?
A year and a half ago, Wu Qin, the “Bone Doctor,” the administrator of the Qingshan Patient Exchange Group, had mysteriously died one afternoon.
The group leader had spent considerable effort and resources, using an Other Shore ability, to catch a glimpse of the killer’s trace.
It was a thin, indifferent woman.
For over a year, the group members had been searching for this woman, but to no avail.
And the nameplate, which should have been lost, now appeared in the hands of a little girl.
…What was going on?
“Nurse, what’s wrong?”
Luo Ling tilted her head slightly, looking up at Shen Miaoyun and blinking her beautiful eyes.
Although her voice was childish and cute, to Shen Miaoyun, it sounded like a death knell.
“How… did you get this nameplate?”
Shen Miaoyun reached out, wanting to take the nameplate, but retracted her hand just before touching it. What if the nameplate was imbued with some kind of ability?
“Do you know this person, Nurse?”
Luo Ling didn’t answer Shen Miaoyun’s question directly but asked another one instead.
It was obvious that Shen Miaoyun’s reaction after seeing the nameplate wasn’t normal. She might be one of the mysterious Awakened Ones in Qingshan Hospital, but Luo Ling wasn’t sure, so she probed again.
“Know… her?”
Shen Miaoyun was sweating profusely, praying that Brother Liu or Sister Yang would pass by. Why was she, a mere receptionist, encountering something like this?
She was being threatened right at her workplace!
“It seems like you do,” although Luo Ling didn’t understand why Shen Miaoyun was panicking, since things had come to this, she dropped the pretense. “Nurse, are you an Awakened One?”
Are… you… an Awakened One…?
She actually said it directly…
Was she about to attack?!
“I’m sorry, I’m not, please don’t kill me! The club activity room is on the seventh floor, up the elevator to the right! They’re all there!”
Shen Miaoyun immediately squatted down, covering her head with her hands. Why should she, a support-type Awakened One on the Myriad path, risk her life? Wasn’t fighting the job of the seniors?
“…”
Luo Ling fell silent. This was her first encounter with an Awakened One other than Ji Ying. Why did it feel… different from what she had imagined?
The mysterious and powerful image she had in mind shattered completely…
“Alright, I’m just here to find the Awakened Ones,” Luo Ling put away the nameplate. “I know the Bone Doctor is dead. I took this from her body.”
“You killed Sister Wu Qin?”
Shen Miaoyun looked up at Luo Ling in disbelief.
“Mm…”
Luo Ling nodded slightly. Although unbelievable, she had indeed killed the Bone Doctor, who was under the control of the Puppet Ballad.
Shen Miaoyun felt a chill run down her spine.
According to the group leader’s estimation, the woman who killed Sister Wu Qin had to be at least a Mid-Order Awakened One, possibly on the Oneiric path.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to break through Bone Steel’s defense in an instant, leaving Sister Wu Qin no time to even send a distress signal.
Even if they found such an enemy, the exchange group would need a meticulous plan to confront her, let alone now that she had come to them…
When was the Patient Exchange Group exposed?
Could there be a traitor among them?
Luo Ling didn’t know how many thoughts flashed through Shen Miaoyun’s mind in that instant. Her gaze gradually hardened.
No, if it really was a Mid-Order Awakened One, she had to inform the group leader, they had to be prepared…
Otherwise, everyone… would die.
Shen Miaoyun was determined, even if this little girl killed her on the spot, she had to get the message out.
She opened her mouth, about to shout.
Then, the phone at the reception desk rang, automatically answering itself. A calm, elderly voice came through.
“Let her come up, Narcissus.”
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