Zhang Wenbo recounted with a peculiar expression, "Do you know what the old man's family told me before and after his death?"
Jiang Chen asked, "What?"
"The old man's son, who was taking care of him, said that two days before his father's death, he was dozing off by the bedside when he suddenly felt his father staring at him motionlessly. That gaze made him very uncomfortable."
"He wanted to speak, but his eyelids grew heavier, and he fell into a deep sleep. The next day, when he asked, his father wouldn't say anything."
"The following night, the son pretended to sleep, but was actually observing. This time, he realized it wasn't his imagination; his father had the same expression, eyes wide open, staring at him without moving."
"The son found it increasingly strange and had a feeling that his father might not be looking at him, but at something behind him. Was there something behind him?"
"But when he tried to get up, drowsiness swept over him again. This time, even though he didn't want to sleep, he couldn't help but fall asleep."
"In his dreams, he vaguely heard very light footsteps, like someone tiptoeing."
"The next day, he confirmed on the floor that there were indeed watermarks on the tiles, as if someone had tiptoed around. The intensive care ward is a single room, and the door was locked. So, was it his father who tiptoed behind him last night?"
"But his father was old and seriously ill, needing assistance even to go to the bathroom. How could he possibly tiptoe, and why would he do that?"
"The patient's son found it increasingly strange and a bit frightening. He'd heard that only those possessed by ghosts, with insufficient Yang energy, would walk on tiptoes."
"That day, his son came to tell me about it. I thought he was just hallucinating due to the stress of caregiving, so I casually comforted him."
"A day later, his son came to me in terror. He said that the previous night, he had asked a nurse for a needle to see for himself. As he was about to fall asleep, he pricked himself, managing to lift his eyelids."
"He saw his father get out of bed, tiptoeing in a strange manner around the ward twice, then opened the door and ran out. He wanted to stop him, but his sleepiness intensified, and even pricking his thigh with the needle was useless."
"But the next morning, he found his father lying in bed as usual."
"That afternoon, the old man succumbed to organ failure and died. That night, when his body was taken to the morgue, it disappeared."
The hospital doors all had glass windows, and he thought the old man might indeed not have been looking at his son, but at something outside the window.
"Not only that, the night the old man's body disappeared, another patient in the intensive care unit had an issue. The family said they woke up at dawn to find their husband staring intently at the door, as if seeing a friend."
"This middle-aged patient had been playing chess with the old man who had just died for eight or nine consecutive days."
"Two days later, the middle-aged patient suddenly developed a severe lung infection and died despite resuscitation."
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Zhang Wenbo grew more frightened as he spoke, taking a deep breath and looking around, as if afraid a strange figure might appear.
The two went down to the first floor to get the keys and headed to another building.
During this time, Zhang Wenbo added, "Not only that, a female nurse in the inpatient department also had an incident. We saw on the corridor surveillance that she was walking when something by the fire escape caught her attention. She walked over, and the next day she contracted a rare viral flu and died despite resuscitation."
Jiang Chen looked thoughtful, noticing a commonality: all the deceased patients and medical staff seemed to have died from illnesses.
"By the way, we saw on the surveillance that there seemed to be someone waving behind the fire escape door. The nurse was probably called over by them!" Zhang Wenbo said as they entered the inpatient department and pressed the elevator button for the third basement level.
"Also, the morgue manager died. I was the first to discover it." Once in the elevator, Zhang Wenbo added another detail.
Jiang Chen gave him a second glance.
Outside, there was time, yet he deliberately waited until they were in the elevator to mention this.
"That night I was on duty. Old Liu, who managed the morgue, messaged saying a body was starting to smell and asked the on-duty nurse to bring down some disinfectant and deodorizer. It was almost midnight, and the nurse was scared, so she found me. I had nothing to do, so I helped deliver it."
"When I got to the morgue, Old Liu wasn't there. I thought he might have gone to the bathroom, so I waited a bit, but no one came. I had to call his phone."
"As I stood in the morgue, the phone rang suddenly behind me. I was startled and turned to find the ringing coming from under a white sheet on a corpse bed."
"But when I lifted the sheet, I saw Old Liu's stiff corpse underneath. I've studied autopsies, and with a glance, I knew he'd been dead for at least fifteen hours. So who was it that messaged the nurse?"
"I was scared out of my wits and ran out for dear life."
After Zhang Wenbo finished speaking, he watched Jiang Chen's expression, expecting at least a hint of fear. But Jiang Chen's face remained calm, even looking at him with interest.
Under his gaze, Zhang Wenbo felt very uncomfortable, as if being watched by some ferocious creature. He quickly averted his eyes.
The two walked down the corridor, and perhaps due to the lighting, the further they went, the colder it felt.
"Strange, why is the door open? No wonder it's so cold." At the end was the morgue, with both doors open. Zhang Wenbo walked over and said, "There's refrigeration equipment here. If the door is open, the cold air escapes."
Jiang Chen entered the morgue.
Zhang Wenbo followed behind, closing the door.
Jiang Chen turned his head. This behavior was too unusual. Knowing there were problems in the hospital, entering the morgue, and still daring to close the door?
"Heh, I'm just afraid the cold air will escape," Zhang Wenbo explained with a stiff smile.
Jiang Chen walked over, and Zhang Wenbo's expression kept changing, a hint of a cold smile appearing at the corner of his eye.
Heh, finally realized, huh?
Click!
Jiang Chen locked the morgue door.
Zhang Wenbo turned his head, and his expression froze upon seeing this.
[The Low-Level Corpse Ghoul is stunned. Why lock the door? Afraid the corpses will run away? Ghost Qi +3.]