145. Partners

"The details of how we reunited and how we hit it off are redundant and tedious. In short, five years after my graduation, I returned to China and prepared to open a hospital in Jiangcheng."

"My initial thought was that a hospital that specializes in treating the wealthy might not make money, but Corea surprisingly found a lot of sponsors. Those arrogant tycoons, old men from the Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and some wealthy businessmen that I knew or didn't know were all on the sponsor list."

"I was surprised. I thought these rich people would probably never come to this hospital in their lives. How did Corea manage to persuade them? But the tall, thin, dark-skinned man smiled mysteriously and said to me, 'Mortals will die eventually. When they are on the verge of death, they will naturally turn to me for help.'"

"I was surprised. I'm just a surgeon and I don't know anything about how to prolong life. I felt like a charlatan. But Corea soon gave me a handwritten book with some things I had never thought of before."

"That's some kind of ritual, a special ritual that can summon a being that transcends human understanding and reigns over this world. By offering sacrifices to Him, one can gain extraordinary power, even to the point of resurrection."

"The contents of this manuscript are obscure and difficult, filled with incomprehensible annotations and some delirious ramblings that only a madman would utter. But I must say, these contents are very tempting. What doctor doesn't want to understand the mysteries of life, or want to be brought back from the dead? But I am highly educated. We call this kind of thing superstition. I find it very strange. Is Corea using this to fool those rich people?"

"Until, until he showed me a small-scale ceremony. I can hardly describe the process of that ceremony. I can only say that while the ceremony was taking place, I regretted witnessing it all. But when the results of the ceremony were revealed, I was astonished. All the science I knew vanished in the face of that person who stood up again. I am so glad that I met Corea. Otherwise, I would have been deceived in a false world for the rest of my life."

"The hospital construction project is progressing smoothly. I don't know what methods Corea used to get those workers to agree to the preliminary work for the ceremony. I feel sorry for those workers who died, but when I think that their sacrifice was for the well-being of more people, I feel at peace."

"After the hospital opened, I saw my first patient. It's hard to describe how excited I was when his heart, which had stopped beating, was refilled with blood and his ashen skin regained its color."

"As for the offerings, don't worry, I think Corea will find a way."

"The next surgery is about to begin, and I must complete it."

These words were different from what Lu Ban had seen before. The previous words mostly went from neat to messy and eventually became unrecognizable, but the words now started out a bit messy, but later became calm and upright, which, combined with the content, gave off a creepy feeling.

Lu Ban knew that this should be Dean Zhao Gongping's record.

"A ritual, so that's how it is. This hospital was built for a certain ritual, and they succeeded. They successfully summoned something through the ritual, something that can bring the dead back to life?"

"No, that's not right. The dead can't be brought back to life, but they can walk, just like I saw in that foreign land. Perhaps Zhao Gongping's ritual wasn't about bringing the dead back to life, but rather about letting something occupy the bodies of the dead, making them appear as if they were alive?"

"Yes, just like these wandering doctors, workers, and nurses in the hospital, acting according to their own obsessions, or perhaps it's the summoned creatures that are controlling these people's corpses."

"That man, Corea is very strange. He seems to have a lot of similar knowledge and can persuade those wealthy businessmen. It turns out that the reason they invested in this hospital was to carry out this ritual. They are trying to use this ritual to prolong life, so they are investing without regard for returns."

"But why did they stop investing? Was it because the ceremony went wrong? Was it because of Zhao Gongping's death?"

"According to the description, Zhao Gongping should have started as the dean at around 35 years old. He has been in office for almost 20 years, so he is indeed almost 50. His aging is unnatural, perhaps due to the influence of the ceremony."

"So, when the ceremony could no longer be performed here, the investors stopped funding it, and the hospital declined and went bankrupt. But the inability to perform the ceremony does not mean that the ceremony is completely ineffective; it is still working in some way, causing people to disappear."

Lu Ban felt that he had vaguely grasped the core secret of this hospital and this mission.

Now only two questions remain.

First, who exactly was the ritual at this hospital connected to? Why did the ritual go wrong? And how should we deal with this strange hospital building?

Another question is, where are the Melody Fragment that Du Danping left behind when he visited the hospital? Why was he unable to solve the hospital's problems?

"I'm afraid I'll have to completely resolve the trouble here before I can live to see tomorrow morning."

Lu Ban thought to himself.

"According to Nurse He Bixiong's description, the elderly man in Room 502 was already critically ill, but he was able to stand up that night and even waved to her. It seems that this is related to his visit to the Room at the end of the corridor. Perhaps that is where the ceremony was held."

He put away his notebook, picked up his crowbar, and left the room.

Even though the corridor was bright and spacious, Lu Ban felt as if it were shrouded in a gray hue.

He saw that the half-closed door at the End of the Corridor seemed to have opened a little more, Lu Ban quickened his pace and arrived at the End of the Corridor.

The door was unremarkable; it could be pushed open with a flick of the wrist.

Lu Ban a deep breath and pushed the door open.

It was a spacious room, with a layout not much different from an operating room. In the center was a hospital bed, and there were various medical instruments around it. However, what was most eye-catching was a huge transparent container next to the instruments, which contained a murky, gray, viscous liquid.

"Cement?"

Lu Ban immediately thought of what was overflowing in Zhao Gongping's mind.

But this thing has a more unique texture.

Lu Ban walked closer and saw that the thing was like jelly, gelatinous, and seemed to be alive, constantly wriggling.

The arrival of humans may have awakened it, and the thing suddenly stopped wriggling.

Then, one eye opened.

One, two, three, countless eyes opened from the eerie creature in the container, along with mouths filled with jagged, ugly teeth. Countless mouths, those millions of eyes and mouths seemed to be demanding food, and countless gray slimes secreted from them.

Lu Ban stared at the blasphemous creature, and suddenly, a song rang in his ears.

Thank you to "xiaotang246" for the 100 coins!