The Story

The ward was cramped and dimly lit, and the space under the bed was a bit small, but it wasn't difficult to accommodate two people squatting down.

A pair of cold slippers sat beside the bed, and under the bed were items such as a kettle, a plastic box, and a urinal. Zhao Yijiu pushed these clutters away with a knife with a hint of disgust, making room for the two of them.

The audience split into two groups: one group stayed to watch Ren Yi's side, not wanting to miss the appearance of the "earth-shattering clue" diary; the other group focused intently on the fixed perspective of the intensive care unit, wanting to see what it would be like for the dean to be attacked by ghosts once again.

To be honest, since the benefits of protecting the dean were discovered, they haven't seen a miserable dean for several episodes. They even saw a case where a guest knocked the dean unconscious and kept him by their side the whole time to prevent him from wandering off.

So, before the dean entered, they first saw Yu Xing, whose demeanor was quite strange.

[I never expected that he'd be such a goofball after he stopped pretending to be a newbie]

[Is this silly? I think the way he talks to ghosts is so cool, like he doesn't even care about them.]

[Heh, that's because the ghost in the hospital can't kill the guests. Let's try a different scenario. Would he dare to jump around like that?]

As a long-time fan, I'll say it here: he dares to do it.

[How cunning! He covered the ghost's head with the blanket; the headmaster probably won't be able to spot anything soon enough.]

[Here's a joke, "Save the Dean"]

[Thanks, I'm dying of laughter]

At first, the audience did sympathize with the dean's plight, and especially when speculating about the truth, quite a few people actually liked the dean.

But after witnessing the death of the dean so many times, even the sympathy became numb.

They are more concerned about whether there will be another celebrity commentator whose live streaming style suits their taste, whether there will be new entertainment to watch, new tricks to learn, and new experiences to collect.

Outside the door, rapid breathing could be heard, no longer muffled. After hiding, Yu Xing looked up and saw that the ghost on the bed seemed to be sitting up because of their uninhibited behavior. The bed shook for a moment, but fortunately, it did not affect the pace of the director of the intensive care unit running in.

About ten seconds later, the half-open door was violently pushed open. The door swung and was about to hit the wall when it was narrowly stopped by a pair of hands. A slightly overweight figure walked in, his back hunched. His shirt and suit pants were tattered and stained with blood.

Yu Xing immediately noticed the person's feet. They were barefoot, and there were sparse pieces of broken glass stuck in the insteps. It was unclear if there were any on the soles of their feet, but with each step, a blood-stained footprint was left on the ground.

The person cautiously slipped in, closed the intensive care unit door, then turned around, leaned against the door, and breathed heavily.

Yu Xing used the Sheqing Dreamscape to poke a hole in the blanket hanging down in front of her, and after thinking for a moment, she poked another hole.

From this angle, Yu Xing could already see the person's appearance clearly.

This was a middle-aged man around forty years old, with wheat-colored skin, single eyelids, and wearing glasses with one lens missing. There were a few drops of blood splattered on the right lens, and the left lens was broken, with only a small piece remaining embedded in the frame.

His left arm seemed to be the most seriously injured, with the wound on his skin and the hole in his shirt exposed to the air. He grimaced in pain, locked the door behind him, and while trying to regain his breathing, he pressed his ear against the door to listen for any sounds outside.

He seemed afraid that something outside would discover his tracks, but in fact... Yu Xing stared at the bloody footprints on the ground.

No matter how quietly you speak, it's probably useless now; we've been leaving marks all along the way!

Zhao Yijiu took two steps back to prevent the hospital director from seeing her legs under the bed through the blanket hanging down from the bed.

Honestly, if the dean were so scared that his legs went weak and he squatted down or sat against the wall, he would definitely have a friendly eye contact with Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu under the bed.

Fortunately, the dean held firm, preventing the two subordinates from having a lasting negative impact on his mind.

Not only did he manage to hold on, but after a while, the hospital director noticed the patient in the bed. He was immediately drawn to the electrocardiogram display screen, where the patient's heartbeat was weak, as if he were on the verge of death.

"No... I'm going to die, you can't die here." The dean murmured, walking towards the hospital bed in a daze.

Zhao Yijiu calmly listened to the dean repeatedly saying "I'm going to die," then walked over with a bloodlust that could easily arouse the ferocity of ghosts. Feeling the bed board vibrating more and more obviously, the Stop Killing she took out flashed with a silent black light.

The hospital director remained true to his original intention of caring for patients. Even in such a critical situation, he did not want to involve innocent patients and hesitated whether to change rooms to hide in, so as not to bring the ghost in and harm others.

But the ghost outside doesn't seem to be chasing us. What if we're discovered when he finally appears?

The dean was conflicted, and his conflicted expression did not escape the notice of Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu.

"They have quite a bit of professional ethics," Yu Xing thought, her expression relaxing slightly.

The hospital director seemed to have finally decided to leave, but before he did, he at least needed to check on the patient's condition, lest he die because no Doctor was there to care for him.

The dean awkwardly pushed up his glasses, which only had a right lens, and walked closer.

He noticed the blanket was trembling and frowned. Which medical worker would cover a patient like this? Wouldn't that suffocate someone?

Without much hesitation, the hospital director walked to the bedside and pulled the blanket over his head.

He instantly met the gaze of a pair of murky, terrifying eyes. The patient's eyes were bloodshot, with a large dark patch beneath them, and the deep wrinkles made them stand out even more.

"You!" The dean was startled and immediately tried to back away, because he not only saw the terrifying eyes, but also the lividity on the old man's body!

"You are dead!" The dean, living up to expectations, loudly rang out this death bell. The next second, his steps to leave were abruptly stopped by a withered hand. That hand was so thin that it was just skin and bones, looking like a skeleton at first glance, except that the dense veins under the skin were still pulsating.

But when it grabbed the dean's arm, it was surprisingly strong, and the dean couldn't break free no matter what he did. He put on the mask of pain, but dared not shout for help, since he had been calling for help in corridor number four for a long time, and no one had come.

The corpse threw back the covers and sat up.

"Please, please... don't come looking for me, okay? I've never hurt you, why do you insist on me dying with you?" The hospital director sobbed softly in despair. The old man on the hospital bed, who had been looking directly in front of him, turned his head slowly when he heard the director's voice.

The ventilator emitted a strained, labored breathing sound, like the patient's final struggle. The old man's face was ashen as he used his idle hand to cover the mask and slowly removed it.

The breathing stopped abruptly, the electrocardiogram machine emitted a long "beep," followed by a long, flat line that seemed to stretch on forever.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. The dean stared blankly at the straight line that symbolized physical death and the end of life.

"Are you cursing me to die?" the old man asked in a hoarse voice, his tone as sharp as scraping glass. "Are you cursing me to die?"

The dean snapped out of his daze, shaking his head in a panic, and said, "No... I didn't... I just wanted to see you."

"You... you still have the nerve to look at me!? You're probably just checking if I'm dead, to see if your burden has disappeared!" the old man growled, his eyes flashing with malicious malice. "Why don't you die with me?"

Yu Xing listened, she felt something was off.

The old man seems to be hinting at something.

Why would someone say they are a burden to the hospital director, and even mention things like "how dare you come to see me?" This doesn't seem like a conversation between a patient and a hospital director; rather, it suggests a closer, more intimate blood relationship.

Beside the bed, the head doctor looked bewildered for a moment, then, as if suddenly realizing something, exclaimed in horror, "You, you're my father!?"

A certain constraint was broken invisibly. Not only did the dean think of something, but Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu, who were also in this space, also had a scene appear before their eyes.

Or rather, an "impression".

A long, long time ago, the hospital director was walking on his way to his father's ward. He seemed quite relaxed when a medical staff member bumped into him in a hurry.

He was about to sternly reprimand the nurse, reminding her not to run in the corridor next time, lest she bump into a patient, when he saw her face reveal a contradictory expression of relief mixed with increased tension.

But no matter how difficult it was to speak, the nurse immediately became firm and said rapidly, "Director! Your father... he's dying! The head doctor and the others are preparing to resuscitate him!"

The dean was struck dumb. He immediately sprinted towards the ward, only to find the elderly man, over sixty years old, being rushed to the emergency room. His colleagues and subordinates were busy and in a state of chaos.

The hospital director finally caught a glimpse of his father at the entrance of the emergency room. His father also saw him, but their eyes met for only a moment before he was obscured by the back of the doctor in the white coat.

He saw tension, resentment, reluctance, despair, and longing in the old man's eyes.

The dean could tell that the father didn't want to die.

Even after three years of being bedridden, facing immobility, painful treatments, constant surgeries to prolong life, and exorbitant medical costs, the elderly man still did not want to die.

He desperately wanted to rush up and grab his father's hand, to tell him that he would wait for him to come out and would never give up on him.

A few days ago, when he went to visit his father after work, the old man started asking him frequently if he felt like a burden he couldn't get rid of, and if he had long wanted to send him to his death.

Both father and son knew perfectly well that if the father hadn't been seriously ill, the hospital director would be living a much better life. He wouldn't be going days without seeing his wife and children, and he wouldn't be struggling financially despite earning a high salary.

Faced with this problem, the old man was terrified. Although he was a burden to everyone, he still didn't want to die. He longed to live, even if this kind of life had no freedom, no mobility... nothing at all.

The dean knew that the father was filled with fear and resentment. He assumed that the father was insecure, so he patiently answered him again and again, saying that he would not abandon him and that he loved him.

Unexpectedly, his father had a premonition that this day would come.

The hospital director sat at the door of the emergency room, his mind a complete blank. It was probably a case of misfortunes never coming singly; bad news had arrived: one of his patients was in critical condition and needed immediate surgery.

Although the hospital director is the head of the hospital, he is also a Doctor who personally sees several patients. Apart from him, it is difficult for others to quickly understand the patient's condition, which could easily lead to problems.

The hospital director was stunned. When he came to his senses, he was already dressed in his surgical gown and standing in the operating room.

This was an extremely demanding surgery; he worked on it for seven hours. When it was all over, the same nurse, pale-faced, told him...

"Your father has died despite all efforts to save him."

"Death confirmed."

The dean remembers that one day, his father was holding his hand.

"If I ever die, you must be by my side in my last moments." The old man lay stiffly on the bed, tears rolling down his face, which was ravaged by illness, from both sides of his face to his temples, past his bald scalp caused by chemotherapy, and finally soaking into the pillow.

"I'm afraid of dying... You have to stay with me... When I see you, maybe... I won't be so afraid."

"You must promise me, watch me breathe my last before you go, don't leave your father alone, okay..." the old man repeated again and again with almost obsessive devotion.

The hospital director had no idea what he went through after leaving the operating room. He only remembered his face contorted in grief as he grabbed the Doctor who had been resuscitating him and asked, "Did my father say anything before he died?"

At first, these Doctor didn't want to talk about it, but in the end, it was one of the Doctor who had the best relationship with the hospital director who confessed to him.

"Your dad keeps asking," the Doctor patted him. "He's asking where you are and why you didn't come."

"He asks you if you're coming soon; he's asking that question as long as he's conscious."

"In the end, he started crying. He said he knew you wouldn't come, wouldn't watch this ugly old man die. He said he knew you didn't want to spend money to treat him anymore. He also said..." Whether it was his imagination or not, the dean looked at this Doctor friend and felt that the expression on the other person's face was more and more like his father's when he was extremely insecure.

"You're hypocritical and unfilial." The Doctor friend gave a strange smile. "He was so afraid of death, yet on his deathbed he started calling your name, begging for your forgiveness. He said he was wrong, that he shouldn't have let you spend so much money, shouldn't have accused you. He was so scared. He wanted you with him until the end, not in a cold emergency room with several strangers wrapped up tightly."

"Then your..." The dean could barely utter a sound.

"We called you, but you were busy," his Doctor friend replied. "So when your father died, he was terrified. You know, as a responsible Doctor, I can even tell you that he didn't die from the loss of bodily functions at the end, but from being scared to death."

"Haha, that's amazing! I've never seen anyone like that before. He was terrified, hahaha."

The Doctor's words gradually faded, just like the surrounding scenery. Suddenly, the hospital director realized that everyone except the Doctor was gone.

"Hoo..." Yu Xing let out a sigh of relief. The story was a bit heavy, making the reader feel heavy-hearted.

Sick elderly people may experience drastic personality changes due to various anxieties and fears. Even if they know they are being selfish, they will still try to grasp at any possibility of living.

Wanting to live is a natural right, an instinct.

The dean, on the other hand, fulfilled his duty as a son and daughter and there was nothing to criticize him for. However, at the very last moment, knowing that his father was about to collapse, the dean chose "duty" over "family affection."

Who is at fault?

The only odd thing about this story is the way the hospital director asked his Doctor friend about his feelings at the end. If what he saw was the director's true memory at that moment, then perhaps that's part of the truth.

The elderly man in the ICU bed was not the same person the hospital director remembered. This was why the director did not recognize him. Or rather, he was not the director's father at all; he was just a reflection of the director's inner fears in the Fear Hospital.

It grabbed the dean's hand, hysterically shouting, "Are you willing to stay with me now?!"