The Heart of Decay

Shafuri quickly recounted what happened after the three left the meeting room base and went to the second-floor ward area, but stopped after they split up to go their separate ways.

She and the siren only encountered a few common ghosts in other wards, so the rest of the story will have to be told by Yu Xing.

They were also very curious about how Yu Xing had found the reporter's ID that the ghost reporter had played with.

Yu Xing adjusted himself to a comfortable position on the sofa, and after Zhao Mou hissed twice beside him, he organized his thoughts and clearly recounted the story of the fetishistic woman and the reporter trapped in the hospital, adding some of his speculations.

Ren Yi listened and took notes, and soon two words appeared on his draft paper.

First, the little girl who can move freely throughout the hospital and has the authority to make announcements on behalf of the hospital director must be the director's daughter.

Second, this hospital has engaged in unethical and illegal detention of healthy individuals.

He drew a circle on the first line, connecting it to an extra line, and added the following at the other end: the one-legged ghost wearing sunglasses, the knife wound on his daughter's face, the date of her first visit to the Doctor, and the date of his daughter's kidnapping.

Several of the additional clues were extracted from the key information they brought back after their first group meeting. From a message from a Doctor, Ren Yi obtained the exact time when the dean first saw Doctor. Just a week before that, the dean's daughter had multiple injuries, facial disfigurement, and died in the hospital.

In summary, he has analyzed the origin of the dean's inner conflict.

Ren Yi's gaze deepened, and he wrote faster. Five minutes later, he picked up the paper in front of him and handed it to Rubik's Cube, saying softly, "Show them this."

The Rubik's Cube glanced at the scene, then walked over to the sofa where Zhao Mou was, as if it were second nature. Although Shafuri was stronger, due to the division of labor, he tacitly agreed to show Zhao Mou the conclusions that had just been reached.

Zhao Mou took the paper, found the information he wanted among the densely packed conclusions, and called out to Yu Xing twice, "Let's look at it together."

Yu Xing didn't care much. His deduction about entering the Fear Hospital wasn't focused on the plot, so his involvement in that aspect was very low.

But since Zhao Mou, a disabled but determined man, insisted on watching it with him, he went along with Zhao Mou and glanced at it a few times.

Ren Yi wrote it according to a timeline, which ensures that the truth is logically complete and easy to understand. Therefore, the first few lines of the conclusion are about the fire and his wife's death.

A little further down...

"Just as the hospital director had composed himself and was ready to continue living with his daughter, life played another cruel joke on him. His daughter was kidnapped by a mentally ill person in the hospital. This person had previously been hospitalized for suicide attempts by cutting his wrists, and it was clear that Fang family. He was staying in the most luxurious single room, with an assistant bringing him meals every day, and private bodyguards standing outside the room."

"At that time, the patient didn't show any particular signs, but the hospital director's father started feeling unwell and frequently brought his granddaughter to the hospital for treatment. The granddaughter, who was also the director's daughter, became acquainted with the patient by chance. Later, the patient was discharged, and the director saw the patient again in a news report six months later."

"The patient was arrested for attempted child kidnapping. This patient was diagnosed by another medical institution that cooperates with the police with severe antisocial tendencies, accompanied by paranoia, and was a mentally unstable person who could potentially endanger society. The hospital director was initially relieved that nothing had happened when his daughter was with that patient, but shortly afterward, his daughter disappeared."

"The dean received a text message from that mentally ill patient. The patient didn't hide his identity and praised the dean's daughter in the message, saying she was very well-behaved and cried when stabbed with a knife."

As Yu Xing was reading, Ren Yi, clutching his slowly bleeding chest, added verbally, "That madman comes from a powerful and influential family. Because his first attempt to commit a crime failed, he quickly found a way to get out. This time, he targeted the dean's daughter and successfully kidnapped her, killing the little girl and extinguishing the dean's hopes. That's what truly enraged the dean, causing him to develop delusions."

Because of his injury, Ren Yi's voice sounded somewhat weak, but he remained resolute and calm. "From then on, his world no longer included his daughter, but he gained a Doctor friend."

"Hmm..." Yu Xing continued reading the following content, muttering, "So, all the tragedies that happened in the hospital afterward, such as the reporter being trapped, the death of the hospital director father, and similar incidents like delayed treatment and illegal drug production, were all exploited by a side of the director that he imagined while he was in a state of unease."

The document mentioned that the hospital director had indeed treated a patient who needed to be restrained with a straitjacket. The director conducted illegal drug research on that patient's condition, which ultimately failed, and the drugs were then used on the patient. Few people knew about this; even the patient's family thought it was just a normal treatment risk. Only the director himself knew what he and his "Doctor friend" had been doing, and that the person constantly criticizing him was none other than himself.

The nurses and Doctor, ignoring or baffled by the director's unusual behavior, became headless and one-eyed.

The patient who kidnapped the hospital director's daughter was very ostentatious, always wearing formal attire and sunglasses. After the director fell into delusions, for some reason, the patient lost his leg in prison, so his image in the hospital was that of a sunglasses-wearing ghost who could only crawl on his hands. Yu Xing had once seen him from afar on the third floor.

For the hospital director, besides this hospital, the people who left the deepest impression on his soul were his daughter, the arsonist, and the sunglasses-wearing ghost. The clues about these three were also the most important and involved the most.

"It looks quite complete," Zhao Mou commented. "Has it not yet met the requirements for uncovering the truth?"

Ren Yi shook his head.

Yu Xing returned the paper to the Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Cube then handed it to Shafuri, who was lying on her side on the small bed. The Siren stretched her neck, trying to get closer to see the contents, Shafuri slapped the paper directly onto her chest.

Shafuri yawned, lazily closing her eyes to rest. "See? I can't be bothered with all this."

"Is it still missing the clues that Brother Jiu and the others are about to bring back?" Yu Xing also felt that it was about enough. The cause, process and result were all known. If anything was missing, it would only be some easily overlooked details.

Ren Yi wrote the conclusion in such detail precisely so that the system would determine that the truth had been found.

"The system just notified me that the key word for the final part of the truth is 'rotten'."

Ren Yi rubbed his temples. All the system prompts regarding the search for the truth were given to him directly after the system's assessment. Others would not receive prompts, nor would they expend so much effort to make arrangements.

"The clue I had Yu Jing and the others look for was the most uncertain one; there's a high chance they'll return empty-handed," Ren Yi said calmly. "Moreover, that potential clue definitely has nothing to do with decay, so I've overlooked one area. I need to recalculate."

After saying that, he lowered his eyes and began to write and draw again.

Zhao Mou whispered in Yu Xing's ear, "My brother and his accomplices didn't really need to go this time. It's just that Yu Jing's Dark Thief finished their mission too quickly the first two times. After discussing it with Ren Yi, we decided that we had to keep these two outside, so we just made up a place for them to go and buy them some time."

"You suspect that Yu Jing and one of the Dark Thief, Han Yan, are spies planted among us?" Yu Xing was not surprised at all.

"That's right. Before, I just thought these two were more suspicious than Shafuri and the others. Now, I'm basically certain." Zhao Mou glanced at the alluringly sleeping Shafuri without saying a word. "You traveled with them the whole way and weren't attacked by Han Yan even once. And after Yu Jing Dark Thief left the stronghold, Han Yan hasn't been seen here again. The problem most likely lies with Yu Jing and the Dark Thief."

"Our goal is to prevent the mole from having time to pass on messages before everything is settled, ideally without him even knowing it himself."

As for Zhao Yijiu, he was the eyes and ears placed beside Yu Jing, the Dark Thief.

"Hmm..." Yu Xing thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Ren Yi, "If I remember correctly, I should know what the keyword 'rotten' represents."

Ren Yi's pen paused for a moment, and for a brief instant, the color of the characters when the pen touched the paper turned blood red, then faded to black.

His gaze lingered, and he asked softly, "Where?"

Yu Xing glanced at the people in the room. The siren was openly eavesdropping, and although Shafuri still occupied the only small bed in the living room, her closed eyes were now half-open.

The Rubik's Cube remained hidden within Ren Yi's vicinity, offering neither opinion nor expressing curiosity, truly resembling a bookworm who had gone mad from studying.

He considered it for a moment and decided that it wouldn't hurt to tell these people. He had seen the siren's soul before, and it was very pure. As for Shafuri, she came from the dead of night and had no reason to help Han Yan. Moreover, it seemed that Shafuri had indeed not done anything detrimental to everyone after the alliance was formed.

He said, "Have you seen that huge pile of flowers on the second-floor rooftop?"

"Flowers?" Ren Yi realized, "I remember."

He pondered for a moment expressionlessly, then stood up, the wound on his chest looking terrifying. "I understand. In morning and night modes, these flowers bloom normally, but after Dusk Mode, they wither and become quite large. However, I haven't checked them on the platform."

Shafuri asked lazily, "How can you think the rot refers to those flowers?"

Yu Xing: "Those aren't flowers."

To prevent Han Yan from obtaining the files containing patient information, he had previously stuffed the file folder into the center of the giant withered flowers. At the time, he didn't understand what these enormous withered flowers meant.

Even when the flowers wither, they still retain their own unique characteristics. Some flowers have petals covered with teeth, some drip corrosive liquid, some have long thorns growing from their stems, and some vines have become like tentacles, as if they were alive.

The large red flower in the very center is covered with blood vessels, and if you look closely, you can see some strange liquid flowing inside.

He said, "Those should be the heart."

The heart of Fear Hospital.

At that moment, the image of the Shadow Dean suddenly flashed through Yu Xing's mind. Half of the Dean's body was inside the wall and half was outside, but it did not affect its movement at all. After it found an excuse to kill some ghosts, it became even more integrated with the wall, as if it had grown on the wall.

That makes sense, if...

Is the Shadow Dean someone who grows on the wall?

The Dean is the most terrifying monster in Dusk Mode, especially after Truth Mode is activated. The Dean appears before them in a way they've never seen before. Because of Han Yan's Despair Level, the monsters in Fear Hospital also symbolically become stronger, including the Dean.

Just how powerful is the dean? Is it really only as strong as it has shown so far?

Yu Xing suddenly understood. The truth had been revealed, and what was now exposed to the guests was the scene closest to the true nature of the Fear Hospital.

"The real dean... is the hospital itself." Yu Xing suddenly muttered something out of the blue. Zhao Mou, who was closest to him, heard it the most clearly. He was stunned for a moment, and then immediately realized what he meant.

"You mean, the director isn't just the creator of the Fear Hospital's scenario, but... the Fear Hospital itself? The entire hospital is its body, so it can move freely within the walls, and those flowers at the very center of the hospital are the director's heart?"

"That's right. Since we're seeking the truth, I don't think such a large area of the heart, so out of place in a hospital setting, would be overlooked. I looked over the platform; those flowers were clearly dead, but not completely. In the twilight, they all turned into something with monstrous features, which fits the process of decay and rotting." Yu Xing said, and the others agreed.

Aren't hospitals now filled with a bunch of dead, monstrous things that roam freely in what was once a clean and safe place?

As a deducer, I'm most skilled at abstract reading comprehension. But seriously, this place, which was originally beautiful and served human life and health, a sacred and inviolable place in the dean's heart, a place that embodied all the dean's ambitions and talents, was ultimately devastated, occupied by monsters, and became incredibly ugly. Isn't it just like those flowers, that after "dying," they couldn't be reborn, but instead willingly degenerated into what they are now?

This is a reflection of the dean's inner thoughts!

What they were looking for was the cause and process of the dean's inner conflict, but they overlooked the vehicle and symbolism of the conflict.

When everyone in the room finally understood, Ren Yi paused, then his tone revealed a hint of joy. "The hint has arrived. Our next task is to go to the rooftop platform on the second floor and destroy the Rotten Heart in the very center. If we succeed, it means the whole truth will come to light, and the strict rules set by the dean will disappear the moment we destroy the flower."

With the rule gone, the restriction that all twelve people are perpetrators and therefore cannot kill each other no longer applies.

At that time, Han Yan will no longer care about anything and launch a terrorist attack of the level of despair.

But others can also try to turn the tables and kill Han Yan.

Success or failure hinges on this one battle!