Killing You Takes Just One Second

The night was black as ink.

A shadowy figure slipped into the sanatorium.

"Where are the electrical room and the breaker?"

Li Guolong glanced around warily, afraid he might wake the monsters here.

Even though he was walking on tiptoe and taking every precaution, Chen Feng still sprang from the next corner and tackled him to the floor.

Finally.

Pretending not to know him, Chen Feng growled, "Die, monster!"

Li Guolong froze, then hurriedly raised his hands. "Don't attack, man! I'm alive!"

"You expect me to believe that?"

"See that internet addiction school over there? I'm a student those monsters dragged here. Besides, have you ever seen an Imposter speak this fluently?"

"Fair point."

"And you are?"

Chen Feng made a show of frowning before saying deliberately, "I'm Chen Feng. Do you know Captain Li from the city police? He sent me here as an informant to investigate the hospital."

According to Chen Feng's plan, Li Guolong would now say he was Captain Li's son. That connection would help them trust each other, and then Chen Feng could get the key from him.

But to his surprise, Li Guolong asked without giving anything away, "You say you work for Captain Li. Got any proof?"

Well, look at that. He's cautious.

Captain Li's son, all right. He's got some of his father's brains.

Chen Feng rattled off the details. "You don't believe me? Captain Li's badge number is 823235. He has a female apprentice named Zhang Ruobing, and her parents were police officers too. Oh, and Captain Li has a windproof lighter he treasures. He hardly ever lets anyone else use it."

"What's written on the lighter's lid?"

"'To Father.'"

"You really do work for my dad!"

Convinced at last, Li Guolong hurriedly said, "Brother Feng, I'm Guolong! Captain Li's son!"

Thank goodness. If he'd asked me Captain Li's actual name, I'd have been caught.

Chen Feng breathed a sigh of relief, then turned the tables. "You claim you're Captain Li's son? Liar! Captain Li doesn't have any children!"

"It's true. Everyone brought here has their..." Li Guolong told Chen Feng about their experiences being erased. "Think about it, Brother Feng. How could my dad be that old and not have any kids? And if he didn't, who gave him that lighter?"

"You've got a point!"

Once they trusted each other, the rest was easy.

"The Sheep-Face Key? I've got it."

"Guolong, I need you to do something else for me."

After getting the key, Chen Feng explained why he had come.

If all he wanted was the Sheep-Face Key, he could have taken it by force. There was no need to go to all this trouble, risking the exposure of his identity as a transmigrator to win Li Guolong's trust.

He had done it so Li Guolong would lure the Rabbit Nurse out of the Nurses' Station, giving him a chance to steal the other key.

He couldn't ask anyone else to do it.

After all, every patient in the wards was listed in the Logbook. If the Rabbit Nurse spotted them, they would die.

Chen Feng said gravely, "Guolong, you're not in the Logbook, so the Rabbit Nurse can't kill you instantly. But if she keeps her eyes on you for a full minute, you could still die. Are you willing?"

Li Guolong didn't hesitate. "I am."

"That's the spirit!"

Chen Feng had known Old Li's son wouldn't be a coward.

And so, in the recreation hall...

The Rabbit Nurse had been sleeping soundly at the Nurses' Station when a kettle came sailing through the air and smashed the station she took such pride in.

Li Guolong expected her to rage or scream.

She did neither. "Orderly, go see what happened," the Rabbit Nurse called calmly.

She had seen plenty of lunatics at the Mental Hospital. A disturbance like this was nothing to her.

But the White Coats she expected did not appear. The Rabbit Nurse raised her voice.

"Hurry up!"

Still no answer.

You can scream yourself hoarse. No one's coming.

Chen Feng chuckled outside the hall. He had already dealt with those Imposters.

Footsteps sounded from inside the hall. That crisp tread could only come from the Rabbit Nurse's rubber shoes.

It's up to you now.

Chen Feng gave him a thumbs-up. Li Guolong understood and ran toward the doors.

Quick! I have to be quick!

Once the Rabbit Nurse was gone, Chen Feng slipped into the Nurses' Station and rummaged around. Sure enough, he found the other key.

Got it!

Chen Feng raced to the basement, inserted both keys, and opened the door to the isolation room with a click.

"You found the keys? Wait, I haven't put on my blindfold!"

"My eyes are closed!"

Chen Feng walked through the door with his eyes shut and silently signed in.

[Ding! Congratulations, user. You have successfully signed in at the Fourth Mental Hospital. Reward: 4 system points.]

As the mechanical voice faded, Chen Feng felt a sudden cool touch. A soft, warm body pressed against him: She Qingqing had thrown her arms around him.

He could feel both her joy and fear in the way she trembled. "I told you I'd get you out," he said gently. "I always keep my word."

It was a pretty cool line, or so Chen Feng thought. But She Qingqing sounded puzzled. "Did you say that?"

Huh? Didn't I?

Chen Feng rubbed his head awkwardly, then realized what had happened.

Damn it. I said that in my last life. All this Sandevistan practice has scrambled my memories.

A little while later.

The squeak of rubber shoes echoed down the sanatorium corridor.

Li Guolong had his eyes shut as the Nurse dragged him back like a dead dog.

He hadn't died or turned into an Imposter. When the Nurse caught up to him, he had rolled around on the lawn outside the sanatorium, pretending to be mentally ill. That had triggered the sanatorium's rules and saved his life.

Chen Feng had taught him that trick, and it had worked.

But the other instruction made no sense to him.

"Why did Brother Feng tell me to keep my eyes closed after I got caught?"

Before Li Guolong could figure it out, he heard the Nurse ask, "Who are you?"

Two figures stood in front of her.

With uninvited visitors appearing one after another and the orderlies vanishing, the Nurse was on high alert. She let go of Li Guolong and took out her notebook.

Then one of the figures reached for a switch.

The corridor lights came on.

The moment the Nurse saw the person's face, her confident smile froze.

"You!"

A startled grunt escaped the Rabbit Nurse's throat. She raised a hand to block their gaze, but her arm had gone stiff, as heavy as if stones were tied to it!

Her skin was turning gray-white. The Rabbit Nurse had to focus her strength on resisting the petrification, and she could no longer maintain her translucent glass barrier.

The instant the barrier vanished, the masked figure in a patient's gown beside She Qingqing disappeared—then suddenly appeared right in front of the Rabbit Nurse.

So fast! When did he get here?

The thought had barely flashed through the Rabbit Nurse's mind when pain tore through her head. With a bang, it burst on the spot like an overinflated balloon!