Ye Chu checked his phone. It was exactly three in the afternoon. Nearly ten minutes had passed since they stepped out of Room 238, so why hadn't Pei Yanchuan turned human again?
Ye Chu looked at the black wolf staring fixedly at him. Was he... going to stay like this until the game ended?
The black wolf rose, bending his hind legs slightly. Ye Chu remembered that stance. It meant the wolf before him was about to pounce.
Ye Chu hurriedly turned and ran, determined not to let the earlier scene repeat itself.
Sure enough, the black wolf bared his fangs and launched himself at Ye Chu.
The black wolf traced a perfect arc through the air. At the highest point of his leap, white light suddenly shone from his body.
How could Ye Chu describe what he felt at that moment? In a word, he saw hope.
"Awooo!"
Pei Yanchuan crashed to the floor and rubbed his aching head. His white hoodie was already covered in dust; it looked beyond saving.
Seeing Pei Yanchuan back in human form, Ye Chu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
From now on, unless he had absolutely no choice, he would never let Pei Yanchuan turn into a wolf again. Ye Chu silently swore it to himself.
His memories replayed in his mind like a film, and Pei Yanchuan's expression grew increasingly grim. Feeling the already swollen welt on his back, he looked at Ye Chu, both hurt and embarrassed.
"Ye Chu..."
"Pei Yanchuan," Ye Chu called his name. He immediately stood at attention, not daring to move, ready to be scolded.
Ye Chu found his reaction a little funny. "What are you doing?"
Pei Yanchuan lowered his head like a model student admitting his mistake. "The way I treated you just now..."
Remembering what had happened, Ye Chu sighed helplessly. "That wasn't your fault. You weren't aware of what you were doing."
Pei Yanchuan raised his eyes and looked at Ye Chu cautiously. "So you're not angry with me?"
"Do you enjoy seeing me angry that much?"
Pei Yanchuan shook his head frantically. "No, no, no! Not at all!"
Ye Chu walked behind him and gently touched the welts on his back. That lash had been a little too hard; one of the marks had already swollen. "Does it hurt?"
Pei Yanchuan had intended to say no. He had taken his share of knocks growing up, and this little injury was nothing to him.
But somehow, hearing Ye Chu's tone made his lips pout and his eyes droop at once. "It hurts..."
Ye Chu frowned, overcome with guilt, and murmured, "I shouldn't have hit you so hard."
Pei Yanchuan looked into his eyes. Was Ye Chu... feeling bad for me?
"It's all right, Ye Chu. I wasn't aware of what I was doing, remember? You only hit me so we could clear the game."
His words only deepened the guilt in Ye Chu's eyes.
"Come on, I'm really fine." To prove it, Pei Yanchuan even squeezed his shoulder blades together, only to pull at the wound and hiss in pain.
The guilt in Ye Chu's eyes was practically spilling over.
"I'm really fine." Pei Yanchuan stood beside Ye Chu. "Look, I pounced on you, and you whipped me. That makes us even."
Ye Chu lifted his head and looked at the young man beside him, who stood half a head taller. The guilt in his eyes turned to confusion.
In Pei Yanchuan's mind, did pouncing on someone and whipping them count as the same thing?
As though afraid he would sink into guilt again, Pei Yanchuan nodded with particular conviction. "Yep!"
I really am getting old, Ye Chu sighed inwardly. I can't even keep up with how young people think anymore.
Pei Yanchuan tugged at his sleeve. "Ye Chu, weren't we supposed to find some Granny Wang?"
Ye Chu blinked. Only then did he realize something was off about this place. For a hospital, it was... far too quiet.
"Should we get started, or wait for Brother Fengzi?"
Ye Chu looked at the clock at the hospital's reception desk. "Five in the afternoon."
Had time passed that quickly?
Two hours had gone by after just a few words?
"Let's look for clues ourselves first." Ye Chu walked toward the deserted reception desk. "Whatever the situation, taking action is better than sitting around waiting to die."
He had just reached the desk when a female ghost suddenly sprang out from beneath it. She wore a nurse's uniform, and the skin and flesh of her face were a mangled blur, as though someone had viciously slashed it a dozen times with a knife.
Clear tears flowed from one eye, while dark red blood flowed from the other. The corners of her mouth curved upward at an eerie angle. She was still smiling.
"How may I help you?"
The nurse's voice was hoarse and broken. Ye Chu looked at the name badge on her uniform. The writing was blurred beyond recognition; he could barely make out the surname Li.
She didn't seem aggressive. Unlike the monsters outside, she seemed to be nothing more than a rather frightening-looking nurse.
"Miss Li, we'd like to know which room Granny Wang Chunhua is in." Ye Chu rested his elbow on the reception desk, carefully observing the ghost's movements.
Nurse Li stared blankly for several seconds before responding. Slowly, she opened the records in front of her and searched through them, reading each syllable aloud. "Wang... Chun... hua... Oh, here she is. She's in bed two, Room 25. Would you like me to take you there?"
"No, thank you. Sorry for the trouble."
Nurse Li smiled. "No trouble at all, no trouble at all."
Pei Yanchuan followed Ye Chu as they searched for Room 25. "Ye Chu, did you notice something strange about Nurse Li?"
"What?"
"Compared with those monsters outside, she actually seemed like a normal person."
Ye Chu nodded. He thought so too. And those hideous scars on the ghost's face made him feel there was a story behind her.
"Room 25. Here." They stopped outside the door marked 25. Ye Chu placed his hand on the handle. They exchanged a look, nodded, and pushed the door open.
Four beds stood in the spotless white room. Only bed two was occupied, by a kindly old woman. Once she saw who had come in, she cheerfully beckoned them over. "Star, you're here! Come sit down."
Ye Chu sat beside Granny Wang's bed. Seeing this, Pei Yanchuan fetched a stool and sat down too.
"Star?" Pei Yanchuan looked at Ye Chu with interest.
Ye Chu lowered his head with a smile. "It's my childhood nickname."
"Star, who's this?" Granny Wang looked at Pei Yanchuan, then back at Ye Chu.
"Pei Yanchuan. You can just call me Little Pei, Granny." Before Ye Chu could speak, Pei Yanchuan introduced himself.
"Oh, oh, Little Pei."
Granny Wang smiled cheerfully and took two oranges from the bedside drawer. "Here, have an orange. I don't have anything else, just a few oranges."
Ye Chu accepted them with both hands. He was about to pass one to Pei Yanchuan when he noticed that the oranges were already half rotten. Their grayish-white peels had attracted plenty of tiny bugs and gave off a strange smell.
Granny Wang seemed not to notice anything wrong. "Go ahead, eat. I have more if those aren't enough. Your parents brought them when they visited me last year. It's been over a year now since anyone came to see this old woman."
As she spoke, Granny Wang looked out the window. The light in her eyes was dim, like the setting sun.
Ye Chu had a rough idea of Granny Wang's situation now. "What about your children? Don't they come to visit you?"
At the mention of her son and daughter, a faint spark appeared in Granny Wang's cloudy eyes, only to fade again. "Them? They're busy..."
A faint smile curled her lips as she spoke. To Ye Chu, it looked terribly forced. "It's good to be busy. Good to be busy..."
Ye Chu tightened his grip on the rotten oranges. Their juice clung to his hands, and the smell was far from pleasant.
Were they really that busy? Too busy to visit their own mother for over a year?
"Star," Granny Wang looked at Ye Chu again, her eyes kind. "I don't think I have much longer to live."
The older generation usually avoided saying such things, and Ye Chu was briefly taken aback.
"You..." Granny Wang spoke slowly, as though recounting her busy yet unremarkable life. The setting sun spilled across her face, and she gave him a gentle smile. "Help me fulfill one last wish."
Before you continue