"What wish?" Ye Chu looked earnestly at Granny Wang. The old woman was just about to speak when a knock came at the door.
"Granny Wang, it's time to change your medication." A sweet-looking young nurse poked her head in. Ye Chu thought she looked familiar and glanced down at the name tag on her uniform. It read "Li Jiayi."
"You're here, Li." Granny Wang smiled kindly.
Li Jiayi smiled sweetly too. When she saw Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan, she greeted them warmly. "Hello there."
"Hello." The two quickly stood up to make room for the nurse.
"Are you Granny Wang's family?" Li Jiayi deftly picked up the IV needle and lined it up with a vein in Granny Wang's hand, a hint of reproach unconsciously creeping into her voice.
Granny Wang shook her head. "No, these two boys saw how lonely this old woman was and came especially to visit me."
Only after hearing that did a smile return to Li Jiayi's face. "Oh, I see."
She straightened the slippers beside Granny Wang's bed, then tidied the little odds and ends on the table before turning to say goodbye. "Granny, I'll go tend to the other patients now. Just call me if you need anything."
"All right." Granny Wang smiled. "Off you go, off you go."
Only after Li Jiayi left the ward did Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan sit back down beside the bed.
"Granny, what was the wish you wanted to tell us about?"
As they returned to their earlier topic, Wang Chunhua's smile slowly faded. She looked pleadingly at the two young men before her. "Please, after I die, take me home."
Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan exchanged glances, both looking confused. "What?"
"I want to go back to my own home."
Granny Wang continued speaking, but her body grew increasingly indistinct, almost transparent. "Star, Xiao Pei, help this old woman fulfill her last wish."
Looking at the white light before him, Ye Chu instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes. When the light faded and he lowered his hand, Granny Wang was no longer in the bed.
Ye Chu came back to his senses and looked at Pei Yanchuan beside him. His eyes had cleared as well.
It was already dark outside. The clock by the bed showed seven in the evening.
Pei Yanchuan pressed his lips together. "What did she mean by going back to her own home, rather than that home?"
The clues were vague, and Ye Chu couldn't be sure. He simply shook his head. "Let's look for other clues first."
"Split up? I'll check the front desk."
"Okay."
Ye Chu rummaged through the bedside cabinet and found several photographs. They were black and white, with two people in them.
One was a younger Wang Chunhua, looking sad. The other person's face had been viciously scratched over several times with a pen, but judging by the figure, it was a man.
Was this Granny Wang's husband?
The other photographs were also black and white, but the person in them was a little girl wearing a floral dress and two braids. She held a certificate and a trophy, making it clear what an outstanding little girl she was.
Ye Chu brought the photographs closer and could just make out the name on the certificate-Wang Chunhua.
This was Granny Wang as a child.
Ye Chu continued searching the cabinet and found a basic phone for seniors. There was very little information on it.
He opened the text messages and found two:
"Mom, we've paid the hospital fees. We're busy here, so we won't be visiting you this year."
"Mom, take care of yourself. I'm busy with work and don't have time to visit."
It seemed these were messages from Granny Wang's children.
Ye Chu stood up, intending to search the cabinet on the other side for clues. Hearing footsteps at the door, he instinctively assumed Pei Yanchuan had returned from his search. "Xiao Pei?"
Instead, a man with medium-length hair poked his head in. "Ye Chu?"
"Su Fengzi?"
Su Fengzi walked into the ward and surveyed his surroundings. Catching the smell of rotten oranges, he couldn't help wrinkling his nose. "Why were you calling for Xiao Pei just now? Have you managed to get in touch with him?"
Ye Chu nodded and told him how, inside the illusion, he had mistaken 235 for 238. He also brought him up to speed on their progress.
"Oh~ No wonder you didn't come looking for me that day. You went looking for that little wolf cub instead."
Ye Chu: ...
That was what happened, but why did it sound so strange coming from you?
"How are things going on your end?"
Su Fengzi stretched his shoulders, loosening his aching limbs. "I was livestreaming that day when a new viewer suddenly showed up. He told me there were supernatural incidents happening at the hospital on Peace Street and said I should come take a look if I was interested."
"Supernatural incidents?"
Su Fengzi shrugged. "Who knows what he meant by supernatural? Anyway, why isn't Xiao Pei with you?"
Ye Chu froze slightly at that. "Didn't you just come in through the hospital's front entrance?"
Su Fengzi nodded. "Yeah. Almost the entire first floor was deserted. There was only a Nurse Li at the front desk, with several cuts across her face."
Ye Chu frowned. "That's not right. Xiao Pei told me he was going to the front desk to look for clues."
Su Fengzi's eyes widened slightly as well. "Could something have happened to him?"
He was already striding toward the ward door as he spoke. Just before he reached it, they heard a teenage boy's voice. "Oh? Su Fengzi, you're here too."
Pei Yanchuan walked into the room and greeted Ye Chu as well. "Ye Chu, I just went to the front desk to look for clues, but I didn't find anything useful."
Su Fengzi looked at him. "Why didn't I see you just now?"
"Just now?" Pei Yanchuan thought back. "I went upstairs to the second floor to use the bathroom. We must have just missed each other."
That explanation sounded reasonable. Su Fengzi nodded, accepting his words for the time being.
Ye Chu quietly moved behind him, grabbed the hem of Su Fengzi's shirt, and tugged him backward.
"Run!"
The two turned together and raced downstairs.
This wasn't Pei Yanchuan. Pei Yanchuan had never called them by their full names. He always called them "Brother Fengzi" and "Brother Ye Chu." Without realizing it, they had entered an illusion again.
If either of them had looked back as they ran, he would have seen that [Pei Yanchuan] was staring fixedly at their backs, his gaze icy and sinister.
"Pei Yanchuan!" Ye Chu ran downstairs and shouted into the empty lobby. "Pei Yanchuan!"
Where had Pei Yanchuan gone?
A head suddenly popped up behind the front desk. It was Nurse Li, still wearing that eerie smile. "Hello, how may I help you?"
Ye Chu ran over. "Hello, have you seen an eighteen-year-old boy?"
The moment he finished speaking, another head popped up behind the front desk. "Brother Ye Chu, are you looking for me?"
The instant Ye Chu saw him, he couldn't stop himself from punching him in the shoulder. "I called you several times just now! Why didn't you answer?!"
Pei Yanchuan rubbed his aching shoulder. "I got so absorbed in looking for clues that I didn't hear you." Then he spotted Su Fengzi beside Ye Chu. "Oh, Brother Fengzi, you're here too."
Seeing the serious expressions on both their faces, Pei Yanchuan stopped smiling. "What's with you two... Did something happen?"
Su Fengzi glanced at Ye Chu, then at Pei Yanchuan, and sighed.
"Ye Chu and I both entered an illusion just now. There was a monster pretending to be you. Luckily, Ye Chu spotted the paradox in time..."
"Even our teammates could be illusions?!" Pei Yanchuan's eyes widened. This game was such a scam.
Before you continue