Seventh Ward

Boom!

Terrifying saber intent ravaged the stairwell and slammed into Patient No. 18. It effortlessly shredded the arms he raised to block it, then cleaved him in two at the waist with unstoppable force.

He did not die. Terror and venom mingled on his face as his limbs flailed, unleashing even greater resentment.

Yet the power of that slash had not spent itself. Savage saber intent poured into his body and became a tremendous tearing force, grinding Patient No. 18's soul apart bit by bit.

This madman who had harmed countless people finally began screaming like a lunatic himself.

"Aaargh!!!"

"Patient No. 18 suffered heart-wrenching agony. Ghost Qi +99."

"Patient No. 18 wailed in anguish. Ghost Qi +99."

"Patient No. 18's face contorted. Ghost Qi +99."

Three notifications rang out in succession, followed by one final chime.

"Ding! Patient No. 18 (Half-Step Vengeful Ghost) died. Ghost Qi +99."

To Jiang Chen's surprise, the Half-Step Vengeful Ghost really was extraordinary. Even though a single all-out strike had killed him, he had still generated a large amount of Ghost Qi before dying.

Had Jiang Chen been less hasty and chosen to torture him to death little by little, he might have collected even more Ghost Qi.

But Jiang Chen did not regret it at all. He did not know how strong his opponent was. Having successfully closed the distance, unleashing one full-power strike was certainly the safest option.

If he had gotten cocky and ended up killed instead, that would have been a real joke.

Patient No. 18's face twisted, his expression vicious. Staring fixedly at Jiang Chen, he shouted his final words.

"After I die, you'll contract every illness I have and die the same way I did! Your corpse will be mutilated beyond recognition, and your soul will never find release!!!"

Jiang Chen watched the corpse before him gradually oxidize, rot, and blacken. Suddenly, he frowned and raised a hand to cover his mouth.

"Cough, cough..."

He opened his hand. Bright red blood.

He checked his condition. His heartbeat was growing faster and faster, as though he had developed some kind of heart disease. Two spots in his abdomen began to hurt terribly. His left hand spasmed involuntarily, while his right seemed to have lost all its strength, as though he had developed muscular atrophy...

In an instant, Jiang Chen became critically ill. His body hunched involuntarily, and he could not suppress the urge to cough.

A chill ran through him.

Was this a Half-Step Vengeful Ghost's curse?

It had actually affected him even in his Chaos-Dwelling Demon King Demon Transformation state?

Jiang Chen felt increasingly certain that his earlier decision had been right: kill Patient No. 18 outright with one full-power strike and leave no chance for trouble.

"Cough, cough..." He coughed again, but his expression remained relatively calm. Demonic Power abruptly surged within him, pouring into his limbs and flesh. Wisps of black vapor rose from his body, and Jiang Chen could feel his condition rapidly improving.

Once he confirmed that the curse had been completely expelled, he surveyed the scene before him. The stairwell door had been smashed apart, and a terrifying saber gouge remained in the wall. Out in the corridor, the old man who had been bewitched earlier lay on the floor, his fate unknown.

Jiang Chen went over, confirmed that the old man was still alive, and returned him to his room.

Then he came back, took pictures, and uploaded them to the Underworld App. Shortly afterward, it showed that he had earned 450 points-three times as much as a top-tier vicious ghost!

Dedicated personnel would handle the rest. Jiang Chen was about to leave when he suddenly turned to look at No. 18's corpse again. Only then did he notice something strange. Although the man was thoroughly dead, faint strands of resentment still seeped out from beneath his hospital gown.

"There's something there..."

Something occurred to Jiang Chen. He walked over and pulled open the hospital gown. Sure enough, he found an item.

It was a bloodstained medical record.

Hospital: Seventh Ward

Name: Liang Youquan

Number: 18

Condition: Self-Perception Disorder

Jiang Chen paused when he read the condition field. Based on his observations, Patient No. 18 had suffered from at least a dozen illnesses. Why did the medical record list only one?

He continued reading.

Detailed history: The patient has suffered from severe Self-Perception Disorder since childhood, believing himself to have dozens of different illnesses. Although he was not actually ill, he coughed incessantly. During the most severe episode, he even coughed up his intestines.

His family took him to several hospitals, but his condition never showed significant improvement. Instead, it worsened.

Initially, the patient only believed himself to be ill. Gradually, he began to believe others were ill as well. One day, while his family was not paying attention, the patient decided that his one-year-old sister had a fever and placed her in a freezer to cool her down, killing her. Afterward, the patient was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

However, no doctor could correct this perceptual disorder. Following a serious medical incident, the patient was transferred to our hospital, where his condition underwent favorable development.

Case summary: Is it me who is sick, or all of us?

Jiang Chen could not help drawing a deep breath. Only now did he understand why this ghost could make so many people die from so many different illnesses.

He was not a sickness ghost at all.

His curse imposed his own perceptual disorder on others, making them believe they were ill. Their bodies then actually reacted, developing the corresponding illnesses and dying!

"That so-called medical incident probably wasn't that simple either. Maybe Liang Youquan died during it."

"You can only be transferred to this hospital after death. Just what kind of place is this Seventh Ward?" Jiang Chen murmured, some horrifying possibilities rising in his mind.

He studied the medical record a little longer. One word on it made even his skin crawl.

"Development."

This hospital actually claimed that Patient No. 18's condition had undergone favorable development after he was transferred here!

Was this a psychiatric hospital, or a hospital that created mental illness?

As he kept looking, Jiang Chen's gaze unconsciously drifted upward. His pupils widened slightly, and his expression turned strange.

On the bloodstained medical record, the name following "patient" suddenly blurred. As he watched, it seemed increasingly familiar.

"Patient... Jiang Chen," he murmured, watching helplessly as the medical record became his own.

"What does this mean? Have I become a patient of the Seventh Ward now, just like No. 18 before me?"

Jiang Chen also noticed the bloodstain in the upper-left corner of the medical record slowly disappearing, revealing a number: 30.

He opened his phone and searched for the Seventh Ward in the Underworld App. Sure enough, there were related cases.

After reading them, Jiang Chen learned that the number in the upper-left corner of the medical record represented days. Once it reached zero, the person holding the record would enter the Seventh Ward. The process was deeply bizarre; afterward, they did not even know how they had gotten inside.

Most people who entered the Seventh Ward never came out again. Even those who emerged alive either went insane immediately or mysteriously disappeared a few days later.

However, people had also discovered that the strongest Unusual Persons selected were only C+ rank. This suggested that the mysterious Hospital Ward might not be as dangerous as everyone imagined.

The Netherworld had also issued a related statement. According to reliable assessments, the Seventh Ward contained no entity above the blood-robed level.

At that, Jiang Chen relaxed.

With the Monster Transformation System, he was still confident that he could reach blood-robed-level strength within a month.

After all, in just two or three days, he had gone from an ordinary person to someone capable of holding his own against a Vengeful Ghost.

Besides, a place that obviously teemed with ghosts meant a vast trove of Ghost Qi ripe for the taking. At the thought, Jiang Chen's eyes could not help lighting up.