Medicine

The main entrance to the hospital building was open.

One of the two glass doors was broken, and the other was stuck at an angle in the door frame. A broken IV tube was wrapped around the door handle, with the end hanging down and swaying gently in the wind.

Lu Heng squeezed through the gap by turning sideways.

The lobby was dark. The curtains were half-drawn, letting in only enough light to illuminate a three or four-step area beneath one's feet. Beyond that, it was all darkness. The reception desk was askew, with registration slips scattered all over the floor, swollen and damp from the moisture, feeling soft and spongy underfoot.

Lu Heng walked forward at a slow pace, his ears constantly perked up.

The corridor was long, lined with wards on both sides. The doors were ajar, and the gaps were pitch black, making it impossible to see anything. There were water stains on the floor, as well as dried, blackened marks, it was hard to tell what they were. The air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant and decay.

Suddenly, Song Yunzhong reached out and pressed down on Lu Heng's back.

Lu Heng stopped.

Song Yunzhong didn't speak, his gaze sweeping around the corridor before he lowered his voice. "Don't walk in the middle."

Lu Heng turned his head to look at him.

Song Yunzhong squatted down and pointed at the ground with his finger.

"Look at this."

He pointed to several messy drag marks and scattered debris on the ground.

"People have walked by, in more than one direction. But no one has moved the things on the ground—this indicates that the people who walked by weren't walking normally, but were either being dragged or running very fast."

He stood up, his gaze falling on the ward doors on both sides of the corridor.

"Look through the door crack," he said. "If there's something inside, the light will be blocked, and there will be a shadow under the crack. No shadow doesn't necessarily mean it's safe, but if there's a shadow, there's definitely something there."

Lu Heng glanced down at the nearest doors.

The area under the door was completely dark; you couldn't see anything.

Song Yunzhong continued, "And corners. Corners in the corridor are the easiest places to hide things. When you walk, don't just look ahead; scan both sides with your peripheral vision. Don't stop in open areas; walk close to the walls."

He paused for a moment, then looked at Lu Heng.

"I can teach you my experience, but on-site, your judgment is entirely up to you. No one can do it for you."

Lu Heng nodded, without refuting.

He adjusted his position, moving from the middle of the corridor to the right wall, his back against the wall, and pushed forward step by step with light footsteps.

Song Yunzhong walked behind him on the left, keeping a diagonal position opposite him, his gaze constantly sweeping across the cracks in the doors of the wards on both sides and the corner at the end of the corridor.

The two people walked one after the other, close to the wall, through the entire corridor.

The pharmacy is at the far end of the first floor.

The double glass doors were locked from the inside with chains, and faded seals were still affixed to the door frames. Looking through the glass, rows of shelves stood, densely packed with medicine boxes and bottled preparations, most of which were still neatly stacked on the shelves.

Lu Heng looked around; the main entrance was blocked.

There is a floor-to-ceiling window on the side of the pharmacy. The glass is still there, but the window frame is deformed and there is a crack between it and the wall.

He drew his Rat King Miao Dao, took two steps back, and cleaved the French windows in the middle.

Glass shattered on the floor, the sound echoing through the empty corridor, bouncing back and forth several times before dissipating.

Song Yunzhong frowned, but said nothing.

The two people climbed in through the window.

The air inside the pharmacy was more stuffy than in the corridor, and the smell of medicine was stronger. Lu Heng walked to the nearest shelf, picked up a box at random, glanced at the label—cefixime, the production date wasn't too long past its expiration date.

He flipped through a few more rows.

Amoxicillin, ibuprofen, metronidazole, hemostatic gauze, iodine solution, saline solution, suture kits... The items on the shelves were almost untouched, a completely different world from the street pharmacies outside that had been ransacked.

Lu Heng paused for a moment.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the surging energy.

They made a fortune.

He didn't understand pharmacology, but the medicine box had instructions on it, clearly stating the indications, usage, and dosage, which was sufficient.

"Package by category," Lu Heng said. "Anti-inflammatory drugs are put together, hemostatic drugs are put together, and pain relievers are packed separately."

Without saying a word, Song Yunzhong opened his backpack and began stuffing things inside.

Lu Heng walked to the shelf, placed his palm on the row of medicine boxes, and with a thought, the entire row of medicines on the shelf disappeared into thin air.

Song Yunzhong paused for a moment, glanced back at him, but didn't ask.

Lu Heng didn't explain, and continued pushing forward. One row, two rows, three rows—the medicines seemed to be swept into thin air by an invisible hand, and the shelves emptied layer by layer.

Song Yunzhong followed behind with a bag on his back, stuffing the loose medicines that Lu Heng hadn't had time to put into the bag.

The two of them worked quickly, one collecting and the other packing.

Lu Heng's backpack quickly became bulging. He then tore off a piece of curtain from behind the pharmacy counter, wrapped the remaining loose medicines into a bag, and put it directly into his Wristband Space.

The sounds of breaking windows, shattering glass, and the clanging of medicine bottles and jars echoed in the quiet pharmacy for a while before slowly settling down and seeping into the depths of the corridor.

Deep inside the pharmacy, there is a half-open door, behind which lies a passageway leading to the inpatient department and stairwell.

The passageway was dark.

A figure stood behind the door.

It didn't move.

It heard a sound.

The sound of a broken window came first, followed by the sound of someone climbing down the window, and then the sound of the shelves rattling as medicines were being taken down. These sounds piled up one after another, coming from the direction of the pharmacy into the corridor and reaching its ears.

Its head tilted slightly.

Then it started moving.

Its footsteps were very light, landing on the balls of its feet first, then its heels, making almost no sound. Its body pressed against the wall, rounding the corner of the passageway, and along the edge of the corridor, it approached the pharmacy.

In the pharmacy, Lu Heng stored the last batch of medicines into his spatial storage and turned around.

"Withdraw," he said.

Song Yunzhong had already slung his bag over his shoulder and turned to walk towards the window.

Lu Heng followed behind him, but after taking a step, he suddenly stopped.

He heard it.

It's very light.

Footsteps were coming from behind the half-open door deep inside the pharmacy. They weren't the rhythm of normal walking; they were deliberately lowered, with each step a pause. Interspersed among them were the faint sounds of clothing brushing against the wall, very subtle, but continuous.

Lu Heng's body tensed instantly.

He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and gestured for Song Yunzhong to stop.

Song Yunzhong immediately stopped.

He didn't hear any footsteps.

But he sensed it.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. That feeling had been there since earlier, like a needle pricking the back of my head—it didn't hurt, but I couldn't shake it off. I'd had this feeling three times in the military—twice during border patrols and once during a search operation in the mountains.

Three times, and something happened each time.

Song Yunzhong suppressed his breathing to a minimum, his fingers slowly gripping the hilt of the knife at his waist, his entire body pressed against the wall, completely still.

Lu Heng turned around and glanced at him.

Song Yunzhong's expression was completely different from before. He was working hard when he was moving the medicine, but now he seemed to have changed completely—his shoulders were slumped, his center of gravity was lowered, and his gaze was fixed on the half-open door deep inside the pharmacy.

He didn't hear a sound.

He sensed it through something else.

Lu Heng didn't have time to think it through.

What's behind that door is still getting closer.

The footsteps stopped.

It's right behind the door.

The two of them held their breath and remained motionless.

The pharmacy was so quiet that only the ticking of the wall clock could be heard.

The door was slowly pushed open a little.