Not only that, but panicked footsteps could be heard.
Realizing something, Yu Yu's expression suddenly changed.
She hurried to the doorway, but there was no one outside.
"Crunch—" Her foot seemed to have stepped on something. Looking down, the familiar name on the object made her face grow even more grim.
Yu Chi's voice suddenly sounded behind her.
"So that's her name?"
For some unknown reason, Yu Yu instinctively hid the ID badge and turned to look at the ghostly boy behind her.
Yu Yu remained silent while Yu Chi continued: "And she's that nurse who suddenly came last night, right? I sensed her presence."
Not wanting to discuss this, Yu Yu deftly changed the subject: "She's unimportant. What did you mean earlier about the director?"
Yu Chi tilted his head expressionlessly. After several seconds of silence, his pale, sickly face suddenly showed profound sorrow: "Sis... Do you know why I can't reincarnate? Actually, ever since I died, my soul has been trapped here."
"Every time I see you, I want to talk to you, but I can't do anything."
Yu Yu's expression softened, her eyes reddening. Her younger brother had been admitted to this psychiatric hospital long ago and never left until his death. She had thought reincarnation would give him a healthy body.
Had he... been trapped here all along?
Her lips trembling, she whispered: "Xiao Chi, why didn't you reincarnate?"
Hearing this, Yu Chi looked away dejectedly: "Sis, this is what I wanted to tell you. There's an evil spirit on this fourth floor. All us minor ghosts get bullied by him after death. He prevents us from reincarnating, sometimes even devouring our kind to strengthen himself."
"What?!" Yu Yu had never known her brother suffered such torment after death. Fury filled her eyes. "How could this happen!"
Just as Yu Yu burned with righteous indignation, Yu Chi before her slightly raised his eyelids. Gone was the pitiable weakness from his eyes, replaced by careless disdain. The corners of his lips curled up slightly, carrying a trace of cold mockery.
But when the woman looked back, his lips pressed down again, his eyes pitifully drooping as he spoke in a weak, breathless tremble.
"Sister... You don't know this, but some patients' worsening conditions aren't accidental. It's all illusions created by that evil spirit. He can't leave this fourth floor, so he's trying to lure patients up here."
Blinded by rage, Yu Yu failed to notice the holes in the boy's story.
That night's scene of numerous patients kneeling in worship already proved Yu Chi's power was far from simple.
"What do you want me to do? How can I help you?"
Finally getting the desired response, Yu Chi's sickly face showed a somewhat genuine smile.
His gaze fell on the ID badge in Yu Yu's hand as he narrowed his eyes: "Sis, do you know why I'm so curious about that nurse?"
Yu Yu followed his gaze downward, instantly tightening her grip on the object.
At this, Yu Chi's lips split into an eerie curve: "Because... she carries that evil spirit's aura."
That aggressive, possessive aura—he had sensed it immediately last night.
That woman's relationship with the evil spirit was absolutely not ordinary.
Watching Yu Yu's stunned expression, Yu Chi gently bent forward, his eerie smile now completely unconcealed. His exhaled breath carried a bone-chilling cold, like a snake's tongue.
"Not only that, sis—that evil spirit looks exactly like Bo Jingmo."
Hearing this, Yu Yu stood frozen in place.
Identical... to their hospital director??
How was that possible?
As one of tonight's duty nurses, Dai Liu propped her chin in her hand and heaved her sixty-fifth sigh.
With Yu Li suddenly taking leave, she had no one to chat with. She'd wanted to ask about last night's incident in detail.
Yu Yu definitely wouldn't tell her—she'd probably just get scolded.
Thinking this, Dai Liu released her sixty-sixth sigh.
Speaking of which... Yu Yu seemed unusually quiet tonight.
Glancing at the woman sitting nearby, Dai Liu adjusted her face mask and cleared her throat. "Yu Yu?"
Getting no response, she raised her voice: "Yu—Yu?"
"...What?" Yu Yu finally heard and replied distractedly.
Dai Liu dragged her chair closer. "Nothing, you just seem absent-minded. Didn't rest well this afternoon? I heard the director gave you time off—why'd you come in tonight?"
Yu Yu didn't answer, just picked at her cuticles, clearly lost in thought.
"Nothing to do... home would be boring anyway."
Seriously? Did the director brainwash you?
Her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a familiar ID badge on Yu Yu's desk. "Yu Yu, isn't that Yu Li's badge? She asked me today if I'd seen it—why do you have it?"
Yu Yu's fingers paused, her gaze suddenly evasive: "...Found it on the floor."
In truth, Yu Chi's words from earlier kept echoing in her mind:
—'That evil spirit has deep connections with the director. Sis, could you check the fifth floor? The director must know about the spirit—maybe even how to destroy it.'
—'Also, bring that nurse to me. She's definitely not ordinary—she's connected to that evil spirit.'
—'Sis, please help me. I've been trapped here so many years—I just want to leave. Help me, okay?'
—'That evil spirit's power is greatly weakened now—I can feel it. That's why I came to you now. If we don't act, I'll never get another chance. This hospital will completely become that evil spirit's domain. Then not just patients—even you nurses will be affected.'
Pleasure after pleasure left Yu Yu no time to discern their truth.
She didn't know whether Yu Chi spoke truthfully, yet everything he said matched reality perfectly.
Moreover, Yu Li had indeed lied to her. That night, she had clearly seen the ghost yet claimed otherwise.
Had she taken leave because she saw Yu Yu with Yu Chi?
What exactly was Yu Li's relationship with the evil spirit Yu Chi mentioned?
Yu Yu's mind felt tangled like a chaotic ball of yarn—countless thoughts colliding wildly.
But suddenly, Dai Liu's delighted voice rang in her ears:
"Yu Li!! You're here!!"