Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 584 Cursed Dream
"A strange story?"

"It shouldn't be."

Qilin and the others found Xiao Ran's conclusion unbelievable; the building had undergone some special modifications during its construction.

Although they are inside the hospital and enjoy its protection, they are not actually within the scope of the hospital's rules.

Logically speaking, strange tales from hospitals shouldn't exist here.

Moreover, even if strange tales do occur, why are the others unharmed, while only these few people who tried the No. 3 potion encountered problems?

These explanations didn't make sense, leaving Qilin and the others bewildered.

However, Jin Chanzi has already given a diagnosis: they all have mental problems, which further confirms that they are likely influenced by the ghost stories.

Now Qilin didn't know what to do either.

They summoned Li Xuyin and ordered him to stay here and keep watch for the next few days.

As for the rest, Qilin could only inform Ghost Master as soon as possible.

After leaving the observation building, Jin Chanzi looked at Xiao Ran and said, "You're in trouble."

"Ok!"

Xiao Ran nodded without any surprise, and looked up at the distant woods. Even though it was far away, Xiao Ran could see a blurry shadow staring at her fiercely.

It seems that because he had said something out of turn, this thing had set its sights on him.

"What is that thing?"

"How would I know."

"Aren't you the Jade Emperor? Can't you even tell?" Xiao Ran looked at Jin Chanzi with disdain.

But Jin Chanzi spread his hands and said, "You misheard me. I said that in my previous life I was the Jade Emperor, and now I am just a mortal."

"Heh, then tell me, what color underwear does Chang'e usually wear?"

Jin Chanzi: "Aren't you polite??"

"Alright then, what is the relationship between Laozi and Red Boy?"

"Anyway, it has nothing to do with the Bull Demon King."

The two chatted idly, their conversation becoming increasingly frivolous, completely oblivious to the shadow in the corner, which only made the shadow's gaze grow colder.

Back in the duty room, Jin Chanzi hadn't even sat down when several nurses pulled him away to see the patients.

Jin Chanzi was also very helpless about this, as he was a hot commodity in the eyes of the nurses at the hospital.

Some of the bolder nurses were practically pressed against the golden toad.

"Pah, even if you were the Jade Emperor, I think you'd still be a lecherous old man."

As Xiao Ran watched Jin Chanzi leave the office with two women on his left and right, she couldn't help but spit coldly.

Outside the duty room, Li Xuyin, who had returned, scrutinized Xiao Ran for a moment.

He then carefully took the notebook out of his pocket, took a deep breath, and strode into the duty room.

"Dr. Wu, I may not be able to work for the next few days. You may have to work a little harder. This is my duty log. You can use it as a reference. It contains my experiences and insights from my duty here."

Li Xuyin finished speaking in one breath and handed the notebook in his hand to Xiao Ran.

He will be in the observation building for the next few days, so the duty shifts will have to be done by Xiao Ran or Jin Chanzi.

"It's fine during the day, but at night... well, as long as you pay attention to the above issues, there shouldn't be any accidents. If you find something is wrong, just hide in the rest room immediately."

Li Xuyin seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Before Xiao Ran could speak, he immediately reminded her of the precautions for her night shift.

For example, the young man in bed number 19 makes strange noises at night, but there shouldn't be any problems. However, the woman in bed number 25 tends to wander around at night, so Xiao Ran needs to keep an eye on her.

Also, avoid using the toilets in the hallways; try to use the toilets in the break room instead.

The night shift only requires two patrols, once at 10 p.m. and once at 4 a.m.

At other times, stay in the break room to watch the surveillance footage and do not leave the duty room unless there are special circumstances.

After saying that, he took out another key, which was the key to the lounge.

Li Xuyin spoke quickly, but his expression was extremely serious, as if he was afraid that Xiao Ran wouldn't listen carefully.

"okay!"

Xiao Ran looked up at Li Xuyin, then reached out and took Li Xuyin's notebook and keys.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

After saying this, Li Xuyin turned to leave.

"Wait a minute." Xiao Ran called out to Li Xuyin, asking, "Dr. Li, how long have you been here?"

"how long?"

Li Xuyin raised his head and thought for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't know either, it seems like it's been a long time."

"Having stayed in such a dangerous place for so long, it seems Dr. Li is quite well-connected here."

Xiao Ran said with a smile, her eyes narrowed.

Li Xuyin was taken aback, then lowered his head, avoiding Xiao Ran's gaze, and said, "Well... as long as we don't go to the intensive care unit, it's actually quite safe here."

"Oh, I see. Thank you, Dr. Li. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."

Li Xu nodded silently, then turned and walked out of the duty room.

After Li Xuyin left, Xiao Ran opened her white coat and looked at the red light slowly fading from the black swan brooch on her chest.

This caused Xiao Ran's gaze to suddenly turn cold as she looked at the notebook and keys in her hands. A fluorescent light flickered in her eyes, and with the help of her retrospective power, she could see a trickle of dark yellow liquid slowly seeping from the notebook.

“A dog can’t change its habit of eating shit.”

From the moment Li Xuyin handed her the notebook, Xiao Ran sensed that the way he was looking at her was strange.

Especially when he spoke, the feeling of trying to cover it up was all too obvious.

That's why I called him over and activated the Black Swan Brooch to test him.

Xiao Ran didn't think this venomous snake, who had once tried to poison a family of three just because of a noise downstairs, was a kind person.

"Why is this guy hostile towards me?"

Xiao Ran lowered her eyes slightly. Since arriving here, she had not had any interaction with this person, and there was no conflict of interest between them.

"Excluding all impossible possibilities, then..."

Strange tales circulate in the observation building; a blurry black shadow appears; Li Xuyin attacks himself.

These questions formed a clue before Xiao Ran's eyes, and the answer was about to be revealed.

Actually, determining the answer is very simple; all you need to do is snap Li Xuyin's neck.

He didn't do that. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. But before he could figure out who the other party was, Xiao Ran was happy to have someone continue to trip up the Changchun Association and cover for him.

I carefully flipped through the contents of the notebook.

It is indeed full of Li Xuyin's insights, including his experiences with several strange tales and how he escaped death.

But these were all child's play for Xiao Ran.

He casually tossed the laptop into the trash can.

Xiao Ran got up and left the office, then went to the mild case ward to begin her rounds.

Nowadays, all the patients in the mild ward are bald, and their blue and white hospital gowns make it look like a prison at first glance.

Xiao Ran has been here for three or four days now, and the patients have all gotten to know this new doctor who likes to shave people's heads.

Some greeted Xiao Ran warmly, while others covered their heads and ran far away as soon as they saw her.

When these patients are not having an episode, they look almost no different from normal people, making it hard to associate them with mental illness.

Following the bed number, Xiao Ran went to bed number 19.

A young man was sitting on the hospital bed. The patients here didn't have names; they were all addressed by their bed numbers.

Number 19, not very old, in his early twenties, suffers from schizophrenia.

The young man sat on the bed and grinned at Xiao Ran: "Dr. Wu, are we getting our heads shaved again today? My brother said he feels much better after getting his head shaved."

"No need, I'm not shaving my head today. How many brothers do you have?" Xiao Ran asked curiously.

“There are two, and there’s an older sister, but after you shaved your head, my sister stopped coming out.”

Unlike ordinary schizophrenia patients, the young man was clearly aware that he had schizophrenia and was even able to communicate with the split personalities.

I have two older brothers. One has a good temper but isn't very smart; he only knows how to eat. The other is taciturn and never speaks.

As for that older sister, she was the crazy person Li Xuyin mentioned who often liked to shout and yell randomly.

After asking some simple questions, Xiao Ran told Number 19 to rest well. Just as she was about to leave, Number 19 suddenly reached out and grabbed Xiao Ran's arm.

The movement was sudden, but in Xiao Ran's eyes it was very slow. He subtly stepped back and dodged it.

At this moment, Number 19 raised his head and looked at Xiao Ran, his eyes filled with resentment.

"Is it your older sister?"

As Xiao Ran was thinking to herself whether it was Sister No. 19's personality resurfacing and whether she should blame herself for shaving her head, Sister No. 19's eyes suddenly turned deep black, covering the entire white of her eyes.

A hoarse scream escaped his lips: "You deserve to die, you wicked beast who aided and abetted evil, you are destined to die a horrible death."

"Warning: You are under the curse of the ghost story [Dream Mirror]"

Dream Mirror: Don't sleep, don't sleep, don't sleep. Once you fall asleep, you will no longer be able to distinguish between reality and truth, and you will be trapped in the dream and unable to escape.

"It's you!"

Xiao Ran's expression changed drastically. He suddenly reached out and grabbed No. 19's shoulder. Rolling corpse energy covered Xiao Ran's palm as he slapped towards No. 19.

But the dark figure seemed to sense the danger and immediately detached from Number 19. By the time Xiao Ran's hand touched Number 19, Number 19 had regained consciousness and looked at Xiao Ran with a surprised expression.

Fortunately, Xiao Ran's mental strength was strong enough. After realizing that No. 19 had recovered, the corpse energy on his hand immediately dissipated and finally landed lightly on No. 19.

"Dr. Wu, you..."

Looking at the hand that landed on her shoulder, Number 19 felt that it was terrifyingly cold, as if it had been taken out of an ice cellar.

"It's okay, you should get some rest."

Xiao Ran smiled and walked out of the ward.

"Curse! Dreamscape! It seems this guy's abilities are biased towards the Dreamwalker sequence."

Now Xiao Ran felt a bit tricky. She had never really encountered how troublesome the Dream Walker sequence was, but every time she mentioned Zhong Yi, Wu Man's expression became very wary.

This demonstrates just how terrifying this sequence is.

"But what exactly is this other party? A beginner? A professional? Or some kind of evil spirit lurking in the hospital?"

Filled with doubt, Xiao Ran had unknowingly walked out of the mild case area. Looking up, she saw a red sign hanging on the iron gate in front of her.

[Intensive Care Unit - No Unauthorized Entry, Dangerous!]

(End of this chapter)