I changed the world.

In the inpatient ward's duty room, Dr. Zhao Juncheng, who was resting on his desk, was startled awake by the vibration of his phone. He picked it up and held it to his ear: "Hello? Yes, it's me."

"Oh, this is the monitoring room. What's up?"

"Yes, I just went to check on the patients. Yes, Xiao Wen came with me..."

"What? A strange person? No, I don't know them... No, I don't remember seeing anyone like that..."

"Carrying a black umbrella? No... Yes, I'm sure I didn't see anyone like that..."

"Really? Okay... I'll be right there!"

Zhao Juncheng put down the phone, his sleepiness completely gone. A look of confusion appeared on his face as he hurriedly walked towards the monitoring room on the first floor.

When he arrived at the monitoring room, he found that many people were already standing in the duty room. In addition to several security guards on duty today, even Wen Qian, the nurse on duty on the fourth floor, was there. Furthermore, the hospital's security supervisor had also appeared in the monitoring room, and the atmosphere in the monitoring room was eerily quiet.

The sound of Zhao Juncheng pushing the door open drew the attention of everyone in the monitoring room. Zhao Juncheng noticed that Wen Qian's expression was very unpleasant, a stark contrast to her smiling demeanor not long ago.

"What's wrong? I didn't hear very clearly on the phone just now, something about someone holding a black umbrella..."

"Dr. Zhao... Dr. Zhao, we just... it seems like we... encountered something evil..." Wen Qian stammered, seemingly because of fear, her words were somewhat incoherent.

"What's wrong, Xiao Wen? Don't be afraid, tell me slowly..."

"Dr. Zhao, why don't you take a look at this surveillance footage first?" At the suggestion of the security supervisor, a security guard pulled up a surveillance video on a screen.

Zhao Juncheng stared intently. This must be the surveillance footage from the fourth-floor elevator lobby. In the footage, a person holding a black umbrella pushed open the fire escape door and entered the elevator lobby. He seemed to look around for a while. Just then, the elevator door opened again, and Zhao Juncheng's eyes widened. He saw himself appear in the surveillance footage. Then, he saw himself walk past the person with the black umbrella and enter the corridor.

Afterwards, the security guard pulled up another surveillance video. In the video, Zhao Juncheng and Wen Qian were making their rounds, and right next to them, the mysterious person with the black umbrella was also making their rounds from room to room...

In the third video, Zhao Juncheng and Wen Qian entered an empty hospital room. They chatted for a few words and then turned and left. In the surveillance footage, the person holding the black umbrella stood silently in the hospital room, right next to them.

Strangely, throughout the three videos, Zhao Juncheng and Wen Qian seemed to have never seen the person with the black umbrella. Similarly, because of the black umbrella, no one could see any facial features of the person with the umbrella in the surveillance footage.

Zhao Juncheng's face was also turning pale. No matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't recall ever seeing such a person standing next to him during his rounds. But the fact was, not only was there such a person, but he was standing very close to him.

Logically speaking, how could one not remember a person standing alone in a hospital late at night with a black umbrella? But that's exactly what happened!

How bizarre! The whole thing is inexplicably strange!

"Dr. Zhao, do you remember this person?" The surveillance video had been paused, and the security supervisor pointed to the conspicuous black umbrella in the video and asked Zhao Juncheng.

"I..." Zhao Juncheng opened his mouth, wanting to say he remembered, but no matter how hard he tried, he had no recollection. He could only shake his head: "I really haven't seen such a person... Is... Is there some mistake here?"

“We retrieved all the surveillance footage. The person with the black umbrella first appeared at the entrance of Building C.” The security supervisor gestured to his subordinates to pull up a surveillance video. It was footage taken by a camera located on the first floor of Building C, near the main entrance. In the video, a person with a black umbrella came from the direction of the main entrance and quickly walked across the monitored area.

"However, when we retrieved the surveillance data outside Building C, we found no trace of this person on any road in the campus."

"I have absolutely no recollection of anyone coming in, and there's no signature on the register," a security guard whispered to the person next to him. He was the same guard who had been in charge of registering people at the entrance of Building C.

The monitoring room fell silent once again.

"I heard... before this hospital was built, this place was a mortuary..." a security guard said weakly.

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, as if a cold shiver was rising from the depths of their hearts.

A mortuary, or "yizhuang," is a place to store unburied bodies, sometimes also unclaimed or those for which the deceased could not afford burial. In short, in the supernatural tales of the Great Zhao Dynasty, the mortuary is one of the most frequently used and famous settings, much like abandoned castles in the West…

Once the topic shifted in this direction, more than one person recalled that black umbrellas, in the traditional customs of the Da Zhao dynasty, are not considered auspicious objects; they are generally used at funerals to cover urns containing ashes…

"Don't speculate... don't scare yourselves..." The security supervisor felt his throat was a little dry, but he still forced himself to remain calm and instructed, "I'll call the vice president in charge of this matter in a bit. Everyone be careful tonight, and try not to be alone..."

Chapter 42 Traces of Power

Completely unaware of the turmoil that ensued at the hospital after he left, Zhang Jing felt like a giant bat leaping at high speed through the dark city.

The night wind blew past him, making his trench coat flutter like a banner in the wind, but it gave him a feeling of exhilarating gliding. It was an addictive feeling; as he glided between the tall buildings, Zhang Jing couldn't help but have the illusion that the entire city was beneath his feet. Recalling the superhero movies of his past life, Zhang Jing shook his head, adjusted his mindset, and then carefully landed in a secluded alley.

This location is approximately 5 kilometers away from the First People's Hospital of Jiangdong Province.

Although the cities in this world are technologically advanced, they don't have as many surveillance cameras as those in his previous life in China; otherwise, Zhang Jing would have been even more cautious. After landing, Zhang Jing took off his trench coat, draped it over his forearm, and then hailed a ride-hailing car to return to his home in Yunshanfang.

After closing the main gate, Zhang Jing went to the study in the main house, sat down at the desk, and summoned the Wish Book again. It was 2:25 a.m. on November 13, 2015, long past the midnight settlement time. He wanted to see if his wish points had increased.

Then he saw that the message he had found in the wishing book yesterday morning had indeed changed further:

Special event: The content creator "Blowing Bubbles Candy" posted a video on "FreeLiving", which has already spread to a certain extent.

Your actions have led to a shift in the perception of traditional martial arts among a small number of people, causing a slight disturbance in the world's underlying consciousness, and this disturbance is currently expanding.

A total of 1139 wish points have been added. (1016 wish points were added yesterday)

Note: Wish points gained from special events will be settled at 00:00 every day. Wish points for unfinished events will be settled again at 00:00 the following day.

Judging from the meaning of this message, excluding the 123 wish points added on the first day, yesterday directly added 1016 points. This brings Zhang Jing's total wish points from the video to 1139. Zhang Jing interprets this as a change in perception resulting from the video's wider dissemination and increased viewership.

As things stand, the spread of the video is clearly not over yet and is still continuing. This means that, at least for the next few days, I will continue to benefit from the increasing number of wish points brought about by the spread of the video.