Chapter 153 - 141: Early Login - End

Yin Zhen quietly watched Bai Qiang kneel on the ground, weeping heart-wrenchingly. However, amidst this extreme catharsis, the gray erosion on Bai Qiang’s body—which made her look like a faded old photograph—was rapidly receding.

Her skin regained the healthy flush of a living person, and her violently trembling body gradually steadied. She clutched the Twin Fish Lock badge of the Abnormal Investigation Bureau so tightly that blood seeped from between her fingers.

Yin Zhen knew that Bai Qiang had succeeded.

Using that agonizing sorrow, she had forcefully locked the powerful female ghost deep within her soul, becoming a Sealer—just like Wei Yang.

[Event Countdown: 00:13:42]

Although time was tight, Yin Zhen gave Bai Qiang a moment to stabilize her condition. She scanned their surroundings to see if there was a path leading directly to the surface.

The moment she turned around, a pitch-black face appeared right in front of her without any warning, its blood-red eyes utterly bottomless.

Startled, Yin Zhen took a step back and finally recognized it as Ying. But... it was different now.

Originally, Ying had been nothing more than a mass of pitch-black shadow, devoid of facial features. Now, however, a pair of bloodstained eyes had grown on its face, exuding the same terrifying aura as a Fierce Ghost.

Yin Zhen hesitantly reached out her hand. The moment her fingertips brushed the surface of the shadow, a bone-chilling cold instantly invaded her body—identical to the chill emitted by a Fierce Ghost. At the same time, Yin Zhen felt all her chaotic emotions being stripped away. She plunged into an eerie state of absolute calm at an astonishing speed.

Yin Zhen abruptly retracted her hand, staring at Ying in bewilderment and uncertainty.

"Ying?"

Yin Zhen called out softly, but Ying didn’t react. Its crimson eyes continued to stare at her with chilling apathy. She raised her voice and called it a few more times.

Finally, Ying seemed to jolt awake from a nightmare. Like a frightened little animal, it snapped its head around to scan the surroundings. Its body began to tremble, reverting to the familiar demeanor Yin Zhen knew. Subconsciously, it tried to pounce over and curl up at Yin Zhen’s feet to seek shelter, just like it always did.

"Wait!"

Yin Zhen immediately took a step back. Ying froze in place.

"Something is wrong with your current condition. Before I figure it out, you need to avoid making direct physical contact with me. It’s for the best for both of us."

Immense grievance and sorrow instantly flooded Ying’s crimson eyes. It silently turned around, squatted down, and started drawing circles on the ground.

"This is..."

Yin Zhen noticed a string of blood-red runes newly branded on Ying’s back. They were exactly identical to the runes inside that jar. A strong sense of crisis instantly enveloped her heart, reminding her of the man holding the bracelet.

At that moment, the crying behind her stopped.

Bai Qiang wiped the tear tracks from her face. "This female ghost... her name is Cheng Mo. She committed suicide because... because of smiling depression."

This was why the female ghost had chosen her; Bai Qiang carried a deep psychological wound caused by the exact same illness.

Bai Qiang picked up the dropped medical record book and asked Yin Zhen in a hoarse voice, "We don’t have much time left. How do we get out?"

Just as Yin Zhen was about to take out Half a Book to replicate an Item for a bathroom break, Ying looked up at the two of them. Seeming to ponder for a moment, Ying glanced at Wei Yang’s corpse, and the body abruptly vanished.

Before Yin Zhen and Bai Qiang could process what had happened, their vision blurred. The pungent smell of formalin and the stench of decay disappeared, replaced by the comforting scent of food. Under the dim light, they saw neatly arranged dining tables, chairs, and food serving counters.

This was the real basement level one—the cafeteria!

"This..." Bai Qiang looked around in astonishment before turning to Yin Zhen.

Yin Zhen understood. It was Ying. It had acquired a Fierce Ghost’s ability to instantly teleport living humans to another location. Lowering her head, Yin Zhen saw that the small, dark shadow, still radiating an aura of grievance and dejection, had silently melted away at her feet.

"Let’s get out of here!"

Supporting each other, Yin Zhen and Bai Qiang walked toward the exit leading to the first floor.

They pushed open the heavy fire doors and made their way up the stairs. When they finally returned to the first-floor lobby, blinding light flooded their vision. The thick, dark red fog had receded, and sunlight streamed through the hospital’s massive glass doors and windows.

The lobby was a total mess, but the heavy, biting chill and dead silence that had permeated the area were completely gone. The head nurse was anxiously directing a few nurses to comfort the shaken patients and their families, as well as assisting other patients fleeing from upstairs.

"Thank goodness, you’re still alive." The head nurse looked at Yin Zhen and Bai Qiang with pleasant surprise.

Yin Zhen and Bai Qiang lacked the strength to reply and merely nodded slightly. The immense exhaustion of having survived a disaster washed over them like a tidal wave.

The wailing of sirens approached from afar as police cars and fire trucks pulled up to the entrance of the inpatient building. There were also a few low-profile black vehicles with the Abnormal Investigation Bureau’s insignia printed on their sides. A group of peculiar-looking people stepped out of them.

The world seemed to turn into a slow-motion silent film. Only Yin Zhen and Bai Qiang—this pair of "mother and daughter"—supported each other, walking outward against the surging crowd of incoming people.

"Give me Zhang Yueqin’s phone for a second," Yin Zhen said.

"What for?" Bai Qiang took out the phone and handed it to Yin Zhen.

Yin Zhen placed the phone, along with the smartwatch on her wrist, into her game inventory. "I’ll give you a gift later."

"Is this a thank you for accompanying you into the instance this time, or an apology for deceiving me earlier? Seriously, how could you so self-righteously accuse me of using you back then? You even went as far as to say, ’Adeline, we are not friends.’"

"..."

"What’s wrong? You’re playing dumb now that you’ve run into a tough question? Confess, how many other things have you lied to me about!"

As the two stepped out the doors of the inpatient building, the system’s notification chimed right on cue.

[Congratulations, Player. All events at Renxin Hospital have been completed. Returning in 3 seconds. Please prepare yourself.]

Sunlight spilled down. Yin Zhen released Bai Qiang’s arm and looked up, suddenly spotting a person standing under a distant tree. It was a man holding a pitch-black bracelet. With the glaring sunlight piercing her eyes, Yin Zhen couldn’t make out his face.

The return countdown reached zero, and Yin Zhen’s consciousness was instantly pulled away. The foot Qin Jia’s body had just stepped out with never reached the ground, and the small frame slumped limply. Beside her, Zhang Yueqin also fell unconscious.

"Someone help, someone fainted!"

Medical staff rushed over, quickly checking on the unconscious mother and daughter.

Meanwhile, another black SUV drove up. A young man in his twenties stepped out, a lollipop in his mouth. He had a tall, slender build and an exceptionally handsome face. With various trinkets dangling from his wrists, he exuded a highly flamboyant vibe. He lifted his sunglasses and, as if sensing something, swept a glance at the tree by the road. Seeing no one, he turned his attention back to appraise the inpatient building in front of him.

"Brother Ye, why are you here?" a colleague from the Abnormal Investigation Bureau greeted him.

Ye Mingzhe smiled. "I heard a Ghost Realm appeared, and the Bureau insisted that I personally step in. But I’m quite confused myself. The Ghost Realm was broken before I even made a move. Who did it?"

"We’re currently investigating that. Right now, we only know that an intern investigator named Wei Yang was hospitalized here. We haven’t found her yet. If she’s still alive, there’s a high probability she was the one who broke it."

Ye Mingzhe didn’t say anything else. He returned to his car and fished a palm-sized mirror out of the back pocket of his jeans.

"Are you messing with me? Would a Ghost Realm that a mere intern investigator could break really contain a Fierce Ghost with massive potential?"

CRACK!

The mirror’s surface fractured, and blood oozed out. The blood trickled slowly, eventually forming three words:

Find her!