Chapter 25 Survival

The twisted faces and hooked claws of the ghosts, their mouths emitting horrifying wails, surged toward Feng Bujue.

Even if it wasn't ghosts in this corridor, but dozens of ordinary residents from the Monster Kingdom, Feng Bujue probably wouldn't be able to handle it. What's more... he had the black mist pursuing him from behind. Once he was hindered, he would soon be swallowed by the Dean's evil spirit.

Seeing the scene ahead, Jue-ge couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Crap... am I going to hang here..." The next second, he deluded himself, "Hmm... there must be some way... If I'm not mistaken, Lester was actually an outstanding football running back in high school. He can easily pass through this small scene with a few quick maneuvers... And he also has the potential to unlock his genetic code in times of crisis. Now is a good time to burst seed!"

While he was daydreaming, the ghost swarm was already close at hand...

"Um..." Jue-ge swallowed, "As expected, that's not possible, is it!"

That's right, there was no hope of expecting Lester to solve the problem himself, but...

"Goblin Whirlwind Kick!"

"Nightmare Assault!"

Suddenly, two strange figures flashed out of the walls. One had a shrill voice, and the other had a deep voice. The two used their unique monster moves, blasting the ghosts in front of Feng Bujue to the ground.

"Run! Buddy," the Count shouted, "We'll hold them off here!"

"I'm still going to report you! You scoundrel!" Victor shouted.

The intrusion of these two uninvited guests instantly cleared a path for Jue-ge.

"Thanks!" Feng Bujue responded as he brushed past the two.

The black mist followed closely behind, howling, and the Dean's voice rang out in the mist, "Don't block my way!"

But... the two figures, one tall and one short, in the corridor, didn't move an inch.

Victor sneered, "Fake noble, where did you copy that move name from?"

The Count also laughed, "Unscrupulous merchant, can you even call that a whirlwind kick?"

Until the moment they were swallowed by the black mist, they were still arguing, unwilling to yield to each other...

…………

On the other side, Jue-ge had successfully passed through the one-way passage. Riding the changing gravity, he jumped down to the first floor.

"Ah!" As soon as he landed, he let out a scream.

It wasn't that Jue-ge had accidentally sprained his foot, but something had suddenly bitten his ankle.

Feng Bujue looked down and saw a green-skinned, fanged ghost infant clinging to his calf.

"Humph..." Seeing this, Jue-ge's expression turned cold, "Looks like you're not satisfied with the food!" He kicked out mercilessly, sending the monster flying.

However, as soon as he got rid of one, he turned around and found... an entire corridor of such monsters behind him.

"Cha..." Dozens of ghost infants simultaneously let out eerie shrieks at Feng Bujue, like crying and roaring, chilling to the bone.

"Hahahaha... you can't escape!" The Dean, transformed into black mist, also chased closer at this time, "I told you... as your consciousness changes, everything here will change. There are countless Jibaku-rei (earthbound spirits) on this land. They won't let you escape back to the world of the living!" Before he finished speaking, the black mist poured down from the passage, cascading towards Feng Bujue's head.

In that flash of lightning...

But see... a white smoke ring, like a solid cannonball, came from across the air, actually dispersing the falling black mist.

"Phew--" A soul-stirring puff of smoke suddenly blew in.

A black baby with horns on his head now appeared at the other end of the corridor. He used a rhythmic tone, speaking with a clear accent, and cursed, "you maderfacker (translated for civilization)!" He raised his short right hand and pointed to the ceiling, "Kill him!"

At Martin's command, all the ghost infants in the corridor changed their target, swarming up the wall like cockroaches, towards the passage above.

Seeing the road ahead clear, Feng Bujue ran without thinking.

The scattered black mist had reformed in a few seconds, and it continued to pour out from above: "Old stoner! You're an overreach!"

Hearing this, Martin snorted coldly, and, like a hip-hop rapper, cursed the Dean with a barrage of English slang and swear words. Even Jue-ge learned a lot of new words from it.

"Buddy, thanks for the smoke." As Feng Bujue passed by Martin, he said this.

"You're welcome." Feng Bujue responded and continued on his way.

At this moment, Jue-ge finally understood: the side quests in this script had another meaning... that is: the number of completed tasks determined the difficulty of this final escape plot. If he had only completed the two most basic clearing side quests before, then the number of NPCs who came to help him now would definitely not be so many.

"In that case... Mr. Harper should also come out to help somewhere..." Feng Bujue thought as he ran towards the lobby, "Jenny, Frank, and the little girl's plots don't count as tasks, so these three may not appear. As for the white wolf clan chef in the kitchen... he's already been killed, and I didn't have any interaction with him. Hmm... looking at it this way, if Oink hadn't intruded, I might have had another helper..."

Even at this moment, he was still thinking about the various situations before, and analyzing all the possibilities that had been missed and were about to happen... This was definitely a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Of course, it was also possible... he was just upset that the [Meal Card] and [Little Black Rabbit Milk Candy] he had worked so hard to obtain were not used.

"Hi, young man." Sure enough, near the hospital lobby, Mr. Harper's figure appeared.

The old man was wearing a hospital gown and standing in the middle of the corridor. His body was still covered with shocking needle holes, but there were no IV tubes inserted at the moment.

"You seem to be in trouble." After Harper greeted Jue-ge, he asked.

Hearing this, Feng Bujue was shocked, "No way? Did he catch up to me so quickly?" He turned his head and glanced, and indeed, the black mist was coming again...

"Yes... it's big trouble." Jue-ge replied while quickening his pace.

His running speed had slowed down on the previous section of the road, partly because he couldn't keep up physically, and partly because of the injury on his ankle... the wound bitten by the ghost infant was much more serious than he had imagined.

"That's the Dean, right..." Mr. Harper's perforated eyeballs stared straight at the surging black mist, "I understand... leave this to me, young man."

"Ah... thank you, sir." Feng Bujue turned his head back to say as he ran past the old man.

"Harper! You old geezer..." The Dean's roar came from the black mist again, "Get out of my way!"

How could Mr. Harper pay attention to him? The old man stood firm in the middle of the corridor, spread his arms, "I told you a long time ago... you bastard..." At this point, black liquid began to seep out of the needle holes on his body, "I hate Dr. Pepper the most!"

Boom! A loud noise came, as if a water tank-sized soda can had been opened after being shaken violently. Feng Bujue, who had already run a distance, thought Harper had self-destructed and couldn't help but look back.

He saw... massive amounts of black liquid gushing out of the needle holes on Mr. Harper's body, meeting the black mist that the Dean had transformed into.

For a time, the two black substances collided in the corridor; one like a whirlwind, the other like a raging wave... Harper and the Dean fought evenly matched.

At this time, Feng Bujue finally came to the last corner before the lobby.

"Almost... almost at the limit..." Jue-ge understood that Lester was about to officially kick the bucket. Because the "sock" in his pocket could no longer suppress the encroachment of cold, which was a sign of the collapse of the "consciousness" level.

In addition, the pain of the foot injury, the soreness of the whole body after running wildly, and the huge pressure on the heart and lungs, all indicated that... the "player's" condition had also reached the end of his rope.

"Haa... haa..." Jue-ge's speed at this time could only reach the level of "brisk walking". He supported himself against the wall, staggering around the last corner.

The hospital lobby was right in front of him, and the door was twenty meters away. He could even see... a faint ray of sunlight shining in from outside the door.

However, the hospital lobby of more than two hundred square meters in front of him... was already filled with ghosts.

In "Lester's" eyes, they were all as solid as living people. In short... the road ahead was impassable.

"Heh... hahahaha..." Seeing this scene, Feng Bujue actually laughed. He took a breath and shouted loudly to the front, "Everyone... how about making way for a living person?" As he spoke, he took a step forward. But the ghosts just stood there looking at him, without any intention of making way.

"I'm warning you..." Jue-ge refused to admit defeat no matter what. Even though he had no way out, he still said with a confident expression, "My rage value has been full for a long time, don't force me to unleash my Musou and rush out." He said it as if it were true, but unfortunately... it didn't work.

"Let him go." Suddenly, the little girl's voice came from behind Jue-ge.

Feng Bujue was stunned when he heard the sound, and quickly turned his face. Then, he saw a touch of bright red ghost shadow.

The one who came was undoubtedly the little girl from ward 125. At this time, she had really combed her hair into a twin-tail hairstyle, and her terrifying eight-eyed face was also clearly revealed. However, in this environment where ghosts gathered and there was no one who looked like a human, what kind of appearance could be considered "terrifying" was really debatable...

The little girl glanced at Feng Bujue with her eight eyes, and then said to the large group of ghosts, "He... can save all of us."

The short two sentences, with a calm tone, seemed to have magic power, driving the Jibaku-rei (earthbound spirits) to act. In less than two seconds, the ghosts neatly retreated to both sides. In the ghost swarm, a road leading to the door was left open.

"Why are you helping me?" Feng Bujue turned his head and asked, "You are also a Jibaku-rei (earthbound spirit) here. Even if you are not controlled by the instinct of the spirits, there is no reason..."

"No, I'm not." The little girl interrupted Jue-ge, "I am not a living being, I never have been." She continued, "This place was originally a 'spirit gathering place', and I am the guardian spirit here. Until one day, a god of a higher position than me came to this place and maliciously left a curse." She paused, "Actually... it is not this land that is cursed, but 'me' who is trapped here." She raised one hand and pointed in the direction of the door, "Go quickly, otherworldly traveler, Lester, whoever you are... your departure is the end. By completing this redemption, I and all the souls here can be freed."

"Don't-- even think about it!" With a roar, the black mist soared, "I want you to be buried with me!"

As soon as Feng Bujue saw the surging dark tide, he turned and ran.

He limped and stumbled towards the door. The black mist behind him followed like a shadow, and even the little girl and the ghosts in the lobby were unable to resist, and were all swallowed in.

"You can't escape! All the power here has been absorbed by me, no one can stop me!" The Dean's voice was almost next to Feng Bujue's ear, "You can't escape my grasp... Lester, never think about it!"

At this moment, every inch of space in the entire hospital was filled with the black mist transformed by the Dean's evil spirit, and only an inch of land near the door had not been swallowed by him.

And the only exit was close at hand!

"Just a little bit more... just a little bit more..." Feng Bujue simply rolled and crawled, prostrate in front of the door.

But... just two meters from the door, his injured leg was grabbed by the black mist.

"Hahahaha... hahahaha..." The Dean laughed wildly, and in the surging black mist, a fat face covered with copper coins and the stench of copper poked out, "Game over..."

He was right. When his leg was entangled by the black mist, Feng Bujue's whole body could not move. An unprecedented physical sensation struck... If "death" was a feeling, then, at this moment, Feng Bujue was experiencing death.

His body was dyed gray, and his whole body was shrouded in death. His five senses were all there, but they were vague.

This was the feeling of a ghost... everything in life seemed to be an illusion; and the "death" at this moment was the reality. If they did not accept this reality, they would disappear. And because they were afraid of forgetting that "illusion", they longed to devour life.

"You feel it, right? Hehe... this is death!" The Dean's face came closer, "This... is your destination, and the destination of all living beings. Ha... even in the underworld, you scum will be trampled under my feet!"

"Death... is just a part of chaos." Feng Bujue weakly answered, "All things begin in chaos and return to chaos. What is life, what is death... it doesn't matter at all. Knowing life and death can recognize life and death. If you don't know, there is no life and no death; what is real, what is illusory, there is no boundary, everything is just a thought." He muttered in his mouth, and his body... actually moved again, and slowly crawled towards the door.

"What's going on?" The Dean looked horrified, "This is impossible!" He manipulated the black mist to continue pouncing on Feng Bujue on the ground, but the few faint rays of sunlight at the door seemed to be an indestructible barrier, blocking him outside the "line" of light.

"I have to thank you..." Feng Bujue said as he crawled, "Among the knowledge that Zero taught me, there is some content... that I couldn't understand at all. At this moment, thanks to this feeling of 'death', I seem to have figured out some things."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jue-ge took advantage of the situation and rolled over, rolling out of the door.

"No!" A rumbling roar came from the black mist, as if it could shatter people's souls.

But this roar was soon replaced by another voice.

"Oh, my God! Look, is that clothes?"

"Hey! Come over here! I think we dug something up!"

"Drag him out quickly!"

"Be careful! He's already frozen stiff, don't break his limbs."

Some dialogues entered Feng Bujue's ears, and the temperature of his whole body dropped to freezing point in an instant; the dazzling strong light suddenly shook in front of his eyes twice, making him realize that... he was actually closing his eyes at this time. Then, he gradually lost consciousness...

…………

When Feng Bujue came to his senses, the voice prompt rang directly in his ears: [Current task has been completed, all main tasks have been completed] [Will be automatically transmitted after watching the ending]

At this time, he also lost control of his body and turned into a CG viewing state from a god's perspective.

In the picture, the covers of many newspapers and magazines flashed first...

[Miraculous Survival of Night Shift Security Guard] [Escaped After Being Buried for Nearly Thirty Hours] [Miracle Brought About by the Relentless Efforts of the Rescue Team]

Similar headlines flashed continuously, followed by several clips of television news, with various monster hosts holding microphones and broadcasting in front of the camera:

"The accident at the Cedar County Public Hospital has led to a shocking case of corruption. Local officials have fallen one after another. The Kingdom spokesperson said that the case will be thoroughly investigated, and hopes that all current officials in the country will take this as a warning."

"The special plan for building testing standards for public institutions has been launched and is expected to be implemented within the year."

"Is the curse rumor true or false? Is it the evil of the hospital dean? Or a loophole in the system?"

"Today, the only survivor of the Cedar County Public Hospital accident has been discharged from the hospital. During his hospitalization, this gentleman refused all media interviews..."

After a series of disjointed cut scenes flashed, the picture in front of Feng Bujue finally came to a standstill.

Spring was in full bloom, and the ice and snow melted.

On a green hill, a figure walked slowly.

It was Lester. He was wearing casual clothes and walked towards a stone tablet at the top of the hill.

In front of the stone tablet, there was a marble square brick, chopped with a knife and axe, with a slanted surface facing outward, with the following line of words engraved on it: In memory of the 125 people who died in the Cedar County Public Hospital accident.

Lester stood silently in front of the monument... He closed his eyes, as if recalling something, but there were some things he could not remember no matter what...

After standing for a long time, he opened his eyes and offered the bouquet in his hand.

In the end, he was relieved.

He let out a long sigh, turned around and strode away. His eyes were no longer frivolous, and there was... a sense of gratitude for life.