Chapter 1 The Waking

"Ugh..."

Zhu Jie slowly opened her eyes, her mind hazy. The first thing she saw was Tang Qisheng's face. Her head was heavy, and even curled up in the blanket, she still felt cold.

"What's wrong with me?" Zhu Jie felt weak all over, and her vision was blurry, as if she had fallen ill overnight.

Tang Qisheng tested Zhu Jie's forehead with his hand, his brow furrowing slightly, but he reassured her in a comforting tone, "It's nothing, you just caught a chill last night." As he spoke, Tang Qisheng bent down and tucked the scattered corners of the blanket back in.

Only then did Zhu Jie notice that they were in a different place. It was a spacious hospital room, simply and warmly decorated. But as her gaze swept across the room, Zhu Jie's pupils shrank. The next moment, she suddenly sat up. The door to the room was open.

Tang Qisheng was startled by Zhu Jie's movement, but after realizing what was happening, he gently patted her back and explained, "Don't worry, it's already daylight outside."

"You can't just leave the door open even if it's daylight!" Zhu Jie was instantly alert. She looked at Tang Qisheng, puzzled. He wasn't usually careless. How could he make such a mistake? Could it be… could it be he was fake, and she was still in the night?

Noticing the strange look in Zhu Jie's eyes, Tang Qisheng understood what she was thinking. "Don't be nervous. I didn't open the door. A medical worker pushed it open. Not just our room, but the doors of the other rooms were pushed open too. They said we should go to the admissions office to complete the discharge procedures. Oh, and there was an announcement on the loudspeaker. It should be real. Those people have already gone."

"Discharge procedures..."

"Yes, that's what the announcement said." Tang Qisheng handed Zhu Jie a glass of warm water. "Do you remember what those people in the operating room were saying last night?"

Zhu Jie slowly recalled. Last night, those "doctors" had mentioned that there would be rewards for patients who assisted in the surgery. Patients who performed well would be commended and might even be discharged the next day.

So… those guys were planning to keep their promise?

After taking a few sips of water and calming down a bit, Zhu Jie got out of bed and walked towards the door. She didn't step outside but stood inside the doorway, looking out. From her angle, she could see the doors of the three rooms opposite them. All three doors were open, and she didn't see anyone inside.

Tang Qisheng didn't rush her. He knew Zhu Jie had her own way of judging things, and interrupting her would only deepen her suspicion of him.

"Um… how about this? I'll go out first, and then you close the door. I'll try to push it open from the outside to verify." Tang Qisheng wanted to dispel Zhu Jie's concerns.

Zhu Jie glanced at him and nodded. "Okay."

After all the fuss, Zhu Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief. She believed that the Tang Qisheng in front of her was the real Tang Qisheng, and not some other ghostly thing. After arriving here, Zhu Jie had been feeling disoriented.

Zhu Jie rubbed her temples and shook her head at Tang Qisheng with a helpless expression. "Have they all gone? I mean, did you actually see them leave the rooms?"

"I did," Tang Qisheng said firmly. "All three of them left the rooms. They went to the left down the hallway."

That meant, including the two of them, only five people had survived the night. And three of the patients had died last night.

The old woman had died in the operating room, and the other two must have died while trying to escape, killed by the monster covered in children's hands and feet.

After a brief discussion, the two decided to leave the room and see what was happening at the so-called admissions office. They still hadn't found the clues that Jiang Cheng and Wang Fugui needed, and perhaps they would find something at the admissions office.

Walking to the left down the hallway, the distance was a bit farther than they had imagined. They turned a corner, pulled open a white-painted iron door, and a spacious hall appeared before them.

The floor of the hall was made of old-fashioned marble, and several wheelchairs were scattered haphazardly in the corners. Along the dark green walls were IV stands, the white paint on the stands badly worn.

The hall was very quiet, without a single person in sight. Only the sound of Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie's footsteps echoed, creating an unspeakable sense of oppression, as if they were the only two living people left in the world.

Before long, the two suddenly stopped. They had found the admissions office in a secluded part of the hall. It was a room with glass partition walls, and a sign hung on the thick glass, crookedly reading "Admissions Office" in red letters that were startlingly glaring, like blood.

Behind the window sat a masked staff member, staring straight at them.

As Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie cautiously approached, the staff member stiffly pushed out a book. "Sign it. Once you sign, you can leave."

Looking at the book, the two were wary and didn't dare to touch it at first. "Leave? Where do we go?" Tang Qisheng wanted to confirm this. It would be terrible if they were sent straight to the morgue after signing.

The masked staff member chuckled, his small eyes curving into crescent moons. "Of course, you go back to where you came from. You did well last night. This is a reward for you. After careful consideration by the hospital, you have met the discharge criteria. Sign the book, and you can go home."

The word "home" was too tempting, almost unbelievable. Tang Qisheng took a deep breath, picked up the book, and flipped through a few pages. He clearly saw the signatures of the other three people. After confirming that everything was correct, he signed his name on his page.

"And you, the next page is yours." The staff member turned his gaze to Zhu Jie. "Sign quickly, and once you've both signed, I can get off work."

After checking that everything was in order, Zhu Jie also signed her name. After signing, both of them felt a sense of relief, a feeling that appeared suddenly and came from the bottom of their hearts—a long-lost sense of security.

The staff member took the book back, but didn't put it away. Instead, he put it back in its original place, then pointed to the side. "See that? You can leave through that door. Congratulations, you're discharged."

Turning around, they saw that a glass door had appeared there, as if from nowhere. A soft light shone in from outside. But just a moment ago, they had passed through there, and there had only been a wall.

Seeing the light shining in, the two knew that this door was real, and outside the door was the world they belonged to.

"Going home..."