Chapter 1 Tang Qisheng's Choice

Tang Qisheng finally shouted those words as the sound of footsteps approached the door.

Almost immediately, the hand gripping his arm loosened.

The night nurses, alerted by the commotion, rushed over. "Who shouted 'report'? What's going on?"

"It...it was me!" Tang Qisheng's vision was still consumed by darkness. He could only speak in the direction of where he thought the door was.

The nurses arrived in a hurry, practically charging in. Along with the sound of their boots on the corridor, there was a rustling noise, and a damp smell washed over him.

"Someone's in my room. I can't see him, but he's definitely suspicious. He ran away when he heard you coming. He's still in the room!" Tang Qisheng spoke quickly, assured that his and Zhu Jie's safety would be guaranteed with so many nurses present.

"What? He's still in the room?" The nurses outside instantly tensed up. The rustling sound became even more pronounced, accompanied by what sounded like them drawing weapons. "Quick! Come out first. We'll go in and deal with him. Hurry!"

Just as Tang Qisheng was instinctively about to head towards the door, he stopped. A strange feeling enveloped him. "Why do they want me to leave? Wouldn't it be better for the nurses to just rush in and catch him?"

Then, the person behind the door moved. He groped his way to Tang Qisheng's side. "I'm sorry, he was just talking in his sleep. He often has nightmares, and when he wakes up, he mistakes the events in his nightmares for reality. Our ward is very safe. Please continue your patrol," Zhu Jie's voice chimed in.

At the same time, Zhu Jie lightly pinched Tang Qisheng's back.

Realization dawned on Tang Qisheng, and cold sweat broke out. He belatedly nodded in agreement. "Ah, right, right, it's my fault, my fault. I was still half-asleep. Sorry to bother you! So sorry!"

It wasn't entirely because of Zhu Jie's reminder, but Tang Qisheng had realized something was wrong—something very wrong!

He finally understood what the rustling sound was: raincoats. Old-fashioned raincoats had a plastic-like texture that made that sound when moving.

The damp smell that accompanied the nurses also confirmed this.

It was raining heavily outside. The nurses in the wet raincoats had come from the rain, but the announcement during the evening had made it clear that the hospital had urgently closed all entrances and exits to the building to prevent patients from escaping, and no one was allowed in or out tonight.

If that was the case, then where did these nurses in wet raincoats come from?

Although he was thinking this, Tang Qisheng had to pretend to be ashamed for disturbing the others' work due to his nightmare.

Tang Qisheng sighed inwardly. If Zhu Jie hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been in danger today.

But such wording clearly wouldn't easily fool them. "A nightmare... Are you sure it was just a simple nightmare?"

"Don't worry, we can guarantee your safety!" the nurses insisted. "I must warn you, that special patient is very dangerous. Once he goes crazy, he'll tear you both to pieces!"

"No, no, it really was just a dream. Please leave. We need to rest."

After some probing, Tang Qisheng confirmed that there was definitely something wrong with these "nurses." Otherwise, why would they waste so much time with two blind patients?

It would be much quicker to just come in and search the room. The ward wasn't that big.

There was only one explanation for this: they couldn't get in and were trying to trick them into going out.

Thinking of this, Tang Qisheng couldn't help but feel lingering fear. Jiang Cheng had clearly reminded him about the clue: "Nurses, black raincoats, be careful, rag doll."

Now the nurses and raincoats had appeared. All that was left was the rag doll that he needed to be especially careful of.

Just as the nurses were reluctantly about to leave, a shrill voice suddenly rang out. "They're lying! I heard sounds in their room just now. Someone must have gone in!"

"Believe me, the escaped patient is hiding inside. They're in cahoots!"

It was a rather aged voice, coming from an old woman. Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie were familiar with this voice. It belonged to the pointy-faced old woman among them, who had a mean look about her and wore a black plastic hair clip on her head.

"Go in and search! You'll definitely find him!"

The old woman was relentless, determined to get to the bottom of this.

Tang Qisheng was stunned, and then anger welled up within him. He didn't know what the old woman's background was. Could she be the last, deeply hidden Crimson?

But on second thought, that seemed unlikely. The Crimson he knew wouldn't be so low-level.

Tang Qisheng sneered and started cursing directly. He knew that backing down now would only cause trouble, so he had to be firm. "You old coffin dodger, acting all high and mighty! You've got one foot in the grave, so stop yapping! What you heard was probably the King of Hell calling you!"

The old woman exploded upon hearing this, spewing out all sorts of foul language. "Shameless hussy and her dog of a man! The person is right in your room. I'll see what you have to say when the nurses and doctors search him out!"

"Arrest them both! They're lying! Arrest them all!"

The old woman was already hysterical. Tang Qisheng roughly understood. The old woman didn't really care who was hiding in whose room. She just wanted someone to be arrested quickly, because as long as someone was arrested, then tonight would be safe.

"Madam, are you sure the person is hiding in their room?" The nurse's attitude toward the old woman was very respectful.

"Of course! I heard it clear as day!" The old woman spoke with a distinct dialect.

"Very well, please help us go inside and find the person. You see, we're just employees of the hospital. Forcibly entering a patient's room would worsen the doctor-patient relationship."

"To make matters worse, if there are any bad consequences, the hospital will fire us and say we're just temporary workers."

Hearing that she was being asked to do this, the old woman was clearly scared. "This..."

"Madam, you won't be helping for nothing. If you really find that person, it will be a great service to the hospital. We'll talk to the director for you and prove that your condition has improved greatly and that you should be discharged soon. You can go home." The nurses chimed in.

Perhaps the words "go home" touched the old woman, she steeled her resolve, opened the door, and tremblingly reached out. "Alright, alright! I'll go. Someone...someone help me. I can't see. Help me over there! Let's go in and catch him together!"

"Hehe! Coming!"