Chapter 218: Frog Hospital (10) – Statue of the Virgin

The iron door that had been shut tight was pushed open from outside; in the cold white light stood a boy with a head too big for his spindly body, swaying slightly.

A white cloth shirt hung off him; his whole frame looked water-bloated, livid skin webbed with purple-black veins like the veins of a lotus leaf.

His head was warped and deformed, bulging eyes fixed on the players, mouth split in a grin of black needle-teeth: “I found you! I’m telling my dad!”

Red text scrolled frantically while a grating voice-over sounded.

【The Director dislikes outsiders in the morgue; you know this rule and have always followed it.】

【But tonight a mishap locks you inside, and Cheng Xiaoyu (Ghost) has spotted you.】

【He intends to tell the Director. Once the Director knows, he will certainly suspect you—and may take extreme measures.】

【failure rate +20%】

On the system screen the failure rate jumped to 40%.

Sun Dekuan obviously got the same message; his chubby face paled and his little eyes flicked toward Qi Si in silent plea.

Once again it was a maximum penalty; at this rate, three more strikes and the failure gauge would be full.

Running into Ghosts or death flags is survivable, but a 100% failure rate means real erasure.

Qi Si read the two prompts twice, gaze finally resting on the word “Director”.

Both failure rate raises carried the clause “if the Director finds out”; that couldn’t be coincidence.

The initial rule only warned not to raise NPC suspicion, yet being discovered by a ghost now counted as role-failure too.

Eerie Game never hikes the bar without reason—unless a hidden chain reaction is already in motion.

The ghost spotting a flaw is merely the cause; the Director learning of it is the effect.

In short, the Ghosts inform the Director—they are his eyes and ears.

【Clue “Hospital Secret” updated; new sub-clue “Director’s Secret” incomplete.】

A line of silver text flashed, confirming Qi Si’s deduction.

Whoever has been quietly diverting corpses must, by every horror cliché and common sense, be the Director who runs the hospital.

But could the answer really be that obvious? Too banal.

Qi Si rubbed his chin, thinking: with Eerie Game’s warped humor, halfway through the instance it will surely throw a curveball.

The boy at the door, annoyed by Qi Si’s indifference, flushed corpse-green; a black umbilical cord snaked from his shirt toward Qi Si’s neck.

The Cursed Pendulum shot out, intercepting the cord. Qi Si sidestepped, pressed a hand on the boy’s head, and smiled: “Xiaoyu, you’re too naughty; I’ll have to tell your dad.”

It happened in a flash. Sun Dekuan, just readying himself, watched slack-jawed as his teammate sweet-talked the ghost like a relative coaxing a child.

What just happened? Who am I? Where am I?

Equally dumbfounded was Cheng Xiaoyu.

The ghost-child had never met anyone unafraid of him; he froze two seconds, then tilted his head. “Who are you?”

While keeping the Cursed Pendulum tight round the writhing cord, Qi Si narrowed his eyes in a smile. “Uncle’s been away for years, no wonder you don’t recognise me. If your dad hadn’t shown me your photo I wouldn’t have known you either.”

“Uncle? But Dad never said I had an uncle…” Cheng Xiaoyu’s face reverted to ordinary corpse-pallor, puzzled.

Qi Si, unblinking, unpinned the badge reading “Cheng An” and held it out. “I’m Cheng An; your dad is my cousin. We rarely met in the past; only after I transferred here from the city hospital did we reconnect.”

“Cheng An” and “Cheng Ping” share a surname, an easy association, and Qi Si’s earnest manner showed no crack.

Cheng Xiaoyu’s bulging eyes swivelled, scanning Qi Si’s face for any deceit.

After a moment the cord vanished back into his clothes; he grinned, giggling, “But Uncle, if Dad finds out you were in the morgue he’ll be mad.”

Qi Si had already checked the system to confirm no false clues had popped up.

He pocketed the Cursed Pendulum and lowered his eyes while re-pinning the badge. “Xiaoyu, didn’t you push Uncle’s friend inside? Knowing your dad hates that, I tried to leave—only to find the door locked from outside. That was you too, wasn’t it?”

As he spoke he dragged the stunned Sun Dekuan over and turned him to reveal the small bloody hand-print on his back.

Sun Dekuan caught on quickly. “Right, bad luck! If you hadn’t shoved me I’d never have stepped in here. Then, while I was still dizzy, you locked the door. Now you want to tattle—what a scam!”

Cheng Xiaoyu fell silent; his protruding eyes sank back and rolled erratically, thinking.

Qi Si pulled the candy tin he’d bought earlier from his bag and sighed. “Your dad works hard and deals with lots every day; let’s not bother him with trifles

“Here, Uncle gives you a sweet; take me around and show me the new place.”

The youth’s dark eyes reflected a clear, sincere gentleness.

Cheng Xiaoyu hesitated, then nodded and shook his head. “No, two sweets.”

“Mm-hm, then Uncle will give you one more.” Qi Si generously fished out three candies and placed them in Cheng Xiaoyu’s palm, adding like a proper elder, “Don’t eat them all at once—cavities.”

Cheng Xiaoyu ignored the advice, stuffed all three into his mouth, grinned wide and mumbled, “Thanks, Uncle! Let’s go to the pond!”

The red text faded; silvery words followed:

【You uncovered Cheng Xiaoyu (Ghost)’s prank; feeling guilty, he decides not to bother the busy Director with such a minor matter.】

【No third person will know you entered the morgue before tomorrow—maybe not even the day after.】

【The Director remains largely unsuspicious; your disguise holds, and you may move safely through the hospital.】

【failure rate –15%】

On the interface the failure rate dropped to 25%.

Sun Dekuan watched, awestruck, as Qi Si reframed the tattling issue into a candy transaction and somehow secured the ghost-child’s guidance.

He too received the “Hospital Secret” clue, ending with: 【Give me a sweet and I’ll lead you through the misty forest to the pond to watch the frogs.】

But who could dream up such a bizarre solution on the spot?

For a moment, Sun Dekuan’s gaze at Qi Si burned hotter. He became even more convinced that hugging this young man’s thigh might really let him TE-clear the instance!

Cheng Xiaoyu skipped toward the wide-open doorway at the corridor’s end, stepped into the ghost-laden white mist, and called back, “Two uncles, hurry up—once it’s dark we won’t be able to get back!”

The thick fog blurred his outline, and the words “won’t be able to get back” sounded like a prophecy from a horror tale.

Qi Si, Pocket Watch of Fate in hand, followed Cheng Xiaoyu into the mist without hesitation. Sun Dekuan gritted his teeth and went after them.

The two humans and one ghost were swallowed by the boundless white fog, yet the view ahead wasn’t as murky as they’d imagined.

The concrete stairwell was as narrow as an elevator shaft; rusty iron rails paired with rebar stairs made it look like an unfinished, half-built shell.

Condensed mist drifted in the air; the dark walls had no windows, and only faint light leaking through cracks in the cement let them see their way.

Cheng Xiaoyu, as if he’d walked this path countless times, nimbly climbed the uneven steps and leapt across gaps between the rebars without a stumble.

Qi Si and Sun Dekuan followed in his exact footprints, careful not to miss a step.

The stairs seemed endless; the two followed the ghost guiding them, spiraling round and round, mechanically climbing step after step.

Just when Qi Si thought they were about to reach the earth’s core, a faint light finally appeared ahead.

Cheng Xiaoyu twisted his head a full hundred-eighty degrees and beamed, “We’re here—just ahead!”

As his words fell, the daylight ahead drew nearer; the formalin- and disinfectant-scented mist thinned, and the concrete and rebar slid back on either side, soon left behind.

Before them stretched a forest of towering trees—common shrubs and waterside plants, yet they grew so luxuriantly they could swallow any wanderer.

Amid the shrubs, a patch of wet, muddy ground lay quietly, sunken into a huge pit. White palm-sized stones ringed its rim, forming an artificial pond.

In the pond’s center stood a round white stone platform supporting a marble Madonna, its composition reminding Qi Si of Michelangelo’s Pietà.

The sorrowful, compassionate Madonna sat upon the stone, robe and veil draping limply, hands outstretched as if cradling something—yet where Christ’s body should have lain was only emptiness.

The instant he saw it, Qi Si felt his thoughts connect with a distant, surging tide; countless overlapping echoes roared in his ears.

“Where is my child? Please, tell me—where is my child?”

“Give me a child—I finally had one, I only wanted a child…”

“You lied—I clearly heard him cry; he was alive!”

Grief, pain, fury, unwillingness—torrents of negative emotion rushed through the sieve of thought, leaving behind pitch-black sediment.

A single tear of blood slid down the Madonna’s white cheek; it fell into the pond and vanished like an illusion.

【main quest updated】

【main quest: Find the Statue of the Holy Son】

Beneath the original 【Current Quest】, the new task appeared in cold electronic text that for some reason sounded jarringly loud.

Sun Dekuan, no longer caring that Cheng Xiaoyu was just ahead, slapped Qi Si’s shoulder. “Brother Cheng, what’s this? We haven’t finished the current quest and now a main quest pops up? Where the hell are we supposed to find this Holy Son statue?”

Qi Si felt watched—as though countless scattered souls had coalesced into a high-dimensional colossus that licked every living thing in sight with a mother’s gaze upon her infant.

Far from comforted, he felt nauseated, as though sticky fluid were wrapping his entire body.

Fortunately the sensation lasted only two seconds; colors returned to the world—Ghosts yes, gods no.

Qi Si pressed his lips, walked to the pond’s edge, and sat. His white-coat-clad upper body cast a shimmering figure on the water.

The frog colony on the bottom, startled by the silhouette, floated up and swarmed beneath the shadow, greedily trying to devour it.

Waves of blue frogs surged and fell, splashing gray-white spray. A few green ones dotted the throng, cheeks puffing rhythmically as they croaked loudly.

Those croaks flipped a switch: the whole pond erupted in endless “ribbits,” like an orchestra taking turns—one chorus after another, ceaseless.

They knew it was noise, yet loved being obnoxious, like inept outsiders provoking attention. The green frogs were the keenest, hopping beside the Madonna and beating time.

The clue said: 【Blue Frog Hospital raises blue frogs, Green Frog Hospital raises green frogs】—so where did these green frogs in Blue Frog Hospital come from?

Qi Si stared at the green frogs circling the Madonna and fell into thought.

If frogs could flow between the two hospitals, what else might circulate? Patients? Corpses? Sins? Soon a few frogs realized the shadow was only a reflection and drifted back to rest. Others, enraged, leapt ashore and lunged at Qi Si.

Qi Si sidestepped quickly, backed up, and flicked the Cursed Pendulum from his sleeve in warning.

Cheng Xiaoyu, catching the move, turned his head. “Uncle, you mustn’t hurt the frogs—hurting them brings a curse.”

“A curse? Thanks for the tip.” Qi Si’s lips curved; his wide sleeve fell to cover the blood-red pendulum.

In Blue Frog Hospital, nearly every surgery lately ends with the patient bleeding to death—said to be from a curse… frogs wield that much power?

Qi Si recalled the dozens of frogs Huang Xiaofei had killed, his grin widening as he casually snatched one leaping frog and hurled it back into the pond.

A tall splash rose; the submerged frogs, unable to see what had fallen, took it for food and tore into it savagely.

The hapless frog was shredded in seconds; legs and flesh scattered, crimson blood blooming through the water and dyeing nearby frogs red.

Qi Si tapped his chin, half-smiling at Cheng Xiaoyu. “Xiaoyu, if a frog kills another frog, does it get cursed?”

Cheng Xiaoyu swallowed; for no reason this human seemed scarier than a ghost like him.

But he was too young to know fear, only fidgeting and baring his teeth. “I don’t know—no one knows. It’s late; I’ve shown you the pond. Let’s go back.”

Qi Si smiled. “Can I ask you to guide us again tomorrow?”

Cheng Xiaoyu twisted his neck, hesitated a long while, then reluctantly said, “Fine—but I want lots and lots of candy.”