hapter 213: Blue Frog Hospital (Part 5) Umbilical Cord

At Blue Frog Hospital, Lu Zimo received three sets of patient gowns from a nurse. He kept one for himself and handed the remaining two to Huang Xiaofei and Sun Dekuan.

The nurse followed him into the ward, sketching in a notebook, seemingly on her rounds.

Strangely, she seemed completely oblivious to the frog corpses and the bloodstains on the players. She showed no emotion towards the mess, conducted her business-like inspection, and then left without another word.

The players exchanged glances, then simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

It was good that she didn’t notice anything unusual; they didn’t have to worry about their role-playing failure rate inexplicably increasing.

Lu Zimo took off his blood-stained clothes and put on a clean patient gown. The bedsheets soaked in frog blood couldn’t be changed, but fortunately, the bloodstains had dried, so they wouldn’t get on him. He could make do with sleeping on them.

Huang Xiaofei and Sun Dekuan also put on their patient gowns. For a moment, Qi Si, in his white coat, looked even more out of place.

Huang Xiaofei looked at Qi Si across two beds and sneered, “You and that Lin Chen entered the instance as a team, didn’t you? I don’t believe a selfish person like you would be kind enough to help strangers clear it.”

She was clearly trying to pry information, but Qi Si didn’t fall for it.

The black-haired young man took a new towel from his backpack and leisurely wiped his hands and feet, without lifting his head. “I’m happy to help him clear it. As for whether we’re a team—you guess.”

Hmph, he’s tight-lipped. It seems no useful information can be extracted.

Huang Xiaofei made her judgment and stopped bothering Qi Si. Instead, she tilted her head towards Sun Dekuan. “Fatty, after lights out tonight, Zimo and I plan to explore the hospital to get a lay of the land. Are you coming?”

“Ah?” Sun Dekuan’s mouth fell open. “Sister Huang, didn’t you say we should stay in the ward on the first day, to wait and see?”

If it were before, he probably would have agreed without thinking, but now he was a bit indecisive—

Lu Zimo had just been attacked by a frog, and the hospital looked strange no matter how he saw it. Wasn’t it courting death to run outside at night?

“Before, I was afraid of revealing flaws in our role-playing and needlessly increasing the failure rate. Now I realize that was completely overthinking it.”

Huang Xiaofei lay back, her voice nasal, showing a hint of laziness. “The patient gowns were just issued, so it seems we really are staying in this hospital for the first day and aren’t familiar with other patients. As long as we don’t make major mistakes, we won’t fail the role-play.

“I’ve researched and summarized the guides in the game forum. If we want to achieve te clearance, we must take the initiative and trigger events. Many things are inconvenient to do during the day, but at night, we can see a more realistic side of this instance.”

With that said, no one could directly refuse.

Sun Dekuan slowly lay down, wrapping himself in the quilt. “Alright, I’ll sleep first, you can call me in the middle of the night.”

Suddenly, sounds of knocking on doors came from afar, accompanied by the nurses’ loud shouts: “Get to bed early, lights out at 9:30! Early to bed, early to rise, makes a body healthy and wise!”

“Don’t open the door, don’t open the window after lights out. If you can’t sleep, just lie in bed. Don’t get up until the wake-up bell rings!”

The knocking grew closer. The hospital nurses were clearly reminding each room, one by one. It was hard to tell if it was out of diligence or more of a threat.

However, from beginning to end, there were only sounds made by the nurses in the corridor, and not a single response from other patients.

During his time in the instance, Qi Si had also vaguely sensed that the patients in this hospital seemed to harbor a kind of hostility towards all medical staff.

Even stranger, despite disliking the hospital, they still had to stay, as if they had no other choice… Before long, the knocking reached their door, the same old lines repeated so many times that they sounded distorted, like ghost whispers.

Lu Zimo waited for the nurse’s voice to recede before looking at Huang Xiaofei. “Sister, are we still going out tonight? Those NPCs said we can’t open the door or window after lights out…”

“Why are you getting more timid with age? If we take a small risk this time and can achieve te clearance, I might even make it onto the leaderboard and be done with it once and for all.” Huang Xiaofei rolled her eyes. “If you hadn’t been so hesitant in the previous instances, I would have already achieved te clearance records.”

She turned over, facing the wall. “Besides, with the Book of the Dead, even if we encounter any danger, we have a way to retreat.”

Book of the Dead? Sounds like a good item… Qi Si’s heart stirred. After wiping his face and body, he silently burrowed into his quilt, pulling it up to cover half his chin.

Damp places quickly grew cold at night, and even the quilt was permeated with moisture, making it heavy and not insulating.

Lu Zimo was still hesitant. “But it’s only the first day, and we’re going to use it…”

With a’snap,’ the room light went out.

Lu Zimo stopped speaking and coughed softly.

The already dim light gave way to complete darkness, where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, and it was even difficult to sense the presence of others.

Huang Xiaofei whispered, “Zimo, don’t be afraid, I’m here. Nothing will happen to make you die. Go to sleep early, I’ll call you at midnight.”

“Yes, Sister.” Lu Zimo responded, stopped coughing, and rustled into his quilt.

In the darkness, only the chaotic footsteps in the corridor outside could be heard receding in all directions, likely the medical staff leaving work.

Within a few short minutes, even this last sound disappeared, leaving only the sporadic breathing of the few people in the room.

Qi Si looked at the Crimson High Priest card in the upper right corner of his vision. The high priest in red robes stood on a pile of bones, holding a black cross with both hands, as if to nail it down heavily.

The card also looked at Qi Si, their crimson eyes meeting in the void, and his consciousness, tired from the day, gradually sank.

Qi Si drowsily fell asleep, and before he could dream, he was awakened by a piercing alarm.

Huang Xiaofei held a flashlight in her right hand and an alarm clock in her left. The dazzling white light shone on her face, making her look like a ghost. “Wake up, everyone. We’ve already wasted so much time on the first day. Let’s find more clues tonight.”

With her commotion, basically all the players in the ward woke up.

Qi Si turned over to face the window, while Sun Dekuan lay sprawled on the bed, motionless.

Huang Xiaofei gestured with her chin to Lu Zimo, who was already sitting up. “Hurry up and go. If you keep dawdling, I won’t take you—do you still want to clear the instance?”

These words seemed to be directed at the other two. Sun Dekuan ultimately didn’t dare to cross the Veteran Player and reluctantly sat up.

Qi Si turned over again, yawned listlessly, and watched Huang Xiaofei energetically lead the two men out the door.

It must be said that Huang Xiaofei indeed seemed very eager to lead everyone to te clearance, and she truly took the lead and acted personally… but there was a kind of beauty in her disregard for others’ lives.

The ward door closed before his eyes, but it was no longer perfectly sealed. A pale white light leaked into the room, shining diagonally towards the corner of the ward.

In the silence, the Crimson High Priest card trembled imperceptibly, like an illusion.

Qi Si couldn’t really sleep anymore. Wrapped in his quilt, he stared at the light through the crack in the door, his thoughts drifting, and all information related to Lin Chen jumped out from the depths of his memory.

—Could a single person’s faith trigger the effect of an Identity Card?

If it could be triggered, would the effect be strong or weak?

A breeze born from nothingness stirred his hair. A faint scent of mud and fish reached his nose. Qi Si yawned, sat up, and looked towards the white light.

In the corner of the room, there seemed to be a dark mass, like tangled hair or a human head.

Qi Si shook his right hand, and the chain wrapped around his wrist loosened a bit. The crimson crystal pendulum floated in the air, ready to be cast.

He got out of bed and walked step by step towards the black mass in the corner.

His ankle was suddenly gripped tightly by something cold, sharp nails digging into his flesh.

It was probably a human hand, yet it resembled a frog’s webbed foot. Long, slender fingers were encased in mucus, and the cold liquid injected into his bloodstream through the wound.

Qi Si looked down. A face covered by long hair emerged from under the bed, its neck twisted at a bizarre angle, looking up at him.

It was a woman in a pale blue surgical gown, her skin as pale as if soaked in water. Two yellow eyeballs protruded from the gaps in her hair, bulging like a frog’s, almost springing onto Qi Si’s face.

She was clearly not alive, and her intentions were hostile.

The Cursed Pendulum flew out from his sleeve, passing through the female ghost’s wrist, scattering black energy.

The female ghost cried out in pain, letting go of her claw.

Qi Si quickly pulled his ankle free and kicked the female ghost under the bed.

The Cursed Pendulum was more effective than he’d imagined. If he had encountered this situation in previous instances, he would probably have had to fight the female ghost in close quarters with a blade, or even activate the Pocket Watch of Fate. But now, he at least had a fighting chance… Qi Si estimated the power disparity in his mind, subtly dragging his injured right foot back to the wall.

Under the faint light leaking from the door crack, he could see a circle of seeping black blood remaining where the woman had grabbed his ankle, spreading visibly outwards.

Pain, accompanied by a numbing itch that weakened his legs, Qi Si leaned against the wall, controlling the Cursed Pendulum to entangle the female ghost’s neck.

The Cursed Pendulum moved like a venomous snake, about to tighten, but suddenly passed through a phantom, returning to Qi Si’s wrist as if unable to find its target.

The female ghost’s form flickered, then she collapsed to the ground as if all her strength had been drained, bloodstains seeping through her pale blue surgical gown and connecting into patches within seconds.

A pool of blood spread from beneath the female ghost’s abdomen, and crimson frogs hopped in all directions. Qi Si’s vision was filled with snowflake-like color blocks, and the booming croaking of frogs suddenly echoed in his mind.

His hemophobia was acting up again… Qi Si closed his eyes, retreating step by step, trying not to look at the pool of blood and the red frogs on the ground.

However, the female ghost’s blood seemed endless, quickly covering the entire ward floor and extending tendrils up the walls, climbing menacingly.

The world was full of blood, his eyes were full of blood, he felt dizzy, and his limbs were weak… Qi Si struggled on the verge of fainting, barely managing not to collapse instantly.

Opening the door and window after lights out indeed meant danger; it would let Ghosts into the ward.

Qi Si’s heart was cold. He rushed towards the door without stopping.

Huang Xiaofei hadn’t returned after leaving, which indicated that it was relatively safe outside; he couldn’t stay in the ward anymore. Once his hemophobia fully kicked in, he would be at their mercy… The door wasn’t tightly closed. Qi Si pushed it open easily.

In the corridor, the dim yellow lights flickered wildly as if there was a bad connection. Mud-laden moisture rushed towards him, and the vast white fog almost blurred the scene, making it impossible to see a step ahead.

The thick, dense fog was like steam from a weaving factory, or mist from a humidifier, making one feel a drowning sensation of suffocation.

“Ashes, ashes…”

“We all fall down…”

“Abortions, abortions…”

“Frogs crowded the pond…”

A ghostly, ethereal song drifted from the depths of the corridor, yet also seemed to be right beside his ear.

Qi Si’s eyelids twitched wildly. He habitually recorded the song with his Recorder, but he no longer had the strength to move another step.

He looked in the direction of the singing and saw shadowy, bloated figures lined up, swaying and slowly walking towards him, as if strolling or parading.

At the head was a white-clad woman with long hair draped over her shoulders, half her face rotted away, and blood dripping from her wet body. The blood droplets that hit the ground turned into crimson frogs, hopping around her feet.

A black umbilical cord trailed behind her like a tail, drawing a long bloodline on the ground.

Pregnant women with swollen bellies followed her one after another, floating along. Their skin was uniformly pale; some were so decayed that white bones were exposed, while others still showed their features from when they were alive.

They were undoubtedly Ghosts, turning their heads to stare at Qi Si with a chilling, emotionless gaze that sent shivers down his spine.

Their dresses were covered in large bloodstains, which inexplicably reminded Qi Si of the bed he had seen being wheeled out of the operating room earlier that day.

“Massive hemorrhage…” “Death…”

Fragmented human voices murmured at the bottom of his memory, then were instantly drowned out by the thunderous croaking of frogs.

Qi Si fell forward, his vision consumed by darkness.