“Knock, knock, knock!”
“Knock, knock, knock!”
…
After knocking persistently for five minutes, the door finally swung open. George, sitting behind the desk in his usual spot, looked like a perpetually desk-bound existence. Yu Xiao couldn’t help but worry about his lower back.
“Good morning~” Yu Xiao greeted him cheerfully. “Meeting again, Dr. George~!”
George’s pale complexion gradually turned blue, as if Yu Xiao’s presence was an unbearable torment.
“Miss,” George’s voice lacked emotion, “please come in.”
Yu Xiao walked in, dragging a chair across the room with a sense of familiarity, as if she were coming home. She positioned herself opposite George, as if it were part of their routine.
“My dear Dr. George, I have a question for you. Mind answering it?” Yu Xiao asked with a playful smile.
George maintained his stoic expression. “Go ahead.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“…” George’s face contorted, veins pulsating in the hand clutching the pen, as if he were forcibly holding something back. “Are you sure you want to ask that?”
“Chuckle!” Yu Xiao covered her mouth, letting out a ladylike laugh. “I’m just teasing, Dr. George. You’re so serious.”
Snap! The pen in George’s hand broke.
“Oh dear.” Yu Xiao appeared genuinely surprised. “Such a shame. Don’t you like this pen?”
George set the broken pen down, his gaze icy as he locked eyes with Yu Xiao. “Miss, if you don’t have anything important, please leave.”
A flicker of excitement lit up Yu Xiao’s face as she approached, a grin playing on her lips. “I’ve got something going on, and I do have a question for you, Dr. George. We’ve located the Dean’s office.”
“Really?” George’s temper subsided, replaced by a calm demeanour. He crossed his hands on his lap, instantly at ease.
“The Dean’s office is on the first floor!” Yu Xiao beamed with excitement. “If everything goes as planned, we might be out of here tonight.”
“Is that so?” George replied politely. “Congratulations to you three.”
“I knew you’d be happy for me!” Yu Xiao hesitated, a lingering expression suggesting there was more on her mind.
“Is there something else you want to say?” George, his lips curved in a pleasant smile, encouraged, “Feel free to speak; I’m your attending physician, and you can tell me anything.”
With a pause, Yu Xiao gathered her thoughts. “Well, then, I’ll say it. After these days of being together, Dr. George, I truly feel you’re a handsome gentleman. As I’m about to leave, I really don’t want to part with you. If possible, could you come and see me off tonight?”
George fell silent, not because of any discomfort with Yu Xiao’s request but because of his aversion to her tone.
“Can’t you even grant this small request?” Disappointment etched across Yu Xiao’s face. “I thought we were friends.”
Motivated by Yu Xiao’s statement, George decided he would personally check on her tonight to witness her death.
“Alright,” George said, masking his true feelings with a promise. “I promise you.”
*
*
“I think George is actually not that bad.” Zhou Xiao Zhen hesitated, then added, “Bloody good, in fact. Even though he’s into some disgusting stuff and enjoys messing with people, overall, he’s alright. I mean, look at him – easy on the eyes and he’s never actively harmed anyone.” Zhou Xiao Zhen spoke highly of George, “Honestly, if I kick the bucket one day, I’d haunt his door every darn day.’
Zhao Lan, struggling to comprehend the teenage girl’s thoughts, questioned, “Have you been browsing the Fourth Institute forum? George is the attending doctor, equivalent to an NPC guide. Of course, he won’t harm anyone because the rules don’t allow it.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen’s expression shifted to weariness. “Sigh, I know. I’m just blabbering, mainly to ease my emotions. After all, tonight… I’m pretty nervous.”
Amidst their dinner, the three of them sat in solitude, the only ones in the hospital adhering to specific meal times and engaged in conversation. Other patients, having taken their medication, would retreat to their rooms early, never to reappear.
“I’m sick and tired of this place, we can only eat fruits and bread every day,” Zhou Xiao Zhen complained, breaking a piece of bread out of boredom. “And there’s that nosy Auntie with gaping jaws peeping at me.”
Yu Xiao turned around, and the door behind her, where the nurse had been standing, trembled slightly. A hand failed to retreat in time, caught outside the door. The hand twitched, realising it couldn’t get in, and the door opened a crack before swiftly pulling back inside.
“Ignore them; tonight, I’ll help you vent,” Yu Xiao assured.
“Let’s go,” Zhao Lan stood up and declared, “I need to catch some sleep, I didn’t get enough rest last night, and I’m dead tired.” sea??h thё N?velFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
The three staggered back to the ward. Qiao Qiao, playing on the bed, quickly laid down, covering her head with a blanket. Yu Xiao didn’t bother with her; she needed to rest as much as possible.
In the darkness, Yu Xiao woke up abruptly to the loud blaring of the alarm clock. Zhao Lan, hidden in the shadows, silenced the intrusive noise and whispered, “Get it together; tonight is only for victory, not defeat.”
Holding the mahjong box like a cherished secret, Zhou Xiao Zhen, her nerves tingling, reassured, “Don’t fret; I’ll own the night, no doubt.”
The hospital room fell into an eerie silence. A deliberate footsteps echoed down the corridor, prompting Yu Xiao to close her eyes, focusing her senses on the approaching presence.
The door creaked open, and measured footsteps drew closer, surrounding Yu Xiao’s bedside.
Three nurses, their faces hidden in the dim light, observed the motionless figure on the bed. With practised efficiency, they uncovered the blanket, ready to transfer the patient. Suddenly, Yu Xiao’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up.
The trio of nurses, momentarily caught off guard, quickly recovered, their professionalism unyielding as they extended their grasp.
Yu Xiao exclaimed, “Precious!”
A nearby blanket spontaneously moved, covering the nurse with the most daring hairstyle. Emerging from beneath this makeshift curtain, Zhou Xiao Zhen appeared, holding the mahjong box, declaring, “In this long night, let the mahjong games begin!”
The three nurses flinched, settling on the floor beside Zhou Xiao Zhen. She opened the mahjong box, and ivory-like tiles cascaded onto the linoleum. Skillfully, the three ghosts began shuffling, creating a lively “hualah hualah” sound that filled the ward.
(哗啦哗啦: hualah hualah – Onomatopoeia for the sound of shuffling mahjong tiles.)
Amidst this symphony of mahjong, Zhou Xiao Zhen, took a moment to direct the pair, “You two, get moving. I’ll handle things here!”
Yu Xiao and Zhao Lan promptly stood up and pushed a hospital bed towards the operating room door. Zhao Lan continuously checked the time, eventually saying, “It’s about time. Let’s begin.”
“Alright.” Yu Xiao nodded and took a bundle of talismans out of her pocket. With her other hand, she pounded on the operating room door.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
“You fat pig!” Yu Xiao shouted, “Come out and meet your butcher!”
Beside her, Zhao Lan shuddered briefly. Smiley was more scarier than Precious.
The door swung open, and Dr. Fat Pig, while looking at the pair, visibly hesitated. Then, with a fierce expression, he let out an angry roar, furious that these two morsels dared to provoke him.
Unbeknownst to him, as he opened his mouth, Yu Xiao swiftly thrust something inside.
Dr. Fat Pig froze, contemplating the dry, unpleasant object in his mouth.
“Boom!!!”
A brilliant thunderbolt materialised at the entrance of the operating room, its intense flash causing even Yu Xiao and Zhao Lan to squint. The deafening roar echoed through the corridor, causing the entire hospital to tremble.
A Thunder Striking Talisman was forcefully crammed into his mouth, and Yu Xiao witnessed the aftermath as lightning crackled and dissipated. The chubby figure of Dr. Fat Pig emerged, charred and toothless, reeling from the explosive impact. Trying to regain composure, he eventually succumbed and toppled down with black smoke spiralling from his mouth.
Anticipating the fallout, Zhao Lan swiftly wheeled in a hospital bed, and Dr. Fat Pig landed perfectly on it.
Without hesitation, Yu Xiao entered the operating room. A short while later, she reappeared, her left hand clutching a bundle of straps and her right hand wielding a chainsaw.
Silently and efficiently, without exchanging words, they bound Dr. Fat Pig to the bed, the familiar thunderous footsteps echoing in the corridor. Yu Xiao shot a glance at Zhao Lan, cautioning, “Be careful!”
Zhao Lan chuckled in response, “Don’t worry. Childhood friends always vouched for my reliability.”
As striped-gowned patients flooded the corridor, Yu Xiao retreated into the operating room. Meanwhile, Zhao Lan, pushing the bed, merged with the crowd, disappearing behind the mottled walls.
Once the last patient vanished, Yu Xiao emerged from the operating room.
She switched on the chainsaw, its menacing hum reverberating down the corridor. Yu Xiao casually walked down the empty hallway, carrying a talisman in one hand and the chainsaw in the other, displaying an air of indifference.
The door to the ward was forcefully kicked open, creating a loud “Bang!”
Startled, the three ghosts, engrossed in a game of mahjong, jumped in surprise. As Yu Xiao confidently entered with the chainsaw, their spectral gaze fixed on her.
Zhou Xiao Zhen’s face filled with joy. “Smiley!”
Approaching with a relaxed stride, Yu Xiao held the buzzing chainsaw above the heads of the three ghost nurses. She glanced at Zhou Xiao Zhen and commented, “Hurry up; I can’t wait to see their terror.”
Although the nurses’ expressions briefly twisted, they remained motionless. The nurse with an eccentric puffy hairstyle picked a tile with bloodshot eyes and exclaimed, “Little Chicken!”
Zhou Xiao Zhen burst into excitement. “Haha! I won!”