C53 — Nightmare Ward

Zhuo Yu’s heart skipped a beat.

Arthur?

If he had returned to a timeline from a hundred years ago, then the fact that Arthur was still here meant…

Arthur was already dead.

Zhuo Yu furrowed his brow. “Do you think Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping are being haunted by ghosts?”

Everyone’s expressions turned grim because two options laid before them. The first was to go rescue Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping. The second was to leave immediately, to avoid any further dangers.

Zhuo Yu observed the expressions of Du Zihao and Ruan Weiwei. It was clear that both of them wanted to leave right away.

Liu Jingyun, who had spent more time with Zhuo Yu, had become much more quick-witted. She blinked and immediately took on the role of the bad guy: “Those two are probably as good as gone. We can’t afford to stay here and risk our own safety, so let’s just leave them behind.”

“But…” Zhuo Yu looked conflicted. “I’m the host and also the leader of this team. How can I just abandon the exploration team here?”

Luo Musheng chimed in, adding to the pressure: “We should hurry and leave while the door is still open. Otherwise, we might not be able to get out!”

Seeing someone take the lead, Ruan Weiwei, seeming to agree, grabbed Zhuo Yu’s sleeve, and Du Zihao added, “That’s right. Given the situation, we should leave now. Otherwise, more people will be in danger. I was wondering why the ghost on the first floor disappeared, turns out it was with Liang Sheng.”

He seemed to have developed some resistance to the entity: “You all saw it too, even I had my wrist severed by that thing in one strike. We don’t stand a chance. Liang Sheng and the others may have already been killed.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Jingyun nodded repeatedly. “We didn’t really know them, we just happened to be in the same movie. If you want to save them, go ahead, but I’m not getting involved in this mess.”

Zhuo Yu looked around and saw no one standing by his side.

Du Zihao muttered inwardly, wondering why Zhuo Yu was acting so noble. They were just teammates they didn’t even know well. Was he really willing to risk his life for someone else?

“I can’t just leave them behind,” Zhuo Yu’s expression shifted several times, but he couldn’t bring himself to abandon them. He perfectly embodied his “good person” persona. “You all go ahead first. I have a skill that can help me escape if necessary. I’ll go take a look. If I can’t find them, I’ll catch up with you.”

Ruan Weiwei, who was beginning to care about this new confidant, didn’t want to play the bad guy but still tried to dissuade him: “Zhuo Yu, your health isn’t great. You should come with us.”

Zhuo Yu shook his head, his decision firm.

Seeing that he was determined to stay behind and search for the others, the group could only inwardly roll their eyes, muttering to themselves that he was walking down a path to his own demise.

“Then we’ll go first. If you find Liang Sheng, come out quickly,” Luo Musheng clapped Zhuo Yu on the shoulder. “You’re a real man.”

“No, I just can’t turn a blind eye,” Zhuo Yu shook his head and pushed them out. “Hurry up, or we’ll be too late.”

Ruan Weiwei looked back three times, but in the end, she left with Du Zihao. Zhuo Yu exchanged a look with Liu Jingyun as they watched the two leave. Now, the main camera had shifted its view to the playground outside the hospital, while only the chest camera on Zhuo Yu remained in the hospital.

Once they were out of the hospital, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief. “Finally out! That place was too terrifying.”

Ruan Weiwei’s eyes were full of tears as she said, “Yeah, if I had stayed any longer, I might’ve died in there.”

Du Zihao, noticing Ruan Weiwei’s concern for Zhuo Yu, felt inexplicably irritated. “Stop thinking about it. He saved me, but if he chooses to stay in there, that’s his problem.”

Ruan Weiwei nodded.

The four of them walked for a long time, nearly fifteen minutes, when Ruan Weiwei suddenly asked, “Was the playground this big when we came? I remember we got to the hospital pretty quickly.”

The so-called playground was now overtaken by thick bushes. If they walked a little further, they’d be in the woods. The hooting of owls and the occasional panting of stray animals made Ruan Weiwei feel uneasy.

“Something’s wrong,” Du Zihao also realized. “Do you two remember the way we came from?”

He turned to look at Liu Jingyun, but when he looked back, there was no one behind him. Liu Jingyun and Luo Musheng had disappeared without a trace.

A chill ran down his spine, and he called out for the two of them.

But all he got was the echo of his own voice, and the place felt eerily empty and desolate.

Even Du Zihao, who was usually quite brave, couldn’t help but feel his heart race. “This is bad. That female ghost is toying with us. Even if we leave the hospital, we’ll still be stuck in this maze.”

Ruan Weiwei looked like she was about to cry. “What do we do now?!”

Du Zihao suddenly had a realization. He pointed ahead, “Look, isn’t that our camp?”

Ruan Weiwei’s teammates were supposed to be in the camp, handling logistics, and one of them was an accomplice. Their base should be outside the barbed wire fence, so how could they have suddenly set up camp here, near the playground?

A terrifying thought crossed her mind.

Could it be that they were all actually in the playground from the start, but they had all been hallucinating, thinking they hadn’t yet entered the Saint Rebecca area?

“Let’s go check it out,” Du Zihao said, leading her toward the tent that was glowing faintly with light. Inside, the shadows seemed chaotic, and the canvas billowed in the wind, creating an eerie, unsettling atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Liu Jingyun and the others had used the space transporter given by their leader, and they had instantly returned to the mental hospital.

“Back again,” Zhuo Yu smiled, pretending not to understand. “You’re here to help me, right? I knew everyone wouldn’t give up on Liang Sheng.”

 

Liu Jingyun looked around in fear, unsure how she had suddenly returned to the hospital. She could only mutter vaguely, “Uh, something like that, let’s go.”

They were playing for the audience.

Liu Jingyun’s tablet was already filled with countless comments.

[What the hell, what’s going on? How did the camera suddenly go back to the mental hospital? I thought they had escaped.]

[It can’t be that easy. Just find a baby bottle and they’re free?]

[I’m so scared. This is giving me hope only to take it away again.]

[Liang Sheng is saved!]

[Everyone’s really getting into this. What is Zhuo Yu planning now?]

This was why Zhuo Yu had given the tablet showing the live broadcast to Liu Jingyun—because the comments could potentially ruin his plan. He needed to keep this unpredictable factor close by. And when the Knight Flame team acted, they could deceive even the audience.

Some people who hadn’t seen Zhuo Yu’s films might have genuinely thought he was a good guy.

Zhuo Yu laughed inwardly. Finally, those two useless people were out of the hospital. Now, it was time for the Knight Flame Union to bring in more people.

Sorry, Ruan Weiwei, the situation has changed. I need to move ahead of you.

Liu Jingyun wore a helpless expression. “Weren’t you looking for Liang Sheng? Looks like we don’t have much of a choice. Let’s go.”

The real three-person team had reunited.

Zhuo Yu hesitated for a moment, but eventually pulled out his wireless pager.

“Mary, are you still there? Give me a signal.”

A deep silence.

“Mary, you’re not being very fair. We helped you find your child, and this is how you repay us? You never intended to let us leave!”

Suddenly, another piece of wall plaster fell, signaling Mary’s response.

The three of them took out their spirit board, knowing that Mary was willing to communicate again.

“Do you know where my two missing teammates are?”

The wooden pieces moved, and this time, Mary’s movements were exceptionally light. The pieces slowly slid to the number section, almost as if trying not to disturb something.

2 0 2 9.

Liang Sheng and the others were on the second floor!

Zhuo Yu paused, then took out the map from his inventory. The second floor was specifically used for patient surgeries. If any floor was filled with resentment and anger, it was probably the second floor.

2029…

The hydrotherapy room.

“What’s hydrotherapy?” Liu Jingyun leaned over, puzzled. “It sounds like beauty treatments?”

Zhuo Yu, who had once written a story on this kind of horror, knew the history all too well. He grimaced and said, “No. A doctor from the last century claimed to have witnessed a patient with mental illness fall into water and nearly drown, only to recover afterward. He invented hydrotherapy. It started with pouring ice-cold water on patients’ heads, then evolved to drowning them in water tanks, and eventually wrapping them in wet sheets to sweat for hours. Each change was more of a torture than the last.”

Liu Jingyun shuddered.

“Saint Rebecca did worse. They would soak patients in a fire-heated bathtub for hours, then dunk them into ice water. Not many survived. The concentration camps back then were a better place compared to Saint Rebecca.”

Zhuo Yu’s expression turned serious. “Let’s go, or Liang Sheng and the others really will die.”

 

However, Zhuo Yu didn’t think they would die that easily. He didn’t believe he had misjudged things.

Just as they were about to put away the spirit board and head for the second floor, the wooden pieces started to shake violently. They shot toward the letter section.

R U N!

Run!

Danger on the second floor.

The three of them didn’t heed Mary’s warning. After all, fortune favored the bold!

Liu Jingyun knew that getting a wheelchair up the stairs was extremely difficult. But after her training and her modified bloodline, she was strong enough to easily lift Zhuo Yu. Before Zhuo Yu could even react to being lifted off the ground, his good teammate had already hoisted him onto her shoulder.

“I… you…” Zhuo Yu was stunned.

Liu Jingyun carried her respected leader as if he were a sack of potatoes, moving swiftly.

Behind them, Luo Musheng burst out laughing, his nervous tension from earlier completely dissipating. He was laughing so hard that he almost dropped the camera.

He really wanted to record this moment and frame it when they returned to Knight Flame’s base.

The three of them quickly made their way to the second floor. Zhuo Yu’s stomach ached from being carried, and panting, he took out his wheelchair again and rested for a moment.

He really wanted to shout, ‘I can get up there by myself!’

But then he shook his head. “Never mind, let’s go.”

The atmosphere on the second floor was indeed abnormal. Liu Jingyun and Luo Musheng had been here before, but they hadn’t heard any sounds. They kept their hands to themselves, avoiding opening any patient rooms. Unfortunately, they missed Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping.

Room 2029 was at the far end of the corridor. Liu Jingyun, the strongest among them, kicked open the dilapidated door. She carried two curved blades, blessed with holy water, and rushed in like a gust of wind, hoping to catch any ghosts inside off guard.

However, the room was empty.

“…What’s going on?”

The room contained only an old, large bathtub and a nearly falling-apart hospital bed. There was no sign of Liang Sheng or Ye Zhiping.

The two were gone.

“Did that ghost lie to us?” Liu Jingyun asked suspiciously.

Luo Musheng felt a chill run down his spine. “I also don’t believe Liang Sheng and the others wouldn’t make any noise. What if… what if they’re still stuck in the previous timeline?”

The complete absence of anything—not even a ghost—was strange. Zhuo Yu suddenly remembered the voice from the walkie-talkie. Arthur wasn’t near Liang Sheng at all. He was back at the camp! He was using the camp’s walkie-talkie!

Du Zihao and Ruan Weiwei were in danger.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

Zhuo Yu immediately sent a private message.

[Guild Channel]

[Zhuo Yu]: Luo Musheng, I remember when we first met, you said you saw me kill a snake because of a special wristwatch you had.

[Luo Musheng]: Great idea! I’ll check it now.

The watch on Luo Musheng’s wrist had a function—by turning the dial, he could see what had happened in the recent past. It hadn’t been useful in the second copy, and he’d almost forgotten about it.

But such a powerful investigative tool came with limits: a total of 15 uses in its lifetime.

Still, for the sake of expanding the Knight Flame team, Luo Musheng didn’t hesitate.

He twisted the dial to 12:59.

Ding.

The scene before him shifted.

Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping had been cut off from the rest of the team by boiling, tar-like sludge that filled the hallways. In order to avoid getting caught in it, they had no choice but to run upstairs. But the second floor was just as chaotic as the first. With no other option, they ducked into room 2029.

That was when the timeline around them fractured.

In an instant, the two of them were transported back a hundred years into the past—right into the hydrotherapy room. A nurse was just finishing soaking the sheets when she turned and saw them appear, wearing strange clothes.

She immediately thought they were escaped patients.

The hydrotherapy room didn’t have window bars, after all.

Several security guards rushed in and forcefully pinned the two of them down.

Naturally, Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping fought back. But their abilities were very different from Liu Jingyun’s, who was trained for close-quarters combat.

Luo Musheng watched, heart pounding, as Liang Sheng pulled out a sniper rifle —but there wasn’t even time to use it. Ye Zhiping wasn’t a combatant either—he was a full support type.

There were at least twenty hospital staff in that room.

Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping had, unfortunately, walked right into the lion’s den.

Ye Zhiping was the first to realize the severity of the situation. He blocked the exit while Liang Sheng locked the hydrotherapy room door behind them, ready to face the twenty-to-two odds.

They had to take out everyone in the room. If even one person escaped to report them, reinforcements would be on the way, and they’d be hunted down endlessly.

Though Liang Sheng couldn’t use his gun, his hand-to-hand combat was top-notch. Luo Musheng recognized it instantly—it was either armed police or military-grade technique. Against early 20th-century security staff, he was like a tank.

And with Ye Zhiping supporting him—healing his injuries and debuffing the enemies—the fight was intense and neck-and-neck.

Luo Musheng couldn’t tell exactly what Ye Zhiping was doing, but every time he waved his hand, the guards would suddenly grimace in pain, and Liang Sheng’s strikes would become even more powerful.

The two of them fought against over twenty people for more than an hour.

Luckily, there were no pagers or surveillance systems back then. And since hydrotherapy sessions were long and full of screams and thrashing, no one outside thought anything of the chaos coming from the room.

Liang Sheng had already made up his mind: knock everyone out.

Even if it meant using more force than usual, they needed time to escape. If any one of those guards cried for help, they’d be surrounded in minutes.

There were a bunch of people lying on the ground, all of them were knocked unconscious by Liang Sheng. Those who were not unconscious kept groaning.

But Liang Sheng was also extremely tired and almost collapsed; his fists were broken and blood was dripping down.

It was almost time, Luo Musheng dared not miss any details. He didn’t understand why these two people didn’t return to reality as time changed like Zhuo Yu did.

Zhuo Yu, who had been observing his teammates, saw Luo Musheng turned pale with horror.

“Let’s go!”

Luo Musheng quickly turned off the props, threw the camera out the door, and tried to run away with the two of them.

But it was too late.

The door slammed shut, and a dazzling white light almost blinded the three people who had adapted to the darkness. The sound of the wind was no longer in their ears, instead the cries of pain from many people surrounded them.

 

Time was messed up again.

“It’s over!”

Luo Musheng could only stare at the door because he knew that the dean was about to come in and was only about ten steps away.

And the dean also brought…

Liang Sheng and the other man, who had knocked over a lot of things, were so frightened by the entry of Zhuo Yu and the others that they stopped and looked at them in disbelief.

“Why are you here?” Ye Zhiping’s ordinary face was splattered with blood, which was actually a bit scary.

Liang Sheng frowned and punched the security guard into the bathtub.

“Stop talking and run!”

Luo Musheng picked up a chair and wanted to smash the window, but the sound of the door opening was faster.

A blond man in leather clothes looked at everything in front of him in surprise, then cast his gaze towards Zhuo Yu and others, and behind him, there were more security guards. They gathered around an operating table, on which was Arthur, who was tied up tightly.

In a flash, Zhuo Yu understood.

No wonder there were so many people in this hydrotherapy room, because they were preparing to operate on Arthur. They probably wanted to use hydrotherapy to make him exhausted before starting. According to what the veteran Rex said, he should be in the day when Arthur just entered Santa Rebecca!

Even in such a chaotic situation, the dean remained calm and composed: “Hmm? We have some uninvited guests here.”

He didn’t even look at the injured subordinate, but stared at Zhuo Yu like a hawk. The interest in his eyes almost burned Zhuo Yu.

Finished.

Luo Musheng slapped his head. He just saw on his watch that the space over here seemed unstable and even the scenery was distorted. The dean outside the door led a group of people over. If they didn’t leave in time, they would probably be stuck here.

The worst happened.

“What are you still standing there for?” the dean said in a cold tone.

The security guards who were guarding Arthur behind him surrounded the actors. Luo Musheng immediately smashed the window and pushed Liu Jingyun down.

Liu Jingyun wasn’t on guard against her teammates at all and fell down unexpectedly. She couldn’t understand Luo Musheng’s behavior at all.

Luo Musheng could only say sorry in his heart.

He knew that Liu Jingyun had a chance to kill everyone here, but if that happened, the elderly dean they saw would no longer exist. He couldn’t take the risk to change the world line. It would be troublesome if he was trapped here forever!

“Find a chance to save us!” Luo Musheng said this and was held down by security.

Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping had consumed too much energy and were at the end of their strength. Only Zhuo Yu was left. If he didn’t use the Dragon Wings, he could be said to have no attack power at all.

The current scene could no longer be described as chaotic.

Zhuo Yu couldn’t have imagined that things could get even more chaotic.

Arthur, who was ignored by everyone, suddenly jumped up, broke the restraints, picked up the glass fragments on the ground and slashed at the people around him.

In just a few seconds, blood spurted from the throats of the three security guards, covering the ceiling of the spa room with a layer of blood. The nurse who escaped slowly was also not spared. The others finally reacted and knocked Arthur down with electric batons.

Even so, several people died.

Zhuo Yu was surprised. Wasn’t this what the old soldier was talking about? ! Arthur had just entered St. Peter’s, but he killed many people during surgery, which made the hospital extremely wary.

Dean Brandt finally frowned. It didn’t matter if the patient died, but it would be a big trouble if the medical staff died. This kind of accident must be suppressed. He looked at Zhuo Yu and his brows relaxed.

He took the initiative to help Zhuo Yu up.

“The operation cannot be completed. Put the patient in lead balls and shackles and take him to the top floor for imprisonment.”

Half of the security guards carried Arthur and dragged him away, while the other half stayed to deal with Liang Sheng and others.

Zhuo Yu thought, no wonder Arthur wanted to kill him as soon as his killer personality came out, because he had seen him before, and the dean behaved very intimately with him, so he thought they were in the same group!

“Let me entertain our guests.” The blond man glanced at the ground and said, “Take the injured and have them treated. No one should mention what happened today again.”

Luo Musheng and others were handcuffed, while Zhuo Yu was pulled into the arms of the dean.

Zhuo Yu actually felt that this man exercised regularly, his muscles were just hidden under his clothes and couldn’t be seen. Moreover, he and Arthur were brothers and had similar physiques, so he actually picked him up with one hand.

“What are you going to do?” Zhuo Yu didn’t act rashly, because if the dean was interested in him, he would have a chance to rescue his teammates.

The dean snorted and didn’t answer. He just pulled a white coat over Zhuo Yu.

He carried Zhuo Yu all the way to the office. The nurses passing by saw that there was a covered person in the dean’s arms, so they all looked away and pretended not to see anything and walked away.

After experiencing a series of confusing events, Zhuo Yu took the opportunity to sort out his thoughts.

Now there are were problems before him.

First, how to rescue his teammates? It was definitely unrealistic to rely on Liu Jingyun alone.

 

Second, this time disorder should be conditional. It couldn’t just pull people away casually. This was probably a difficult problem that the system had given them. The problem had to be solved, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to deal with various sudden dangers.

Third, what on earth was this per-verted dean going to do to him?

Zhuo Yu observed Brandt through the gap in his clothes.

He was indeed a well-behaved young man. Compared with the normal youthful Arthur, Brandt was more like a devil who wrapped all his desires and thoughts under a perfect outer skin. The two looked very similar, but also different.

If Arthur was handsome, then Brandt was sharp.

No matter how hard he tried to hide it, the ambition and sharpness hidden beneath his skin could be seen through his deep blue pupils.

This was why Zhuo Yu felt that he was a beast in human clothing at first sight.

The sound of the door closing was heard, and Zhuo Yu’s white coat was torn off. He was placed on the desk by the dean, who leaned his arms on his sides and put his handsome face close to Zhuo Yu’s cheek.

Zhuo Yu felt that this position was very bad.

Brandt looked at the young man in front of him with admiration.

Black hair, black eyes, Asian—an attractive appearance that even he, as an American, could appreciate.

As a doctor, he could immediately tell that the other person was disabled.

Perfect.

How could someone so perfectly aligned with his preferences exist in this world?

Zhuo Yu looked at the director’s expression—one that looked as if he wanted to devour him—and suddenly understood.

At this point in the timeline, there were no psychologists around to coin terms like “xeno-philia” or “devotee fetish.” Could it be that the director was actually into him?

Zhuo Yu’s gaze instantly turned complicated, as if at a loss for words.

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