C54 — Nightmare Ward

“Though I don’t know how you managed to break into the hospital,”

Brandt loosened his tie, unbuttoning his shirt with pale, slender fingers. Then, with one knee against the edge of the desk, he spread Zhuo Yu’s legs apart.

“But your arrival was a very pleasant surprise.”

Zhuo Yu saw the expression reflected in Brandt’s dark blue eyes and immediately sensed danger. He tried to push Brandt away by the chest, but without proper leverage, he ended up getting pinned to the desk instead.

Oh dear God— was this NPC trying to play an office hook-up scene with him?! Please no?!

Damn, bro, your preference is seriously messed up.

Disgusted, Zhuo Yu gripped the dimensional shifter in his hand. It was the last one he had in reserve, but using it to ensure his own safety wasn’t a bad trade-off.

But before he could crush the orb, the scenery around him began to waver.

The timeline had reset.

Zhuo Yu looked around at the now dim and dilapidated surroundings and breathed a massive sigh of relief, rubbing the goosebumps off his arms caused by sheer disgust.

[Guild Channel]

Liu Jingyun: Captain!!! The timeline’s restored!

Luo Musheng: Thank god, I was about to get shackled.

Liu Jingyun: What were you even doing just now?! Why’d you push me out? I could’ve taken them all down!

Luo Musheng: Did you forget? The future you saw was of the aged hospital director performing a brain removal surgery. If you killed him now, the timeline would’ve been completely disrupted. We might’ve been trapped in a splintered parallel world, with no way back.

Liu Jingyun: Holy crap, that’s terrifying. Good thing you reacted fast—otherwise, I would’ve been the first to hack that old man up.

Zhuo Yu: Let’s hurry and go find Liang Sheng and the others…

Zhuo Yu summoned his dragon wings and flew quickly upstairs, soon hearing Luo Musheng and Liu Jingyun shouting. As it turned out, they’d also been taken up to the fifth floor.

It seemed the third and fourth floors housed ordinary patients, while the fifth was reserved for the truly dangerous ones.

After regrouping, they found Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping lying on the ground in one of the rooms.

Both were drenched in cold sweat, looking completely drained—they could barely move. Zhuo Yu took out two energy bars and passed them over, along with some water. Only after that did they start to recover.

“Phew…” Liang Sheng’s expression couldn’t have been more sour. He applied some medicine to his scraped knuckles, then nodded in thanks to Zhuo Yu.

Ye Zhiping glanced around. “Only you three? Where are the others?”

Liu Jingyun played the villain without missing a beat: “Hmph, Zhuo Yu found the child of that female ghost. She opened the front gate, and then…”

Ye Zhiping picked up the thread: “Then, seeing that Liang Sheng and I were missing, you guys had a dispute about whether to keep rescuing people or just leave. Right?”

Liang Sheng frowned. He knew they were all strangers, so not being rescued was understandable. But he hadn’t expected that Zhuo Yu, someone with a disability, would voluntarily return to such a dangerous place. That left a deep impression on him.

“Yeah, the others left,” Liu Jingyun shrugged, acting like she hadn’t been one of those who left. “You two are lucky we got here in time.”

If it weren’t for Zhuo Yu insisting on saving people, Liang Sheng and Ye Zhiping would’ve likely been caught by the director, tasered into unconsciousness, and locked away on the fifth floor—if not dead, then half-destroyed.

Zhuo Yu cut in: “I just thought of something bad. When I was using the intercom to talk to you guys, a ghost’s voice came through. But it wasn’t near either of you—it must’ve used the camp’s intercom. That means the ghost is in the camp. Du Zihao and Ruan Weiwei are in danger.”

“You’re still thinking about those two? They don’t even care about you, and you still want to save them?” Liu Jingyun seemed to be indignant on his behalf.

She glanced at Liang Sheng. Good job—Liang Sheng frowned again, likely feeling some resentment toward Du Zihao and his companion.

Zhuo Yu felt both amused and helpless inside. How had he not realized before that Liu Jingyun had such acting talent?

“You two decide—are we going to save them or not?” Zhuo Yu threw the tough decision at Liang Sheng, secretly observing his reaction.

Liang Sheng pondered for a moment and said in a low voice, “Let’s go. Let’s find them.”

Zhuo Yu’s eyes lit up.

This was exactly the kind of talent he had his eye on.

The five of them gathered together and returned to the main entrance on the first floor. Fortunately, the door hadn’t been closed. As they walked, they discussed the issue of time.

“This place is experiencing a time disruption, but there has to be a reason. Do any of you have a lead?” Zhuo Yu asked.

Ye Zhiping shook his head. “We got trapped in the spa room as soon as we entered. Didn’t even have time to think.”

Liang Sheng’s lips were tightly pursed, his sword-like eyebrows furrowed. “My ability isn’t suited for close-quarters combat. I’m a solo performer. Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter—revealing my power directly will save us a lot of trouble.”

He mimed gripping something with both hands, and a Barrett sniper rifle—known as the “King of Snipers”—materialized in them.

“As you can see, I’m a sniper. If we’re going to rescue people, I won’t go with you to the field—it’s too open there.” Liang Sheng rarely spoke this much. “I’ll climb the fire escape to the rooftop and provide support from up there.”

Zhuo Yu’s heart skipped a beat.

Knight Flame just wanted a front-line attacker, not another specialist!!!

A boxer, someone with heavy weapons, or someone who could lay down suppressive fire—any of those would work. But why another assassin? At this rate, even Liu Jingyun counted as their main combat power.

Oh well, a sniper wasn’t bad either—he could even be the ace of a military unit.

Zhuo Yu nodded. “Alright, keep watch from the rooftop. If we’re in danger, take the shot.”

Liang Sheng didn’t say another word and walked off on his own. In a horror movie scenario like this, going solo voluntarily took serious guts.

Ye Zhiping watched him go, then slowly strolled over to Zhuo Yu, sighing, “He’s really amazing. Under my support skills, he took down twenty guys on his own. I think he’d be a badass even without the sniper rifle.”

Although Ye Zhiping was praising Liang Sheng, his words carried another message—

He was a support.

Zhuo Yu wondered: was this guy subtly asking to be protected?

“Unlike me, I’ve got no real skills in the real world. Not athletic at all. My biggest hobby is reading.” Ye Zhiping clicked his tongue. “My favorite author was about to release an international edition of his works. I didn’t even get to buy it before I got dropped into this film set.”

Zhuo Yu’s heart gave a jolt. Before coming to the film set, he had just been preparing for that international edition release. He didn’t believe this was a coincidence.

Actually, from the beginning, Zhuo Yu had felt this guy seemed familiar—especially the way he talked: meticulous and chatty.

He looked just like someone he knew.

Zhuo Yu widened his almond-shaped eyes and stared unblinkingly at Ye Zhiping.

Liu Jingyun didn’t understand why Ye Zhiping suddenly changed the topic, but Luo Musheng caught on instantly—because he had done background research on Zhuo Yu. In the real world, Zhuo Yu was a very famous author. And Ye Zhiping’s comment definitely had an extra layer of meaning.

He immediately pulled Liu Jingyun and said, “I can’t hold it anymore, I need to take a leak. Come stand guard for me.”

Liu Jingyun had just raised her eyebrows disdainfully when she saw Luo Musheng winking at her.

The two immediately went into the nearby grove.

Seeing that Luo Musheng had taken the initiative to create a private space for him, Zhuo Yu stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point:

“What’s the name of the author you like?”

“Zhuo Yu,” Ye Zhiping replied with a smile.

“Old Qu!” Zhuo Yu looked at him in surprise. “It really is you!”

Qu Hongyi — his editor! And also his personal friend!

Ye Zhiping — no, Qu Hongyi — touched the edge of his neck, quickly lifted off a layer of skin, then pressed it back on.

“A human-skin mask?” Zhuo Yu showed a familiar smile. “I knew we’d meet again. I knew you’d come. Just seeing those dark circles under your eyes those days told me — you hadn’t been sleeping well for weeks, must’ve been having nightmares just like me.”

Qu Hongyi nodded. “Us meeting again in the same movie — must be fate. I always wanted to find a chance to talk to you alone, but never got the opportunity.”

“Well, here it is now!”

“Those two are still nearby, keep your voice down,” Qu Hongyi reminded.

Zhuo Yu smiled again. “Come on out, they’re one of us.”

Luo Musheng and Liu Jingyun casually emerged from the grove.

“Captain, what’s going on?” Liu Jingyun asked.

Zhuo Yu sighed. “Ran into an old friend — he used to be my editor, and he’s also a friend.”

He was at ease because he had already tricked Ruan Weiwei into giving up some intel, and had confirmed Qu Hongyi wasn’t with Desire Sea. Otherwise, even if they did recognize each other, he would’ve remained cautious.

As it stood, things couldn’t be better. His old friend was now a free agent.

“Nice to meet you. Just call me Old Qu,” said Qu Hongyi.

Liu Jingyun asked curiously, “Wait a second — the system clearly says your name is Ye Zhiping.”

Luo Musheng knocked her lightly on the head. “Dummy, actors can flame fire points to enter the real world. He must’ve gone to change his name, so the system re-registered him.”

Qu Hongyi nodded. “Smart one, friend. I rushed to change my name and redeem a human-skin mask right after surviving my first movie — I made enemies with the guild in that one.”

“What guild?” Zhuo Yu asked.

Qu Hongyi’s expression turned sour. “Soul Hunters — a guild that specializes in killing bosses.”

“What a coincidence,” Zhuo Yu exchanged a look with Liu Jingyun, “we’ve got beef with Soul Hunters too — we’ve even taken out quite a few of them.”

Having seen Qu Hongyi’s abilities, Luo Musheng quickly said, “That’s fate right there. You should join our Knight Flame Guild. Soul Hunters wouldn’t dare mess with us.”

That was exactly what Qu Hongyi had been waiting for — the two cunning guys instantly grew chummy, throwing arms around shoulders and shaking hands.

Luo Musheng shot a glance at Zhuo Yu as if to say, “See? Got us a new recruit.”

Zhuo Yu chuckled. Even if you didn’t say anything, I’d still keep Old Qu around!

He wasn’t worried about Liang Sheng on the rooftop seeing how close they were. Since he couldn’t hear anything, he’d just assume Ye Zhiping was clinging to a strong team, or maybe he was just a social butterfly trying to build connections.

Running into an old friend lifted Zhuo Yu’s mood immensely. Even cleaning up the mess left by Du Zihao and the others no longer felt like a hassle. After about ten minutes of walking, they saw the camp tents ahead.

“Wait, isn’t the camp supposed to be outside the sports field?” Liu Jingyun had sharp eyes. “I’ll go check it out first.”

She had redeemed the bloodline of an Assassin Master — as long as she wanted to, her presence could become nearly invisible. She swept out like a breeze and vanished from sight.

[Guild Channel]

Liu Jingyun: “There’s a big tent and a few small ones — seems like nobody’s inside?”

Zhuo Yu: “Be careful.”

Liu Jingyun: Wait, there’s movement…

Liu Jingyun: Oh my God! ! ! Come quickly! ! !

 

Zhuo Yu immediately spread his wings and flew towards the camp. He smelled a pungent smell of tar in mid-air. The heat in the air rose. He saw Liu Jingyun squatting on the branch of a big tree, looking at the tent in shock.

Zhuo Yu landed beside her, hooked a branch with his talons, and also looked into the tent.

He was shocked.

The tent seemed like a boiling asphalt pit. The cleaned ground was no longer filled with the production crew’s equipment, but a bubbling black pool. Countless human bodies were struggling in it, but the asphalt was wrapped around their bodies like a maggot on their tarsus.

The lowest melting point of asphalt was 54 degrees. These people were slowly being cooked!

Zhuo Yu thought of the ghost he met on the first floor. As soon as he appeared, the surroundings were filled with these substances symbolizing the water of hell. Did everyone in the hospital fall into other timelines and turn to attack the logistics staff on the playground?

“Where are Du Zihao and the others?”

Luo Musheng and Qu Hongyi arrived late. Seeing that the situation was urgent, Luo Musheng moved his watch again.

The view was distorted.

The night was dark, even the moonlight couldn’t reach the forest, and the sound of the wind made the people in the tent shiver.

“Where on earth did the host go?” The staff of the program group searched for a long time and were already frustrated: “This is really a ghost, let’s go quickly.”

“Are you crazy? How are you going to explain this to the police? And who’s going to pay you without the boss?” Another person scolded him, “The most important thing now is to find him!”

A man sitting in the main monitoring position glanced over and said coldly: “Shut up, it’s too noisy.”

The man had burgundy hair and fair skin, but his eyes were a little like inverted triangles, which ruined his beauty. “If you keep yelling, I’ll throw you in too.”

“Yes, Captain Mo Ze…”

The two men didn’t dare to bring bad luck, and ran to another tent with their heads lowered.

“Humph, isn’t it because he has a sister who is on good terms with Zhuo Yu that he was made the chief surveillance officer?” The two men cursed in a low voice: “We all work for Zhuo Yu, what’s so great about him?”

Mo Ze stroked his red hair and looked at himself in the mirror narcissistically for a while.

“I don’t know what’s going on with Weiwei, alas.” He frowned, put down the mirror, and began to coordinate the surveillance, arranging the footage shot by each person.

“It’s obviously in there? Can this Ouija board work? Find my baby?”

Mo Ze watched the footage inside and picked up the intercom: “Sister, come back with the children. The hospital may be a strange space that we won’t be able to find.”

“Ruan Weiwei is still inside.” A lazy female voice sounded.

“It’s okay, just let her monitor Zhuo Yu and the others. Her skills are so useful, what are you afraid of?”

“I’ll stay in there for a while. I suspect the captain of the other team is the host. The weaker the person is, the weirder it is for him to survive on the set. He might be some big shot. We have to be careful.” Mo Mingyan replied.

“Okay, be careful.”

Mo Ze continued to watch the screen and found that things were beginning to change. Zhuo Yu led the way to find the child mentioned by the female ghost, and black smoke suddenly filled the hall.

He could see the images from the speed cameras, a phantom broke through the chest of an angel in the sky and landed on the ground, as if it was startled.

At the same time, a large amount of tar-like substance was overflowing from the place where it was born. One by one, pure white angels began to weep black tears; they were terrifying in their fallen state, like devils cast from heaven. Mo Ze could only see the footprints that thing left behind on the ground.

“Sis! Run! There’s something here!” Mo Ze shouted into his walkie-talkie.

But the signal had already been cut off. Mo Mingyan was still wandering aimlessly through the empty hospital, completely unaware of the danger, as if she and Zhuo Yu’s group—who were about to encounter something terrible—existed in parallel timelines.

So all Mo Ze could do was watch helplessly as those tar-black footprints approached Zhuo Yu’s team. Du Zihao’s wrist was suddenly severed.

Just then, another translucent spirit appeared.

Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place—Mo Ze couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat for the expedition team.

Because the new ghost had come from the opposite direction, Zhuo Yu and the others hadn’t even realized there was a second ghost nearby. It slammed into Zhuo Yu, knocking him into the specimen room, causing the tar prints to miss their mark.

Mo Ze squinted to get a better look. The new ghost appeared to be a tall, strong man with a scar on his face.

Was he saving Zhuo Yu?

Suddenly, the scene distorted, the monitor glitched into static, and when it cleared up again, everything had changed. The hospital was no longer decayed—it had become magnificent and ornate, like it had returned to its peak a hundred years ago.

Mo Ze had no idea what had just happened. He stood up and ran out of the tent toward the hospital. But when he got there, the building still looked the same as before—ruined and decrepit.

His sister was standing at the entrance, seemingly bored from not finding anyone.

Mo Ze was just about to wave to her when he saw her face turn pale. She was running toward him at full speed, shouting:

“Run! Run!”

He finally heard her clearly—and saw what was chasing her.

A pair of rapidly approaching black footprints.

Wait… wasn’t that thing on Zhuo Yu’s side?! Mo Ze took off running.

He didn’t even think about it and bolted straight toward the camp. It was filled with NPCs—if they died, they died. At least they could stall the ghost.

After all, Sea of Desire only brought three people into this movie. They knew even with five players, they wouldn’t place high enough to win rewards, so their captain, Mo Mingyan, only brought two trusted subordinates, letting the weaker ones sit this one out to stay safe.

Mo Ze dove into a tent—but to his horror, the ground beneath him was bubbling like it was melting.

It was a trap!

That thing must’ve known he’d run here!

Thick tar stuck to his ankles, making it nearly impossible to move. Several staff members heard his screams and came to check on him—only to be grabbed one by one and dragged into the bubbling tar.

Using their bodies as stepping stones, Mo Ze yanked his feet free and ran.

The brother and sister were both scared out of their minds. Mo Mingyan had tried to resist inside the hospital but had nearly gotten her throat slit. The two of them ran desperately, abandoning the camp and heading toward the perimeter fence and barbed wire.

While running, Mo Ze pulled out a mirror—an expensive prop he had bought, which could reflect a ghost’s true form. It was essentially a modern-day demon-revealing mirror.

He held it behind him and glanced at it out of the corner of his eye.

The thing chasing them was a blond man with a terrifying expression, as if someone had interrupted him during something important. When Mo Ze looked again, the man’s form had changed—his head was now that of a snarling black ram, with hellish bat wings pouring out dark waters of the underworld.

 

Mo Ze blinked, and the image in the mirror turned into a blond ghost again.

The image was surprisingly unstable. Mo Ze had never seen such a situation before!

“Aren’t you and Zhuo Yu in a different space? How did it get out and chase you?” he asked his sister with a pale face.

“It appeared suddenly, and I don’t know why.” Mo Mingyan was also confused. Her long burgundy hair was flying, which was enough to prove how hard she ran.

Soon, the two disappeared into the woods.

And that footprint…

It stayed in the camp and started a bloody massacre.

After the playback was finished, Luo Musheng immediately turned off his watch and shouted, “There’s that thing!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling sound was heard.

Everyone looked towards the direction of the grass and saw a pair of barefoot footprints constantly crushing the grass, leaving behind charred marks. Its body was invisible and seemed to be dragging something.

Luo Musheng took a closer look.

It was Mo Ze who had been tortured half to death!

The footprints stopped.

Zhuo Yu only felt an indescribable gaze on him, making him shudder all over.

At this moment, the clouds were blown away by the strong wind, and the moonlight finally spread to the earth and also shone on the body of this monster. Everyone saw a half-human, half-goat creature dragging Mo Ze, its mouth full of sharp teeth and blood. It turned out that the wounds all over Mo Ze’s body were caused by it biting again and again!

It was eating humans alive.

Only a corner of the moonlight was visible, and it was soon covered by thick clouds. The monster disappeared from everyone’s sight again, leaving only footprints on the ground.

“Zhuo…Zhuo Yu…”

“Zhuo Yu!”

The monster suddenly went crazy, Mo Ze’s arm flew out in an instant, and a small mirror fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

[Actor Mo Ze has died. Died by dismemberment. 】

Luo Musheng immediately bent down to pick up the mirror. His action was like a signal that angered the monster, and the black footprints moved again.

Luo Musheng used all his strength to throw the mirror towards Zhuo Yu, and then pulled out the stun gun to block it, but the scalding asphalt poured on his arm, immediately wrapping up his hand and weapon.

Zhuo Yu caught the mirror and knew that Luo Musheng must have seen something in the backflow of the watch. This thing must be a prop, so he shone it towards the monster.

The scene inside made his eyes widen.

Brandt? ? ?

Brandt’s handsome and sharp face kept flashing back and entangling with the image of the half-man, half-goat. His arrogant and calm expression also showed extreme pain, as if he was enduring horrible torture.

Why did Brandt become like this? !

Zhuo Yu understood that the voice wasn’t Arthur’s at all, but a trap set by Brandt to lure him in!

Luo Musheng could no longer resist. Just as he felt the heat from the monster’s mouth, a shocking gunshot rang in his ears.

Liang Sheng took action.

Luo Musheng’s eardrums were about to be pierced, and he could only feel a large amount of steam bursting out. The monster twisted and struggled frantically, and instantly gave up its prey and ran towards the dense woods.

He was in a trance for a few seconds and felt water dripping down his body.

This sniper fired holy water bullets.

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