The black tentacles gently tapped the sleeping boy in their embrace. A cold, desolate moon hung outside the window, casting its light through the glass onto a room filled with monkey dolls.
At that moment, a monkey doll at the foot of the bed, which had been banging on an imaginary drum, suddenly sat up. Its eyes glowed red, and it opened its mouth...
Unexpectedly, before it could even let out an “ah,” a black tentacle suddenly yanked it back to the ground.
“Shut up, Yan Yan is sleeping,” the monster's voice floated down from the bed.
The monkey doll on the floor maintained a terrified expression, its mouth agape, and its head was severed at the neck, revealing white cotton stuffing.
Jiang Yan dreamed that he was taking Yu Xiu back to his grandmother’s house.
His grandmother lived in a small county, and they needed to transfer to a bus along the way. Jiang Yan was carsick, so he leaned against Yu Xiu’s shoulder, dozing off in a daze.
Out of nowhere, the bus suddenly announced it could not proceed; the driver stopped midway and let everyone off.
Dizzy, Jiang Yan held Yu Xiu’s hand as he got off the bus, only to realize where they were—far in the distance was the sea, and along the shore stood layer upon layer of people, densely packed as if they were holding some kind of ceremony.
In the center of the crowd stood a massive lighthouse with gas lamps lit atop it. Under the exaggerated light and shadows, the people’s faces were painted in vibrant colors, like they had just been drawn with a brush.
At that moment, a woman in a crimson floral qipao rushed out of the crowd, holding a small child, and ran straight towards Jiang Yan.
Tears smeared her makeup, and she cried out with a twisted face, filled with desperation, “69! 69! 69!!”
In that instant, everyone’s necks turned with a “crack” to look at Jiang Yan. Under the bizarre lighting, their faces instantly transformed into pale, haphazard paper-like figures. A piercing scream suddenly echoed from somewhere in the crowd.
Jiang Yan woke up, startled by the scream.
He opened his eyes but didn’t see his “husband”; the large room was empty except for him.
Jiang Yan quickly sat up in bed, and at that moment, the horrifying screams ceased.
Bathed in moonlight, Jiang Yan saw a long-haired woman sitting by the window, combing her hair.
Her black hair flowed down to her feet, obscuring her face. She held a wooden comb, brushing her hair slowly, swaying gently to the “buzzing” sound of the broadcast.
Jiang Yan felt a chill run down his back. “Who… are you?”
The woman did not respond, continuing to comb her hair, lost in her own world.
“Buzz… buzz…”
In the vast, silent hospital, the broadcast echoed again: “Buzz… Hospital regulations prohibit any employees or patients from being active outside their rooms after midnight… Violators will be held responsible for the consequences.”
The broadcast abruptly stopped, and the woman instantly ceased her combing.
She slowly stood up, her hair swaying in front of her as she walked towards Jiang Yan. It was then that Jiang Yan noticed she was barefoot.
One of her feet was dislocated at the ankle, and the entire foot flipped around, like a broken shoe insole, barely attached to her ankle by flesh.
Seeing the woman approaching him, Jiang Yan felt a surge of panic. He tried to calm himself: “You… who are you?”
The woman didn’t speak; she limped directly toward the bed...
Jiang Yan sat frozen on the bed, not because he was calm, but because he understood that if this woman truly wanted to do something to him, he couldn’t escape.
Unexpectedly, the woman stood by the bed for a moment, hunched over as if carefully scrutinizing Jiang Yan. In the end, she did nothing and instead turned and limped out of the room.
Jiang Yan: “…”
Jiang Yan watched the woman leave the room, and she kindly closed the door behind her.
Once again, the room was left with only Jiang Yan and a pile of monkey dolls.
Jiang Yan sat on the bed for a while, finding nothing unusual, so he prepared to continue sleeping.
Just as he turned over and covered himself with the blanket, a series of screams echoed from outside the room.
“Let me go—let me go—!”
The sound of heavy objects being dragged came from the hallway, where a man was desperately struggling.
“You need treatment now.”
“No! I don’t need it! I don’t need it! I’m not sick!”
“You are sick; you need treatment now!”
“Let me go! Help—!”
Soon, the man’s voice faded into the distance.
Jiang Yan frowned. Weren’t they saying that no employees or patients were allowed to be active in the hospital?
Jiang Yan pondered this when suddenly a siren blared outside.
The hospital’s broadcast crackled again: “Attention all patients and staff! Attention all patients and staff! The enemy’s second bombing location is in the city center; this hospital is absolutely safe. Please do not panic!”
The piercing wail of the air raid siren, along with the “buzzing” interference of the hospital broadcast, left people feeling dizzy.
What?
Bombing? What bombing?
How could there be bombing?!
Suddenly, brilliant, colorful lights illuminated outside the window.
Jiang Yan hurriedly got out of bed to pull the curtains shut. However, as he reached the bedside, the scene outside left him stunned—
This was his first time seeing the outside of the hospital. He had originally thought that this hospital should be situated in a bustling area.
But to his surprise, outside the hospital lay a desolate graveyard, with tombstones standing sorrowfully in rows, and at the end of the graveyard was an endless sea.
Boundless desolation, boundless fear.
In the center of the graveyard stood a lighthouse, and the light shining into Jiang Yan’s room came from this lighthouse.
At that moment, a group of people gathered beneath the lighthouse—some wearing medical uniforms, others in hospital gowns—forming layers as they stood around the lighthouse, looking up at the sky with their arms outstretched, murmuring incantations, as if conducting some kind of ritual.
Jiang Yan was astonished by the scene before him. Wasn’t this the same as his dream?
He pulled the curtains and hid behind them, quietly observing the situation outside. The group of people remained still, arms raised and gazing up at the sky.
The colorful lights illuminated their faces, turning their noses a pale green and casting various shades of red and yellow onto their faces, creating a comical and grotesque scene.
The endless sea quietly witnessed this strange ritual.
At that moment, a group of soldiers in green military uniforms and armed with guns suddenly appeared from somewhere. Their equipment seemed outdated, almost as if they had stepped out of a war drama featuring Japanese soldiers from the Anti-Japanese War.
...
The group entered the cemetery and immediately opened fire on the crowd without saying a word.
In an instant, the sounds of gunfire and screams echoed throughout the cemetery.
“You! You will pay for this!”
“Our god will eventually come! God will punish you! You beasts!”
“God, god... our god—”
Some attempted to resist, but in the face of firearms, fists were utterly powerless.
Compared to fists, a bullet can penetrate a skull in just a second.
Soon, the last patient fell, their bodies piling on top of one another, with some who were not yet fully dead still struggling on the ground.
The soldiers used bayonets to stab each one, blood staining the graves red, and the cemetery fell into a heavy silence once more.
Jiang Yan was shocked by the scene before him!
He stood dazed by the window, witnessing this inexplicable and inhumane massacre.
A soldier in the cemetery looked up, and Jiang Yan hurriedly hid himself behind the curtains.
Looking down, he saw a photo at his feet, the same black-and-white photo he had picked up before dinner.
He bent down to pick up the photo, and upon seeing it, he was startled—it was a picture of him and Yu Xiu standing under a lighthouse by the sea, with a row of people behind them wearing crudely painted, grotesque paper masks!
The date was written below the photo—1942.
Jiang Yan suddenly snapped back to reality!
“Did Yan Yan have a nightmare?” Beneath him was his "husband's" soft body.
The black tentacles tightened their grip around Jiang Yan's waist, and the masked face affectionately pressed against his own: “What did Yan Yan dream about?”
Jiang Yan opened his eyes, slightly confused, with misty blue eyes. His previously pale face was now flushed with a hint of color from a light sweat, making him look quite delectable.
“Am I... awake?” Jiang Yan felt dazed since he had also “awakened” once in his dream.
For the first time, Jiang Yan felt the tentacles around his waist were so reliable. He was sweating profusely from his temples and gasping for breath.
The black tentacles gently patted Jiang Yan's back, tenderly comforting his little wife, who was trembling from the nightmare.
“You're awake, don’t be afraid, Yan Yan; it was just a dream.” The monster whispered softly in his little wife's ear, who was still scared from the nightmare.
“What did Yan Yan dream about?”
Jiang Yan closed his eyes and silently said, “I forgot.”
---
The hospital rules stated that the infection and psychiatric patients could be active at night, but no one was allowed to move around after midnight.
Tao Shi returned to the ward with the bandaged boy and the buzz-cut man right at eleven fifty-nine.
They had just hastily walked around the main hospital building, familiarizing themselves with the hospital's layout, and had collected sufficient data for this instance using the “data card.”
From the information gathered by the data card, nothing really surprised them.
“Have you found Jiang Yan?” Tao Shi silently lit a cigarette.
“No.” The buzz-cut man replied, “I even specifically checked his room; the door was open, and no one was inside.”
“Well, it seems he was taken away and hidden by that monster.” Tao Shi exhaled a puff of smoke, “That monster is the director's son; he should have a place in this hospital. He must have taken Jiang Yan back to his lair.”
“Although we didn’t find Jiang Yan, I found this in the director's office.” As he spoke, the buzz-cut man pulled out a black-and-white photo.
Tao Shi took the photo and glanced at it; it showed Jiang Yan and another person, but the other person's face was scribbled over with black ink, and there was a line written below—My son will soon offer a gift to the gods.
Offer a gift to the gods?
Tao Shi frowned; what kind of god could there be in a hospital instance?
At that moment, Li Yun's voice hurriedly came through the earring: “Medical staff just dragged away two players from the adjacent and opposite rooms!”
“Did they violate any rules?” Tao Shi asked.
“No!” Li Yun tried to keep calm, “I heard them shouting as they were dragged away, insisting they hadn’t violated any rules.”
[What the hell! If they didn’t break any rules, why were they taken away?]
[I’m confused too! I had high hopes for Ren Rui since Jiang Yan was taken, but he was just taken away like that.]
[Jiang Yan is an NPC; Ren Rui is a player; the risks are different.]
[Shouldn’t the focus be on why they were taken away without breaking any rules? What now for this instance?]
[We can only watch the experts play.]
“Do you know where they were taken?” Tao Shi asked quietly.
“To the operating room.” Li Yun replied, “I heard the medical staff say they needed treatment and had to go to the operating room.”
The operating room.
Tao Shi took a gentle drag from his cigarette, the ember glowing and dimming in the dim hospital room: “Got it. Just stay calm; it should be fine now.”
He looked at the photo in his hand, where Jiang Yan was smiling brightly.
Offering a gift to the gods?
Tao Shi chuckled softly and turned to the two beside him: “Do you think he really has such good luck?”
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