Jinyang Xiehe Hospital

An Chengxi only felt her hand go empty. When she opened her eyes again, she found that Ye Yu and Gu Mingri beside her had disappeared. She was wearing a blue-and-white striped patient uniform, standing in a restroom.

In her hand was an additional rectangular card resembling a bank card. Several lines of text were written on it:
Identity: Patient.
5th Floor, Ward 32, Bed 106.
Illness: Terminal Illness.
Card Balance: 10,000.
Dean's Message: Let's work together to defeat the illness! Don't give up, there is always a better tomorrow waiting for you!

An Chengxi pondered: Is this the identity card issued by this Rule of Weirdness? Do Ye Yu and Gu Mingri also have this identity?

Sudden situations always occurred easily within a Rule of Weirdness. Let alone holding hands, even if two people were glued together, they would still be separated under the rules. An Chengxi was already used to this kind of thing. Therefore, she did not panic but calmly patted herself down. She then discovered that she only had her investigator's smart call watch on her wrist and a paper cutout in the shape of an arrow in her pants pocket.

Her clothes had been changed, and everything else on her was gone. This was another overbearing aspect of some Rules of Weirdness—forcing you into a role. A kinder one would leave you with some items, while a malicious one would truly leave you with nothing. It was said that an unlucky senior investigator had once experienced the joy of "running naked" because of this, which could be described as extremely malicious.

Regrettably, no matter how hard Gu Mingri, that gossip king, tried, he couldn't hear even a shred of news, so An Chengxi still didn't know who this senior was.

In short, in the world of Weirdness, external items could not be relied upon. The only thing investigators could trust was the supernatural abilities of their teammates.

And the paper cutout in An Chengxi's hand was a small prop given activity by Gu Mingri's supernatural ability, its main function being to point toward Gu Mingri. As long as she and Ye Yu followed the arrow's guidance, the three of them would soon be able to reunite.

As for the special watch of the investigation team, it was said to be mass-produced using the remains of a large-scale Weirdness, and its nature could be considered a Tier 1 Weirdness remnant. Therefore, not only could they exist in the world of Weirdness, but if they were lucky, they could also be used as communication tools.

An Chengxi pressed the small button on the side of the watch face. The upper half of the watch face containing the hands automatically popped up, revealing the part underneath. An Chengxi tried to send a message to Gu Mingri and Ye Yu.

An Chengxi: Are you there?

Seeing a circle constantly spinning before the message on the tiny screen, failing to send even after several minutes, An Chengxi rolled her eyes speechlessly.

Although the investigation team distributed these Tier 1 Weirdness remnants for free, this watch had always been nicknamed the "Little Retarded Phone Watch." Except for being able to act a bit in the outside world—like "Octopus, Octopus, this is Potato. Please respond if received!" "Potato received, Potato received, don't make a fuss, I'm having a BBQ" style of dialogue to show off in front of ignorant folk superhumans and display the prestige of government investigators—most of the time, it didn't work upon entering a Weirdness domain, and it failed even more when close to a powerful mobile Weirdness. But this Weirdness was only Tier 2! How could there be no signal? This was too useless, wasn't it?

Well, it was normal for the little retard to be unreliable. Fortunately, she had a backup plan.

An Chengxi looked in the direction the arrow pointed and walked straight out the door. She thought: I wonder if Ye Yu will be scared after suddenly losing contact with us. Although it's only Tier 2, I'd better find Little Flying Fish quickly.

Just as she lifted her foot, she suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and fatigue. At the same time, a startled cry came from outside the door.

"Holy shit!"

A young man, also wearing a patient uniform, was standing in front of the sink. He was startled by the woman coming out of the restroom stall and instinctively covered his lower body.

Someone was there? Why hadn't she heard any movement just now?

An Chengxi rubbed her temples. Because of his action, her gaze also instinctively lowered before she looked away.

Tsk, you didn't even take off your pants, what the hell are you covering? Is this man out of his mind... Wait, the background of this Weirdness domain couldn't be a mental hospital, could it? No, if that were the case, her illness should have been mental illness.

An Chengxi confirmed that the face of the man in front of her did not belong to any of the six missing residents. Treating him as an NPC generated by the Weirdness domain, she stepped out of the restroom.

Meanwhile, she could clearly feel that her physical condition was not very good—fatigued, dizzy, and weak. Recalling the words "terminal illness" on her identity card, An Chengxi knew she was currently "sick."

On the other side, the young man stared blankly at the departing woman. A few seconds later, he glanced at this unfamiliar restroom, then at the patient uniform he was wearing, and then retreated several steps in fright, stumbling away!

An Chengxi left the restroom and found that the arrow was bent, pointing south. Thus, she followed the guidance and quickly went downstairs, habitually observing everything along the way. As it turned out, this did not seem to be a mental hospital, but a normal hospital.

People were either receiving IV drips or lying down on the lobby chairs. The nurse at the service desk had a slightly tired face, and the janitor was sweeping in the corner with cleaning tools. The air was filled with the clamor of voices, and patients and doctors bustled about.

This place looked truly too normal, to the point that for a moment, An Chengxi thought the ability of the Tier 2 domain-type Weirdness in the park was merely teleportation, which could randomly teleport people to other places.

But she quickly realized this idea was wrong. If they had merely been teleported to a normal hospital, no matter how retarded her watch was, it couldn't possibly have no signal. Therefore, she was definitely inside a Weirdness domain right now!

Thinking of this, An Chengxi turned her steps and walked to a window. She attempted to push it open, only to find that the hospital windows had a hidden catch; at most, they could only be opened to a narrow slit. An Chengxi's movements paused, and she helplessly pressed her face against the window, trying hard to look outside. By a stroke of luck, the arrow in her hand seemed to be lifted by the wind, slipping from her grasp and flying straight down.

An Chengxi was stunned. Her gaze quickly followed the falling paper arrow, and she soon saw a familiar figure. Gu Mingri, also wearing a blue-and-white patient uniform, was standing on the lawn downstairs.

The paper arrow flew precisely in front of him. Gu Mingri reached out to catch it and immediately looked around. An Chengxi waved to signal him. Although they were quite far apart, they had managed to establish contact. Gu Mingri immediately gestured for her to come down quickly.

An Chengxi nodded, but she did not leave immediately. Instead, her gaze swept over the scenery outside. This hospital occupied a very large area. Aside from the comprehensive building she was currently in, she could vaguely see several other high-rise buildings outside. Between this building and the nearest one, a long carport, beautiful flower beds, and a large fountain spraying water were sandwiched below.

The flower beds and fountain were beautiful, but An Chengxi's brow furrowed slightly. Too big. This Weirdness domain was too big. Although Weirdnesses were infinitely varied, under normal circumstances, the larger the Weirdness domain, the stronger it was.

From the looks of it, this Weirdness domain definitely included the ground level where Gu Mingri was standing. If those distant buildings were also part of it... then its domain range even exceeded the nearest Tier 5 Weirdness factory!

Just as An Chengxi was pondering, someone suddenly walked over. "Is something troubling you?"

An Chengxi turned her head and saw a young nurse looking at her with concern. An Chengxi originally thought the other party had spoken because she saw her frowning. But when her peripheral vision caught the window that couldn't be opened wide, along with the tension in the nurse's eyes, she understood immediately.

An Chengxi took a few steps toward the nurse, moving away from the window. "Nothing is troubling me. I just saw that the fountain downstairs is very beautiful. I was just about to go down and take a look."

The young nurse nodded. "Indeed, our hospital's fountain is very beautiful, and there are fish inside. If you look at it more, it will put you in a good mood, which is also beneficial to your body."

An Chengxi bid farewell to the young nurse and took the escalator downstairs. The young nurse stood at the railing and looked down, making sure she went all the way to the first floor before returning to the other nurses, chirping about how she had just done a good deed.

"Scared me to death, I thought it was another... Fortunately, it wasn't."

"Don't worry, the windows are sealed like that. Even if they want to jump, they can't."

"That's hard to say. If someone is truly driven to a dead end, even sealed windows won't stop them. Didn't someone smash the window and jump directly before?"

The young nurses fell silent, and someone let out a sigh.

On the other side, An Chengxi had already reached the first floor. Gu Mingri was standing at the entrance. An Chengxi noticed that he, who was usually cheerful and laughing, was now frowning deeply. Nevertheless, An Chengxi still asked the question she cared about most first.

"How is it? Did Little Flying Fish come to find you?"

"We'll talk about that later. Come with me first."

Gu Mingri had a serious face. He grabbed An Chengxi's hand and walked out, pulling her to the flower bed outside the building, where the hospital's development planning map was located.

"Quick, look at this."

An Chengxi looked over in confusion. At first glance, she didn't see anything unusual on this black wooden board—a very normal layout map showing the comprehensive building, outpatient department, and so on. There were no terrifying ghost faces or crimson handprints. But when she looked a second time, her breath instantly hitched.

What terrified An Chengxi was none other than the black lead-cast characters at the very top of the layout map, which were the easiest to overlook: *Jinyang Xiehe Hospital Development Planning Map!*

Jinyang Xiehe Hospital?! The Tier 7 Weirdness that had been sealed for ten years, where countless investigators had died?!

An Chengxi lost her composure and suddenly took a step back, her weak body almost falling over.

*Splash!*

The fountain erupted with water. A middle-aged man wearing a blue-and-white patient uniform had fallen into it for some reason. A school of goldfish at the bottom of the pool was startled by him and slowly swam away, while the drenched and disheveled man quickly scrambled out of the pool. Ignoring his dripping body, he stared in terror at the development planning map in front of An Chengxi and Gu Mingri.

The next second, he cursed in a low voice, turned, and ran! The passersby looked at him in surprise and quickly made way for him.

"That person... Could it be that we aren't the only ones who entered?" Gu Mingri watched the man's retreating figure.

"With such a big reaction, it's highly likely," An Chengxi's face was currently even uglier than Gu Mingri's. "But right now, the most important thing is not this, but to find Flying Fish first!"

An Chengxi grabbed Gu Mingri and was about to leave, but after taking a few steps, she walked back.

"No, it's still best to stay here."

Previously, to prevent the three of them from getting lost and for convenience, they had set the arrow to locate Gu Mingri. For a low-tier Weirdness, this kind of preparation was more than enough. It was only because An Chengxi was careful and responsible; some investigators who casually brought newcomers wouldn't necessarily offer this treatment.

However, this had now become an obstacle to their search for Ye Yu. They could only stay put, hoping Ye Yu would find her way here quickly.

If it were only a Tier 2 Weirdness, An Chengxi naturally wouldn't worry about this, but now... She looked at the hospital's name on the planning map and frowned deeply. Meanwhile, Gu Mingri paced back and forth anxiously.

"This is truly bad. Isn't it a Tier 2 Weirdness? Why is it Jinyang Xiehe Hospital? I carefully selected it beforehand, but we ended up choosing such a ghostly place!"

"A Tier 7 Weirdness... So many investigators died here, we..." The more Gu Mingri spoke, the more anxious he became, frustratingly scratching his hair. "It's all my fault. You guys were dragged down by me this time. Little Flying Fish is currently nowhere to be found, and she's only Tier 1..."

An Chengxi's head, which was already dizzy, became even dizzier from Gu Mingri's constant pacing. She grabbed Gu Mingri and forced him to stop.

"Calm down! When you recommended this Weirdness, I agreed to it too. If we're talking about who is at fault, shouldn't I, the captain, be even more at fault? But in my opinion, none of us are at fault. We were just... a bit unlucky."

She hugged Gu Mingri and patted his back reassuringly. As if comforting him, and also as if telling herself: "Up until now, we are both fine, so Little Flying Fish should be fine too. As for later... since we brought Little Flying Fish in, we will naturally do our utmost to get her out."

Gu Mingri's anxious expression gradually softened. He fell silent for a moment, forced a smile, and said, "You're right. We have to do our utmost to try."

Gu Mingri reached into his pocket and took out several blood-red sheets of paper. This was not ordinary paper, but a remnant of a Tier 2 Weirdness that he had managed to request with great difficulty. It could allow his paper-cutting ability to exert greater power.

Normally, Gu Mingri regarded them as his trump card. If he could find ordinary paper in a Weirdness domain, he would absolutely not use these blood papers. However, facing the difficult situation before him, he could no longer care about this. He only hoped to quickly make some paper cutouts for self-defense during the initial safe period. As long as he could ensure that he, An Chengxi, and Ye Yu could leave this place alive, he wouldn't mind even if these blood papers were completely used up. After all, if their lives were almost gone, what was the point of keeping these blood papers? Were they waiting for others to burn them for him?!

Cutting paper naturally required scissors. Fearing they wouldn't find scissors in the Weirdness domain, Gu Mingri's pocket contained not only pre-cut ordinary paper in the shapes of big suns, small paper men, and small arrows, but also two pairs of paper scissors. He skillfully picked up the paper scissors and began cutting the blood-red paper.

The scissors made of paper looked thin and soft, but in reality, they were extremely sharp. With a *snip, snip*, they cut the blood paper into a blood-red sun, and with another *snip, snip*, they cut out a beast roaring at the sky.

An Chengxi, on the other hand, looked at the sun in the sky. The season in Jinyang Xiehe Hospital right now seemed to be summer. The sun was high, and it quickly made people red-faced and sweaty. However, An Chengxi was like a heliotropic plant; the more she basked in the sun, the more comfortable she felt, as if she were slowly recharging. The fatigue and weakness in her body were gradually dispelled bit by bit. This brilliant sunlight was currently An Chengxi's only comfort.

But... no matter how much she exerted her full power, she was merely a low-tier Tier 3 investigator. So many investigators had died here, how could she possibly lead Gu Mingri and Ye Yu to escape successfully?

Thinking of this, a deep sense of powerlessness rose in An Chengxi's heart. Why on earth did a supposedly Tier 2 Weirdness turn into Jinyang Xiehe Hospital?!

*

On the other side, when Ye Yu's vision blurred and she regained her sight, she found herself lying on a soft mattress. Looking up, the ceiling was snow-white; looking down, the mattress was also snow-white. The blue-and-white striped patient uniform was slightly worn, but the fabric was very soft. Her nasal cavity was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

There were curtains on both sides, but they were currently drawn open. In the three-bed ward, she slept in the middle. The bed on the right near the door was empty, but the blanket was messy, indicating someone lived there but had temporarily left. On the left, at the innermost part of the ward near the window, lay a white-haired old grandmother.

A middle-aged nurse was standing by the grandmother's bed. "Bed 108, come, let me check your temperature. How are you feeling today?"

Her movements were professional and swift. She helped the frail grandmother sit up on the bed while taking out the thermometer the grandmother handed over.

The grandmother had few teeth left, and her mouth puckered. Her voice was hoarse and tired. "Still the same."

The thermometer still carried body heat. The middle-aged nurse glanced at it, shook it skillfully, and placed it in a square tray. She then gestured for the grandmother to stretch out her arm and swiftly administered an injection into her arm. Ye Yu had very good eyesight and could see that on the grandmother's dry, thin arm, there were numerous dense needle marks. They probably weren't from a single day, but because of her loose skin and reduced healing ability, they had persisted.

"Come, take your medicine."

The middle-aged nurse then took out various colorful pills and capsules and handed them to the grandmother, thoughtfully offering a cup of warm water.

Ye Yu glanced at them and clicked her tongue slightly. So many... was she eating them as a meal?

The grandmother took the handful of medicine but did not take them immediately. Instead, she stared at them silently for a few seconds, then said hoarsely, "I won't get better anyway, how about I don't take the medicine?"

The nurse pulled a long face. "Old lady, you must never say that. What do you mean you won't get better? It's not a major illness. Although this disease is a bit troublesome, the recovery rate is still very high. As long as you actively receive treatment, keep a good mood, you will recover before long. Didn't your son say before that you should listen to us, get treated well, and once you're cured, he will take you home? He even said he would set off firecrackers."

"Come, take the medicine. I know you feel the medicine is too expensive, but having an elder at home is like having a treasure. You are your family's treasure. If you're sick, you must treat it. How can you not take medicine? In your son's heart, you are worth more than these medicines. Besides, your son has already paid the medical fees. Even if you don't want to, they can't be refunded."

Although the nurse was a bit stern with her long face, her words were entirely for the elderly woman's benefit. The grandmother seemed to take her advice and swallowed the bitter handful of medicine with the warm water.

The middle-aged nurse chatted with her for a few more words, helped her lie back down on the bed before leaving, and then pushed the cart out of the ward. The grandmother seemed very uncomfortable, whimpering twice under the covers.

Seeing the ward quiet down, Ye Yu sat up. She began patting herself down. After a moment, just like An Chengxi, her ordinary items had disappeared. Not only had she been changed into a blue-and-white striped patient uniform, but she also had an additional card.

The card was printed with a map of several hospital buildings, with black text on top:
Identity: Patient.
5th Floor, Ward 32, Bed 107.
Illness: Terminal Illness.
Card Balance: 10,000.
Dean's Message: Let's work together to defeat the illness! Don't give up, there is always a better tomorrow waiting for you!

Below the warm message was accompanied by the casual words "terminal illness," giving off an indescribably comical feeling.

Ye Yu: ...With this hospital's shoddy level of diagnosis, in her opinion, there was probably no hope of her defeating the illness, but the day she was defeated by the illness was not far off.

[Is this a "living long enough to see everything" moment? What kind of disease is "terminal illness"? How did the doctors in this hospital get their practicing certificates? Fortunately, this is a Weirdness, otherwise, I would definitely complain about them to the health commission!]

Ye Yu complained, then fished out the paper arrow Gu Mingri had given her, preparing to find her senior brother and sister. Although she could solve a Tier 2 Weirdness with a wave of her hand right now, who would want to be a try-hard when they could just lie down and be carried!

However, just as Ye Yu was looking down for her slippers on the bed, Yu Xi, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke: [Tsk, I now believe your luck is truly bad.]

[?] Ye Yu was puzzled: [What do you mean?]

[Do you know what this hospital's name is?] Yu Xi said seriously: [This is the Jinyang Xiehe Hospital I once mentioned to you!]

*Thud!*

The loud noise startled the dozing grandmother in the next bed, who quickly turned her head to look. She saw the girl in the next bed had fallen flat on the floor.

"Young lady... are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, Grandma, I'm great."

Seeing that the grandmother struggled even to speak, yet was trembling and trying to get out of bed to help her, Ye Yu immediately scrambled up. It was also at this moment that she noticed the abnormality in her body—fatigue, weakness, and heavy limbs. Just now, it was because of this that she hadn't sat steadily and fell directly off the bed.

Yu Xi: [Now we're in trouble.]

For the arrogant black cat to say they were in trouble, it must be real trouble. Ye Yu's heart tightened. She recalled Yu Xi saying he had once taken Bus 712 to this hospital. Then he must know how to get out, right?

Yu Xi let out a soft huff. [I was in my peak state of strength back then, so I directly used brute force to tear open a gap in its domain. This method is not something you can replicate.]

To be able to directly use brute force to tear open a gap in a Tier 7 Weirdness domain and leave, just how strong was Yu Xi's strength back then?

The thought flashed through Ye Yu's mind, and then her attention returned to herself. She struggled for half a second and said seriously: [Then do you still remember where that gap was? Actually, a dog hole... ah no, a cat hole is fine. I'm not above crawling through it, I just hope the hole isn't too small...]

Yu Xi: [...My true form is not that small. Put away those weird thoughts in your head. Furthermore, after so long, that gap has been automatically repaired by it. Don't fantasize.]

[Oh.]

Ye Yu was disappointed for three seconds, then perked up. [Then can we get out by taking Bus 712? We're old acquaintances, Jinyang Xiehe Hospital should show Bus 712 some respect, right?]

Yu Xi coldly shattered Ye Yu's illusion. [First of all, Bus 712 can barge into a Tier 5 Weirdness, but Tier 6 is already pushing it, and Tier 7 is out of the question. The gap between mid-tier Weirdness and high-tier Weirdness is not just a simple number; it's like a mountain and a sea.]

[Next, I advise you not to try. Although Jinyang Xiehe Hospital is not considered a truly intelligent Weirdness, it has begun to sprout intelligence. If you were it, when you were sealed and could only rely on forcibly binding Bus 712, that food delivery guy, to survive on those meager scraps of food... and then one day, you found that your food and the food delivery guy were both stolen, what would you do?]

[And if you suddenly discovered that the thief who stole your food and delivery guy had turned into your reserve food and suddenly appeared in your house, not only without the slightest guilt but also arrogantly riding the delivery guy trying to run away, what would you do?]

Ye Yu: ...

Even her high school classmates would curse and swear on the confession wall because their food delivery was stolen, cursing the thief with constipation in the morning and diarrhea at night. As the saying went, the hatred of stolen food was irreconcilable, let alone Jinyang Xiehe Hospital, which was a sealed Tier 7 Weirdness that starved for nine out of ten days.

Ye Yu fell silent for a long time, then spoke up, unwilling to give up: [Then what if I return the food delivery guy to it? Would it be magnanimous enough to let me and my senior brother and sister go?]

Yu Xi said coldly: [It will gladly thank nature for its bounty, then treat you guys as cold sashimi, chewing slowly and swallowing carefully.]

Ye Yu: ...Okay, stop talking, my whole body is already starting to hurt.

She quickly fished out her mobile phone. The phone, which was parasitized by the Weirdness Biwenlu, had not disappeared like other ordinary items. She remembered that the forum could contact Hu Kailiang and the others. She could use Ye Yu's identity to call Hu Kailiang and the others for help, letting them find a way to inform the investigation team of her and her seniors' situation!

Although this might slightly expose the connection between them, thereby exposing the danger of the Weirdness Biwenlu, compared to the current situation, taking a bit of risk was worth it!

Senior Seafoods, save my life! Your beloved little newbie was imprisoned for stealing food delivery!