Meanwhile.

In a room in the deepest part of the eighth floor.

Inside the pitch-black, dim room, an IV stand leaned crookedly against a yellowed wall. A few bottles of glucose solution were scattered on the floor, and the heavy smell of disinfectant mixed with a foul, fishy stench stagnated in the ward.

The space, less than twenty square meters, was in such disarray it looked as though a riot had broken out.

A large group of patient Fierce Ghosts in blue-striped hospital gowns were gathered together, their expressions frantic.

The room was packed with Fierce Ghosts!

There were even Fierce Ghosts standing on the hospital bed; there wasn’t a single open spot to set one’s foot.

The crowd of Fierce Ghosts packed the room to the brim!

WHOOSH—

Just then, a breeze slipped through the crack of a window that hadn’t been shut properly.

A pale-faced patient Fierce Ghost quickly shut it.

It was as if they were terrified that the commotion here would be discovered.

Panic was written all over their faces, as if they had just been handed a critical condition notice.

They were all whispering amongst themselves, discussing something.

"Did you hear? The elevator ghost said some kind of crimson-robed ghost panda is coming!"

"What crimson-robed? I heard the Director is bringing her animal doll to kill us!"

"I clearly heard the elevator ghost say the Director turned into a bear and is planning to make a meal out of us."

"Right! I think the Director’s been possessed by a mid-level Evil Star, a ghost bear! That ghost bear eats hundreds of Fierce Ghosts in one meal. All the doctors in the hospital have been eaten, and now it’s our turn."

"That damned Director! Does she really have to wipe us all out?"

Looks of despair spread across the faces of the patient Fierce Ghosts.

The rumors grew more and more exaggerated.

Some of the Fierce Ghosts were so afraid of being eaten by the ghost bear that they were ready to kill themselves!

A middle-aged Fierce Ghost in a red-striped hospital gown had an ugly expression on his face.

"Enough!"

"All of you, shut up!"

He roared in a hushed voice.

The patient Fierce Ghosts present all fell silent.

This was because the middle-aged Fierce Ghost was a Crimson-robed Ghost, and also their leader.

The middle-aged Fierce Ghost took a deep breath and said, "As far as I know, the Director wouldn’t attack us for no reason."

"Otherwise, she wouldn’t have just driven us to the eighth floor back then. She would have killed us all outright."

"But since this person is confident enough to enter the eighth floor, and the elevator ghost has warned us, we absolutely must not get into a conflict. The best thing to do is for all of us to hide!"

"Remember, no matter who comes, everyone has to hide well!"

"Don’t get discovered, no matter what!"

"If any one of you gets found, we’ll all be in for it!"

Hearing this, the group of patient Fierce Ghosts all agreed.

It was the best plan they could think of!

’As long as we’re not found, everything will be fine!’

With the order given,

WHOOSH!

they filed out of the ward in an orderly fashion!

They used their abilities to hide themselves.

The ceiling, under the beds, in the wardrobes, the bathrooms, the storage lockers...

There were even Fierce Ghosts hiding on top of the ceiling fans!

Seeing this, the middle-aged Fierce Ghost also vanished from the room.

In the blink of an eye,

the entire eighth floor fell deathly silent.

Forget Fierce Ghosts, you couldn’t even find a single shadow of a person.

...

「Meanwhile」

Yun Zhenyue and Shangguan Mu stepped onto the eighth floor.

As far as the eye could see, it was completely empty.

Shangguan Mu cautiously observed her surroundings.

The floor looked as if no one had been there for a long time. It was covered in cobwebs, the lights were long extinguished, and even the windows were all tightly shut, letting in neither a whisper of wind nor any other sound.

Her breathing sounded exceptionally heavy in the silence.

The scene Shangguan Mu had expected—one teeming with Fierce Ghosts—had not appeared at all!

"This is the eighth floor?"

Yun Zhenyue muttered in confusion.

She saw that there were over a dozen hospital rooms here, and all of them had the number 404 on the door.

’The Director’s notebook should be in the deepest part.’

Yun Zhenyue was ready to summon Lily at a moment’s notice.

’The moment any danger arises—’

But...

as she slowly walked toward the wards, the first room she checked was completely empty.

Only fine dust motes floated in the air.

Seeing this, Shangguan Mu’s eyelid twitched even more violently!

’Something is seriously wrong!’

As far as she knew, the eighth floor should have at least ten or twenty patient Fierce Ghosts!

Most of them were Fierce Ghosts, with no shortage of Crimson-robed Ghosts among them!

But where were the patient Fierce Ghosts?

Why hadn’t a single one shown up?

"Wait, slow down. Don’t walk so fast. There might be a trap up ahead..."

Seeing Yun Zhenyue walk nonstop toward the deepest part of the floor, Shangguan Mu felt her scalp tingle and couldn’t help but call out a warning.

But Yun Zhenyue just looked at her innocently and said, "Senior, could you be mistaken?"

"There are clearly no Fierce Ghosts here."

She pushed open the doors to the wards one by one to check.

Indeed, she didn’t see even a hint of a Fierce Ghost’s shadow!

After checking more than half of the wards on the eighth floor,

she found they were all completely empty!

At this point, Shangguan Mu’s taut nerves began to relax a little.

It was as if an even bigger question mark had appeared over her head.

This strange situation was even more bizarre than what had happened in the elevator!

"This isn’t right. Where are all the patient Fierce Ghosts?"

"How did they all disappear? They can’t have gone downstairs. Don’t tell me they’re all dead?"

"But there are no signs of a fight here..."

Shangguan Mu racked her brain but couldn’t figure it out.

Just then, a bizarre thought suddenly popped into her head!

’Could it be... that all those terrifying patient Fierce Ghosts are hiding?’

When this thought occurred to her,

Shangguan Mu immediately shook her head, finding the idea laughable.

’Impossible!’

’Why would this bunch of Fierce Ghosts be playing hide-and-seek for no reason?’

’Would they be afraid of me?’

’Or could they be afraid of Yun Zhenyue, this newbie player?’

Filled with suspicion, Shangguan Mu followed Yun Zhenyue, checking the wards one by one.

CLICK—

Suddenly!

Just as the two were about to reach the far end of the floor,

Shangguan Mu suddenly noticed a locker in one of the wards move slightly.

"Hm?"

She immediately stopped Yun Zhenyue and walked toward the locker.

Shangguan Mu placed her hand on the locker’s handle.

At that very moment,

inside the locker, a short patient Fierce Ghost’s face was deathly pale, his eyes wide with tension.

He had folded his body into the size of a small box, squatting in the corner of the locker.

’If I get discovered...’

"Senior, what are you looking for?"

At that critical moment, Yun Zhenyue suddenly spoke up, interrupting Shangguan Mu.

Shangguan Mu heard her and muttered, "I just saw this locker move."

"I was just thinking of checking if these Fierce Ghosts are hiding."

"Never mind, I’m probably just overthinking it."

The moment she finished speaking,

she unexpectedly heard something from under the adjacent hospital bed.

It sounded like a faint CLICK.

Although it was very faint, Shangguan Mu still noticed it.

"There isn’t something under this bed, is there?"

Hearing Shangguan Mu’s muttering,

even Yun Zhenyue was a bit baffled by her wild imagination.

"Senior, you still suspect there are Fierce Ghosts hiding?"

"Yeah. Don’t go yet, let me see what’s under this bed..."

The two of them stopped in front of the hospital bed.

Upon seeing their two pairs of legs,

the patient Fierce Ghost curled up under the bed was about to cry.

His heart was in his throat!

He was extremely anxious!

’Don’t look!’

’Please don’t look!’

’Don’t squat down!’

He pleaded over and over in his mind!

And just then,

Shangguan Mu bent over and squatted down!

But as she leaned over,

—she discovered a broken watch under the bed.

"Oh, it’s just a watch?"

’Was it the watch that made the clicking sound?’

Shangguan Mu picked up the watch, her doubts finally dispelled.

If she had just looked under the bed,

she would have seen, less than half a meter from her gaze,

a patient Fierce Ghost who was about to pass out.

"Looks like I really was overthinking things..."

Shangguan Mu finally came to a conclusion.

’The Director probably came up here secretly and cleared out all those patient Fierce Ghosts.’

She couldn’t help but envy Yun Zhenyue’s good luck.

’I haven’t completed a single mission in three years!’

’And yet Yun Zhenyue, this newbie player, runs into good luck the moment she arrives!’

’Could she be the legendary chosen one?’

Little did she know,

at that moment, all the patient Fierce Ghosts hiding in the wards were breaking out in a cold sweat.

Their bodies were stiff as they tried their best to avoid making any sound!

In their hearts, they were praying nonstop!

’Take whatever you need and get out of here!’

’But for the love of God, you little masters, please stop searching!’