37: Chapter 37 Hospital Horror: A Mysterious World

Bloody Hospital, it was truly worthy of its name.

From afar, that abandoned medical building looked like a massive, congealed block of foul blood, standing abruptly amidst the grey ruins. The walls displayed an unnatural dark red, as if soaked in countless layers of blood that had dried over time. The air was thick with a nauseating, bizarre mixture of disinfectant and rot.

In the area surrounding the hospital, the bizarre mist was exceptionally dense, and the light was dim. Even sound seemed to be swallowed by some force, leaving a deathly silence that made one's heart race with anxiety.

Lin Chen, leading ten Yin Soldiers and the pale-faced Lin Tian who leaned on a crutch, stopped before the hospital's rusted and twisted main gates. Beyond the gates lay a bottomless darkness, like a giant maw waiting to devour life.

"Bro... Brother, this place feels... really uncomfortable." Lin Tian's voice trembled slightly as he subconsciously leaned closer to Lin Chen. His fragile and dependent appearance was perfectly acted.

Lin Chen ignored him, his gaze sweeping over the slanted, mottled plaque hanging above the hospital entrance—"Ren'ai Hospital." A cold sneer tugged at the corner of his mouth. Ren'ai? Mercy and Love? In this hellhole?

"Keep up." He dropped these two words and took the first step, entering that suffocating darkness. The ten Yin Soldiers followed silently behind like ghosts. Their presence dispelled a bit of the chill, but it also added a touch of eeriness to the deathly silent environment.

Lin Tian grit his teeth and, leaning on his crutch, hurriedly followed with a limp.

The interior of the hospital was even more dilapidated and distorted than it appeared from the outside.

Overturned wheelchairs, hospital beds, and shattered medical equipment were scattered across the corridor. The walls were covered in dried, indescribable stains and black veins that pulsed like blood vessels. An emergency light flickered occasionally, casting a brief, sickly green glow that illuminated a small area ahead before plunging back into deeper darkness.

The smell of disinfectant and rot in the air grew stronger, now mixed with a faint... metallic scent of rust?

The Yin Soldiers led the way, their netherworld aura sweeping through the dark corners like searchlights. Some low-level distorted shadows lurking in the darkness let out faint hisses and quickly retreated.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly so far.

Until they passed through a long corridor lined with patient wards on both sides.

This corridor was very strange. Massive, dust-covered mirrors were embedded in the walls on both sides at regular intervals. The surfaces were blurry, reflecting their group's distorted, ghost-like figures.

When Lin Chen walked past the first mirror, the "him" inside seemed to... tilt its head slightly, its lips curling into a bizarre smile that was completely inconsistent with his own cold expression.

Lin Chen didn't stop, acting as if he hadn't seen it.

Following behind, Lin Tian accidentally glanced at a nearby mirror. The "him" in the reflection wore a face of extreme terror, mouth wide open as if screaming silently! Lin Tian jolted in fright, nearly dropping his crutch, and quickly lowered his head, not daring to look again.

An elite team member sent by Zhang Hao to gain experience (named Li Mang, who had a rather straightforward personality) was overcome by curiosity and couldn't help but steal a few glances at the mirrors. As he passed the third mirror, he suddenly stopped, his face turning deathly pale as he pointed at the mirror with a trembling voice, "Cap... Captain! There... there seems to be something moving in the mirror!"

Before he could finish his sentence, the surface of the mirror in front of him suddenly rippled like water! Immediately after, a pale, bloated hand with long, sharp nails lunged out from the mirror, grabbing Li Mang's arm with lightning speed!

"Watch out!" Lin Tian cried out in alarm.

The Yin Soldiers reacted instantly, a netherworld halberd lunging toward the ghostly hand!

However, the ghostly hand acted like a phantom, retracting back into the mirror a split second before the halberd could touch it. The mirror's surface returned to calm, as if nothing had ever happened.

But Li Mang froze on the spot, the color draining from his face as his eyes became hollow and dazed. He slowly raised his own hand, looking at it, and then looked at his reflection in the mirror.

The "Li Mang" in the mirror was now facing him, revealing a cold, malicious smile.

In the next second, something that made everyone's skin crawl happened!

The real-world Li Mang's body began to twitch violently. His face and physique actually began to transform into the "him" from the mirror! His skin turned pale, his gaze became venomous, and the corners of his mouth curled upward uncontrollably, revealing a bizarre smile identical to the one in the mirror!

Meanwhile, the "Li Mang" inside the mirror gradually became clear and normal, his eyes regaining their previous terror and confusion. He slapped the mirror's surface desperately, his mouth wide open as if calling for help, but not a single sound came out!

An exchange! The Bizarre Monster in this mirror could swap a person in reality with their reflection!

"Save... save me..." The "Li Mang" in reality (who had already been replaced) let out a raspy, distorted voice, reaching out with a pale hand toward the nearest person, Lin Tian!

"Get away!" Lin Tian screamed in terror, scrambling backward in a panic. He threw his crutch aside and tumbled to the ground in a pathetic state.

Without hesitation, a Yin Soldier lunged with its halberd, instantly piercing the "Li Mang" who had been replaced! The body dissipated into a cloud of black smoke.

As for the real Li Mang inside the mirror, upon the death of his substitute outside, his image flickered a few times like a bad signal before completely vanishing behind the mirror's surface, leaving only a hollow reflection.

Just like that, a life had easily withered away under the bizarre rules.

The corridor fell into a deathly silence, save for Lin Tian's heavy panting.

The remaining team member was ashen-faced, clinging tightly to the Yin Soldiers, no longer daring to look at any of the mirrors.

Lin Chen stopped in his tracks, his eyes cold as he looked at the countless mirrors on both sides that watched them like eyes.

"Mirror Ghost..." he muttered to himself, identifying the troublesome thing they had encountered.

Rule-based Bizarre Monsters were often more difficult to deal with than those with pure physical strength.

Lin Tian sat paralyzed on the ground, looking up at Lin Chen's profile, his voice carrying a sob of fear: "Brother... what... what do we do? These mirrors are too sinister!"

Lin Chen glanced down at him, his gaze calm and unwavering, then looked up, his eyes sweeping across the mirror-lined corridor filled with death traps.

His solution was simple, crude, and... very Lin Chen.

"What to do?"

He lightly flexed his wrist and issued an order to the Yin Soldiers behind him.

"Since they're such an eyesore..."

"Then, smash them all."