A man in a black trench coat stood in the reception hall, surveying the clinic before him.
Originally, after receiving the message from headquarters halfway, he didn't want to come in.
But since he had already come, he thought he might as well take a look.
The news that the medical staff of Xifu City's Tianyu Hospital were slaughtered by a sudden outbreak of a minor Spirit Storm was truly horrifying.
But thinking about it, a slight smile appeared on the man's face.
After this, Xifu City's Tianyu Hospital would need to be rebuilt, and wouldn't they have to rely on people like himself to help them find new doctors?
Though the clinic before him wasn't very big and looked quite shabby.
The reception hall's door was broken and not repaired, and outside hung an unsightly, clumsy-looking scarecrow.
But none of that mattered, as long as there was a doctor or nurse in this clinic, he could introduce them to Tianyu Hospital and earn a commission.
At that moment, the night nurse Lin Youyou came over, "Hello, how can I help you?"
Seeing Lin Youyou's beautiful face, the man's eyes lit up.
He didn't expect to find such a pretty nurse at this rundown little clinic.
With this nurse alone, his trip wasn't a waste!
"Hello, my throat is a bit uncomfortable."
Lin Youyou smiled, "This is a surgical clinic, but the doctor can take a look at such symptoms. Please come with me."
With that, Lin Youyou led the man to Lu Yuan's consultation room.
"Please wait a moment, the doctor will be here shortly."
"No problem, take your time!"
Lin Youyou smiled and left after indicating.
Suddenly, the man was alone in the consultation room.
It was already past 10 PM, and the entire clinic was quiet.
In Lu Yuan's consultation room, only the clock ticking on the wall made any sound.
The man turned to look behind him; the consultation room door was open, pitch-black outside.
Looking back at the pale light inside the consultation room, suddenly, the man felt a chill.
He began hoping the doctor at this small clinic would come soon.
However, listening closely, there was not a single sound besides the ticking clock - not even footsteps.
This extreme silence made the man's discomfort grow slightly.
He began examining the room in front of him, trying to make time pass quicker.
In front was a desk with some file folders, a cup, a surgical knife with only the handle, an opened bag of milk bread, and...a doll facing away from him.
Seeing the doll, the man frowned.
"How could a doctor's desk have such a thing?"
"Small town doctors really aren't very professional..."
"And milk bread? My god, what adult man would like eating that stuff? Could it be a female doctor?"
Thinking this, the man suddenly felt a bit of anticipation.
But listening closely, there was still no sound from outside.
This made the man indignant, "Not a shred of professionalism!"
"Even if I'm not really here as a patient, you should at least greet me!"
"Hmph!"
Muttering to himself, the man felt a bit hungry, so he looked around and, seeing no one, quietly ate one of the milk breads on the desk.
"I'll just have one, they probably won't notice..."
As he spoke, the one bread was already in his stomach.
But...the man still felt a bit hungry.
So he ate a second one.
Eating while constantly looking around.
The man was ready to put the bread back at the first sound of footsteps.
Suddenly, the man stopped chewing.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move in front of him.
Right in front of him.
In that instant, the man felt chills all over.
He examined the room before him again; on the desk in front were still those same items, nothing seeming to have changed.
Besides the desk, there were a few iron cabinets in the room, contents unknown.
The man shook his head, feeling he was being a bit too sensitive.
The two breads finished, he turned to look behind again and took out a third...
Clap!
Suddenly, the man heard an eerie sound.
His third bread not yet eaten, he cautiously looked around.
The room still had those same items, nothing seeming to have changed, but somehow...
The man felt something on the desk seemed to have changed slightly, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
The third bread consumed, his stomach felt a bit better.
He put the bag of breads back where it was.
Then the man noticed that the doll previously facing away was now turned sideways towards him.
The man sneered, seeming to scorn this toy that shouldn't be there.
Outside the consultation room was still silent, so the man leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Clap!
He had just closed his eyes for a few seconds when he heard that eerie sound again.
This time the man was so startled he almost leapt out of the chair.
For some reason, he felt like that sound contained a hint of grievance and killing intent.
Looking around in a panic, the man still saw no changes, except for—
The doll on the desk in front.
This time, it was facing him directly.
In a daze, the man froze.
"Did I...move this thing?"
"I don't think so..."
"Why does this doll's expression look so angry?"
Looking at the doll's furious expression, the man felt a chill down his spine. He picked up the doll and turned it around again.
Not seeing its face, the man felt much more at ease.
He continued resting with his eyes closed.
This time, no eerie "clap" sounded.
Only what seemed like the sound of something crawling.
The man was fed up; he opened his eyes again, determined to find the source of whatever was causing mischief!
But then, "Hiss—"
The man saw that the doll he had just turned around was now slowly crawling towards him!
"Dammit, a moving doll, you sick freak!"
The man cursed as he grabbed the doll to put it back, but then...
He saw the doll's little face slowly break into an evil smile directed at him.
In certain situations, a smile can be more frightening than anger.
This was a trick Zhang Baobao learned from Lu Yuan.
"Oh my god!!"
In that instant, the man dropped the doll as if electrocuted, knocking over the chair behind him as he frantically ran out!
Charging into the dark hallway outside the consultation room, the man didn't care about anything, just desperately sprinting forward!
He even ran past the reception hall he came through, all the way to the end of the hallway!
Suddenly, the man stopped.
Because he smelled the scent of formaldehyde wafting from the dark room at the end of the hall!
In a panic, the man turned around only to immediately see the pale light from the consultation room he had just run out of!
In that light, a doll was slowly crawling out, head turned to look at him with a creepy smile!
The man was utterly terrified!
"Is anyone there?!" he shouted.
Suddenly, a door near him opened and Lin Youyou stood there asking, "Is there a problem, sir?"
As soon as Lin Youyou came into view, the man pointed at the examination room and shouted, "There's a doll over there, a moving doll!"
"Really?" Lin Youyou went over and took a look, then turned back to the man and said, "I don't see anything."
"You don't?" The man was dumbfounded. Was he just seeing things?
No, regardless of whether he was confused or not, he couldn't stay in this eerie clinic any longer!
The next second, the man suddenly pulled out a handgun and yelled at Lin Youyou, "Get me out of here!"
Lin Youyou raised her hands in a panic, "Please calm down! Okay! I'll get you out right now!"
After saying that, Lin Youyou headed towards the reception hall, with the man following behind her.
As they got closer and closer to the examination room on the other side, and as the white light from the room shone brighter, the man's heartbeat quickened.
Lin Youyou turned and entered the reception hall, and the man sped up to keep up with her.
The two arrived at the plaza in front of the clinic building.
At that moment, the man turned and looked at the scarecrow he had seen earlier, feeling like it was staring right back at him.
"This place is damn creepy! Let's get out of here! To my car!"
The man pressed the gun against the back of Lin Youyou's neck as he spoke.
"Okay, okay, I'll do as you say!"
Looking at Lin Youyou, the man felt much more reassured.
This nurse that the Tianyu Hospital had recommended could only fetch three thousand, but if sold to the red-light district of the Western Capital, with her beautiful looks, the starting price would be thirty thousand!
When they reached the car, the man went ahead and opened the trunk.
"Mmmmph! Mmmmph!"
From inside the trunk came the muffled sounds of someone bound and gagged - there was already a woman tied up and with her mouth stuffed shut inside.
Lin Youyou asked, "Do... Do I have to get in too? This seems a bit cramped, doesn't it?"
The man snapped viciously, "Shut up!"
He gestured with the gun in his hand to emphasize his words.
Left with no choice, Lin Youyou climbed into the trunk, and even helpfully closed the lid behind her.
Seeing how obedient Lin Youyou was being, the man was momentarily dumbfounded.
He felt that things were going a bit too smoothly tonight.
But there was no time to think about it further. The man got into the car and drove off.
Sitting in the driver's seat, he felt something poking into the back of his neck from the rear seat.
So he leaned back forcefully, and it seemed like he pushed something back into place, because the discomfort went away.
Taking a deep breath, the man drove out of the gates of the Medical Academy. At that moment, he glanced into the rearview mirror.
A young doctor, dressed in a white coat and wearing black-framed glasses, with a scholarly demeanor, was sitting calmly in the back seat of his car.
He was now looking back at the man through the rearview mirror, not saying a word, like a quiet, handsome man.
The man tried to speak but found it difficult. He reached up and felt his throat, only to find the sharp tip of a scalpel and blood gushing from his neck.
"A minute ago, this scalpel was just stuck in your seat."
"You were the one who kept pushing it deeper into yourself, bit by bit. Don't blame me."
"I was merely trying to ease your pain out of kindness..."
"No need to thank me, what can I say? I'm a doctor who cares about my patients."
"Well..."
The man: "..."
...