Translator: CinderTL
It seemed that the trouble they had stirred up had been resolved.
Director Qi asked in a tone that was half reproachful and half regretful, "What happened to you guys? Didn't we agree that I would come out to pick you up? Why did you come in on your own?"
"And caused such a big commotion?"
Completely unaware of the mission background, everyone could only apologize and continue to coax information out of the man.
Fortunately, after complaining for a while, the man got to the point.
As the conversation deepened, everyone gradually understood the roles they were playing in this world.
They belonged to a private company specializing in helping employers solve difficult problems, headquartered in Dongzhu City. While it appeared legitimate, it actually operated in a gray area.
This time, they had been sent by the company to help solve a problem at the request of Director Qi.
From the conversation, they learned that the company's business scope was very broad, basically taking on any job that could make money.
Director Qi looked them up and down, seemingly finding them different from what he had imagined. He had been told that these people were well-trained and highly professional.
Especially when it came to that kind of thing.
The person in charge of liaising with him had even told him over the phone that their headquarters had many business connections in Southeast Asia and relationships with many long-established sorcerers.
In short, in this industry, they were the most capable, and accordingly, their fees were the highest.
To prevent the employer from asking for a refund, Jiang Cheng immediately demonstrated the qualities of an absolute elite.
It was clear that Director Qi was quite satisfied with this bright-eyed young man.
As for the eccentric woman, Director Qi sighed. After all, the matter he had entrusted them with was different from the usual, so it was normal for the people sent to be a bit strange.
"To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that this matter is so bizarre, I wouldn't have spent so much money to hire you," Director Qi said with a bitter expression.
He flicked a few strands of hair on his forehead. In his early forties, he was already showing signs of balding.
After initially gaining the other party's trust, everything that followed became much easier. Jiang Cheng and the others tried to speak as little as possible, because the more they said, the more loopholes there would be.
Director Qi's voice had an uncomfortable quality to it. He looked at everyone, his lips trembling as he said, "The reason I called you here is that I suspect something unclean has recently entered the hospital."
His voice was very low, his expression mysterious, and it was mixed with some barely concealed fear.
Jiang Cheng had noticed this early on. The man's complexion was dull, and his eye bags were very pronounced. It seemed he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.
His speech also gave the impression of being weak and listless.
Something unclean... Jiang Cheng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. After so many missions, it was indeed rare for an NPC to immediately tell him there was a ghost.
"Please explain the situation in detail," Wu Yi put on a professional demeanor.
"Hoo—" Director Qi let out a long breath, as if recalling something. "This matter started a month ago."
"One day, the head nurse came to me very reluctantly, saying that there was an urgent matter at home and she wanted to take a long leave."
"I didn't agree," the man explained. "It wasn't directed at her, but it really wasn't possible. Too many people had been taking leave recently, and if I let two more go, we simply wouldn't have enough staff."
"Some patients' families have already reported that when they need to change medication, they often can't find anyone. When they go to the nurse station, either there's no one there, or there are only one or two people, and they all say they're busy."
"What I didn't expect was that the head nurse just left without a word, not even saying goodbye."
"When I went to the nurse station to ask, I found out that it wasn't just her; less than half of the staff remained. Many, like her, left without approved leave."
"Moreover, the remaining staff looked strange, their eyes darting around as if they were hiding something from me."
"Because of the previous complaints from patients' families, I made a special trip to the nurse station at noon to personally oversee the night shift assignments. But when the remaining nurses heard about the night shift, their expressions changed, and they refused to go."
"I can understand not wanting to work the night shift, but I didn't expect such strong resistance. This has never happened before. But how can we not have anyone on duty at night? What if something goes wrong?"
"I tried to persuade two of them to stay, even offering them some benefits, but to my surprise, the younger one burst into tears on the spot, refusing to do it."
"In the end, she outright refused to work and demanded to resign."
"What's even stranger is that the other nurses didn't try to stop her; they just watched silently. It felt to me like if they were asked to work the night shift, they would do the same."
"Considering recent events, I immediately sensed that something must be wrong; otherwise, this wouldn't happen."
"So I invited the nurse who was demanding to resign to my office. I calmed her down first, and when she was more composed, I asked her if something had happened."
"If there's something, or if there's any dissatisfaction with the hospital's arrangements, she could bring it up. Resigning wouldn't solve the problem."
"At first, she pursed her lips, unwilling to speak. I had to put in a lot of effort and even promised her she wouldn't have to work the night shift before she relented."
"She just looked at me with a very strange expression, and after a long pause, she told me that some of them had encountered something unclean in the hospital."
"During the night shift," the man paused, looking at Huai Yi, "more than one person."
"What kind of unclean thing?" Huai Yi pressed.
After a moment of hesitation, the man's expression turned peculiar, and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. Jiang Cheng brought over a chair, asking him to sit down and take his time.
But to everyone's surprise, the man didn't even glance at the chair. Instead, he walked straight to the desk, took a set of keys from his belt, and found a very small one.
He crouched down, opened the bottom drawer, rummaged through it, and pulled out a blue-covered notebook.
Holding the notebook, the man's expression was extremely grave. He walked back and, in front of everyone, opened the notebook, revealing a series of entries.
The man's handwriting was beautiful, but as it went on, it became more and more scribbled. The last few lines were almost illegible, as if written in extreme fear.
Before the first entry, there was a mark resembling the character "river.""
Jiang Cheng guessed it might be a person's name.
"This is what I've gathered and recorded before," the man said. "Everyone has experienced different phenomena. Some say they heard footsteps behind them while patrolling the wards at night, but when they turned around, no one was there."
"But when they turned back and continued walking, the eerie footsteps would reappear, getting closer and closer to them."
Brothers, it might be because I've been staying up too late these past few days, but I'm feeling a bit drained today. I'll stick to the regular update schedule and won't add any extra chapters.
(End of the Chapter)
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