It was late at night, when yin energy was at its strongest, and the hospital corridors were filled with an increasingly desolate smell of disinfectant.
Qin Shu had scrubbed his hands with alcohol several times and then applied a thick layer of moisturizer before the unsettling stench of decay finally faded somewhat.
He had no intention of allowing Teacher Fu or Su Ting Lian to become involved. The situation was far too sinister, and there was no guarantee of their safety. After much persuasion, Qin Shu finally convinced them to return to the hospital room. He instructed them not to come and go casually and to press the call button for a nurse if anything happened… but if the knocking at the door sounded wrong, they must not open it lightly.
Carrying the Coke that Su Ting Lian had forcibly stuffed into his hands, Qin Shu followed the nurse downstairs toward the emergency ward.
As the elevator doors slowly closed, Qin Shu glanced at the surveillance camera and asked in a low voice, “Doctor Liang didn’t have time to explain everything earlier. When you said the hospital was haunted, what exactly did you mean? Did someone die here, with the body soaked in water?”
“…Mm. Student, please don’t tell anyone about this.”
“Of course.”
After hesitating briefly, the nurse explained the situation in the simplest and most straightforward terms possible.
Around three months ago, all the solar-powered water heaters at First Municipal Hospital suddenly malfunctioned, leaving the inpatients unable to bathe.
The hospital called in technicians from the supplier for a thorough inspection, only for them to discover pieces of a corpse soaking inside the rooftop water tanks. Every tank contained some, the only difference being how much.
It was not merely a case of advanced bloating and decomposition. The murderer had completely dismembered the already bloated corpse, cutting it into pieces as small as fingers before disposing of them.
Qin Shu’s brows knitted tightly as he listened. “Was the culprit arrested? What was his relationship with the victim?”
“He was arrested. The murderer was a relative of a hospital employee. Their relationship was also rather complicated…”
The nurse hesitated, then lowered her voice. “He was the father of the supervisor of our HR department. He strongly opposed the supervisor dating the victim, and someone secretly revealed their relationship to him. I heard that he became extreme and acted on impulse…”
“No matter how impulsive someone is, they don’t become capable of something like this on the spur of the moment. It was clearly premeditated. He was completely deranged. And they were only dating. Was any of that really necessary?” Qin Shu’s frown deepened. He simply could not understand it.
“Um, perhaps it was because they were lesbians… The supervisor was a woman, and so was the victim. She worked as a tennis coach at the nearby sports center.”
At this point, the nurse carefully observed Qin Shu’s expression. Only after confirming that he showed no disgust did she continue. “They secretly dated for a long time. Most of the nurses at the hospital knew at least a little about it. That woman was very friendly. Sometimes our Friday staff meetings ran late, and when she came to pick the supervisor up from work, she would even order milk tea for us.”
“A same-sex relationship is still a relationship. Even if her family couldn’t accept it, she shouldn’t have been treated that way. That man was simply a psychopath.” Qin Shu spoke softly as he held down the elevator’s door-open button and allowed the nurse to step out first. “After this happened, did your HR supervisor continue working at the hospital? I’d like to speak with her.”
The nurse bit her lip. “She came back to work for a few days, then took an extended leave and returned to her hometown… Later, she died too. It happened at the end of last month. She took her own life by cutting her wrists. Student, please don’t tell anyone. The hospital administration issued a gag order to all of us. If this gets out, I’ll be fired.”
“I understand. In that case, it’s perfectly normal for her to harbor so much resentment.”
“Mm.”
“What isn’t normal is that Doctor Liang was harmed this badly. He may not be the only one. There could be others, so I suggest that all of you undergo a medical examination.”
After all, the corpse fragments Qin Shu had removed from Doctor Liang’s ear consisted only of an index finger, intestines, and hair. The remaining parts were probably hidden inside other people’s bodies.
Logically speaking, the victim had already been cremated, so the fragments Qin Shu saw were merely one manifestation of the ghostly entity. He had already confirmed that ordinary people could not see them.
But the tooth found in Tang Rui Cheng’s bedding had reeked just as strongly of a corpse, yet it had been a genuine, physical tooth that everyone could see.
…Something was wrong. The more Qin Shu thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
After the crime was discovered, the police had immediately sealed off the rooftop and removed every fragment of the corpse, sending them to the medical examiner for identification. Given the severity of the case, it was impossible for them to carelessly overlook such crucial evidence as a tooth.
That meant someone had removed the victim’s tooth beforehand—or had already possessed one of her teeth.
Was that tiny detail connected to Doctor Liang’s terrifying condition? And if it was, what had been the motive?
“Miss, why didn’t the victim seek revenge against the person who murdered her? Why did she target Doctor Liang instead? Did Doctor Liang know her too?”
Even when they were only a few steps away from the emergency ward, Qin Shu was still pondering this question.
The nurse remained silent for a long time, seemingly struggling over whether she should tell him directly. She turned to look into Qin Shu’s clear eyes and did not stop walking until they had reached the ward door.
Then she lowered her gaze and said softly, “I don’t know every detail. Doctor Liang is flawless when it comes to his work. He truly is a good doctor and takes his patients extremely seriously. But… perhaps his personal morals aren’t very good. He was privately involved with several nurses in his department. Anyone willing to be with him would have an easier time at work, and the head nurse responsible for scheduling listened to him.”
“You refused, so you’re always assigned night shifts. Is that right?” Qin Shu’s voice was equally soft.
He had noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes long ago. That depleted exhaustion caused by years of staying up late was identical to what he had seen on certain fiercely competitive classmates around him.
The nurse froze slightly, then pressed her lips together in tacit confirmation. She did not want to reveal any further details, nor did she mention the identities of Doctor Liang’s lovers. Ultimately, that was still other people’s private business.
But this amount of information was already more than enough. Qin Shu could infer at least two things from it.
First, Doctor Liang was lustful, had an extremely weak moral compass, and was skilled at abusing his authority while maintaining a respectable façade.
Second, he had affairs with many nurses, some of whom had entered them willingly… An affair inevitably involved frequent communication, and frequent communication meant exchanging information, whether deliberately or unintentionally.
Therefore, Doctor Liang had probably known very well that the HR supervisor at First Municipal Hospital was a lesbian and had been in a stable, long-term relationship with another woman.
The person who had exposed the HR supervisor’s carefully guarded relationship to her father had most likely been a man.
Of course, Qin Shu possessed no concrete evidence for this conclusion. He was merely speculating based on the people and incidents he had witnessed at school—men were more likely to have a motive for destroying the relationship, more likely to develop an extreme homophobic mentality, and more likely to take concrete action to sabotage it.
Even Senior Ghost Song Qian Li had once been falsely accused by his bullies of liking boys. Once that rumor spread, the violence against him had immediately escalated, and he suffered intense hostility from the other boys in his dormitory.
Qin Shu’s suspicions gradually intensified, but he kept them to himself for now and cautiously pushed open the emergency ward door.
Immediately afterward, a powerful stench struck him head-on, so overwhelming that he nearly could not open his eyes. Qin Shu wrinkled his nose and looked toward its source… only to see a group of middle-aged male doctors who had come for a consultation.
They sat beside the hospital bed, completely unaware that they were enveloped in the stench of corpses, each wearing a different expression. Several doctors were deeply engrossed in discussion and nearly began arguing over their conflicting opinions, while others looked subtly uncomfortable, as though they were desperate to leave.
Qin Shu swept his gaze over them as quickly as possible and discovered that the doctors who appeared somewhat guilty all had unusual things growing from their faces.
Half an ear protruded from one man’s nostril. Two canine teeth belonging to someone else were embedded in the split flesh at the corner of another man’s mouth. Ten toes were rooted densely across a third man’s scalp like strands of hair… Another doctor’s left eyeball was wrapped in a swollen gray-white tongue that writhed continuously as his gaze shifted.
“…None of you move. You, you, and you—stay seated and don’t move.”
Qin Shu was not particularly polite. He was tall and powerfully built, and he had stormed inside with enough presence that, for the moment, no one truly dared to move recklessly.
Expressionless, he took out his final three talismans and narrowed his eyes as he pasted one onto each doctor’s forehead. Then he suddenly revealed a bright, cheerful smile. “Doctors, which one of you would like to tell me your opinion about the murder three months ago?”
“…”
Everyone else’s gazes turned toward them in unison, only to be met with silence—awkward, guilty, feigned calm… a profoundly delicate silence.
“Let me put it this way. That woman is retaliating against all of you. If you continue delaying, you’ll end up in an even worse state than Doctor Liang. I can try to interfere, but first, I need to know the truth.”
As Qin Shu spoke ominously, he reached toward one of the doctors without warning, seized the half ear growing from his nostril, and slowly began pulling it outward.
“It itches—ah! My brain is so itchy… What did you do to me?!”
“I’m saving your life.” Qin Shu raised an eyebrow slightly as he pulled several damp pieces of cartilage out behind the ear, with more and more emerging. “Her corpse fragments are inside your brains. Their hallucinatory effect is quite impressive—they’ve deceived your brains’ perception of your own bodies. Do you believe me? You people haven’t eaten for a very long time either. You’re exactly like Doctor Liang.”
“…Xiao Liu, prepare three bottles of glucose and compound amino acids. Go now!” The moment Qin Shu finished speaking, the suited man seated to the left of the hospital bed abruptly rose, his expression grave.
There were no corpse fragments on his face, but he was clearly someone who knew more about the matter. He also looked like a hospital executive and carried considerable authority.
The emergency nurse called Xiao Liu immediately acknowledged the order and hurried away to prepare the medication.
As the door closed, the nurse standing beside Qin Shu quickly introduced them. “Student, this is Vice President He. Vice President, this is a classmate of the patient admitted to orthopedics tonight.”
Although anxiety still showed between the suited man’s brows, he nevertheless put on an official smile and extended his hand. “Hello, Student. Thank you for helping the doctors at our hospital…”
“Hello. My name is Qin Shu.”
Qin Shu nodded slightly but had no intention of shaking Vice President He’s hand. His own hand was covered in cold, sticky corpse fluid, along with scraps of flesh left behind by decayed soft tissue.
The doctor who had been crying that his brain itched had fainted. Once the corpse fragments inside his head were removed, the deeply sunken contours of his cheeks suddenly became especially obvious.
Qin Shu ignored him and allowed the nurse to help him away for an IV. He turned instead to restrain the second anxious-looking doctor, frowned, and suppressed his disgust as he pulled the toes from the man’s scalp.
“If none of them are willing to speak, then you tell me, Vice President. Which doctors leaked an employee’s private information? Which doctors indirectly caused the victim to be murdered?”
Qin Shu continued working as he questioned him, his voice cold and severe. “Have you investigated their motives? Did you announce the findings throughout the hospital? Did you impose any targeted disciplinary measures?”
“…I apologize, Student Qin. The details of a case this severe and malicious are not suitable for disclosure to unrelated members of the public. The police also repeatedly emphasized that we must maintain strict confidentiality.”
Vice President He gave a dry laugh and offered an empty response. His eyes repeatedly darted toward the talismans blackening on the doctors’ foreheads, as though he were still assessing the danger of the situation—and Qin Shu’s capabilities.
“Stop trying to smooth everything over. You don’t want every doctor under you to die, do you? The doctors gathered here for the consultation are all department heads, aren’t they? Some of them did nothing, yet they’ve been forced to work in a haunted hospital. Is that reasonable? At the very least, they have the right to know what kind of morally corrupt people they’re working alongside.”
Qin Shu could no longer be bothered to manage his expression. He felt sick all over from the disgust, and his tone grew increasingly hostile.
He stared at Vice President He without yielding an inch. “You had the nurse bring me here for help, which means you know perfectly well that you can’t resolve this haunting yourselves. I won’t tell anyone outside this room, but while we’re here, you must explain everything clearly.”
“…Student Qin, if you insist, could you sign a confidentiality agreement first?”
“No problem. But don’t forget about the disciplinary measures. If you want to calm the victim’s resentment, then the people who harmed her naturally need to be punished. At the most basic level, thoroughly investigate sexual harassment and abuses of authority within the hospital. Fire, demote, or fine anyone responsible. Have HR formally warn them. As for those who leaked her private information, make them personally offer condolences to the victim’s family, admit what they did, and sincerely apologize. That isn’t difficult, is it? Even a high school student like me knows that much. So what exactly have you done?”
“…”
Silence. Once again, it was the silence of people who wanted to speak but stopped themselves.
So the hospital executives who knew the truth had done nothing. After the murder, they had simply allowed the people responsible to return to their positions as though nothing had happened and continue working. No one else ever learned how devastating the consequences of their actions had been.
“It’s actually perfectly understandable that she wants to kill all of you. When justice is denied, she can only seek it herself… The HR supervisor who took her own life also came to you for help at first, didn’t she? I’m guessing you did nothing.”
Qin Shu shook his head. “Were her methods of revenge not so sinister that they filled the hospital with yin energy and placed innocent patients in danger, I wouldn’t even bother getting involved.”
The moment he said this, Qin Shu suddenly felt his entire body become much lighter. The inescapable cold, sticky sensation coating his hands abruptly vanished without a trace.
His expression remained unchanged as he suppressed his surprise and quickly lowered his gaze to inspect his hands. Then Qin Shu discovered that every trace of corpse matter on them had disappeared. His hands felt exceptionally clean and fresh, without the slightest odor.
The unclean matter remained upon the three doctors, spread around the unconscious Doctor Liang’s hospital bed, and flowed through the cracks in the emergency ward floor.
Only Qin Shu stood there completely spotless, staring blankly in bewilderment.
Futile Devices Scans 
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