Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Before long, Yang Xiao woke up from unconsciousness, feeling sothing soft beneath him and darkness before his eyes.
Yang Xiao quickly confird that this was the room he had woken up in the previous night. His body felt different too, his chest was heavy. Yang Xiao moved around a bit and realized that this body was much more delicate than his own.
He pressed the red button on the call bell, and a static noise ca through the speaker, "Mu Xiuzhu, this is Chu Xi. I’ve entered, still at the old place, room 349. Copy, please respond."
Almost imdiately, Mu Xiuzhu’s voice ca through the call bell, "Copy, this is Mu Xiuzhu, the communication is clear now..."
"Listen to first. You need to contact Zhou right away and tell him that Vice Director Huang has been dead for days. He is a ghost now!" Yang Xiao urgently relayed this clue, as it concerned the life and death of another team.
"Understood! I’ll contact him right away. Don’t hang up!" Mu Xiuzhu responded swiftly without any unnecessary words.
Broken sounds ca through the call bell, and Yang Xiao couldn’t hear clearly. But soon, Mu Xiuzhu’s voice ca back, this ti with a hint of anxiety, "I can’t reach them. We don’t have mobile phones. I can only call the dormitory landline, but no one answered. Zhou and his team must have all moved out!"
"This is trouble!" Veins bulged on Yang Xiao’s hand as he clenched the call bell tightly.
...
An hour ago, three figures silently left the staff dormitory. To avoid attracting attention, they didn’t use the main entrance but instead climbed out through a back window of the first-floor public bathroom. Taking advantage of the night, they walked along the dark path towards the Sijing Building.
Deep into the night, the hospital’s lighting was poor, and hardly a soul was seen. To ensure no mistakes, the three of them wore dark clothes and masks.
Leading the group was naturally Captain Zhou, followed by two won, Xu Yiqiu and Tao Anyun. At this mont, the three of them were hiding behind so bushes not far from the Sijing Building.
"There. That’s the window Lv Jun climbed in through last night," Tao Anyun lifted her hand and pointed to a half-open window on the west side of the Sijing Building, "Mu Xiuzhu and I waited for an hour, but he didn’t co out."
If he didn’t co out, he was likely dead, a simple conclusion. But Captain Zhou cared about how exactly he died.
No colleague at the hospital had a motive to kill. Even if the security caught him, the worst that could happen would be detention for an explanation, or at most a hospital-wide reprimand. But they had been anxiously waiting all day without any news, as if Lv Jun had vanished into thin air.
No one, no body, and no news.
For a veteran like Captain Zhou, witnessing grueso deaths had beco commonplace. Even the most horrifically mutilated bodies provided so clues. It was these unexplained disappearances that he hated facing the most.
"What ti did Lv Jun go in last night?" Captain Zhou asked while observing the Sijing Building.
"Around this ti," replied Tao Anyun.
"Around?"
"It was this ti," Tao Anyun, sensing Captain Zhou’s displeasure, responded more seriously and pointed to the quartz watch on her wrist, "It is 11:42 PM now. Last night, Lv Jun went in at 11:50 PM."
"What about Vice Director Huang?" Captain Zhou pressed on.
"Vice Director Huang ca out at 12:30 AM, wearing a tracksuit. Mu Xiuzhu secretly followed him for a bit and said he didn’t hear any keys jangling. We deduce he must have left the keys in the room. This is our best chance," Tao Anyun spoke quickly.
"How long did he run for? Did he confirm the route?" Captain Zhou wasn’t in the sa dormitory as the others. He had a higher status, and only his room had a phone, making communication difficult.
"No confird route. Mu Xiuzhu didn’t dare follow too long to avoid alerting him. The ti...at least half an hour. We waited for Lv Jun until almost 1 AM, but Vice Director Huang hadn’t returned yet."
"Our guy went in at 11:50, and Vice Director Huang ca out at 12:30. These 40 minutes should have been enough for Lv Jun to find room 706. So either sothing happened on the way, he got killed by security or soone else, or...Vice Director Huang is involved, and Lv Jun died by his hand," Xu Yiqiu, known for her straightforwardness, deduced.
"What do we do now?" Tao Anyun asked in a low voice.
"We wait. This ti we’ll act after Vice Director Huang goes for his night run. I’ll follow him, and you two enter the building. Xu Yiqiu, you find the key, Tao Anyun you keep watch outside. We’ll regroup here after," Captain Zhou swiftly made the arrangents.
The plan was set. Now it was a matter of waiting patiently, and Captain Zhou felt especially tense, knowing everything depended on this one act.
He worried about contingencies. It had rained in the early hours, making the ground slick—hardly ideal for running. If Vice Director Huang decided not to run tonight and stayed in, what then?
Minute by minute, ti ticked away. Soon enough, it was 12:30. In Captain Zhou’s anxious gaze, a figure erged alone from the glass doors of the Sijing Building, wearing a dark blue tracksuit, gold-rimd glasses, slightly overweight, and looking scholarly. It was Vice Director Huang!
After a few stretches, Vice Director Huang started jogging westward. As his awkward figure disappeared into the distance, Captain Zhou issued the action order, rising to follow. His task tonight was to keep a close watch on the target.
anwhile, Xu Yiqiu and Tao Anyun moved too. Avoiding Lv Jun’s route from last night, Xu Yiqiu used a different side’s public bathroom window to climb in, leading Tao Anyun. They took the left-side stairs up quietly as it was late at night.
Elsewhere, Captain Zhou had been following Vice Director Huang from afar, careful not to get too close and risk detection.
After a bit of running, the exertion was minimal for soone of Captain Zhou’s seasoned endurance. He could see that this Vice Director Huang was a novice jogger, unfit and uncoordinated, even wearing leather shoes instead of proper running shoes.
He kept his distance, vigilant, as Vice Director Huang chose a small path with decent scenery and a gentle night breeze. If not on a mission, it would have been a pleasant diversion. Captain Zhou himself enjoyed fitness, including occasional night runs.
But now Captain Zhou’s thoughts turned to Xu Yiqiu and Tao Anyun. If nothing unusual happened on his end, then the issue must be inside that building. Lv Jun wouldn’t have disappeared silently for no reason.
Lost in thought, he suddenly saw Vice Director Huang veer off in a different direction, one hand holding up his trousers, heading for a small wood.
It looked like he needed to relieve himself, but soon Captain Zhou sensed sothing amiss. Minutes passed with no sign of Vice Director Huang reappearing from the wood.
A few more minutes and Captain Zhou knew sothing was wrong. He didn’t dare approach directly, choosing instead to retreat and circle around quickly from another direction.
Using the moonlight, Captain Zhou hid behind a tree, peering into the woods. Not a trace of Vice Director Huang could be seen.
"Damn it..."
A shiver ran down Captain Zhou’s spine, followed by goosebumps spreading uncontrollably. He could clearly feel sothing watching him.
It was too late to run now. Captain Zhou staggered out from behind the tree, gripping a large rock in his hand, looking around and cursing loudly, "Damn! You lousy leader, running so fast. Next ti I catch you, I’ll smash your head! Making work night shifts for a pittance, you got no conscience!"
After his outburst, Captain Zhou hurled the rock into the wood and patted his pants as he walked away.
He didn’t move quickly, more like a leisurely stroll, heading towards the dormitory. Eventually, the cold sensation of being watched faded away.
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