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◎Hospital◎

“I really hate it,” said the man named Gao Zhou on the other side.

His hair was a messy clump on his head, he looked miserable, and his left leg was in a cast.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have taken this job. I'm almost dead."

"Could you elaborate?" Mu Heqing asked.

She sensed something was wrong last night, but it was already late and most people had left work, so she could only ask again the next day.

Ouyang Zhu was worried and didn't want any more uncontrollable things to happen in her group, so she immediately asked her secretary, Fen, to investigate whether anything strange had happened in Project Department Six recently.

The manager of Project Department 6 told Secretary Fen that one of their employees seemed to have run into some trouble. He didn't know the specifics, but he did know that the employee's parents had come to the company to make a scene, saying that their son seemed to have changed and they suspected that he was under too much work pressure and that the company was giving him too many tasks.

But his colleagues didn't notice anything different about that employee.

The employee's parents even hired someone to investigate the matter. That person came to the company office, but didn't show up the next day; apparently, he was hospitalized with a broken bone.

This is a strange thing.

Ouyang Zhu had people contact the employee and his parents, but they couldn't reach them. Fortunately, the person they had hired still had their contact information. When Mu and Qing called, the person said he was in the hospital.

Incidentally, Mu and Qing are currently staying at a hotel under the Guihui Group, and Li Shi is also staying at the hotel. Li Yu had to go back to Ancheng to see the children, so she left overnight, leaving Li Shi to Mu and Qing.

Mu Heqing arrived at the hospital early the next morning, and for some reason, she had a very uneasy feeling.

She was certainly not a warm-hearted person, but she knew that once something happened, she would ultimately be unable to escape it.

Upon entering the hospital, the person Mu and Qing were looking for was the one currently lying in the hospital bed.

He said his name was Gao Zhou, and he worked as a lawyer and private investigator.

Mu Heqing is currently speaking to Gao Zhou as the administrative manager of Guihui Group. This identity was arranged for her by Ouyang Zhu for the convenience of external affairs.

"Manager Mu, yes, why do I feel like you look familiar?"

"There are probably many people who look like me."

"No way, if I've met you before, I should know you." Gao Zhou thought for a while and then gave up. He had been through too much lately, and his brain was too overwhelmed.

"That's not important. Why don't you tell us about Mr. Shi Jianhang from our group?"

"Fine, I'll speak then, but what about the two people beside you?"

“He’s my assistant. Her name is Sifei, and his name is Shi,” Mu and Qing introduced.

Gao Zhou frowned. What kind of strange names were these? Manager Mu seemed normal enough. The two people next to her, one was a girl next door who looked quite lovely, but seeing her made him feel cold inside. The other man, oh my god, did he even look human? Was he a mannequin?

This is weird, absolutely weird.

Gao Zhou was unsure, but at this point, he had no choice but to speak.

About three days ago, Shi Jianhang's parents came to me and said that their son had been locking himself in his room lately. They thought he had broken up with his girlfriend and didn't take it seriously.

But recently they discovered that Shi Jianhang would sneak out in the middle of the night and then come back to smirk at himself in the mirror.

They suspected their son had gone mad, so they took him to the hospital. The doctor said he was fine, just under a lot of stress. His girlfriend had broken up with him six months ago, so if it wasn't a breakup, it must be work-related. They went to the company, but they were told there was nothing wrong. Naturally, they didn't believe him and came to me.

Is there something wrong with Shi Jianhang?

"I can't tell. He can communicate normally, and his behavior is quite normal."

"Was your leg broken because of this?"

“Yes, I went to the company the day before yesterday. There weren’t many people there on Sunday, so I couldn’t get any information. So, the night before last, I followed him. He seemed to be heading towards Ancheng. At first, I was able to keep up with him, but then he got faster and faster. I had to ride a motorcycle to barely keep up with him. Unexpectedly, he suddenly turned around, and it seemed like he saw me. I couldn’t stop my motorcycle and crashed into a tree. And that’s how I ended up like this.”

Thinking back to what happened the night before last, Gao Zhou felt a chill of fear. How could a normal person walk that fast? He could barely keep up even on his motorcycle. He felt that Shi Jianhang's parents shouldn't have come looking for him, but rather they should have found a Taoist priest to exorcise the evil spirits.

Two days ago, Mu and Qing were still in Ancheng. What could possibly be going to Ancheng? Could it be "him" that they met while having dinner with Tang Ruxing and the others?

That would be a real problem.

Although Mu and Qing were her high school classmates who knew her well, she had a more direct understanding of the situation, unlike now where she had to guess.

"So what about Shi Jianhang and his parents now?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen them since I was hospitalized." Gao Zhou shook his head; he was already considering giving up on the case.

“It’s Yin Yin, isn’t it? Look at his shadow, it’s moving.” Si Fei, who had been obediently playing the role of assistant, suddenly spoke up, startling Gao Zhou.

Gao Zhou's face was pale. He looked at his shadow. He was clearly lying in bed, but one of his shadow's hands was stretched out infinitely, trying to touch Mu Heqing's feet, who was sitting by his bedside.

Mu and Qing stepped on the shadow, which twisted rapidly and quickly transformed into a long, thin shadow. Like a snake, the shadow darted swiftly outside the door.

Gao Zhou lay limp on the hospital bed; this time, it was truly the strangest of the strange.

He's going to invite a master.

"Let's hurry and chase after them!" Sifei said happily, her face full of excitement for the battle, various colors flashing in her eyes.

Li Shi also became excited, and he rarely smiled: "Kill Yin Yin."

Mu Heqing let Sifei and Li show themselves to the ward. She looked at Gao Zhou on the hospital bed and asked, "Can we pretend we didn't see this?"

Gao Zhou nodded vigorously, wishing he could forget all of this.

Mu Heqing walked out of the ward. She had to keep an eye on Li Shi and Si Fei to prevent them from making things too big.

Besides Class Two, where Mu and Qing were, there were other classes at No. 13 Middle School. And Class Two had a hunting interest in students from all the other classes except Class One.

Mu and Qing were not very familiar with Yin Yin. He was in Class 3 in high school, but that did not mean he was not dangerous.

If Gao Zhou is right, then on Sunday, the hidden yin was on Shi Jianhang, and he made a special trip to Ancheng to see her.

However, it's unclear how he sensed her presence.

The private hospital was quite large; Li Shi and Si Fei quickly disappeared after chasing Yin Yin. Mu Heqing had only exchanged one more sentence with Gao Zhou before they could no longer find Li Shi and Si Fei.

Mu and Qing wandered around the hospital, and before they knew it, they seemed to have wandered into another ward, not the orthopedics department.

She saw the sign at the entrance, which read "Oncology Department".

She went inside and heard two nurses at the nurses' station chatting.

"We've had three patients go missing recently, haven't we?"

"Not just that, there are five family members involved."

"How scary!"

"Sigh, they're all in the late stages, so it's possible they just couldn't think straight for a moment."

"But it's impossible for even family members to disappear."

"Don't be afraid. The hospital director has already arranged for twice as many security guards to patrol. The police have also come to check. Don't tell the patients. We'll tell them they've been discharged."

"I understand. I hope everyone stays safe and sound."

The two nurses chatted for a few minutes before going back to work.

Li Shi and Si Fei were not there. As Mu and Qing were about to leave, they heard someone calling her.

"Xiaoqing, is that Xiaoqing?"

Mu Heqing turned around in confusion, and a middle-aged woman looked at her with surprise.

"Who are you?" Mu Heqing didn't have a strong impression of the middle-aged woman in front of him, but she looked somewhat familiar.

"Oh dear, you've forgotten? You used to eat at my house all the time when you were little. I'm Aunt Hai, remember?"

Mu and Qing remembered that Aunt Hai was her neighbor when she was a child. She was a very nice person. Later, she became rich and moved away.

"Aunt Hai, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you at all." After so many years, Mu and Qing had almost forgotten.

"I didn't recognize you at first, I just thought you looked like me, but I didn't expect it to really be you. Come, come to Aunt Hai, Aunt Hai has lots of fruit, here's a big apple for you." Aunt Hai pulled Mu Heqing into the ward.

"No need, no need, you're too kind." Mu Heqing waved his hand to refuse, but Aunt Hai still stuffed a big apple into his hand.

Aunt Hai sighed, "Oh my, Xiaoqing, you've grown into such a beautiful young lady. When you were little, you were so tiny and so well-behaved. Your mother was always with you, worried that something might happen to you. How's your mother doing lately?"

Mu Heqing munched on an apple: "I'm retired, and I have nothing to do at home. It's pretty good."

"Wow, in the blink of an eye, Hezhi has retired too. How is Heyue doing now?"

Mu Heqing's mother is named Li Hezhi.

"My aunt is doing well too; she works in Ancheng."

"And you?"

“I also work in Ancheng and came to Qingcheng on a business trip. I didn’t expect to run into you.”

"Xiaoqing is already working, that's amazing."

Mu Heqing was a little shy and said, "Anyway, we all have to work, it's no big deal."

“I used to think your mother would keep you at home and take care of you for the rest of your life. I never expected that she would let go and even allow you to leave her to work in Ancheng. That’s amazing, truly amazing.” Aunt Hai smiled happily.

Mu and Qing awkwardly stepped on their own feet, realizing that her mother had indeed been overly protective of her in the past.

"By the way, Aunt Hai, what are you doing here?" Mu Heqing realized that this was the oncology department.

"Your uncle has a health problem, but don't worry, it was caught early and the bad stuff has been removed. We'll be discharged soon." Aunt Hai said with a puzzled look, "By the way, your uncle said he went to the toilet, why hasn't he come back yet? It's been almost half an hour."

Mu and Qing recalled what the two nurses at the nurses' station had just said.

Almost five people from this department have gone missing.

Mu Heqing stood up and said, "I'll go with you to take a look."

"No need, what's so interesting about the toilet? You sit here, I'll go take a look." Aunt Hai waved her hand and called out to the washroom in the ward, "Old man, what's wrong with the toilet? Why isn't it out yet?"

There was no echo from the bathroom. Aunt Hai opened the bathroom door, but there was no one inside.

"Strange? I just saw him using the toilet here, where did he go?" Aunt Hai said.

"I'll go ask the nurses." Mu Heqing ran to the nurses' station and said, "Hello, have you seen that uncle in that ward?"

One of the nurses shook her head.

Another nurse said, "I think I saw him walk towards the east end of the corridor. Is he gone? Don't worry, let's look for him."