Chapter 8
What is it like to watch a holographic horror movie?
The first shot shows the female ghost's face only a fraction of a millimeter away from yours. She looks at you, and your reflection is in her crimson eye sockets.
Chi Xia's breath hitched, her hair stood on end, and her first instinct was to punch the female ghost to kill her. But then she realized she was watching a horror movie with a colleague she had just met. She lowered her eyes, took a deep breath, and loosened her clenched fist.
"Hahaha." Xin Ran laughed so hard she fell onto the hospital bed, turned to look at Chi Xia, and pointed, "I remember now, it's that spot. I was terrified when I first saw it from there. You're so calm, hahaha."
Chi Xia tilted her head and looked at him. Was he really drunk?
The female ghost was right behind Xin Ran, holding a blood-dripping knife, her eyes dark and filled with hatred.
Chi Xia: "..."
Ke Xinran laughed, "This is my favorite movie. The female ghost can appear in any corner of this room. Are you sure you don't want to come?"
Chi Xia watched as the female ghost's hair stretched endlessly behind him, and drops of blood from the knife tip fell onto Xin Ran's face. She calmly got up, moved to the hospital bed next to Xin Ran, and sat down, then looked directly into the female ghost's eyes. "Why didn't you say so earlier? You scared me half to death."
Xin Ran sat up without realizing it. His face, slightly flushed from the alcohol allergy, turned even redder as he smiled, like a bursting flower. But when he smiled, his eyes crinkled, revealing a pair of dimples, which made him somewhat cute. "I forgot before, I only remembered when I saw it."
The scene then cuts to an old house, or more precisely, the old house before it became a haunted house.
They were sitting in the living room of the old house, where the dilapidated faucet was dripping water. The film's soundtrack, like the cold wind in the old house, enveloped the two people inside.
In the film, a young couple passionately kissed, their lips locked from outside the old house all the way to the living room. Before they even got inside, they were already almost completely naked. Then, they pressed themselves against the sofa and began to make out.
Xin Ran had drunk too much, so her reactions might have been a little slow, but Chi Xia was genuinely embarrassed. The two of them were lying on top of them, moving around, their breathing, their actions, and the sounds...
"This part is not good, skip it." Xin Ran forced herself to stay focused and skipped it with the remote control.
The two moved to the basement of the old house. In the dark room, a disheveled woman was locked up. Her thin body was wrapped in a dirty nightgown, and her wrists were not even as thick as the chains binding her. The woman listened to the noises from above and kept crying and banging her head against the corner of the table.
Xin Ran: "Do you think this is a pitiful woman who owns the old house, whose husband cheated on her and locked her up, and who eventually became a vengeful ghost and killed her husband and his mistresses?"
Chi Xia: "Isn't that right?"
Xin Ran laughed, "Of course not, what's so interesting about that? Actually—"
"boom!"
Flames shot into the sky, illuminating half the space.
Chi Xia looked on in disbelief. The movies Xin Ran liked were far too abstract, and the explosion seemed out of nowhere. "Is this a transition?"
Xin Ran was stunned. He shook his head, squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, got out of bed, walked over, pulled back the curtains, looked in the right direction and turned to look at Chi Xia, "The nursing home has been blown up."
"ha?"
Chi Xia went over as well. The firelight was actually coming in from outside. Xin Ran was right; that was the direction of the nursing home. At this moment, things were in complete chaos there.
Chi Xia remembered Lin Keli saying that the nursing assistants at the affiliated hospital were only there temporarily to provide support, and with this explosion, some of them might never come back.
"Waaah...Grandma!"
The clear child's voice sounded particularly jarring amidst the noise. Xin Ran followed the sound and saw the little boy sitting on the road crying. "Should we go down and help him?"
Chi Xia nodded. The two left in a hurry, leaving the holographic horror movie unwatched and Xin Ran still wearing her hospital gown.
The affiliated hospital and the nursing home are separated by two streets. The bomb that was deliberately detonated only damaged the nursing home and did not harm the others. The affiliated hospital was closer and was the first to be dispatched for rescue. Doctors and nurses quickly carried stretchers and ran there without even needing to drive a car, taking a shortcut.
Xin Ran and Chi Xia got a stretcher and joined the group, their initial goal clear: to help the crying little kid. But as they approached the nursing home, the cacophony of fire trucks, sirens, hospital rescue teams, and passersby filled their ears…
Chi Xia: "I just saw him on the road, where did he go?"
Xin Ran, with one hand supporting Chi Xia as they lifted the unit price, scratched her head with the other, "I don't know, someone took it?"
After looking around twice without finding it, the two went inside to carry the injured elderly and caregivers. They went in and out several times, and Xin Ran was panting like a dog.
"Aren't you tired?" He turned to look at Chi Xia.
Chi Xia was also panting, and pretended to wipe her sweat, saying, "I'm tired."
The caregiver on the stretcher, clutching his shoulder which was blasted to pieces, saw Xin Ran's patient gown and said, "Sir, you're a patient, don't be silly. After you've carried me here, go back to your own ward."
Xin Ran: "That's what I thought too, you're too heavy."
Caregiver: "..."
Chi Xia: "How did it suddenly explode out of nowhere?"
The caregiver gasped in pain, but still answered, "I don't know either. We had some important people coming to visit the elderly in the nursing home today, and the nursing home was worried about not having enough staff, so they temporarily transferred us over. Who would have thought it would turn out like this?"
Chi Xia: "Has that important person arrived?"
Caregiver: "He came and was eating and chatting with the elderly in the cafeteria, but by the time the explosion happened, that important person had already left."
Xin Ran stepped into the hospital, saying, "So, you guys are the ones who got caught in the crossfire, even though the person who was hit didn't get blown up."
The caregiver sighed, then gasped in pain, "Who knows? I've had the worst luck imaginable."
The caregiver was taken to the emergency room. The caregiver repeatedly told Xin Ran to go back to his ward as soon as possible. The doctor also told him not to wander around anymore. He had been too busy to notice that the person was a patient. Now, looking at his hospital gown, it was just too jarring to look at.
"Let me see who this big shot is." As the two walked towards the ward, Xin Ran muttered to herself, pulling up her bracelet to check the news. "This is too timely. Every single one of them has been deleted. We can't even get a single piece of gossip."
As soon as she pushed open the door, she was face to face with the female ghost. Caught off guard, forgetting that she had been watching a holographic horror movie and had forgotten to turn it off, Chi Xia threw a punch.
Xin Ran: "..."
Chi Xia awkwardly withdrew her hand and coughed lightly, "If you're alright, then I'll head back now."
Xin Ran wanted to laugh, but held it back. "Let's finish watching it before we leave. It's really good. I'm going to have dessert later, let's go together."
Chi Xia was about to open her mouth to refuse—
"Waaah...Grandma!"
This was even scarier than a horror movie. Ignoring the holographic female ghost darting around the room, the two rushed to the window, where they saw the crying little boy again.
The child, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and overalls, sat slumped in the middle of the road, crying until his voice was hoarse. People came and went on the street near the nursing home, but no one paid any attention to him.
A chill ran down their spines, and Xin Ran rubbed the goosebumps on her forearms. "Could it be a holographic little boy?"
Chi Xia: "Is that boy in your horror movie?"
Xin Ran shook her head. "I've watched it at least ten times, and I'm very sure it's not true."
The two looked at each other, and both saw disbelief and horror in each other's eyes.
Chi Xia: "My mom says that if you walk too much at night, you'll encounter ghosts; similarly, watching too many horror movies will—"
Xin Ran quickly covered her mouth, forcing herself to calm down. "How about we call someone else over to take a look? If he can see it too, then..."
"I see him, he's over there." The white-clad, long-haired female ghost stood beside the two, pointing at the little boy on the road, and staring at them with a silly smile.
"ah!"
"Ah! Xinran, turn off the horror movie!"
The holographic projection disappeared, and the ward returned to normal, finally quiet. The two slumped onto the sofa, panting heavily.
Chi Xia patted her chest, "Was that line from the movie?"
Xin Ran nodded, "Yes, the woman pointed out the dead body downstairs to the man."
"grandmother!"
The little boy downstairs is still crying.
The two breathed a sigh of relief, and Xin Ran stood up. "You stay here and keep watch, I'll go find someone else to watch over things."
Chi Xia nodded, and soon after, Xin Ran's attending physician arrived. Xin Ran had told him about the situation on the way. The tall, thin male doctor looked out for a while, then frowned and looked back.
"Why don't you two go see a psychiatrist?"
Xin Ran looked at Chi Xia, "He can't see or hear."
Chi Xia: "How about this, you two stand here, we'll keep the communication on, and when I get there you can give me directions to the child's location, and I'll see if I can find him?"
Xin Ran: "I think it's a good idea."
Chi Xia went down to that street and walked towards the middle of the road according to her memory. The street was now blocked by the police to ensure timely rescue by the hospital and fire department.
Xin Ran watched as Chi Xia approached the boy and said, "Keep going."
The attending physician also stood at the window. He didn't see the child or hear any crying, but seeing the two people's seemingly logical actions, he began to believe it.
"Although I helped you fabricate quite a few medical records, are you really sure your brain wasn't damaged by those bastards?"
Xin Ran: "I'm perfectly sober."
"One step to the left, yes, squat down, it's right at your feet."
Chi Xia: "I suspect that this child has awakened a talent, perhaps a skill like Shadow Form."
The doctor, listening nearby, nodded. "That's possible. Did you touch him?"
Chi Xia's hand slowly explored this area. Suddenly, her fingers felt a warm, wet sensation. She instinctively lowered her voice and said, "I touched it."
Xin Ran was also a little excited, "Bring him back first."
Strangely, the moment she touched him, Chi Xia saw the boy and gently comforted him.
The doctor, positioned above, watched as she awkwardly held a ball of air. "Is there any weight in your hands?"
Chi Xia: "It's not light."
Xin Ran: "Get them back first, and avoid the crowds."
This was also what Chi Xia had thought. The child had awakened his talent at such a young age, and it was highly likely that he had been subjected to some kind of trauma, such as a life-or-death situation. This meant that the child might have seen or experienced something closely related to the explosion.
Chi Xia moved the child into an upright position, with the child's arms wrapped around her neck. They walked from under the eaves into the back door of the hospital. She acted as if nothing was wrong the whole way, quickly went upstairs, and carried the child into Xin Ran's ward.
Dr. Xin Ran, the attending physician, closed the door after seeing that no one was in the corridor.
The moment Xin Ran reached out to touch him, he also saw the boy up close. He took the boy from him, patted the child's back, and whispered soothing words. Chi Xia poured the child a glass of warm water, and the two of them helped the child drink some water to soothe his throat.
The doctor frowned deeply. "I still feel like I'm in a dream. How could you two see him?"
Xin Ran lifted the child's little hand and handed it to the doctor, saying, "Feel it."
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