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Глава 23

Qin Jin called out, "Mom, let's go together."

“We can’t go any further. Our magic can only send four people back to the other side of the time portal. You should go! No matter what, you must live on strongly, don’t give up, and remember that we love you.”

The four were thrown into the darkness by a powerful force. In the endless darkness, they tried to grope for each other but could not. The powerful force dragged them down at high speed, and under the immense pressure, they could not even shed tears.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Returning to the City (1)

Qin Jin landed heavily on the ground. Opening his eyes, he saw a little girl with her hands clasped together, holding a red thread in her hands, forming a large circle, protecting the time portal.

Someone else fell out of the portal; it was Ke Liang. He stood up and shouted at the portal, "Dad, Mom, come out!"

Qin Jin rushed forward, wanting to re-enter the portal, but was pulled back by Abbess Xiaoqian's disciple. All the sorrow welled up in her heart. Ke Liang held Qin Jin, and the two looked at each other, speechless for a long time. They suddenly remembered that Shishi and Lu Ziming were still in that time and space, unable to help them. Their hearts broke.

The little girl opened her eyes and said, "I can't hold on much longer. If that older sister and brother don't come out soon, the time portal will close."

Ke Liang and Qin Jin were as anxious as ants on a hot pan by the door. The time portal was about to close little by little, and all the sacrifices of so many elders would be in vain.

The portal was like a halo, and as the halo slowly closed, the girl's face was covered in sweat.

Ke Liang grabbed her and said, "Don't go over there, it'll be troublesome if you inhale it."

Just as the light was about to close, a hand suddenly landed on the girl. A powerful force pushed the light open a little further; it was Abbot Xiaoqian's fierce disciple.

The two of them desperately tried to open the time portal, but only a sliver of light remained.

Finally, two more people fell from the sky; it was Shishi and Lu Ziming.

The four of them hugged each other and cried bitterly, throwing themselves onto the bodies of the Four Symbols, who were no longer able to open their eyes.

A gasp came from behind, and the little girl collapsed to the ground. The portal closed completely, the red threads snapped into pieces, and the little monk sat cross-legged on the ground, recovering his strength. Ke Liang held the little girl and examined her for a while before saying, "She's alright, she was just exhausted. She'll be fine after lying down for a while."

At this moment, the girl opened her eyes and said, "Is Master Yuankong dead? She didn't come out."

Qin Jin burst into tears, thinking about the last time her mother looked at her.

The young monk said nothing, but simply glanced at the four of them and then said, "Everything is predestined. What are your plans, my four benefactors?"

"We need to go back to the city first and then make further plans," Lu Ziming said.

“Alright then, my little sister and I have used up all our magic power to help you continue the portal to the future, and we can’t help you anymore. We need to stay in this temple to cultivate, recover our strength, and help Master Shibo pass on to the afterlife.”

"But is it safe here?" Qin Jin asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, although we've lost our magic powers, nothing can harm us. We will cultivate diligently," the girl replied in a clear voice.

The four reluctantly left the temple, bidding farewell to the remains of the Four Symbols. The pain in their hearts was indescribable. Each of them was heartbroken by the departure of their elders and felt heavy with the newfound responsibility on their shoulders. They felt helpless towards Kabeng and the witch.

It seems the only option is to ask Ke Liang's grandfather.

The four of them still got on the bus. When they came, it was full of relatives, but when they returned to the city, only these four friends remained. Qin Jin hugged Hei Bao, and she and Shi Shi leaned on each other, tears streaming down their faces.

Lu Ziming and Ke Liang, however, stared intently ahead, trying to find an exit.

The first destination after driving into the city was to pick up Dingdong from a private cemetery; we couldn't keep leaving a small child in the cemetery all the time.

The car drove directly to the cemetery. The cemetery was desolate, and unlike the peaceful atmosphere it used to have, it was filled with a sinister aura.

What happened? The four rushed out and saw that Old Man Li was still meditating in the hut. When he saw the four of them, he sighed and said, "If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have been able to keep going with my last bit of spiritual energy. The child has already been taken away by Yingqi."

Yingqi, how could Yingqi have escaped?

The old man let out a long breath and said, "I was injured by a powerful evil force. This force is terrifyingly strong, and I don't know why it exists."

Shishi rushed over and cried out, "Uncle, don't go!"

“We’re getting old, and those who are supposed to leave are going to leave. Your most important task is to bring Dingdong back. Yingqi and she are in the mental hospital.”

"Uncle, what should we do?" Lu Ziming asked.

“Since you are still alive, there must be a way out. I cannot give you an answer now. My primordial spirit has been destroyed. I am just holding on to wait for you to come and tell you the whereabouts of your child.”

After saying this, the old man looked at the young people with affection. He said to Shishi, "I have protected your family for a thousand years, but now I am powerless to help you. Take care of yourself." Then, the old man's body turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared into the air.

Shishi and Qin Jin rushed to where the old man was sitting. Qin Jin thought about how she had almost gotten herself into trouble in the library, and how the old man had saved her.

That nurse at the hospital must have also been murdered.

Everyone was in great pain, but they didn't dare to stop for a moment and rushed to the mental hospital.

Everything was normal, except the nurse was missing.

The four of them ran into Yingqi's ward and breathed a sigh of relief. They saw the two of them, one big and one small, sitting happily facing each other. Yingqi was playing a clapping game with Dingdong.

Yingqi didn't recognize the four people in front of her, but she was very gentle with Dingdong. The four of them didn't want to disturb the happy time of the unfortunate mother and daughter, so they just stood aside and watched quietly.

After all, one cannot stay in a mental hospital for long. A day has already been spent in turmoil, and as night falls, the ward is filled with a terrifying atmosphere.

Lu Ziming stepped forward, picked up Dingdong, and left. Yingqi stood up blankly, not knowing what these people were going to do. Dingdong, on the other hand, screamed sharply:

"Mommy, Mommy, I want Mommy to hold me."

Everyone stopped in their tracks. How did Dingdong know that Yingqi was her mother? But Lu Ziming still put Dingdong down. Dingdong ran to Yingqi and shook her hand, calling, "Mommy, Mommy."

Yingqi was completely like a wooden doll again, showing no reaction at all. Finally, Dingdong got tired of shouting and yelled, "If you don't want me, I'll die!"

The ward suddenly went dark; the power had gone out.

In the darkness, Hei Bao hunched over in Qin Jin's arms, ready to face any enemy attack. Lu Ziming turned on the emergency light; Ding Dong and Ying Qi were both gone.

All four men broke out in a cold sweat. Lu Ziming was the first to rush into the bathroom, where there was nothing but a large white toilet. The window was so high that it was impossible for anyone to escape from there. If someone had gone around the four men to get outside, why was there not a sound?

Suddenly, a sinister voice came from outside the door: "What are you doing?"

Turning my head, I saw a young nurse in a white coat standing at the door, her head bowed low, her bangs so long that her eyes were not visible.

Ke Liang was about to say "the patient is gone" when he stopped abruptly. From his angle, he could see a person pressed against the nurse's back. The person was like a piece of paper stuck to the nurse's back. You couldn't see anything from the front, but from his angle, he could see it very clearly.

Shishi, unaware of what was happening, rushed forward, wanting to go out and find Yingqi and Dingdong. Before Ke Liang could even utter a cry of alarm, the power went out again, and the surrounding silence was so profound it made one tremble.

Lu Ziming steeled himself and reached for the light switch on the wall. The sound of a heartbeat was so loud in the darkness, and the walls felt damp. Why was the mental hospital so damp?

He kept touching the wall, which seemed to be infinitely large, and finally found the switch button. He eagerly turned it on, only to find himself standing at the elevator door. The elevator was empty, with no one in it. How did he end up walking so far to get to the elevator door?

Before I could think any further, I heard a scream from upstairs. It was a child's voice, or maybe it was a ding-dong!

In his haste, he pulled out his gun and slipped into the elevator, only to see the doors slowly close. From the outside, it was clear that Lu Ziming wasn't the only one in the elevator. Directly above his head, a woman in an embroidered dress was hanging upside down, her embroidered shoes only centimeters above his head. Her face was drooping towards the elevator, but in the reflection, one could see the woman's face, covered in blood, and blind.

The instant Shishi rushed out, Ke Liang saw the person clinging to the nurse reach for Shishi's neck. Shishi was instantly swallowed by darkness. Ke Liang chased after the receding footsteps because he had seen clearly in that instant that the person clinging to the nurse had gouged out her eyes. If he didn't save Shishi, Shishi would suffer the same fate as the nurse.

Qin Jin was at the far end of the room. She heard Shi Shi's screams and Ke Liang's receding footsteps. She couldn't see anything, but she didn't dare to grope around like Lu Ziming did. She could only hold Hei Bao and quickly press her face against Hei Bao's body. Only Hei Bao's warm fur could give her body, which was already cold from fright, a little warmth. She called out, "Ke Liang, Ke Liang, Ziming, Shi Shi, where are you?" as she walked towards a little light.

Just as she was leaving, she heard a barely audible sigh, as if it came from the back of her neck. She turned around sharply, touched it with her hand, but found nothing. A chill ran down her spine, and she quickened her pace toward the light.

The only light was in the bathroom, with an emergency light that looked like a dying patient, ready to go out at any moment. She slowly moved to the light and cautiously peeked out. She saw a woman sitting blankly on the toilet. A surge of joy filled her; she hadn't expected Yingqi to come here.

She tried to pull her away, but Hei Bao screamed. Something was wrong. Her experiences over the past few days made her carefully examine the woman on the toilet. Yes, she looked exactly like Ying Qi. But hadn't she already checked before the power went out and found that there was no one in the room?

Qin Jin slowly approached, looking Yingqi up and down as she asked, "What are you doing here? Shall we go outside?"

Yingqi seemed not to have heard her question at all, and just stared blankly at her fingers.

Qin Jin reached out and took her hand. It was cold and damp to the touch. Yingqi's slender fingers were so delicate that they evoked pity. They were so white that each finger was almost translucent, and they looked beautiful in the hand.

Yingqi refused to move, so Qin Jin squatted down, took her hand, and smiled as he said to her, "Don't be afraid, we'll go out now."

In that instant, Qin Jin froze. Her gaze fell on Ying Qi's beautiful fingers. She backed away in alarm, asking as she did so, "Who trimmed your fingernails?"

It's Lan Qi! Only Lan Qi could create such strange and alluring nail polish.

Yingqi slowly raised her head, a strange smile appearing on her lips, and said to Qin Jin, word by word, "I fixed it myself."

Qin Jin screamed and ran out. The bathroom door had been locked from the outside, and "Yingqi" on the toilet had slowly stood up. Qin Jin picked up the shower bottle in her hand and threw it hard. The bottle hit "Yingqi" squarely on the head, and she fell down, lying flat on her back on the bathroom floor like a corpse.

Qin Jin frantically pounded on the door: "Ke Liang, open the door, open the door quickly." The lights flickered, and the corpse-like human figure on the ground began to change. Ying Qi's skin peeled off little by little, and Lan Qi slowly appeared in front of Qin Jin as if someone had pulled her out from under a sheet.

Two large, dark eye sockets, a face covered in blood, and a red undergarment peeking out inch by inch. Qin Jin had forgotten to knock on the door, holding a bath brush in her hand, staring in astonishment at Lan Qi lying on the floor.

Lan Qi had become almost the same as the last time she saw him in the morgue. The head of the corpse on the ground began to turn towards her, with two bloody holes on its right side facing her, as if to say, "Why didn't you come to the thirteenth floor?"

Ke Liang chased after Shi Shi out the door, running along the dark corridor to the sound of footsteps, but he couldn't reach the end. He began to panic and thought to himself, "Oh no, Qin Jin is still in that room." He was caught in the middle, torn between whether to chase after Shi Shi to save her or go back to save Qin Jin. But just then, the footsteps around him suddenly stopped. He strained his ears but heard nothing.

He was unaware that his earrings were emitting a red light, a signal that something dangerous was approaching him.

In the dim light of the earring, a person's face was resting on Ke Liang's shoulder. The person was like someone clinging to the back of a nurse, with their toes far off the ground, yet they could turn around without being seen or felt. If it weren't for the protection of the red ring, Ke Liang would surely have already been harmed.

But he just kept walking, step by step, and the intricate corridor seemed to have no end.

He suddenly thought of the situation when he was trapped in the hospital during the day. Could it all have been an illusion, just Dingdong's doing? Was the little girl's power so strong because of Kabeng, or did she have superpowers? As his mind calmed down, the corridor began to light up again, and the red light from the earring faded. He carefully looked back at the way he came, but the corridors of the mental hospital were all similar, and he couldn't find the way he came at all.

Just at this moment of despair, a clear meow came from ahead.

Ke Liang was overjoyed; it was Hei Bao. Hei Bao's cries grew sharper and more urgent. Ke Liang ran towards the direction of the cat's cries and saw a black cat flash ahead, as if leading the way into the depths of the passageway.

Without thinking, Ke Liang ran after Hei Bao, his heart screaming, "Qin Jin, you absolutely mustn't get hurt!"

Qin Jin watched as Lan Qi slowly moved to her side, her hand trembling as she gripped the bath brush.

Lan Qi stretched out the back of her hand, revealing her ten slender fingers. She said, "Aren't my nails beautiful?"

Then he slowly turned his palm over, and there was a bloodshot eye stuck in his palm, black and white, but round and staring at Qin Jin.

Lan Qi then asked, "Isn't this eye beautiful?"

In that extremely terrifying situation, Qin Jin had no choice but to answer, "It is very beautiful."

Lan Qi's blood hole has moved in a little further.

"Why don't you dig it out too?"

"Okay!" As Qin Jin slowly lost consciousness, he raised his hands and dug at his eyes.

Just then, the door burst open, and Ke Liang rushed in. Qin Jin snapped out of her daze, only to find no one on the floor. Ke Liang ran over and asked, "What's wrong? Who did you see? Why are you so scared?"

Qin Jin kept her mouth tightly shut and didn't say anything. Hei Bao went into the bathroom, but instead of rushing into her arms, he turned around and jumped into Ke Liang's arms.

Although Ke Liang had spent many days with Hei Bao and was no longer so afraid of cats, this sudden close contact still startled him, and he cried out.

Qin Jin said, "Let's not worry about that now, let's go see Shishi and Yingqi first!"

The power had been restored, but the pale corridor was deserted except for a series of blank faces peering through the windows of the mental wards. The patients, perhaps startled, were all gathered in front of the glass windows by the doors, staring at the two of them.

Ke Liang smelled a strong stench of blood and knew something was wrong, so he grabbed Qin Jin and ran.

They turned a corner but didn't see any bodies. They initially breathed a sigh of relief, then were shocked to find blood seeping from the wall, soaking it completely. The area with the most blood was the elevator door, but the elevator indicator was pointing to the thirteenth floor.