Global Collapse

Chapter 20

At this moment, Gu Mian and the other person had already arrived on the second floor.

In a circular building like this with an open center, you should be able to see the lower floors from the upper railings.

However, the railings on the second floor have been replaced by walls, so what Gu Mian is facing now is a circular corridor, which is now completely dark, indicating that the entire building has lost power.

There were chandeliers that had been turned off overhead, and huge LED panels at intervals on the ceiling that were still lit, displaying the time as 20:23, meaning there was still an hour and a half before the quiz could begin.

Looking around, it was still the same room, except that it had been changed from a mourning hall to a hospital room, just like the hospital that Gu Mian was familiar with.

But this place is different from a regular hospital.

In a typical hospital corridor, there should be wards on both sides, but here there is a wall on one side and wards on the other.

This floor matches the ambulance outside.

So, the vehicle downstairs should be a hearse.

Following this logic, the third floor might be a prison cell, corresponding to a prison van.

Fortunately, the ward has windows, so although the power is out here, it is much brighter than the first floor.

Gu Mian carefully observed the second floor.

The ward doors all have glass panels, so you can see inside without going in.

Because the corridor is circular, you can only see part of the wards at a glance, and most of the area is out of sight.

“I guess there should be a nurses’ station on this floor, let’s look for it.” Gu Mian looked down at Xiao Qiao next to her.

Just like on the first floor, the clues to the ghost on the second floor are also likely hidden in one of the wards. Searching room by room is too inefficient; it's much faster to just go to the nurses' station and check the name.

Xiao Qiao has never had her own opinions. She just nods and follows whatever Gu Mian says.

She was very quiet; compared to the other players whose screams were like automatic alarms, she was practically well-behaved.

Gu Mian swept her flashlight across the dark corridor.

Hospitals have always been places with a terrifying atmosphere. Gu Mian once worked overtime at the hospital late at night, and even with the lights on overhead, there was still a sinister feeling when she stood in the corridor.

What's worse is that Gu Mian is a neurology intern, and most of the patients on the first floor have brain and nerve problems.

People with conditions like cerebral infarction or partial hemiplegia often have difficulty walking, and doctors often advise them to move around more.

These patients were very obedient and would often come out and walk around when they couldn't sleep at night. Gu Mian would often see figures walking out of the corridor at night with zombie-like steps that would make most people unable to bear it.

Fortunately, there were no patients on the floor below, nor were there any figures with strange walking postures.

However, the building was very large, probably about the same size as two playgrounds combined, and the two walked for two minutes without seeing any sign of the nurses' station.

Instead, strange rustling sounds often came from behind them, as if something was following them.

Gu Mian always turned around very quickly, only to find there was nothing behind her.

But the voice behind them kept getting closer and closer, until it was almost right next to them.

Xiao Qiao had obviously heard the sound too, and she suggested a bold idea: "Why don't I walk backwards and see what's behind me?"

As she spoke, she turned her head, but Gu Mian quickly grabbed her arm and said, "No need." She seemed a little confused, but didn't ask any further questions and just continued walking forward with Gu Mian.

The two had only taken a few steps forward when the voice behind them grew closer and closer, this time almost right behind them.

Gu Mian even felt something slowly approaching the back of her head.

He was about to do something, but before he could act, an alarm bell suddenly rang in his head.

As if he were suddenly being stared at by something malevolent, he knew that the source of this spying was definitely not something behind him, because he had experienced this kind of malevolent spying countless times over the past twenty years.

Whenever I have this feeling, something unexpected is bound to happen!
So over the years, Gu Mian has developed a special skill: whenever this feeling appears, he will immediately jump to the place furthest away from all threats.

For example, the last time his class went on a field trip by bus, when the bus was slowly turning at an intersection, he suddenly had this feeling. At that time, Gu Mian immediately jumped off the bus and ran wildly along the escape route he had planned. When he looked back, the bus had been hit by a truck and was bent out of shape.

Unfortunately, the vehicle that crashed into the bus was a truck loaded with steel bars. A loosely secured steel bar darted out from above the truck's cab and pierced straight into one of the bus's windows, the very spot where he had been sitting.

His classmates were injured to varying degrees that time, but none of them were too serious. The most seriously injured was Gu Mian, who broke half of his arm after jumping out of the car window.

After the bus incident, Gu Mian rarely participated in group activities, and even when there were group activities, she would deliberately stay away from the crowd.

He understood that his strange luck would also bring misfortune to others.

But now that he's in a dungeon, he can't deliberately keep his distance from others, so he can only try to help the people next to him.

Now, he grabbed Xiao Qiao's hand and pulled her forward with a sudden leap.

Xiao Qiao didn't react in time and was pulled down. Then, Gu Mian accidentally dragged her a short distance, making a crisp sound at her wrist.

But then, an even louder sound replaced the crisp cracking sound from her wrist.

Suddenly, a huge object crashed down from where the two had been standing, and it seemed to have hit something, as the sound of it landing was not crisp.

The LED panel above his head fell down, right at Gu Mian's head. Luckily, he dodged quickly; if that thing had hit his head, it would have definitely blown apart.

Gu Mian shone her flashlight toward the spot where the LED board had fallen. It seemed the board had accidentally hit something, and there was a dark shadow underneath.

Just as he was about to take a closer look, the dark shape let out a "whoosh" and then vanished completely.

The shadowy figure disappeared, but Xiao Qiao was still lying face down on the ground.

Several seconds later, she tried to get up using both hands and feet, but the hand that Gu Mian had pulled seemed to have lost its strength and was hanging strangely on her wrist.

Gu Mian, bracing herself for a severe scolding, squatted down to help her up.

But she seemed unable to stand up, and instead sat down on the ground, raising her bruised and swollen face to look at Gu Mian.

Gu Mian squatted down in front of her, awkwardly staring at her, and asked a really stupid question: "Does it hurt?"

Only then did she show an expression, tears welling up in her eyes, her face displaying a very indescribable expression: "It hurts!"

She looked like she was about to cry, but she made it sound kind of funny.

Gu Mian prayed silently that her group of crazy fans would never know what she had done to her.

Thank you for joining the group to urge me to update, and thank you for Lin Qi's donation (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
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(End of this chapter)