PD -Chapter 154 The Eerie Basement

Standing directly in front of Li Zi, almost nose-to-nose with him, was a figure dressed in a gray straitjacket. Its arms were tucked inside the long sleeves and bound behind its back.

The ghost looked grotesque, with a crooked mouth and a misshapen nose. Its head was completely bald, as if its hair had been shaved off. Several puncture marks were clearly visible on its scalp. It was obviously the spirit of a former patient from this place.

I reacted instantly. The moment I understood what I was looking at, a talisman had already flown from my hand.

Bang!

The instant the talisman struck the ghost’s body, golden light burst forth, and the spirit vanished on the spot.

Cold sweat poured down Li Zi’s face. His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, clearly terrified.

After giving him a moment to recover, I helped him back to his feet.

Li Zi frowned thoughtfully for a while before suddenly asking, “Bro, don’t you think that ghost was a little strange?”

“It was strange,” I replied with a nod. “Judging by its head, it definitely underwent Yang Yingzhe’s brain electroshock treatments and puncture procedures while it was alive.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Li Zi shook his head.

“The ghost didn’t attack me at all. And… I could feel that it didn’t want to attack me. It seemed more like it wanted to tell me something.”

His words made me stop walking.

Frowning, I replayed the scene in my mind. The ghost really hadn’t attacked Li Zi immediately. In fact, until my talisman flew out, it had done nothing but stare fixedly at him.

Clang!

Just as I was trying to figure out what had happened, a noise suddenly came from a dilapidated office ahead of us.

Startled, Li Zi and I exchanged glances.

We both knew there was a good chance it was one of the intruders who had entered before us.

I nodded at Li Zi, signaling him to stay at the doorway with the flashlight while I slipped inside first.

The office was a complete mess. The only possible hiding place was beneath a half-collapsed desk on the right side.

Slowly, I walked over and kicked the desk aside.

“Ahhh!!”

A shrill scream rang out instantly.

A girl with bright blue hair scrambled out from underneath and curled up in the corner of the room like a frightened kitten.

Both Li Zi and I froze.

Neither of us had expected the intruder to be a girl.

Sighing, I spread my hands toward her.

“Don’t be afraid. We’re good people.”

To calm her down, I tried distracting her.

“What’s your name?”

“L-Liu Yuting,” she answered after glancing nervously at us.

I helped her up from the floor while Li Zi asked why she had come here alone.

“I… I came with my boyfriend. He insisted on bringing me here for an adventure. He said this place was exciting…”

“Where is he?” I asked, surprised. We hadn’t seen anyone else when we came in.

“I… I don’t know.”

As she spoke, tears began streaming down her face.

“What exactly happened?” I asked seriously.

“My boyfriend is really brave. He wanted to bring me here because he said we’d see ghosts. Of course, I didn’t believe there would actually be ghosts, but…”

She hugged herself tightly.

“I saw something… T-they took him away!”

“Don’t panic. Take your time. Tell us everything that happened after you came in. We’ll find a way to save your boyfriend.”

After thinking for a moment, Liu Yuting began recounting what had happened.

After climbing through the wire fence and entering the hospital grounds, she had already wanted to turn back.

Unfortunately, her boyfriend refused to leave, so she reluctantly followed behind him.

Along the way, he played plenty of pranks, deliberately scaring her several times until she threw herself into his arms.

Eventually, they arrived at the entrance to the basement.

Her boyfriend insisted on going inside.

Despite her repeated attempts to stop him, he wouldn’t listen.

He told her to stay outside and wait while he pushed open the basement door and entered alone.

Shortly after he disappeared into the darkness below, she suddenly heard movement behind her.

She immediately turned and shone her flashlight toward the sound.

But the flashlight flickered several times and went out.

Thinking the batteries had died, she frantically replaced them.

Yet the flashlight still wouldn’t turn on.

Before she could investigate further—

Bang!

The massive iron door to the basement slammed shut by itself.

Then strange sounds began coming from inside.

There were agonizing screams, hysterical laughter, and the sorrowful sobbing of women.

Countless voices blended together, terrifying her so badly that her entire body trembled.

Stumbling through the darkness, she eventually found this office in the South Wing.

She hid beneath the desk, covered her ears, and prayed that the ghosts hadn’t noticed her.

Even after finishing her story, Liu Yuting continued trembling, unable to escape the fear that still gripped her.

I sighed and looked at her.

“The next time you hear that a place is haunted, you’d better stay far away from it. Sometimes there really are ghosts. There are things in this world you should believe.”

Then I turned to Li Zi.

“Let’s go. Take her outside first. I’ll go find her boyfriend.”

As I spoke, I pulled a stack of talismans from my pocket and handed them to him.

“If you run into a ghost like the one before, just slap one of these onto it.”

“No!” the girl said, wiping away her tears. “I can’t just leave him behind. I’m coming with you to find my boyfriend.”

“Do you realize how dangerous this place is?” I frowned and raised my voice.

“That’s exactly why I have to find him! I can’t abandon him!”

She wasn’t crying anymore.

Instead, there was a stubborn determination on her face.

“Bro, I actually think…” Li Zi said hesitantly. “With things like this, it’s probably safer if we all stay together.”

Clearly, he was still shaken. Even holding my talismans didn’t seem to make him feel much safer.

After thinking it over, I reluctantly nodded.

I once again warned the two deadweights to stay close to me and never wander off from the group.

I put Li Zi at the rear with the talismans while I led the way.

Together, we raised our flashlights and headed toward the basement entrance.

As expected, the massive iron door was tightly shut.

I looked at Liu Yuting and asked, “How did your boyfriend open it?”

“He just pushed it open.”

As she spoke, she stepped forward and tried pushing the door herself.

It didn’t budge at all.

She frowned in confusion.

After a moment’s thought, I told both of them to step back.

Channeling spiritual power into my hands, I shoved hard against the iron door.

Creeeak…

The door let out a harsh metallic groan as a narrow gap opened.

Immediately, I sensed an incredibly dense wave of yin energy pouring out from within the crack.