Hospital 444
Chapter 103 - 16 Warning

Chapter 103: Chapter 16 Warning

That night, after receiving the electronic contract, Dai Lin immediately downloaded and printed it out.

He read it carefully all night, making sure there were no traps set by Han Ming in advance.

The next day, Dai Lin brought the printed contract to the hospital. During lunch break, Lu Yuqing from the Ghost Surgery Department arrived at the Wraith Surgery Department’s floor before him and took Dai Lin to the Vice President’s office on the twelfth floor.

When they arrived at the office, only Han Ming was present. An Zhiyuan, as the director of the emergency department, must have been too busy to leave his work and come.

"Wei Shirling, An Minglu, and the other four who died in the curse, as well as the matters concerning Suyuan Mountain that you want to investigate, I will help you with. As for your brother, I will use special authorization to ensure he is discharged with a clinically cured status. Dr. Dai, I can assure you that this is the limit of what Vice President Han can do."

Dai Lin had always believed that arranging Lu Yuqing to explain every term of the contract to him was because they thought that a beautiful woman could add a lot of image points during negotiations. Only now did he understand that Han Ming probably had always assumed that Gao Heyann would definitely bring up Lu Yuqing.

After Lu Yuqing explained each term of the contract to Dai Lin, she said, "Dr. Dai can rest assured; I personally drafted the contract. I studied law before joining the hospital, and Vice President Han specifically instructed that the contract be sincere, with no pitfalls for you, nor any clauses stating that interpretative rights belong solely to us. If Dr. Dai has any doubts, please bring them up."

"No, the terms are very well established," Dai Lin responded to Lu Yuqing, not doubting her legal expertise, "As long as my brother can be discharged in a clinically healed condition, I am fully satisfied."

"However, your brother will definitely need to come to the hospital for regular check-ups to ensure that the curse does not recur," Han Ming still reminded him. "I’ll speak frankly; no one here has experience with medical care from the Demons Department, so... I can’t guarantee how likely a relapse might be. The concept of a one-year survival rate for a regular ghostly curse may not apply to a demon’s curse. I hope you can understand that. The curse of a demon is sometimes even managed by the Department of Cursed Objects for curse examination, so our hospital has very few cursed objects related to demons, otherwise, I wouldn’t send you to retrieve Dr. Liang’s cursed object."

Lu Yuqing placed a box of ink on the table and said, "Dr. Dai, you can either sign by hand or press your handprint, whatever you prefer. If you want to propose any amendments to the contract, now is the time."

Dai Lin looked at the ink box and the contract in front of him and said, "I’ll sign."

...

"Questionable morals?" Hearing Gao Heyann say this, Dai Lin clenched his fist and asked, "Such as?"

After all, when he was about to coordinate with Lu Yuqing in the future, she would need to alert him to the location and timing of ghost appearances, which essentially meant entrusting his life to her. The description of ’questionable morals’ made Dai Lin feel somewhat uneasy.

Gao Heyann replied, "Her medical skills are unquestionable. In our batch of interns, both she and I stood out among the rest."

Dai Lin rarely heard anyone describe themselves as standing out among the rest.

"However, compared to advancing her medical skills, she is more attentive to the arts of flattery. If it were only that, it would be fine. But when it comes to patients, that’s my bottom line. Different paths do not lead to common ground. That’s all I can say. But don’t worry, she won’t intentionally harm you."

"I understand then..."

"Don’t allow yourself to die. Make sure you come back alive," Gao Heyann said with unprecedented solemnity.

Dai Lin nodded.

"Alright."

...

After daybreak, the dawn light streaming through the curtains finally began to dissipate some of Lu Yanran’s inner fear.

With Dai Lin by her side, she managed to have a good night’s sleep at last.

She slept all the way until nine-thirty, and upon waking, the aftereffects of her hangover still made her head throb subtly.

At that moment, Lu Yanran had no time to consider gender propriety and just slept in the living room, leaving Dai Lin to keep watch. According to Dai Lin himself, his constitution didn’t require sleep or rest.

"Did you really not sleep all night?" Lu Yanran noticed that Dai Lin was still in the exact same position on the sofa as he was in the early morning, looking just as refreshed with not the slightest sign of fatigue.

"Most paranormal doctors can eliminate the desire to sleep, of course; this requires deliberately wanting to stay awake. If not intentional, we still feel sleepy," Dai Lin replied.

"Sounds like such a convenient ability..."

"Even this ability cannot be used indefinitely; it reaches a limit after a while. So, unless it’s necessary, I generally don’t stay up all night."

Lu Yanran stood up and said, "Well, I’ll go cook for you, Dr. Dai. After all, you can’t go out now."

"Actually, it seems you can’t leave now either. The twelve-hour timing was Dr. Liang’s previous estimate, but now... it’s probably irrelevant," Dai Lin said.

Tomorrow night would be the night of the full moon.

Ever since she learned she was pregnant, Lu Yanran felt a powerful surge of courage take root.

Even knowing what resentful spirits or fierce ghosts she was up against, she resolved to grit her teeth and face them, to escape this building.

"Let me help," Dai Lin promptly stood up and walked over, saying, "You’re just pregnant, you need to be especially careful in the early stages of pregnancy."

"But you’re a guest..."

"I am a doctor." Dai Lin was resolute, "Let me make breakfast. I’ve been living on my own for a while, so I have some experience with cooking. You should eat the Cursed Flesh first, that’s the most important thing."

"All right..."

"Also, even though we’ll inevitably have to stay up late these next few days, don’t drink coffee or any other energy drinks."

Before making breakfast, Dai Lin made a video call to Lu Yuqing.

The video connected, and Lu Yuqing was actually outside, dressed in casual clothes.

"Everything’s normal so far."

"Let me have a look around the room, make sure to check every place carefully."

So, holding his phone, Dai Lin had Lu Yuqing look carefully in every place: the living room, kitchen, restroom, bedroom...

After the inspection, Dai Lin noticed...

Lu Yuqing’s complexion seemed quite unsightly.

"Dr. Lu, what’s wrong?"

Lu Yanran also came over and, seeing Lu Yuqing’s expression on the phone video, started to worry as well.

"At six o’clock tonight, ’someone’ will knock on the door. I can’t predict how long the knocking will last, nor am I sure if ’it’ can come in or not."

Dai Lin hadn’t expected that Lu Yuqing could predict so accurately?

The term "stands out from the crowd" really wasn’t in vain.

"’It’ might come in?" Lu Yanran’s face looked very grave. "You’re talking about a ghost, right?"

"A Resentful Spirit. The Cursed Flesh and that doll can hold it off for a while. Dr. Dai, if the worst comes to the worst, you might have to use the doll earlier. Of course, it works best on the full moon night."

Dai Lin was, of course, aware of this. Given the terrifying gap in power between him and the ghost, it was only on the night of the full moon that he had a fleeting hope of escape.

But the problem was... if the Resentful Spirit could get in, it meant that the protective power of the Cursed Flesh was starting to weaken!

"You’re sure it’s six o’clock... right?"

"Certain." Lu Yuqing then said, "Also, pay attention to the kitchen window. I’m not sure about the timing there, but a Resentful Spirit might infiltrate that way too."

"Not sure about the timing?"

"I’m not a deity."

Dai Lin began to realize something was amiss. "Could it be a karma ghost?"

In theory, karma ghosts are a kind of Resentful Spirit.

"I haven’t even seen what the ghost looks like, how could I possibly diagnose whether it’s a karma ghost or not." Lu Yuqing continued, "For now, just be mindful of these two things."

Just as Dai Lin was about to ask more questions, suddenly, he noticed something.

The background behind Lu Yuqing seemed vaguely familiar.

"This coffee shop..."

"Looks familiar, right?"

Dai Lin was already able to view three-dimensional scenes within the flat video. He looked carefully, and it was indeed that coffee shop!

He picked up a cup of coffee and said, "The owner of this coffee shop was eager to sell. I came to see it last night and thought it was quite nice, so I decided to take over. It’s understandable that business hasn’t been good; the desserts and coffee are decent, but overall the prices are too high, and it’s not a big brand like Starbucks. The owner was happy to find someone willing to take over."

Dai Lin clutched his phone tightly.

"What do you mean by this?"

"Don’t misunderstand, there’s no ’you guys’, Vice President Han doesn’t know about this. I’ve just always wanted to run my own store since I was a kid. I’m busy at the hospital so even if I take it over, I’ll probably let someone else manage it, likely as an absentee owner. Anyway, pay close attention to the doors and windows. Remember, don’t let them in no matter what."

Suddenly, the plastic coffee cup in Lu Yuqing’s hand burst violently, spilling coffee all over her head and face!

"You?" Lu Yuqing, splashed with hot coffee, would have never expected that Dai Lin could attack her through the video!

"I will collect the cursed objects," Dai Lin coldly stated. "I’m warning you, stay away from my parents!"