Hospital 444
Chapter 275 - 11 The Seeker of Help

Chapter 275: Chapter 11 The Seeker of Help

Dai Wei had known earlier that because of the incident with Uncle Lei San, the village chief had added an extra rule to the village regulations, which was that at a minimum, the team had to do a roll call every thirty minutes.

"Starting with me!" Lin Tai’s voice was very high and resonant as he began the roll call: "One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

At this moment, Dai Wei quickly shouted, "Five... cough, cough, cough!"

The blizzard was really too strong, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he felt an itch in his throat and couldn’t help but cough uncontrollably.

"Six!" The person behind him finished their count, then asked Dai Wei, "What’s wrong with you? You don’t have a cold, do you?"

"Seven!"

"Eight!"

"Nine!"

"Good!" Lin Tai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "There should be nine people in the line-up, and nine people have been counted! We’ll do another roll call in half an hour!"

"Great, no one extra turned up, and nobody’s missing."

"Yeah, I’ve always heard that if there’s a reduction in numbers, only the team leader can notice it without a roll call, but if there are extra people, even the team leader can’t tell."

"When I first heard it, I also thought it was strange, and even now, I think it’s ridiculous."

"Maybe the fog is what makes people go crazy."

Dai Wei was still coughing at this point.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough cough cough..."

He was coughing so much that it felt unbearably uncomfortable, and he couldn’t stop for a while. This made the people in front and behind him hesitant to get too close, just in case it was a cold and they got infected. It was well-known that the village had only a few doctors, the temple wouldn’t provide medicine to the villagers, and the village’s only clinic had run out of its medicine stock ten years ago. If you caught a cold or fever, you could only hope you were lucky; if it developed into acute pneumonia, death was certainly possible.

"Are you okay?"

"With weather this cold, it’s indeed possible to catch a cold."

"Are you feeling unwell?"

The others were all very concerned about Dai Wei, and after he had coughed a few times, he said, "I... I don’t think I’ve caught a cold, just got a bit chilled."

The cruelty of this patrol mission lay precisely here. Whether sick with fever or dealing with menstruation, you had to complete the entire route. Anyone who didn’t complete the route seemed to have died. Everyone said that it was the curse of the temple. In fact, a considerable number of villagers believed that the White Mist itself was brought by the temple.

"I... I’m okay..."

"Um, sorry, Captain Lin," one of the team members raised their hand and said, "I think it might not be suitable for Dai Wei to keep walking in the middle of the team. What if he really spreads a cold?"

"Yeah, we’ve only walked for a bit over half an hour."

"We have to draw lots every day for eight people; statistically, every one of us could possibly be selected again tomorrow. What if we’re drawn and catch a cold by then? Who would we turn to?"

Dai Wei also felt a bit embarrassed at this point; if he really did spread a cold to someone else, he would indeed be at fault.

"So what do you suggest?"

"Let him walk at the back of the team, at a certain distance from us. We’re not wearing masks right now, and safety is the top priority."

After thinking about it, Captain Lin looked towards Dai Wei and said, "Dai Wei, what they’re saying makes sense. But just now you also agreed to exchange food supplies for..."

"Forget it, forget it, good health comes first."

"Exactly, we really don’t want to catch a cold."

"Captain Lin, all we have at home are elderly; if we bring a cold back home, we don’t have anywhere to get medicine or injections!"

"Yes, Captain Lin! That’s what I think too!"

"Then... Dai Wei?"

Dai Wei was someone who understood human affairs, and at this moment, it wasn’t appropriate to make things difficult for Lin Tai, so he said, "Well, Captain Lin, I’ll just walk at the back then."

As far as Dai Wei was concerned, there really wasn’t much difference; the unknown creatures in the fog wouldn’t circle around and come at you from behind.

So... the team continued to move forward.

Dai Wei always maintained a certain distance from the front of the team.

He pulled his collar up as high as possible to keep his neck warm. Although he was already dressed very warmly, he couldn’t wear gloves since it was essential to be able to hold the bamboo pole, and now his hands were red with cold.

"This damn weather... cough, cough, cough cough..."

Could it be that he really had caught a cold?

He thought to himself that when he got back, he would take a hot shower immediately, drink more hot water, and then go straight to bed and sleep.

Just then...

He suddenly heard a faint, almost inaudible sound beside him.

The noise was different from the tearing sound heard earlier, very subtle, to the point where Dai Wei doubted whether he had misheard it.

He stared intently at the White Mist beside him.

By that time, it wasn’t as dark as before, and it was apparent that the fog had not gotten closer.

Could it be that he was too tense and heard wrong?

Then, he continued to move forward.

But as he continued on...

He began to feel something was amiss.

That sound... it started up again. And this time, he heard it more clearly.

It sounded like...

the voice of someone talking.

At this moment, the team ahead was very quiet, and the snowstorm had subsided somewhat, allowing Dai Wei to start making out the voices in the White Mist.

It really did sound like someone was talking!

Someone talking?

There was... someone in the White Mist?

How could that be...

But then Dai Wei thought, it might not be impossible! After all, so many people had entered the White Mist!

So, what if some had entered the mist and survived up until now?

Dai Wei, after all, was still too young and often harbored a touch of idealistic sentiment.

If he wanted to hear the voices clearly, he had to get closer to the White Mist.

He glanced at his bamboo pole, thinking that he had quite a lot of the porcelain figurine left. If something happened, he should be able to handle it in time.

And so, Dai Wei actually began to approach the White Mist!

Being at the very end of the team, there was no one to stop him.

Dai Wei wanted to listen and see if there was really someone in the mist.

If... it was indeed possible to survive within the mist, then... the villagers might have hope of leaving the expanses of the mist and venturing outside the village!

Breaking through the blockade of the White Mist to reach the outside world was the wish of almost everyone in the village! Dai Wei was no exception, so he thought taking the risk was worth it!

At this time, the people in front of the team were completely unaware of Dai Wei’s life-threatening actions.

As Dai Wei edged closer to the White Mist, he began to make out the voices coming faintly from inside.

"Help..."

Help?

"Life..."

Someone!

Someone was calling for help inside the mist!

Because he was much closer this time, Dai Wei could hear it even more clearly!

Save someone?

Dai Wei looked at the bamboo pole in his hand and immediately inserted it into the White Mist!

"Hold onto the bamboo pole, and I’ll pull you out!"

This call from Dai Wei finally caught the attention of the people in front.

"Dai Wei, what’s wrong?" a male team member asked, looking back.

"Is there a monster in the White Mist?"

"Dai Wei?"

But Dai Wei shouted back, "There’s someone! I can hear someone calling for help in the mist! I’m trying to save them! Quick, grab the bamboo pole!"

"Help... Life..."

This time, the voice coming from the White Mist grew considerably louder.

Dai Wei heard it even more distinctly.

And this time, he felt... the voice seemed eerily familiar?

He seemed to have heard it somewhere before!

Was it really a villager who had entered the White Mist in the past?

"Hold on, grab onto the bamboo pole!"

At that moment, Dai Wei was filled with excitement. If he really could save a villager who had entered the White Mist, then after a decade, Nanmian Village would get its first piece of intelligence from within the mist!

They could finally discover what lay inside the mist!

Suddenly, Dai Wei felt something grab the other end of the bamboo pole!

"Good, hold on tight, I’ll pull you out!"

But it was then that Dai Wei heard a loud shout.

"Dai Wei! Drop the bamboo pole! Quick! Let go of it!"

Dai Wei hadn’t yet processed what was happening when he distinctly felt a powerful force within the White Mist trying to pull him inside.

"Ah!"

At that moment, Dai Wei was terrified out of his wits. He was already close to the mist, and with this pull... he would be instantly dragged into it completely!