Hospital 444
Chapter 278 - 14 More and Less

Chapter 278: Chapter 14 More and Less

"Captain Lin, what’s wrong? Is there movement in the fog?"

The team member behind Lin Tai obviously noticed something was amiss and asked, "I didn’t hear anything, did I?"

"You didn’t see it?"

Lin Tai only felt it quite inconceivable, at this moment, the humanoid silhouette had become quite distinct, but why was he the only one who could see it?

"See... see what?" Upon hearing this, the team member immediately looked in the direction of Lin Tai’s gaze, but all he could see was the vast expanse of white fog.

"Are you really Li Sheng?"

Lin Tai stared at the patch of fog with wide eyes, cautiously holding up his bamboo pole.

He had served as the captain before, and captains were selected by drawing lots from among the more experienced team members. In the past, all sorts of spine-chilling sounds had come out of the fog, so everyone was convinced that some kind of monster was hidden in the fog, and under the power of the temple, the monster could only exist within the fog and had no way to cross through it into the village.

But now, Lin Tai had heard a very clear... human voice! Exactly like Dai Wei’s description!

Based on experience, Lin Tai should insert the bamboo pole into the fog, even though it would deplete some of the porcelain dolls. But Dai Wei’s recent experience had made Lin Tai hesitate.

At least for now, the fog wasn’t showing signs of spreading.

"Let’s go! Let’s move on!"

In the end, Lin Tai decided to primarily observe first.

The voice did sound a lot like that of Shen Lisheng, but... if it were really Li Sheng, why was he only repeating "save me" and not saying anything further?

Frankly speaking... Lin Tai felt very uncomfortable inside.

He and Shen Zhian, Li Sheng’s father, were also rather friendly. Although in the past Shen Zhian and his brother-in-law had been rivals for the village leader position, their competition was open and aboveboard, and the Shen family and Ge family got along quite well.

If Li Sheng had indeed perished... let’s just assume he perished in the White Mist then... ever since then, Shen Zhian had been in tears, and he even began to hold a grudge against the village head, who was also Lin Tai’s brother-in-law, Ge: "Why not deal with He Yun? Why only choose to exile him?"

Despite this, the brother-in-law still chose to protect He Yun. Even Lin Tai’s nephew, Ge Nian Cheng, couldn’t understand this; after all, Li Sheng was Nian Cheng’s close friend they grew up playing together.

Every Qingming Festival, Shen Zhian would still be seen bringing his own handmade foil paper money to burn in front of the White Mist where Li Sheng was buried to pay tribute to his son.

Lin Tai could fully sympathize with his feeling of an elder sending off a younger one before their time, but even he couldn’t go against his brother-in-law’s wishes.

Back then, his brother-in-law made a decisive decision, ordering everyone to patrol according to the meaning of the Stele, to find a way to cultivate wasteland in the village, to help the villagers farm in the absence of fertilizer, to improve yield, and to use his own influence to repeatedly control and prevent the villagers’ riots under such special conditions. His brother-in-law’s credibility in the village was unmatched. Even some of the local ruffians who wanted to take advantage of the White Mist sealing the village to commit inhumane acts were deterred by his brother-in-law’s influence and did not dare to cause trouble. Therefore, as long as the brother-in-law was alive, no one would touch He Yun.

About ten minutes into the walk, Lin Tai heard that voice again!

"Save... me..."

This time, he looked toward the fog beside him.

The voice was a bit clearer than before, but since it had gotten much darker, Lin Tai couldn’t see the silhouette within the fog as clearly.

"What on earth...!"

At that moment, the image of Shen Zhian crying bitterly and burning paper money in front of the White Mist once again flashed before Lin Tai’s eyes. And each time he saw him, Shen Zhian would always ask why the village head wouldn’t deal with He Yun! Every time, Lin Tai was left speechless in front of him.

If... if his son was really in this fog, could he really stand by and do nothing?

Internal conflict wracked Lin Tai.

Finally, he decided to lift the bamboo pole and do the same thing Dai Wei did...

At the same time, Dai Wei felt highly uneasy inside.

He was out of porcelain dolls.

That meant he was now the weakest link in the patrol team. If the fog beside him suddenly surged toward him, he would be helpless. Even if those behind him were to help, that would depend on whether the fog beside them didn’t spread.

Without a porcelain doll, even walking felt like a tremendous burden to Dai Wei.

But from now until the patrol ended... there was still a long time! For such a long time, it was impossible to hope that the fog would not spread toward him.

"Don’t be too nervous."

The team member behind him obviously noticed his extreme fear and consoled, "If there’s any movement on your side of the fog, I will help right away."

"Okay... I, I understand."

Just then, his feet slipped a bit, scaring him greatly.

"Stay steady, be careful not to fall! If you fall into the fog, not even a god could save you!"

"Okay... I... I know."

Dai Wei looked at the White Mist, feeling increasingly fearful, and tried to distance himself from it as much as possible, but also didn’t want to exceed a two-meter distance.

He had never felt time pass so slowly before.

...

As time passed.

The counting started again.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

...

"Eight!"

Then...

there was complete silence.

"Nine!" Dai Wei shouted in terror, "Nine! Why is no one calling out nine!"

There was still no sound.

Originally, Dai Wei had been standing at the end, but now he had been reassigned to the front, and now... how could there be no one left?

Who was the last one?

Why couldn’t he remember?

"Nine!"

Finally, the voice of the ninth person to count emerged, belatedly.

Dai Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The person at the very front of the line demanded, "What’s the matter! Why did it take so long to count off!"

The last team member said, "Sorry, I... my throat felt uncomfortable just now, and I couldn’t speak for a moment."

"Be more careful next time!"

Dai Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, he faintly felt that something was amiss.

He looked towards the front of the team and asked, "That, Captain, Captain Lin?"

The person at the very front said, "Captain Lin? Are you still half asleep? Captain Lin Tai has been missing since after noon today, so Elder Zhang redraw the lots, making me acting captain temporarily."

"What??"

Dai Wei felt absurd.

He immediately ran to the very front of the team to face the "Captain."

The man, a middle-aged man with a goatee, was named Li Jun, and he was also an experienced patrol team member.

"Captain Lin... has been missing... since after noon? What are you babbling about?"

"Who’s babbling at you?" Li Jun looked at Dai Wei, puzzled, "Didn’t you come running to bring me preserved meat after your dad heard Captain Lin was missing when I was chosen as the captain this afternoon?"

Dai Wei’s eyes widened as he said, "Are you out of your mind? It was Captain Lin who my dad and I brought the preserved meat to!"

Then he turned to the other team members and shouted, "What’s wrong with you all? Speak up! Why let him spout nonsense here? Wasn’t Captain Lin just leading us a moment ago?"

"Captain Lin?"

"Where’s this Captain Lin from?"

"Yeah, Dai Wei, are you confused?"

"Exactly, when did you ever see Captain Lin in our team?"

"Impossible, impossible, Captain Lin..."

But then, Dai Wei suddenly realized something extremely terrifying.

Wait a minute...

If Captain Lin Tai was gone...

How could there be nine people counting off?

Dai Wei immediately began counting from Li Jun at the front of the line to the very back, one by one... including himself...

Exactly, nine people!

Dai Wei instantly felt a chill down his spine!

Without Captain Lin, the number was still nine people!

This meant, inside the team, an "tenth person" had blended in!

"That ’person’ killed Captain Lin and took him into the mist!"

Just like how no one remembered how Shen Lisheng had been taken into the mist, only the captain remembered Shen Lisheng, but now... there was no captain!

Dai Wei looked at the eight people before him... and something even more horrifying happened.

In his memory, these eight people had indeed been patrolling with him up to this point!

He actually couldn’t figure out which one was the extra "person"!