Hospital 444
Chapter 285 - 21 Uninvited Guest

Chapter 285: Chapter 21 Uninvited Guest

Ge Niancheng immediately became the focus of everyone’s gaze.

His uncle Lin Tai had vanished mysteriously the day before, and Li Jun had been temporarily selected as the team leader, but unexpectedly, Li Jun was quarantined due to the flu, and now Lin Tai’s nephew, Ge Niancheng, had taken his place.

Regarding Lin Tai’s disappearance, the official story from the village chief was that Lin Tai left a note stating that it had suddenly snowed heavily yesterday, and he wanted to make some markers around the White Mist area. He hadn’t returned since. Therefore, to the villagers, it was very likely that Lin Tai had encountered some mishap while marking the area, such as slipping on the ground and falling into the White Mist, or something of that sort. But this possibility was too terrifying for the villagers to voice openly.

Village Chief Ge had told his son the very same lie, and Ge Niancheng also knew that his uncle’s prospects were grim. As for this matter, because his mother had recently suffered from an episode of low blood sugar, she had been resting at home all afternoon, and the entire family was still concealing the uncle’s disappearance from her, fearing her condition might worsen further.

"Good, just as well, even if I’m not the team leader, I was planning to search around the White Mist for my uncle anyway."

After that, Old Man Zhao put all the leader’s lots into the team member’s lot box and started to draw the names of eight team members.

"The second one... Lu Zhengqiang!"

The people below exchanged glances, realizing Lu Zhengqiang was not present.

"The third one..."

Old Man Zhao reached into the lot box again and pulled out another lot.

In truth, the act of drawing lots was a tremendous pressure on Old Man Zhao himself. After all, each person he selected could, theoretically, never return. Therefore, the fairness of the lot-drawing ceremony was of utmost importance. People always wondered if the drawing was truly fair. Were the lots being drawn really their family members? Was there any possibility of tampering? Was there any foul play involved? Even if it was completely fair, the relatives of the deceased often harbored some resentment towards the drawer of the lots, making it a thankless job that many were reluctant to take on. It was only Old Man Zhao, the eldest in the village, who consistently took on this task.

"The third one, Su Wenxin!"

At this, many eyes turned to Su Wenxin!

"I knew it would be my turn." Su Wenxin wasn’t surprised by the result; after all, statistically, the likelihood of her being chosen was high.

"The fourth one..."

And so, one after another team member was selected.

Finally, it came time to draw the last team member.

Many who hadn’t been chosen showed a sigh of relief on their faces, but with one last person yet to be selected, everyone’s heart tightened.

Don’t pick me, don’t pick me...

Please don’t pick me...

Each person thought this to themselves.

Old Man Zhao reached into the lot box, feeling every lot inside. He knew that with his hand, he could be drawing a line between life and death. The heavy snowfall, a rare event in ten years, meant that patrolling these few days would carry a greatly increased risk of death. But he had no choice; if they didn’t form a patrol of nine people, the White Mist would surely begin to close in.

This responsibility was indeed as heavy as a thousand catties!

Nevertheless, the selection had to be made.

Finally, as he gazed at the snowstorm, he pulled out the last lot and unfolded the paper.

"The last team member, He Yun!"

When he made the announcement, the entire room erupted in an uproar!

With Ge Niancheng serving as the team leader, He Yun and Su Wenxin becoming team members was like pouring oil into a fire!

The team leader could decide the formation of a team, and... only the team leader would remember which members had been reduced, and only he would remember how a member had died.

In other words, he could push He Yun and Su Wenxin into the White Mist in front of everyone during the patrol, and afterward, everyone’s memories would be wiped clean. He could simply claim that the two were engulfed by the spreading White Mist. Even if people doubted him, would they really hold the village chief’s son accountable for the fate of He Yun and Su Wenxin?

He Yun also quickly realized this!

Ge Niancheng turned around and glared at He Yun coldly, his eyes even radiating a menacing light!

Clearly, this was the perfect opportunity for Ge Niancheng to eradicate this pair of "adulterers." During the patrol, they couldn’t distance themselves more than two meters from the White Mist, and the ground was extremely slippery due to the ice. There would be too many chances for him to make a move against He Yun!

If Ge Niancheng were to die, village chief Ge wouldn’t be able to protect He Yun anymore. Without his protection, Shen Zhian would be the first to kill He Yun!

He Yun clenched her teeth, grabbed Su Wenxin, and quickly headed towards the plaza exit.

"Remember to come to the temple on time this afternoon!" Ge Niancheng shouted loudly, "You two, don’t be late!"

Ever since, the village chief’s protection had been the only reason He Yun had survived until now.

"He Yun..."

On the way home, Su Wenxin said worriedly, "What should we do? Niancheng will really hurt both of us!"

He Yun frowned and said, "We must find allies within the team. If Ge Niancheng persuades others, we’ll be in big trouble. Luckily, one of the chosen people wasn’t in the plaza, and we need to find him before Ge Niancheng does, to form an alliance with him!"

"You mean..."

"Lu Zhengqiang!"

This man was a scoundrel in the village, who, seeing the village sealed by the mist and believing it had become lawless, once tried to rape a woman but was stopped in time by the village chief. Taking into account the village’s shortage of young adult males, the chief had increased the number of his draws in the lottery, subjecting him to a higher risk of death several times that of others and making him patrol frequently to offset his attempted rape. Surprisingly, he had been lucky enough to survive all these years.

Yet, for that very reason, it was impossible for him not to bear grudges against the Ge family. From all aspects, he was the best candidate for an alliance.

"For Ge Niancheng, to ensure killing us, he definitely wants to get the other team members at least to remain neutral. Before going to the temple this afternoon, he won’t let me have the chance to contact them."

Lu Zhengqiang was exiled to the area at the edge of the village near the White Mist because of his attempted rape.

"We are actually going to ally with such scum..."

"The others won’t offend Ge Niancheng for our sake," He Yun was very clear about this, "I promised him that as long as he helps me, the food rations assigned for the two of us will be given to him. Moreover, if he gets injured or sick in the future, I’ll do my best to treat him. He already has a grudge against the Ge family and doesn’t care about offending them one more time."

"Just the food rations can buy him off?"

"We’ll discuss the specifics when the time comes. Anyway, we have to win him over first."

Rushing through the freezing landscape, when the two finally arrived at the edge of the village and found Lu Zhengqiang’s house, they were gasping for breath.

Less than a hundred meters behind the house was that expanse of White Mist!

Just as they were about to approach the house, something unexpected happened.

A piercing siren entered He Yun’s ears, and as a doctor, he was very familiar with this sound.

This was...

An ambulance siren!

He Yun and Su Wenxin immediately looked towards the direction of the siren and then saw an ambulance driving towards them!

"Impossible!" Su Wenxin doubted her own eyes, how could there be an ambulance in the village???

And what shocked He Yun even more was the black cross on the ambulance!

And the ambulance was heading directly... into the White Mist!

He Yun immediately rushed forward, shouting, "No! Don’t go in, don’t enter the mist! Whoever goes in will undoubtedly die!"

Then, someone from the ambulance opened the door, jumped out, and tumbled to the ground!

Subsequently, the ambulance just... drove straight into the White Mist! The moment it entered the mist, the siren stopped abruptly.

He Yun dashed, taking three steps at a time, to the person’s side and saw he was a young man.

He immediately helped the young man up and asked, "Are you alright? Who are you? Did you come from outside the village? Are you..."

"Hello." The young man seemed unharmed and looked up at He Yun, saying, "My name is Dai Lin, I’m a doctor. I just want to confirm... where is this place?"

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