Chapter 416: Rapid Reversal

After obtaining the new badge, Li Ang, having parted ways with the Bandaged Woman, immediately carried his "Big Gun" into the mall diagonally across from the hospital, heading straight for his chosen shooting position, while the red-brick hospital across the road had already become a living hell.

In the first-floor lobby, once bustling with people, most had been swallowed by the cold floor tiles; the weak patients too feeble to move could only stretch their arms helplessly upward.

Looking around, the entire lobby seemed as if countless struggling people had been mixed into the cement—arms everywhere, desperately reaching up, grasping and twitching, forming a living scroll of hell.

Perhaps because of the carpeting, which prevented direct contact with the tiles, the fourth-floor intensive care ward was slightly better off—the patients there had not yet been swallowed.

But seeing the condition of the corridor outside, neither patients nor nurses dared step beyond the carpet's edge, fearing that stepping outside its "protection" would mean being buried alive beneath the floor tiles, like those patients in the corridor.

This couldn't go on!

Watching the patients sinking deeper into the corridor, the older nurse grew anxious and scanned the room; when she spotted the window, her eyes lit up:

"The window! We can get out through the window!"

"Yes! Yes! We can jump down!"

Hearing her words, the young nurse, whose right-hand skin had been torn off, shuddered violently—as if infused with some mysterious power—and stood up straight from the carpet, her expression elated:

"It's only the fourth floor! If we're lucky, jumping down won't kill us!"

"Wait… cough! Wait! Don't jump!"

Hearing the young nurse's words, Anna on the bed propped herself up and hurriedly cried out to stop her:

"Bed sheets, curtains… cough… and the sofa fabric! If we tie them together, then secure them to something sturdy…"

We can climb down safely!

"I'll do it!"

Understanding Anna's meaning, the young nurse beamed with joy; ignoring her injured right hand, she ripped down the curtains in two swift motions, then rushed to the bedside and roughly dragged the still-coughing girl off the bed.

"What are you doing!"

Unprepared for such an act, the older nurse rushed to support Anna, who nearly fell, and glared at the young nurse:

"She's still sick! And if it weren't for her stopping you, you'd have already jumped out!"

"I… I'm just trying to get us out faster!"

Though aware she'd gone too far, the young nurse was clearly terrified by the bizarre situation outside; she tied the bedsheet to the curtains with her bloody hands, babbling incoherently:

"I… I'm getting married next month! I don't want to die! It's… too terrifying! This… this is demonic temptation! I refuse to die here!"

"Wait! Don't go down yet!"

Seeing the young nurse tie one end of the "rope" to a corner cabinet nailed to the wall and toss the other end out the window, ready to leave, the older nurse cried out in alarm:

"There's another patient! This girl is critically ill! She can't even grip the curtain! We must lower her first before we go!"

"Who cares… wait, no!"

Under the older nurse's furious glare, the young nurse suddenly remembered that if she descended, those upstairs could still untie the "escape rope"; her grim expression shifted, and she forced a nervous, awkward smile:

"I meant… my hand hurts, I'm afraid I can't hold her… Look! Don't worry! Once I'm out, I'll immediately find someone to come back and rescue you!"

After saying this, before the other two could react, the young nurse grabbed the curtain covered in bloody handprints and scrambled out the window, beginning to slowly descend.

"…."

That bastard!

Watching the colleague who had unhesitatingly abandoned them, the older nurse gritted her teeth and muttered a curse, then helped Anna, who was still coughing, to the window and comforted her gently:

"She's gone, but it doesn't matter, child. Listen: I'll tie one end of the curtain around your waist, then slowly lower you. Try to grip any protrusions on the outer wall—be careful not to fall straight…"

"AHHHH!"

At that moment, a terrified scream erupted from outside; startled, the older nurse leaned out—and was utterly shocked to see the young nurse, just moments ago descending, now stuck halfway up the second-floor exterior wall!

No—better to say she'd been swallowed by the hospital's outer wall, just like the patients in the corridor.

"Save me! Save me!"

How can I save you? Last time I could pull you back—but this time, I truly can't…

Looking at the terrified face of the colleague below, the older nurse sighed deeply, her eyes filled with profound despair. If the hospital's outer wall could also "eat people," then this last escape route was surely sealed—was she truly forced to jump? Even if she dared risk it and hoped not to die from the fall, what of the kind-hearted girl still ill beside her?

…

"Dong dong dong."

As the two inside the ward were at a loss, the glass door of the intensive care room was suddenly knocked on.

"You're Anna, right?"

After confirming the room number, the Bandaged Woman's gaze locked onto the sickly girl and strode toward her, speaking bluntly:

"I'm your brother's colleague. I'm here to rescue you."

Brother?!

Hearing the Bandaged Woman's words, Anna's anxious expression eased slightly.

Good—since she came to rescue me, my brother must be safe! But… why is her brother's colleague dressed so strangely?

After sizing up the tall woman wrapped in bandages, wearing a strange mask, Anna gripped the older nurse's hand and asked cautiously:

"Miss… uh… if you can, could you please also rescue her? If it weren't for her taking care of me…"

"Okay."

Glancing at the older nurse, who also looked hopeful, the Bandaged Woman didn't waste words—she simply nodded, then led both women to the window, and then…

"Hmm?"

Seeing the young nurse already half-swallowed by the outer wall, the Bandaged Woman frowned and turned to ask:

"She's with you? Should I save her?"

Hearing the masked woman might save her, the young nurse on the wall beamed with hope and pleaded desperately:

"Yes yes yes! We're together! You… you have to speak up for me! Please, speak up for me!"

Looking at the young nurse's pleading eyes, the older nurse, who had just been filled with fury, sighed. She opened her mouth to speak—then felt her hand squeezed tightly.

"No."

The older nurse was stunned: the girl, who had always been kind-hearted—even risking letting patients into her own room—now unhesitatingly shook her head in denial.

"She tried to abandon us to save herself. If saving her isn't dangerous, please help her out of kindness. But if it's dangerous, don't bother—just save the woman beside me."

"I understand."

Glancing at the girl, who remained calm, rational, and clear-headed even amid this bizarre emergency, the Bandaged Woman smiled and nodded. She took the curtain hanging by the window, tied it around the older nurse, then gripped the windowsill firmly and extended her arm outside.

Before the stunned gazes of the three women, this mysterious Bandaged Woman—stronger than any human should be—used nothing but pure arm strength to lower the older nurse, who weighed at least one hundred jin, straight down without touching the outer wall.

After glancing back at the room, the Bandaged Woman unwrapped the bandages from her wrist, bundled the medicine packets with the IV stand, and carried the wide-eyed Anna out the window together.

"Go find your brother!"

As she slowly lowered Anna, the Bandaged Woman leaned out and called gently:

"He's safe right now, just across…"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Four nearly simultaneous explosions drowned out her words—the corner cabinet anchoring the curtain shuddered violently, and all four bolts nailed into the wall snapped clean out!

Amid the older nurse's hysterical scream, Anna plummeted downward, while the metal corner cabinet—weighing over three hundred jin—followed the curtain rope and crashed thunderously onto the Bandaged Woman's back!

(End of Chapter)