Chapter 175: Weird Hospital

Black playing cards drew lethal afterimages between his fingers, like a grim reaper's scythe.

"Pfft!"

An Ace of Spades cleanly sliced through a Spider Humanoid's neck.

The monster's charge stalled abruptly, its massive body crashing down, only to be trampled into mush by more of its kind behind it.

Jiang Yuan was sprinting.

His lungs burned, each breath reeking of blood.

His strength was draining at an alarming rate, the arm throwing the flying cards already beginning to ache and tremble uncontrollably.

He couldn't stop.

Behind him, a black wave surged, capable of swallowing everything.

He could hear the scalp‑tingling rustle of countless limbs scraping the ground, and the gathered greedy howl that almost overturned the entire ruin.

Another card slipped from his hand.

This time his aim was off, missing the vital spot and instead embedding deeply into a Spider Humanoid's eye socket.

The creature let out a sharp howl and lunged at him even more frenziedly.

Jiang Yuan lurched into a sideways roll, narrowly avoiding those claws.

...... He was nearing his limit.

He struggled to rise from the ground, his vision doubling, his legs feeling like lead.

The black sea of death behind him was less than ten meters away.

Just then.

Near exhaustion, Jiang Yuan's foot caught harshly on a protruding concrete chunk.

He could no longer keep his balance and fell forward to the ground.

He struggled, wanting to turn back, wanting to throw one last card.

But his body would no longer obey.

He could only watch helplessly as the largest Spider Humanoid leapt up, its grotesque mouthparts rapidly enlarging before his eyes.

A flicker of sorrow crossed Jiang Yuan's eyes as he slowly closed them.

However, the expected excruciating pain did not come.

The whole world fell into a weird pause.

Jiang Yuan jerked his eyes open.

The sight before him left his mind blank.

The Spider Humanoid that should have torn him apart now stood less than half a meter away, limbs rigid, frozen in its lunging pose.

Around it, hundreds or thousands of monsters had all come to a halt.

They seemed to have hit an invisible wall, all freezing in place.

None dared to take another step forward.

Instead, they were overcome by extreme agitation and unease.

They frantically scraped the ground, emitting threatening low growls from their throats, their pallid eyes locked on Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan stared, stunned.

Supporting his aching body, he slowly sat up from the ground, unable to believe what he saw.

Then he slowly turned his head.

Behind him stood a massive, dilapidated building.

It was a hospital.

Its walls were covered in web‑like cracks, large patches of plaster peeled away to reveal the blackened bricks within.

Most windows were shattered, leaving only dark holes that resembled demonic eye sockets staring out at the world.

Above the hospital hung a rust‑streaked sign, swaying on the verge of falling; its lettering was blurred, but in the dim light a few words could still be made out.

"SaintJohn'sHospital"

Saint John Hospital

Jiang Yuan's heart clenched.

Even these fearless monsters dared not go further inside...... what kind of hell lay within?

But he glanced back at the crowd of monsters that, while not daring to approach, had not dispersed.

Going back meant certain death.

Moving forward might still offer a sliver of hope.

He had no choice.

Jiang Yuan gritted his teeth, dragging his near‑broken body up from the ground.

He limped and staggered toward the hospital's dark doorway.

Each step drained all his strength.

As he stepped through the hospital doors,

"Boom——!!"

The two heavy carved iron doors behind him slammed shut without warning, unleashing a thunderous roar before sealing tight.

The howls and roars from outside were completely cut off.

Inside the hospital, absolute silence fell.

Jiang Yuan warily surveyed his surroundings.

This was the hospital lobby, the floor covered in thick dust that left clear footprints when stepped on.

Using the faint light leaking in through the door crack and broken window, he could see overturned chairs, scattered files, and blackened bloodstains on the wall.

Everything indicated that a terribly frightening disturbance had once occurred here.

His gaze finally fell on the triage desk not far away.

On the dust-covered tabletop lay an open medical record.

This is too strange.

In such a chaotic environment, this medical record was placed so conspicuously.

Jiang Yuan suppressed his unease and walked over step by step.

He lowered his head and looked at that medical record.

The handwriting on the medical record was a messy English cursive.

He turned to the first page.

On the left and right were two patients each.

【Patient Name: Jack Smith. Symptoms: According to his own account, it felt as if countless hands were growing inside his abdomen, causing unbearable pain......】

【Patient Name: Mary Anderson. Symptoms: She compulsively tore at her own facial skin, believing worms were crawling beneath it......】

Above the medical record's text were attached pictures; the first showed a man whose mouth was pried open by multiple infant arms, his abdomen swollen, his whole body covered in bluish-black veins.

The second depicted a woman whose facial skin was completely torn away, revealing countless densely packed worms wriggling beneath, extremely creepy.

They all wore blue-and-white patient gowns.

Flipping page by page, each patient's symptoms were weird to the extreme.

This is not a medical record at all.

This is a ledger recording the names of lunatics and monsters!

Jiang Yuan's heart pounded more and more as he read, and the hairs all over his body stood on end.

Just then.

"Thud...... thud......"

A faint yet rhythmically distinct sound came from deep within the hospital.

That sound was very strange.

Like a fetus's heartbeat in its mother's womb.

Or like some viscous liquid writhing and gathering in the darkness.

"Thud...... thud...... thud-thud......"

The sound grew clearer and closer.

Jiang Yuan suddenly lifted his head, staring fixedly at the far end of the hospital hall, that deep, pitch-black corridor.

His heart also raced along with that beat, pounding wildly.

Suddenly!

"Yah——!!!"

An extremely sharp, infant-like wail exploded from the depths of the darkness!

Accompanying the wail was a crisp, loud "whoosh"!

It was as if...... a glass container had been shattered from within!

Jiang Yuan's heart instantly sank to the bottom of the valley.

He felt as if he had escaped a wolf's den.

But he had stumbled into a more terrifying, unknown demon's lair.