Chapter 184: One Person Goes

In the examination room, everyone's movements froze.

The young man Xiao Ma, who had gone limp on the ground, lifted his bloodshot eyes.

The couple clinging tightly together also stopped trembling and looked over blankly.

Even the short‑haired woman Li Na, who had stayed vigilant, had a hint of inquiry in her sharp gaze.

"You...... do you have any way?"

Chen Shao was the first to react; he adjusted his glasses, suppressed his excitement, leaned toward Jiang Yuan, and asked urgently in a hushed voice.

Jiang Yuan's gaze swept over everyone, taking in the expressions on their faces—from numbness and despair to the faint spark that had just ignited.

He did not answer immediately, but instead ran through the final deduction in his mind at high speed.

First, there must be something false in the rules.

【8. If you, in a mirror or any reflective surface, discover yourself wearing a blue‑and‑white striped patient gown, when you encounter a stairway you must never try to go up.】

This one is probably one of those lies.

He was wearing a patient gown because he had run "up," which sent him to the underground second level belonging to the staff restricted area; although it was perilous, he suffered no lethal attack.

Conversely, what if one wearing a patient gown walked "down"?

Wouldn't one then run straight into the Ghost Doctor on the second floor?

This rule might simply be luring patients to the second floor to die.

Second, it's about identity conversion.

【6. If you are staff, night patrol is your duty. If, while patrolling, you see a black shadow moving on the wall, pay no heed—it's just a light‑and‑shadow issue caused by equipment malfunction. If the shadow tries to "play a game" with you, stand still where you are until it leaves on its own.】

Chen Shao and the others regarded this rule as a death‑summoning talisman, because staff who go on patrol on the first floor are just sitting ducks.

But Jiang Yuan didn't see it that way.

This might not be a punishment but rather an "identity switcher" that can be actively used.

As long as one grasps the timing and actively abandons patrol, one can switch one's identity to "patient" and obtain the "ticket" to enter the final exit.

Aside from the Eyeless Monster that demands heads and Jack Smith, who actively attacks everyone, the other "patients" on the first floor seem not to attack him, who is also a patient.

The risk involved can be controlled.

Lastly, and the most troublesome, is the infiltrator hidden among them.

If they act together, the inside traitor can at any moment summon the Ghost Doctor to cause a total wipeout.

If they act apart, the lit candles will be snuffed out one by one by the inside traitor, leaving no chance to rise.

This is a dead‑end loop.

Unless...... someone can break out of this loop.

Jiang Yuan's thoughts became completely clear; he lifted his head, his gaze calm to a frightening degree.

"Ghost Doctor, infiltrator, true and false rules—if these three problems aren't solved, anything we do is wasted effort."

He paused, then continued in an unquestionable tone:

"So, my method is very simple."

"We, we will act separately."

"What?!" Xiao Ma shouted first, but Li Na shot him a glare that made him clap a hand over his mouth; still, his opposition and confusion were plain to see.

Acting separately—isn't that exactly playing into the infiltrator's hands?

Chen Shao also furrowed his brows: "If we split up, our lit candles......"

"No."

Jiang Yuan cut him off.

"It's not us lighting them—it's me lighting them."

He looked at everyone and said, word by word:

"From now on, you seven people will stay in this room and go nowhere."

"I will go alone and light all the red candles on the second floor."

"And your task is just as important." Jiang Yuan raised a finger. "Your task is to watch each other. Of the seven of you, no one may leave the sight of the other six—eating, drinking, using the toilet—you must stay together."

"That way, the infiltrator is effectively locked in a cage. He can't blow out the candles because he can't get out."

The entire examination room fell silent.

Everyone was stunned by Jiang Yuan's daring, near‑crazy plan.

He, alone, would face all the dangers outside?

Let them, a group of people, stay here like prisoners?

"This......" the man named Zhang Wei, holding his girlfriend, trembled as he said, "How can this work? It's so dangerous out there, you alone......"

"What do you think?" Jiang Yuan looked at him and countered, "If we seven go out together, our target is bigger, we're more likely to cause a commotion, and draw the Ghost Doctor?"

"Or is it that I, acting alone, am more convenient and more concealed?"

Zhang Wei was left speechless.

"But...... but......" Chen Shao still felt it wasn't right, "You, alone, facing so many unknown dangers—what if......"

"There's no 'what if'."

Jiang Yuan's voice was firm and unyielding.

"Don't forget, I came up alive from the first floor. Moreover, I successfully switched my identity back."

Those words struck everyone's hearts.

Yes.

The man before them was the only one among them who had created a "miracle."

He alone had charged through the deadly forbidden zone "first floor" that they saw as certain death, and had even figured out the secret of identity switching.

His strength, composure, and judgment are far above all of theirs.

Perhaps... this really is the only way!

The spark of hope reignites in everyone's eyes, and burns ever brighter.

"Good!"

Chen Shao nodded heavily, his eyes behind the lenses flashing with resolve.

"We'll do exactly as you said!"

"We'll stay right here and watch everyone to the death! Whoever dares to move, I'll be the first to kill them!" The burly man Ahu in the corner also grumbled in a low, hoarse voice.

Li Na and Xiao Ma also nodded in succession.

Fear, under the shared goal, is temporarily suppressed and transformed into a kind of desperate, all‑or‑nothing courage.

"Very good," Jiang Yuan nodded, "Now tell me the locations of all rooms you know that hide red candles."

Chen Shao immediately fished a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, on which a pencil‑drawn simple map of the Second Floor marked several rooms.

"We've already identified three places: the Psychological Counseling Room, Surgery Room-05, and the Nurse Station at the far end."

He handed over a matchbox.

"This is what we found. Use it sparingly."

Jiang Yuan took the map and matches, then asked a crucial question: "What pattern does the Ghost Doctor follow?"

"Yes!" Li Na answered immediately, "It comes out to patrol at regular intervals, lasting about half an hour. During patrol it walks from one end of the Corridor to the other, its steps heavy, dragging something, making a lot of noise, so it's easy to detect."

"Most importantly," Chen Shao added, "it only senses the position of 'Patient'. As long as we hide in rooms as 'staff' and stay quiet, even if it walks past the doorway, it won't notice us."

"When did the patrol start?"

"About... twenty minutes ago."

Jiang Yuan estimated the timing; the Ghost Doctor's activity cycle and cooldown period are both opportunities.

After roughly ten minutes plus a bit, he slipped the map and matches into his coat, then glanced at everyone, "Wait for me back."

Having said that, he no longer hesitated, turned and walked toward the Examination Room door.

Everyone held their breath, watching his silhouette.

He was like a warrior about to venture alone into a dragon's pool and tiger's den, bearing everyone's hope on his back.

Jiang Yuan's hand rested on the cold door handle.

He took a deep breath, adjusting his heartbeat and muscles.

"Click."

The door lock was gently opened.

The dim Corridor, like a great beast's gaping throat, was so quiet it made the heart uneasy.

Jiang Yuan slipped sideways, swung the door shut gently with his other hand, making no extra sound.

Everything went smoothly.

The Ghost Doctor's patrol had just ended; now is the safest moment on the Second Floor.

He must seize every minute and second.

But the instant he took his first step—

His body suddenly froze.

A heavy, rhythmical footfall erupted from deep within the Corridor without warning.

"Dong... dong... dong..."

The steps were neither hurried nor slow, each one feeling like it stepped on everyone's heart.

Accompanying them was a metallic scrape that made one's teeth tingle.

Stab...... Stab......

It was the tip of a scalpel dragging and scraping across the cement floor!

Ghost Doctor!

How could it appear? Didn't the patrol just end?!

The footfall and dragging sound grew nearer.

Jiang Yuan's heartbeat raced as if about to explode.

He stared fixedly at the corner of the Corridor ahead.

A figure in a Doctor's Lab Coat slowly emerged, half‑protruding from behind the wall.