Chapter 187: The Plan to Leave the Second Floor

Jiang Yuan stood in front of the familiar door of Room 03 Internal Medicine.

He did not knock immediately.

He adjusted his breathing, pressed his ear to the cold door panel, and listened carefully for any sounds inside.

Jiang Yuan raised his hand, used his knuckles, and rhythmically knocked three times on the door.

Two short, one long.

This was the secret signal he had agreed upon with everyone before leaving.

A faint stir came from inside; after a few seconds, the door was pulled open from within, leaving a narrow gap just wide enough for one person to pass.

Chen Shao's pale face appeared behind the door, his eyes behind the lenses filled with blood vessels and vigilance.

When he saw that Jiang Yuan stood outside the door, his tense expression instantly collapsed, replaced by an incredulous euphoria.

"You..."

Jiang Yuan said nothing, nodded at him, and swiftly slipped inside.

Chen Shao immediately turned his hand, slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Clack."

In the Examination Room, everyone's gaze focused on Jiang Yuan like spotlights.

Xiao Ma, Li Na, Ahu, and the couple tightly embracing, Zhang Wei and Liu Ting.

Six people, not one missing.

They saw Jiang Yuan looking disheveled, his Doctor's Lab Coat covered in dust and even a few tears, yet he stood before them unharmed.

For a moment, no one dared speak; the air was so heavy it seemed you could wring water from it.

Jiang Yuan looked around, taking in everyone's astonishment, doubt, and the deepest hidden hope on their faces.

He spoke calmly, his voice low yet clearly reaching each person's ears.

"All the candles on the Second Floor have been lit."

One sentence.

Like a deep-water torpedo dropped onto a calm lake surface.

The entire Examination Room first fell into an absolute silence lasting three seconds.

Then, the emotions suppressed to the extreme erupted with a boom!

"Wuh..."

The girl named Liu Ting could no longer control herself, covering her mouth, she let out a sob of joy; her boyfriend Zhang Wei held her, his eyes red, his body shaking violently.

"Holy crap!"

Xiao Ma was the first to jump up; so excited he nearly hit the ceiling, he grabbed Jiang Yuan's shoulder and shouted incoherently.

"Is this for real?! Brother! Are you a goddamn immortal?! You're my dad! My real dad!"

Even the usually silent, broad‑faced strongman Ahu at this moment grinned, showing a smile uglier than crying, and pounded his chest heavily.

The ever‑vigilant Li Na's sharp eyes also filled with mist; she leaned against the wall, her whole body relaxing.

Chen Shao pushed his glasses, the eyes behind the lenses flickered with the light of a post‑disaster survivor; his lips trembled, trying to speak but no word came out, he only gave Jiang Yuan a gentle punch.

Hope!

After total despair, the newly arrived hope could make anyone's sanity collapse.

Jiang Yuan allowed Xiao Ma to shake his shoulder; he could understand their feelings.

But he knew it was far from a time to celebrate.

"Don't get too happy just yet."

Jiang Yuan's voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads, instantly cooling the ecstatic crowd.

He shook off Xiao Ma's hand, his gaze sweeping over Chen Shao.

"I have a question."

"If the staff don't go on Night Patrol, will everyone become a Patient, or..."

Chen Shao immediately understood Jiang Yuan's meaning; his smile froze, replaced by a solemn expression.

"Not all."

He spoke hoarsely, each word unbearably heavy.

"Every night, only a random person... will be transformed into a Patient."

This answer caused the heated atmosphere that had just risen in the Examination Room to drop instantly to freezing.

No one is a fool.

They immediately understood what that meant.

Jiang Yuan's heart also sank slightly.

Indeed.

This damned place wouldn't leave such an obvious bug for them to exploit.

They couldn't linger near the stairs until nightfall, then collectively abandon patrol, and under relatively safe conditions have everyone become "Patients", then calmly proceed to the underground Second Floor.

"What does asking this now... mean?" Liu Ting stopped crying, looking blankly at her boyfriend.

Jiang Yuan answered the question for her.

"It means we must go down to the First Floor as 'staff'."

"The First Floor is the Patients' territory; for us 'staff' it's an absolute Forbidden Zone. Going down is like a lamb entering a tiger's mouth, possibly being torn to pieces by those monsters at any moment."

"We must survive in that kind of place on the First Floor until we are transformed into 'Patients', and then find a way to enter the underground Second Floor."

Jiang Yuan's words were like a cold knife, cutting open the cruel reality.

The newly sparked hope flame was once again mercilessly snuffed out.

From one hell, jumping into another, even more terrifying hell.

What kind of escape route is this?

"What... what should we do..." Liu Ting's face turned deathly pale; she clutched tightly at Jiang Yuan's sleeve, as if grasping at the last straw.

"Right, right! You... you're so capable! You could wait until we turn into patients, then send us out of the hospital one by one!"

"You alone can light all the wax candles; surely you can protect us! Like a firefighter! Safely send each of us to safety!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the examination room became somewhat delicate.

Xiao Ma and Ahu both furrowed their brows.

Li Na looked at her with an expression as if she were an idiot.

Jiang Yuan's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

You're treating me as a full-time bodyguard and firefighter?

Although, from the duty of an Investigation Bureau agent, protecting them is indeed what I should do.

But this suggestion is stupid beyond redemption.

"No."

Jiang Yuan directly refused, he looked at that girl and calmly analyzed.

"Your idea is too naive."

"How do we know who will be turned into a patient tonight? Are we all just waiting idle at the stairway entrance? You forgot the infiltrator? With a single thought he could summon the Ghost Doctor, wiping us out right at the stairway entrance."

"And if we all wait in one place until someone turns into a patient, then I escort them out, what if the Ghost Doctor happens to be drawn in? If the target is only one or two, we can't even divert the Ghost Doctor's attention; both of us might die."

Jiang Yuan's words left Liu Ting speechless, her face flushing red then turning white.

Her boyfriend Zhang Wei embarrassedly pulled her back into his embrace, not daring to look at the others.

The examination room once again fell into a suffocating silence.

Before us wolves, behind us tigers, and in between lurks a poisonous snake.

This is basically an unsolvable deadlock.

Just as everyone was filled with despair, Jiang Yuan's voice rang out again, firm and powerful.

"I have a feasible plan."

Everyone's gaze once again focused on him.

Jiang Yuan looked at them, his eyes showing no trace of panic.

"We won't wait."

"We're leaving now."

"I will escort each of you one by one, as an 'employee,' directly to the first floor."

Chen Shao abruptly lifted his head: "But... the first floor for us..."

"I know it's dangerous." Jiang Yuan interrupted him, "but this is currently the lowest-risk option!"

"What do you think our greatest threat is? It's the Ghost Doctor on the second floor, and the infiltrator who can summon it at any time!"

"As long as we split up and go one by one, quickly passing through the second floor, even if the infiltrator wants to attack others, he has no chance. Once we reach the first floor, the Ghost Doctor can't reach us. That infiltrator will be half crippled!"

Jiang Yuan extended a finger and tapped the table.

"I will find a room closest to the underground second-level entrance, have everyone gather there one by one and hide. This way, we at least guarantee absolute safety along the route."

"As for the issue of identity change, we'll figure it out once we reach a safe place."

Chen Shao's eyes grew brighter and brighter; he looked at Jiang Yuan and exclaimed excitedly, "I get it! This is the best plan! We can't keep waiting passively!"

"Exactly!" Li Na also nodded in agreement, "Rather than waiting here to die, we might as well give it our all!"

Xiao Ma and Ahu also nodded heavily, their eyes reigniting with fighting spirit.

Fear still existed, but in the face of a clear and feasible plan, it was transformed into the courage to burn one's boats.