Chapter 30: Abandoned Hospital (14)

After undergoing treatment for a while, the boys’ condition had undergone a lot of changes and he gradually recovered. During this time, his life had also undergone great changes.

The boys’ parents used to be busy with their jobs and didn’t have the time to care for their child so there wasn’t a strong bond between the parents and their child. But ever since the boy’s accident, they realised that they had made some serious mistakes. Since then, they started to reduce their work load so that they could spend more time with the boy.

Qiao Yue also realised that some of his previous behaviours were inappropriate and had caused great harm to the boy. After a period of conflict, he finally brought along with him a stick of rattan to the hospital and admitted to his wrong doings. He asked for the youth to beat him up until he was satisfied but it only scared the boy even more. This incident had become a topic of gossip amongst the nurses for a long time.

Everything was moving in a good direction.

But the boy no longer smiled as much as he used to. Sometimes he would even reveal a very lonely look.

He felt like his heart had been cut open and he would sometimes find it throbbing in pain and dripping with blood.

……….

“Have you seen anything unusual recently?”

While he was reviewing him, Doctor Luo asked this question to the boy.

“No.”

The boy shook his head. His fingers twitched slightly, and he lowered his eyes: “Just that sometimes……I would hear someone calling my name.”

He would hear a voice constantly calling him “Xiao Chu”. That voice sounded like it had come from far, far away but when he looked back, it would be empty, and nothing was there.

He is very timid. Despite being a long time since, he would still occasionally feel afraid when he recall the ghost stories the nurse sisters spoke to him about.

These ghost stories are all fake ———— Every time he felt afraid, he would tell himself this.

But only towards that voice that called out to him, he didn’t fear it at all. In fact, he even held a faint hope inside him wishing that it was real.

Because it sounded like brother Yuan Huai’s voice. Or more specifically, it sounded like the voice that he had imagined for “brother Yuan Huai”. Because he had never met Xie Yuan Huai in reality, he had never heard his voice before.

[The voice that your hearing is just an auditory hallucination. It’s because you have paranoia.]

Doctor Luo said this to him. The nurse sisters and his parents also said that to him. Eventually, even the boy himself thought that.

Sometimes, he couldn’t differentiate between fantasy and reality so he would choose to believe what the people close to him says.

That was all just his imagination.

The real truth was that Xie Yuan Huai had already been dead for many years. As for why he would start to fantasise about someone called “Xie Yuan Huai”, he guessed that he might have somehow come across the name Xie Yuan Huai while he was at the hospital.

He heard that Xie Yuan Huai’s body was still being held in the hospitals’ underground mortuary. His family was unable to accept that their only child had died and refused to take back his body, but they also didn’t want anyone to deal with it so every year they would donate large sums of money to the hospital.

Perhaps they still believed that one day their child would open his eyes again.

Occasionally, a thought like this would appear in the boy’s mind: He wanted to go to the mortuary and see what the real Xie Yuan Huai looks like and whether or not he had any similarities to the cold and gentle man in his fantasies.

But it was just a thought. The youth understood that this idea of his was just too absurd and impossible to achieve.

“………Yes. It’s impossible to go to the mortuary but there are other ways for you to see what Xie Yuan Huai looks like.”

Once, while he chatted with the nurse, he accidentally let slip this thought of his. The nurse heard his wishes, thought about it and then leaned over to whisper to him.

“I can help you find his photo. There should be one registered in the hospitals’ old files. When I have time, I can go and look for it. I should be about to find it, but you might need to wait a little.”

“It’s not a hassle for sister?”

The young boy’s heart started to race. He couldn’t help but look forward to it but he also didn’t would to trouble the sister too much.

“No, I’ll do it secretly.”

The nurse stuck out her tongue and then made a “who are we?” expression.

In fact, she wanted to do this for the youth’s sake. Afterall, when he sees that the “Xie Yuan Huai” that he had fantasised about was not the same as the real Xie Yuan Huai, it may help with breaking his fantasy and speeding his recovery.

………….

“Do you still hear that voice?”

Doctor Luo’s tone was as usual very warm: “You haven’t responded to it, right?”

“No. I have never responded to it.”

The boy shook his head. Doctor Luo had told him before not to pay any attention to that voice and that by doing so it would help him recover faster so he would resist the urge every time and act like the voice never existed.

……….

“Okay then. Director Luo, Zhi Chu, I’ll be taking your pictures. Three, two——-”

Under the clear blue sky, the flowers in the courtyard was in full bloom and filled with vitality. There was even a faint floral fragrance in the air.

The nurse raised the phone and took a photo of Doctor Luo and the boy together. The youngster was about to be discharged from the hospital and he wanted to use the opportunity when the weather was good to take a few pictures in commemoration. The youth in the camera held onto Doctor Luo’s arms and the two of them smiled very happily.

A handsome and cold looking man stood under the shadow of a tree and watched them from afar.

His figure was pale and at this moment he looked particularly thin and frail, like he would be blown away with just a small gust of wind and would disappear from the world.

Over the past few days, he had almost never left the boys side. Again, and again he would call out to him and want to touch him to show that he really existed but, as if all forms of connections between the two had been cut off, the young boy no longer could see or sense him.

He knew that, ever since the boy had realised that he was a ghost, things had undergone a tremendous change. He no longer thought of him as a “human” and since then, the boy was completely unable to sense him. No matter how many times he tried, it was all in vain.

He could only watch the boy cry out his name and beg for him to appear until his voice went hoarse and he fall asleep with a tear-stained face.

Until later, the boy also gradually thought that “Xie Yuan Huai” was just his own imaginary figure that he had conjured up. He gradually became somewhat silent and no longer mentioned that name.

Now, he was about to leave it all behind and was ready to greet a brighter future.

But Xie Yuan Huai’s time would only stop at this point. Forever as a pale illusionary figure, he would be buried in the youth’s memories and gradually turn into fine dust.

His body was in a state of cold, endless slumber trapping his soul to this hospital. He was unable to take any more steps so, until the day he was destroyed, he would not be able to meet the boy again.

He would eventually be forgotten.

But he couldn’t forget.

Even if his body turned to dust and his soul was gone, as long as he still exists, he would always remember this boy, his Xiao Chu.

He would bury him in his heart.

“…………..”

Silent tears flowed out from Xie Yuan Huai’s eyes and it gently rolled down his cheeks before disappearing in thin air.

………..But he still didn’t want his Xiao Chu to leave.

Please.

Don’t go.

Don’t go…………

Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go——————-

“Whoosh…………….”

A sudden gust of wind blew across the courtyard creating a rustling sound as it blew past the trees.

The boy’s hair was messed up by the wind and he had to reach out to rearrange it before continuing to take photos with the nurse.

“Strange.”

Doctor Luo who was holding onto the phone taking pictures for them looked up and looked around him with a strange expression. He mumbled to himself: “How can there be such a strong gust of wind on such a good day like today?”

………..

Xie Yuan Huai slowly turned around and left the courtyard.

He understood clearly. Xiao Chu isn’t like him. He can’t stay in the hospital for the rest of his life.

Not to mention, he also didn’t want that.

His Xiao Chu should live a life that’s better than anyone else’s.

……………

Today was the day when the boy was to be discharged from the hospital.

His parents drove over to pick him up and Qiao Yue had also skipped class to see him. He didn’t hesitate to help him carry his luggage and act like an obedient rabbit in front of the elders.

The nurses were very reluctant to part with this cute a lovely boy. Before he left, they all gave him a hug. The boy was a little shy and he gave his thanks to them one by one. The last nurse avoided everyone and secretly pulled him over to a corner.

“Sorry, I only just managed to get Xie Yuan Huai’s photo. Do you still want to see it?”

The nurse took out her phone and asked the boy. Although the boy had recovered and there was no need to show him the photo, she had already promised him so she didn’t want to go back on her words.

This time, the nurse was astounded. She didn’t expect that Xie Yuan Huai would be so handsome. Even just his registration photo made those seeing it feel their heart flutter and she couldn’t help but look at it again.

Sigh……..Unfortunately, God didn’t have eyes and made his pass away at such a young age. It’s no wonder his family couldn’t accept it…….

The nurse sighed internally and passed the phone over. The boy froze for a moment before moving to accept the phone. However, the moment his fingers were about to touch it, his hand froze and he retracted it back.

“What’s wrong?” The nurse was a little surprised.

“I……I don’t think that I will look at it after all.” The youth’s smile looked a little forced. “Sorry sister, I made you waste all that effort.”

“That doesn’t matter. But why won’t you look?

The nurse was a little confused. She clearly remembered the boy being very eager about seeing his photo before and would even often find her to ask about it.

“……….I’m too scared to look.”

The youth lowered his head and said in a small voice.

He was afraid to see that Xie Yuan Huai and brother Yuan Huai looked completely different.

But what he was more afraid of was that if there was a similarity…….even if it was just a little bit, he didn’t know what he should do.

So, he can’t look.

Brother Yuan Huai was his dream.

But he should wake up from this dream now.

…………..

Xie Yuan Huai came over to the ward where the boy had stayed. The door was open, and it wasn’t locked so he walked in and stood there looking at it for a long time.

The items that the boy had once had in the room had already been taken away and, in order to prepare the room for the next patient, the room had also been thoroughly cleaned. The windows were wide open allowing fresh air to come in and the original scent in the room had already completely dissipated. All that was left was just the smell coming from the warm sunlight.

It was now no different to the other wards……….

He silently thought this, but the boy’s figure constantly appeared in his mind. It was as if, if he stayed there long enough, it would be as if nothing had happened and that Zhi Chu was only out temporarily for his examinations.

As long as he waited, the boy would come back. When no one else was around, he could even hold that warm and soft body in his arms, kiss those delicate lips and, under his shy gaze, he could whisper his name.

Xiao Chu.

Xiao Chu.

“Yes…….This is the room. Please come over.”

Suddenly, loud noise came from outside the door. A young nurse appeared at the door and was followed by a patient wearing a hospital gown and his family carrying his belongings.

Xie Yuan Huai watched them walk in and his eyes suddenly trembled.

“A member of the family should come with me to complete the registrations. Once it’s done, place the new card over here.”

The nurse gave the family members a few instructions and then leaned over to remove the original card from the bedside slot.

On the card were the words “Cheng Zhi Chu”.

No…………..

Xie Yuan Huai’s face went pale. He wanted to grab onto the nurse’s hand and take the card from her but his fingers passed through her wrist and he could only watch the nurse put card inside her pocket.

“This bed is quite comfortable.”

The patient sat onto the hospital bed and tested its firmness. He then said that phrase to his family with a smile.

That bed originally belongs to Xiao Chu.

Xie Yuan Huai’s entire body started to tremble. His pupils constricted as he watched them take out their belongings and busily arrange the room. Little by little, they occupied the remaining space and the room was soon converted into an unfamiliar place.

Although he was clearly already dead, but at this moment, he felt coldness and pain down to his very bones. Like cracks had formed over his heart, in an instant, it felt like it was fragmented.

His chest broke open and turned into a void of nothingness.

Dark, twisted and dangerous desires rushed out and slowly spread through him.

[Why are you letting him leave?]

[Clearly, he belongs to you.]

[His gaze, his smile, his breath. Everything, everything should belong to you.]

[Can you endure seeing him throwing himself into another person’s embrace, forget you completely and spend the rest of his life with someone else?]

No……..

Can’t……………

He didn’t want Xiao Chu to forget about him. He also didn’t want to be unable to see Xiao Chu before he disappeared and spend the rest of his life only yearning for him.

He regretted it.

[You should get him back.]

[Call his name. Let him know about your existence.]

But how can he get him back? He can’t leave the hospital and he didn’t even know where Xiao Chu was.

[Then you can ask the others.]

[You can ask Doctor Luo.]

[Ask him why he told Xiao Chu not to respond to you.]

[He ruined your relationship and took Xiao Chu away from you.]

[If he can’t answer………]

[Kill him.]

…………..

An accident occurred at the hospital involving the escalator and it resulted in the death of a young girl. At that time, Doctor Luo who was also on the escalator suffered from minor injuries but fortunately it wasn’t serious.

Seeing the young girls blood splattered over the escalator, Xie Yuan Huai’s iris trembled and it revealed a hint of torment, but it was then quickly replaced with dark and painful desire.

[This time you didn’t manage to kill Doctor Luo but there will be other opportunities in the future.]

[In fact, it’s a good thing that the little girl died.]

[Deaths would increase your strength. If you kill enough people, your Xiao Chu would once again be able to see you.]

[Next, we should kill the person staying in his ward. How can you tolerate seeing other people take away your precious memories?]

………

Two months later, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the inpatient department. One person died and two people sustained serious injuries. The deceased was the patient that was currently residing in the ward that the boy used to stay in.

[Do you feel the power that death has brought you?]

[Now, because of your influence, monsters that didn’t exist before are also about to be born at this hospital.]

[The man-eating monster in the sewer, the red-clothed female corpse, the invisible ninth floor………..these monsters have appeared in the hospital’s shadows.]

[Xiao Chu used to think that you’re a ghost and thought that it meant that they would also exist along with you. When his illness relapsed, he saw hallucinations of them in the middle of the night and tried to escape from his ward. Unfortunately, he fell from the stairs.]

[It was also because of this that you hate them. But they’re your underlings. If they killed people, your strength would also increase.]

[So, leave them be.]

[As long as you have enough power, your Xiao Chu would come back to you.]

………………

Half a month later, the incident involving the six elevators falling from above at the same time occurred. More than fifty people were killed including doctors like Doctor Luo.

Since then, Guang Ai Hospital closed down and it became a forbidden land that no one dared to venture into.

Before the hospital closed, Xie Yuan Huai’s family wanted to retrieve his body but they discovered that his body was missing.

It was he himself who took his body and hid it somewhere else in the hospital.

He couldn’t let his family take his body away because the moment his body moves, he would move away from the hospital. All the power that he had accumulated would be lost and he would not be able to see Xiao Chu again.

During this long five-year period, Xie Yuan Huai could feel his body gradually rotting and his flesh and blood slowly disintegrating, leaving only a skeleton.

Without a body, his heart had completely sunk into the abyss and Xie Yuan Huai gradually became a true evil spirit.

From time to time, daredevils would enter the hospital and be swallowed up by the man-eating monster or killed by the red-clothed woman’s corpse, becoming their sources of strength. Xie Yuan Huai would just watch quietly from the sidelines with a look of indifference. He no longer possessed the compassion that humans had.

He had completely broken.

…………….

This place was his dark paradise.

He waited here calling for his boy day after day——–

[Xiao Chu, come here.]

…………

“Cheng Zhi Chu………..Cheng Zhi Chu!”

Seeing that Cheng Zhi Chu had fainted onto the ground, Meng Ke was worried to the point that her face went pale. She violently shook him, and the bear also circled around him while crying out “Awu, awu”. Its body then suddenly stiffened, and it huddled onto the ground trembling.

Meng Ke gritted her teeth and wanted to support Cheng Zhi Chu with her shoulders. Earlier he had saved her life so she couldn’t just leave him behind.

But at this moment, a pair of snow-white hands suddenly reached over and wrapped around Cheng Zhi Chu’s body before easily lifting him from the ground.

“Wu……….”

The bear’s entire body trembled as it bit onto the corner of Cheng Zhi Chu’s shirt trying to prevent him from being taken away. It, however, felt a strong force in the air which knocked him away. After swinging around for a while, the material that he was biting onto broke off and it fell to the ground with a “patter”.

Meng Ke was shaking terribly in fear. She could already feel the deadly aura emanated from this person and his blood-thirstiness. As if she was facing an endless abyss, she didn’t have the slightest desire or ability to retaliate.

Even without raising her head, she knew that the other party was not a living being.

But Cheng Zhi Chu…………She can’t………..

Although fear had made her breathing difficult, Meng Ke still forced herself to raise her head and look at the ghost in front of her.

What appeared before her was a handsome young man. He had a cold look of indifference and his figure looked slightly transparent, like the flickering moonlight.

He held onto Cheng Zhi Chu and then his eyes glanced over at her for a moment. The instant their eyes met, Meng Ke felt like she was about to be sent to hell. Her heart stopped for a moment and she couldn’t help but feel like she had already died.

The young man looked at her like he was looking at something dead. But unexpectedly, he didn’t do anything to her. He turned around with Cheng Zhi Chu in his arms and then slowly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

“……………………..”

Meng Ke lifelessly fell to the ground. Even her breathing was trembling.

Her will had been completely defeated by fear and she could no longer move. She groggily laid onto the ground like she was dead.

After an unknown amount of time passed, she suddenly felt the ground shaking, and this was then followed by the sound of something shattering. It was a very large commotion and she could still feel her eardrum tremble slightly in pain.

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching her, but it was too late for her to escape. She could only peek out from her eyes to vaguely assess the other persons face and their identity.

…………It’s Bai Yi.

Bai Yi………….

————It’s Bai Yi!

Meng Ke felt a sudden surge of hope. She opened her eyes and struggled to sit up.

Bai Yu held onto a pale white sword. He looked down at her from above and had no expression on that handsome face of his. Only darkness twisted about within those eyes of his.

For a moment, Meng Ke thought that she was looking at the evil spirit from earlier and felt her hairs stand up. She didn’t dare to look at him, but Bai Yi used the tip of his sword to lift her jaw and forced her to look at him.

“Where’s Zhi Chu?”

Bai Yi’s voice was sounded extremely calm, but it also felt extremely terrifying.

“He was taken………..away by a ghost…………”

The tip of the blade pressed against her neck. Meng Ke pointed in the direction the evil spirit had disappeared off to with trembling hands: “Over there…………”

Without another word, Bai Yu retracted his sword and left. His figure very quickly also disappeared in the distance.

The bear wanted to follow but it was directly swatted away by Bai Yi so it could only return back to his original spot with downturned ears.

“Xin…..Where’s Xin Xin and Xiao Xiao?”

Meng Ke returned to her senses and looked around, but she didn’t see Meng Xin or Ji Yun Xiao. Suddenly worried, she stood up anxiously.

The bear was dejected for a moment but, when it saw Meng Xin looking around anxiously, it tilted its head and fell into thought. It then spoke up with a childlike voice: “Seeing that you didn’t abandon my mummy, give me fried chicken and I’ll take you to them.”

“Okay. If you find them, I’ll even buy you an entire fried chicken store!”

Meng Ke immediately promised the bear. The bear nodded its head with satisfaction and gestured for her to bend down. It then climbed onto her head and patted her hair while saying:

“Giddy up! Turn left!”

****

Bai Yi’s Diary (Part 30)

When Zhi Chu was in first year of middle school, his school had an autumn sports carnival that was open to the public and family members of the students could come and visit them. I wanted to use this chance to go and see him.

For this purpose, I asked my cousin to transfer to the high school department of that school. With this, I can go and see Zhi Chu at the sports carnival.

The Zhi Chu at the sports carnival was really cute. I even managed to get a photo with him——–

Zhi Chu who didn’t participate in the race sat in the fifteenth seat from the left on the third row and I sat on the third seat on the fourteenth row. The school took an aerial photo of the schools’ sports carnival and to this day it is still accessible through their website.

Although there were thousands of people in the photos, in my eyes I could only see Zhi Chu and myself. I was very satisfied.

What was slightly regrettable though was that my cousin immediately transferred back to his old school when he found out the reason behind my request and this consequently prevented me from entering the school ever again.