—–
The glaring lights abruptly brightened, making Qing Li’s eyelids twitch. She opened her eyes to find a cold, gleaming scalpel mere centimeters from her face.
“Doctor, sharp objects are banned in live streams. It’s way too easy to get the stream shut down,” she said casually.
With a light push of her hand, the scalpel froze just at the tip of her nose, narrowly avoiding piercing her skin.
“You’re sick. I need to treat you,” said the rotting female ghost. She wore a blood-stained work uniform, her decayed eyeball dangling from a nerve in her socket, while foul-smelling blood trickled out.
As the filthy blood dripped precariously close to her cozy cotton jacket, Qing Li shot off the operating table with lightning speed. In her haste, however, she accidentally tore off the ghost’s arm.
“Oops! Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Qing Li scratched her head sheepishly, her face full of apology. “How about I sew it back for you?”
Out of nowhere, a sewing kit appeared in her hand. She muttered, “Don’t worry, my sewing skills are top-notch. My master always asked me to patch his clothes. Though one time, I accidentally left a needle inside his shirt, and it pricked him… um, in a sensitive spot. After that, he banned me from sewing for him.”
She looked regretful as she finished her explanation.
[This little village girl is something else. Knocking an arm off a ghost? That takes guts.]
[I’m kind of intrigued now. Everyone else cries and screams the first time they end up here, but she’s just casually chatting with a ghost.]
[Am I the only one wondering where that sewing kit magically came from?]
[Hey, village girl, slap that ghost! I’ll send you a gift if you do.]
[Whoa, evil! The commenter above has gone rogue!]
Qing Li’s eyes sparkled at the word “gift.”
“Wait, just slapping the ghost will get me gifts? That’s… that’s way too worth it!” she exclaimed.
“If I slap her multiple times, do I get more gifts?” she asked hesitantly.
[….]
[Did not expect her to prioritize money over her own life.]
[One slap earns you a luxury car, no limit.]
“Alright, sounds great!” Qing Li replied, grinning. Her youthful face lit up with an innocent smile, her sharp little tiger teeth showing. Yet, a glimmer of cunning flashed in her seemingly naive eyes.
“Hello there, can I slap you a few thousand times?” she politely asked the one-armed female ghost.
She had initially wanted to suggest a few million slaps but reconsidered. After a million slaps, the ghost might not even have a scrap of bone left!
The ghost’s rotten face contorted into an even more grotesque and horrifying expression. Opening her gaping mouth, she roared, “Are you freaking insane?! I’m a doctor! I’m going to treat you right now!”
As she roared, chunks of decaying flesh and squirming white maggots spewed out of her throat. Fortunately, Qing Li reacted swiftly, dodging to the side in time.
“Doctor, your temper needs some adjusting. You shouldn’t yell at your patients,” Qing Li said earnestly, fully embracing the role of a patient now that the ghost had declared her sick.
The corner of the female ghost’s mouth twitched so violently that some of the flesh nearly fell off. Her bloodshot eyeball, dangling from her socket, looked ready to burst as it fixed a deathly glare on Qing Li. The sound of her teeth grinding in the otherwise silent operating room was chilling.
Seeing the ghost’s resentment spike visibly, Qing Li’s expression grew serious. She took a large step back, and the live stream audience assumed she was about to flee.
But instead, Qing Li planted her feet firmly, propped her left palm under her right elbow, and raised her right fist. With her middle finger extended backward in a hook, she shouted loudly, “You—come here!”
The live stream fell into dead silence.
Even the ghost’s dangling eyeballs looked at Qing Li as if she were an idiot.
This human… truly insane!
“I can’t take this anymore. I’m killing you right now!” the ghost cursed and lunged at Qing Li.
Yet, in the next second, the ghost’s body froze, halted exactly one foot away from Qing Li.
[What just happened? Why can’t the ghost move?]
[Did she faint from being overwhelmed by this village girl’s bizarre aura?]
[I have to say, this village girl is something else.]
That “You—come here!” had truly stunned everyone.
The camera zoomed in on the ghost, revealing what had actually happened.
But…
Could someone explain why there was a yellow talisman plastered on the ghost’s forehead?
“Look, I tried reasoning with you, but you had to get violent. Fine, I won’t hold back either,” Qing Li said, blinking innocently.
She raised her hand and, with just the right amount of force, slapped the ghost across the face.
Slap!
A crisp sound echoed.
Once again, the live stream fell into a deathly silence.
This little village girl… had actually managed to slap the ghost.
“Don’t forget, you promised gifts! No backing out, or I’ll have Ghost Sister here climb through your windows at night,” Qing Li pouted when she saw no gifts appearing in the stream.
Suddenly, the live stream exploded with celebratory effects—confetti, sports cars, planes, yachts, rockets—flooding the screen.
At a time when most people trembled in terror at the mere mention of ghosts, a person who could calmly slap a ghost was nothing short of refreshing.
That single slap seemed to dispel the lingering fear of ghosts for many, offering a bizarre sense of catharsis.
As the viewership count soared from zero to 10,000, then 50,000, and soon 100,000, Qing Li’s eyes sparkled like stars.
Money. It was all money.
[Village girl, you’re a legend!]
[666!]
[What village girl? From now on, she’s our Ancestor!]
As Qing Li’s popularity surged, two hidden prompts finally appeared.
Hint 2: Sister is not sick.
Hint 3: Don’t play hide and seek with him.
Thud, thud, thud…
A small figure played with a ball in the dimly lit hospital corridor.
“Sister, sister, is playing with the ball fun?”
The innocent, childlike voice echoed through the hallway.
Thud, thud, thud…
The ball bounced up and down, but its surface bore a blood-covered human face.
—
“Shen Ruo, are we really going to leave this place?” Lin Xue’er asked anxiously, her pale complexion still visible despite the heavy foundation she had applied.
“If we stay here, those monsters will keep coming. No one can guarantee what will happen next. Instead of sitting around waiting for death, we should take the initiative,” Shen Ruo analyzed calmly.
“Based on previous patterns, there’s usually a brief grace period after the first player dies. The real danger escalates the further we go. We should take this time to search for clues,” Zhou Ya suggested.
The group exchanged knowing looks, silently agreeing that Qing Li, who had been taken earlier, was most likely dead.
Now, Shen Ruo and Zhou Ya had become the de facto leaders of the group. Resolving to act, everyone left the ward and began searching for clues.