Chapter 41: The Ultimate Hidden Quest: Skewed Stubbornness

Chapter 41: Final Hidden Quest: Skewed Stubbornness

There were two rows of cabinets in the storage room, and the sound came from the very back of one of them.

Thud, thud, thud—the sound of something slamming against the ground echoed like heavy blows to the heart.

Duan Ming wore a solemn expression, holding a kitchen knife in one hand and a gun in the other, with red toilet paper tucked under his left arm and a brain-eating doll under his right. Exchanging a glance with Han Lingling, he began to slowly approach.

The impact sounds grew clearer.

Finally, rounding the last corner, the culprit revealed its true form.

It was a thin, frail figure wearing a custodian uniform. Everything else looked completely normal, but right where his heart should have been, there was simply a fist-sized hollow. At this moment, he was relentlessly kowtowing against the wall, mumbling incoherently to himself.

Han Lingling asked, "What's his level?"

Duan Ming checked.

[Heartless Ghost]
[Name: Wu Jingen]
[Level: Wandering Soul]
[Ghost Qi: 80]
[Friendliness: 0]
[Target Information: He was once an ordinary hospital cleaner who worked diligently. Because of his honest and meek personality, he was frequently bullied by colleagues. A doctor from the inpatient department once stood up for him, granting him a shred of dignity, and he was deeply grateful to that doctor. However, one day, even though he knew the doctor was being bullied by bad people, he was too terrified to step out of the storage room, living in regret ever since the doctor committed suicide afterwards. He died during a ghost spirit invasion incident, his heart brutally ripped out by ghost spirits.]
[Hint: That doctor once hid in the storage room and wept bitterly. He might know something.]

"Wandering Soul, 80," Duan Ming replied, immediately stepping forward with Han Lingling closely following behind him.

Wu Jingen's murmurs gradually became clearer.

"Dr. Pei, I'm sorry."
"Dr. Pei, I'm sorry."
"Dr. Pei, I'm sorry."

He kept repeating the same phrase, hitting his head heavily against the ground with every utterance.

"Search around and see if there are any discoveries!"
"Got it."

Han Lingling began rummaging through the surroundings.

Meanwhile, Duan Ming grabbed Wu Jingen by the collar to stop him from kowtowing and turned him around to face them.

"Wu Jingen, what on earth did Pei Qiongyin do in the storage room that day?"

Wu Jingen's eyes were dazed, his mouth still repeating, "Dr. Pei, I'm sorry."

"Wu Jingen!!!"
"If you are truly repentant, tell me the truth! I can help your Dr. Pei."

Hearing these words, the vacant look in Wu Jingen's eyes slowly coalesced, and his lips stopped chanting.

He looked at Duan Ming, opened his mouth, but failed to utter a single word.

"Damn it, has he kowtowed so much he's gone stupid and forgotten how to speak?"

Before long, Han Lingling returned and shook her head. "I took a quick look around. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Impossible. There must be a breakthrough here. I suspect the fifth clue is right in this storage room."
"Keep looking."

Since Wu Jingen was incapable of communication, Duan Ming decided to join the search himself. But half an hour later, the two gathered again, shaking their heads in disappointment.

Han Lingling asked, "Could we be mistaken? Why would Pei Qiongyin leave clues in a storage room?"

Duan Ming knitted his brows tightly. "They must be here. We just haven't figured out how to find them."

"Wait!"
"Finding things?"
"Sister Lingling, quick, make me cry!"
"Huh? Oh, back in that year..."
"Waaaaahhhhh~~~~~~"

Han Lingling: "???"
Chen Yongren: "!!!"
Duan Ming: "(￣_￣|||)"

Chen Yongren was seen wearing only a pair of boxer shorts.

"What the fuck!!! What is going on?!"

Chen Yongren screamed, pulling his hands back and turning around.

Duan Ming awkwardly rubbed his nose, picked up a spare custodian uniform from nearby, and tossed it over.

Once dressed, Chen Yongren acted as if nothing had happened and gave a comical salute. "Reporting to the officer, informant Chen Yongren is on standby! What are your orders?"

Duan Ming said, "Ah-ren, I need your help finding something in this room."
"Officer, what kind of thing?"
"I don't know."

Chen Yongren: "..."

Duan Ming urged, "Oh, stop dawdling. Just point out anything and everything that feels suspicious to you."
"Yes~~~~~ sir!"

Acting with promptness and resolve, Chen Yongren immediately began rummaging left and right.

Extremely satisfied, Duan Ming found a clean spot to sit cross-legged on the floor, pulling Han Lingling down beside him.

"Sister Lingling, let's take a break. Professional matters should be left to the professionals."

Han Lingling blinked in a daze. "Oh."

However, before her backside even touched the ground...

"Reporting to the officer, I found it!"
"??????" x2

"What is it? You aren't just grabbing random junk to fool me, are you?"

Chen Yongren scratched his head. "I don't think so. I suppose finding a diary in a storage room isn't exactly normal, right?"

"A diary?"
"Where did you find it?"
"Right there, in a crevice in that corner."

Chen Yongren jutted his chin toward a wall—precisely the wall Wu Jingen had been relentlessly kowtowing against.

"Hand it over."

The moment he took the diary:

[Triggered Hidden Task: Irreparable Guilt (5/5)]
[Why? Why does nobody believe me?]
[All clues have been collected.]
[Unlocking Final Hidden Task: Skewed Stubbornness]
[Task Objective: Liberate the Inpatient Department of Qingshan Hospital]

It really was the fifth clue!

Duan Ming immediately began flipping through the contents of the diary.

Yet the more he read, the more shocked and stunned his expression became.

"Wrong."
"Wrong again."
"So this was the truth all along."

"Duan Ming, what's wrong? What does the diary say? What is the truth?" Han Lingling asked anxiously.

At that moment, Duan Ming abruptly stopped reading and lifted his head with an expression of intense solemnity.

Han Lingling was startled by the gravity of his look. "What is it?"

"Sister Lingling, listen. Have the screams outside stopped?"
"It seems... they really have stopped."

Duan Ming handed the diary to Han Lingling, walked toward the door, and pressed his ear against it.

Silence hung heavy outside.

Han Lingling had also just triggered the final clue and unlocked the ultimate hidden task, but before she could check the diary, Chen Feng's shouting suddenly rang out from beyond the door.

"Duan Ming!"
"Duan Ming!"
"Han Lingling!"
"Duan Ming! Sister Lingling!"

Along with Meng Qian, Xu Haoran, and even Shang Xiaoya.

Why would they appear on the fifth floor?

The siblings exchanged glances and nodded.

Duan Ming opened the door, coming face-to-face with the group who were scanning the area.

"Duan Ming!"
"Duan Ming! You really are here!"

Several of them crowded around.

Han Lingling asked, "Why... are you guys here?"

Chen Feng explained, "Just now in my room, I suddenly heard Duan Ming screaming, so I chased after the sound and came straight up."
"Me too," Shang Xiaoya chimed in.
"Me too, though what I heard were the cries for help of both Duan Ming and Han Lingling."
"Right, then everyone ran into each other at the stairway and came up together."

Duan Ming frowned in surprise. "Didn't you guys encounter the three fierce ghosts at the fourth-floor stairwell?"
"No." x4

His eyes narrowed.

Hearing fabricated cries for help in their rooms.
The three fierce ghosts at the stairwell had vanished without a trace.
The small group gathering on the fifth floor.

He Yuwei, is your game about to begin?