Break in, or turn back?
This was indeed an extremely difficult question. It wouldn't have been a problem if I had all my gear with me. With the dragon energy in my body, I still had some confidence in facing the unknown.
But the key issue was that I didn't have those with me now, did I?
All together, I only had seven Juyang Talismans, one Ghost-killing Talisman, and around twenty copper coins. With such little equipment, dealing with ordinary evil spirits was already a struggle, and facing something big would be even harder!
Moreover, I didn't know if the person who seemed to be Old Zhang was a friend or foe. If I rashly entered, it was like going to meet Karl Marx...
But if I turned around and left right now, I would also feel unsatisfied. I had already chased here, so giving up now would be for nothing. If I had known this, I should have just closed my eyes and gone downstairs directly!
"Whatever!"
After agonizing for nearly five minutes, I finally shook my head in frustration. A good man doesn't suffer future losses; I would come back with proper equipment or call Xia Xiaoyi to join me before I explore further!
Although I was unwilling, at the moment, keeping myself safe was obviously the priority. As the saying goes, as long as the green hills are preserved, there will be no shortage of firewood. Moreover, this "14th floor" of the hospital had existed for a while, so there was no need to rush into it.
After understanding this, I no longer hesitated and directly turned to leave.
However, just as I turned around, there was a sudden "creak" behind me. The door that had been tightly closed suddenly opened on its own!
Damn!
Wasn't this a message saying, "You are not allowed to leave"?
I couldn't resist my curiosity, and when the door opened, I couldn't help but take a peek inside!
I swear, my intention was just to take a quick look and leave, but when I glanced inside, I couldn't help but stop in my tracks!
Coffins! I saw coffins filling the whole room! Not only were there coffins of all sizes scattered on the ground, but even a huge coffin hung from the ceiling with iron chains!
At the sight of the coffins, a chill ran down my spine, making me shudder and gulp hard: "Gulp..."
How could there be so many coffins in the hospital? Could it be that each coffin holds a deceased person? In that case, would this room have hundreds of corpses?
Curiosity killed the cat, and at that moment, I truly regretted my curiosity. Why did I follow up to find out? Even if I had followed, I could have just turned around and left, but I had to glance back!
At this point, I truly felt torn. Faced with this situation, I was naturally very scared, but at the same time, I was extremely curious!
The legendary "14th floor" must be hiding some earth-shattering secret! And this earth-shattering secret was probably hidden inside these coffins!
"Darn it! Why did I come here?" Faced with the room full of coffins, my curiosity ultimately overcame my fear. So, I made a decision that I would later regret!
Holding the "The Great Wall" amulet in my left hand and tightly grasping the "Exorcism Talisman" in my right, I finally mustered the courage and slowly walked into this unusually large room!
"Hiss..." As soon as I stepped over the threshold, I felt a bone-chilling cold coming at me. The room was dimly lit, and I had to squint to make out the arrangements inside.
Inside the room, the coffins were scattered all over, looking extremely disorderly. But what puzzled me was that some of the coffins had already decayed, and the eerie white bones were scattered all over, looking incredibly frightening!
This shouldn't be! Qianzhou Provincial People's Hospital had only been in operation for a few decades at most, even if the coffins were placed here from the day of its establishment, they wouldn't rot so quickly, right?
Or, were the coffins already decayed when they were placed here?
After going through some hardships recently, I had become quite bold, or else I wouldn't have dared to barge in here. But when I saw those eerie skulls, I was still taken aback!
Whether it was a psychological effect or an illusion, I felt as if those skulls were staring at me with empty eye sockets! At one point, I even felt that there were eerie flames burning continuously in those hollow eye sockets...
"Will-o'-the-wisp, it's just a natural phosphorous phenomenon... not real..." I kept reassuring myself in my mind, but I was still extremely nervous and kept a tight grip on myself.
Boom! Suddenly, a loud noise nearly scared me to the ground! Looking closer, I saw that the lid of the huge coffin hanging from the ceiling had suddenly been lifted. The heavy coffin crashed down, smashing several other coffins underneath into pieces!
For a moment, wood shavings and bone dust filled the air, creating a mess all around and reducing the air quality in the room.
"Who?" Having just recovered from the shock, I became defensive, ready to face any danger. I shouted towards the direction of the huge coffin on the upper left: "Sneaky! If you have guts, show yourself!"
As far as I knew, there was no remedy for regret in this world. So, since I had gotten myself into this mess, I had to brace myself, even if it meant facing certain death!
Fortunately, my internal Dragon Qi did not let me down at this crucial moment, and I could easily activate it at any time!
"You finally came..." In response to my stern questioning, a lukewarm voice came from the huge hanging coffin. It was Old Zhang!
This was Old Zhang's voice!
"You are Old Zhang!" I exclaimed, feeling increasingly apprehensive. How could Old Zhang be here, hiding inside the hanging coffin? Could the legendary "14th floor" be Old Zhang's creation?
The fortune-telling old man had warned me to be cautious of the people around me. Could the person around me be Old Zhang?
My mind became more and more unsettled. If this person was really Old Zhang and intended to harm me, then I was certainly doomed today!
Ah, curiosity indeed killed the cat!
However, on second thought, even if I didn't come here today, he could still harm me at any time!
"Hmm..." Thinking of this, I felt much more resigned. Whether it's good fortune or misfortune, it cannot be avoided. Instead of being on edge, it's better to face it calmly...
"Who I am doesn't really matter. What matters is that you have finally come... since you're here, why not come up for a chat?" Old Zhang's tone was still indifferent, as if he was not in a hurry to harm me, but rather inviting a friend to his house.
"Fine!" I took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing my inner fear, and step by step, I walked towards the hanging coffin. When I reached directly underneath, I saw a suspended ladder made of steel bars, about a meter above the ground, extending all the way up to the level of the hanging coffin.
From this angle, the hanging coffin looked a bit like a floating yacht.
After hesitating for a moment, I climbed up the ladder towards the hanging coffin. But as soon as I touched the coffin wall, a shriveled hand appeared before my eyes like rotten wood and immediately grabbed me, pulling me into the coffin!
"Ahh--"
Just now, as mentioned, this hanging coffin is very large and quite high, probably about three meters high, almost equivalent to the height of a regular floor. Caught off guard, I fell in headfirst and only managed to glimpse the general situation inside in a hurry, before I once again lost consciousness.
It's okay to lose consciousness, even if I have to die, I can die in a daze, without having to endure the agony before death anymore.
In a daze, it seemed like someone nudged me, and then I felt a fiery pain all over, followed by a piercing coldness attacking fiercely!
At that moment, I felt like I was being tossed around, sometimes feeling unbearably hot, and sometimes shivering from the cold, as if I had fallen into an ice hole...
This cycle repeated, the whole process was extremely lengthy and extremely painful. Even though I passed out, I could clearly feel those waves of "refreshment"... This is truly unbearable...
Brother, even if you want to kill me, please give me a quick and painless death!