Chapter 19: Fighting Alone

  "What to do?" Xiaoyuan was scared and hid behind me. I picked her up and pretended to be calm, saying "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you!" I looked around and found a staircase, then ran up the stairs with Xiaoyuan in my arms. "No matter how fast you run, you can't escape from here." The nurse's chilling voice came from behind me. Never mind if we could escape or not, as long as we could hide from her for now.

  I don't know how many floors I ran to, but I found an empty room and hid inside. I was so tired that I sat on the floor panting, while Xiaoyuan looked around the room as if she were familiar with it. "Xiaoyuan, what's wrong?" I asked breathlessly. Xiaoyuan pointed at a bed and said, "I remember the smell here. Mom had surgery here, and I accompanied her every day. This place has mom's scent." I stood up and walked to the bedside, feeling as if I could sense Yuedie's presence. This eerie intuition made me break out in cold sweat immediately. Yuedie had plastic surgery here, but she didn't die, nor was her body possessed by an evil spirit - instead, her soul split into two. Was it that Yuedie had a special physique like Xiaolu and escaped the fate of becoming a puppet, or did someone help her?

  "That sister has been by Mom's side all along!" Xiao Yuan's casual remark made me pause for a moment, "Which sister?" Who is it, Xiaolu? Xiao Yuan stroked the bed sheet and said: "It's the first sister who spoke to me today!" Li Shan Yu, how could it be her? If it was really her, why didn't we resolve this matter smoothly back then, but instead it reappeared a year later with claims of wanting to solve it. Thinking back to another encounter between Yue Die and Li Shan Yu, it also confirmed what Xiao Yuan said was true, Yue Die indeed knew Li Shan Yu. But their relationship shouldn't be that simple, right?! Just as I was thinking about this, the door creaked open, Ye Zikuo stood in front of me, he anxiously asked: "Are you okay?!" Seeing Xiao Yuan wanting to run towards him, I quickly pulled Xiao Yuan back into my arms, warily staring at Ye Zikuo.

  "What's wrong with you? You're acting like you don't know me at all!" Ye Zikai started laughing and was about to walk towards me. "Stand there, don't move!" I shouted out loud. Indeed, when I saw Ye Zikai again, I was very happy, but thinking carefully, something was off. He had been isolated outside the door, even if he came in, how could he find me so quickly? When I saw him say his first sentence, I became more and more certain that he was fake. Ye Zikai was always calm, why would he speak to me with such a tense tone?

  "Go on? Your hospital is so good at plastic surgery, this time you've done a great job on yourself again, right, doctor?!" I picked up Xiaoyuan and cautiously didn't stand face to face with him, looking for an opportunity to escape from the gap. "Hahaha..." He clapped his hands and laughed: "When did Miss Ning become so clever?!" He took out a knife from his pocket and casually cut a few slashes on his face, revealing his original appearance: "You see, I am the creator of this world, I can change my appearance as I like!"

  As I tried to rush out of the room, a sharp pain came from my right arm. I gritted my teeth and kicked the doctor away, continuing to run upstairs until I reached a quiet corner. I put down Xiaoyuan and only then did I notice a long, narrow wound on my right arm, with the knife still stuck in the flesh. I winced as I pulled out the knife and threw it to the ground, covering the wound that was bleeding profusely. Thinking about what to do next, "Sister, does it hurt?" Xiaoyuan asked, taking out a small handkerchief and insisting on helping me bandage my wound. I couldn't resist him, so I watched as he carefully helped me wrap the wound, even blowing on it gently and asking, "Sister, will this make it feel better?" "Xiaoyuan is going to be a very gentle man in the future!"

  I smiled and stretched out my left hand to touch his head, "Why didn't you abandon me and escape on your own just now?" Xiaoyuan looked up at me with a pair of big black eyes, expecting my answer. "Why would I abandon you? With you by my side, I have to protect you well!" I hugged him in my arms and said, "Actually, the question you asked me last time, I've thought about it carefully. If Mom really abandoned me, maybe I'd hate her for a while, but later I'd still love her! Mom has her own dreams, so she can't have me, nor can she marry Dad." I was shocked by Xiaoyuan's words and wondered if Yue Die would make the same choice if she heard this. But what I'm more worried about now is why my magic tool is useless - if we're chased again, it'll be over for sure! Damn it, why didn't I press Ye Zikuo to tell me the reason back then?!

  What to do, what to do? "The boundary, that sister said my mother didn't die because she moved her outside the boundary." Xiaoyuan's words suddenly woke me up, and I asked in a hurry: "So is there a safe place somewhere in this hospital?" Wait, where Li Shan Yu used the soul bell, my artifact didn't react either, what's going on?! "But I don't remember, this place has changed a lot compared to last year, and at that time I was blind and couldn't see."

  Xiaoyuan's words sent me back into the ice cellar, calming down and thinking carefully. I closed my eyes, trying to stabilize my breathing, and in the darkness, I seemed to see a road ahead, filled with thick black smoke, like evil spirits waiting to devour me. My line of sight was constantly turning, but finally, I felt a place that wasn't shrouded in black fog - could it be where I could leave the boundary and use my magical tool? I suddenly opened my eyes, hugged Xiaoyuan, and said: "Now sister will close her eyes and walk, can you help sister take a look around?" Xiaoyuan nodded, and I closed my eyes again, following the path in the darkness. The sound of footsteps echoed behind me, and I could feel Xiaoyuan's fear as he whispered in my ear: "Sister, that doctor is right behind you."

  I restrained myself from opening my eyes and said, "Then I'll speed up, Little Yuan hold me tight!" After finishing speaking, I started sprinting forward. The footsteps behind us grew more chaotic, seemingly not just one person. "Sister, so many people are chasing us!" Little Yuan shrank into my arms, afraid of messing up our formation. To calm her down, I whispered, "Close your eyes, Little Yuan! We won't look at anything!" Feeling that Little Yuan had closed her eyes and was no longer sending me messages, I also let out a sigh of relief. The increasingly urgent footsteps in my ears were reminding me: "Hurry up, hurry up!"

  After my back felt a severe pain, I couldn't stand up anymore and fell to the ground with Xiaoyuan. When I opened my eyes, I saw the doctor's bloodshot eyes staring at me in anger, pinching my chin and asking: "Why don't you want to have plastic surgery? We've made it so good!" The row of nurses behind him also looked at me with anger, shouting like a demonstration: "Kill her! Kill her!" I didn't have time to think about that much, just a few more steps and I could leave this boundary.

  I slowly backed away, and the doctor stood up with a smile, saying: "Killing you would be too wasteful, why not just peel off your face instead?" I forced out a faint smile, slowly standing up, hugging Xiaoyuan and saying: "The ones who should die are you!" I quickly ran a few steps, stopped and didn't move, the Guardian Crane on my neck had already started to react, and the Bone Ring was also starting to heat up. I took off the ring and grasped it in my hand - everything was usable now. Holding the knife, I shouted: "If you don't want to die, let us out!" The doctor walked straight towards me with a calm expression, which made me feel a little intimidated, but the knife still stabbed straight into his heart. He still smiled at me and continued walking towards me, saying: "I said I'd peel off your face, didn't I?" I was shocked and let go of the knife handle, staring wide-eyed as the doctor suddenly fell straight in front of me, looking up at me with a resentful expression: "I won't let you off!"

  Every word and sentence is like a snake biting my internal organs, is this a curse?! Before I could even think clearly, sparks flew out of my left wrist, and in no time, an ugly snake-shaped pattern appeared on my wrist, staring at me mockingly. I even felt it crawling on my wrist. The nurse who came to me couldn't care less, I desperately tried to wipe away this mark, but my hand suddenly throbbed with pain. Looking at my own hand, I only then discovered that there was blood on it, as if I had been bitten.

  I pulled the knife out of the doctor's body and pointed it at the group of nurses, shouting: "What is this thing?!" They burst into laughter collectively, ignoring me. My wrist was in severe pain, mixed with their ear-piercing laughter, I lost my sanity and hacked wildly. Blood splattered onto me, but I didn't care. The intense pain in my wrist was devouring my sanity bit by bit. "Sister! Stop!" Xiao Yuan's voice made me freeze on the spot. Looking at the bodies covered in blood on the ground, I couldn't help but be shocked. Did I really do all that just now?

  "Slap!" A loud slap landed on my face, and I stared blankly at Na Gu Yun'er, who had suddenly appeared. She was glaring at me with wide eyes: "What did you do?!" I opened my mouth, but didn't know what to say. Yuan Nuoyi immediately hugged me and said: "It's okay, it's fine, Xiao Hong." I muttered dully: "My wrist hurts so much." Yuan Nuoyi grabbed my wrist, her face changing color as she looked at Na Gu Yun'er: "Auntie, what about Xiao Hong?" Na Gu Yun'er's face also flashed with a hint of surprise, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she looked at Ye Zikuo, who was running over, and said: "Help me take Xiao Yuan out, then meet up with Li Shan Yu and the others." Ye Zikuo glanced at me lightly, didn't say anything, and led Xiao Yuan away.

  Nan Yun'er walked up to me, looked at my wrist and said: "This matter has not been resolved yet, you should also go meet with Li Shan Yu!" "Auntie, but Xiao Hong she..." Yuan Nu's words that were left unsaid made me even more curious. I coldly looked at the two of them and said: "I'll go to Li Shan Yu's place now." Step by step leaving the hospital, getting closer and closer to school, I stared at my finger that had been bitten, falling into an even bigger mystery...