Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 1013: Chapter 708: Communication_2

Sure enough, on the same spot on the third floor, Yang Xiao found another ward inspection logbook. This time, as he flipped it open, he quickly found a torn page. When he matched it with the paper fragment held by Xiao Yaqin, everyone present gasped. They fitted perfectly.

"Xiao Yaqin was here. She tore this page out of the logbook!" The unbelievable scene left Dou Jie in shock.

But Yang Xiao noticed a crucial detail. While the fragment was indeed torn from this page, their states differed significantly. The fragment was quite new, but the remaining part of the page was much older, with at least a decade between them.

It felt as if Xiao Yaqin had traveled back ten years to the hospital, found and tore out this page, and brought it back.

It wasn’t hard to verify. Xiao Yaqin had brought back a page, while Yu Kai had retrieved a black walkie-talkie. Yang Xiao decided to search from this logbook as a center. Soon, he found a place resembling a nurse station on the other side of the third-floor corridor.

This area was composed of two parts: an outer semi-closed circular desk with an entryway, and an inner partitioned lounge room, with its door tightly shut at the moment.

On the tabletop of the circular desk, Yang Xiao found a white telephone and beside it, a black stand. Underneath the desk lay a broken black wire.

Holding the wire, Yang Xiao took out the black walkie-talkie, confirming that it originally belonged here but was ripped off.

The black wire extended into the lounge room behind. Qu Hong attempted to open the lounge room door but gave up when she found the lock hole jammed.

Yang Xiao placed the walkie-talkie on the stand and plugged the wire into the square socket at the bottom of the walkie-talkie, fitting perfectly. At this moment, everyone held their breath, as if expecting something to happen.

After waiting for a while, the surrounding fell silent. Yang Xiao seemed to realize something and pressed the red button on the walkie-talkie.

"Zizz... Zizz..."

"Zizz..."

A burst of indistinct static noise came from the walkie-talkie, making everyone’s hearts race.

Boss Sun, standing in front of Yang Xiao, seemed to have seen something terrifying. He raised his hand, trembling and pointing behind Yang Xiao, too scared to breathe. Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat as he turned around, punching. There was no ghost, but the lounge room caused the issue; a faint red light emerged from inside.

Nothing else happened. Yang Xiao approached the lounge room door’s small glass window, but it wasn’t a ward observation window. The glass was covered by a cloth, only allowing him to vaguely see the red light on a table, like a power indicator of some device.

Xi Huijun seemed to have found the issue. She whispered, "It looks like a central communication station. I’ve seen similar equipment in the aviation academy exhibit, decades-old devices."

Recalling, Yang Xiao remembered the third photo in the script box. The photo was almost entirely black, with only a striking red spot in the center, eerily similar to what he now saw.

What Yang Xiao thought of, Qu Hong also did. She was about to kick the door down when Yang Xiao pulled her back, pointing to the walkie-talkie. Qu Hong listened closely, her hackles rising.

In the chaotic static, she heard heavy breathing, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Yet, looking through the small window, there was nobody in front of the communication center inside the lounge. The chair was empty.

This realization made everyone too afraid to act impulsively, barely even daring to breathe. Behind the door, a ghost might be sitting inside the lounge.

This was a call from a ghost.

They remained in a standoff for a long time until a raspy, broken voice came from the walkie-talkie, mixed with static, sounding like it came from another world.

The voice repeated twice. Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat as he heard it clearly: 6, Zhou Chengyi.

Zhou Chengyi was Captain Zhou, the name they used as a codename, and 6 should be the number of people on the other side.

Yang Xiao had this suspicion before, and now it was confirmed. He approached the walkie-talkie and responded quietly: 6, this is Chu Xi, respond if you hear me.

After the code matched, both sides breathed a sigh of relief. Qu Hong widened her eyes, pointing to the lounge. Yang Xiao nodded, confirming they were connected with the other team.

The conversation was intermittent, seemingly disturbed by an unknown force, making it unstable. Yang Xiao could only piece together the other team’s situation from their fragmented words. Captain Zhou introduced his team as medical staff in a psychiatric hospital, confirming they were in two different times.

Captain Zhou’s team seemed to be from 10 years ago, when the hospital was still operational.

Additionally, Captain Zhou mentioned someone had contacted them earlier, a man who was very cautious and didn’t reveal his full name, only saying his surname was Yu.

"He is dead. We found his corpse and this walkie-talkie on it," Yang Xiao explained, "There was also a woman who tore a page from here."

"How did they die?" Yang Xiao quickly asked, that was crucial.

On the other side, Captain Zhou didn’t idle, sharing his findings with Yang Xiao. There were supernatural events at night in the psychiatric hospital. Doors would open for no reason, unexplained footsteps, and bell sounds.

But the footsteps and bell sounds were not synchronized, meaning there were two sources. Yang Xiao guessed the footsteps could be Xiao Yaqin and Yu Kai, while the bell sounds were undoubtedly from the female ghost.

The female ghost had brought Xiao Yaqin and Yu Kai to the past world of the hospital and killed them.

But to Yang Xiao’s surprise, Captain Zhou’s team still had all six members alive.

"How did you manage?" Yang Xiao was puzzled. Everyone chosen in their team had died.

"Rules..." Captain Zhou’s voice was intermittent, "Don’t be curious...hear the bell...hide...lounge room..."

"Have you found out the female ghost’s identity?" Yang Xiao pressed on, "She should be a patient here, related to a doctor named Yin Kun. This man later hid in our city but was tracked down and killed."

"Zizz... Zizz..."

"Found out... she is..."

"Zizz... Zizz..."

"She is..."

"Zizz..."

"What is she?" Yang Xiao grabbed the walkie-talkie nervously. At this crucial moment, the signal failed. The communication channel was filled with chaotic static.

He pressed the receiver to his ear, straining to catch every word. Next second, Yang Xiao’s face turned pale as he heard a sound he dreaded in the chaos.

"Jingle..."

It was the bell!

Though the sound was faint and masked by the static, he was sure it was the bell ringing.

Yang Xiao almost threw the walkie-talkie. But when he looked up, everyone was equally terrified, realizing they all heard it.

"There... it’s there..." Dou Jie stuttered, pointing shakily at the lounge behind Yang Xiao.

The next moment, the red light in the lounge silently went out. Simultaneously, the static and Captain Zhou’s voice disappeared from the walkie-talkie. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Communication... was cut off.

"Run!!"

With an instinctive feeling, Yang Xiao yanked the walkie-talkie, braced the table with one hand, leaped over the circular desk, and ran downstairs without looking back.