Chapter 31: Railway Hospital

Night fell, and the stars twinkled sparsely.

A gentle breeze blew around, yet it was unusually quiet. Clearly, before a storm arrives, everything is peaceful.

Guided by Xia Wuqi, Gu Mo arrived at the South City Railway Hospital... The reason was simple: he took people's money to help them avert disaster. Besides, relying solely on the meager income from the incense and candle shop made even basic subsistence a problem.

Right now, Gu Mo had a whole family to support. Not to mention that the girl from Xiangxi didn't eat much, Xiao Yulou and the silly Yanwang girl were bottomless pits. Let alone that gluttonous furry ball!

Squinting through the moonlight, Gu Mo crouched beneath a waist-high wall and lit a cigarette. A black plastic bag lay quietly beside his feet.

Hoo—

With a deep frown, Gu Mo let the tar and nicotine surge violently through his lungs.

"Damn it! How did I fall for Xia Wuqi's trick again? I fall for a new trap every single day, and each one is different!"

Hoo—

After exhaling a cloud of smoke, Gu Mo twisted his facial features and cursed softly under his breath.

"What the hell do the White Lotus Sect and the Blood Lotus Sect have to do with me? To think I became Xia Wuqi's mercenary just for one hundred thousand bucks, unbelievable!"

As his voice trailed off, Gu Mo reached out and pulled out the sleeping gluttonous furry ball.

Nobody knew what was wrong with this little fellow. Ever since the incident at the Well of Gods and Demons came to an end, it did nothing but eat and sleep. Truly a glutton in every sense of the word! Could it be that the furry ball needed sleep to grow bigger?

At this thought, Gu Mo reached out and produced a bag of puffed snacks.

Rip.

The enticing aroma of the delicacy instantly made the gluttonous furry ball open its galaxy-like eyes.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle—

Following a chorus of hunger pangs, the gluttonous furry ball opened its blood-basin mouth wide, exposing a tongue dripping with glistening saliva, and panted back and forth like a pug.

Ha-ha-ha-ha—

Its breathing frequency was off the charts!

Suddenly, the gluttonous furry ball opened its galaxy-like eyes wide and looked at Gu Mo with a wronged expression.

"Meow—"

The furry ball looking ridiculously cute enough to melt one's heart was truly adorable.

Gu Mo looked at the furry ball's yearning gaze and immediately frowned.

"Furry ball, can't you have some dignity! Starting to speak foreign languages to me again?"

Hearing this, the gluttonous furry ball didn't say anything, but its crystal-clear saliva had already breached the dam, almost spilling all over Gu Mo's hand.

Seeing that things had come to this, Gu Mo could only smile wryly and, with utmost helplessness, poured the entire bag of snacks straight into the glutton's mouth.

Crunch, crunch—

Feeding the snacks, Gu Mo took a deep breath and spoke.

"Furry ball, that bag of snacks is all yours, no one is fighting you for it! The triple portion promised earlier has been fulfilled."

Hearing this, the gluttonous furry ball, while chewing on a whole bag of snacks, bared four rows of sharp teeth and flashed a heart-melting smile.

Seeing this, Gu Mo casually tore open the next bag.

"Furry ball, I'm not sure if anyone is inhabiting this holy land of the Blood Lotus Sect, so you'll have to put in some effort later. Once this is done, I'll spend ten thousand bucks to order snacks for you, let you eat your fill all at once!"

Hearing this, the gluttonous furry ball immediately let out a few gurgling sounds. Clearly, catering to someone's preferences is always the most effective tactic!

...

In the blink of an eye, the gluttonous furry ball devoured all the snacks down to the last crumb and squatted on Gu Mo's shoulder.

Then, Gu Mo stood up slightly and stealthily surveyed the bizarre building before him.

Under the starlight, the structure appeared chillingly eerie.

This building was like... a lama coming from the south, carrying five catties of... Bah!

Looking closer, this dilapidated building in the south seemed to be a railway hospital. After all, a faded, conspicuous logo was still visible on top of the roof.

Seeing this, Gu Mo froze instantly, his mind drifting back to childhood memories.

Logically speaking, this railway hospital was publicly run. Who knew why it had suddenly been abandoned? Ever since he was little, Gu Mo had been sent away by his grandfather. Aside from a few childhood playmates, he knew practically nothing.

...

Peering stealthily upward.

In the very center of the hospital grounds stood a stone statue with only half its base remaining. Weathered by time, the statue had been eroded beyond recognition. Yet the statue stubbornly held on. Who knew whether this base-only relic could still be considered a statue!

The central courtyard of the hospital was covered in withered, waist-high weeds, presenting a scene of gray desolation. Yet the area outside the wall where Gu Mo hid was lush with green grass, full of vitality. Such a stark contrast across a single wall!

Bizarrely, this railway hospital stood a full dozen stories tall. One had to realize that this was North Desolation Town, a place nobody was willing to develop. He truly wondered if the initial investment for this hospital had ever broken even.

Now, with things changed and people gone, nobody knew how this hospital had turned into such a state. Thinking back, given the scale of the hospital, it might have enjoyed a glorious heyday for quite a while.

Yet in Gu Mo's eyes, it was another scene of vicissitudes and ruin.

Not to mention that the vegetation inside the hospital was withered and yellow, the air abruptly cold, and chilling gusts of wind blew past—it didn't look like a normal place at all. Furthermore, faint, miserable cries drifted from within the hospital from time to time.

'For a building to be abandoned this long, there have got to be seven or eight ghosts roaming around!'

At this thought, Gu Mo instantly felt a twinge of regret. But the commission had already been collected; if he backed out, wouldn't Xia Wuqi make a laughingstock of him?

Afterward, Gu Mo gritted his back teeth, took a deep breath, and finally crept hunchbacked toward the front entrance of the hospital...

Of course, the gluttonous furry ball had long since handed the Sky-Measuring Ruler into Gu Mo's grip. Only when holding the Sky-Measuring Ruler did Gu Mo feel a sense of security!

The moment he stepped into the hospital gates, a gust of chilly wind swept over him. Gu Mo's sphincter instantly tightened and his stalwart body shuddered. An indescribable discomfort washed over his entire being. Sweat beads the size of soybeans sprang out rapidly like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Right at that moment, a miserable, terrifying, and drawn-out voice drifted leisurely from the corner.

"Hahaha... Another beggar!"

Hearing this, Gu Mo was so frightened he nearly lost control of all bodily functions! Afterward, gripping the Sky-Measuring Ruler tightly, Gu Mo whirled around fiercely.

Swish!

Gu Mo pointed the Sky-Measuring Ruler dead-on toward the source of the sound.

Looking up, leaning against the outer wall of the hospital was indeed a ragged vagrant. Looking closer, this person turned out to be an old man!

The old man was around eighty years old, with unkempt hair and tattered clothes. His yellowish hair clung tightly to his scalp, stubbornly holding on. The old man's eyes were hollow and whitish, his pupils already diffused.

Looking further, the old man's face was exceptionally emaciated, the wrinkles on his face resembling deep ravines carved by a knife or an axe. His body was skin and bone, unable to fill out the hollow, tattered clothes at all. He looked like someone who hadn't eaten a full meal in a very long time!

Seeing this fellow in the middle of the night—if this wasn't seeing a ghost, then it was truly seeing a ghost!

Just as Gu Mo was sizing up the old man, the old man similarly swept a glance over Gu Mo.

"Old mister, what did you just say?"

The old man parted his lips slightly, a final shred of vitality erupting from his hollow eyes.

"You meowing bastard, who are you calling an old mister? I'm only twenty years old! Talk nonsense again and I swear I'll beat you to death with my crutch!"

Hearing this, Gu Mo was left dumbfounded, his jaw practically dropping to the ground. No matter how one looked at it, this fellow didn't look anything like twenty years old.

Enduring the mockery, Gu Mo suppressed the rising anger in his heart, deciding to pry some useful clues out of this old man first.

Gu Mo casually put away the Sky-Measuring Ruler and said softly, "My friend! What on earth is going on with this hospital?"

The old man curled the corners of his mouth, his face ashen as he gazed up at the desolate night sky, unwilling to utter another word.

"My friend?" Gu Mo probed softly once more.

With that, the old man curled his lips and spoke in an eerie, piercing voice.

"Ten years, another one, hahaha! At least I'll have company before I die!"

Finished speaking, the old man's entire body jerked forward rigidly, leaning heavily against the wall, silent once more. Those ash-colored eyes finally lost all light.

Seeing this scene, Gu Mo's heart skipped a beat. Walking forward cautiously on thin ice, he tested the fellow's breathing.

"Dead?"

Startled, Gu Mo quickly withdrew his hand. "This idiot was just talking a second ago, how did he die so fast?"

The chilly moonlight spilled down, and at that moment Gu Mo noticed with astonishment that a few withered, yellow weeds protruded from the hem of the old man's garments.

Burning with intense curiosity, Gu Mo reached out in the next second to pull at the old man's clothes.

He wouldn't have looked if he didn't, but one look made Gu Mo take in three catties of breath. (Because one catty simply wasn't enough to sustain the shock!)

The old man's belly was actually growing a massive amount of weeds! As the old man's clothes were pulled completely open, great clumps of withered grass came into view, their intertwined roots growing deep into the old man's skeletal frame. Amongst the tangled roots, besides chewed-up plastic bag fragments, were scattered pebbles!

Instantly, Gu Mo's mind went blank!

Even at his most destitute, Gu Mo had only ever scavenged bread discarded by others; how could anyone swallow stones and plastic bags? Even disabled beggars would go out to forage when hungry. Yet what about the 'ten years' he mentioned earlier?

Was he too lazy to go out, preferring to starve to death? Or could it be that he simply couldn't get out? Or was this fool, like Li Gang, having his vital energy and blood sucked away by a painted immortal?

At this thought, Gu Mo sucked in a cold breath. His intuition told him that this railway hospital was definitely not simple!

Suddenly, the gluttonous furry ball draped its tongue over Gu Mo's neck. A mild electrical current flashed, and the furry ball's voice echoed directly in Gu Mo's mind.

"Master, this hospital might be a barrier!"

Hearing this, Gu Mo felt numb all over!

"Damn it, I couldn't be this unlucky, could I?"

Things having reached this point, Gu Mo could only turn back, walk toward the hospital gates, and slowly extend a hand.

The next second, Gu Mo sucked in a sharp breath. The extended hand felt as though it were pressing against a sheet of transparent glass. No matter how hard Gu Mo pushed, he couldn't advance even a fraction of an inch.

Seeing this, Gu Mo felt completely numb.

"Damn it—if I'd known, I should have brought Xiao Yulou along. If that guy wasn't out flirting with girls, I wouldn't have walked into danger alone!"

With a curse, Gu Mo immediately began adjusting his mental state. This barrier must have been set up by a ground-bound practitioner; to get out alive, he had to smash through the eye of the formation within the barrier!

At that thought, Gu Mo took a deep breath and walked toward the hospital outpatient building.

Meanwhile, the skeleton behind him slowly opened its eyes and smiled eerily at Gu Mo's retreating back...