Chapter 32: What on Earth Is This?

The bright moon hung high in the sky, accompanied by a scattering of brilliant stars. Chilling winds howled through the surroundings, instantly rendering an atmosphere thick with terror.

Advancing another few dozen paces, a pungent scent of blood drifted into Gu Mo's nostrils.

Fearing the potential effects of the odor, Gu Mo hastily covered his mouth and nose with his hand. After all, having survived the battle against Xiang Haitang, he had learned to be much more cautious.

Stepping across the threshold of the corridor, Gu Mo swept his gaze across the space.

Amidst the darkness, the hallway was caked in a thick layer of dust. Every step left a fresh footprint. Beneath the dust, discarded medical test reports were faintly visible.

The walls of the corridor were infested with large patches of multicolored mold.

True to expectations, it was eerily gloomy with gusts of freezing wind blowing through. Even if someone wished to develop this property, they would surely consider it deeply inauspicious.

Gu Mo frowned, his heart beating at a frantic pace.

He glanced around warily, terrified that a ghost or spirit might suddenly leap out at him.

Then, his nerves stretched to the breaking point, Gu Mo picked up a pink piece of paper and flicked the dust off its surface.

The moment it came into view, the contents of the note made Gu Mo's heart tighten and he gasped sharply in cold shock!

The slip appeared to be a torn diary page left behind by a nurse.

"June 9, Year 200*, Sunny!
I've said it before, the hospital really is haunted. But the head nurse always thinks I'm crazy and even threatened to send me to the Zhoushan Psychiatric Hospital..."

Beneath this entry was a cute, mischievous hand-drawn emoticon.

"June 10, Sunny turning to Cloudy!
I saw her again today. She was dripping blood all over, and with a grim expression, she told me to go sit in the hospital's flowerbed. I honestly don't know what connection I could possibly have with her..."

At the end of this day's entry, the hand-drawn emoticon had been completely blackened out with a ballpoint pen.

"June 11, Overcast!
More than a dozen patients have already gone missing from the wards. I dreamt of a bizarre tree in the hospital flowerbed, and it was smiling at me. It felt like it wanted to drain me completely dry..."

Here, the remaining diary entry abruptly stopped. At the very bottom was a drawing of an exceptionally terrifying, blood-stained skeletal corpse!

Aside from the scattered test reports on the floor, not a single other fragment of the diary could be found.

After dusting his hands off, Gu Mo gathered his utmost concentration and cautiously pressed forward.

Every single step along the short yet narrow corridor felt excruciatingly arduous.

Even though Gu Mo was currently wielding the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, and the gluttonous furball was perched upon his shoulder, an eerie creepiness lingered deep within his heart.

After walking another few dozen paces, Gu Mo finally caught sight of the so-called outpatient department reception desk.

Raising his eyes, he saw that many of the abandoned test tubes still contained dried blood.

However, the rims of these test tubes showed distinct traces of having been licked by a tongue—perhaps it was the work of that beggar at the entrance!

At this thought, Gu Mo immediately frowned and cautiously turned his head to look back.

Realizing how tense he was, Gu Mo turned around only to discover he had walked less than ten meters. And that corpse covered in withered grass still lay chillingly in the corner of the wall.

Wasn't he just frightening himself?

The demons and monsters hadn't even appeared yet, and Gu Mo had already scared the wits out of him!

Continuing onward, Gu Mo swept a rough glance around.

On the first floor, there were at least eight or nine rooms. The signs by the doors bore words like "Infusion Room," though the mottled placards were encrusted with dried blood.

The surrounding dust drifted into Gu Mo's nose, causing him extreme discomfort.

Almost driven by instinct, Gu Mo walked straight toward the first-floor restroom.

Screech...

As a dilapidated metal door was slowly pushed open, a vast expanse of pitch-black, filthy water was revealed beneath the endless gloom.

An indescribable stench hit him squarely in the face.

With a tremendous boom!

The rusted iron door collapsed to the ground with a resounding crash.

Dust billowed into the air instantly, scaring Gu Mo—who was still tightly covering his mouth and nose—so badly that his hair stood on end and cold sweat poured down in torrents!

A few seconds later, gradually calming his racing mind, Gu Mo mustered up his courage and walked over to the sink faucets.

The moment Gu Mo gave the handle a few twists, gurgling sounds immediately echoed from the faucet.

The midnight hour, accompanied by eerie chilling winds, was truly terrifying.

All at once, the entire rusted faucet shuddered and began to emit puffing bursts of air.

Following that, a stream of dark, crimson blood gushed out...

Seeing this spectacle, Gu Mo immediately twisted the faucet back into place, and the dark blood flowing from it stopped abruptly.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Mo forced a bitter, self-deceiving smile.

"Fake, it's fake! It must be an illusion or just rust... Yes, it's just rust inside the pipes!"

Clutching the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, Gu Mo didn't want to linger for even a single second longer, and strode hastily toward the exit.

Witnessing these soul-frightening scenes, Gu Mo instantly felt a deep wave of bitter regret.

"Damn it! Why didn't I ask Xiao Yulou to come along? Was my brain kicked by a donkey? One hundred thousand yuan is truly too hot to handle!"

After a bout of complaints, Gu Mo drew a deep breath and stopped outside the doorway of another room to peer inside.

Although the lighting in the corridor was far from sufficient, he could still make out medical equipment overturned on the floor and various shattered test tubes.

Taking another deep breath, Gu Mo inspected the remaining rooms on the first floor using the same method, but found not the slightest trace of anything unusual.

Puzzled, Gu Mo stepped onto the staircase leading to the second floor.

The scent of blood was much heavier on the second floor, yet not a single corpse or drop of fresh blood could be found anywhere.

Where on earth was this bloody smell coming from?

That was deeply bizarre!

Plagued by internal doubts, Gu Mo searched the hospital rooms one by one. Yet there wasn't even a single footprint here!

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Gu Mo's mind. He raised his hand and smacked his own forehead, cursing aloud.

"Damn it~ Look at my pig brain!
Given the bloody nature of the Blood Lotus Sect, even if there are any demons or monsters, they are bound to appear either in thick fog or pitch-dark corners!"

As soon as these words left his mouth, Gu Mo immediately thought of the basement and the morgue.

Throughout the entire hospital, these two places were undoubtedly the most sinister and heavy with Yin energy!

Pondering this, Gu Mo hurried over to the corridor window, scanning his surroundings for a relatively spacious room or a location with heavier Yin energy!

Raising his eyes, dark clouds obscured the moon, the chilling winds whistled, and the light instantly grew dim.

Gu Mo placed his hand against his brow, pressing close to the corridor window as he looked down at the courtyard below.

Aside from dark, overgrown withered trees and interconnected covered walkways, no larger rooms were visible in the small park downstairs.

At that moment, the dark clouds drifted apart, and the moonlight once again cast its cold radiance downward.

Gu Mo fixed his gaze, and was instantly so terrified that his muscles tightened and his sturdy frame shuddered violently.

Bead-like drops of sweat popped out one after another like bamboo shoots after a spring rain!

That... in the hospital flowerbed, there was actually a bizarre, luxuriant giant tree, and this tree was hung with skeletal remains of all sizes!

Among them, apart from complete human skeletons, there were also numerous shriveled, blackened carcasses of cats and dogs. He truly had no idea who could possess such a sick sense of humor, nor what the purpose of doing this could be!

Gu Mo stood frozen in place, taking a deep breath as his little heart hammered wildly.

Glancing at it repeatedly, the skeletons hanging from the branches swayed gently in the eerie wind, resembling a set of custom-made wind chimes!

Jingle-ling~ Jingle-ling~

Seeing this, Gu Mo completely lost his composure, various bizarre experiences flooding back into his mind.

On the first day, upon returning to the shop from out of town, Gu Mo had inexplicably been dragged down to the netherworld by Impermanence Hei and Bai.

On the second day, a hanging zombie had mysteriously appeared in the shop, and Gu Mo had even been bitten by it.

On the third day, even the wrongfully executed female corpse had shown up!

And then, King of Hell Jiang Jingsue had become his wife...

What followed in rapid succession were not immortals, but either the White Lotus Sect or the Blood Lotus Sect.

Even the 749 Grocery Company had inexplicably become embroiled in the affair.

It seemed as though everything was targeting Gu Mo; heaven only knew what other chaotic monsters would suddenly pop up next!

The more he thought about these absurd experiences, the more infuriated Gu Mo became, driving him to the verge of losing his sanity!

Were the members of the Blood Lotus Sect all perverted madmen?

Where on earth did they get so many skeletons?

Is this even the world I used to know?

Damn it all, how utterly insane!

At this thought, Gu Mo tightly gripped the Heaven-Measuring Ruler in his hand, and a wave of fierce anger welled up within him!

Damn it~
The Blood Lotus Sect commits all sorts of heinous crimes, turning Northern Desolation Town upside down.

Even if I don't make the first move, sooner or later they will come looking for me because of the Netherworld Divine Artifact.

Rather than sitting here waiting to die, I might as well take the initiative!

Even if the Blood Lotus Sect is using this giant tree as an offering to celebrate a birthday, I won't let them succeed!

With that thought, the expression on Gu Mo's face gradually turned ferocious, and the fear in his heart vanished completely!

Gritting his teeth, Gu Mo resolved to thoroughly eradicate this bizarre giant tree that had transformed into a demon.

Even if he couldn't rid the world of evils, at the very least he could purify the air in this region!

No sooner said than done!

Calming his mind once more, Gu Mo hoisted the Heaven-Measuring Ruler and retraced his steps.

Within minutes, Gu Mo came to a halt, breathing heavily as he arrived near the hospital flowerbed.

Looking closely:

This giant tree stood a full six stories high, its entire trunk wreathed in wisps of terrifying black Qi. At a single glance, one could tell it was no good thing!

Every single skeleton hanging upon it had its throat choked by branches, and the blackened bones were still tightly gripped and invaded by the wooden tendrils.

This bizarre giant tree before him was so thick it would take eight people joining hands to encircle it!

And upon the trunk itself had grown a human face as withered as dead wood!

This tree-face, resembling a withered countenance, had its eyes tightly closed, looking precisely as though it were fast asleep.

Yet Gu Mo could faintly hear the soft snoring emanating from within the withered tree.

For a moment, the nauseating, fishy stench proved utterly repulsive.

...

Bizarre, too bizarre, utterly and freakishly bizarre!

What on earth is this damn thing?

Could this bizarre giant tree be nourished entirely by blood?

How else are those skeletons on it to be explained?

If those cats and dogs had merely stumbled into the boundary and been hanged here to have their blood sucked dry...

What about these skeletons then?

What about that beggar leaning against the wall by the entrance?

Surely humans would try to run away!

The Railway Hospital had long since become a cloud of dread in people's hearts; practically no one was willing to venture here.

How on earth had this demonic giant tree managed to survive?

At this thought, Gu Mo crouched down low to first circle around the bizarre giant tree and take a closer look.

Since he was going to fight, gathering intelligence was the most basic rule!

Yet after circling it seven or eight times, Gu Mo was left utterly bewildered.

The skeletons hanging high upon the tree numbered at least seven or eight by a rough estimate. Even their bodies were dressed in tattered, gray rags.

Yet the identification badges, caked in dust upon the skeletons' chests, all indicated they were nurses!

Having reached this conclusion, Gu Mo felt a heavy, uneasy knot in his heart.

Even when slaying demons and eliminating monsters, Gu Mo preferred dealing with male targets.

Then, gripping the Heaven-Measuring Ruler tight, Gu Mo cast a sideways glance at the gluttonous furball.

Meeting each other's gaze, the determination to destroy this place was firmly set.

Little did he know, a pair of blood-red eyes in the darkness were stealthily observing everything unfolding before them.

"Master~ Master, is this person truly worth abandoning Iron Bull for?"

...
(Chapter End)
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