Jiang Licheng watched the ghostly hand retract and said, "But simply diagnosing it as a Karma Force Ghost is far from enough. The key difference in differential diagnosis between common resentful spirits, Karma Force Ghosts, and malevolent ghosts lies in the huge variance in treatment prognosis. Theoretically, all curses beyond phantoms can at most be clinically cured, always posing the risk of recurrence."
Laypeople might not understand, but as a surgeon, Dai Lin knew that clinical cure and complete cure were entirely different. The former could only remove the superficial symptoms, not necessarily indicating that the illness is completely eradicated.
"If one undergoes treatment during the curse period of a Karma Force Ghost, the prognosis will be much better. Even so, the surgery will remain very perilous. The difficulty in operating on patients cursed by a Karma Force Ghost mainly lies in how to release the curse through the cursed object, suppressing the backlash of the Karma Force. At the age of sixteen, he and his close friend made a pact to commit suicide. But while his friend succeeded and died, he was rescued. Afterwards, he no longer wished to die. Following the death of his friend, resentment led him to gradually evolve from a phantom to a resentful spirit, and with the amplification of Karma Force, he incrementally transformed into a Karma Force Ghost. Not killing this patient would only allow the karma to continue strengthening! But now that the patient has died, the karma will no longer increase, so it is currently safe from becoming a malevolent ghost."
Dai Lin nodded while taking notes in his notebook.
"However, I still want to remind you of a few things," Jiang Licheng said, appreciating Dai Lin's attitude; it's not every day that someone dares to take notes in front of a Karma Force Ghost. "Not all ghosts are born from resentments that humans can comprehend and thus become cursed resentful spirits. That is to say, some ghosts generate Karma Force that cannot be appeased simply by killing a specific person or achieving a certain goal. Normally, once a person dies, their soul should move on to the other world. Remaining in this world as a phantom will gradually evolve into an evil spirit harmful to humans."
To Hospital 444, malevolent spirits and ghosts are essentially synonymous; however, typically the hospital refers to all spirits above phantoms as malevolent spirits.
"Theoretically speaking, most of the haunting phenomena circulating these days, even those captured in videos and photographs that cause widespread panic, mostly stem from phantoms with no clinical life-threatening danger but can affect the patient's quality of life and mental health. Intervening at this stage, there will be generally no significant issues, and there is a high probability of sending the phantom back to the world where the deceased belong. By doing so, a phantom will remain a phantom, preventing any further transformation. But..."
Right then... another arm reached out from the incision made in the patient!
Dai Lin shuddered and gasped sharply.
But Jiang Licheng remained unfazed, "Don't be afraid, the cadaver has been sealed by the Curse Objects Center, with the curse blocked. No matter how strong the karma, it can't harm us. Of course, this sealing has a time limit, after which the corpse must be delivered to the morgue downstairs. Once the seal is breached, it will automatically enter hell."
"Hell?" Dai Lin was startled.
"Didn't you know? All the deceased within the hospital, once they leave a corpse behind, whether they be doctors, nurses, or patients, must be taken to the morgue. Afterwards, the bodies become ghosts and automatically enter hell. The bodies that don't become ghosts will fall into hell on their own. We absolutely cannot allow corpses that have died from curses to return to the normal human world; doing so would cause very dire consequences."
Looking at that occasionally struggling hand, Dai Lin swallowed hard, trying to ease the tension within, "So the hospital's basement morgue leads to... hell?"
"Right. But rest assured, the ghosts from hell won't crawl out from there and enter the hospital."
A hospital built over the entrance to hell?
How on earth was this hospital established? And who exactly is the so-called Director?
Jiang Licheng continued, "Alright, let's continue with the lesson. You should value this opportunity, as it's rare to safely observe a Karma Force Ghost under the Curse Objects Center's sealing."
Only then did Dai Lin realize that the ghost hand couldn't touch Doctor Jiang because of the seal.
Next, Jiang Licheng pointed at the ghost hand.
"It's the same right hand as earlier. But do you think... is this the same right hand as before?"
With his ghostly vision, Dai Lin could see very clearly, and he was certain this was not the same hand as before.
Therefore, Dai Lin shook his head.
"No. It's not the same one."
"Are you sure?"
Dai Lin pointed to his own eyes, "I saw it very clearly, it's not the same one."
"Very well," Jiang Licheng nodded and said, "Then, what does that tell us?"
"A clone. This resentful spirit is now able to create clones."
"Correct. The bodies of ghosts that can be perceived by the human eye are all derivatives of curses. Therefore, even in an environment devoid of microbes, the bodies of ghosts can still decompose significantly. The biggest difference between resentful spirits and phantom souls is the generation of karma force. However, only a powerful karma force can lead a ghost to produce clones. The existence of clones is an important characteristic indicating whether a resentful spirit is beginning to transform into a malevolent ghost."
Having said that, Jiang Licheng paused to think, then continued, "Next, I will leave this room and lock it. You need to stay here for ten minutes."
Dai Lin was immediately stunned.
"Ten minutes?"
"With the Curse Objects Center's seals in place, as long as you don't actively touch anything, it can't touch a single finger of yours."
No seal could ever be absolutely safe.
If the karma force ghost broke through the seal, as an apprentice, Dai Lin was bound to die!
"Ten minutes," Jiang Licheng continued, "I know this is very tough, but it is a stage all apprentices must go through. Whether you end up as a surgeon or a physician in the future, this is a hurdle you must get past."
Then, he pointed to the candles.
"Given the size of this room and the number of candles, they should not go out within ten minutes. If they do go out, immediately shout; rest assured, this room is not soundproof."
"Is it necessary to lock the door?"
"You'll understand once you deal with more cases. You will often encounter such situations in the future. Our profession is different from that of ordinary doctors; house calls are routine. Many ghosts can allow a clone to kill a patient without their main body needing to enter the hospital. Outside... being locked in a room is quite commonplace."
Then, Jiang Licheng plunged the knife into the ghost hand, and it immediately retracted.
Afterwards, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
In the room...
There was only Dai Lin, and the corpse before him.