The hospital corridor.
"Monster! Monster!"
Patients' families, upon seeing the monster in the hallway, were scared out of their wits. Some scrambled and tumbled back into their rooms, slamming the doors shut and barricading them. When the patients lying in bed looked at them questioningly, they stammered,
"There's a monster outside!"
Old Wang's condition was critical.
His face, once recognizable as human, had completely transformed into a fly's head. The skin on his back had split open, sprouting a pair of wings.
His mind was becoming increasingly muddled, filled with strange, fragmented images.
In one, he seemed to be in a seafood shop, his gaze fixed on a piece of salmon. Slap! A fly swatter came down, embedding him in the salmon. Then, he was thrown away.
He was a fly.
The shopkeeper swatted the fly, rinsed the salmon briefly under the tap, and placed it back in the container. Then, Old Wang, swaying unsteadily, entered and took the very same box of salmon.
"So noisy, so noisy! Which ward is Xiao Li in?"
Old Wang stumbled forward. He needed to find Xiao Li's ward. Someone rushed towards him, and he impatiently waved them aside.
So annoying!
Leave me alone!
Old Wang reached the end of the corridor and saw a half-open ward door.
Inside the ward.
Lin Fan and Old Zhang sat side-by-side on a bed, swinging their legs and staring intently at the little girl lying in the patient bed. Their smiles were wide and unwavering. They had been locked in this staring contest for nearly an hour.
The little girl smiled back, not finding anything strange about the big brother's smile. On the contrary, she found it comforting.
Zhang Hongmin paced nervously, chattering about inconsequential things, hoping to distract the two "mental patients" and divert their attention from his daughter. Whatever you want to do, he thought, do it to me.
I'm a grown man. I'm not afraid of you!
Old Zhang had retrieved his needle case. This was thanks to Lin Fan. The doctors wanted to take Lin Fan for a check-up, but he refused unless they returned Old Zhang's needles.
The doctors were in a difficult position. With ordinary patients, a stern reprimand would have sufficed. But these two were "mental patients"—how many lives did they have to risk?
Since the patients wouldn't budge, the compassionate doctors had to.
Bang!
The ward door was flung open violently.
Old Wang's vision was blurry, but he could perceive certain things more intensely. He saw the two figures sitting by the bed, swinging their legs.
Their gazes were locked on each other.
After a moment, Old Wang looked away.
"Xiao Li isn't here. I've made a mistake."
He turned to leave, his mind consumed with finding Xiao Li. Other thoughts were jumbled and chaotic. He muttered to himself, "I'm a fly. I hid so well. I only ate a little bit of meat. Why did they swat me?"
No… I'm not dead. I'm just… parasitic.
Lin Fan and Old Zhang were startled by the commotion.
Old Zhang exclaimed, "Lin Fan, he's badly hurt!"
Lin Fan calmly replied, "We have to save him."
They exchanged a look, their expressions resolute. Even if he was a "mental patient," so what? They were compassionate people. They couldn't stand idly by and watch someone suffer.
Lin Fan jumped out of bed, barefooted, ran to the door, and dragged Old Wang inside. Old Wang, possessed by the evil entity, was incredibly strong. An ordinary person wouldn't stand a chance. But unfortunately for him…
It wasn't an ordinary person dragging him. It was Lin Fan.
"Don't move! You're badly hurt. Don't you see, you're all cracked up?" Lin Fan pressed Old Wang onto the bed and then turned to Old Zhang with a serious look. "Old Zhang, the rest is up to you."
Old Zhang patted his chest, holding his needle case. "Don't worry. I'm here."
Zhang Hongmin huddled in the corner, clutching his daughter, his eyes wide with terror. That's not human! he thought. What are you doing? This is dangerous!
In the Deputy Director's office.
Li Laifu hummed a tune, enjoying life's simple pleasures. His phone rang. He answered lazily,
"Hello? What is it?"
"Director, there's trouble! An evil entity has appeared in the inpatient department, on the tenth floor! Come quickly!"
Crash!
Li Laifu shot to his feet, his expression hardening. An evil entity in his hospital?
Unacceptable.
The hospital was full of vulnerable patients. How could they survive an encounter with an evil entity? Besides, this was his territory. He wouldn't allow any evil entity to run amok.
Li Laifu searched his office, finding his golf club. He swung it a few times, feeling its weight. As he left the office, he called the police.
He wasn't going to the inpatient department to slay the evil entity.
He was going because, as Deputy Director, he had a responsibility to protect every patient and staff member. Even if he couldn't defeat the entity, he wouldn't back down.
Downstairs, people who had come to the hospital were fleeing in a panic.
"Security! Grab your weapons and follow me!" Li Laifu shouted.
His call was met with silence. Only his driver, the one he was planning to promote, emerged from an ambulance, wielding a steel pipe.
"Deputy Director, I'm here!"
Li Laifu nodded and, without waiting for any security guards, ran towards the tenth floor of the inpatient department.
Tenth floor corridor.
Li Ang had dreamt of a happy, fulfilling future. But now, all his dreams were shattered.
The woman he considered the most beautiful, his girlfriend, was gone.
He had held her in his arms, comforting her as she writhed in pain. Then, he noticed her smooth skin becoming… furry.
He looked down and nearly died from fright.
He bolted.
But his girlfriend, in her agony, grabbed his ankle.
He fell to the floor. He tried to get up and run, but his once-beloved girlfriend clung to him, her voice hoarse. "Li Ang, don't leave me! You said you loved me!"
Her hair was dishevelled, her appearance similar to Old Wang's. Viscous green liquid oozed down her face.
"I did love you…"
"But that was when you were beautiful."
The sight of his transformed girlfriend sent a chill down Li Ang's spine. He kicked her in the face, the face he had once cherished.
He wrenched himself free, scrambled to his feet, and retreated. He noticed her bank card lying on the floor where it had fallen from her grasp.
Without hesitation, he picked it up, pocketed it, and ran.
Did she really think I, Li Ang, was a fool?
Yes, I'm a simp. As long as you're beautiful, I'll simp for you until you can't believe it. But when you're not beautiful… this simp is out. Not all simps are indiscriminate.
Every time he heard her eating ice cream during their video calls, he'd plaster a simpering smile on his face while his heart wept.
I'll win you over with my sincerity. he'd thought.
Later, an older woman in the same ward had told him, "Your girlfriend is pregnant. You need to take care of her."
The news had been like a bolt from the blue.
But then he remembered his infertility. A free child! How lucky! He'd saved himself the cost of IVF. Such a small matter was easily acceptable.
Love you, simp for you.
I can accept anything about you.
The only thing I can't accept… is you becoming this ugly.
Li Laifu and his driver stood in the corridor.
"Evil entity! This is Huatian Hospital! I, Li Laifu, as the Deputy Director, will not tolerate your wicked deeds! I'm giving you one chance. Surrender now, and I might not have to hurt you."
Li Laifu brandished his golf club, flicking his white coat dramatically.
But he felt a little nauseous.
This evil entity wasn't even as attractive as that octopus.