"Bang!"
I dashed down the stairwell from the hospital rooftop to the ground floor, shoving the emergency exit door open with all my strength.
"Someone, help!" My desperate shout shattered the eerie silence of the hospital. A few on-duty doctors, rubbing their sleepy eyes, came running.
"Calm down, whose family are you? Speak slowly."
"What's with all the noise? This is a hospital. Show some respect!"
Gasping for breath, I pointed at the emergency door leading to the basement. "Open that door! A patient took the elevator and went down there!"
"Ridiculous," muttered one groggy doctor, yawning. "The elevator to the lower levels requires authorization. Only a handful of doctors know the code."
"I saw it with my own eyes! The elevator stopped on Basement Level 3!" I grabbed the doctor's coat in a frenzy. "Open the door now! This is a matter of life and death!"
Left with no choice, the doctors fetched the key from the duty room. Precious minutes ticked away as they unlocked the door.
Once open, I ignored their attempts to stop me and bolted down the stairs. The corridor below was ominously quiet, as if it belonged to another world.
Most doors on either side of the hallway were locked, their padlocks covered in dust, untouched for ages.
I searched each floor methodically, shouting Jiang Shihan's name into the darkness, but there was no reply.
"Enough is enough! Keep this up, and we'll call the police."
"Who let this lunatic in at this hour?"
"Is this revenge from those medical troublemakers?"
The doctors stood at the stairwell, watching from a safe distance.
But I stubbornly pressed on. "There's no mistake. The elevator definitely stopped on Basement Level 3."
Every room I checked was either locked or showed no signs of entry. Frustrated, I clenched my fists, my mind racing. Was it just my imagination, or was it colder down here than above?
"Only a ten-minute gap. The suspect couldn't have gone far with her. Where could they possibly be hiding?"
As I mulled it over, two doctors approached and seized me by the arms.
"Which ward are you from? Disturbing the peace in a hospital is a serious matter."
"I already told you—only a select few have access to this area. Did you see a ghost or something?"
"Stop it, Yuanhe. Don't scare him."
Emerging from the basement, I frowned. The fact that someone had whisked her away under my nose and hidden her was proof of their cunning.
"I was too reckless. I should've searched her room first..." Raising my head, I noticed something strange. The elevator display showed the number "9."
"Doctors, did anyone use the elevator just now?"
They all shook their heads. "We've been with you this whole time. Who could've used it? Besides, the top floor is for special patients—hardly anyone ever goes there."
"If it wasn't you, could it have been Jiang Shihan?" My opponent was no ordinary person, toying with me at every turn.
Breaking free from the doctors, I took the elevator to the 9th floor with them in tow.
Room 9114's door was undisturbed, faint light spilling into the hallway.
"Where's the duty nurse? How irresponsible! No wonder the family members are losing their minds. Check if the patient is safe!"
The group crowded into the room. Some of the doctors, unfamiliar with the ward, had no idea who occupied this special care unit.
"Oh my god!" They froze, horrified by the gruesome painting above the bed.
I, however, stood by Jiang Shihan's bed, scanning her belongings inch by inch.
"The pillow and slippers are untouched, and the blanket shows no sign of struggle. She left willingly."
Instinctively, I took out a cigarette and placed it in my mouth. "Why did she run? What triggers her unusual behavior at night? How does this tie into the old man's severed head?"
I glanced again at the grotesque mural overhead, where a small figure struggled helplessly amidst a hundred ghosts.
"Whoever's behind this can make her see things invisible to ordinary people and remotely control her episodes. Could this be some form of sorcery?"
Finding no answers, I turned toward the window. The city lights shimmered faintly against the night sky. It was late.
"She couldn't have gone far. Once the police arrive, I'll review the hospital's surveillance footage." Being in the city, and with her conspicuous hospital gown, I clung to the hope she was still alive.
As I flicked my lighter to light the cigarette, a sound of scraping metal came from above—not from the ceiling, but from the rooftop.
"Someone's on the roof?"
I slowly lifted my head. Time seemed to freeze, and the scene before me was etched into my memory forever.
A woman in a hospital gown fell from the rooftop, her body slicing past the 9th-floor window.
Our eyes met—separated only by a thin pane of glass.
But on either side of that glass lay two entirely different worlds.
I saw her clearly as she fell. Her hand reached toward the flame in my lighter. But this time, she didn't touch its warmth—only the cold surface of the glass.
In her final moment, she smiled, gazing at me for what felt like an eternity, though it lasted only a second. Her lips moved, forming her final words:
"Don't close your eyes when it's dark."
The cigarette fell from my lips. My face twitched uncontrollably. "Jiang Shihan!"
My scream echoed through the entire building. As I reached out toward the window, the sound of her life ending pierced the air.
"Bang!"
Car alarms blared. The quiet night shattered like the glass panes on the hospital doors.
"She jumped! Someone jumped!"
"Call the police! Get 911!"
"Where's the doctor? Hurry!"
The chaos downstairs mirrored the turmoil inside me. My arm hung out the window, my body limp.
"Jiang Shihan…"
A bloodstain bloomed in the night. Falling headfirst from the 9th floor, her chances of survival were slim.
"Stay calm!"
"That's dangerous! Don't do anything rash!"
Two doctors pulled me back from the window. I didn't resist; my body was completely drained.
This was the closest I'd ever been to death—separated by a single pane of glass.
I had faced the "Hell Show" three times, believing nothing in this world could scare me anymore. But in that moment when Jiang Shihan fell, I felt an indescribable fear—a deep reverence for death itself.
Sitting on the bed Jiang Shihan had once slept in, my usually sharp mind was now a chaotic mess.
It wasn't until someone shook me hard that I snapped out of my daze, blurting out the last words Jiang Shihan had left me:
"Don't close your eyes when it's dark!"
"Gao Jian? What are you doing here?" The newcomer sounded surprised. He was tall and broad, none other than Wu Meng, deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit.
"What does 'Don't close your eyes when it's dark' mean?"
"Wu, you're just in time!" I smacked my forehead. "I'm the one who called the police. A patient was abducted, then jumped from the roof."
"Take it slow. Xiao Chen, start the record."
"Forget the record!" I jumped off the bed, grabbing Wu Meng's sleeve. "Wu, come with me to the rooftop to collect evidence. Xiao Chen, pull up all the hospital's surveillance footage. The suspect must still be in the building! Focus on the elevator footage!"
The officer named Xiao Chen glanced at Wu Meng, who nodded. "Do as he says."
Accompanied by a doctor, Wu Meng and I climbed to the rooftop.
The hospital roof offered a broad view and a strong wind.
"Room 9114 is on the south side. Follow me!" We rushed to the spot where Jiang Shihan had jumped. It was directly above Room 9114.
I crouched to inspect the area, determined not to miss any clue.
Wu Meng joined me. "So you're saying the woman didn't commit suicide but was murdered?"
"I can guarantee 100% that her death was a meticulously planned murder!"
Most evidence had been blown away by the wind, but one peculiar item remained.
At the spot where Jiang Shihan had jumped lay a pitch-black wooden box, about the length of a hand.
Opening it, I found a small figure woven from human hair.
The figure had no eyes, and its appearance was identical to the bloody drawing Jiang Shihan had etched on the ceiling.