Li Ye was clearly no ordinary person. Everyone, feigning ignorance, looked at the bead, even if it seemed familiar.
All stood outside the pool of blood, watching the orderly slowly open his eyes.
He looked around blankly, perhaps the intense pain in his leg gradually brought him back to his senses.
It was a pity, however, that he was a disabled person. He babbled incoherently, unable to utter a single useful word.
At this moment, the all-capable Ning Wei stepped forward. She waved the blood-stained scalpel in her hand, signaling Ming Gang to shut up.
"From now on, you answer whatever I ask. If you don't answer my questions, I don't mind opening another gash on your leg," Ning Wei said, gesturing as she spoke.
Her ability to use sign language was thanks to her omnipotent master. They had once gone down the mountain on an errand and encountered a disabled person who had collapsed.
Her master, being kind-hearted, rescued the man and brought him back to the Taoist temple, where he eventually became Ning Wei's junior martial brother.
Under their master's coercion, everyone began learning sign language to communicate effectively with their junior martial brother.
The junior martial brother did not disappoint them. Although he couldn't speak, he showed exceptional talent in ghost hunting.
He never spoke of his origins, and they never asked about his past. He simply stayed at the Taoist temple.
Now, Ning Wei was immensely grateful for her master's habit of rescuing people and bringing them to the temple, otherwise, she would have missed the opportunity to learn sign language.
Furthermore, after spending so much time with her junior martial brother, she had become quite adept at understanding spoken language as well.
Ming Gang nodded heavily. Whether he would cooperate remained to be seen.
"Your name is Ming Gang, and you are disabled, correct?"
Ming Gang nodded. The first question was so simple that he visibly relaxed.
"How long have you worked here?" The second question was more probing, capable of eliciting many answers.
Ming Gang's eyes darted around.
Ning Wei smiled slightly, pointing to his still bleeding thigh. "If you answer this question honestly, I'll have them bandage you. Otherwise, you can guess the consequences. A person only has so much blood; letting it drain all night should be enough to empty you, shouldn't it?"
She used her most beautiful face to say the most chilling words, yet no one present felt any sympathy for the man being threatened.
Ming Gang looked down at his leg, a flicker of fear in his eyes.
He slowly raised his hands, which had been resting on the armrest, and held up all his fingers. His lips moved, and his hands mirrored his mouth, forming the number ten.
Ten years. That was a very long time. The head nurse, who had been working there the longest, had only been there for a little over a decade, and she had another relationship with the doctor.
It seemed that the way he had been treated before was not without reason. How many people had this basement claimed over the ten years, he probably knew better than anyone.
He was the one who personally opened the elevator, ushering in buyers and executioners alike. At the same time, innocent patients, dazed and confused, had their organs removed, and some even lost their lives.
Even though he was deaf and mute, his eyes were so bright. It was likely that he had seen every patient who had entered the basement.
While he hadn't taken action himself, he was an accomplice.
"We want to leave this place. Where is the key to the door?" Ning Wei's question now focused on the passengers.
Everyone was surprised. They had thought Ning Wei's focus was solely on the hospital and the patients.
Ming Gang glanced at his injured thigh, signaling Ning Wei to fulfill her promise first.
Ning Wei gave Mei Nan a look. Mei Nan and Song Zhi resignedly untied his hands and feet, then gave him a rudimentary bandage.
After all, the bleeding would stop soon anyway, and Ming Gang wouldn't know the difference.
"Now, can you answer?"
With his hands freed, Ming Gang began to use rapid gestures to communicate with Ning Wei, who watched and translated for everyone.
This psychiatric hospital was opened by a doctor, who was the chief surgeon of the basement and also the hospital's director.
The head nurse was his wife. They had started this hospital sixteen years ago.
Since the hospital began its "business," the key had always been in the doctor's possession. Only when he had other matters to attend to and needed to leave the premises in advance would he entrust the key to the head nurse.
Therefore, there was only one key. Whoever held the key had the authority to allow anyone to enter or exit the premises.
Ming Gang's knowledge was limited. He was usually responsible for operating the elevator here, doing a patrol at night, and then returning to his dormitory to sleep.
As for deeper matters, such as how to contact buyers, where these psychiatric patients came from, and why their families never visited, Ming Gang could not answer these questions.
The interrogation continued late into the night. After all this exertion, combined with the blood loss, his eyes could barely stay open.
"Do you know where the doctor usually hides the key?" This was the final question.
Ming Gang was at his limit, desperate to end the torture.
He answered quickly. Ning Wei carefully observed his subtle expressions and then sought Li Ye's opinion: "Am I not being lied to?"
Li Ye nodded.
Ning Wei was relieved. Although Ming Gang had repeatedly assured them he wouldn't betray them, she still knocked him unconscious without hesitation.
Mei Nan and Song Zhi carried Ming Gang to the operating table. There was no other choice; it was the only place resembling a bed. They considered themselves more humane than the girls, who had been rather rough.
As they left the operating room, they covered him with a white sheet and locked the door.
With the elevator card in hand, they now controlled half of the hospital's authority.
After seeing to Ming Gang, Ning Wei gave them time to tour the basement, including the room filled with organs.
The sight was clearly a profound shock to the group.
When they emerged, they were speechless, their shock evident.
Unfortunately, there was no time for them to linger in their astonishment. Time was limited, and they needed to return to their rooms to rest.
"You've all worked hard tonight. Rest first. When the nurses come to check the rooms, you'll have no problem knocking them all out, right?" Ning Wei said to everyone after they rode the elevator to the second floor.
Wang Jing and several girls silently raised their hands. "Those older nurses look strong. What if I don't knock one out on the first try and they fight back?"
"Then you shout for help, and we'll come to your aid." Ning Wei already had a plan for this. She didn't expect these girls, who couldn't even lift a chicken, to be able to knock someone out with their bare hands like she could.
"Can we sleep two to a room? It would be safer," Zhu Yilian suggested.
This was a feasible idea, but it had a significant drawback.
Nurses checking rooms would first glance at the situation inside. If it was daytime with ample light, they would certainly be able to tell at a glance whether there was one person or two in the bed.