This peculiar habit made Yuanyuan unsure if he really had an elevator card.
Each time he emerged from a different floor, sometimes from the third, other times directly from the sixth.
Regardless, his patrol time was fixed, only half an hour.
There were no clocks in the wards, making it impossible to determine the time of his first appearance each night, and thus impossible to guess his starting floor for that evening.
None of this mattered; Li Ye declared he would handle everything.
Later, everyone would stop locking their doors, just gently closing them and then blocking them with stools.
The patrolman only checked on the patients' conditions and wouldn't pay attention to anything else, so he wouldn't notice.
Even if he did notice, there was nothing to fear. A single shout of a floor number would bring others to his aid.
This method was deemed the most foolproof and received everyone's unanimous approval.
As for Li Ye, he had a plan of his own.
He used his blanket to create the impression of someone lying down, while he himself hid by the stairwell.
No matter which floor the patrolman emerged from, he had to traverse the stairs, so they were bound to meet.
The outcome was as he predicted. The patrolman started from the second floor that day, and Li Ye waited on the fifth.
The patrolman's footsteps were heavy, and Li Ye was prepared long in advance.
As soon as the patrolman's head peeked out, Li Ye flipped over the stairs and kicked him into the wall.
The patrolman slammed into the wall and, in the next second, lost consciousness.
Li Ye dragged him to the fifth floor and used the method of knocking on the stairs to signal the other passengers to notify each other.
After incapacitating the patrolman, they first searched for a way to use the elevator, but found nothing.
Finally, Li Ye glanced at the unconscious patrolman and asked Song Zhi to search him. To their surprise, they found the elevator card.
It was precisely because of this that time was lost.
"No wonder I waited downstairs for half an hour. Turns out you were all busy upstairs," Ning Wei couldn't help but remark after hearing the process.
This time, she truly felt the meaning of striving towards each other. Fortunately, she hadn't been abandoned.
"Where is that patrolman?" Ning Wei suddenly thought, perhaps they could extract secrets about this place from him.
Everyone emerged from the elevator, and the patrolman lay in the innermost spot.
"Quick, drag him out and find a way to wake him up. Maybe he knows the secret of this place," Ning Wei urged everyone to hurry, while she led the way.
There was a room in this basement that seemed to be used for confinement, equipped with special stools that could bind a person's limbs, making escape impossible for even the mightiest.
They placed the patrolman on the stool and found his identification.
The man's name was Ming Gang, 45 years old, deaf and mute.
Ning Wei glanced at the ID, casually tossed it to others, then took out a scalpel and plunged it directly into Ming Gang's leg.
She avoided the major arteries, so although blood flowed freely, she ensured he wouldn't bleed to death.
Everyone was startled by her sudden action. The blood dripped onto the floor, the clear sound reaching everyone's ears.
Most people felt a sense of sympathy towards the disabled, so Wang Jing tentatively asked, "Do we have to be this rough from the start?"
Because she had just discovered her teammates hadn't abandoned her, Ning Wei was in a relatively good mood.
She answered Wang Jing's question very seriously, "Time is limited. Only extreme pain can awaken his consciousness. If you have other methods, I don't mind you taking over."
Ning Wei stepped aside, yielding the space to others.
After this stab, the patrolman did not wake up.
With the principle of not harming innocents, Wang Jing first fetched a cup of cold water and splashed it on the patrolman. If one cup didn't wake him, she'd use another, until the patrolman's clothes were soaked, and blood mixed with water flowed onto the floor.
Everyone silently retreated two steps, not wanting to step on the blood-mixed tiles.
Yuanyuan couldn't help but say, "Are you trying to wake him up or torture him?"
The others felt the same but, seeing Wang Jing's vigorous splashing, didn't interfere.
After all, he had already been stabbed. Splashing some cold water now was probably a minor matter.
Wang Jing, being the closest to the patrolman, had already stepped in the bloody water with the soles of her shoes.
Her expression was somewhat conflicted, and finally, she said, "I've run out of ideas. Why don't you all try?"
She slowly backed away and, reaching a spot without blood, took off her shoes and walked out barefoot.
"I'm going to rinse my shoes. You guys carry on, I'll be right back." She then looked back at the floor, where her clear footprints remained.
After Wang Jing left, Song Zhi couldn't help but say to Mei Nan, "Have these young girls spent too much time with Ning Wei? They can't distinguish between gentleness and cruelty anymore, can they?"
Mei Nan didn't answer his question. He found shoe covers nearby, as he didn't want his shoes to be stained with blood, which made him feel uneasy.
Compared to Ning Wei and Wang Jing, Mei Nan's method was indeed much gentler.
He merely pressed the philtrum of the patrolman. When the patrolman still didn't wake, he used his fingernails to break the skin of the philtrum.
Even after all this, the patrolman stubbornly remained unconscious.
Mei Nan looked somewhat embarrassed at the philtrum of the patrolman, which was now beaded with blood, and silently retreated.
"Since none of you can do it, then I will!" Tang Tang also put on shoe covers and strode forward.
Her method was the most direct: slapping.
The patrolman's face became red and swollen. Tang Tang, clutching her aching hand, also retreated.
"How hard did you kick him? He won't wake up no matter how much we torment him. Hurry up and find a way, time is running out!"
Seeing everyone's efforts yield nothing but wasted time, Ning Wei quickly urged Li Ye, the instigator, to act.
"I thought you were all having fun," Li Ye said slowly.
He could see now that none of them were particularly merciful; their methods were quite harsh.
"Stop talking nonsense! Go quickly!" Ning Wei pushed him forward.
Li Ye once again displayed his unique capabilities. While others wore shoe covers to avoid touching the bloody floor, he was entirely different.
Wherever he walked, the blood water automatically receded to the sides before his feet even touched down.
The others watched this miraculous sight, exclaiming in awe.
Li Ye took out a bead, and a faint light flashed across the patrolman's eyes. He slowly opened them.
"So quickly?"
"So magical?"
"Then what were we doing just now?"
"Don't look at me. Tang Tang hit him harder!" This was Wang Jing's voice. After all, if she hadn't poured so much cold water, the place wouldn't be so messy.
However, the bead looked very familiar to everyone; wasn't it the Zhou family's treasure?