Forcing open the elevator doors would surely get her discovered. If only there was another way in.
Did she really have to resort to self-harm or hurting others to get this chance?
Ning Wei climbed to the rooftop again. The nurse ghost was still repeating the same motion of jumping off.
Ning Wei grabbed her and used a formation to freeze her in place. "Can you tell me what secrets this hospital holds?"
The nurse ghost shook her head, still repeating, "Run! Run!"
Ning Wei's eyes darted, and she changed her question. "How can I leave the hospital?"
"Key! Key!" The nurse ghost reached out and fumbled in the air, as if the key was right in front of her.
"Where is the key?" Ning Wei continued to ask.
"Doctor! Doctor!" The nurse ghost then took off her white coat and stuffed it into Ning Wei's hands.
Ning Wei blinked. The nurse ghost regained her freedom and resumed her free-fall.
After so much effort, most of the night had passed. She couldn't stay outside for too long, as the nurses would be starting their shift soon.
Ning Wei returned to her room and climbed into bed to sleep.
When the nurse came in with her medication, Ning Wei could barely keep her eyes open.
"Were you sneaking around last night? You look so tired."
Because Ning Wei had always been so normal and cooperative, the nurse occasionally joked with her, and they had become as friendly as old acquaintances.
"I heard ghosts wailing all night and was too scared to sleep," Ning Wei said with a straight face, lying through her teeth.
The nurse obviously didn't believe her. She comforted Ning Wei, "You're just tired. Get some rest."
Ning Wei didn't intend to let her off so easily. She reached out and tugged at the nurse's uniform, and could feel the nurse's whole body tense up.
"Wh-what are you doing?" the nurse's voice began to tremble.
"I just wanted to ask when a doctor could come and examine me. I feel like I'm all better and can leave here."
The nurse slowly pulled her corner of the uniform back. "Isn't it good here?"
Ning Wei looked at her with an expression of someone looking at an idiot, an expression that asked, "Do you really think this place is good?"
The nurse realized she had said too much and covered her mouth.
Before Ning Wei noticed, she quickly left the room.
This time, unable to handle Ning Wei's questions, she didn't watch her take her medication up close.
From outside the door, the nurse said to Ning Wei, "Take your medicine first. I'll report your request to the head nurse."
She was talking nonsense again, thinking she could placate Ning Wei.
Ning Wei sat on the edge of the bed and merely went through the motions of taking her medicine.
After tricking the nurse and seeing her leave, Ning Wei stared at the pills in her hand, a plan forming in her mind.
All morning, apart from meals, Ning Wei slept.
Because she had chattered incessantly with questions in the morning, the young nurse had been overwhelmed. Both times, the nurse had simply placed the medication on the table and left, watching from outside the door as Ning Wei took it.
Ning Wei's fake act had successfully fooled the nurse. She had accumulated about ten pills, which she hid in the bathroom. The nurses rarely checked the bathroom, likely finding it too dirty.
After lunch, seeing Ning Wei preparing to sleep again, the nurse couldn't help but say, "We can go to the small garden to get some sun today. Why don't you come along?"
"Can everyone go?"
"Anyone who behaves well can go."
"Then I won't sleep. Remember to call me when it's time to go down," Ning Wei reverted to being a good girl in order to go downstairs.
Seeing her mood swing from good to bad and back again, the nurse felt she had her under control.
The nurse thought to herself, "As long as I go along with Ning Wei, everything is negotiable." Her job was quite easy.
In the afternoon, led by the nurses, many patients were allowed to go downstairs for free time.
When the nurse opened the door, Ning Wei peered curiously at the other patients confined to their rooms, saying to the nurse with a hint of sympathy, "It's so pitiful they can't go out for sun."
The nurse, pulling her along, agreed, "Yes, they're so miserable. As long as you're good, I promise to mention your name to the head nurse every time we go downstairs."
"If you're obedient and cooperate with my work, I'll think of you for any good things."
As the nurse led Ning Wei downstairs, she babbled on, the gist of her words being that only by obeying her would there be benefits.
Ning Wei sat on a bench. The nurse had already left, but Ning Wei felt a faint sense of having been manipulated.
Her hand found her pocket, and the faint sensation there gave her a measure of peace.
The patients downstairs were indeed the obedient ones, standing or sitting around. Among them were those who spoke gibberish.
For instance, nearby, someone was flying a kite in thin air. A group of people next to him praised his skill. Then, a gust of wind blew, and the man insisted on arguing with another person, claiming their kites had gotten tangled.
This was Ning Wei's first time witnessing such a scene, and she watched with great interest. It wasn't until they started fighting, terrifying the other mental patients, that a burly nurse pulled them apart.
Naturally, fighting didn't exempt them from losing their freedom. Both were taken to the sixth floor for solitary confinement.
The other passengers stood around in a daze. However, with the nurses walking nearby, they didn't dare approach each other.
When the nurses weren't looking, Tang Tang found a pair of pruning shears from somewhere.
Like a fearless warrior, she began to work with the shears. However, she wasn't pruning real flowers and plants, but the bodies of other patients.
These shears must have been discarded by workers in the garden. They were already rusty and couldn't cut anything easily, but they looked extremely dangerous.
Several patients had already had their arms cut open. The garden was filled with screams and chaos.
Ning Wei used this chaos as an opportunity to quietly slip away from the small garden.
She ground the pills into powder and smeared them onto the outlet of the water dispenser. Then, she took a lucky nurse and made her drink water containing the powdered medicine. She couldn't wait to see the changes.
Of course, this small amount of powder wouldn't have any significant effect. So, she dissolved the remaining pills in other cups.
She couldn't tell whose was whose, but she managed to catch them all.
The commotion Tang Tang caused was too great. The shears were covered in rust, so both the injured patients and the nurses had to get tetanus shots.
As the main instigator of this chaos, she was also confined to the sixth floor.
When all the patients were brought back to their rooms, the young nurse became anxious because she couldn't find Ning Wei.
She searched the entire small garden but couldn't find Ning Wei anywhere.