chsdbacks Chapter 36 sequel
Chapter 36 sequel
Tianhai People's Hospital.
"Ugh, it's an unfamiliar ceiling."
Lu Xingchen's consciousness broke free from the chaos, his eyelashes fluttering as he opened his eyes. The unfamiliar dome that came into view made him momentarily lose his senses, and a low, hoarse murmur escaped his throat.
"Xingchen, you're finally awake." A female voice, filled with surprise and lingering fear, suddenly rang in my ears, breaking the silence in the ward.
Lu Xingchen turned his head in the direction of the sound and saw Cocolia sitting on a chair by the hospital bed. Her once neatly combed hair was a little messy, and her eyes were full of fine red blood vessels, obviously because she had not slept all night.
"Cocolia's mother."
Lu Xingchen's voice was still hoarse from just waking up, but it was still clear.
He tried to sit up, supporting himself on the hospital bed. Cocolia quickly reached out to support his arm, afraid that he might aggravate some hidden ailment.
"Slow down, don't rush to get up."
Cocolia's gaze was fixed on his face, carefully observing his expression. The worry between her brows was like an unyielding cloud. "How are you feeling? Is anything aching? Are you dizzy? Or do you feel tightness in your chest?"
"no."
Lu Xingchen shook his head. He wasn't lying. He clearly remembered that before he fainted, he had engaged in a fierce chase with the Grim Reaper. Yet, at this moment, he not only didn't feel tired, but even felt full of energy.
Suppressing his doubts, Lu Xingchen asked, "How long have I been unconscious? Where are Rosalia and Lilia? And the other children at the orphanage, how are they?"
Upon hearing this, Cocolia's expression stiffened, but looking at the child in front of her, she hesitated for a moment before speaking, "You were unconscious for about a day, and as for Rosalia and the others... their condition is not good."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xingchen's heart tightened, and she quickly asked, "What happened to them?"
"they……"
As Cocolia recounted her story, Lu Xingchen gradually learned what had happened after he fell into a coma.
It turned out that although Lu Xingchen had diverted the Grim Reaper's attention, the other party still left behind more than a dozen skeleton soldiers in the Awakening Room before leaving, to clear out the remaining survivors.
Cocolia and the Spirit Master were entangled by this group of skeleton soldiers, but at a certain moment, the skeleton soldiers suddenly disappeared on the spot, which made Cocolia realize that something must have happened to the Grim Reaper.
So, after leaving the spirit medium to protect the remaining children, Cocolia immediately began searching for Lu Xingchen within the orphanage, and finally found him on the lawn near the main building.
However, at this moment, a large amount of black mist suddenly appeared in the main building, spreading towards the entire orphanage and covering it completely. It took several minutes for the mist to gradually dissipate.
Cocolia was very lucky; for some reason, the area around the main building where she and Lu Xingchen were located was not shrouded in black mist, but the others were not so fortunate.
Wherever the black mist passed, the grass and trees withered instantly, the petals turned into black ash, and even the bricks and stones on the ground seemed to be eroded, turning into a strange black layer.
Even more terrifying, the bodies of the orphans and staff who tragically perished in the previous chaos melted at a visible speed upon contact with the black mist, eventually turning into a pool of viscous black blood that emitted a nauseating stench.
The survivors hiding in the Awakening Room, though no longer attacked by skeleton soldiers, could not escape the invasion of the black mist.
The black mist, as if alive, seeped in through the cracks in the doors and windows, permeating every corner of the awakening room.
Whether it was an injured spirit medium or a young child, they all inhaled the black mist to varying degrees.
The end result was that when Haicheng's guards arrived that day, the entire orphanage had been reduced to a desolate ruin.
Inside the Awakening Room, the survivors collapsed to the ground, their faces ashen, their breathing weak, and their bodies emanating an eerie aura that shared the same origin as the black mist.
According to the judgment of the healing-type Soul Masters at Tianhai Hospital, the black mist should be some kind of terrible curse that can be absorbed into the blood and devour life force.
Even though the hospital's soul masters were doing their best to save lives, many survivors still died because of the curse.
Currently, apart from Lu Xingchen and Cocolia, only four people are still alive in the orphanage, and all of them are children from the orphanage.
The twins were also among them, but due to the corrosive power of the curse, they are currently in a coma.
As for the second-ring spirit master, he was severely injured by the Grim Reaper's messenger and inhaled the black mist, so he did not survive.
"Xingchen, you've just woken up, why don't you get some sleep first?"
After confirming that Lu Xingchen was alright, Cocolia comforted him and then hurriedly left the ward, leaving Lu Xingchen alone.
As for what happened after Lu Xingchen lured the Grim Reaper away, she didn't ask any questions.
……
"Phew~"
After Cocolia left, Lu Xingchen sighed slightly. He never expected that the mess he left behind after killing the Grim Reaper would actually send all the other children in the orphanage away.
"Do I regret it?" Lu Xingchen asked himself softly in his heart.
The answer is clear—no regrets.
If he had backed down then and allowed the messenger of death to run rampant, the entire orphanage would probably have become a living hell, and even he might not have escaped unscathed.
Although the situation isn't much better now, at least a few people have survived.
He used his mental energy to scan the ward, and after confirming that there were no problems, he took a calligraphy brush and a pair of silver glasses from the cabinet next to the bed.
"Fortunately, neither of these items was lost."
Lu Xingchen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When he fainted at the last moment, he didn't even have time to send the two sealed items back to the Chaos Sea. Fortunately, Cocolia didn't touch his things and placed the two items untouched next to his hospital bed.
"It's you again, '0-01'."
The brush in his hand trembled slightly, as if in response to his words.
Lu Xingchen pulled a notebook out of the drawer, then held up '0-01' and silently recited in his mind, "Summarize the current situation for me."
"Swish—swish—swish—"
The number '0-01' guided Lu Xingchen's hand, and he began to write in the notebook:
Cocolia only told Lu Xingchen half the story; the situation was actually worse than it seemed. The cursed mist was not so easily dispelled.
According to the healing-type Soul Master, the Arlene sisters could only hold on for two more days at most before dying in agony. The other two children were in similar condition.
Worse still, Cocolia has exhausted her savings and even used her military officer status to buy medical treatment for the children at the orphanage. She currently owes Tianhai Hospital eight million federal dollars.
The death of the Spirit Master has drawn extra attention from the Spirit Tower; the matter of the Grim Reaper has also alarmed the higher-ups of the Guard; the successive deaths of the children at the orphanage are yet another devastating blow, and Cocolia is now under immense pressure.
If Cocolia hadn't seen Lu Xingchen unharmed, she probably would have already contemplated suicide.