Chapter 15 The Ringing Phone

"If they aren't back by dark, nothing will happen, right?" Cao Yang seemed concerned about their two teammates who had left.

Unfortunately, no one could answer his question.

"Thud."

"Thud."

"Thud."

......

A series of clear footsteps echoed from outside the door, growing closer. Then, the door was pushed open, and an unfamiliar face appeared.

He appeared to be a doctor in his early thirties, wearing a white coat and black-rimmed glasses, someone they hadn't seen before.

"Which one of you is Mr. Huai?" the doctor asked, holding a piece of paper.

"He's out," Jiang Cheng replied. "You can tell me anything you need to."

"When he returns, please tell him to go to the admissions office to fill out the form again." After a moment, the doctor emphasized, "He needs to go today."

Looking out at the sky, Jiang Cheng turned his head and said in a negotiating tone, "It's too late today, how about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow won't work," the doctor shook his head. "There's a problem with some of the information he registered."

Wei Wei stepped forward to smooth things over, saying politely, "How about this? When he gets back, I'll have him call the admissions office, and we can discuss any problems over the phone."

"You can leave the admissions office's phone number," Wei Wei said, turning to look for paper and a pen.

Seeing Wei Wei's movement, the doctor waved his hand and said, "Don't bother looking, that phone has been broken for a long time." He pointed to the only phone in the ward and said, "Don't make things difficult for me. I'm just running errands. Or... you can talk to Director Qi and have him call the admissions department."

No one listened to the second half of his sentence. Instead, everyone's eyes were fixed on the old-fashioned phone on the small wooden cabinet beside the bed.

They didn't react until the doctor left.

"Broken?" Yu Yu said in surprise, "How is that possible? Huai Yi used that phone to contact those people before he left."

Cao Yang, who had been in contact with ghosts, turned pale.

Jiang Cheng immediately stepped forward. After thinking for a moment, he picked up the phone, not putting it near his ear, but looking at the small display screen.

The display screen was working perfectly, showing the date and time.

Everything seemed perfectly normal.

Seeing this, Wei Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that the doctor in the hospital had made a mistake. After all, they were so busy every day, it was easy to make mistakes like this...

The next second, Wei Wei's thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

So did the gazes of Yu Yu, Wang Changguo, and the others. Cao Yang swallowed subconsciously, and the fingers he had loosened suddenly clenched again.

Jiang Cheng forcefully moved the small wooden cabinet under the phone.

Behind the cabinet were a jumble of wires, one of which was completely severed from the back of the phone, as if torn apart by a tremendous force.

The red rubber insulation at the break was peeled back, revealing the exposed metal wires inside.

With no power, how had Huai Yi made that phone call?

And according to Yu Yu, he had made more than one.

A wave of chilling dread washed over everyone.

"What's going on?" Wang Changguo panicked. He had been watching Huai Yi make the call, and he could even hear the voices on the other end.

"Could it be... could it be that the people on the other end weren't people, but ghosts?!"

Wang Changguo's words completely ignited everyone's fear. The most unsettling thing was that Huai Yi and Du Feng had already gone to their appointment.

The one who made the appointment with them... was a ghost.

And they were completely unaware.

After calming down, Jiang Cheng turned to look at Lin Wan'er. Yu Yu's face was pale, so he probably wouldn't get anything out of her. "How long have Huai Yi and Du Feng been gone?"

Lin Wan'er thought for a moment and replied, "About an hour and a half."

Something had happened...

Huai Yi wasn't a newbie. He definitely knew how dangerous it was to stay outside at night. The fact that they hadn't returned by now meant something had definitely happened.

Just as Jiang Cheng was thinking of a plan, something even more unexpected happened.

"Ring, ring..."

"Ring, ring..."

......

Wei Wei, who was standing relatively close, suddenly retreated, finally steadying herself after a few steps. She looked at the phone with its flashing light, her eyes filled with inexplicable panic.

The phone... was ringing.

Someone was calling!

"Don't answer it!" Cao Yang shouted. His condition was only slightly better than the women's, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Everyone was thinking the same thing.

The call must be from a ghost!

But no one answered, and the phone just kept ringing, as if it was trying to wear them down. No one dared to go forward and hang it up.

After a few seconds, the ringing finally stopped.

But not because the caller had given up. It was because someone had answered the phone.

Looking at Jiang Cheng holding the phone to his ear, Yu Yu's lips were trembling, but she didn't dare to make a sound, as if she was afraid the ghost would hear her voice and come after her.

"Hello?" A hurried voice came from the other end of the phone.

Jiang Cheng immediately recognized it as Huai Yi.

"Can you hear me?" Huai Yi's voice was very low, and there was a faint echo around him, as if he was in a very small space.

Jiang Cheng could even hear his rapid breathing.

But Jiang Cheng had no intention of replying. He was just listening.

The person on the other end seemed to know why, and without any unnecessary words, he began to explain the situation. "I'm trapped, and so is Du Feng. We're both still alive."

After swallowing, Huai Yi continued, "I'm calling from my cell phone. I don't know why I was able to get through."

"We haven't left the hospital. We're trapped in the stairwell. We took the stairs down, but the stairs... the stairs seem to go on forever."

"It was too late when I realized something was wrong. We're still trapped here. We've tried going up and down, but we can't reach the end."

"There are no markings, no floor numbers, and we haven't seen anyone."

"Oh, right." Huai Yi seemed to suddenly remember something. "Whatever you do, don't call those numbers again. There might be something wrong with them."

Jiang Cheng wanted to tell him that the problem wasn't the numbers, but the phone.

"I think we've run into a ghost wall." After a moment of silence, Huai Yi took a deep breath and said in a sincere tone, "Although it might seem presumptuous, I... I'm asking you to save us. There's a saying in my hometown that a ghost wall can only be broken from the outside."

"If you can come, maybe you can interfere with the ghost, and we can find a way out."

"If not..." Huai Yi paused. After about ten seconds, his voice sounded again, but this time with a hint of resignation. "In ten minutes, we... we'll try to leave through the corridor."

"If we die or disappear, please remember, if you ever encounter a ghost wall, don't leave through the corridor. The corridor is also a dead end."

"Think... think of another way."

"Now... please, come and save us." Huai Yi's voice was heartbreaking. "Please!"