I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 114

At that point, Lu Lingxi instinctively reached for his notebook, but they were still fully suited in surgical gear, wrapped up tightly, making it inconvenient to retrieve anything, so he gave up.

Jing Qizhen glanced at the time. “It’s already past 1 AM. Let’s head to the inpatient building. We not only need to find those so-called infected patients but more importantly, we need a place to rest.”

Since separating from Tang Song in Massachusetts, Jing Qizhen’s group had driven to the airport, then flown back on a private plane for over ten hours before finally returning to the country.

Once they were back, the appearance of the erosion area at Binhai City’s Second Municipal Hospital came too suddenly, leaving no time for rest.

Other than a bit of sleep on the plane, the whole journey had been a nonstop rush. If not for the urgency of the erosion area situation, their exhaustion would’ve been impossible to hide by now.

However, relying solely on mental willpower to keep going was a problem in itself, just like college students pulling all-nighters in the hallway the night before finals. If not for the pressure of the exam, who would willingly stay up?

Si Jiayang nodded. “Let’s go.”

Manman joked with a smile, “According to those ghosts, the patients are all infected. But we have physical bodies too, just like them. Who knows, maybe they’ll find us quite friendly!”

Jing Qizhen’s expression shifted slightly. “Let’s try it. Conveniently, these surgical suits on us… We’ll say we stole them from the hospital to use as disguises. Hopefully, the ‘patients’ will accept us quickly.”

And looking at it from this angle, patients with physical bodies were all infected. The ghosts would avoid them like the plague. And since the number of infected is limited, there might actually be quite a few empty beds in the inpatient building, which could give Jing Qizhen’s group a place to rest.

Wang Feizhou was probably the only one in the group whose physical and mental state was still fairly strong.

Although hospital interns also have it tough, at least they hadn’t been through what Jing Qizhen and the others had, including gunfire, kidnappings, and scheming… It was mentally and physically exhausting, pushing them to the brink of collapse.

Even though Wang Feizhou didn’t know exactly what they had experienced, he couldn’t see much visible fatigue on the faces of Jing Qizhen, Wilcox, Lu Lingxi, Manman, or Si Jiayang. But Grandma Fang’s age was obvious, and Old Xiao and Jin Guijuan, who were struggling to adapt to having their usual routines disrupted, were clear signs that the group was hiding their exhaustion.

Wang Feizhou hesitated and asked, “Finding a room to sleep in is fine but isn’t food the bigger problem?”

Lu Lingxi replied straightforwardly, “We’ve got some compressed biscuits in our backpacks. No need to worry about food for now.”

Jing Qizhen added, “And then there’s the time checkpoints. If we get to it before midnight, we’ll definitely have some time to explore the hospital in peace. We can even cook if needed.”

Manman, who had noted the time earlier, chimed in, “We came in at 22:13. Then the ghosts suddenly appeared at midnight.”

Jing Qizhen nodded and glanced at Wang Feizhou. “There are three key time checkpoints in the hospital. Midnight is confirmed. The other two at 8 AM and 5 PM still need confirmation.”

Wang Feizhou: “…You guys still remember all that?” After seeing so many ghosts and getting startled so many times, he’d already forgotten it all.

Jing Qizhen gave him a ‘of course we do’ look.

Wang Feizhou: “…”

Thinking about the textbook-thick materials he had to memorize every semester, Wang Feizhou took a deep breath. No! A med student’s memorization skills must not lose out!

Jing Qizhen said, “Let’s go. Time to head to the inpatient building.”

The group was still fully suited in surgical gear of masks, gloves, and goggles, and their faces and hands all tightly covered, not exposing an inch of skin.

When they left the morgue, it was still cold and empty outside.

There weren’t any new corpses being sent in, so naturally, no ghost doctors or nurses appeared.

This time, unlike their earlier chaotic rush, the group deliberately slowed their pace and walked steadily from the basement level up to the first-floor registration hall.

Wang Feizhou was full of confusion but couldn’t find a good time to ask why.

Meanwhile, Jing Qizhen used the walking time to scan the stairs and lobby quickly and discreetly through his medical goggles.

The registration hall was also quiet. Other than one ghost visible behind the registration counter, the whole hospital seemed to be trapped in a strange silence.

Honestly, the atmosphere was somewhat similar to a real hospital at night, assuming it was a calm night with no major traffic accidents or emergency incidents.

Jing Qizhen nudged Wang Feizhou with his elbow and asked in a low voice, “Which department can I register for that won’t require me to face the doctor directly?”

Wang Feizhou replied without hesitation, “Dermatology, probably? A lot of patients with allergies prefer to cover their faces and avoid the wind.”

Jing Qizhen nodded. “You guys find a hidden corner in the stairwell and wait for me. I’ll go try to register.”

Grandma Fang said softly, “Use my ID number. You kids, at this point in time inside the erosion area, either haven’t been born yet or are still little toddlers!”

Jing Qizhen shook his head and said decisively, “I plan to use the identity of the retired hospital director.”

It had to be said, back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the hospital’s registration and examination processes were actually pretty lax. It was completely different from the all-electronic systems of the real-world hospitals in 2020, where everything from registration to consultation to picking up medicine was handled with electronic records.

Wang Feizhou was stunned. “At this point in time, who’s the hospital director?”

Jing Qizhen straightforwardly shook his head. “No idea.”

They had entered the erosion area too suddenly and hadn’t had time to go through all the hospital personnel information. After entering the area, they first unexpectedly ran into Wang Feizhou, who had glitched out of the map. Naturally, their first priority was to retrieve the intern. Then, unfamiliar with the situation, they couldn’t act recklessly. After that, once the hospital abruptly changed at midnight, Jing Qizhen and the others could only temporarily hold back, for if they wanted to explore the hospital under such circumstances, they’d have to face the watchful eyes of all the ghost medical staff.

The worst part was, Jing Qizhen hadn’t seen any calendar or anything else showing the year.

Only that corpse registry book in the morgue had a detailed month and day, but no year, which was exactly what they needed.

Wang Feizhou said quietly, “The death certificate issued by the hospital definitely has the full date.”

Hearing that, the Earth froze. “Huh? I was just about to go outside and look for info on the corresponding year.”

Jing Qizhen said, “I’ll tell you as soon as I find the year. The registration area should have the exact time.”

The Earth agreed readily. “Got it! I’ll go check outside anyway. Who knows how Yan Hong and Gu Leshan are doing?”

Jing Qizhen: “Go ahead!”

Knowing the Earth was just curious, Jing Qizhen certainly wouldn’t stop it. On the contrary, it might even find some important information out there.

With that, Jing Qizhen headed toward the registration area.

The others, though worried, didn’t stir up trouble at this time.

Lu Lingxi whispered, “You guys find a quiet spot. I’ll wait nearby.”

Manman and Si Jiayang gestured in agreement. Si Jiayang nodded and stood not far from Lu Lingxi, ready to assist at any time.

As for Wilcox, who was also skilled at fighting, he had been taken away by Old Xiao and Grandma Fang. His very foreign appearance with blond hair and blue eyes made him too conspicuous.

The first-floor registration hall was empty. Wrapped up tightly, Jing Qizhen walked straight toward the registration window.

The ghost staff member inside stared at him several times, clearly unable to recognize which doctor he was. Finally, they hesitated and asked, “Registering for whom?”

Jing Qizhen faked a cough, lowered his voice, and reported the name of the retired hospital director.

The ghost froze. “The director?”

Jing Qizhen’s heart skipped a beat but his voice stayed calm as he denied it. “The director’s relative.”

That was enough. The ghost no longer had doubts and quickly processed the registration.

Lu Lingxi, who was pretending to wait for someone not far away: “…”

He knew Jing Qizhen was going to use the retired director’s name but he didn’t expect him to do it like this. And somehow, the name of the retired director matched up with the current one at this point in time.

Lu Lingxi couldn’t help but imagine, was the retired director also present here in ghostly form?

That ghost probably never expected someone would impersonate a surgical doctor using the director’s name to register a nonexistent relative. And since the director couldn’t exactly run off, the ghost just registered the patient without even charging a fee.

“I’ll settle the bill later?” the ghost asked.

Jing Qizhen nodded. “Sure. It’s not convenient for me to pay right now.”

He had planned to do it for free from the start. Worst-case scenario, he’d use the mysterious black shopping card given by Miss Li, the ghost lady from Yunhai Wancheng Department Store, which was supposedly accepted everywhere.

The ghost handed over the registration slip.

Jing Qizhen took it, nodded slightly, and turned to leave, sneaking a glance at the date: November 14, 1993. Instantly, he called out in his mind, “Babyball, you there? We got the year.”