Chapter 598: Water Tank

The bubbling sound was intermittent, not constant, making it difficult for me to pinpoint its source.

Pressing forward in the dark, I didn't even dare turn on my phone for fear of exposing myself. Stepping across the white floor tiles, I ventured deeper into the Outpatient Building.

The first floor was a lobby. Next to the billing window, I found a map of the hospital's interior.

So much time had passed that many areas were illegible, leaving only a vague overview.

Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital was the largest hospital I had ever seen. Its treatment departments alone were divided into three main categories: Specialized Treatment, General Treatment, and Special Treatment.

Each department contained numerous clinics and offices—a dazzling array that made my head spin.

"Hematology Oncology, Comprehensive Oncology, Sarcoma Center..." There were nearly six or seven clinics on the first floor alone, and that didn't even include the ones with illegible names.

The Outpatient Building had seven floors in total, with the Special Treatment departments on the top floor. I paid particular attention to the clinics listed there: "Cancer Pain Management, Psycho-Oncology, Radiation Therapy, Central Surgery..."

I knew nothing about medicine. I could read the names of these clinics, but I had absolutely no idea what their specific functions were.

The three main buildings were interconnected in a triangular layout. The map primarily detailed the Outpatient Building; it didn't mention much about the other two.

'The place is too big, there are too many clinics, and the map isn't even complete.' The conditions for this live broadcast were terrible. But on second thought, everyone was starting from the exact same point, which could be considered an alternative kind of fairness.

The map wasn't much help. Without a single clue, I could only wander aimlessly around the first floor.

Just a few steps away, right as I entered the inner corridor of the Outpatient Building, that gurgling sound—like water bubbles bursting—started up again.

'It sounds like it's coming from the deepest part of the corridor.'

Outside the window, tree branches cast massive shadows that blocked out the sparse starlight. It was incredibly dark inside the hospital. Thick dust and dirt coated the white floor tiles; no one had visited this place for a very long time.

A faint stench permeated the air, like something rotting. It didn't smell like a corpse or any specific object, but rather as if the building itself were exuding the odor.

That nauseating, repulsive smell felt simultaneously familiar and foreign to me.

'If death had a scent, this would probably be it.'

The clinics on both sides hadn't been completely emptied. It was obvious the hospital staff had left in a hurry; even after twenty years, many pieces of medical equipment were still abandoned in their original spots.

Covered in rust and altered beyond recognition, they looked like coffins gleaming with a dark, sinister light.

My gaze swept over the medical equipment. Only after experiencing it firsthand did I realize that the plots in many puzzle games were complete lies. Finding clues hidden in the corners of such a complex, dark environment was practically impossible.

Not wanting to waste any time, I circulated the Profound Truth Mental Method, channeling my true qi into the acupoints behind my ears and pushing the Breath Listening Realm to its absolute limit.

I turned my head to listen. The moment the bubbling sound echoed again, I sprinted forward, following the noise to push open the ward door in front of me.

'Sarcoma Center?' I wiped away the dust, finding the sign on the door still clearly legible. However, the name of this clinic made me very uncomfortable. As a normal person, I harbored an instinctive revulsion toward anything involving cancer or tumors.

'Might as well go in and take a look.'

Perhaps because the clinic was sealed, there wasn't much dust inside. I stepped in, cast a rough glance at the glass decals on the walls, and instantly regretted it.

'Disgusting.' The images plastered on the walls—whether they were case study diagrams or something else entirely—detailed the hospital's treatment measures for various tumors. Interspersed among them were phrases encouraging patients to actively cooperate with their treatment.

'Pairing words of encouragement to fight illness right beneath such brutal, realistic photos carries zero persuasive power.' I averted my eyes. Seeing those nauseating images the moment I walked in made my skin crawl, filling me with an urgent desire to flee this hellhole.

'Figure out what's causing that noise, then get the hell out.' I didn't hesitate to expend my Pre-Heaven True Qi. While maintaining my Breath Listening state, I used my Judging Eye to investigate carefully. 'There's an "Authorized Personnel Only" sign behind the door, and it has no dust on it. Has someone used this sign recently? The ward door has been closed this whole time. Even if it was hidden behind the door, it shouldn't be completely dust-free.'

There were many other bizarre things about this clinic. Several rooms inside were interconnected without any doors installed. After a closer look, I realized that there originally were doors between the rooms, but for some unknown reason, someone had torn them out along with their frames and deliberately widened the doorways.

'Compared to a normal door, it's at least twenty centimeters wider. Why would the hospital do this? Wasn't a standard doorway wide enough for a person to pass through?' I ran my hand along the uneven edge of the doorway, noticing it was also coated in a layer of white paint.

'They even painted the inside of the doorways? Just how much did the people here love the color white?' Navigating through the interconnected rooms of the Sarcoma Center, I finally discovered the source of the eerie bubbling sound.

In a completely sealed patient room at the very back of the Sarcoma Center, a massive water tank sat against the wall.

Its exterior was welded from pure iron. It stood two meters tall, and was three meters long and wide.

'What the hell is this thing used for?' The ceiling was two and a half meters above the floor, and the walls of the iron tank were two meters high. Standing outside it, I couldn't see what was inside at all.

'Forging such a massive iron tank in the deepest part of the patient room... This is too bizarre.' I pressed my ear against the edge of the tank, and this time, I could hear that strange noise with crystal clarity.

"Glug," "glug"...

It sounded exactly like a drowning person struggling desperately. They wanted to scream, but trapped in deep water, the moment they opened their mouth, the liquid rushed in, squeezing the air from their lungs.

The bubbles floated up and popped, creating those gurgling sounds.

After coming to that conclusion, I froze in place for a moment. 'Did someone actually fall into this giant iron tank? Impossible. This sound has been going on for a long time. If a living person really fell in, they would've drowned ages ago. How could they still be struggling?'

While I was deep in thought, that strange noise echoed from the tank again—and it was louder than any previous time.

With my hand resting on the metal, I could vaguely feel the tank vibrating.

'What exactly is in there? A living person? Or...' I casually turned my head, sweeping a glance over the malignant tumor diagrams on the wall. 'Why is this tank in the Sarcoma Center? Damn it, why does everything feel so off?'

The sound coming from the tank was a bit too loud this time. Afraid it might attract others, I didn't bother investigating further; instead, I backed out of the room first to leave myself an escape route.

But strangely enough, the moment I distanced myself from the iron tank, the bubbling noise immediately quieted down before slowly fading away entirely.

'Can whatever is inside the tank sense the presence of the living? Is it a living creature? That's impossible! This place has been abandoned for twenty years!'

The corridor remained terrifyingly silent. I didn't know if my mind was playing tricks on me, but a dark shadow seemed to sway within the hospital's emergency stairwell. By the time I tried to use my Judging Eye to get a better look, the shadow had completely vanished.

'This place is pure torture.' Staring at the massive iron tank, my curiosity only grew. I walked a full circle around it, but there was nowhere to climb. 'No handles, no seams, no doors or windows. What in the world is this iron tank used for?'

I dragged over a dilapidated chair, stepped onto it, grabbed the edge of the iron tank with both hands, and hoisted myself up to peer over the top.

'What a weird design.'

The top of the iron tank wasn't sealed shut. Half of it was covered by a sheet of iron, while the other half was completely missing, making it look like a shipping container with its top pried open.

As I observed it, that gurgling, bubbling sound started up again.

'Perfect time to catch you in the act. Let's see just what kind of monster you really are.' Straining my arms, I climbed onto the top of the tank. The iron sheet on the roof was flimsy, so I didn't dare put my full weight on it, terrified it would suddenly collapse and drop me straight into the container.

Shifting my body inch by inch, I poked my head out to peer into the unsealed opening.

It was pitch-black inside; I could only make out that it was filled to the brim with liquid.

'It should be water, right?' Up close, I could smell a faint, fishy stench. I didn't dare touch it carelessly. As I drew nearer to the surface of the water, that eerie bubbling sound grew louder and louder.

At first, the surface was placid, but moments later, I could clearly see bubbles erupting from the liquid—as if someone were breathing at the bottom of the tank!

The sight before me made me throw caution to the wind; my thirst for the truth overpowered all my fear.

'The Judging Eye alone isn't enough to pierce through this murky water and see what's underneath. I need some light.' Any source of illumination would be incredibly conspicuous in the dark. Turning on my phone's flashlight would very likely give away my position.

'Surely no one is passing by right at this exact moment.' I was a very decisive person. Once my mind was made up, I didn't hesitate. Pulling out my phone with one hand, I aimed it at the water.

The murky water, covered in a floating layer of grease, was briefly illuminated. My true qi surged, but before I even had time to look, a man's voice suddenly rang out from the doorway without warning!

"W-what are you doing?"

Cold sweat instantly soaked my back. My body went completely rigid in that split second. It took me about half a second to snap out of it; I immediately turned off my phone, only then daring to turn my head.

A strange man was standing at the entrance to the Sarcoma Center. He had a blocky nose and a skinny frame. But what drew the most attention was that one of his eyes was large and the other small. His entire face looked incredibly disproportionate and horribly ugly—like the bell ringer of Notre Dame.

'It isn't Gu Bei? Could this guy be the kidnapper?' Even as I assessed the man, he was assessing me in return.

But to my surprise, his eyes were overflowing with terror. His everted lips trembled uncontrollably, and he could barely speak straight. "Who are you? W-why are you here?"