Zhang Yuxiu, tears streaming down her face, laid her body flat, personally closed her eyes, and covered her corpse with a white sheet.
"Sister Tian Qier, may you rest in peace. If I can leave here alive, this sister will surely choose the best burial spot for you." Her clothes were already soaked with tears.
"I hope Teacher Duan returns quickly, Mi Xueer, you must be alright!" Qin Ze clutched the copper coin, praying.
Suddenly, faint footsteps echoed from the hallway.
"!!"
The nurses turned ashen with fright and immediately huddled behind Qin Ze.
Qin Ze swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest.
If another sea monster appeared...
Everyone held their breath, not daring to exhale.
Following closely, a bride in a fiery red gown appeared at the doorway.
Zhang Yuxiu, with her sharp eyes, recognized the face and cried out in delight:
"It's Hong Ying!! Sir Duan is back!"
When Duan Chen and Mi Xueer returned to the ward, Qin Ze's eyes lit up.
Ding Ding knew the tide had turned and she had nowhere to escape. She looked at Duan Chen pitifully, attempting to seduce him with her beauty, but was completely ignored by Duan Chen.
After understanding the situation, Duan Chen patted Qin Ze's shoulder.
"You did well, but next time, avoid using words with strong rules like 'life' or 'death'. Ding Ding is a newly awakened sea monster, her strength is about the same as yours. If your coin had landed on 'Yes', you would likely have been backlashed by the rule force and lost your life."
Qin Ze suddenly realized and scratched his head sheepishly.
"Yes, Teacher Duan, I was too panicked at the time."
Duan Chen understood him. A young master who had probably never even killed a fish, but had the courage to confront a sea monster, was already an improvement.
"Next time, you might try words like 'fall' or 'dazzle'. As long as you can momentarily distract the enemy, you'll have an opening to attack.
Of course, this applies to opponents of similar strength.
If you find an opponent too strong, or if they are cautious by nature, never expose your abilities easily. They might not give you time to flip a coin."
Duan Chen explained patiently, and Qin Ze listened with sparkling eyes, afraid of missing a single word.
Qin Ze thought to himself that Teacher Duan was truly amazing. Not only had he saved his life with those magical beans, but he also meticulously helped him review the situation. Under his guidance, his understanding and application of his abilities had indeed deepened significantly.
Duan Chen suddenly flashed a mischievous smile and said,
"Sometimes, you don't necessarily have to attack head-on. Next time, you can try keywords like 'urge to defecate' or 'need to urinate'. The rule damage is not high, and the backlash is small, but the effect is surprisingly good.
Imagine during a fierce battle, the opponent suddenly feels an unbearable abdominal pain and needs to take care of business. How much will they have left to fight?"
"So it can be used like this, Teacher Duan, you are so insidious... ah no, I mean, Teacher Duan, you are so clever!"
Qin Ze suddenly understood, as if a new world had opened up to him.
"The world only praises the victor; they don't care about the methods you used. Remember this, surviving is the most important thing. Whether the fight is cool or the moves are flashy, those are secondary."
"What about you, Teacher Duan? Is your primary condition also to survive?"
"Kid, from the day I joined the Spirit Hunter Guild, I was prepared to offer my heart to protect the billions of ordinary people in this world. I might not be able to save everyone, but as long as I can save one more person, as long as there's a sliver of hope, I will risk my life for them... This is the duty of an agent.
You are still young; you don't need to carry such a heavy responsibility."
Qin Ze nodded thoughtfully, looking at Duan Chen with even greater admiration.
He felt Duan Chen was the greatest person he had ever met, far greater than the powerful and influential people around his father.
However, how could he establish a secular relationship with Teacher Duan?
Qin Ze was truly troubled. How could he give Teacher Duan the ten million in his pocket without being rejected again?
As they spoke, Duan Chen walked towards the door.
"Teacher Duan, are you going to find the array core? I can help scout." Qin Ze chased after him.
After all, this kind of thing was easy the first time, and even more so the second.
Duan Chen stood in the corridor, looking at the ghost-faced monsters flying all over the sky. Just as he was pondering where to start searching this vast hospital, the stinging sensation in his eye returned.
It was more intense than ever before!
He clutched his left eye, curling up in pain.
"Teacher Duan? What's wrong?"
Suddenly! A bizarre spiritual energy finally broke through the confinement, imprinting a complex and ancient pattern on his left pupil.
The pain quickly subsided. Duan Chen closed his eyes, then opened them again. A holy white light emanated from his pupils.
The floating white figure transformed into a burning white dot, and the entire hospital became transparent, with all life forms within it manifesting as spiritual spheres.
He was like God, his perspective ascending, continuously ascending...
Then he broke free of the hospital, looking down upon the entire airspace!
Overlooking—seeing the whole picture.
Sacred Heart Hospital appeared like a three-dimensional structural diagram, densely packed with white spiritual spheres. Only a few rooms glowed with red spheres, indicating unawakened red-clad brides. Golden spheres represented humans, some gathered, some scattered and hiding. There were also many dark gray spheres, likely corpses.
Duan Chen rejoiced. After a series of heavy blows, he had actually comprehended a new pupil technique.
The Eye of God.
A black sphere, like a spring's eye, appeared in his vision, very close to his current position, separated only by a few walls—
Ward 202!
Duan Chen abruptly withdrew from the Eye of God state, startling Qin Ze beside him.
"Teacher Duan, what's wrong? Did your soul leave your body?"
"Found the array core."
Duan Chen rushed towards Ward 202.
In the bloody and chaotic room, the fruit basket still rested quietly on the bedside table.
It was the fruit basket brought by Gao Tiankai.
Duan Chen picked up the fruit basket and smashed it onto the floor. Apples rolled everywhere, and among them, a small hourglass fell out, its black fine sand slowly trickling down.
Duan Chen shot and shattered it, the fine sand scattering across the floor before dissipating into a wisp of black smoke.
The terrifying domain that had enveloped the hospital finally receded. Hong Ying lightly nodded and bowed, her figure disappearing along with the airspace.
Mi Xueer gently touched the necklace on her neck: "Dad, it's all over now, you were protecting me, weren't you..."
"We're saved?" The nurses were overjoyed, embracing and weeping.
The dead were forever dead; lost companions would not open their eyes again.
"We survived!" Zhang Yuxiu wiped away her tears and turned to look at Tian Qi.
"Ah!!" She gasped sharply.
Ding Ding, who was tied up in the corner, had vanished. Tian Qi's corpse was also gone, leaving only a pile of broken ropes and cloth strips at the scene.
The wail of ambulances sounded as the injured were transferred to other hospitals for treatment, and the deceased were taken away by relevant departments.
It was preliminarily estimated that over a hundred people died at Sacred Heart Hospital, making it the largest casualty event in Sucheng in recent years.
The disappearance of Tian Qi and Ding Ding was specially noted by the Spirit Hunter Guild.
The identity of the little boy playing with the duck was also confirmed—
Zhong Nao Nao, only 5 years old and still attending kindergarten. His parents collapsed and cried at the scene, their grief earth-shattering.
Duan Chen reached into his pocket for his cigarette case but suddenly remembered he had none left.
He only pulled out the lighter.
Cold, blinding.