Almost in an instant, I made a decision, pulled the bed sheet off the bed in the corridor and threw it at Dong Quanming, then turned around and rushed towards the old man.
In the absence of any intelligence, I can only judge that the old man is less threatening than Dr. Dong.
Just as I was about to rush over to him, the old man pulled out something like a remote control from his white coat. After all, I worked at the Trace Research Institute, so I had some understanding of basic weaponry. I immediately pulled off another sheet, wrapped it around my arms, and rushed over to the old man.
It turned out to be a stun gun!
This thing had definitely been modified. The crackling sound of the electric sparks when it activated was much louder than a normal stun gun. The first stun gun pierced my hand, but it was blocked by the layers of sheets wrapped around it. I didn't feel like arguing with him about respecting the elderly and loving the young. I covered his head with a white cloth, twisted his wrist while he struggled, and aimed the stun gun at the old man's Adam's apple.
The crackling sound of electric sparks lasted for two seconds, and he lost all resistance.
I timed it in my head—five seconds.
The stun gun was in my hand. On the other side, Dong Quanming, whose vision was blocked by the bed sheet, would need at least five seconds to rush over to help his companions subdue me.
I need another five seconds. If I can delay for another five seconds, I can rush to the other side of the U-shaped corridor—
When we were little, we all played the same game at school: chasing each other around a pole. The chaser would go left, and the chased would go right. As long as we maintained this balance, theoretically, we would never be caught up.
The U-shaped ward building is nothing more than a huge "pillar" in the middle.
Dong Quanming was already charging towards me. My mind was frantically filtering through countless chaotic information—how many accomplices did he have? Were there any accomplices lurking among the patients on the makeshift beds lining the corridor? Where was Xu Tuo? Did he abandon me and run away, or was he also in trouble? What was going on with Qi Mengzhu? …
As I ran, I moved the makeshift beds on either side of the corridor to block his pursuit. The distance between us widened, and I successfully ran around the next U-shaped corner and disappeared from his sight.
Xu Tuo has not yet told me in detail the nature of this group. I can only vaguely understand them as a killer organization. Of course, this understanding is definitely not accurate.
Xu Tuo and Jackman both have fighting abilities, but what about the others? I just knocked the old man down. Was it just luck, or are there some among them who aren't good at fighting?
I found a hiding place and kept quiet. Soon, Dong Quanming climbed over the gurneys and chased after me.
He looked at the emergency exit on the left, and the door was still shaking slightly. From Dong Quanming's perspective, it looked like I had already escaped from this emergency exit.
Then he walked towards the emergency exit door.
——Success. As long as he is lured by that door and walks towards the emergency exit, my plan will be successful.
One step, two steps...
He stood at the door, looking through the glass toward the stairwell. Just when I thought he would open the door to check, he suddenly turned around and squatted, staring directly at me hiding under several cots.
"Are you planning to attack me while I'm heading for the emergency exit?" he asked.
"Yeah." I smiled.
The next second, I yanked back the line in my hand. It was a long, transparent rope, one end of which was tied into a slipknot in front of the emergency exit, and the other end was in my hand.
——This is an IV tube next to a hospital bed.
The transparent IV tube itself was thin and difficult to discern, and the corridor was dim. Dong Quanming didn't even notice that one of his feet was in the rope loop. In an instant, the IV tube was tightened around his ankle, and the liquid was flowing on the ground. Dong Quanming lost his balance and fell to the ground.
I immediately rushed out from under the bed and pushed the trolley hard towards him. With the sound of the wheels, the iron pipe at the foot of the bed hit his head, and he groaned. Just as I was about to hit him a second time, something unexpected happened.
——A person appeared behind me.
Before I even realized he was there, I was hit hard on the back of my head - when a person's head is hit hard, you can hear a very strange sound, not a "bang" sound, but a clanging sound like metal echoing in an empty room.
I fell down. My attacker walked over to me, dragging the iron rod along the ground with an unpleasant rustling sound.
The weapon used to attack me was an IV stand.
The back of my head was throbbing with pain from the blow. It was the first time I'd suffered such a severe injury, and my vision was shaken for a long time before it stabilized.
"Xiao Yu?" Dong Quanming looked at the guy in surprise, "Why are you awake? Did you receive the person I sent? That's great, I was worried about whether you would..."
Before he could finish his words, he was knocked to the ground by this person's punch. I could vaguely judge his age from his back. He was very young, maybe only 18 or 19 years old. He was wearing a leather jacket and leather pants covered with rivets, and there was a large, ferocious cobra tattoo on his exposed shoulder.
"So annoying." He whispered, "What's the use of you?"
"Don't worry, brother. Are you really okay?" Dong Quanming covered his face and climbed up, looking at the boy with concern. The man obviously didn't appreciate it, kicked him away, and walked over to my side.
I couldn't get up yet, my head felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead.
Judging from the shadow on the ground, the boy was holding the IV stand high, ready to hit me on the head again.
Hurry up and move!
I tried to move my body, but my head, shoulders, and neck were all numb. The swelling and pain in the back of my head became more intense, accompanied by sharp, sharp pains. I suspected a blood vessel had burst.
Get moving—just get under the bed first, at least you can protect your head...
...No, it's too late.
The shadow of the IV tube was like a guillotine striking at my head, and I had no way to dodge it.
However, what immediately struck me wasn't excruciating pain, but the sharp sound of shattering glass. Like a divine warrior, Xu Tuo burst through the window into the corridor, leaping towards the young man on a stretcher. A flash of cold light flashed in his hand. The young man had no choice but to abandon me and attack him instead.
Xu Tuo only had a dagger in his hand, but the IV stand was over a meter long. The iron rod swept across and hit Xu Tuo's right arm hard. Although Xu Tuo picked up a pillow from the bed next to him to block it, I could still hear the terrible sound of the limb being hit, and the dagger fell to the ground.
"I lured their juicers to the rooftop and dealt with them all at once." He actually had the leisure to explain to me at this moment. "Sorry, I left for a while."
The young man who had hit someone with the IV stand had a fierce look in his eyes, ready to strike again. He was certain that Xu Tuo didn't have any long weapons.
At this time, Xu Tuo let go of the pillow that served as a cushioning shield and grabbed his infusion stand with his backhand.
"How old are you?" Xu Tuo asked.
"Xiao Yu is 19 years old this year." It was Dong Quanming who answered him, still in that soft and gentle tone.
"Get out! Disgusting!" The boy called "Xiao Yu" turned around and glared at Dong Quanming fiercely.
Xu Tuo laughed: "At 19, he didn't know about the dangerous toys sold in the school shops now."
Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a very light "whoosh" sound, Xiaoyu let out a scream, covered his right eye and rolled to the ground; Xu Tuo held a very small black prop in his other hand, like a miniature crossbow.
"—a toothpick crossbow." He reloaded the tiny crossbow, only a few centimeters long, with its "crossbow bolts"—iron nails. "A while ago, some people were selling them near some schools, but they were later confiscated. Although it's small and doesn't have a long range, its power at close range is enough to penetrate a can. Selling it to unsuspecting children could easily lead to danger, don't you agree, Doctor Dong?"
Xiaoyu stood up, covering his bleeding right eye, looking even more horrified. Dong Quanming anxiously protected him: "Xiaoyu, how are you?!"
——His right eye was pierced by a nail, like a broken water balloon.
Xu Tuo ignored them and squatted down to check on me. "I thought you would just leave if you felt something was wrong. Why are you entangled with them? Are you afraid that I can't handle it?"
I was speechless. Xu Tuo picked me up and carefully placed me on the gurney next to him.
Xu Tuo had noticed something was amiss early on. The patients and their families on this floor, including the medical staff on duty, were all unconscious, and those who had just appeared in the office and at the nurses' desk seemed to be imposters.
We were like entering a dungeon and stepping into a pile of monsters. He suspected that the leader was Dong Quanming, and those imposters were probably "juice people" following Dong Quanming.
"Although I still don't understand what's going on..." He carried the IV stand and walked towards Xiaoyu, the boy who had lost his right eye. "Anyway, you two are here to deal with us, right?"
Dong Quanming and Xiaoyu looked at Xu Tuo warily. But Xu Tuo just shrugged and said, "Doctor Dong, go ahead."
"What?"
"I have no grudge against you. Just leave and pretend nothing happened." He swung the IV holder in his hand, tapping it gently on his palm. "As for this little brother, he can't leave. Adults have their own rules. If you hurt someone, the price you pay is more than just an eye."
"...Okay." The young man showed a bloody and ferocious smile and pulled out a tactical knife from his waist. "I didn't want to leave anyway."
At this moment, Dong Quanming's gentle voice sounded at an inopportune time.
"—No one can leave," he said. "Xu Tuo, you and Dai Xueming, neither of you can leave."
Xu Tuo sighed: "Doctor Dong, if you don't leave in ten minutes, you really don't have to leave."
"...I mean, you can't leave. No one's forcing you to stay, but you can't leave." Dong Quanming raised his head, a glint of compassion glimmering in his eyes, which had no murderous intent. "Everyone unconscious on this floor is our hostage, and we asked you to stay."
coma?
Xu Tuo and I were both briefly stunned. I grabbed the wrist of the patient in the bed next to me. He looked dead, not even breathing...
But, there is still a pulse.
Although it was very weak, the man still had a pulse.
Dong Quanming turned around and asked softly, "Xiaoyu, are you okay?"
"You're so annoying!" Xiaoyu covered her right eye and yelled at him, "What the hell are you trying to do?! Aren't we here to kill Xu Tuo and Dai Xueming?!"
"Don't be angry, Xiaoyu, don't be angry..." He frantically tried to coax the boy, which seemed a little funny in this atmosphere. "Haven't you always wanted...wanted someone to kill you? So brother just...I was afraid that Xu Tuo might not want to fight you...If that happens, he'll have to fight you, and he'll have to let you have your fun...Ah!"
An iron nail shot out from the toothpick crossbow and pierced his shoulder, but because of the distance, it only pierced his clothes a little. Xu Tuo was a little impatient: "Stop coaxing the child, explain it to me?"
Dong Quanming clutched his shoulder and remained silent for a moment. After a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief and faced us again.
"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Dong Quanming, but of course, I'm not the doctor here." He said, "This is Ji Yuyi, my younger brother. As for why our last names are different..."
"No one cares about that, let's get to the point." Xu Tuo's eyes were already dangerous. He particularly hated people who spoke and acted in a roundabout way.
"Xiao Yu has always wanted to meet someone who can kill him."
"Well, he has met it now. What next?"
"Please play with him until he's satisfied. Sorry for the inconvenience." He bowed politely. "Based on the extent of their poisoning, everyone on this floor will need approximately thirty to forty-five minutes to be resuscitated. When my brother is satisfied, I'll hand over the antidote. Otherwise..."
Otherwise, tomorrow's headlines would be all about the horrific murder case at the Fifth Municipal Hospital. The police investigation would be thorough and comprehensive, and suspicion would soon converge on Xu Tuo, leaving him with nowhere to hide.
"…" Xu Tuo was silent for a moment.
I asked, "...if...Xu Tuo kills Ji Yuyi, will you hand over the antidote?"
"Yes. That means he has fulfilled Xiaoyu's wish." Dong Quanming smiled with relief and looked at Xu Tuo expectantly.
After a long silence, Xu Tuo took a deep breath. He did not attack Ji Yuyi immediately, but made a "four" gesture towards Dong Quanming.
"-- Principle 4: Do not involve people who are not the target of the hunt unless necessary. Principle 7: Never intentionally lead the police to the hunter, regardless of the purpose." He said, "You violated two of them, and violated them very maliciously."
"Yes."
"Although I'm currently being hunted, I have the authority to report this to that person." He threw away the IV stand and picked up the combat knife again. "Forget it, let's deal with Ji Yuyi first."
"Wait, Xu Tuo, this rule is weird!" I called out to him, "Dong Quanming dared to do this because for some reason he was certain that Ji Yuyi wouldn't lose!"
"You should get some sleep and rest." Xu Tuo pulled up the quilt and covered me with it. "I've killed more people than you've eaten fried chicken."