The nurse sucked in a breath, even though she had no need for air, bloody hell, Dr. George had just confessed!!

    They had always harboured suspicions that Dr. George and the new honcho were having an affair, after witnessing their scandalous encounters and hearing the boss’s suggestive remarks. But Dr. George had always played it cool, acting as if he loathed the boss and everything they had witnessed was a simple misunderstanding.

    But he had just admitted it!!!

    He admitted he had risked his life for the Dean!!!

    Bloody hell… how on earth had she managed to ship the attending doctor and the patient, and it turned out to be true, bloody hell…

    Yu Xiao finished her speech and glared at the nurse, “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

    “Yes yes yes!” The nurse bobbed her head so fast it seemed like it would fall off.

    “Good, now sod off.” Yu Xiao reclined in her chair, her arms folded across her chest, “And bring me the next nurse.”

    The nurse hesitated for a moment, “Who?”

    “Whoever you fancy,” Yu Xiao said.

    The nurse scampered off eagerly, back to the nurses’ station. The other nurses swarmed around her, dying to know why Dr. George had called her.

    But she just stood there like a bloody statue, her eyes, once dull and lifeless, now burning with intense emotion. The other nurses were pulling their hair out, loathing her for being as expressive as a bloody log.

    “Hey,” the nurse gestured to another nurse, “Dr. George wants to see you.”

    The nurse gestured at: “???”

    Yu Xiao waited for a moment and picked another nurse.

    She continued her charade, convincing everyone at St. Elizabeth’s that George was madly in love with her.

    She kept this up until the afternoon, and by then, the whole hospital was buzzing with rumours about the Dean and the attending doctor.

    Yu Xiao felt pleased with her work and made her way back to the office, her body exhausted.

    As soon as the door opened, George looked up.

    He couldn’t believe his eyes…

    Because he was staring at himself!

    Yu Xiao shut the door, wearing George’s signature smirk as she gazed at him. “Good afternoon, George.”

    George was speechless. Yu Xiao walked past him slowly, then turned around to face him.

    They were identical in every way, from their clothes to their hair. If not for their different expressions, they could have been twins.

    Yu Xiao spread her arms slightly and twirled around. “How do I look?”

    George clenched his teeth and asked, “What have you done?”

    “Guess,” Yu Xiao lifted an eyebrow, “Let your imagination run wild.”

    A soft laugh escaped her lips as she eased into the dean’s chair, making herself comfortable. She tilted her head and smiled wickedly, “You once doubted my ability to drag you to the depths of hell. Do you still harbour such foolish thoughts?”

    George: “…”

    Yu Xiao: “Come on, take another guess. How do you suppose my staff views you now?”

    George: “…”

    Yu Xiao felt a surge of delight at George’s pained silence. That’s what you get for mocking and defying me. You think I can’t make your life a living nightmare? Watch me do it right here and now!

    “George,” Yu Xiao said, sounding almost sincere, “can’t we just get along? Why do you insist on being my enemy? I think I’ve been more than generous to you.”

    George couldn’t stand her smug face and her endless chatter. He wished he had never taken the job as the attending doctor at St. Elizabeth’s. He wished he had never crossed paths with this woman, this monster, who had trapped him in this hellhole.

    “I can see the regret in your eyes,” Yu Xiao said, savouring his misery, “I’ll give you one final opportunity to redeem yourself.”

    George tried to speak, but no words came out.

    Yu Xiao put a finger to her lips, “Shh, don’t be hasty.”

    She faded from the office, leaving behind a faint echo of her voice. “I’ll give you some time to ponder your fate,” she said.

    George stared at the spot where Yu Xiao had vanished, his face a mask of calm, but his lips a thin line of anger. He, George, the respected doctor of St. Elizabeth’s, was actually a prisoner?

    **

    Zhou Xiao Zhen and Zhao Lan sat across from each other in the ward of the Sixth Hospital, surrounded by a feast of mouthwatering dishes, but neither of them had picked up their chopsticks.

    “Ugh,” Zhou Xiao Zhen groaned, “I hope Smiley is okay. She didn’t go and pick a fight with George, did she?”

    “Relax,” Zhao Lan said, “Smiley knows better than to act rashly.”

    She tried to sound calm, but inside she was a bundle of nerves. George was the attending doctor, a cold and ruthless man who had no compassion or empathy. He had the power to harm Smiley, and he was only held back by the hospital rules. Unless Smiley provoked him first, then he would have no qualms about hurting her.

    Smiley was brave, but she was no match for George. He had even killed the former hospital Dean, who was bound to his domain.

    Where was Smiley now? Was she in trouble? Had she come back yet? Had George devoured her?

    Zhao Lan was lost in her worries when she saw a figure in a white coat appear in her room.

    “Ahhh!!!!”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen shrieked, “George is here in our ward!!!!”

    Zhao Lan jumped up, shielding Zhou Xiao Zhen, “George, what do you want? Where’s Smiley? Did you… did you eat her?”

    “Misty, Precious,” George begged, “Calm down, how could the attending doctor possibly show up in Ward 6?”

    “…Smiley?” Zhao Lan gasped.

    “It’s me.” Yu Xiao uncovered her true face, tossing aside her wig. “I forgot to change back when I came back.”

    “Smiley!” Zhou Xiao Zhen flung herself at Yu Xiao, hugging her neck, legs in the air, crying. “Waaah~… Smiley, I was so scared for you, waaah~…”

    “Don’t worry, I’m back.” Yu Xiao smiled, staggering a bit under Zhou Xiao Zhen’s weight, before she scanned the table full of food, licking her lips. “Perfect timing, I’m starving. Were you guys waiting for me to eat?”

    Zhao Lan handed her chopsticks, asking, “How did it go? Why did you turn into George?”

    Yu Xiao grabbed a chicken wing for herself, biting off the crunchy skin. “It’s a long story.” She said, chewing. “I didn’t have a good plan at first, but Precious gave me an idea of how to pull off the perfect crime. And the perfect crime, of course, is making someone else do it…Mnjum!”

    She quickly summarised her actions at Saint Elizabeth’s, then added, “I can’t log into the instances during this time, so I locked George in the office. To maintain the deception, I have to stay at Saint Elizabeth’s impersonating George until the inspection team shows up.”

    “Wow.” Zhou Xiao Zhen was impressed. “Smiley, your moves are truly… epic.”

    Zhao Lan was also shocked by Yu Xiao’s actions, unable to find words to express her feelings upon hearing about this incredible plan. Sёarch* The N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    “Smiley, you… George…” Zhao Lan sighed softly. “Anyway, I hope you can get through this safely.”

    “Hopefully,” Yu Xiao said, giving it her best shot. She had already locked up the attending doctor, what else could she do?

    She had spent days on end, running the damn instances until her fingers were numb and her eyes were sore. Getting a break from that madness was a relief, but also a drain.

    She nabbed a quick bite, then headed for the shower, ready to hit the sack.

    Zhou Xiao Zhen, on the other hand, was giddy with anticipation. She had witnessed Yu Xiao’s brilliant move, and it had filled her with awe. She wanted to scream it to the world, to brag about how amazing her partner Yu was.

    But she had to hold her tongue, not until they got out of the Sixth Hospital. Zhou Xiao Zhen felt like she was going to explode, especially when some jerk started trolling her on the forum. She didn’t back down, though. She rolled up her sleeves, clenched her fists, and engaged in a fierce debate.

    Yu Xiao had intended to draw some more talismans that night. After her shower, she thought she would check the forum for a while before calling it a night. But as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out cold.

    Her sleep was far from restful, though. It was a whirlwind of nightmares.

    One moment, she was running from Cthulhu, the next, she was hiding in every corner. All the doctors she had fooled were haunting her in her dreams, swearing to take revenge on her. Then she morphed into a Trojan horse, and had to endure a thousand stabs in ass to become human again…

    “Ding dong~!”

    Yu Xiao snapped open her eyes. She had slept for hours, but she felt anything but refreshed.

    Zhou Xiao Zhen was awake too, stretching in bed and rubbing her eyes. “Good morning~”

    Yu Xiao let out a half-hearted chuckle, curling up on her side in bed. The position was cozy, but she felt a twinge of pain in her back, probably from sleeping wrong last night.

    Zhao Lan chuckled too, “I can’t remember the last time I slept in. If it wasn’t for the morning news, I would stay in bed all day.”

    “Time to start this wonderful day. Here’s the hospital’s morning news~.”

    “The hospital inspection event will start tomorrow. All hospitals are expected to be ready…”

    “Yesterday, a large number of patients acted inappropriately, bothering medical staff during treatment, creating a serious problem. Our hospital’s management asks everyone to control themselves and act like civilised patients…”

    Yu Xiao: “…”

    She had spent the whole day at St. Elizabeth’s yesterday, and she had almost forgotten about anyone trying to impersonate her.. It seemed they had failed…

    “In a few days Lolita’s Amusement Park after renovation will open its gates again, inviting the curious and the thrill-seeking to explore its wonders…”

    “Recently, an attending doctor has demanded the right to choose their own patients. This request has been denied by the hospital administration. As doctors, we should heal without bias; every patient in the eyes of a doctor is the same…”

    “Yesterday, a patient nicknamed ‘Lord Fortunewood’ (沙福林大人) from First Hospital snapped and turned violent during treatment, badly hurting the attending doctor. The case has now been transferred to the hospital’s medical dispute office. Once more, we plead with everyone to stop attacking medical staff for no reason…”

    “Wow!” Zhou Xiao Zhen gasped, her eyes wide with shock. “To thrash the attending doctor like that, that’s freaking awesome!”

    Zhao Lan shook her head, her voice tinged with disbelief. “I’ve never heard anything about First Hospital before. It seems like a low-key place, but the patients there are something else. Who knows how long they’ve been locked up there. To have the guts and the strength to take down the attending doctor, that’s…”

    Zhao Lan trailed off, her mind buzzing with ideas, while Yu Xiao remembered what Luo Jin had said about the patients at that hospital.

    That hospital, hmm, it must be a hell of a place. Qiao Qiao from St. Elizabeth’s had said she had been there for forty years already. So, what about that hospital? Had it been around for that long too?