251 Bloody Words on the Wall

Shen Haoxuan’s phone was confiscated when the people from the disease control centre came yesterday. Even if it was not, the young man was too weak to play with it anymore. Since he was hospitalized, his fever had not abated, and the constant coughing meant that he could not have a good sleep. He woke up with sores all over his body.

“Is that an alarm…” Drifting in and out of sleep, Shen Haoxuan believed he heard a siren coming from outside, it sounded like he was in a video game…

He peeled open his eyelids. He was still the only one inside the spacious room. The plastic pail that was placed beside his bed for his vomiting stink badly. ‘How come no one has come to clean it yet? When was the last time any nurse has been in here? It must have several hours already…’ Shen Haoxuan’s stomach churned from the horrible smell. His throat felt parched. He saw the water glass on the bedside table but he was too weak to even reach for it. He used every last ounce of energy he had to press at the service bell by his bed. “Nurse, nurse…” But no nurse or doctor answered his call.

Coughs echoed outside the corridor. It was mixed with screaming, and hurrying footsteps. The hospital appeared to be crowded but no one seemed to hear his call for help.

“Can someone hear me…?” Shen Haoxuan wished to reach for the bell again but his arm was too sore to even move. The exertion caused the young man to cough again. He gagged as a ball of unknown substance flew out from his mouth and landed on his patient’s garb. Sharp pain gripped his chest and he had trouble breathing. It felt like his lungs or his heart was breaking. The ball on his garb consisted of blood, brown phlegm and rotten tissue mixed together. It reminded him of the excretion hacked out by the uncle on the bus, but somehow this looked much more disgusting. Shen Haoxuan was disgusted by it but his body was too weak to swat it away. Surveying the emptiness around him, the young man was overwhelmed by fear. ‘Am, am I going to die… No, I still have my university degree to get, I don’t want to die yet…’ Desperation fuelled his action, Shen Haoxuan found the energy to reach for the service bell again. “Nurse, nurse… Cough… Doctor Huang… Is anyone there…”

…

After the coughing started that morning, Huang Lin was assigned an individual sickroom. When she did her consultation round, she did not take off her mask. In fact, she added 3 extra plies but that was not enough. She appeared to be infected nonetheless. 3 hours later, the ‘appeared to be’ was confirmed. Her temperature started to rise and her coughing became more violent. Huang Guoxin’s condition confirmed that antibiotics like akicillin and aminoglycosides meant for common pneumonia were useless.

He Feng was assigned a single room. He had no idea whether everything that they had done was meaningful or not. His understanding of viral pathology drained his hope. ’34 hours from infection to death and no known drugs are effective? How will such an epidemic be contained?’ He thought as powerlessness overwhelmed him. A grey thought crossed his mind… lockdown, abandon and destroy the infected area. Do not let anyone in and do not let anyone out…

But he knew that was not possible. Just the thought of his 7 year old daughter made his heart wince in pain. His daughter, wife and his parents were in the infected area. Therefore, he had to latch onto any shred of hope. His superior told him on the phone that the government had already sent over a secret service unit. This secret unit had settled many problematic cases in the past. As the alarm rang, He Fang saw people in military grade gear walk into his room.

“Leader He, please press your hand on this stone and try to envision the imprint on it in your mind. See if it has any use.” This middle-aged man who introduced himself as Doctor Luo suggested. He Feng did as instructed but nothing happened. Doctor Luo made other attempts but it was all to no avail. He Feng had no idea what was happening but seeing the grim expression on Doctor Luo’s face after everything was said and done, he knew these people sent by the government couldn’t do anything either…

“I wish to make a phone call.” He Feng walked to the side. While he still had some energy left, he wanted to call home.

“Daddy, the siren is very loud.” Niu Niu’s young voice came through the phone, “Is there an earthquake? But I don’t feel anything.”

“It’s not an earthquake, it’s just a drill, don’t be scared…” He Feng said gently and tried his best to stop the urge to cough. “Mummy is there with you, right?”

“But daddy, cough…” Niu Niu suddenly started to cough, it made her voice sound hoarse. “When will you come back home?”

try { window._mNHandle.queue.push(function () { window._mNDetails.loadTag("386623558", "300x250", "386623558"); }); } catch (error) { }

Hearing that, He Feng’s face turned ashen white.

…

On the wall by the mouth of the stairs, there was a bloody message written in the foreign language. It appeared to be painted with bloody phlegm. It trailed up alongside the staircase.

“The fruits of darkness sprouts, shrouded by the darkness of the trenches. The parasites of death will live with the Heavens and Earth forever.”

1

…

The income from Webnovel is so low that the company has hinted for me to drop the book.

However, I will continue the translation thanks to your donation. I suffer from anxiety disorder so your donation will go towards footing my monthly medical bill.

Thank you so much for your continued support. This project won’t be possible without you.