Chapter 23: Safety Passage

A cold, slippery sensation washed over him.

Fang Xiu relived his previous ordeal, but all his choices remained the same as before.

Kill Prince Teng Wu Dahuai, awaken his spiritual essence, and seize the scalpel.

The scalpel was something he could never abandon—a blade capable of slicing through countless bizarre entities, paired with the power of agony, making it a one-hit kill!

The scalpel breaks through defenses, and the power of agony delivers the fatal blow—a perfect combination!

Even if it meant angering the female physician and disrupting the killing pattern, he was willing to risk it.

This time, however, he chose the northern door to escape.

The north side had an elevator that could still be activated, but the elevator's startup speed was too slow. As the elevator was about to close, a pale hand reached out from within, and Fang Xiu was finished!

South side!

The south side was the operating room, in complete chaos, with medical instruments crushed into pieces by immense force, and dark bloodstains everywhere.

And it was a dead end!

Fang Xiu was finished!

Finally, only the eastern door remained.

If this door offered no escape, Fang Xiu would have to abandon the scalpel he had obtained.

However, fortunately, the eastern door was indeed an escape route!

It was a long corridor, with a public restroom on one side, and three branching paths extending further ahead—one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead.

Upon seeing the restroom, Fang Xiu immediately recalled the scene from the mental hospital he had previously traversed.

The reason the memory was so vivid was that he had only seen this restroom in the mental hospital. At the time, he had walked through the restroom toward the left and seen a sign.

It read [Emergency Exit]!

Just like in shopping malls, schools, and hospitals, there is an emergency exit with a sign.

Although he didn't know if the emergency exit in the mental hospital was safe, he had no choice but to try it!

He sprinted toward the emergency exit with all his might, but by the time he reached the public restroom, he was caught and killed by the female doctor.

Could he only give up the scalpel?

Fang Xiu quickly dismissed that thought.

Though the female doctor was far faster than him, he could use the multiple death resets to predict her attack patterns.

If used properly, death resets could, to some extent, be like foretelling the future!

...

The ninth death reset.

"Go east!"

In the hall, Fang Xiu didn't hesitate for a moment, leading Zhao Hao directly into the eastern door.

As for the two colleagues hiding behind the stone pillars, they weren't stupid either; they hurried out and followed them into the eastern door.

After entering the eastern door, inhuman screams echoed, and the ceiling shook violently.

"Ah!" x3!

Amidst the screams of Zhao Hao and the others, the female doctor appeared on the ceiling.

The three of them were terrified, frantically pushing and running, afraid of being the last one.

However, the female doctor flew directly over their heads and charged toward Fang Xiu.

At that moment, Fang Xiu was running without looking back.

Zhao Hao was instantly startled: "Xiu Ge, hurry..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he froze in shock, for the next moment, he witnessed a scene of divine skill.

It seemed as though Fang Xiu had eyes on his back. The female doctor on the ceiling reached out her large hand and fiercely grabbed for his head.

Fang Xiu seemed to have anticipated this, slightly tilting his head, and the pale, eerie hand narrowly missed his scalp.

Missing the first strike, the female physician immediately reached back, accompanied by a howling wind.

But Fang Xiu ducked again and dodged it.

Then came the third strike, the fourth strike, the fifth strike.

The female doctor's hand had almost become a blur as she continued to attack, but Fang Xiu always managed to dodge with ease and narrowly escape.

Finally, the female doctor grew furious. Her entire body plunged down from the ceiling, resembling a giant humanoid spider.

However, just before she landed, Fang Xiu stumbled, as if tripped by something, his body suddenly leaning forward.

Using the momentum of his forward lean, his speed slightly increased, but his posture was extremely unstable, as if he were about to fall at any moment.

And so, he did fall.

But even after falling, his speed did not slow down, and he rolled to the left passageway like a donkey.

Bang!

The spot where he had just fallen was crushed into a deep pit, and it was the female doctor.

She had missed her target and, even more enraged, followed him into the left passageway.

Zhao Hao and the others were stunned, feeling dizzy and unable to keep up with the action. Fang Xiu had effortlessly dodged several attacks.

Is this what a Spirit Tamer is like?

Zhao Hao felt a mix of admiration and longing. Who doesn't dream of being extraordinary?

But Zhao Hao didn't know that this wasn't a Spirit Tamer, and Fang Xiu wasn't as effortless as he seemed.

This was a feat he had achieved only after dying nine times.

At the left-hand corridor, Fang Xiu finally spotted the safety corridor sign emitting a faint green glow.

This was the first time he had seen the sign since his nine deaths and respawns.

He didn't know how to avoid it next, and expected to die a few more times.

But then, an eerie scene unfolded.

The female doctor who had just entered the left corridor suddenly let out a piercing scream upon seeing the sign.

The sound was filled with terror, fear, and trembling.

After the scream, the female doctor abruptly turned around and fled like a ghostly figure.

Fang Xiu immediately stopped in his tracks, furrowing his brows.

The female doctor's escape did not bring him any joy, but rather made him feel even more solemn.

Why did she run away after seeing the sign?

It could only mean that there was something here that even the female doctor was afraid of.

Fang Xiu looked at the sign with a frown. Behind the sign was a passageway, and the light in the passageway was very dim, relying entirely on the sign for illumination.

However, the iron door at the end of the tunnel could be vaguely seen.

According to normal logic, the door behind it was the way out.

At that moment, Zhao Hao and the others ran over.

"Brother Xiu, are you okay? Why did that strange thing run away?" Zhao Hao asked with concern.

Fang Xiu shook his head, indicating that he was fine.

The other two looked thrilled.

"This is the safe passage!"

"The way out must be here!"

They wanted to hurry on, but they weren't fools. Seeing that Fang Xiu wasn't moving, they naturally wouldn't be so foolish as to go ahead and explore the path.

"Fang Xiu, why aren't you moving? Is there something wrong with this path?"

"Let's rest for a moment before continuing."

After saying that, Fang Xiu sat down on the spot and closed his eyes to meditate.

He was waiting for his spiritual energy to recover.

Even the female physician had been scared away, and he couldn't even defeat her, so he had to wait for his spiritual energy to recover before attempting to probe further.

Zhao Hao looked at Fang Xiu, who was resting with his eyes closed, and couldn't help but exchange glances with the others.

He felt helpless, but there was nothing he could do, so he could only rest.

They did indeed need to rest. From the time the诡域 appeared until now, it had only been a few minutes, and during those few minutes, they had been running at full speed, their hearts pounding with fear.

As office workers, their physical strength had already been severely depleted. This sudden rest left them feeling faint and weak.

Half an hour later, Fang Xiu suddenly opened his eyes and sat up abruptly.

His sudden movement startled the three of them.