The Exorcism Began in America.

"Is that lucky guy awake yet?"

"Soon. A whole day has passed. According to the time, he should be able to open his eyes any moment now!"

"He really is lucky. So many branches, and yet none of them hit his artery..."

In a hazy state, a series of whispers intruded upon Staven's ears. The noisy voices made him somewhat irritable, and he subconsciously opened his eyes.

A bright room, the scent of disinfectant, the ticking of machines, and a faintly discernible sound of dripping water...

Am I in... the hospital?

Upon clearly seeing his surroundings, Staven's consciousness was still a bit hazy. He weakly moved his body, only to suddenly feel a sharp pain in his legs.

My legs...

The sudden jolt of pain considerably cleared his consciousness, and his sluggish brain suddenly kicked into gear.

Hospital... Kelly... Kelly!

The noise in the ward alerted the nurse outside, and a doctor quickly entered the room. After an examination, the doctor smiled and nodded at the awakened Staven.

"Mr. Staven, get plenty of rest. I believe you'll be able to stand up again very soon!"

The weak Staven, however, ignored the doctor's words. Instead, he grabbed the doctor's hand, asking with all his strength in a hoarse voice, "Kelly, where is Kelly?"

"Kelly?" The doctor looked puzzled at the nurse beside him.

"It's the other woman. She has already been sent to the funeral home!" the nurse whispered, clearly not wanting the person in the bed to hear this news.

But perhaps because he had just awakened, Staven's hearing was extremely sensitive. That very faint voice was distinctly heard by him.

"FUCK!"

Upon receiving this news, he felt as if he'd been struck by a blunt object, everything before him going dark.

"No, I can't stay here, I have to go! Let me out of here!"

"Sir, you can't move in your current condition!"

"No... let me go! Release me..."

Watching the man whose emotions suddenly changed dramatically, the doctor and nurses present were taken aback.

"Quick, get the restraints, sedatives!"

"Right!" a nurse responded.

Several nurses worked together to subdue the weak Staven on the hospital bed, quickly restraining him with the straps.

"No~"

As the sedative took effect, Staven, wanting to say something more, eventually lost consciousness.

Was that Kelly his girlfriend? He really is a lovesick man! one nurse thought.

Is that so? I heard from a friend at the police station that the woman was already married! another mused.

Ah?!

As the doctor and nurses left, all that remained in the ward was Staven's steady breathing and the sound of the medical equipment running.

Whether it was because of the chaos in the room just now or not, the heart monitor was ticking away. Its power cord had developed a crack at some point. Although it was still plugged in and didn't affect the instrument's operation, the several wires wrapped inside the power cord were clearly visible.

TICK-TOCK. TICK-TOCK.

The sound of dripping water from the ceiling gradually became clearer, and its pace was subtly increasing. Before long, a clear stream of water began to slowly flow down from the edge of the ceiling. Directly below the flow of water was right beside Staven's bed.

As time went by, second by second, the speed of the water flow increased. A few hours later, a large puddle of water had already accumulated on the floor of the ward. The area covered by the flowing water on the wall gradually expanded, unknowingly enveloping Staven's bedside as well. The trickling water began to moisten the head of the bed bit by bit, and crept along the bedding towards the entire hospital bed.

Unfortunately, the person lying in the bed had been injected with a highly effective sedative and could only lie there quietly, waiting for the situation to unfold.

「...」

"Hello, can you please check on a young man named Staven? He was brought here yesterday due to an accident!"

The nurse paused slightly upon hearing that name. "Staven? That poor guy? Uh... I'm very sorry!"

Looking at the somewhat embarrassed nurse, Monte waved his hand. "It's okay. I'm his classmate. I came here to visit him!"

"He's on the sixth floor, but you can't see him right now!" After glancing at the records on the computer, the nurse shook her head. "He just had an emotional outburst and was sedated by the doctor. He's still asleep!"

"Uh... when will he wake up?"

"Let me see... The sedative was injected this morning. Counting the time, he should wake up in an hour or two!"

"Alright, thank you!"

After bidding farewell to the nurse, Monte checked the time and decided to wait in the hospital for Staven to wake up. After getting up today, he didn't know why, but he had a feeling of anxiety. He had planned to wait in his car for a while but unexpectedly ran into the figure he'd been dreaming of at the entrance of the hospital.

Li Mi?

"Monte?! It's been such a long time!"

Looking at the girl's still beautiful face and her even more graceful figure, Monte seemed to have lost the power of speech for a moment, just staring at her.

Li Mi looked at the dazed man in front of her and felt very awkward. She had not expected to run into a former admirer here. But she didn't have time now to deal with this dumbstruck guy.

"Sorry, Monte, could you step aside? Mr. James needs medical assistance right now!"

"Ah? Oh... oh! Sure..."

Monte, subconsciously stepping aside from the door, could only watch helplessly as his goddess helped the familiar man into the hospital. He stared blankly for a moment before involuntarily following them.

「...」

Inside Staven's ward, the water had slowly started spreading towards the door. On the ceiling, already soaked by the water, several mice had appeared from nowhere. The accumulated water in front of them seemed not to affect the mice's intentions. Instead, they seemed startled by some unknown fear. The well-fed mice suddenly darted forwards, all of them crashing onto the same square section of the ceiling.

CRACK!

With a crisp sound, the already aged ceiling collapsed, along with the mice, all at once. The broken corner flashed ominously, striking precisely at the crack in the power cord.

"Going for a drink after work?"

"Not today; my boyfriend is coming over, you know..."

"Okay then! Guess I'll have to go alone... Oh—Xie Te! Has a water pipe burst somewhere?"

"This ward? The guy who was sedated in the morning, is he awake?"

The two nurses, who had just finished their work, immediately noticed the water spreading from the ward door. The slightly plumper nurse approached the ward door with curiosity.

"Let's go in and check. It might be a leak in the water pipe on the room's ceiling!"

One step, two steps, three steps... she advanced.

"Uh..." As soon as her feet touched the water, the plump nurse's body suddenly tensed.

THUD! She fell straight down onto the floor!