"Linna, don't let anyone disturb me before I come out of the office!"

Then I came to the computer and hesitated several times.

Carol still decisively gave up "Ordinary and Great" and opened the full manuscript sent by Mr. A.

Even "The Ordinary and the Great" is not bad, but as Mr. A's most loyal reader, it is naturally not as good as Mr. A's new book "Shadow Empire".

He shouted out of the office, but didn't wait for an answer.

Carol turned her head again, and looked at the "Shadow Empire" on the computer in a hurry, which had been opened.

There was some excitement and excitement in his eyes.

"Shadow Empire" is finally finished, which means that he can see the ending of "Shadow Empire" today.

I couldn't bear to go directly to the place I had read before, and went directly to watch the finale of "Shadow Empire",

Carol still flipped through the pages and decided to read Mr. A's work in its entirety.

"Hoo ......"

With a long sigh, Carol tried to calm herself down before reading.

But the full content of Shadow Empire is right in front of you, and it's hard not to be excited.

But it's okay, Mr. A's words always easily pull him into the story,

Just like that, I started reading, and as the words in the text described, the story progressed,

Soon Carol's previous emotions were forgotten, and she was just immersed in them, and her emotions fluctuated with the plot.

……

"Shadow Empire" is a magical realism work with a somewhat absurd horror style.

At the beginning, the occasional disappearance of the shadow from Chang Mo introduces the story.

The progress of the story also makes people can't help but feel a little creepy.

previously

Chang Mo went to a psychiatric hospital to see a psychiatrist,

But the doctor's sudden change in his crazy appearance made Chang Mo not know if he had the problem.

Or the doctor in front of me also has a problem,

In the last of the doctor's resentful whispers,

Chang Mo fled the consultation room like crazy,

It wasn't until he ran to the door of the psychiatric hospital that Chang Mo hesitated and went back to the outpatient building of the hospital to get the medicine.

The bag contains the medicine,

Chang Mo pinched it with his hands, lowered his head, walked all the way out of the hospital, and walked along the road.

Didn't call a taxi, and even a little scared, and then met pedestrians on the road,

He was scared, and suddenly someone said something inexplicable to him,

It's like the cleaning in the morning, like the taxi driver at noon.

He didn't dare to raise his head, his eyes were always locked in the sun, shining on his own shadow,

He was terrified that at some point his shadow would disappear into thin air.

"Lad......"

I don't know how far I walked, but the shadow on the ground was still there.

Someone shouted on the side of the road.

Chang Mo paused, followed by burying his head, and then quickened his pace.

"Young man?"

The more the man shouted, the faster Chang Mo walked, and finally simply ran.

“…… What are you doing, it's like meeting a ghost......"

It was a shop on the street, and the owner of the shop was greeting customers along the street, looking at the clothes in his store.

Watching Chang Mo run away, a little inexplicable,

Shaking his head, he took the clothes in his hand, and turned his head to go back to the store.

It's just that at this time, the shopkeeper paused suddenly,

Then the expression on his face suddenly changed from helpless to fierce, with a gloomy look in his eyes.

“…… Made, a bunch of stinky idiots...... Don't buy Lao Tzu's clothes, do you......"

"Boss, why do you sell this dress......"

At this time, suddenly another passer-by paused at the door of the store and asked,

The shopkeeper with his back to the door of the store, the expression on his face changed visibly,

The fierce shadow is gone, replaced by a warm smile like a blowing wind,

"Eh, this one is, this one is cheap, sister, you take it and try it first, see if you are satisfied, and then talk about the price......"

……

On the other side, Chang Mo was in that shout, like a frightened bird,

The torment of the shadows these days has brought him to the brink of mental breakdown.

At this moment, as if he had a nervous breakdown, Chang Mo ran all the way out,

It wasn't until I was so tired and panting that I stopped.

"Whew...... Whoop......"

The lungs were exhaling heavily, and Chang Mo's eyes were wide open with red bloodshots, and they were red.

He raised his head, looked around, and then looked down at the shadows on the ground, looking back and forth with some suspicion.

Finally, he lowered his head and looked hesitantly at the medicine he was still holding in his hand.

Will this medicine be better if you take it......

The medicine was in a bottle, and Chang Mo reached out to unscrew the cap of the medicine bottle,

Just halfway through, Chang Mo paused again,

He remembered the mad and resentful appearance of the doctor before,

Remembering the doctor's last resentful whisper......

He didn't dare to eat it.

Just followed closely,

Chang Mo, who lowered his head, his pupils suddenly dilated, and his eyes widened a lot.

His shadow,

Gone again.

“…… What are you doing, young man! ”

Suddenly, a voice similar to a question sounded next to him.

Chang Mo opened his eyes and opened his mouth,

"Ah......h

Finally, he let out a voice like a wail,

His bloodshot eyes widened,

He looked up and saw that he was in the square,

But I saw this terrible picture in the square,

Everyone who passed by and stayed in the square suddenly had the same expression on the face of the doctor as before.

The old lady who was teasing her naughty grandson suddenly became gloomy on her face, and lifted her grandson up from the ground.

Not to be outdone, the grandson grinned with resentment on his face.

A man and a woman on the side of the road suddenly quarreled, the man had a cruel face and cursed in his mouth,

The woman's eyes were red, her face sank suddenly, and she reached out to pick at the man's eyes.

There was also a silent young man, whose face suddenly became unscrupulous, and his mouth was open and he kept saying filthy words.

Some people are crazy, some people are resentful, some people laugh sarcastically, and they do things that ordinary people don't do.

This absurd scene,

makes Chang Mo, who is already on the verge of collapse, unacceptable,

"Ah......h

There was another roar, and Chang Mo fell to the ground.

…… Chang Mo stood up from the ground, with a strange smile on his face, and unscrupulously laughed at these crazy and resentful people in the square.

……

This is a climax of the first part of "Shadow Empire".

In this section of the square, I often silently witness this crazy and absurd scene,

Carol, who watched it several times, still felt creepy.

Mr. ABC wrote in great detail about every detail of this square.

The picture in my mind becomes extraordinarily real and rich, and I can't erase it for a long time.

Seeing this again, Carol couldn't help but raise her head a little hairy,

Looking at the office where there was no one but him,

I looked at the shadow at my feet again and read again.

……

Further down, the story of "Shadow Empire" can be regarded as entering the middle stage.

The story is no longer carried out from the perspective of Chang Mo, but a different person.

This is a nurse in a psychiatric hospital.

It's the psychiatric hospital that Chang Mo went to before.

It is described in the article that this nurse also had a relationship with Chang Mo.

When Chang Mo went to the doctor's office, the nurse also pointed him in the direction.

The nurse's name is Hu Yan.

Hu Yan these days, she always feels that her work and life are a little strange.

In the house where she lives, when she wakes up every morning, some of the things that originally seemed to her

What should be in one place, suddenly appears in another place,

And she had no impression of that.

It's like a chair in the living room, she didn't move it until she went to bed last night,

But when I woke up, I saw that the chair was in the bedroom, and there was a dress on it that I don't know who it was.

made her wake up startled,

At that time, she suspected that someone had come into the house, and immediately called the police.

But before the police came, she had seen that there was no one else in the house but her.

But when the police came, the dress that had been draped over the seat was gone.

And that chair is just sitting in the living room.

It must be that I've been under too much pressure at work lately and hallucinating.

It must be too much mental pressure, it's fine.

Or is it that you suddenly have a sleepwalk?

Hu Yan couldn't help but think like this,

But when I went to the hospital, I found a doctor.

Working in a psychiatric hospital, she has seen too many people who have had severe hallucinations and don't know it.

She was afraid she would do the same.

A fellow doctor at the hospital prescribed some medicine to her.

Said it was some sleeping pills and tranquilizers, and told her to pay attention to rest.

Doctor, she's not very serious, just do it for the time being.

In addition, her head nurse actually approved her for several days of vacation to let her rest.

You know, there are not enough nurses in the hospital.

By the way, except for the inexplicable changes in the house,

Recently, colleagues in the hospital look at her and always look at her strangely,

The director of the medical department, as well as the director of the department, have been looking at her with a very strange gaze lately.

So did other colleagues.

These changes made Hu Yan feel that her mental state was very bad.

It doesn't feel like anywhere.

At night,

Hu Yan, who was resting at home, before going to bed,

She pressed the table in the living room against the door,

It gave her a sense of security.

If someone breaks in while she's sleeping,

So at least there is a sound, right?

Even she placed the chair in the living room on the table against the door.

In this way, she went back to the bedroom.

And the bedside table in the bedroom, against the bedroom door, lay down on the bed,

Then, she had insomnia.

In my mind,

Constantly thinking about the strange things in the house these days,

and a hospital colleague suddenly said strange things to her,

For example, a few days ago, she clearly remembered that after using the toilet before she went to bed, she buckled the toilet lid.

But when I woke up in the morning, I saw the toilet lid turned up.

In front of the toilet, there is something similar to urine,

At that time, she just thought that she might have forgotten that she had gotten up at night.

Other than that

The day before yesterday, the director of the department suddenly asked her if she wanted to go out to dinner together at night.

At that time, she was stunned, she had never had any friendship with the director of the department, and she had never had any private contacts.

This kind of thing has never happened, and the head of the department looks at her, which makes her extremely uncomfortable.

She frowned and left, but she didn't mention it to anyone else.

But today,

The little nurse who just came to the hospital, but she didn't know why, so she suddenly came over and asked her,

"I heard who's going to do that to the nurses?"

Then before Hu Yan could speak, the little nurse was scolded by the head nurse.

Now

Lying in bed and thinking about this,

The more she thought about it, the more Hu Yan couldn't sleep.

How so?

What's going on?

Hu Yan was unusually irritable, and even felt that her head was starting to hurt.

"Whirring ......"

Finally she gasped a few times and sat up from the bed,

Reach for the sleeping pills that were prescribed today by the bedside,

But before her hand could be stretched out, she froze,

"Whirring ......"

Behind her, suddenly there was a wheezing sound,

But in the bedroom room, there is no one else but her!

Hu Yan's hairs stood on end,

"Who, who's there!"

His neck stiffened a little, and he slowly turned his head and looked behind him.

But behind him, empty, nothing, only an empty bed, and a window with curtains drawn,

It's just that at this time, suddenly,

"Who, who's there!"

Behind Hu Yan's head, a voice sounded again,

His voice was frightened and trembling.

It's just that Hu Yan didn't dare to look back,

Because that voice was so familiar, exactly the same as hers.

……

“…… Head nurse, can you give me another two days off? ”

"It's been three days, why are you still resting?"

Dressed in some beautiful clothes, Hu Yan twisted her waist and hips, entered the head nurse's lounge, and said a little frivolously,

The head nurse frowned, a little unhappy.

"Huh...... The head nurse, you can give me two more days off, this is the head of the department, he said that I need to rest and rest. ”

Hu Yan gently clasped the nail art she had just done on her hand,

"Two days at most, if you want to take a vacation, you just don't come, I said!"

The head nurse frowned and said something more.

Hu Yan grinned, and then gradually laughed a little crazy.

The head nurse looked at it with a frown, but did not speak.

Hu Yancai left with a smile on her face.

The head nurse looked back and shook her head.

and then bury his head in the work in hand,

Just followed by the gradual stopping,

The head nurse slowly raised her head again,

A gloomy countenance appeared on his face,

"Stinky Bitch ......"

And then, as if nothing had happened,

Continuing to be busy with the things at hand,

It's just that on the ground, the shadow of the lamp disappeared for a moment.

……

"Hoo ......"

"Hoo ......"

The ground is in shambles, Hu Yan who woke up from her sleep,

panicked, tearing with his hands, his own manicure,

The nail piece of the nail art is very old and firm, and between the tears, blood flows down between Hu Yan's fingers, dripping down.

It's just that the pain didn't make Hu Yan stop.

She never did a manicure, especially after becoming a nurse.

The demands of the hospital, as well as her own desire to go, did not allow her to do such a thing on her own,

But when she woke up this morning, she saw the bright colors on her fingers,

On the ground next to it, there was a nail machine that I don't know where it came from, and it was scattered all over the ground with nail paint.

It's like someone smeared it while she's sleeping.

"Hoo ......"

Panting heavily, Hu Yan tore the solid nail piece on her finger a little frantically,

Tears are almost pouring out of my eyes,

"Hoo ......"

At this time, in the room, there was a heavy wheezing sound,

Hu Yan froze again,

Just now, the voice was not made by her.

"Ah......h

As if a little crazy, Hu Yan screamed,

Shouted heartbreakingly.

But, immediately after, another shout shouted,

"Ah......h

The voice was the same as hers, but it was extraordinarily frivolous,

It seemed to be mocking her.

This made Hu Yan even more frightened, and her eyes widened,

With bloody hands, go and twist the doorknob.

The doorknob opened as desired,

just opened the door, which made Hu Yan even more frightened,

The light that originally reflected from the bedroom reflected her shadow in front of her,

It's just that at this moment, she can't see her shadow in her eyes,

"Ah......h

Hu Yan collapsed and shouted like crazy.

……

“…… Hu Yan, the head nurse in the inpatient department has retired and is ready to be taken over by you. ”

"Congratulations, congratulations......"

Hu Yan was wearing makeup on her face, but she looked like she had just washed her face, and there were still one or two drops of water dripping down.

For the words of the head of the medical department, standing, a little lost and dejected, I don't know if I heard it.

"Everyone applauds......"

"Boom la la ......"

In the applause, Hu Yan walked towards the inpatient building like a walking corpse.

“…… Did you hear that? ”

"The old head nurse of the inpatient department was kind enough to take the night shift for the nurses under him, but I don't know what happened, and I was scared enough."

"Now people are still in a trance...... And he kept saying, 'Shadow', Shadow...... This one stepped down early. ”

"Eh, don't say it, it's scary."

Hearing the discussion of someone next to her, Hu Yan suddenly raised her head and opened her eyes wide.