At a glance, he found himself face-to-face with the doctor's twisted, deathly pale face!
He had no idea when this thing had come so close. It was already behind him, the tips of their shoes touching.
Its gray-white eyes were chillingly cold, and the grin at the corners of its mouth stretched wider and wider.
Then an icy hand seized his collar, almost lifting him clean off the ground.
But... to maintain his "mute" persona, Yu Qing held back a sound. Then he saw that grotesque face draw closer and closer, its mouth approaching his ear. Out of the corner of his eye, Yu Qing could almost see that gaping mouth split all the way to its ears.
The next second, a cold warning rang out: "Don't you dare bring my wife medicine!"
With that, crash-
Yu Qing was flung out of the room. His back slammed straight into the corridor's iron railing with a thud, leaving his whole body aching.
Wife? Was that nurse his wife? Or... the dead Xu Han's wife?
He was the one who had killed the real Xu Han and taken his place!
Yu Qing's hands kept shaking. Only after taking a moment to recover did he tentatively climb to his feet.
Ignoring the excited and concerned comments in his livestream, he faced the doctor's grotesque face head-on. After staring for a while, he suddenly asked casually, "What nonsense. Is she really your wife?"
The doctor gritted his teeth, as though Yu Qing had touched a sore spot. The hatred on his face intensified, and he even tried to come outside and grab Yu Qing again. But barely two steps later, he noticed that the bell on his wrist... wasn't ringing?
He shook it twice. It really wasn't ringing!
He had no choice but to turn around, shut the door, and hurry off to inspect it.
Only once the door closed and every terrifying sight vanished did Yu Qing stare down at his own hand and take a few shallow breaths. Enduring the fierce pain in his back, he stood up and struggled through the clinging cold to head downstairs.
The young nurse at the front desk looked up, clearly concerned about him. But once she saw him, she hastily averted her gaze and solemnly took out the last room key card. "S-sir, room 104. Your key card."
Perhaps because she moved a little too much, Yu Qing caught sight of something and heard two jingles. He realized... the young nurse also had a bell on her wrist, and hers rang too.
So he took the key card and asked conversationally, "I thought only patients had bells. Turns out you have one too."
"Y-yes, I do." The young nurse paused. On account of that bottle of medicine, she patiently explained to Yu Qing, "All the staff have them, and so does the director. The bells ward off ghosts. Once one stops ringing, ghosts will kill you at night."
"Huh? That sounds really dangerous." Yu Qing continued, "Then... do you have any spares? What if my bell breaks...?"
"No!" The young nurse grew agitated and immediately cut him off. "There aren't any extras. The bells mustn't break. If yours breaks... you're dead..."
As she spoke, her eyes gradually went vacant, as though she had remembered something utterly terrifying.
Oh. Yu Qing finally understood. So everyone has a bell. And if it breaks, they're... dead.
He cleared his throat and hurriedly offered a few comforting words before heading toward his room. Along the way, he showed his right palm to his thoroughly confused livestream audience.
Resting unmistakably in that beautiful palm was the clapper from a bell.
These traditional golden bells made their faint sounds when the clapper inside struck the outer shell. Now that he had pulled the clapper out, the bell would no longer ring.
Would. Not. Ring.
The bewildered livestream audience was slow to catch on. A full thirty seconds passed before the first viewer finally understood.
[Ahhhhh! I've got it! That male doctor had to shut the door and search because his bell was broken! He's afraid of dying too, so Qingqing was the one who broke his bell and even pulled out the clapper!]
[Qingqing was questioning the nurse to fish for information too, right? Ahhhhh, how is my wife this amazing? So-freaking-badass-]
[Holy shit, holy shit! I was too busy being scared! How did Yu Qing do it?]
[It must have been when he was grabbed by the collar! Qingqing used that mysterious Golden Needle to snap off the bell's clapper. My wife is so handsome. I love my wife so much, but...
Where exactly is that Golden Needle? Let me see it. Hehe, hehehe...]
Yu Qing held grudges. To cut off the male doctor's last hope completely, he deliberately put the bell's clapper into his system storage, where no one could find it.
He bought the medicine and walked toward his room. Just then, the sky outside suddenly clouded over.
Muffled thunder rolled, and the light around him dimmed. For some reason, an eerie chill gradually crept up his back, as though... something dead was staring at him.
Without blinking.
Before you continue