"Let's go look for clues in Room 24," Ye Chu said, already stepping away.
Li Jiayi, who had been huddling behind the counter all this time, suddenly jumped out at his words. Her withered hand seized Ye Chu's sleeve as she shook her head desperately.
"No... Twenty-four..."
A few broken syllables escaped her throat. Ye Chu could barely make out what she meant-don't go to Room 24.
Why?
What was in Room 24 that made Li Jiayi react so strongly?
Ye Chu pulled his sleeve from Li Jiayi's grip and gave her shoulder a reassuring pat.
Though the sight of a human comforting a ghost did look rather bizarre.
Li Jiayi shook her head even harder, like a rattle drum spinning out of control. With a plop, her head fell to the floor.
Ye Chu: ...
[Please remember, everyone, this is a horror variety show.]
[I'm dying hahahahaha. Why is this NPC girl so ditzy? Hahaha.]
[Look at Ye Chu's face! He's stunned hahaha.]
Her headless body crouched down and groped around on the floor, trying to find her head. Ye Chu picked it up and carefully placed it in Li Jiayi's hands.
Li Jiayi felt it over, confirmed it was her own head, then slowly lifted it and set it back on her neck.
Having just shaken her head off, she was more careful this time, holding it in place with both hands. "No... Don't go..."
Seeing how stubborn Li Jiayi was, seemingly determined to stop them at all costs unless they agreed, Pei Yanchuan tried a different approach. "We won't go inside. Can we just listen to them talking from outside the door?"
The female ghost froze. It took her over ten seconds to understand what he meant before she slowly nodded.
The three men and the ghost went upstairs again. At the door to Room 24, Pei Yanchuan pressed his ear against it and listened carefully to the sounds inside.
He heard a little boy's timid voice. "Dad, where's Mom?" From his voice, he sounded about eight or nine.
Then came Tian Fuguo's voice. "Your mom? Hah, your mom doesn't want you anymore! Why are you still thinking about that bitch?!"
Tian Fuguo suddenly raised his voice, badly frightening the boy.
When Tian Guangzong spoke again, his voice was thick with tears. "I miss Mom. I miss my little sister..."
The three men outside exchanged glances. There was another child.
Tian Fuguo slammed the table. "Cry! All you do is cry! You're just as useless as your mom and your sister! I told you, your mom doesn't want you anymore. She ran off with your sister! What the hell's the point of missing them?!!"
Tian Guangzong no longer dared to cry aloud. Hurt, he said, "Mom didn't abandon me. Mom was really good to me."
Tian Fuguo snorted. "Hah, good to you? If she was good to you, she should've fucking stayed with me! Given you a little brother instead of a useless daughter! And all she fucking thought about was running away!" He spat viciously on the floor.
He continued cursing. "I didn't even blame her for giving me a daughter, and she still complained I treated her badly? Tell me, did I treat her badly? I fed her and clothed her. Wasn't that good enough?"
Pei Yanchuan clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked. What a worthless, son-preferring bastard.
He was young, only eighteen, still at the age when he couldn't let injustice pass without speaking up. Before anyone around him could react, he had already kicked the door open with a bang.
Tian Fuguo had still been waving a finger in the air as he cursed. At the noise and the sight of Pei Yanchuan, his expression instantly changed.
"You... You..."
"Me, me, me. What about me? Got a problem with me opening a door?" Pei Yanchuan had round eyes, but when he wasn't smiling, he looked fierce nonetheless.
Cowardly now, Tian Fuguo silently sat beside his son's hospital bed and said nothing more. His eyes, however, still glared maliciously at the three strangers.
Ye Chu and Su Fengzi followed Pei Yanchuan inside. There had to be more clues in this room.
Li Jiayi had failed to stop them. Now she was curled up on a chair beside the doorway, trembling.
Ye Chu frowned. Why was Li Jiayi so afraid of Room 24?
Or rather... afraid of Tian Fuguo?
Nobody spoke in the ward. An eerie silence settled over it, broken only by their breathing.
"Mom!" A child's clear, delighted cry shattered the silence as Tian Guangzong suddenly called out in excitement.
Tian Fuguo immediately jumped up at that word, turning his head to look around. His voice trembled involuntarily. "What mom?!"
The little boy on the bed tilted his head, looking confused, and pointed beside Tian Fuguo. "Mom's right beside you, Dad. Can't you see her?"
Tian Fuguo immediately looked all around. Seeing nothing but his son and three unfamiliar men, he cursed shakily, "Stop talking nonsense! Your mom ran away ages ago!"
But Tian Guangzong smiled happily. "Mom didn't leave. She's beside the cabinet door. She's even smiling at me!" The little boy began clapping joyfully.
Tian Fuguo felt the air around him grow colder, as though he had been submerged in cold water, freezing and unable to breathe.
The air grew thick and clammy. Ye Chu also found it difficult to breathe.
Cold sweat poured down Tian Fuguo's body as he shook his head frantically. "It's over. She's come for me... She's come for me..."
With a creak, the cabinet door suddenly opened on its own. A female ghost crawled out, her long hair hanging loose and all four limbs planted on the ground like a spider's. A group of similar figures followed behind her.
"!!" Horrified at the sight of the ghost, Tian Fuguo scooped up his son and ran outside, shouting as he fled, "Don't come for me! Don't come for me!!"
The female ghost tilted her head at an unnatural angle and looked at the other three men in the room. Her pupils were completely black, like black holes.
"Run!" Pei Yanchuan barked, grabbing Ye Chu's wrist and racing out the door.
Once outside, Su Fengzi slammed the door shut with a bang. The lock clicked into place, and blows began raining against the glass like a rapid drumbeat.
Through the glass, the woman's eyes remained fixed on them. She opened her blood-red maw, her long nails scraping the glass with an ear-piercing screech.
They didn't stop to catch their breath until they reached the first-floor lobby. Su Fengzi rubbed his chest. "What's going on now?"
According to Tian Guangzong, that woman was his mother, but Tian Fuguo had said his mother had run away.
Why had Tian Guangzong's mother become a vengeful ghost?
"This hospital has four floors. We've been to the first and second. What's on the third and fourth?" Su Fengzi asked.
Li Jiayi answered in her broken voice, "Third... checkups... Fourth... morgue..."
Su Fengzi had dragged her along when they fled, grabbing her clothes and running. Li Jiayi already spoke slowly, and now that she was out of breath from running, speaking was even harder.
The three men before her seemed to have stopped treating her as a ghost entirely.
The thought made Li Jiayi feel a little happy.
"All right, let's go to the third floor first." Ye Chu headed toward the elevator as he spoke.
When they reached the elevator, they suddenly spotted two familiar figures-Wu You and Lu Rui.
[Ahhh, it's been so long since we last saw these two girls!]
[The squad's together! Three, two, one, engage!]
The two women had clearly noticed them too and waved.
1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 had finally reunited.
Looking at the little girl hiding behind Lu Rui, Ye Chu asked, "Who's this little girl?"
Lu Rui spoke at the same time. "Why do you have a ghost tagging along?" Then she answered Ye Chu's question. "This little girl was in my house when I woke up. She said her name was
"Tian Yatou."
Before you continue