"How did you receive all these letters?"
"When I got home from work, they were all stuffed into the door." Xiang Nuan's mother hadn't yet realized the gravity of the situation. She held the cardboard box in her arms, thinking it was just some prank. "I was startled by so many envelopes too. I wanted to ask the neighbors, but nobody was willing to talk about it."
"Of course they wouldn't tell you — because they're the ones who sent them."
"But why would they do that?" The tone in Xiang Nuan's mother's voice shifted. "I'll go confront them. If they really want me and Xiang Nuan gone, we can move."
"And what if they want Xiang Nuan dead?" Chen Ge didn't touch the box full of envelopes. He spoke with deadly seriousness.
"Dead?" Xiang Nuan's mother drew a sharp breath. She hadn't expected Chen Ge to use such an extreme word. "Impossible. They're all neighbors — no matter how much friction there is, it wouldn't go that far."
"That's what I used to think too, a long time ago. But after certain experiences, I gradually changed my view. Human nature is complicated. Behind a layer of skin, you can never truly guess what someone is really thinking." Chen Ge's voice was low, just slightly unsettling. "Every death notice in that box represents malice and a curse. Xiang Nuan's sudden episodes may very well be connected to them."
"Then I'll go burn every last one of those letters."
"It won't help." Chen Ge knew full well that the curse of the Unsmiling would never disappear just because the envelopes were burned. By the time that letter had been stuffed into the door of Xiang Nuan's home, the curse had likely already taken hold. "Tonight is going to be very hard to get through."
Seeing so many envelopes, Chen Ge genuinely felt that the odds of Xiang Nuan surviving the night were slim.
The Red High Heels had swallowed the residual curses from within several doors of the Underworld Child, and her power had surged dramatically — yet even so, she could only alter the handwriting on a single letter. That alone showed just how terrifying the curses on these documents were.
"The Cursed Hospital is far too vicious. They've used all these death notices to curse Xiang Nuan. Even if the Underworld Child is successfully born, the body it has so painstakingly found will be entangled by curses and fall into an extremely weakened state."
The lives of innocents meant absolutely nothing to that hospital. Perhaps in their eyes, life was merely a medium for delivering curses — a bridge to achieve their goals. As long as the destination could be reached, trampling over emotions and humanity didn't seem to be any problem at all.
If the Underworld Child's evil radiated from the inside out — an evil born of rage, hatred, jealousy, and other emotions — then the Cursed Hospital's evil was pure, untainted by any feeling whatsoever.
In the face of such an opponent, simple goodness had almost no chance of winning. So in order to survive, Chen Ge had no choice but to arm his goodwill.
"Clap!"
Someone on the first floor clapped their hands, and the sound-activated light came on. It sounded like someone was heading upstairs.
Chen Ge gestured for the woman to stay quiet. A minute later, the elderly man Chen Ge had crossed paths with during the day appeared, carrying an empty lunch box.
"Young Wen, I've come to return the lunch box. Has Xiang Nuan gotten any better? I could hear you guys knocking things around all the way down on the first floor." The old man was much the same as before — over seventy years old, yet still giving off a careless, idle air, as though he was interested in everything and especially loved minding other people's business.
"Xiang Nuan has already fallen asleep." The woman forced a smile and took the lunch box from the old man. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly noticed another old, worn envelope in his hand.
Seeing the envelope, both the woman and Chen Ge's expressions turned grim.
The old man didn't understand. "What are you two looking at?"
"Uncle, are you here to deliver a letter too?" Chen Ge actually had a decent impression of this old man.
"Deliver what letter?" He held up the envelope. "When I went out today, I saw a letter on my door. No idea who sent it to me, and the thing is, I can't read! How strange — in this day and age, even someone like me with one foot already in the coffin knows how to make a phone call, yet someone's still sending letters?"
"You haven't opened it yet?" Chen Ge activated his Yin Eye and confirmed that the letter was indeed still sealed. He let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Since you're both here, I'd like little Wen to take a look at what this letter says." Before Chen Ge could respond, the old man tore open the envelope. When he pulled out the death notification, his face turned ugly. "Good lord — looks like a hospital sent this to me. Quick, take a look for me."
The old man held up Xiang Nuan's death notification in front of Chen Ge and the woman. From his expression, this didn't seem like an act.
Chen Ge felt this old man could be won over, but before he could say a word, the woman had already taken the death notification and read its contents aloud.
"This is ridiculous — how old is Xiang Nuan? There must be some mistake." The woman read the final sentence of the notification: if the death notification wasn't handed to Xiang Nuan, the next person on the list would be him. The old man heard it clearly, but even after listening, he still asked for the letter back.
"Uncle, just give the letter to me. I've already received plenty — one more won't make a difference." The woman didn't want to drag the old man into this. She knew he had no intention of harming her, and that alone was touching enough.
"These people are getting more and more outrageous — there's nothing they won't do. Tomorrow I'm going to go ask around and find out who came up with this despicable scheme." The old man was getting angry.
"There's no need."
"You're a victim of this complex too — why should they dump all their resentment on you? Don't worry about it. Returning the room is one thing, but the way they've turned everything into a mess — I'm going to have a serious talk with them tomorrow." With that, the old man took the envelope and headed downstairs.
"So it seems not everyone in this complex is a bad person." Chen Ge watched the old man's retreating figure. Perhaps in the world behind the door, this old man could become a breakthrough. "What's that uncle's name?"
"His surname is Huang. He lives in 104 — he's the longest-tenured tenant in the complex." Mentioning the old man softened the woman's expression slightly. "Uncle Huang suffered a workplace injury when he was young — had surgery on his nose and ears. After that, he worked as a janitor in a hospital, watching over the morgue."
"He dealt with corpses?"
"Mm, he did it for most of his life and never managed to save up much money. He's a good person, just very stubborn." The woman let out a bitter smile. "He has no children. The place he lives in was rented to him by his boss. I once tried to set him up with an older lady, but he said he didn't want to be a burden to anyone and refused to meet her."
"That old man really does live free and easy."
"As long as he stays healthy, it's fine. I check on him from time to time, but if something serious ever happens, he'll have to rely on the community." The fact that the old man hadn't shoved the letter onto her improved the woman's mood a little.
"Oh, by the way — did he just call you Little Wen?"
"Mm, my name is Wen Qing. Qing as in 'clear sky.'"
"Wen Qing? Xiang Nuan?" Chen Ge nodded, committing the name to memory. "Since there's still time, you stay here and keep watch in the room. I'm going to check on the other tenants."
After exchanging a few more words, Chen Ge took his phone and left.
He summoned Xu Yin and moved between Jinhua Complex and Jiuhong Complex, entering each building to investigate. To his surprise, there were almost no living people in either complex.
"Where did all the tenants go?" His phone calls went unanswered, and knocking on doors brought no response. Chen Ge sent Hong Yi into their apartments to check, but found nothing — only a faint, foul stench lingering in their rooms.
As time passed, the stench in the complex grew increasingly pungent, and Chen Ge felt a growing sense of unease in his heart.
He stood on the rooftop of the complex and looked around. Jiuhong Complex and Jinhua Complex seemed to be drifting further and further from the surrounding lights, as though the entire complex were sliding toward some abyss. The sensation was deeply unsettling.