The Curse Woman's gaze shifted away from
Just now, when the two of them drew close to each other, the wound on the back of Chen Ge's hand—the one that had refused to heal—had begun to bleed again, as though something had stimulated it.
"Is this wound on my hand something you left behind?" Chen Ge raised his arm, but the Curse Woman merely gave a small nod.
A dozen minutes later, the Third Ward returned to normal, and all the black threads vanished without a trace.
Old
"We underestimated the Curse Woman's strength. She should be the most powerful ghost in this city." Men Nan drew in a light breath. "Losing to her is nothing to be ashamed of, but asking for her help... that's probably going to require some long-term planning."
"The three most terrifying specters in this city—we've now encountered all of them. As for the rest, we'll leave them to the tenants of Ping'an Apartment. Chen Ge, you just stay put in the haunted house and don't get involved with any of this anymore." Zuo Han's mind was sharp, his thinking clear. "Once we've made all our preparations, we'll come find you at the haunted house."
After Zuo Han finished speaking, he noticed Chen Ge hadn't responded at all. He gave Chen Ge's shoulder a gentle pat. "Don't take what the Curse Woman said to heart. A person without a heart—are they still a complete person?"
"Actually, what she said does make a certain amount of sense."
"Stop overthinking. You're the key to all of us escaping—" Zuo Han hadn't finished when he saw Chen Ge's bloodshot eyes.
Honestly, of everyone, Zuo Han was the person who understood Chen Ge best.
He had once considered trading his own life with One-Eyed. Only when you were pushed to that extreme could you truly understand that kind of feeling.
Zuo Han knew that as the focal point of all this chaos, the despair and agony Chen Ge bore had to be dozens of times greater than his own. He wanted to comfort Chen Ge, but every word he could think of seemed pale and powerless in the face of real despair.
"We'll get our memories back." Zuo Han didn't disturb the lost Chen Ge. The group left the Third Ward together.
After agreeing on a new means of contact, Chen Ge finally separated from the tenants of Ping'an Apartment. He took a long detour back to the amusement park haunted house.
He lay down on the bed in the staff break room. Before, he had felt the warmth of the morning sun on his body and found it pleasant. Now, however, he felt a certain dread at the thought of sunrise.
He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but he knew it would certainly be worse than today.
Misfortune was closing in step by step. Chen Ge lay in bed, unable to sleep a single wink the entire night.
At eight o'clock the next morning, Chen Ge got up out of habit and began cleaning. Even though the haunted house hadn't been open for business, he still went to inspect the scenes and props every day.
At ten past eight,
Last night she had suffered another nightmare. She had been startled awake shortly after two in the morning, and the moment she closed her eyes, the horrific images from her dreams would flood back into her mind.
Her father's condition was worsening. Her mother was taking care of him alone. Zhang Ya didn't want to add to their burden, so she hadn't dared tell her parents. Instead, she had turned to Chen Ge as her confidant.
"After three in the morning I just couldn't fall asleep. I got up to get a glass of water, and when I passed by the window, I saw a person standing downstairs. He was staring up at my window, laughing the whole time." Zhang Ya leaned against Chen Ge's side. "The scenes from my nightmares are slowly becoming reality. I'm starting to have trouble telling them apart."
Hearing this, Chen Ge knew the hospital had already begun targeting Zhang Ya.
This was the hospital's typical approach: first drive a person to madness, then intervene with "treatment."
Chen Ge was deeply worried that Zhang Ya would suffer a breakdown and be sent to Xinhai Central Hospital. Once someone entered that hospital, getting back out was incredibly difficult.
For a fleeting moment, he even considered the idea of taking Zhang Ya and fleeing. But where could they escape to? This was a city without hope—a place where all memories and beautiful things were fabrications. Even if he wanted to run, he wouldn't know which direction to go.
Looking at the haggard Zhang Ya, Chen Ge's fingers slowly clenched. "Go inside and get some sleep. I'll be here."
The things he wanted to say couldn't make it past his lips. The cruel truth was compressed in the depths of his heart. In a life that was gradually shattering piece by piece, Chen Ge carefully protected Zhang Ya with everything he had—it was the only thing he could do now.
He opened the door to the staff break room and watched the sleeping Zhang Ya, committing her image firmly to his memory.
"I always feel like I owe her so much."
He lay on his chest beside the bed, unwilling to leave for even a moment, because he knew this might be the last time.
Just before noon, several members of the amusement park's management team and a few security guards entered the haunted house. Without so much as a greeting, they barged in on their own authority.
By the time Chen Ge rushed over, the management team presented a renovation plan they had unilaterally decided upon.
The haunted house's most popular scene—Midnight Pursuit—was to be dismantled within three days. They claimed this scene had caused tourists to faint from fright, resulting in a terrible impact, and therefore it absolutely had to be torn down.
Several clueless people wandered through the scene, critiquing the props and mechanisms Chen Ge had painstakingly designed. Anything they didn't like had to go.
Without waking Zhang Ya, Chen Ge took a pen and paper and followed behind the managers, carefully recording every single change they demanded.
This wasn't his haunted house. It was Zhang Ya's haunted house. He wanted to fight with everything he had to keep it standing, so it could reopen.
As long as it could open, they would have a chance to get through this. It was already such a humble request.
Over seventy individual items needed to be modified, and an entire scene was to be demolished. For all of this, they gave Chen Ge a mere three days.
After the management team left, Chen Ge gripped the sheet of paper so tightly that his hand had crumpled it.
"As long as it can reopen, there's still hope."
Once Zhang Ya woke up, Chen Ge brought the paper to her.
Seeing what was written on it, Zhang Ya was upset too. Chen Ge stood beside her, continuously trying to console her.
That afternoon, the two of them began modifying the haunted house. They shut down Midnight Pursuit and dismantled most of the frightening props.
They worked straight through until six in the evening. They had been planning to go eat together, but Zhang Ya suddenly received a phone call from her family.
Zhang Ya's father had been transferred to a different ward, and her mother needed to stay by his side constantly.
After the call, Zhang Ya immediately headed for Xinhai Central Hospital, and Chen Ge walked her to the entrance.
As they parted, Chen Ge grabbed Zhang Ya's hand and told her that if she felt afraid tonight, she should come find him at the haunted house. She should try not to stay alone at home.
Watching Zhang Ya disappear into the depths of Xinhai Central Hospital, Chen Ge's heart slowly clenched with dread. He was terrified that this might be the last time they would ever see each other.
Back at the haunted house, Chen Ge couldn't calm down no matter what.
He paced restlessly through the corridor. After nine in the evening, he wanted to numb himself through work, just as he always did.
But when he entered the haunted house scenes carrying the renovation notes, he found himself completely at a loss.
All of his talent and abilities had been dedicated to making the haunted house more enjoyable for visitors, giving everyone a better experience. He had never once done the work of deliberately destroying his own haunted house.
Gripping a claw hammer, Chen Ge looked upon the scenes he had built with his own hands and silently stepped inside.
Throughout the entire night, Chen Ge demolished the Midnight Pursuit scene and completed every modification to each scare point.
Sunlight streamed through the windows into the dark haunted house, but Chen Ge couldn't feel the slightest trace of warmth. That light seemed to conceal a bone-deep chill.
"Dawn."
Sitting at the haunted house entrance, Chen Ge—who hadn't closed his eyes all night—didn't feel the least bit drowsy. He stroked the white cat's head, and the two of them sat quietly, gazing into the distance, waiting for Zhang Ya to arrive.
At ten-thirty in the morning, long after the amusement park had opened, Zhang Ya finally appeared at the haunted house.
Seeing her arrive, Chen Ge let out a breath of relief. He had truly feared that the night before might have been their final farewell.
"Zhang Ya, get some proper rest. Leave the haunted house to me." Having stayed up all night, Chen Ge wanted Zhang Ya to be able to rest for a while. He stood beside her, a complex tangle of emotions in his eyes.
The two of them entered the interior of the scene, and Zhang Ya was startled to discover that Chen Ge had already completed all the modifications demanded by the park management. "Did you stay up all night last night?"
She recalled what Chen Ge had said earlier, and her heart ached for him.
At noon, Chen Ge called over the park management staff and had them inspect the haunted house. He and Zhang Ya had assumed they would be cleared to reopen as normal, but instead the staff simply left them with a single sentence: "Wait for further notice."
The road ahead offered no visible hope, but neither Chen Ge nor Zhang Ya gave up.
That afternoon, Zhang Ya went to the hospital while Chen Ge stayed alone in the haunted house. He looked at the scenes that had been altered beyond recognition, pressing his dry, cracked lips together.
At just after eleven that night, the haunted house's security gate was rattled. Chen Ge, who had been inside one of the scenes, rushed out in a hurry.
He saw Zhang Ya leaning against the gate, her face pale as paper, barely able to keep her footing.
"What happened?" Chen Ge hurriedly helped Zhang Ya inside.
"After eight in the evening, I left the hospital and went home, but I kept feeling this overwhelming sense of anxiety. Those horrific memories from my nightmares—they felt like they were trying to bore straight through my brain." Zhang Ya shut her eyes in pain. "The world I see keeps inexplicably bleeding, and that strange man from downstairs is getting closer and closer to me. I can sense him waiting for me in the hallway!"
Zhang Ya's mental state was extremely unstable. The nightmares and reality kept colliding, distorting the world as she saw it.
Her condition was now critically dangerous. She absolutely could not endure any more shocks.