Fang Yu seemed to have lost her memory again.
Chen Ge helped her onto the bed and poured her a glass of water. "Fang Yu and I are good friends. He's been busy lately, but he'll come see you in a few days."
Lying on the bed, Fang Yu gazed quietly at Chen Ge. She didn't know why, but she trusted this man in front of her completely. He didn't seem to be lying to her.
"Get some good rest and recover your health. Fang Yu will be back soon."
Her body had been subjected to an intense shock, and once the calm set in, the exhaustion hit all the harder. Fang Yu fell asleep quickly.
Chen Ge turned off the lights and quietly stepped out of the bedroom. Fat Auntie was waiting outside.
"Is Xiao Yu feeling better? I just heard her voice — she sounded really agitated. Did you really find that person?"
"Mm, I found him."
"Tell me where he is!" Fat Auntie looked ready to stand up for Fang Yu. "Some grown man abandons her just because she lost her memory? Let's go over there right now — I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"
"That man has his own difficulties. The pain he's endured is no less than Fang Yu's." Chen Ge smiled. "Big sis, thank you all for taking care of Fang Yu all this time. I'll come by again in a while, and when I do, I might be able to cure her illness."
"Cure her amnesia?"
"That's right." Chen Ge slipped the comic book into his backpack. "I won't keep you any longer. See you around."
"Hey! At least explain properly! It's still raining! Take the umbrella with you!"
……
Carrying his bag, Chen Ge stepped out of the stairwell. A light drizzle drifted down on him as he walked through the dim glow of the streetlamps. Before leaving, he glanced back one more time.
"There are plenty of bad people in this world, but there are plenty of good ones too. A city's night holds cruelty and bloody madness, but even more of it is ordinary beauty."
He took a cab back to New Century Paradise and headed straight into the haunted house's underground set with his backpack.
"Is Doctor Wei here?"
Chen Ge had the phone ghost, Tongtong, summon the doctors who had been compiling textbooks in the underground morgue. "Come take a look at this guy. His condition isn't looking good."
He opened the comic book and released the man along with the Red High Heels.
"Xiao Chen, the knowledge we learned while alive was meant for treating the living. Now, although we've adopted a research mindset and started exploring how to treat ghosts, progress has been slow." Doctor Wei looked at the man lying on the ground, barely holding together. "The core that sustains a ghost's existence is their obsession. Once the obsession fully dissipates, the ghost ceases to exist. His current state is one where his own obsession is strong, but something else has latched onto it, causing it to waver. This kind of situation is extremely rare."
"What's taken root deep in his obsession must be the Dark Fetus's curse." Chen Ge crouched in front of the man. "Have a little faith in yourself, will you? I'll help you purge the curse. Once that's done, you'll be able to protect Fang Yu forever and never have to be apart from her again."
The man's body flickered like a phantom. He let out a bitter laugh. "I'm grateful to you — for letting me see Fang Yu one more time. But you saw how things were. As long as I'm alive, I'll only cause her harm. And even if the curse is purged, the Dark Fetus will still come knocking. Is it really worth it for you to provoke the Dark Fetus on my behalf?"
"I won't lie to you — the Dark Fetus and I are locked in a fight to the death. Does that make it clear enough? Whether you're involved or not, it wants me dead. Helping you is helping myself." Chen Ge wasn't lying; every word carried genuine sincerity. "Work with this Red-Robed ghost on your treatment. Once the curse is completely purged, we'll take on the Dark Fetus together."