Ning Qiushui said:
“I won’t save a beast that’s bound to die—waste of my energy.
I won’t save a beast that’s dying—shortens my lifespan.
I won’t save a sick beast that will infect me—invites my own ruin.”
Liu Chengfeng almost burst out laughing when he heard this.
“Bro, are you messing with me? You’re a vet—if you don’t treat this or that, aren’t you gonna starve to death?”
Ning Qiushui replied with a faint smile:
“I am a vet, but not just a vet… Who told you I make a living treating pets?”
Liu Chengfeng spread his hands. “Alright then… so what kind of beast do you treat?”
Ning Qiushui replied casually:
“If I feel a connection, I’ll save it.”
“…Even if I know I can’t, I’ll still do my best.”
“Even if it costs me something.”
Liu Chengfeng looked at him in surprise, then smiled.
This guy… his personality was really something else.
After laughing, Liu Chengfeng suddenly thought of something. He started scribbling something in the study, then tied the notebook with the curtains and tried banging it against the window to get the attention of those downstairs!
Since he couldn’t shout loud enough to reach the second floor, maybe making a commotion from there would attract their attention?
But just a few bangs in, the sturdy curtain suddenly tore!
Liu Chengfeng pulled the torn curtain back and tugged at it suspiciously, mumbling:
“That’s weird… It felt solid. How could it break so easily?”
He tried a few more times—same result every time.
A chill crept down his spine. That eerie sense of being watched returned, and he gave up trying to send messages downstairs.
“What’s wrong?” Ning Qiushui asked casually, noticing he’d finally stopped.
Sweat beaded on Liu Chengfeng’s forehead.
“I feel like… something’s watching me. If I kept doing that…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
But Ning Qiushui already understood.
Clearly, within the rules of the villa, the third floor was separated from the others.
If they tried to force communication between the floors… they’d be violating the laws of whatever was behind the Blood Gate—and that would bring terrifying consequences.
“Sigh… Looks like the people downstairs really are on their own now…”
With a sigh, he sat down next to the skeleton by the window, took the diary from its hands, flipped through it, then asked:
“Bro… what do you think that monster outside really is?”
Ning Qiushui thought for a moment.
“From the notes in the diary, that terrifying woman outside is likely connected to the little girl’s grandmother. And the girl’s parents definitely knew something.”
“But the exact situation… we can’t be sure anymore.”
“Maybe, once this whole thing is over, we can go back and ask that man in the suit.”
Liu Chengfeng nodded.
…
Over the next three days, the two of them ate, drank, and handled everything else in that single room.
Fortunately, food and water were plentiful, so survival wasn’t an issue.
As for the two remaining survivors downstairs, they ultimately didn’t make it through the final three days.
On the third night, when Xue Guize was killed and eaten by the ghost woman in the villa, the last remaining survivor, Yan Youping, finally broke down mentally from overwhelming fear.
She ran out of the villa and into the pouring rain—what happened next was all too obvious.
Liu Chengfeng felt a bit upset.
After all, they had spent some time together, and those people weren’t bad.
But that discomfort faded quickly with time.
On the midnight of the fifth day, the two of them were startled awake by the sudden sound of a car horn outside the window.
They quickly got up and rushed to the window, peering out into the rain.
There, they saw a bus parked right outside the villa, honking its horn.
They both recognized it instantly.
It was the very same bus that had taken them into the fog that day!
“Hey! The bus! The bus is here!”
“But… bro, how are we supposed to get out?!”
Liu Chengfeng shouted in excitement at first upon seeing the old bus parked outside the villa. But when he turned around, that excitement was instantly doused by a wave of icy fear.
He saw her—the terrifying, slender woman in the red dress—standing right outside their door, staring hungrily at them.
It was clear that she, too, knew they were planning to escape.
“We have to figure something out fast!”
“That bus won’t wait for us long!”
Ning Qiushui’s eyes gleamed as he quickly scanned the room for anything they could use.
Just as he was thinking about dismantling the iron bars on the window, the old lady who had been lying silently nearby suddenly spoke.
Though her voice was weak, the two were close enough to hear every word.
“Young ones… push me out there…”
The two slowly looked down at her.
Unexpectedly, her face was calm, and her eyes briefly regained clarity.
It was as if, after all this long torment, she had finally decided to end it.
“When it’s… eating… it can’t do anything else…”
“Push me out there… and while it’s eating me… you two run… and never come back…”
Liu Chengfeng’s eyes widened.
“What? No way… Bro, you’re not seriously thinking about pushing the old lady out there?!”
Ning Qiushui replied:
“If we push her—one person dies.”
“If we don’t—three people die.”
The old lady smiled as well.
“He’s right…”
“I… won’t blame you… either… Living… is just too painful for me…”
“Just think of it as a good deed… help me… find release…”
Upon hearing this, Liu Chengfeng no longer hesitated out of misplaced kindness. Gritting his teeth, he and Ning Qiushui pushed the old lady out toward the red-dressed ghost woman!
Originally, the red-dressed ghost wasn’t planning to eat the old lady—she still needed her as bait.
But after two days without food, she simply couldn’t resist the fresh meat delivered right to her!
They watched as the ghost plunged her knife and fork into the old lady’s chest and abdomen, followed by a scene so gruesome it made Liu Chengfeng nauseous…
“Go, now!”
Ning Qiushui grabbed the blood jade from the windowsill and darted past the feasting ghost, dragging Liu Chengfeng with him!
The bone-chilling cold that radiated from the ghost’s venomous stare made their legs go weak.
Thankfully, the old lady hadn’t lied.
While eating, the ghost was unable to do anything else!
“Faster!”
Ning Qiushui glanced back and shouted.
“She eats fast!”
Running ahead, Liu Chengfeng was drenched in cold sweat. Gritting his teeth, he sprinted madly down the stairs!
Bang!
He practically smashed through the villa’s front door!
Ahead, the yellow headlights of the bus shone like a divine light from heaven, guiding them to safety.
As Ning Qiushui burst through the front door as well, a terrifying roar echoed from the third floor, followed by a thundering sound from inside the villa.
The red-dressed ghost woman… was coming!
“Bro, hurry!”
“Come on!!”
Liu Chengfeng didn’t get on the bus right away—he stood at the door, shouting toward Ning Qiushui.
As Ning Qiushui reached the bus, Liu Chengfeng reached out and yanked him aboard!
Behind them, the horrifying ghost woman twisted and crawled like a spider across the ground, closing in—only three or five steps away!
But the moment Ning Qiushui got on the bus, the ghost woman suddenly stopped, snarling furiously at the two inside, unwilling to give up.
Yet she didn’t dare to get too close to the bus.
It seemed that even this vicious, bloodthirsty ghost was extremely wary of the bus they were now aboard.
In the end, she could only turn slowly, retreating into the rain and disappearing into the villa once more…
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