Sitting behind the counter, Zhao Mingyue reminisced about the past. Her life wasn’t dark only during her time in Eternal Life Village. In fact, things were much the same after she got out. Especially after her older sister disappeared, the entire household fell on her shoulders. And how old was she then? Only fifteen.
At fifteen, even finding a job was incredibly difficult.
She not only had to feed herself, but also face exorbitant tuition fees. She hadn’t found this school herself; her sister had found it for her. It was the best high school her grades at the time could get her into.
Coincidentally, the principal of this school was an old acquaintance of her parents and was willing to advance her some of the costs.
As for the matter with Wang Xinxin, she hadn’t responded to it back then. Besides believing that a clear conscience needed no justification, she also felt she had brought it upon herself.
Had she truly not understood her relationship with Wang Xinxin back then?
She had understood.
But she still hadn’t refused in time.
By letting others amuse themselves by mocking and belittling her, she allowed them to gain inner satisfaction, and from that, she reaped benefits.
To be honest, she had lost all her dignity.
Watching Zhao Mingyue sigh in a rare moment of melancholy, Bai Yu said softly, “No one is perfect. Everyone is the same; everyone has made wrong choices. You’ve done very well.”
“You have to consider your situation at the time. The things this person gave you—if you took them out and sold them, wasn’t that money?”
“Besides, do you know what a clown is? Someone who relies on antics and performing to earn a laugh from the audience and gain benefits from them. What’s there to mock and ridicule? It’s just a way of life.”
Bai Yu’s initial intention was to comfort Zhao Mingyue, but Zhao Mingyue’s next sentence silenced her.
“Yeah, back then, I really was a clown.”
“No, Mingyue…”
“Alright, I know what you mean. I’m just a bit emotional. But what you said is really true; it’s just a way of life.”
Toying with the rabbit doll in her hands, a smile returned to Zhao Mingyue’s face.
“Speaking of which, Little Sister Yu, thanks for the comfort.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a light jingle sounded from the doorway.
Zhao Mingyue looked up and saw a man wearing a mask and sunglasses, his face completely covered, and a baseball cap.
The man entered, his gait slightly limping. Once inside, he began looking left and right, searching for something, acting rather furtively. Seeing that Zhao Mingyue was the only person in the store, the man quickly walked over.
“Hey, I’m asking you, where’s the boss of this convenience store?”
“The boss went out. I don’t know where he is.” Zhao Mingyue stood up, glancing at the wind chime out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. The wind chime swayed gently, but made no sound.
“Went out? How could he go out? Hasn’t he always stayed here?!” The man lost control of his emotions upon hearing this, his hands gripping the counter as his voice grew urgent.
“I don’t know. If you’re looking for our boss, just call him. The number is on the sign outside.” Pointing at the door, Zhao Mingyue thought to herself: What a weirdo.
“No, no, I’ll wait for him here. I’ll wait right here for him to come back!” The man was extremely flustered and refused to leave under any circumstances.
“Fine.” Zhao Mingyue pointed to the other side of the convenience store, where there were two tables and chairs specifically for customers to rest.
After the man left, she took out her mobile phone and was about to text the store manager when she noticed something on the floor. She kindly called out to the man to remind him, but he completely ignored her.
She simply walked out from behind the counter and picked the item up off the floor, discovering it was a folded envelope.
She wasn’t in the habit of reading other people’s letters and was about to return it when Bai Yu’s voice echoed in her mind. “Mingyue, look at the contents of the letter.”
“That’s not very proper.”
“There’s something off about that letter.”
Hearing this, Zhao Mingyue walked back without a change in expression. Standing behind the counter, she glanced at the strange man, noticing that he had now even pulled up the hood of his clothes. She had no idea what he was so afraid of.
After a moment’s thought, she chose to listen to Bai Yu and unfolded the letter.
‘Zhou Gui, your wife’s complaints, your colleagues’ ridicule, your lover’s departure, and your superior’s scolding—we have received your troubles. We will prescribe a course of treatment based on your specific ailment. Rest assured, we have the most professional treatment team. Every one of our doctors possesses outstanding ability. Until the desired effect is achieved, we will never charge a fee. However, we must remind you: once the prescription takes effect, you must pay the corresponding price.’
‘If you refuse payment, we will reclaim the price in our own way.’
‘We wish you a pleasant life and hope you are satisfied with your brand-new life to come.’
The letter ended there. It had no signature, only a business card in black and red tones.
Zhao Mingyue picked up the business card and examined it carefully, but found no useful clues. Apart from two small characters in the corner, there wasn’t even a phone number. She even doubted whether this was really a business card.
“Put the card on the table,” Bai Yu said.
Zhao Mingyue nodded and placed the card down. She watched as strands of blood threads enveloped it. Shortly after, the blood threads vanished, and a certain pattern and a line of small text appeared on the card.
‘If you are suffering from a very serious illness, please do not discard this card. Our doctors will contact you proactively.’
“This line of text can only be seen by the first person who gets the card. I’ve just broken the seal on it now.”
“As expected of you, Little Sister Yu.” Picking up the card, Zhao Mingyue looked at the pattern on it. Frowning, she remembered something and quickly opened her phone to pull up her browsing history.
The picture in her browsing history was the front of a certain hospital, almost identical to the pattern on this card.
“Why is it this hospital again?” Zhao Mingyue blinked.
She had just noticed that text message this morning, and in less than an hour, a patient from this very hospital had come knocking on her door?
“Doctor… patient…” she mused softly, her slender jade-like fingers gently stroking her chin.
“Little Sister Yu, someone’s trying to steal your work. These doctors even have a team.”
Zhao Mingyue knew Bai Yu’s nickname was “Doctor,” though to this day she still didn’t understand the meaning of that title. Bai Yu didn’t look like a doctor, nor did she seem to possess much medical skill. So how was she connected to the word “doctor”?
Could it be because she wore so much white that she was called a doctor? Shouldn’t that make her a nurse?
“Tell me, what does this letter mean? What price did this patient, Zhou Gui, end up paying?”
She glanced again at the man wrapped up so tightly, finding him more and more suspicious the longer she looked. After texting the store manager, he quickly replied. He was currently having tea at the teahouse across from the convenience store and would be right over.
A moment later, Li Tian’an pushed open the door of the convenience store and sat down directly across from the man.
“Li Tian’an!”
“Sit down. If you have something to say, say it properly.”
“You have to save me!” The man tried to grab Li Tian’an’s wrist, but Li Tian’an subtly evaded him. “Please, save my wife.”
“I can’t save you on this. This was the path you chose yourself.” Li Tian’an looked him straight in the eye. “The first time you came here, I told you. If you had turned back then, everything could have been saved.”
“I…”
“But you were too immersed in it to pull yourself out, right?” Li Tian’an sighed. “I told you, the changes you experienced during that time were because of your wife’s life force. You were absorbing your wife’s life, which is why you felt reborn. Now your wife is about to die. Her life force has been completely sucked dry by you. Even a god couldn’t save her now.”
“Day after day, you fed a ghost with your wife’s flesh and blood. Now that ghost has left you. Not only have you been beaten back to your original form, but you’ve also found yourself beginning to age.”
“The reason you dragged things out until now to come here is because, for some time, you could at least return to that glorious appearance at night, only to become old again at dawn.”
“But you gradually discovered that even the nights were becoming less effective. Even your time at night was being stripped away.”
“No one wants to associate with you anymore. The lover and friends you made after your transformation have all left you. They discovered you are a monster.”
“Only then did you remember. Only then did you suddenly realize that your gentle, virtuous wife was the one truly worth your devotion.”
“And so, you came to find me. Is that right?”
The man’s face beneath the mask and sunglasses was ashen. He was silent for a long moment, then took off his sunglasses and mask, revealing a face that looked over seventy years old.
“Is there really no way? I’m willing to give up everything I have.”
“I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do to help.” Li Tian’an shook his head. “You signed the contract yourself. Let me give you an analogy. The life force of you and your wife is like the water in this bottle.”
He got up, took a carton of milk from the shelf, removed the straw, and inserted it into the milk carton. “The straw is the contract between you and that ghost. And I am the ghost.”
Putting the straw in his mouth, he took a sip. “This is how I stole your life, bit by bit, sip by sip.”
“Before your life force is exhausted, you won’t feel a thing. But when your life force bottoms out and the bottle starts to shrivel, tell me, can it still be saved?”
The man’s mouth opened slightly, and he stood up dejectedly.
His wife was dying, and it was because of him.
He turned and walked toward the door, his steps stumbling. He pushed the door open and stepped onto the street. But just at that moment, a speeding truck, trying to avoid a tricycle ridden by an old man, swerved violently. The truck’s cargo compartment tilted, and the goods inside tumbled down, landing squarely on the man, killing him on the spot.
The store manager’s face changed. Without even finishing his milk, he quickly stood up.
On Zhao Mingyue’s side, she had witnessed the man being crushed to death by a crate of frozen fish with her own eyes.
The man’s body was already in terrible condition, and the crate of fish had struck him right on the head and chest.
More and more people gathered on the street. Zhao Mingyue didn’t go outside. Instead, she stood behind the glass door, watching the chaotic scene outside. An ambulance came, followed by police cars and a fire truck.
She looked around and spotted a familiar figure in the crowd. The person wore a hood that obscured their face, but judging from the lower half of their face and body, they strongly resembled someone from her memory.
“Wang Xinxin?”
Holding the rabbit doll, Zhao Mingyue opened the door and went out, quickly walking toward the passerby who looked like Wang Xinxin. But there were too many people around. By the time she squeezed through, the mysterious figure had already vanished, seemingly having entered a small alley ahead.
Zhao Mingyue followed without hesitation. However, the alley was empty, with only a business card in black and red tones left on the ground.
She checked her surroundings. It was a dead-end alley, the wall opposite belonging to some residential complex.
“Bai Yu, can you find out where that person went?”
“No. Someone met them on the other side. They got away very fast.”
Zhao Mingyue bent down and picked up the card. Sure enough, it was exactly the same as the one Zhou Gui had dropped, except there was an extra line of small text on the back.
‘If you are suffering from a very serious illness, please do not discard this card. Our doctors will contact you proactively.’
‘Guess who I am?’
The moment she finished reading, the line of text vanished. Zhao Mingyue’s expression soured.
“Have I been targeted?”
This organization was the mastermind behind the card Zhou Gui received. Zhao Mingyue suspected they were responsible for Zhou Gui’s death just now; otherwise, the timing wouldn’t have been so coincidental.
And these people seemed to have their sights set on her.
Clutching the business card in her hand, Zhao Mingyue didn’t throw it away. She wanted to see who exactly these people were. Was it Wang Xinxin, or had they deliberately impersonated her to lure her into following them?
“Little Sister Yu, someone wants to pick a fight with us.”
In the top-floor apartment of a residential building behind Tomorrow Convenience Store, one had a perfect view of the store and the chaotic street in front of it. At that moment, several figures stood by the window.
Inside the apartment, the bodies of a family of three lay beside the bed. The husband had died from burns, yet his body showed no signs of burning. The wife had died from drowning; there was even mud and water plants in her mouth and nose, yet her pajamas were dry. The little boy’s end was even more gruesome. His hands held his own severed head, a blissful smile still etched on its face.
“You’ve targeted the wrong person. Don’t bring about your own destruction. That ghost is not something you can handle,” the Rabbit Mask Girl spoke up from inside the room.
Unfortunately, her status was clearly low; no one listened to her.
“Nightmare, don’t extol the enemy’s prowess and destroy our own. Besides, this is the Boss’s intention,” another person spoke, their voice sounding like that of a forty-something-year-old.
“I understand. But this ghost is just based on the news No. 7 just brought back, right? We should at least gather intelligence and then decide whether to act. Caution is the parent of safety.”
“Nightmare, you talk too much,” the woman in the black leather jacket snorted coldly. “We’ve long since investigated Zhao Mingyue’s situation. She’s the source of that newcomer’s illness. Do you really think we haven’t done our homework?”
“It was just a coincidence. You guys also didn’t expect Zhao Mingyue to have a ghost with her. The targets overlapped. What I mean is, investigate that ghost’s strength first, then act.”
The Rabbit Girl spread her hands and sat by the window. “Seriously, trust me. I may also be a newcomer, but I have some experience in this area.”
Their mission involved Zhao Mingyue because of a certain newly inducted member.
Bai Yu was also their target. A ghost that could easily deal with a Red-Clothed Fierce Ghost was something they were very interested in.
With the targets overlapping, naturally, they focused on Zhao Mingyue’s location first.
As for the warning from the Rabbit Girl, codenamed Nightmare, neither of them took it to heart.
Just a ghost, that’s all. It wasn’t like it was an Evil God from Eternal Life Village.
