Inside here... there's a high chance that... it's the husband!! The real husband's body!

Ye Shu recalled her daughter's aversion to being close to Lin Qingyue and felt an even stronger sense of unease. She hadn't noticed anything odd about the dolls on the first day because the contamination hadn't intensified yet; but by the second day, after her daughter's pollution had worsened, she could finally smell it.

Sensing Ye Shu's actions, Lin Yue flashed a sweet smile, but the corners of her mouth stretched disturbingly wide, exposing bone near her ears. Her pitch-black eyes bore into Ye Shu as she spoke, careful and deliberate: "Mommy? What are you doing?? Do you want to play dolls with Yueyue? Shall we go to the room together?"

Ye Shu replied, "...Alright."

The rules never said she couldn't enter her daughter's room. As a good mother, she certainly couldn't intrude without permission. Now that she was invited, she could go in.

Lin Yue looked at her eagerly, her intention obvious. So Ye Shu pulled out two paper hell notes from her space. The little ghostly girl clicked her tongue twice, clearly dissatisfied. "Mommy, isn't that a bit stingy? Yueyue wants more spending money..."

Ye Shu's face darkened as she began to teach, "Yueyue is still a child, and children shouldn't be careless with money. This time, Mommy will keep it for you. As your mother, it's my duty to play with your toys, even if I can't see them, but I won't take a penny from you for it."

Ye Shu hated it, but all ghosts were greedy. Yesterday, they stared hungrily as she took out a hundred hell notes; after just one day, they acted as if it was the norm, and even complained when they got less. Her supernatural powers were useful, but if she used them too often and didn't restrain herself, she'd soon run out of notes. If she couldn't give them money, these ghosts would become dangerous to her.

Lin Yue weighed her chin thoughtfully for a long time before agreeing, "Mommy is right! Ka-ka~"

Lin Qingyue monitored Ye Shu's every move from the living room, but Ye Shu followed her daughter into the bedroom without a care.

As her daughter's father, Lin Qingyue probably wasn't allowed to enter freely. That meant something she needed had to be hidden inside.

The whole room was drenched in pink—pink carpet, pink bedspread, pink curtains, even pink-painted walls. The moment Ye Shu entered, she saw that the right wall was lined with small pink plush bunnies, identical to the one Lin Yue held. The atmosphere was both gentle and disturbing.

"Mommy, Yueyue loves to play puzzles. Let's play together!"

The little girl's voice brimmed with excitement.

Turning her head, Ye Shu saw a pile of white bones on the floor. Her daughter sat on the little pink piglet rug, piecing the bones together one by one with a childlike grin. No matter how innocent she looked, the scene chilled Ye Shu to the core.

But Ye Shu remained unfazed. She had seen too much gore in these dungeons. This was child's play by comparison.

She carefully squatted down to face her daughter. "Yueyue... Mommy can't see... I'll just sit here and keep you company while you play."

"Bad mommy... Yueyue... is so, so happy!! Mommy, you're wonderful!"

Ye Shu took out another hell note—just in time to stifle the girl's impending wail.

As a man, the father shouldn't enter the daughter's room, but if she was crying, maybe—just maybe—he could. The moment she saw Lin Qingyue's sinister smile when Yueyue was about to cry, Ye Shu had no time to hesitate. Money became the best cure for tears.

Inside her room, the daughter played joyfully with her doll as Ye Shu closed the door, leaning on her cane.

Ye Shu examined each pink bunny on the wall. Suddenly, the little girl piped up: "Mommy, the dolls are birthday presents from Daddy to Yueyue. Did you forget?"

Ye Shu hung her head, feigning disappointment. "Did Yueyue forget that Mommy is blind? I can't see—I don't even know what sort of doll it is."

Lin Yue seemed to remember something. Her bloated form shrank back to normal, her eyes growing blank. She muttered over and over, "That's right! Mommy... ka-ka, can't see. She can't see, how can we blame her... Ka-ka, as long as Mommy and Daddy are with me, Yueyue is happy... How could I forget... Mommy can't see..."

The little girl popped the hell note into her mouth, her eyes suddenly clear, her body still and stiff. Giggling, she began playing with the doll again, as if nothing had happened.

Ye Shu frowned. Something had definitely happened in this house. What was the meaning behind her daughter's words?

Mommy can't see... can't blame her. What did that mean?

Can't blame her, but wants Mommy to keep her company...

Ye Shu reached for the dolls on the wall. As she thought, each one contained... a piece of the husband's... body. But could a human really be chopped into so many tiny pieces?

She felt only a single slender bone inside each doll. It was like a finger.

There were at least a hundred pink bunny dolls on the wall. Even if they were all just fingers, there was something horribly wrong!

Even more disturbing, Ye Shu noticed that every one of the pink bunny dolls had a brownish stain on the lower back, and all the stitching was identical. Even with a machine, there should be differences—how could every stitch be exactly the same?

A dreadful realization dawned on Ye Shu, her face growing pale.

— — —

Outside, Lin Qingyue's smile froze. His eyes fixed coldly on Ye Shu.

How did she have so many hell notes... This player would become the game's greatest obstacle...

And with that bizarre resurrection ability, it was hard not to be wary.

If she possessed such power from the start, things would become difficult, wouldn't they?

Lin Qingyue recalled the first time this woman stabbed him in the heart.

Ye Xiaoshu's eyes showed not just fear, but hatred. Suddenly, a bold guess came to mind. Before that, he had no memory of Ye Xiaoshu coming back from the dead. Perhaps... before that incident... she'd died more than once.

If that was the case, then it was no wonder she looked so haunted every time she met him.

A chill ran down Lin Qingyue's spine.

Behind his sunglasses, her pretty face betrayed not a ripple, but his unease only deepened.

— — —

At midnight.

Ye Shu returned to the last bedroom down the corridor.

Da Piaoliang refused to leave her place under the bed all day.

One human, one ghost. One had died to Lin Qingyue's hands once; the other, many times to... something else.

As a ghost, Da Piaoliang could feel, to her bones, the suppression of higher-level spirits. She dared not disobey one so much more powerful. Meanwhile, Ye Shu seethed with hatred. She dreamed of hacking the man to pieces, scattering his ashes to the wind.

A dim lamp glowed in the room. On the wall, the portrait shimmered with a thread of crimson. Ye Shu sat cross-legged on the bed, polishing her gun. The nerves of the last two days had left her with no time for marksmanship or shooting—her face, illuminated by the warm light, looked almost gentle.

A black mist seeped through the corridor outside.

Footsteps echoed from a distance, drawing closer. Midnight struck.

Ye Shu thought the sound would go to the stairs, but instead, the bedroom door was knocked on.

"Thump, thump, thump~"

The black cat swept its tail, squinted sleepily at the door, then shut its eyes again.