With another chance at life, her original plan had been simple: wait for that shadowy figure to leave for the study and then quietly follow, to see if there was a secret passage. Predictably, the unexpected happened.
Today, that shadowy figure knocked on her bedroom door!
Knock, knock, knock—
Bang, bang, bang…
“Come…out… get out… now…”
Alongside the knocks came a hoarse, barely audible smoker’s voice. Ye Shu realized something was wrong and quickly retrieved the two sheets of rules.
Ignoring knocks in the middle of the night was definitely correct.
And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d overlooked something.
Just like last time, she crept through the darkness to the study and found the photograph hidden in the VCD case: her “husband” with a brilliant, devoted smile. But gone was the warmth from last time—now his gaze was enough to make her skin crawl.
Ye Shu tossed the picture back into the drawer without a second thought.
She’d known all along that Lin Qingyue wasn’t her real husband. There was no use keeping that photograph.
Disappointingly, the study revealed no secret passage. The room was spotless—no trace of that usual rot scent, nothing out of order but its very normalcy.
Rummaging through the bookshelf, Ye Shu found several books about household organization. Between the pages of one, she discovered a wrinkled note.
Spreading it open, she found more house rules:
Rule 15: As the husband who deeply loves his wife, your duty is to look after the whole family. Remember, you are obsessed with cleanliness—no stains are ever allowed in your home.
Rule 16: As a father, you must respect your daughter; only enter her room with her permission.
Rule 17: A father may freely enter and leave his son’s room at any time.
Rule 18: The husband may visit the wife’s room to raise her affection, but remember, the wife is currently giving you the cold shoulder.
Rule 19: As a slaughterhouse worker, your shift is from 8:00–12:00 and 13:00–16:00—be an excellent employee.
Rule 20: The master bedroom is shared by husband and wife. Both may come and go as they please.
Every rule related to the husband.
Ye Shu now understood that she had been right to enter the daughter’s room.
Tonight’s silver moon glowed with an ominous red tint. Even stranger, Lin Qingyue—the fake husband—did not take the stairs or attempt to harm her.
Ye Shu checked her wristwatch and hurried out of the study.
It was the third day inside the 'Sweet Home' instance.
Her stamina had dropped to 75 points, some of which she had restored with a spicy hotpot meal, yet she could still feel her energy trickling away. Her limbs heavy, her mind a drifting piece of flotsam.
After restoring her stamina above 80, her body felt at ease, the gloom in her mind dispersing.
When a player’s stamina drops, reactions follow. At 70 points, Ye Shu’s mood soured; her head ached, her chest tightened, her ears buzzed. She dared not imagine what would happen if it dropped below 50—players might hallucinate themselves into an early grave without any supernatural interference.
She would have to escape this instance soon.
Morning. 7:50.
Lin Qingyue left the house right on schedule.
Ye Shu, after confirming the rules were uncorrupted, entered the bedroom they shared. Black, white, and gray sheets. The floor spotless. A clock on the desk—everything looked exactly as it did on day one.
She tested every tile on the bathroom walls, tapping with her cane. When she touched the side of the mirror, it echoed hollowly.
The mirror could be moved.
Shifting it aside just a little, she felt a chill rush over her.
Just like in the movies: a murderer hides the body in a cavity behind the mirror.
But when Ye Shu finally slid the mirror away, there was nothing.
Behind the mirror was a perfectly sized space—large enough for two or three adults—but filled only with cement pillars. Nothing more.
Suddenly, a burning heat rushed across her wrist. Ye Shu’s instincts screamed trouble.
That kind of heat—there was no way it was the daughter or the son.
It could only be one person—Lin Qingyue!
She realized she had missed one crucial point: the rules for 'husband' were correct and untainted, yes, but Lin Qingyue was never really the husband. He didn’t have to follow these rules. He had no job, no slaughterhouse hours. He’d never left the house, not even once.
The reason he hadn’t killed her last night in the study… it was all intentional. He’d left these rules for her to find.
The heat on her wrist intensified. Ye Shu gave a resigned, bitter smile—her gaze calm, but not her heart.
Was she going to die again?
Each time, falling to the same person—it was unbearable!
If Zhu was born, why must Liang exist too? (She thought this bitterly—a grievance of fate.)
As usual, Ye Shu drew her peachwood sword in resistance, but could hold out only a few moves. She collapsed to the ground, blood pooling beneath her, her breath fading fast.
Lin Qingyue stared at that garish pool of red, surprise flickering in his eyes—not once had Ye Xiaoshu used the obedience talisman against him, even at death’s door. Just as his fangs were about to tear through her throat, Ye Shu suddenly surged to life and threw a heart-shaped pink stone at him.
[Effect: The one bound will have their favorability toward the player who used the item increased by over 200%! Note: Can only be used once per game.]
At the look on Lin Qingyue’s face, as though he’d swallowed poison, Ye Shu knew the item worked.
This time, she shouldn’t have to die!
Her throat itched; she coughed, the sound rasping. Before she could speak, Lin Qingyue darted over like a huge black rat, genuine concern flickering in his sharply cut features, though his eyes still glinted with confusion.
“Xiaoshu, are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“Who did this to you? I’ll go beat them up for you.”
The commotion in the bedroom had drawn both children to the doorway.
“Mom? Dad? What are you doing?”
At his daughter’s call, Lin Qingyue’s expression brightened. He scooped Ye Shu into his arms and tousled Lin Yue’s fluffy hair, saying, “Good girl! Nothing’s wrong, just go play… Don’t bother Mommy and Daddy now, I’m taking Mommy to the hospital.”
His daughter’s suspicious gaze lingered on them, but there was a spark of joy too. Because as a creature of the uncanny, she found her mother’s blood the sweetest she’d ever smelled—she desperately wanted a taste.
Ye Shu, now held fast, paled even more.
A hospital run by monsters—how could a living human like her survive that?
And… just now, she’d intended to use the obedience talisman to buy time, so how on earth did she end up throwing the Love-Brain instead? Worse, it had actually bound to Lin Qingyue…
She dared not imagine what would happen if that monster ever regained his wits.
He’d killed her so many times before—what was a few more?
Lin Qingyue cradled the slight, soft form in his arms, eyebrows arching, lips curling upward. What unsettled him most was that, under this spell, he felt not a shred of anger toward this woman. In fact, he even reached out and pinched Ye Xiaoshu’s cheek.