chapter 3

Cheng Miao made a special note of the Little Girl’s name: Liu Xue, the Little Girl living in 402. From the thick stack of missing person notices, it was clear how desperate her parents were in their search for her.

After confirming there were no extra clues in the Corridor, Cheng Miao pocketed the pile of missing person notices and walked up the stairs.

In this old-style residential building, the first floor was just the entrance Corridor; the actual living floors started from the second floor.

Each floor had two households. Some families had left in such a hurry that they hadn’t even locked their doors.

The second floor housed a private Clinic Room, with a sign that no longer lit up reading: Minsheng Clinic.

Cheng Miao gently pushed open the half-closed door, and the row of tails behind her followed in single file.

The room was much brighter than the Corridor. Cheng Miao pulled open the curtains, letting the light in, and saw the layout of the room through the swirling dust.

This was an old-fashioned private Clinic. The outer room was a simple consultation area made up of a shaky set of tables and chairs, with a huge medicine Cabinet and a treatment bed beside it.

On a small iron Cabinet next to the treatment bed were some acupuncture medicine packs and the like. The table was cluttered with discarded medical forms and a patient record book.

The walls were covered with certificates of honor and photos. From the banners sent in gratitude, it could be seen that the doctor of Minsheng Clinic was surnamed Xu-Doctor Xu-who seemed to have been quite famous at the time.

Cheng Miao looked up, trying to make out the faded words on the yellowed newspaper framed on the wall. Doctor Xu was a well-known doctor in the area, and also a rare university graduate at the time.

Although he couldn’t treat serious or critical illnesses, he was able to cure common colds and coughs with remarkable efficiency. Moreover, Doctor Xu seemed very skilled with folk remedies and had a knack for treating difficult and miscellaneous diseases.

In the era set by this Instance, doctors were already a scarce profession, let alone a private doctor who had spent most of his life treating neighbors in the community-such a person was highly respected, and the banners in the Cabinet were piled high.

Cheng Miao flipped through the patient records and saw that, judging by the home addresses, almost every household had come to Doctor Xu for treatment.

Unsurprisingly, she found Liu Xue from 402 in the patient records. It wasn’t anything serious, just a case of an upset stomach.

In the patient signature section, Liu Xue had scrawled her name and even drawn a little heart next to it.

While Cheng Miao was searching for clues, suddenly Er Gou and Niuniu’s screams came from the inner room.

Cheng Miao jerked her head up. At some point, the three kids had slipped into the inner room.

She grabbed an old folding Chair leaning against the wall and cautiously walked over.

Just as she reached the doorway, Er Gou and Niuniu came running out in tears, throwing themselves into Cheng Miao’s arms.

Cheng Miao: “…” Being hugged by children was far scarier than the Instance itself.

Hu Zi ran out with a grim face. Being a bit older, he was scared but didn’t end up with snot running down his face like Er Gou.

“What happened?” Cheng Miao’s expressionless face seemed to the kids like the unique calmness of an adult, and her slightly trembling hand gripping the folding Chair-well, that must be because the Chair was too heavy for Sister Miaomiao to lift.

“There’s… there’s a corpse inside…” Er Gou was crying so hard he could barely speak, clinging tightly to Cheng Miao.

Cheng Miao: “… Don’t wipe your snot on me, hey!” Thanks to Er Gou, she was so grossed out that even hearing about a corpse didn’t leave her any room for panic.

Niuniu cried for a while, then seemed a bit embarrassed, blushing as she retreated behind Hu Zi. Seeing she couldn’t get any answers, Cheng Miao picked up Er Gou and set him aside, then walked into the room herself.

The room was rather dark. Cheng Miao felt around near the wall by the doorframe, and sure enough, found a hanging cord. She gave it a gentle tug, and the faulty bulb flickered twice before trembling to life.
As soon as the light came on, Cheng Miao saw the so-called corpses.

They were two medical Skeletons, one large and one small, with meridian and acupoint markings drawn on them in permanent marker, placed right by the entrance.

In that era, information was not widely available and people’s minds were still somewhat closed off. It was normal to be startled by something they’d never seen before.

Cheng Miao patiently explained to the children, and only then did their faces look better.

Relieved, Cheng Miao glanced around the room. This seemed to be where Doctor Xu usually rested.

A single bed was placed against the wall, the bedding carefully folded, showing the owner’s tidiness.

Next to the pillow was a book, its cover wrapped in newspaper. Cheng Miao flipped through it-it was a Medical Book.

There was nothing superfluous in the room. On a table sat a Table Lamp that no longer worked, and a small red plastic standing mirror covered in dust.

It was just an ordinary room.

Cheng Miao’s nose twitched slightly. Why did it smell like burnt Chinese medicine?

Her nose was quite sensitive, but in a room filled with various old odors, it was hard to be sure.

She searched carefully but didn’t find anything like a Kitchen, so she could only attribute the strange smell to the house being vacant for too long.

Ignoring the children still sobbing on the Clinic bed, Cheng Miao walked toward the remaining room: the Bathroom.

When it came to horror movies’ hotspots, Cheng Miao-who both feared and loved watching them-could easily list twenty classic scary scenes.

After scaring herself with images from her own mind, Cheng Miao, hands and feet trembling, pushed open the Bathroom door.

It was a very old Bathroom, with only a brick-built sink and a simple shower stall.

Inside the sink were cleaning tools like brooms and Mops, and the faucet, old and neglected, leaked water.

“Drip… drip…” The sound made Cheng Miao’s heart race. She twisted it hard to stop this terrifying background music.

A soft “thud” sounded from the shower stall-a small noise, but to Cheng Miao’s ears, it was like thunder.

At that time, residential buildings rarely had private toilets. The shower was just a layer of cement, a water pipe overhead, and a hole in the wall serving as a makeshift drain.

On the floor lay a crumpled rag, probably made from an old shirt. It had been used so long its color was faded.

Judging by the dust marks on the pipe, the rag had probably been draped over it before, though it was unclear why it had fallen to the floor.

Not believing in coincidences within an Instance, Cheng Miao did a 360-degree scan-there was no long-haired female ghost, nor any pale, slender fingers in the drain.

Knowing that most Games require certain triggers to advance, and still in the clue-gathering phase, Cheng Miao could only be patient.

The Bathroom was so basic it didn’t even have a mirror. The only reflective item in the whole place was the small red plastic mirror in the Bedroom.

That was good-it reduced the chance of seeing something she shouldn’t in the mirror.

Seeing that the Clinic had nothing extra, Cheng Miao decided to check the other rooms on the floor. So far, she had no leads regarding any hints.

Just then, a hoarse, mournful singing suddenly came from outside.

The hairs on Cheng Miao’s back instantly stood on end.