Chapter 37

Chapter 37

“He’s opening the door!”

Qiao Yu cursed under his breath. He pressed himself against the door and peered through the peephole, only to see Li Xiaoqin standing right behind the Landlord Ghost, a kitchen knife gripped in her hand.

As if sensing Qiao Yu’s gaze, Li Xiaoqin looked up, her white-less eyes staring directly into the peephole.

*Click-*

The door swung open!

Li Xiaoqin was the first to charge in, catching everyone off guard.

The group had long since lost their composure. Some screamed, others cried out for their mothers; their minds went blank, leaving nothing but the primal instinct to flee.

What was happening? Why had Li Xiaoqin suddenly gone on a killing spree? What exactly was going on in this Instance!

Could it be that stealing the House Number Plate triggered Li Xiaoqin’s death rule?

There was no time to think. Li Xiaoqin had already swung her cleaver. She was so fast that there was no time to dodge. The blade flashed past their eyes, hacking straight toward Qiao Yu in the center of the group.

*Crack, crack, crack-*

Almost instantly, several muffled sounds of bones colliding echoed from Qiao Yu’s body.

He twisted his frame into a bizarre, contorted ball, and in the next second, he flattened out like a sheet of paper. He reappeared behind Li Xiaoqin and slipped through the half-open gap of the door.

It all happened too fast for anyone to react. Li Xiaoqin and the Landlord Ghost abandoned the others and gave chase.

– *Holy crap! Has the streamer practiced yoga? That’s some 666 skills right there!*

– *What are you talking about? You can’t twist like that even with yoga!*

– *What should we do? I’m getting even more anxious now.*

– *Upstairs, have you had your brown rice and pearl barley soup yet? Go get some, quick.*

– *Don’t overthink it, guys. Maybe the streamer studied in India. Except for his skull, every bone in his body can move.*

– *No, even his skull can move. I saw it.*

– *Tsk, why are you out here fear-mongering again? Give it a rest!*

– *I really saw it!!!*

– *Get lost.*

The room fell silent. Everyone looked at one another, completely bewildered.

Realizing the immediate crisis had passed, Wulong Tea slumped to the floor with a thud. He wiped the cold sweat from the back of his neck, looking exhausted. “Fuck, that scared the life out of me! What did he do this time? Why are Li Xiaoqin and the Landlord Ghost trying to kill him?”

Pozhan was equally drained. His throat felt like it was smoking from all the running. “*Cough, cough, cough!* Who knows? Do you think it’s still because of the House Number Plate?”

Hou Yuanyuan had taken the House Number Plate for his sake-was that why Li Xiaoqin and the Landlord Ghost were hunting him down?

Man-Eating Crocodile seemed to snap out of it upon hearing this. He rushed out the door and saw Li Xiaoqin and the Landlord Ghost standing motionless at the stairwell. His newly acknowledged ‘father’ was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Qiao Yu was leaning against the door of Room 4001. He held the Small Wire between his trembling fingers.

He still hadn’t fully mastered this body. Dealing with such a thrilling and dangerous scene was… truly taxing.

Qiao Yu took a deep breath and turned to look through the peephole of Room 4001. He saw Li Xiaoqin and the Landlord Ghost standing frozen in the hallway, as if someone had hit the pause button. They showed no sign of charging into Room 4001.

Why didn’t Li Xiaoqin chase him inside?

Qiao Yu checked the time and realized there were less than three hours left until Brother Crocodile’s review. He suppressed his doubts for the moment and reached out to switch on the overhead incandescent light. The room still appeared empty. He did a quick sweep, then rushed to the bookshelf and slid the door open with a clatter.

After pulling out the medical records, Qiao Yu skipped the earlier pages and looked directly at the final entry.

[Name: Hou Yong. Gender: Male. Blood Type: Type A (Does not meet criteria). Age: 36 (Even number). Clinical Diagnosis: Varicocele. Treatment Department: None.]
Qiao Yu had mentioned long ago that he had an ex-boyfriend who studied medicine.

He had also said that he often audited classes, so he could perfectly understand a standard medical report.

Varicocele, to put it simply, was a cause of male infertility.

It turned out that the one who was actually infertile was Hou Yong!

So, Hou Yong had used Doctor Zhuang to hide the cause of his infertility from Li Xiaoqin?

Did Hou Yong love Li Xiaoqin?

Perhaps he did; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to hide it. Ultimately, it was likely just a fear of losing her.

However, the birth of one lie requires countless others to cover it up. Deceiving his lover must have left Hou Yong feeling miserable and wretched inside.

Gradually, guilt turned into avoidance, and avoidance turned into resentment…

Of course, this theory still needed verification. Qiao Yu reached for Doctor Zhuang’s phone, but the parchment scroll accidentally slipped from his grasp and hit the floor.

Just as he leaned over to pick it up, a hand reached out first. The wrist was covered in a crisscrossing mess of scars.

Well, talk about perfect timing.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Qiao Yu stole a glance at Doctor Zhuang’s face, which bore a seventy percent resemblance to the Landlord Ghost.

Doctor Zhuang wasn’t wearing a mask now. His expression was stiff, his skin looking like a frozen sculpture without a hint of micro-expression.

Qiao Yu blinked, attempting to break the silence. “Hello. Long time no see?”

Doctor Zhuang, however, stared at Qiao Yu’s still-swollen wrist. As if he hadn’t heard a word, he said, “Applying alcohol really is useless. Why don’t I just help you cut it off?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he unhurriedly produced a scalpel from his medical bag. He didn’t even put on gloves, merely spraying some alcohol in an extremely perfunctory attempt at sterilization.

“Come, put your hand here.”

Qiao Yu calmly watched Doctor Zhuang’s fingers gripping the scalpel and chuckled. “That wouldn’t be very good, would it?”

“What’s not good about it? Please don’t hide your illness from the doctor.” Having said that, Doctor Zhuang moved to grab him, seemingly prepared to use force.

Qiao Yu nimbly dodged the reaching hand, his face showing a look of panic. “Cutting it off is too bloody. I’m afraid to watch. Can you turn off the light?”

Seeing that he couldn’t catch Qiao Yu, Doctor Zhuang stopped in his tracks. He stared fixedly at him, as if contemplating what kind of trick the other was playing.

Qiao Yu let him stare, simply shrugging his shoulders. “I can tell you’re a very responsible doctor. As long as you turn off the light, you can perform the surgery on me. I’m guessing… you must really like anatomy?”

After all, there was a copy of *Full-Color Human Anatomy* on the bookshelf with well-worn, curled pages, suggesting the owner flipped through it constantly.

Seemingly moved by Qiao Yu’s words, Doctor Zhuang’s voice took on a light, airy quality. “Thank you for the compliment. I’ll go turn off the light, and then I shall perform the surgery for you…”

With that, he moved briskly to flip the switch.

*Click!* The room instantly plunged into darkness.

“Are you ready?”

“Ah-my hand!”

The Live Stream Room remained silent for a long time before a few comments slowly drifted across the screen.

-Guys, something’s not right.

-I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this.

-What’s going on? What actually happened?

-The first sentence was the streamer, but that scream just now sounded like it came from Doctor Zhuang…

-Stop talking! I’m more than a little scared here~

In the darkness, Qiao Yu held Doctor Zhuang’s severed finger, his expression slightly disgusted.

Why make things so complicated? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just use the fingerprint to unlock the phone?