“Did something happen at this psychiatric hospital...?” He searched online for information about Nanshan Psychiatric Hospital, only to find it had been turned into a blocked keyword. Aside from its Baidu entry, there was no recent news at all.

“Hey, got anything useful you can tell me?”

【Just talking to you is already against the rules. And you still want me to leak more? Besides, the mission objective is simple: spend one night there. Secondary objective: explore the director’s office. Secondary objective two: explore the electrotherapy room. Secondary objective three: explore Ward No. 4. That’s all I can tell you. If you were one of the old users, I wouldn’t even bother wasting words on you.】

“So you do take pretty good care of me. Heh... what, did my handsome face win you over? You should have my photo over there, right?”

【You? Even the ghost next to me is better-looking than you. If I was gonna fall for anyone, it wouldn’t be you.】

“Heh... so when’s the mission?” Dr Chen curled his lips and walked out of the auto repair shop where he worked, only to run straight into his boss.

“Xiao Chen, you’re fired.”

“Mhm, thanks, boss.” Dr Chen’s mind was completely on his phone. He didn’t even register what his boss had said, so he answered casually.

He’d skipped work for over ten days, and now he was playing on his phone during work hours. Getting fired was only natural.

【Three nights from now. You must enter the psychiatric hospital before six in the evening, and stay until six the next morning. There will be five people with you this time. All of them are rookies.】

When he got to the staff break room, he took off the clothes stained all over with grease and changed into his own.

“Any girls?”

【Two.】

“That’s not too bad.” The reason Dr Chen asked definitely wasn’t because he wanted to play the hero and save some beauty. He just thought girls were usually more timid. When something scary happened, they’d only scream. Run three steps, trip twice—that was basically standard horror movie behavior. They’d definitely hold the team back.

If there were only two, that was manageable. But if all five were girls, that would be more than enough to give him a headache.

As it turned out, Dr Chen was wrong. In the face of real horror, men and women were all the same.

“Chen Bo, I’ll treat you to dinner.” Just as he was about to pack up and leave, one of his coworkers suddenly stopped him.

“How many times have I told you? Either call me Brother Chen, or call me Doctor! If you dare say that name again, I’ll beat your ass!”

He got along pretty well with this coworker, but aside from chatting a bit at work, they barely contacted each other. Of course, that didn’t stop him from mouthing off.

“Hahaha, got it. Sichuan Spice Hotpot. My treat.”

“Why’re you being so generous today?”

“Didn’t you get fired? I’m cheering you up.”

“Fired!? When? Why didn’t the boss tell me!?”

“He did. You even agreed to it just now.”

“Just now...” Only then did Dr Chen remember what his boss had said earlier. He hadn’t expected to be let go just like that after working here for over half a year. Still, he couldn’t really blame anyone. Ever since seeing that jar, Dr Chen had been skipping work all the time. The fact that his boss had waited until today to fire him was already more than fair.

“Alright then, works for me. I haven’t eaten yet anyway.” If someone was offering to treat him, of course he was going. If he didn’t make the guy pay dearly, he’d be letting himself down.

And so, Dr Chen followed his coworker to a hotpot place for a proper meal. Then, riding the buzz from the alcohol, he talked the guy into taking him to a KTV to keep spending. After that, they even went to a foot massage parlor.

After the full round, Dr Chen felt a good chunk of the exhaustion from the past few days melt away. He was much more relaxed.

“Tadaima! I’m back.” By the time he got home, it was already deep into the night. Reeking of alcohol, Dr Chen had just pushed open the door when a gust of cold wind rushed straight at him. Instinctively, he stepped back.

The room that had once felt familiar now seemed strangely foreign. It was pitch-black. He reached for the light, only to find the power seemed to be out.

“A ghost’s here?” Whenever the temperature dropped, Dr Chen’s first instinct was always that some ghost or monster was nearby. But there was already that jar with the young lady in his home, so logically...

Hooooo...

Cold wind blew in through the open window. Using the light from his phone, Dr Chen walked to the balcony. After shutting the window, he realized the cold draft inside the room hadn’t disappeared.

If anything, it was now blowing from behind him, chilling the back of his neck.

Dr Chen stiffly turned his head. In the darkness, he saw a smear of blood-red.

Someone was sitting silently on the sofa. On her body was a strange red wedding dress, vivid as fresh blood. Black hair covered her face. When the cold wind passed through, it gently lifted a few strands, revealing those hollow eye sockets staring straight at Dr Chen.

This was the first time Dr Chen had seen the Crimson Robe Malevolent Ghost outside of a dream.