Before long, the sound of chewing rose from the darkness.

No, that wasn’t right. It was more like ravenous devouring.

That tiny piece of cake clearly hadn’t satisfied him. After he finished it, the sounds turned violent. Low growls rumbled out as he moved closer to Dr Chen.

“An alcoholic father. Never cooked. Hunger. Chronic malnutrition. You can guess he never ate anything good.”

Dr Chen recalled the description in the patient file. An abusive, alcoholic father had never made him a proper meal. He’d been abused and malnourished since childhood, let alone ever tasted cake.

And this was a supernatural cake tainted with ghostly aura. Maybe it had some special pull on a Malevolent Ghost.

“H-he’s coming over!” the glasses girl screamed from the side. Dr Chen could sense her hand slipping into her pocket, fumbling for something.

So she really did have a backup plan?

“There are six left.” He felt around in his backpack, then threw out the remaining six pieces of cake. The next second, that frantic swallowing came from the darkness again. The psychiatric patient had been lured in by the cake.

Perfect chance!

Dr Chen gripped the electric drill and the electrotherapy device. He got ready to feel his way toward the sound and launch a sneak attack while the thing was eating.

The chewing was right next to him now. Hearing himself get closer and closer to that Malevolent Ghost, Dr Chen prepared to throw the electrotherapy device in his hand.

Bang!

A sudden noise rang out. It sounded like something had shoved the door open. Dr Chen jumped at the abrupt sound.

“Brother Chen, are you in there?”

It was the deadpan guy’s voice. He seemed to have come in, and he was shouting at full volume as if the Malevolent Ghost in the room didn’t exist.

“Are you an idiot? Why are you yelling so loud?” Dr Chen had no idea why he came in. He cursed under his breath, terrified the noise would provoke the insane Malevolent Ghost.

“Downstairs, downstairs... one came up. I-I didn’t know where to hide! Save me!”

The moment he heard Dr Chen’s voice, the deadpan guy lunged over and clung tightly to him, as if only another living person could give him even a shred of safety.

“One came up? What do you mean?”

The words froze on his lips.

In the dark space, a sudden streak of blood-red appeared.

Dr Chen was horrified beyond words.

She was back.

“Gulp...” Dr Chen swallowed unconsciously. Ignoring the deadpan guy hanging onto him, he kicked hard against the floor and shot backward, retreating with him into the corner.

When facing the insane Malevolent Ghost, Dr Chen could still think clearly. But the moment he saw that Crimson Robe, his mind was left with nothing but fear.

“S-she came up from downstairs! T-too terrifying... I... I had nowhere to run. Compared to her, the Malevolent Ghost here is just a tame little kitten.”

The deadpan guy spoke with lingering terror. The glasses girl nearby almost screamed when she heard him. She had seen him die with her own eyes. But this wasn’t the time to think about that. She saw that patch of red too. A chill rose from the bottom of her heart, and she also wanted to run over and hug Dr Chen for a trace of warmth.

Then...

He kicked her flying with one foot.

“Stay away from me! You hear me?!”

After Dr Chen’s roar, the glasses girl could only obediently shrink into her own corner, praying the item in her pocket would work.

“Eat... eat... eat... I’m so hungry! I want more!”

She had no eyes, so she couldn’t actually see. But she could sense presences. The aura of the living. The aura of ghosts. And the aura she cared about most of all, her lover’s.

So in that pitch-black darkness where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, she knew everything. She could feel that little cake stained with her own aura and her lover’s aura had been eaten by the other one.

“They started fighting?”

In the darkness, Dr Chen couldn’t see anything else. He could only see that red ghostly figure drift into the room and stop in the middle. After a brief stillness, the red suddenly flickered at high speed, and a miserable scream burst out ahead!

“D-Dad... d-don’t hit me! I... I won’t steal food... anymore... d-don’t hit me! Aaaaaah—!”

Slash slash slash slash! The air was ripped apart, followed by loud crashing bangs against the wall. Pfft pfft pfft... fierce wind blasted into their faces. Whoosh whoosh whoosh... shattered bricks struck their bodies...

Dr Chen, the glasses girl, and the deadpan guy all huddled by the wall, trembling so hard they barely dared breathe.

“Who is that ghost?”

“Shhh—! Quiet.” Seeing the two ghosts tear into the other corner of the room, Dr Chen hurriedly got up and ran for the door. Hearing his footsteps, the glasses girl quickly followed behind him.

“Aaaaaah— stop hitting me, Dad! Dad, aaaaaah—! I was wrong, Dad!”

The miserable screams were full of despair. Patient Number Four seemed to have recalled some tragic memory from the chaos in his mind. In the Crimson Robe, he had found the long-lost feeling of his father.