When Xiao Shu referred to the treasure he had painstakingly wrestled back from them as a mere 'broken stamp album,' Xiao Hao instantly exploded in fury. He wheeled around and roared at her, "I sacrificed Hou Dayong and a hundred zombies to snatch this back from you! You have a heartbeat, you can feel this world, you grew up in a warm family, you have childhood sweethearts. But from the moment I was born, I was despised by my mother, constantly devoured by the endless gnawing hunger, forced to scheme just to extract a pitiful trickle of blood from that woman. Only when my father found this item and performed the ritual for me did I finally escape that horrific existence."

Faced with Li Xiao Hao’s tirade, Xiao Shu was not about to back down. She strode forward, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and spat fiercely, "You drained my mother’s blood and then complain she didn't raise you! You stole Sakura and then complain you don't have childhood friends! If I hadn't paved the way for you in this world, how could you ever have arrived here, how could you have Sakura, how could you have Xing'er?"

The two men stood by the corpse, their argument escalating, their voices echoing down the entire corridor. Sister Xiaoyu from the adjacent ward and Sakura rushed out. However, the moment they met at the doorway, a heart-wrenching scream ripped through the entire hospital. Suddenly, the 9457 ward fell quiet. Xiao Shu and Xiao Hao instinctively strained their ears, pinpointing the direction of the sound.

"Upstairs!" Xiao Hao declared.

"Let's go see!" Xiao Shu responded. The pair, who moments before had been fighting tooth and nail, were instantly united by the unexpected emergency. Xiao Hao instructed Sakura to move Hua Gu to Xing'er’s room, and together he and Xiao Shu bolted toward the stairs. As they passed the corpse of A Mang, both skidded to a halt, staring blankly at the remains, which had been ravaged beyond recognition by the Shiren Ming Chong (Maneating Nether Bugs). Xiao Shu instinctively reached for the vial tucked against her chest, pulling it out—it was empty!

Xiao Hao frowned, finding it strange that Xiao Shu was just staring at an empty bottle. "That's the vial for the Shiren Ming Chong. What are you zoning out over?"

"I..." Xiao Shu paused for a long moment, then turned to Xiao Hao with a look of utter bewilderment. "I don't know what happened. It wasn't empty before."

"Huh?" Xiao Hao sneered. "You were carrying a vial of Shiren Ming Chong right against your chest pocket?"

"Yes!" Xiao Shu nodded, not understanding why Xiao Hao was adopting such a tone with her.

"Isn't that just inviting death?" These insects proliferate rapidly when they hit the right temperature, eventually bulging the cap until it bursts, crawling out to consume you entirely. They don't compress neatly like canned Spam.

"Are you sure?" Hearing this, Xiao Shu sucked in a sharp breath, quickly unscrewed the cap, and examined the entire bottle from every angle, yet she couldn't find a single trace of a bug.

"Of course, I'm sure. But are you sure you haven't taken the vial containing the Shiren Ming Chong out of your embrace at any point?"

That question jogged Xiao Shu's memory. Back in Jinqi Street, she had taken the bottle out; she had even held the mouth of the vial under Li Taiming's neck, forcing him to lead her to Xiaoyu. Could he have switched it then? Xiao Shu knitted her brows, but before she could unravel the tangle of questions, Xiao Hao grabbed her arm and vaulted onto the banister, scrambling upwards.

They leaped over the scattered remains of A Mang, devoured by the Shiren Ming Chong, then jumped down again, following the direction of the sound toward the top floor.