Watching his sister and Old He being driven away by Hou Dayong from the ward window, Li Xiaohao’s family departed in another car, following close behind, and only then did Xiaoyu and Xiaoshu feel the tight knot in their chests finally loosen.

“What are you planning to do?” Xiaoshu turned back to ask Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu looked at him with eyes burning with intensity and said, “When you first came to the psychiatric hospital to see me, there was a female nurse beside me. Do you remember her?”

“I remember. That nurse was so fierce. Seeing that I was threatening you, she used the excuse that visiting hours were over to take you away. I couldn't do anything,” Xiaoshu recalled the experience with a hint of awkwardness. After all, leaving the psychiatric hospital that time felt less like she was walking out and more like she had been hurried out by Wenshu.

“Mmm, her name is Wenshu. She was very kind to me,” Xiaoyu said softly, lowering his head.

“I understand. That’s why you’re worried she’s still inside the building. If it were me, I’d rush to find her without hesitation too,” Xiaoshu squeezed Xiaoyu’s shoulder by way of encouragement.

As the two were speaking, a dark shadow burst in through the door with a bang, moving like the wind, and before Xiaoshu could react, it lunged, tackling him down. The attacker held a brownish-yellow boomerang, aiming directly for his heart. Luckily, Xiaoyu was nearby. He casually snatched a broom propped behind the door and brought it down hard on the shadow. With a sharp thud, the broom handle snapped in two, and the boomerang aimed at Xiaoshu’s chest froze mid-air. Xiaoshu seized the opportunity, slapping the boomerang away, then bent his knees, gathering all his strength to kick the dark figure twice. Caught in a pincer attack, the shadow knew it couldn't gain the upper hand. It leaped over Xiaoshu and flew out the window.

By the time the two rushed to the window, there was no sign of anyone, only the brightly lit street below.

“Did you get a clear look at his face?” Xiaoyu turned to ask Xiaoshu.

“It was a woman, her face was covered, so I couldn't make out her features. But her eyes seemed somewhat familiar, though I can’t place where I’ve seen them,” Xiaoshu replied.

“Somewhat familiar?” Xiaoyu frowned. He had already regained his former confidence. The Xiaoyu who had nervously clutched a sickle over the Life-and-Death Contract was long gone, vanished into the blue.

“Yes. I suspect it might be Li Bingyu; she has similar skills, but I can’t be certain. Shouldn’t we search the entire building before the Man-Eating Nether-Insects take over the hospital?” Xiaoshu suggested.

“That’s right. It’s very strange. When I lived here before, this hospital housed at least several hundred psychiatric patients, and now they’ve all vanished without a trace. With the entire city in this state of chaos, the authorities couldn't possibly have released a group of mental patients. Therefore, they must be hidden somewhere within this building,” Xiaoyu analyzed, cautiously observing their surroundings while speaking with Xiaoshu.

“That makes perfect sense. Let’s search the whole building. We’ve already checked the roof; there’s a doctor’s corpse at each of the four corners—north, east, south, and west. Amang, who performed your surgery, also died on the handrail of the stairs. That area is probably swarming with Nether-Insects now. We should search from this floor downwards. Anyone alive we encounter, we’ll have them flee via the stairs,” Xiaoshu instructed Xiaoyu.

“What floor is this?” Xiaoyu asked.

“The fifth floor. The operating room is on the second floor. After the surgery, you were moved to the observation rooms on the fifth floor. The entire building has six stories, and the top floor is already occupied by the Nether-Insects. This floor is about to be overrun by those bugs too.” With that, Xiaoshu grabbed a bedsheet, ran to the empty nurses' station, wrapped several large bottles of alcohol inside the sheet, tied it into a bundle, and then followed Xiaoyu to search the patient rooms on this floor one by one. Whenever they encountered a room taken over by insects, they soaked the quilts in alcohol and burned the room clean. As for the Nether-Insects writhing in the corridors, they could only be ignored. If they set fire to the corridors too, the entire hospital would quickly turn into a sea of flames.