The two continued their pleasantries in the study, yet downstairs, pandemonium had broken out. For reasons unknown, Dongzi and Da Luobo had started shouting at each other.

Having just finished dinner, Zhou Huan was utterly bewildered that Dongzi was already fighting with Da Luobo. He set down the diary he was holding and went downstairs. He found Dongzi there, hands planted firmly on his hips, eyes wide and glaring at Da Luobo, his mouth puffed out as if struggling to contain a roar. He looked like a maddened bull, ready to gore Da Luobo in that instant. Yet, Da Luobo, meeting Dongzi's furious gaze, began to weep within moments.

Dongzi, ever the soft-hearted one when it came to beautiful women, immediately lost his bull-like fury when he saw Da Luobo’s tears streaming down her face. His heart melted. The hands that had been gripping his waist gently cupped Da Luobo’s face. “Darling, I was wrong. I won't rush the marriage proposal. We’ll listen to Master, and we’ll marry together later, alright?”

Seeing Dongzi relent, Da Luobo deliberately pouted. “It’s not enough that you admit you were wrong; you have to carry me back to my room too.”

Quickly—in about five minutes—the conflict between the man and woman concluded with Dongzi’s capitulation.

Zhou Huan watched the whole affair with overwhelming resignation. Dongzi was famously fast at everything, including conceding in an argument. He shook his head and turned back, intending to speak with Lingzi, but when he looked again, Lingzi had vanished. As Zhou Huan passed Hong Kun’s room, he heard voices inside, so he simply shook his head again and returned alone to the study.

The population of Fushoutang had grown once more. Zhou Huan entered the study and picked up the diary from the Zombie Sect, starting to read from the beginning. It was filled with case studies. The first entry described an incident during the Qing Dynasty in a mountain manor where someone walked around at night, perfectly fine during the day. However, this person had no body temperature, eventually being classified as a living corpse. Tianlang arrived, swiftly dealt with the living corpse, and then used the Longevity Master technique to peacefully send the spirit on its way.

Zhou Huan flipped a few pages; they contained records of handling various zombies. Only one diary entry stood out as peculiar. Everything written in this entry ended in failure. It described Tianlang encountering a zombie that originated from Tianlang’s own hometown. This person had been dead in their village for some time, yet no one had buried or dispatched the body. Finally, this corpse suddenly vanished, inexplicably traveling to Tianlang’s village to terrorize the populace. Tianlang attempted to subdue it, but this turned out to be a Living Soul Zombie—its spirit had separated from the corpse. However, the body and the soul could not be permanently divided; the soul body had to periodically return to the zombie to absorb some of its energy.

Zhou Huan found this case fascinating, but Tianlang had never managed to resolve the issue; it remained unsettled even at the time of Tianlang’s death.

However, this case shared a distinct similarity with what Zhou Huan was currently facing: the entity was clearly a zombie, yet its true body was never visible—only its spectral form could be perceived. This meant there was no way of knowing which body belonged to the zombie, or where the physical corpse was located.

Based solely on the diary's record, Tianlang’s method for dealing with that specific zombie was quite singular, lacking any specialized alternatives. But this method was one Zhou Huan had never utilized. What if this technique, when combined with the methods of the Longevity Master Sect, could yield an even newer approach? A flicker of excitement, coupled with a hint of apprehension, stirred within Zhou Huan. He knew the task ahead would be thorny because he, too, could not locate the zombie. Although he suspected the mad driver, there was absolutely no concrete evidence linking him to anything amiss. Therefore, Zhou Huan considered employing a delaying tactic, carefully contemplating how to fuse the methods of these two sects, hoping for a viable solution to emerge.

“Brother Huan, it’s getting late. You should sleep soon; you haven't rested in ages.” Xiao He quietly slipped into the study, careful not to disturb Zhou Huan, but her concern over his exhaustion prompted her to urge him to rest.

Truthfully, Zhou Huan was utterly fatigued. Hearing Xiao He call him, he immediately felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. He followed Xiao He back to his room and slept soundly until dawn broke. Zhou Huan naturally wanted to stay asleep, but his eyelids had been twitching incessantly all night until they finally jerked him awake, allowing him to regain his senses.

“What time is it?”

“Brother Huan, Sister Xiao He left for work long ago.”

“Hurry and call her to see if anything new has happened!” Zhou Huan feared some incident might have occurred during the night while he wasn't watching.

Xiaoling put the phone on speaker. Xiao He on the other end confirmed with certainty that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Only then did Zhou Huan relax. He got up, tidied himself, and drove alone toward the psychiatric hospital, suspecting trouble might arise there. Upon entering the grounds, he noticed nothing amiss; everything appeared as usual. The director still treated Zhou Huan with profound respect. Zhou Huan spent the afternoon shadowing the director, giving two lectures to the so-called 'scientists.' This continued peacefully until evening. Strangely, the night at the hospital remained utterly tranquil, without any abnormality. The moon in the sky was as bright and frosty as jade.

Before leaving, Zhou Huan made a point of checking on the mad driver. The driver was still deeply asleep, exhibiting no unusual signs.

Back at Fushoutang, Xiao He returned to her room looking relieved. It was another normal night; nothing had happened.

This left Zhou Huan with a multitude of thoughts. This sudden calm felt unsettlingly unnatural. Had the whole affair simply concluded? Zhou Huan kept asking himself this question. A whole week passed without incident. Could his recent eye twitching have been merely a sign of fatigue? Zhou Huan began to doubt himself, replaying the events at the mental hospital. Logically, the spirit had not been harmed in any way; how could it have ended so easily?

It was then that Wang Xiaohe called. Zhou Huan felt a surge of relief mixed with surprise. He wasn't hoping for death, but he knew that if something went wrong, he wouldn't be able to investigate further or definitively put the past to rest.

“Brother Huan, there’s a banquet at the bureau tonight. Could you pick me up later? You don’t seem busy lately anyway. Bring Xiaoling along too, and we can go out afterward,” Xiao He said, coquettishly, on the phone.

Zhou Huan let out a long breath and agreed calmly. “Alright. Xiaoling has been feeling cooped up too. We’ll go sit at a bar for a while tonight. The house is lively enough anyway—Tianxiong and Bingyuan are deep into studying the diaries, and those two couples are caught up in their romances. We can just enjoy some quiet peace alone.”

Having settled their plans, Zhou Huan went to prepare. Of course, his essential gear was with him at all times. He shouldered his bag and drove out for a spin.

The car instinctively slowed as he neared the psychiatric hospital. He hadn't been here in nearly a week. He got out and walked directly through the main gate. The gate guard barely acknowledged his presence, staring straight ahead as if Zhou Huan were invisible, eyes open but fast asleep.

Zhou Huan shook his head. “Honestly, sleeping in broad daylight? If something truly happened, who would even notice?” Zhou Huan started to approach the guard to wake him, but an approaching doctor intercepted him. The doctor, walking while yawning deeply, had dark circles under his eyes and looked utterly drained of spirit.

Zhou Huan felt a growing sense of strangeness. Why were all the staff at this hospital so lethargic? Had they all been out carousing last night? Really, Zhou Huan thought with frustration, shaking his head as he headed toward the director's office.

Along the way, he passed several more doctors looking drowsy and fatigued, which intensified his suspicion. When he reached the director's office, he cautiously peered through the window and saw the director and all the 'scientists' slumped over their desks, sound asleep.

Now Zhou Huan was genuinely alarmed. Why was everyone in the entire psychiatric hospital devoid of energy, all falling into a quiet, deep slumber?