Zhao Ru's expression turned awkward upon hearing this. She knew her own cooking skills well. If outside food wasn't so expensive, she wouldn't bother cooking herself.

What's strange is that she wasn't considering what she would eat now that her meal was taken.

Instead, she was simply embarrassed by her cooking skills.

She was worried about leaving a bad impression on the man in front of her.

"That…" Zhao Ru started to say, but was met with Jiang Cheng's expectant gaze.

In the end, she couldn't find an opportunity to refuse.

She could only watch as Jiang Cheng happily took her lunchbox.

"Where are we going?" Yu Yu asked.

Jiang Cheng led the way, heading towards the stairs.

"604," Jiang Cheng casually replied. "I'm going back to get something. If you don't want to go, you can wait downstairs."

Calculating the time, Huai Yi and the others should be returning soon.

Wang Changguo had never liked Jiang Cheng, so without a word, he turned and headed downstairs.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Yu Yu also followed Wang Changguo. Compared to a newcomer like Jiang Cheng, Huai Yi was clearly more reliable.

Moreover, Huai Yi and the others had been gone for so long, they might have found something.

Walking through the abandoned sixth-floor corridor again, the sense of oppression was even stronger.

It had started raining outside, and the sky was terribly gloomy, making it seem like night, especially with the dim lighting.

The wind occasionally blew, causing some doors to creak open, making strange sounds.

Scanning the doors one by one, Jiang Cheng was curious about the locked rooms, but he had no plans to explore them for now.

He also noticed something strange: none of the rooms had any markings.

Unlike other rooms in the hospital, which had signs or at least a piece of paper indicating the department or function of the room,

the nearly twenty rooms on both sides of the corridor had no markings, not even room numbers.

Based on his room number, 604, this area should be around 620 and higher.

He wondered what had happened to cause them to be abandoned.

Returning to room 604, Jiang Cheng looked up.

The lights in the corridor weren't very bright, but they were much better than in the previous corridor. At least they weren't flickering or going out.

He pushed open the door, and everything in the room was as it was before.

"Mr. Jiang," Du Feng asked, rubbing his arms, "what are you looking at?" The temperature was dropping rapidly due to the weather, and he felt cold.

"Nothing."

Entering the room, Du Feng went to the kettle and poured himself a full cup of hot water.

Steam rose from the cup.

"You can hold it to warm your hands, but don't drink it," Jiang Cheng said, turning around after surveying the room. "Be careful, it might be poisoned."

Remembering Li Kaifeng's death and the unidentified nurse, Du Feng's face changed. He looked at the hot water in his hand with suspicion.

"What did you find out?" Lin Wan'er asked, sitting on the bed opposite Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng briefly recounted what he had learned, but he glossed over the details. He didn't have a habit of telling everything.

Of course, if it was just him and Lin Wan'er, things would be much simpler.

"There's a paralyzed woman in room 906," Weiwei frowned. "And Chief Qi arranged for someone to take care of her."

"That seems to be the case," Jiang Cheng said, looking at her. "And it's been ten years."

Thunder rumbled outside the window.

"Why didn't Chief Qi tell us any of this?" Du Feng interjected, holding the cup of hot water to warm his hands. "He just keeps urging us to find that thing and get rid of it."

Lin Wan'er brushed a stray hair from her temple and said with a smile, "It seems that Chief Qi not only knows this ghost but also clearly knows that it's coming for him."

Lin Wan'er and the others learned from talking to some patients that there hadn't been any recent murders, or at least no one had heard of any deaths.

However, the patients' families also reported that the hospital had been acting strangely for the past month.

Doctors and nurses had a high rate of absenteeism, and it was often difficult to find anyone in case of an emergency at night. Some patients had already complained.

Some of those who could afford it had already arranged to transfer to other hospitals.

As for the reason, no one was sure. The hospital's explanations were vague.

What was certain was that Chief Qi's relationship with the ghost was unusual. It was likely that Chief Qi was responsible for the ghost's death.

The clues were currently disorganized, so Jiang Cheng decided to confirm one thing first.

The sky outside was getting darker. Jiang Cheng looked at the door, then stood up and looked at Du Feng, saying, "Come help me with something."

Jiang Cheng walked outside the door, and Du Feng stood beside him.

Although there were lights in the corridor, the depths of the corridor were still very dark. Looking at it for too long gave the illusion that the darkness was slowly moving towards them.

Du Feng suddenly had a bad feeling.

He carefully surveyed the corridor, especially the distance between the adjacent doors.

Jiang Cheng couldn't understand one thing. According to his stride, it would take no more than ten steps to walk from one door to the next.

But last night, the thing outside had taken twenty-three steps.

Moreover, the sound was different from normal walking, more like a small, shuffling movement on the ground.

Imagining last night, with only a door separating them from an unidentifiable ghost shuffling down the corridor, searching each room for them, was enough to make one gasp.

But that wasn't the main point.

It was… the shadow.

At first, Jiang Cheng thought it was a headless ghost, but now he had a new idea.

"Mr. Jiang," Du Feng said softly, "I'm going back now. I… I'm really cold."

But Jiang Cheng didn't give him the chance. He closed the door from the outside, leaving only him and Du Feng in the corridor. Du Feng's expression became interesting.

Signaling Du Feng to step back, Jiang Cheng imitated the ghost's posture from last night, pressing himself against the door. "Turn off the lights," he said to the room.

A few seconds later, the room went dark.

"Can you see my shadow?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Yes," Lin Wan'er's voice came from inside the room.

Just a door apart, Weiwei looked down, watching the light that came through the gap under the door, clearly blocked by two patches.

Those should be Jiang Cheng's feet.

Then Jiang Cheng squatted down and asked again, "What about now?"

"Yes," Lin Wan'er said. "But it's blocking more of the light."

Finally, under Du Feng's puzzled gaze, Jiang Cheng lay down, his entire body pressed against the ground. He turned his head so his eyes were facing the crack under the door. "What about now?"

After a long while, Lin Wan'er's voice rang out, "I can't see it." She paused, then continued, "It's the same as last night."