Chapter 121: Falling in Love Turns the World into My Love Rivals (21)

Several days of relentless rain had continued without pause, and the patients who had mysteriously vanished from Lanshan Hospital remained unfound. Today, as Bai Yao went to collect medicine for Doctor Ma, she happened to run into Luo Xiaoyang, who, with his sharp news sources, regaled her with a flood of gossip.

Luo Xiaoyang muttered under his breath, "I always thought that guy surnamed Huo couldn't possibly be a decent fiancé, and maybe there's something going on between him and his sister. Otherwise, why would a brother act so intimately with his little sister?"

He lowered his voice and continued, "Just yesterday, I saw that lady surnamed Hao bump into Huo Ruoruo, and the two of them tumbled down together. Huo Mingyuan scolded his fiancée right in front of everyone, then kept yanking his sister close, comforting her with hugs and all. Good grief, even if their sibling bond is this tight, they really should mind the line between men and women!"

Luo Xiaoyang poured out a torrent of words before reaching his conclusion: "It's more accurate to call the lady surnamed Hao Huo Mingyuan's fiancée than to say Huo Ruoruo is his bride."

Luo Xiaoyang was a straightforward person after all and simply couldn't grasp the boundless indulgence the Huo brothers showed toward their young princess. They had doted on the now-grown little princess in the palm of their hand, so why would they fret over such trifles as distance between the sexes?

Bai Yao inquired, "Still no word on the patient named Huo Zhiyuan?"

Luo Xiaoyang shook his head. "No one knows. Everyone's saying he might have been cursed by a demon and vanished because of it."

Mentioning demons sent a flicker of worry across Luo Xiaoyang's face as he glanced at Bai Yao. "Hey... Bai Yao, you should really consider taking some time off and getting out of here for a bit."

Bai Yao sighed. "Even if I asked for leave, I couldn't get off the mountain right now."

That was the truth—the mountain path remained impassable.

Luo Xiaoyang regarded her with sympathy, offering no better remedy.

Since the death of the patient surnamed Wu, whispers about the curse had spread like wildfire. Some even speculated that Bai Yao might be the next unfortunate soul targeted by it.

Now, people viewed Bai Yao with a tinge of pity.

"You mean... Bai Yao will die tomorrow?"

In the shadowy ward, Huo Ruoruo huddled in the corner of the bed, staring fearfully at the black figure that had mysteriously materialized on the wall.

This had long transcended the bounds of reason, and Huo Ruoruo had no idea why it had singled her out; she only felt an instinctive dread.

The shadow smiled, its voice smooth and soothing, and said, "She is mine to curse, and she will die. No one can save her."

Though the shadow stirred unease, its timbre was truly captivating.

Huo Ruoruo felt as though her ears would split from the endless murmurs; her fear gradually ebbed, and the flush returned to her delicate cheeks. She asked timidly in a soft, milky tone, "What exactly do you mean by saying she is cursed by your curse?"

This fragile girl was quaking with terror yet, out of sheer curiosity, dared to voice her doubts.

How adorable.

Pleasure colored the shadow's laughter. "The one who came before her perished in her sight. The shadow of that curse will travel with the misfortune straight to her, and that is a law no one can overturn."

Thus, even the presence of another strange being nearby could not change the outcome of her being cursed.

Unseen rules govern all things in the world, much like that grotesque creature that multiplies like cancer cells. Every drop of its blood and every cell could spawn a new version of itself, endlessly magnifying human desire and malice. Yet once consumed by flame and reduced to ash, it could never divide again.

The shadow's transmission of misfortune mirrored the role of fire for the entity named Fu Huai—this was an immutable truth even divine power could not alter.

Huo Ruoruo recalled how Bai Yao would meet the same tragic end as that patient, a chill rising in her heart. Yet she was no saint and would not pity her.

Quietly, Huo Ruoruo lifted her gaze to the wall-bound shadow and asked gently, "Why do you wish to harm Bai Yao?"

The shadow chuckled. "Because you hate her."

A hidden tenderness wove through the magnetic tone of its voice.

Huo Ruoruo's pulse quickened. So this terrifying, ghostlike monster had orchestrated all of it for her sake.

She lifted her soft face toward the wall despite herself, summoning courage even as terror welled up at the sight. She let out a small, frightened whimper.

It was so dreadfully eerie.

Huo Ruoruo tried desperately to hide her cowardice, unaware that the way she appeared to the ghost was simply adorable.

The shadow on the wall shifted.

A man stepped forth from its surface—a tall figure with long legs and an exquisitely handsome face. The twin horns of a demon crowning his head added an air of dangerous allure rather than horror.

Huo Ruoruo stared, transfixed.

The man curved his lips in a teasing smile. "Woman, do you approve of what you see?"

Huo Ruoruo's face burned; she covered her flushed cheeks, yet her heart fluttered with infatuation. He was truly handsome.

A flicker of delight danced in the man's eyes.

Destiny had foretold that his bride would appear during this rainy season. Realizing her true identity would be difficult to accept, he had exerted himself to extend the storm's duration.

Once, rain would cease after the annual sacrifice of a victim, but to keep his new bride, he raised the stakes of the death game he had orchestrated.

Extra deaths this year were of no concern to him.

Dr. Ma in neurosurgery had grown increasingly erratic of late.

He used to doodle idly with a pen on paper, but now his gestures had devolved into constant muttering.

He rambled in half-formed sentences, his tone alternately adoring and hateful, as if he loved and loathed someone with equal fervor, emotions twisting with terrifying speed.

Such a man could no longer attend to patients with any competence.

The hospital attributed his decline to excessive stress and granted him a long leave, hoping rest and emotional adjustment would restore him.

Dr. Ma refused the arrangement. On the day they tried to remove him, he gripped the doorframe desperately and cried out, "I cannot leave! I cannot leave! I must stay here! That person still needs me!"

Others dismissed it as delirium or babble about his patients, coaxing him away one by one.

But Dr. Ma insisted, "Nurse Bai, you must understand!"

Bai Yao was suddenly called by name. She turned to him and asked, "What do you mean?"

Dr. Ma shouted, "You are his slave as well! Only by killing him can he truly belong to me. You feel that way too, don't you? Hide him where no one can find him, and he will belong only to me!"

His frantic pleas were mistaken for madness. No matter how violently he resisted, they still dragged him away.