Chapter 124: Falling in Love, and the Whole World Becomes My Rival (24)

Suddenly, the sound of a heavy object crashing to the ground echoed from afar, followed immediately by a piercing scream that shattered the silence. The surrounding crowd quickly gathered. A mangled, bloody corpse lay on the ground, a cane resting right beside it—it was the elderly man who had trouble walking.

Hao Meili sat on the ground, her face pale with terror; the scream just now had come from her. Huo Mingyuan also heard the commotion and walked over. The moment Hao Meili saw him, a spark of hope lit up her eyes. In her mind, Huo Mingyuan was her pillar of support, the only person who could comfort her in her state of sheer panic.

Huo Mingyuan frowned as he looked down at Hao Meili, asking with displeasure, "What kind of trouble have you caused this time?"

Hao Meili's outstretched hand froze in midair. She stared blankly at Huo Mingyuan, her pleading hand destined never to be held by her fiancé.

Huo Ruanruan hurried over. "What happened?"

Huo Mingyuan quickly turned, took Huo Ruanruan's hand, and covered her eyes. "Ruanruan, don't look!"

His sister was soft, cute, and innocent. A corpse was far too gruesome; if she saw it, she would surely have nightmares. Huo Mingyuan could not bear to let his beloved, pampered sister be frightened in the slightest.

Hao Meili cried out, "Huo Mingyuan!"

But Huo Mingyuan was busy soothing Huo Ruanruan and did not even notice his fiancée calling his name. To the Huo family, only this little princess mattered most; even a spouse had to take a backseat. Indeed, how could anyone in this world possibly compare to their precious sister?

Hao Meili fell into an unprecedented state of humiliation—and not just humiliation, but a wave of intense, irrepressible hatred. She hated Huo Ruanruan, and she hated Huo Mingyuan. Huo Mingyuan was engaged to her and enjoyed the benefits of their alliance, yet he had never once truly looked at her.

She was also a wealthy young lady of high standing. She had cast aside her pride to chase after him, wanting nothing more than for her fiancé to look at her a little more. Yet, the scene before her only served to remind her of how ridiculous she was. As Hao Meili lowered her eyes and prepared to drop her hand, someone reached out and supported her first.

"Miss Hao, are you all right?"

Hao Meili was helped up by a young man. He was handsome and had a polite, gentlemanly air. Once Hao Meili regained her footing, he properly withdrew his hand without touching her a moment longer.

Hao Meili couldn't recall his name at the moment. Feeling disheartened, she shook her head. "I'm fine."

Zhou An then turned his gaze to the corpse on the ground. He also shuddered in fear, but his professional instincts quickly took over, and he hastily pulled out his camera. A staff member stepped forward to stop him. "No taking photos here!"

The elderly man who fell from the building had died instantly, and the hospital staff quickly cleared the scene. The person in charge asked Hao Meili, "Miss Hao, you were the first to discover him. Can you tell us what happened?"

Hao Meili pursed her lips and said, "I happened to be walking past here when I noticed someone standing upstairs. He seemed to be smiling at me, and before I could react, he jumped."

Even after falling from such a height, the elderly man's face still bore that fixed, uncanny smile, a sight that made everyone shudder with dread.

The person in charge wanted to ask more, but Zhou An, who was eavesdropping nearby to gather information, spoke up. Although he was always looking for a sensational scoop, he still had a shred of conscience. "She's been severely traumatized. It's rather inhumane of you not to let her rest."

The hospital staff found it hard to press further, and someone offered to take Hao Meili to rest. Hao Meili glanced at the green, impulsive young reporter, then followed the medical staff away, her face pale.

Huo Mingyuan asked Huo Ruanruan with concern, "Ruanruan, you weren't scared, were you?"

Huo Ruanruan replied sweetly, "Not at all."

Her eyes had been covered by Huo Mingyuan the entire time. He only lowered his hand after the corpse was carried away. She could only see a pool of blood on the ground, spared from witnessing any gruesome details. Huo Ruanruan's heart beat a little faster. First, the curse had been passed to Bai Yao, and now Hao Meili had also become a cursed target. Was this the work of that demon as well? But what was his reason for doing so?

When Huo Ruanruan thought of the demon's peerlessly handsome face, her heart raced even faster. Even though she knew he was a highly dangerous entity, why couldn't she control herself? Oh, she was truly a hopeless sucker for good looks!

Blushing and feeling helpless against her own whims, Huo Ruanruan caught sight of a figure in the distance out of the corner of her eye. She looked over. Bai Yao hadn't joined the crowd to watch the commotion because she had to tend to her patients. As a light drizzle began to fall again, Bai Yao was busy guiding the patients back into the building.

Huo Ruanruan thought to herself that if she didn't already know Bai Yao was a pretentious, manipulative girl, she might have been fooled by her dedicated, hardworking appearance. Then, another thought crossed her mind: once midnight passed tonight, Bai Yao would die. Huo Ruanruan wondered if she should be kind enough to warn her. But she quickly recalled how Bai Yao had bullied her when she first returned to the Bai family years ago, and she immediately dismissed the kind impulse. *Hmph, I'm not going to play the saint!*

It was Bai Yao's turn to work the night shift again. The head nurse had chatted with her during the day out of concern, only feeling reassured after confirming that Bai Yao was fine with the night shift. In truth, there wasn't much to do for the patients at night in this hospital. This was because everyone feared the rumor of the curse haunting the hospital; no one dared to make a sound at night.

Thus, Bai Yao's work at night was quite relaxed. She sat in her chair, boredly scrolling through her phone. Sensing a gaze from the corner, she said without even looking up, "Stop hiding. Come over."

After a moment, the sound of a youth's footsteps approached, drawing closer until he reached her side. He naturally pulled up a chair, placed it next to hers, and sat close beside her. Bai Yao looked up.

His eyes curved into crescents as he smiled, the hair clip on his head shimmering faintly under the lights, making his smile look even brighter. Bai Yao reached out to stroke his face. In such a short time, the wounds on his face had already healed. Not only the injuries on his face, but he could now run and jump around, coming to find her as if nothing had happened at all.

Fu Huai squinted his eyes in contentment. Like presenting a treasure, he pulled out a pink, translucent box from his pocket. "Yaoyao, eat this."

They were mulberries, very fresh, likely just picked.

Bai Yao asked him, "Did you pick them?"

He nodded with a beaming smile. "Yes!"

If Bai Yao remembered correctly, there was only a mulberry tree behind the laboratory building. It was tall and massive, and it had indeed borne fruit. Her colleagues had mentioned in passing that the tree was too tall; otherwise, they would have loved to try picking some. Currently, the mulberries were not yet fully ripe, and the few early-ripening ones were at the very top of the tree, making them even harder to harvest.

Fu Huai picked up a dark purple, almost black mulberry and held it to her lips. "Yaoyao, this one is sweet, not sour at all."

Bai Yao didn't eat it immediately. Instead, she asked, "What made you think of picking these?"

The youth tilted his head, the charming beauty mark beneath his eye tinged with innocence. "Life used to be so boring. All I could do was stare at it day after day, watching it, constantly watching it... But once I realized that when the mulberries ripened, Yaoyao would definitely like them, I didn't feel bored anymore!"

The corners of his mouth turned up into a wide grin. "So the moment they ripened, I hurried to pick them! If I had been any slower, someone else might have taken them. I kept my eyes on these for Yaoyao; no one else is allowed to have them."

Bai Yao's hand gently brushed the back of his hand, where there were several scratches from the branches. He thought for a moment, leaned down to kiss the corner of her lips, and then said with utmost seriousness, "Yaoyao, it doesn't hurt anymore." This was because she had told him before that if it hurt, he should kiss her.

Bai Yao raised her hand to hastily wipe her eyes. Then, her eyes curved, and she said with a smile, "Let's eat them together."

Fu Huai tilted his beautiful face up. "Feed me."

In the past, Bai Yao would definitely have grumbled in her heart about his pampered young master attitude—as if being able to feed him made her the luckiest person in the world—and she wouldn't have bothered to humor him. But now, Bai Yao took the mulberry from his hand into her mouth, then cupped his face and kissed him.

Stars suddenly seemed to light up in Fu Huai's pitch-black eyes, shining brilliantly. He must have really loved her way of feeding him.

Midnight had passed.

Huo Ruanruan struggled in the embrace of the masculine man. "No... let me go!" Because her voice was soft and her body was supple, her protest sounded entirely lacking in force.

The man, who existed as a demon, let out a low chuckle. "If you want me to let you go, sure. Give me a kiss, and I'll release you."

Huo Ruanruan glared at him, her chubby, baby-soft face filled with anger. How could there be such a shameless person in this world?

The demon pinned the delicate, soft woman onto the bed, flashing a wicked, highly provocative smile. "If you don't kiss me, then don't even think about me letting you go." *How can this man be so wicked!*

The demon added, "Now that midnight has passed, there is one less person in this world for our Ruanruan to detest. And in three days, another woman who talks behind your back will also be gone."

He was referring to Bai Yao and Hao Meili.

As expected, the accident during the day had also been orchestrated by him. In order to win Huo Ruanruan's heart and make her stay longer, he had increased the difficulty of the game within the limits of the rules, thereby raising the mortality rate. But what did the deaths of others have to do with him? He only cared about Huo Ruanruan.

Huo Ruanruan felt that the man before her was both dangerous and captivating. As a human, she felt fear, yet she couldn't help but be drawn to his domineering and wicked charm. She told herself that their strength was too disparate and she could never defeat him, so she could only reluctantly lift her head to kiss his lips.

Suddenly, the man's relaxed expression shifted. He clutched his chest in agony and sat up on the bed, looking as though he were enduring some excruciating torture.

Huo Ruanruan hastily asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The demon's eyes widened. "How is this possible? No, it's impossible!"

The clock on the wall showed that the hands had just passed midnight.

With a sharp crack, one of the ram horns on the demon's head snapped off and fell to the floor, causing him to curl up in even greater agony.

Huo Ruanruan supported him. "Are... are you okay?"

The demon felt a vast amount of his power being drained away. He looked toward a certain direction in disbelief—the place where Bai Yao was. Losing his composure, he cried out in terror, "My curse actually had no effect on her? How is that possible?!"

Curses descended along with psychological shadows.

Realizing this, panic flickered in the demon's eyes alongside his disbelief. Could it be that, even after witnessing a patient possessed by the supernatural commit suicide in such a gruesome and horrific manner right before her eyes, she hadn't developed any psychological shadow whatsoever?!