What truly struck Chen Mo as strange was the tone Yang Xiaoyu used at that moment—completely different from the slightly flirtatious manner he had heard in the office.
So... his guess was likely correct. This Yang Xiaoyu was indeed a participant in the story.
The recording continued, though for the most part, it was Yang Xiaoyu speaking.
"You're not allowed to interact with patients, not allowed to work, and he even comes to the ward during work hours to supervise you! Zhao Heping doesn't love you—this is possessiveness!"
"Zhou Xue, you can't be soft this time. If Zhao Heping treats you like this again, hide the recorder nearby, record everything he says and does. When the time comes, these will be evidence!"
"Zhao Heping is a madman! If you stay by his side any longer, you'll die!"
The first recording ended there. Chen Mo glanced at it and saw there were two more segments, so he pressed play.
At the start of the second recording, a loud sound erupted—a man's furious roar.
"Zhou Xue! I knew you weren't a faithful one! Don't think I don't know what you're plotting behind my back. I fucking heard your conversation in the ward!"
"I treat you so well, and you want to leave me? You dare to leave me?!"
"Do you want to die?!"
*Thud!* The sound of a heavy object striking, followed by the man's suppressed rage, mixed with a woman's weak sobs and pleas, continued for over ten minutes.
In the final recording, the man's voice had calmed down eerily.
"Zhou Xue, I was wrong... I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just love you too much. I can't stand anyone taking you away from me! You have to believe me..."
"Zhou Xue, forgive me, okay? For the sake of how much I love you."
"Zhou Xue, don't leave me... If you dare to leave me, I-I'll kill him, and then die myself!"
A hysterical roar suddenly shifted into an extremely calm and cruel tone, like a mutter to himself or some kind of vicious curse.
"No, I can't just watch that man take you away. I'm not crazy. I know what to do."
The recording cut off abruptly. Chen Mo turned off the recorder, his heart filled with shock.
If not for the recorder Zhou Xue had left behind, he would never have imagined that beneath Dr. Zhao's gentle and refined exterior lay such a hideous face.
Clearly, as his wife, Zhou Xue had long suffered violent treatment from Zhao Heping. With her gentle nature, she hadn't chosen to speak out but had silently endured.
Endured and endured, until she drove herself mad.
No wonder the medical records showed so many injuries on Zhou Xue's body—they were all caused by Zhao Heping's abuse. As a nurse in the same department, Yang Xiaoyu couldn't have missed these signs over time, which was why she gave Zhou Xue this recorder—to document Zhao Heping's domestic violence as future evidence.
Intense paranoia, baseless suspicion, and prolonged abuse had ultimately led the weak-natured Zhou Xue to jump to her death in despair!
Zhao Heping undoubtedly loved Zhou Xue, and the grief he showed after her suicide wasn't fake—but it was a twisted kind of love!
So, could it be...
The person Zhao Heping was terrified of losing Zhou Xue to—was it the deceased in the story?
Or perhaps, Qi Dongsheng's failed heart surgery wasn't an accident but a calculated scheme driven by Zhao Heping's jealousy!
Would that demon doctor Zhao Heping really go that far?
Using a medical mishap to carry out a vicious murder plot?!
Knowing all this but unable to speak out, forced to be manipulated by a devil and helplessly accept a fate of death—that must be why the deceased harbored such immense resentment, turning into a vengeful spirit!
Oh no...
Suddenly, a prickling sensation crawled up Chen Mo's spine—an extreme sense of danger!
If Zhao Heping's death in the real world was indeed the vengeful spirit's revenge, then in this projected supernatural world, the moment he uncovered the truth, the spirit's first target would obviously be him.
At that thought, Chen Mo immediately shot up from his seat, turned, and bolted for the door. At the same time, a clear sound of footsteps suddenly echoed behind him.
A mass of gray mist surged out from the bedroom door, rolling toward him!
In the hallway, the lights flickered on and off, signaling another supernatural attack. Chen Mo didn't take the elevator but instead dashed downstairs. Behind him, the churning gray mist gave relentless chase.
On the stairs, Chen Mo stumbled along, pushing his running speed to the limit. Yet the surging mist behind him, along with the *pat-pat* sounds within it, grew closer and closer. A bone-chilling coldness seemed to brush against his back...
"Ahhhhhhh—!"
Chen Mo let out a wild roar and burst out of the stairwell. But in that brief moment, the neighborhood outside had already turned pitch black. In the sky, a red moon cast an eerie glow. No one was visible anywhere around the complex—only dense trees swayed like ghostly shadows in the sinister wind.
*Pat, pat, pat.* The terrifying footsteps still echoed clearly all around. Chen Mo looked back and saw that the surrounding buildings were also shrouded in darkness, not a single light on.
Without a doubt, just like last time, the supernatural forces in this world were intensifying. At the same time, a mass of gray mist poured out of the building he had just fled, countless pale claws extending from the rolling fog, reaching for Chen Mo from behind.
His chest ached from the sustained exertion, but Chen Mo gritted his teeth and sprinted toward the neighborhood gate. *Pat, pat, pat*—the sound of his running footsteps mixed with the noise behind him. Even without looking back, he could feel the vengeful spirit closing in inch by inch.
But his racing heart and aching body reminded Chen Mo that he couldn't hold out much longer.
Through blurry vision, the neighborhood gate finally appeared ahead. In the guard booth beside it, a dim yellow light still glowed, as peaceful as if it belonged to another world.
Chen Mo pushed himself with all his might, feeling like his heart was about to burst, but his body had already reached its limit...
A pale claw from the mist grabbed his back.
Just then, suddenly, a blinding light blazed outside the neighborhood gate, piercing through the tangible darkness. Within the light, a figure emerged, shoved open the gate, and grabbed Chen Mo.
At the same time, Chen Mo recognized the person—it was Old Zhang, riding a motorcycle through the gate.
In Old Zhang's hand was a flashlight. Yes, the same one he had held when Chen Mo first saw him standing at the morgue entrance.
But at this moment, that flashlight shone with an eerie, blazing brilliance, cutting through the overwhelming darkness!