The rousing, full-bodied chorus made Su Fan’s eye twitch.
But wait—wasn’t this song supposed to be released during the Spring Festival of 2004? And right now, it was only the end of November 2003.
Looks like a lot of things were already starting to change.
Just as Su Fan was pondering this, the cheerful, peaceful voice and festive melody coming from the player caught Theresa’s attention.
“Such a lively song! What’s the female singer saying?”
“Wishing for good luck and smooth sailing in everything.”
“Oh, that’s a wonderful song then.”
The ultimate gacha-curse anthem—anyone who knew, knew.
Theresa had only ever listened to hymns and psalms before; she’d never heard a melody like this. Intrigued, she started humming along. Not only did she pick up the Chinese pronunciation for the repeated phrase “Good Luck Comes,” but she even joined in with the “Hey! Hey!” parts.
But of course, coming from a soft-voiced, gentle-hearted nun, those chants carried a faint, airy dopiness.
The car was filled with a festive atmosphere, and Su Fan kept his speed up the whole way. Before long, they’d cleared the narrow roads and merged back onto a wider stretch.
As the music wound down, the hospital building gradually came into view at the edge of the horizon.
At that moment, the lighthearted mood quickly evaporated.
Both Su Fan and Theresa could sense a faint, intangible urgency in the air.
Unlike most hospitals, this private facility was quite large—a clear sign of the financial power behind its founding corporation.
After nightfall, aside from a few scattered rooms with their lights still on, most of the building was shrouded in darkness.
As they drew closer, the building’s lights suddenly began to flicker.
Seeing this, Su Fan narrowed his eyes.
Looks like, besides them, some other “guests” would soon be visiting this hospital.
There weren’t many cars in the parking lot out front. Su Fan executed a casual spin and came to a perfect stop right at the entrance.
The two moved swiftly, got out, and headed straight for the hospital’s flickering entrance.
—
“Since the other doctors have to go out of town for a conference, thanks for taking the night shift today, John.”
In the hospital corridor, a balding chief physician walked slowly alongside a younger man.
The latter was noticeably more youthful than his senior, radiating energy and vitality.
“No problem.”
John had his own reasons.
He’d recently sold his townhouse and moved into a city apartment, and with a newborn baby requiring all sorts of supplies, his savings were running thin. Night shifts were draining, sure, but the daily pay was significantly higher than regular day shifts.
“How’s your wife Mia doing?”
“Thanks for asking. She’s in good health now.”
“I’m truly sorry for what happened to your family. But God was merciful, and in the end, both mother and daughter came through safely.”
News had spread quickly through the hospital.
John’s family had been attacked by two cult fanatics, and his wife Mia had been stabbed in the abdomen.
If her husband John hadn’t fought off both attackers single-handedly to buy time, Mia wouldn’t have survived until the police arrived.
But misfortune didn’t stop there—it kept hanging over them.
Not long after the attack, Mia, who was resting at home during her pregnancy, nearly died in a house fire.
With so much hardship, yet still managing to give birth to a healthy baby girl—everyone could only chalk it up to divine protection.
“Tomorrow morning, once you’ve handed over your patient files and case updates, you can head straight home. Spend some time with her.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Director Norman.”
After parting ways with the director, John let out a long breath.
He didn’t head back to the on-call room. Instead, he made his way to a ward on the seventh floor—where Father Andrew was recovering.
What John had experienced went far beyond what anyone else in the hospital could possibly imagine.
Haunted by a malevolent spirit—a phrase that only ever appeared in horror movies and supernatural stories—had become a terrifying reality for his family.
He’d never imagined that a simple doll could spiral into so much chaos, even gravely wounding the priest who’d come to help them.
After seeing the priest drenched in his own blood, John finally believed everything his wife had told him.
At once, he leveraged every bit of influence he’d just started building at the hospital to ensure the priest got the best possible care.
But even so, the man showed no signs of improvement. Aside from briefly waking up once, he’d remained unconscious ever since.
“When will the exorcist from the Vatican finally get here…”
John could feel his wife Mia growing increasingly sensitive and paranoid.
Postpartum hormonal changes already made new mothers prone to psychological issues—if this kept up, he dreaded to think what might happen.
The promising young doctor sighed repeatedly as he stepped into the elevator, reaching for the buttons.
But a casual glance made him freeze mid-motion.
Near his finger, the buttons that should have displayed different floor numbers had all turned into the same thing—13!
Thirteen?
Seeing this eerie sight and that iconic number, John felt a chill run through his entire body, as if all the blood in his veins had instantly frozen solid.
At the same time, the elevator lights began to flicker.
The closed doors slowly slid open.
Before him lay a hospital corridor he’d walked countless times before—yet now it felt utterly foreign.
With each flicker of the lights, the scene in the hallway began to change.
The floor tiles, which the cleaning staff had scrubbed spotless, were now covered in dark stains and splatters of blood.
Just then, a familiar cry suddenly came from up ahead.
The corridor was empty, and the terrified wail of an infant echoed in John’s ears.
Leah!
As a new father, John doted on his daughter endlessly. He’d taken on most of the childcare duties while his wife recovered.
That cry—the one that could make him drop whatever he was doing in an instant—was unmistakable.
He peered toward the end of the hallway and spotted a familiar stroller!
“Leah!”
A father’s love overpowered his fear. John burst out of the elevator and sprinted straight toward the stroller.
Behind him, the elevator doors slammed shut with a heavy thud.
But John didn’t notice—at that moment, his eyes were fixed solely on his daughter.
Finally, he reached the stroller and leaned in to look—only to see bloodstained cotton cloth and tiny baby clothes.
John let out a breath of relief, but then his scalp prickled and every hair on his body stood on end!
He finally realized just how grim and sinister the place he was in truly was.
John instinctively stepped back—but his foot hit something, nearly sending him stumbling.
He looked down.
It was that familiar doll.
It was back!
John recoiled as if bitten by a snake, scrambling backward until his back hit the wall.
Thud…
One by one, the ward doors slammed shut on their own. Not only that, but the flickering lights began going out one after another, starting from the far end of the corridor.
It was as if something was surging forward, riding a wave of darkness.
John swallowed hard and pulled out his phone, using it as his only source of light.
But then he suddenly noticed—a small figure was standing less than a meter in front of him, and he had no idea when it had appeared.
The little girl lifted her head. The dim glow of his phone illuminated her face, mere inches away.
On her pale, small face, a pair of eyes stared straight at him, unblinking. Her lips didn’t move, but a voice still came through…
“Do you… like my doll?”
