Although some food had been prepared in the kitchen beforehand, the items the two brought back proved invaluable for emergency situations, and the atmosphere improved noticeably. Anna asked the doctor to confirm the safety of the antipyretic medicine and prepared to take it. Ling Yan and Lily escorted her to the kitchen for hot water and then returned with their dinner.
Few people were in the mood for elaborate cooking. Even though the kitchen was adjacent, venturing there felt like an isolated act. Many still clung to the candlelight emanating from the couple's side. After all, the effective range of the warning remained unknown. Even those slightly further away appeared frightened, some even reducing their food intake to minimize trips to the bathroom.
Consequently, dinner consisted of a thick soup, a medley of chopped ingredients simmered in a single pot. Anna was feeling unwell and couldn't stomach meat at all. She nibbled slowly on a chocolate bar. The others, lacking much appetite themselves, reluctantly drank some soup for sustenance.
As if misfortune loved company, their current situation worsened. Midway through dinner, the entire room plunged into darkness. Only the flickering candlelight on the table pierced the blackness. Screams, shouts, and curses erupted from every corner. Someone even knocked over a chair.
"Calm down! Move towards the candlelight!" Beom Seok's shout cut through the rising panic, bringing a semblance of order to the chaos. Just then, the nouveau riche's angry voice boomed, "That electrician! Didn't you check it? How could such a problem occur?"
"We did check it, but it's beyond repair. Didn't I mention that? Sorry," Francesco drawled, lighting a cigarette with leisurely movements. "Also, I'm not an electrician. While I have the utmost respect for our electrician brethren, I feel it's important to clarify."
"Can't be repaired?"
"The expert diagnosed it as aged parts. No replacements are available, so it's irreparable," A calmer young man under Francesco's wing explained. "Besides, our fuel reserves weren't sufficient. Even if the generator was functioning perfectly, it couldn't have run at full capacity for seven days. We've already kept two offline as a backup."
"Backup? What are you waiting for? Hurry up and start those two!" The nouveau riche urged impatiently.
"Who's going? Are you volunteering?" Francesco asked with amusement, exhaling a plume of smoke.
"It's pitch black out there, and there's a ghost in the house that hasn't finished its work. I wouldn't dare. At most, I can sleep here for one night and then check on a few people tomorrow morning. If you're not afraid, be my guest and start it."
"I..." The nouveau riche muttered a curse under his breath, but he wasn't foolish enough to provoke Francesco in this predicament. He could only direct his frustration at those nearby.
"Get out of the way! I want to get closer to the candle!"
"Anna, are you comfortable here? If you're really feeling unwell, let's go back to the room to rest," Grace said, her concern for Anna's health evident.
"It's okay... It's just one night. The weather is still pleasant. It's nothing," Anna replied with a weak smile, hugging her knees and curling up in the chair. Moments later, she felt a wave of warmth envelop her. It was Grace draping her suit over her shoulders.
"If you have a fever, you need to stay warm and avoid catching another cold."
"Thank you..."
"You're welcome. Try to get some sleep."
In contrast to the small pocket of warmth and care, a heated argument erupted on the other side of the room.
The candle flame was their sole source of light, and its extinction was unthinkable. However, the couple clung possessively to it, unwilling to share. They were locked in a dispute over the watch schedule for the night. Everyone had their own ideas about the allocation, and no one could sway the others.
"One shift per hour, who takes the first and who takes the later shifts?"
"You expect to take the first half and the second half? What if you fall asleep after watching for so long? I'm exhausted."
Ultimately, Noah imposed a schedule by force. Recognizing that the latter part of the night would be more challenging to guard, the rotation was set: Policeman David for the first shift, followed by the couple, Rami, the dyed-haired man, the two band members, Beom Seok, Kran, Francesco, Ling Yan, the tall boy, and finally Noah.
The nouveau riche was barred from approaching the candles. After all, he was deemed untrustworthy, and the others tried to keep him at bay. Strangely, Grace was not included in the night watch roster, which struck some as peculiar.
Just then, the wind picked up outside again. Francesco stubbed out his cigarette, coughed, and remarked, "It's... going to change again."
And it did. The mountain weather was notoriously fickle.
In the early morning, Ling Yan was roused by a touch. Francesco, having woken him, immediately raised an index finger to his lips, offering a gentle "hush," before whispering,
"Don't panic, the nouveau riche is dead."
Ling Yan was not one to succumb to panic. Upon hearing this, he simply nodded and glanced outside. A faint light was beginning to filter through, accompanied by the rhythmic drumming of raindrops against the window.
"It's a moderate rain, been going on for a while now. Do you think we should wake everyone?" Francesco's face betrayed no hint of alarm at the news of a nearby death, discussing it with the detached air of someone reading the morning paper.
"You found him?"
"It was still dark when I took over, before dawn. The thin candlelight only illuminated about a meter around. That guy died in his seat, see."
Ling Yan followed his gaze. Indeed, because the nouveau riche had been excluded from the watch, even sitting as close to the candle as he dared, he was still roughly three meters away. It would have been truly dark during the night. Now, he was slumped in his chair, his head lolling back, a gruesome gash across his neck. It was eerily similar to Soren's death, but since no one was nearby, he had simply fallen against the table and chair.
"He was so confident he wouldn't die, but now..." Ling Yan sighed softly. "Then, let's wake everyone."
Soon, the room stirred with the groans and murmurs of the newly awakened. The two of them went around, gently rousing each person. However, Lily, upon opening her eyes, found herself directly facing the nouveau riche's lifeless form and let out a piercing scream.
"What happened?" Anna mumbled, her head feeling heavy as she blinked open her eyes. Grace's hand was already pressed against her forehead.
"Your fever has worsened."
"Sister Grace, I... don't feel well. What happened?"
"Someone died. He was killed last night. This is not our concern right now. I'll take you upstairs to rest."
"No... wait, who?" Anna sat up slowly, her gaze falling upon the upstart's body.
Despite her dizziness, the memory flickered back: "This is... the ghost who killed... cut people's throats?"
"Yes, don't dwell on it. I'll take you upstairs. Ling Yan, could you do me a favor? Get some hot water. I'll help her change clothes," Grace said, turning to ask for assistance.
"Okay."
"Hey! Don't you have anything to say?" Rami asked, bewildered by the woman's seemingly detached reaction.
"Didn't we establish yesterday that ghosts can kill people in a crowd? What is there to say? He was simply unlucky. Instead of worrying about this, you'd be better off waiting for the text message this morning," Grace replied coolly, helping Anna to her feet and guiding her upstairs.
"Why is Sister Lian so kind to me?" Anna asked, a hint of confusion in her voice as she changed into Grace's suit.
"Perhaps it's because you're fortunate. Didn't you say you always encountered people who cared for you?"
"Don't joke, Sister Lian. I understand that genuine feelings between people develop gradually."
"Well... if you truly want to know, it's alright. Generally speaking, you are the kind of person I envy," Grace said with a faint smile, opening the door and walking into the room. She retrieved a set of large pajamas from the closet. "If our childhoods had been reversed, it would likely be a reflection of my own."
"Uh..."
Anna slowly peeled off the blood-stained clothes that clung to her skin, listening intently as Grace began to recount her past.
"I mentioned before that my classmates and I started a company. In reality, I became financially independent very early on. As for my parents, my father came from a family that favored sons. He resented my birth and, consequently, treated my mother poorly. My mother had been working in society from a young age and possessed a fiery temper. The two of them argued frequently for as long as I can remember. Then, when I was... six or seven years old, my mother suddenly took the family savings book and left in the middle of the night. My father was stunned."
Grace seemed to want to present it as a lighthearted anecdote, but Anna couldn't bring herself to smile.
"My father went to the police station to report her disappearance, but they couldn't find her, so they simply listed her as missing. Later, when I was older, my father told me he would only support me until junior high school and would never fund my education beyond compulsory schooling. I didn't want anything to do with him, so I enrolled in a high school far from home, worked part-time, and secured scholarships. In short, it was similar to those inspirational stories you read. Later, I navigated the complexities of society, but I didn't turn out to be a bad person."
"Sorry... Sister Lian..."
"There's no need to apologize. Lie down," Grace said, gently pressing Anna onto the bed and tucking the quilt around her. She looked into Anna's eyes and continued, "I know that regardless of what others do, I will always love myself, so I am not unfortunate. And you – since you were born into happiness, I don't want to see that happiness extinguished prematurely."
"Ha... You truly have no principles, Sister Grace..." Anna murmured with a weak smile.
"Go to sleep. I still need your knowledge to help me."
At that moment, footsteps echoed from the doorway. Ling Yan entered, carrying a steaming kettle. "It took a while for the water to boil. How is Anna?"
"I've put her to sleep. I'll watch over her here just in case. Thank you very much."
"No problem. Do you need any help?"
"Are you... comfortable leaving?"
Ling Yan raised his eyebrows. "It doesn't make sense for so many people to rely solely on me for protection. It was understandable that people were panicked after yesterday's incident, but they still haven't adjusted after a night?"
"Is the item still in your possession?" Grace asked abruptly.
Ling Yan nodded.
Anna asked in surprise, "What are you two talking about?"
"The things we found yesterday, while useless for fighting ghosts, have other applications... Ling Yan, could you show it to Anna?"
Following Grace's request, Ling Yan retrieved a palm-sized glass bottle from his pocket. It resembled a message in a bottle, containing a small piece of white paper.
"This... seems to be..."
"A message in a bottle. This object can decipher the last thoughts of the deceased. We tested it on the first victim's body. While it has significant limitations, it does possess this function," Grace explained.
"Tested it?"
Considering the multitude of collectibles they had found, aside from the grim confirmation of the Hand of Decay's power yesterday, they hadn't truly verified the efficacy of the other items. This had been a source of underlying unease for Anna, and now it was finally being addressed.
"Place it next to the corpse for ten minutes, and the note inside the bottle will display the deceased's final thoughts. However... since they were killed by a powerful ghost, the information we obtained consisted of things like wanting to live and not wanting to die, which has no practical use," Ling Yan said with a hint of regret.
"As you can see, the note is small, so it can't convey much content."
"When you're feeling a bit better, we'll go and examine the other deceased. Five people should yield some useful information, right?"
Grace gently touched Anna's forehead, offered a few comforting words, then stood up, picked up the kettle, and began to soak Anna's soiled clothes.