Chapter 008: Relentless Nightmares 

Scene 1: The Unending Terror

"Wha—what's wrong?" Liu Zhidong jolted awake, his wife's screams piercing the darkness.

Xu Sumei wiped cold sweat from her brow, her hands trembling. "N-nothing…just a nightmare." The specter's rotting face lingered in her mind, its feed-stained tongue flickering like a serpent's.

Liu rolled over, muttering into his pillow: "Nightmares aren't worth waking the dead for."

Scene 2: Second Horror

When Xu dared close her eyes again, the creature materialized—a monstrosity covered in bone-white spikes, oozing green slime, its tentacles reeking of fish market decay.

"AAAAH!" She scrambled backward, nearly tumbling off the bed.

"Enough!" Liu sat up, rage cutting through sleep fog. "You'll wake the whole village!"

"Y-you don't understand!" Xu clutched her heaving chest. "It's…it's haunting me!"

Scene 3: Aquatic Abomination

By 2 AM, exhaustion dragged Xu under. This time, icy fingers seized her ankles. A waterlogged corpse grinned up at her, moss clinging to its skeletal frame, maggots spilling from empty eye sockets.

Liu found his wife hyperventilating in the moonlight. "We're seeing the spirit medium at dawn," he declared, though fear tightened his throat.

Scene 4: Family Ploy

Morning revealed three shadows trudging toward Jinxiu Grand View. Xu's bloodshot eyes burned with manic resolve. "Even if I die today, that bastard will pay!"

Liu Weiwei trailed behind, her counterfeit Coach bag bumping against trembling knees.

Scene 5: Security Breach

The "luxury" compound's gatekeeper barely glanced at their excuse ("Visiting nephew!"). Xu snorted at the cracked pavement: "County's finest? Pathetic."

At Building 3, the keypad halted them—until a familiar figure emerged from the elevator.

"LU YUAN!" Xu's shriek echoed through the lobby, her talon-like nails unsheathing.