There were only a few white candles in the living room.

Cen Yu sat on the sofa, Yu Xinyu dozing off beside him, while Li Chonghe and Gu Hanyin just stared at the candles without saying a word.

The knocking continued outside the door, and there were also some banging sounds from the window. Cen Yu could also faintly hear some crying and shouting.

"How long will this last?" Cen Yu felt a little sleepy.

The thought of having to go to work tomorrow made him want to curse this damn world.

What kind of world is this?! Even if I've encountered a ghost, I still have to clock in and out on time?!

"At least until 6 a.m. tomorrow," Li Chonghe said, looking up.

It's already 2 a.m., and there are still 4 hours left until the end.

The thought of it lasting another week made Cen Yu want to bang his head against the wall.

"You should get some sleep first," Gu Hanyin said. "Didn't we agree to take turns on guard duty?"

Li Chonghe nodded as well.

Cen Yu, wrapped in a blanket, yawned again... He glanced at the sealed doors and windows, as well as the locked gate, and finally nodded, "Call me in a few hours."

After saying that, he leaned back on the sofa and slowly drifted off to sleep.

After Cen Yu fell asleep, Yu Xinyu, who had been feigning sleep, opened her eyes.

Li Chonghe and Gu Hanyin stared at the candle without saying a word, as did Yu Xinyu.

The cries and banging on the doors and windows outside never stopped; something was still banging on the door. The three people who were still conscious in the room just sat there silently.

...

When Cen Yu suddenly woke up, he found himself alone on the sofa.

Cen Yu immediately took out his phone and checked it, only to find that it was already 7 o'clock...?

"Awake?" Gu Hanyin came out of the kitchen.

Cen Yu scratched his head. "Right." He put the blanket aside. "You didn't call me?"

"You looked sleepy, so I didn't wake you," Gu Hanyin said.

"What about them?" Cen Yu asked.

“Li Chonghe said he went to work first,” Gu Hanyin said. “Yu Xinyu is catching up on sleep in her room.”

Seemingly worried that Cen Yu might overthink things, Gu Hanyin added, "We discussed it last night and decided that everyone will be sleeping on the floor in the living room for the time being."

Cen Yu took out the sandwiches he bought yesterday from the refrigerator... He glanced at the size of the living room and it seemed that if they squeezed in, the four of them could sleep on the floor.

"Then who will stand guard?"

"It's not decided yet," Gu Hanyin said. "Let's discuss it together tonight."

“Yu Xinyu and I can share the burden more,” Gu Hanyin said. “We don’t need to go to work for the time being.”

Cen Yu still remembered that Gu Hanyin's job was to write the script for "Wang Ma" on the side. "Don't you have any work right now?"

"All the manuscripts have been submitted for now." Gu Hanyin nodded. "I don't need to be in the office, so it's a bit more relaxed."

Cen Yu yawned again. He glanced at the milk in the refrigerator—but in the end, he didn't take it. He closed the refrigerator door and waited until he finished washing up before sitting down at the dining table.

There was only a cup of coffee in front of Gu Hanyin.

"Six days left." Cen Yu pulled out a chair and sat down. "How are the other people in the neighborhood coping?"

"They said in the residents' group chat that they bought talismans," Gu Hanyin thought for a moment, "but I heard they're not very useful."

"Not very useful?"

“Well, the ghosts that appear aren’t necessarily something that those talismans can handle,” Gu Hanyin said. “That’s partly why the rent in this neighborhood is cheap.”

Cen Yu understood what Gu Hanyin meant—

It's probably because their neighborhood has absolutely no means of dealing with the "twilight hour," not even magic arrays or other defensive devices, that's why the rent is so cheap.

Thinking of this, Cen Yu suddenly looked at Gu Hanyin and asked, "How much is your rent?"

Gu Hanyin's expression immediately became somewhat troubled, as if she was unwilling to disclose the specific amount.

"I'm sorry," Gu Hanyin said, "it's not convenient to talk about it."

"It's nothing." Cen Yu was puzzled. He had only heard that salaries should be kept secret, so why should rent be kept secret when sharing an apartment?

...

When Cen Yu arrived at the company, she saw her colleagues from yesterday again.

Like me, my colleague also has dark circles under his eyes.

"We almost lost everything yesterday!" Xiao Wang cursed. "How could there be such an unreliable person? They even forgot to close the window."

Cen Yu sat in his office chair and turned to look at Xiao Wang. "How much is your rent?"

Xiao Wang immediately gave a number, then pulled out a chair next to him and sat down. "Don't say anything more. I rented this apartment in this complex because I was attracted by their advertised zero casualty rate."

"There is a special magic array in the community to ward off evil spirits."

As Xiao Wang spoke, he asked Cen Yu where she lived.

“Spring Residential Area,” Cen Yu said.

“…Spring Residential Area.” Upon hearing this, Xiao Wang looked at Cen Yu, then hesitated for a moment before saying, “Why don’t you move out?”

"how?"

"...Hey, you don't know the rumors about this neighborhood, do you?"

"I can't say for sure, but you can find out by searching online."

“There’s a reason why the rent in this neighborhood is so low,” Xiao Wang said to Cen Yu. “If you don’t have enough for the rent, I can lend you some.”

All the information in the copy was useful, Cen Yu thought, so after Xiao Wang left, he specifically looked up information about the Spring Community.

It was discovered that the residential complex was built in 2007, and many accidents occurred during its construction. Some workers even said they had encountered ghosts in the middle of the night.

After the world fell into strange chaos, they tried to set up defensive arrays and measures, but unfortunately, they failed every time, as if something was blocking their way.

What concerned Cen Yu even more was a news report.

Because the housing prices are relatively cheap, some houses in the community have been bought and used specifically to store ashes.

Cen Yu: "..."

Although the report didn't specify which building it was, Cen Yu suddenly had a bad feeling.

Could he really be that unlucky?!

...

"How much is your rent?" Cen Yu asked Li Chonghe as soon as he got off work.

Although puzzled, Li Chonghe honestly gave a number. "What's wrong?"

"Thinking of moving?"

"Just asking," Cen Yu said, looking at Li Chonghe. "Aren't you considering moving?"

"I heard that some nearby residential areas have special magic arrays to deal with ghosts."

"It's just a bit pricey."

Li Chonghe sighed, "The high price is the biggest problem!"

Cen Yu: "..."

If Li Chonghe knew that he was an imperial prince in another world, wouldn't he cry?

...

After returning to the rented apartment, Cen Yu went back to her room and began looking for the rental contract.

He discovered that he had absolutely no memory of how much his rent was—

He certainly wouldn't forget this kind of information, so there's only one possibility: it's a crucial clue that was deliberately hidden.

He quickly found his rental contract where a series of documents were kept.

When Cen Yu saw the rent section, his gaze lingered for a long time.

The rental agreement states—

The rent is 0 yuan, but the requirement is that Cen Yu must live in this house for 24 months.