At night, Leng Yue was awakened by the rattling sound of chains dragging on the ground.

The ward door was not closed. I don't know if someone went out or if the nurse forgot to close the door when she made her rounds.

The hallway lights weren't very bright, but you could still see outside. It was quiet outside; no one had gone out. Leng Yue glanced around, then got out of bed to close the door.

The moment Leng Yue closed the door, an old man rushed in from outside. Leng Yue hurriedly stopped and opened the door wider.

"Please slow down! I almost bumped into you!" Leng Yue couldn't help but say to the old man, "What if you had been hurt?"

But the old man didn't appreciate it and walked straight to the innermost bed without even glancing at Leng Yue.

Leng Yue glanced at the old man and thought he had quite a temper. However, she didn't pay much attention and turned back to bed. Just as Leng Yue closed her eyes, she heard the sounds again. And they were getting closer, seemingly moving in her direction.

Leng Yue pulled back the curtain and looked outside, where she saw an acquaintance.

"Are you starting work now?" Leng Yue asked, looking at the Black and White Impermanence dragging chains in their hands.

"Little girl, go to sleep!" Bai Wuchang looked at Leng Yue with disdain.

Leng Yue neither spoke nor slept; she simply watched them quietly.

"Hurry up, once we take this one, our work for today will be finished." Black Impermanence opened his workbook, put a checkmark on it, and urged White Impermanence, "Let's get started."

The White Impermanence slipped through the curtain next door, grabbed an old man, chained him up, and was about to leave. Leng Yue looked up and recognized him as the old man who had just run in from outside.

"Is he already dead? I just saw him come in from outside, full of energy. It shouldn't be like this." Leng Yue asked, puzzled, looking at the old man's blank expression.

"He's long dead. What you're seeing is this old man's spirit. Little girl, you can see ghosts now, aren't you happy?" Bai Wuchang looked at Leng Yue with ill intent. "Let me tell you, some ghosts look quite terrifying!"

Leng Yue looked at Bai Wuchang speechlessly, "Lord Bai, Brother Bai, can you be any more childish? It's just a ghost, right? It's not like anyone hasn't been one before."

Leng Yue's glare struck Bai Wuchang, "You little brat, you really don't know your place! Be careful, or you'll be chased by evil spirits one day and I won't care!"

Leng Yue suddenly laughed, "If you don't care about the evil spirit chasing me, aren't there still Lord Niu and Lord Ma? Don't worry, I'm tough, I won't die!"

Leng Yue is feeling good about what she's saying now, but little does she know that she'll soon be proven wrong.

Bai Wuchang snorted angrily, "You little brat...you...you just wait!"

Leng Yue felt the jokes had gone far enough. "Lord Bai, calm down. I'll burn some paper money for you when I'm discharged from the hospital!"

White Impermanence was speechless, and turned to look at Black Impermanence, "Old Black, why does this girl sound like she's swearing?"

"You're overthinking it, Lord Bai. I'm being sincere." Leng Yue pondered the words carefully and realized they weren't exactly flattering, but she wouldn't admit it.

"Alright, girl, since you're sincere, then prepare all the incense, candles, paper money, and firecrackers. Don't worry, I won't take your offerings for nothing. After you die, I'll definitely give you a full-service VIP package." Bai Wuchang was so happy that he said whatever came to mind.

Leng Yue looked at Bai Wuchang with a cold gaze, "Lord Bai, do you really want me to go to the underworld to keep you company?"

"I..." Bai Wuchang scratched his head and chuckled foolishly, "No need for that, no need for that, hehe..."

Black Impermanence glanced at his watch. "It's almost time. Let's go!"

"Alright, see you later, girl!" After saying that, Bai Wuchang and the other two left with the old man.

No sooner had the Black and White Impermanence left than the nurse came to check on the patients. Pushing open the door, she saw Leng Yue was still awake and asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Leng Yue smiled and said, "I'm about to go to the toilet!"

When the nurse found the inside of the room, she called the on-duty doctor and notified the old man's family.

The old man's passing caused no stir. That's how it is in hospitals; people are born here every day, and people die here every day.

Some say that a hospital is a place of reincarnation, where birth and death are linked, and the beginning and the end are connected.

The woman in the next bed was a middle-aged woman. The old man's passing may not have attracted much attention from others, but it left something different in her heart.

"Little girl, are you scared?" the woman asked Leng Yue.

Leng Yue shook her head. "I'm not afraid."

"You're so brave! I'm scared!" the woman said, but her face showed only worry, not fear.

"Why?" Leng Yue sat up and chatted with the woman.

"That uncle only had a fracture, how could he die?" The woman asked, puzzled. This ward was full of people with broken bones, and this was the first time she had ever heard of a fracture being fatal!

"Auntie, I don't know either!" Leng Yue certainly knew that the old man's soul was taken away by the Black and White Impermanence according to the Book of Life and Death. But could she say, 'That old man's lifespan had ended'? Of course not! If she told people that, they would definitely think she was crazy and spreading superstition!

"Yes, you're still so young, how would you know?" The woman gave a bitter smile. "You don't know, I have a daughter at home to take care of. I'm scared... She's about your age, what will happen to her if I'm not here?"

Leng Yue remained silent for a while, then comforted the woman, "Auntie, that old man is old, but you are different, don't worry."

The woman looked at Leng Yue and smiled again, her expression seemingly much more relaxed. "That's right, that's right, I was overthinking it."

When Leng Yue saw the woman, she thought of the original owner's mother. Was she always worried about the original owner? Was she also very reluctant to leave when she passed away? Is she now so worried that she has no desire to be reincarnated? Leng Yue's mind wandered wildly.

For this task, all that was given was a title and a few sentences.

The title is "Countdown to Death," and there's not much explanation. It says that this is about a young girl who is about to awaken from death and then accomplish the impossible.

Such an explanation is practically useless. Leng Yue now deeply regrets it; she should have listened to Ling. What does it mean to awaken in the face of death? What does it mean to accomplish the impossible? It's utterly contradictory. They give her a mission and then say it's impossible—isn't that ridiculous?

The moment they appeared on the mission, they were taken on a day trip to the underworld by the Black and White Impermanence, and on the night they returned, they encountered a death incident.

In truth, Leng Yue's mind was in turmoil. She couldn't figure out at all whether "Death Countdown" meant that death events were constantly happening around her, or whether she would face a death threat.

Leng Yue hadn't even figured out what had happened before, let alone what followed. Awakening amidst death—what exactly was she awakening to? Leng Yue wanted to ask someone, but she couldn't contact Ling, and Qian Chen wasn't around either. She had no one to ask.

Having not seen Qianchen for a while, Leng Yue's heart was filled with longing. She silently prayed that she would quickly complete the challenge and meet Qianchen again.