**Ring...**
The elevator doors slowly closed.
Luc Minh stood in the middle.
To Nhuoc and Tran Hai stepped in after him.
The moment the doors shut tight,
the elevator lights went out.
The space sank into absolute darkness.
Only the old lift motor rumbled.
**Clunk... Clunk...**
But the strange thing was...
No one had pressed a button.
The elevator continued rising on its own.
The display flickered nonstop.
**1st Floor...**
**2nd Floor...**
Then it showed a number this hospital didn't have.
**13th Floor.**
To Nhuoc's voice trembled.
"There are only five floors, aren't there?"
Luc Minh stared at the electronic display.
"This isn't a place for the living."
## The Floor That Didn't Exist
**Ding...**
The elevator doors opened.
A long hallway appeared before them.
It was completely different from the rest of the hospital.
The walls were spotless white.
The fluorescent lights shone with a cold glare.
There wasn't a speck of dust.
It looked as if this place were still operating normally.
White-painted doors lined both sides of the hallway.
Every one of them was tightly closed.
Except...
**Room 13.**
The door stood slightly ajar.
A child's laughter drifted out from inside.
## Medical Records
Luc Minh pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The room was bare.
There was only an old hospital bed,
a metal cabinet,
and a desk covered in files.
To Nhuoc opened a drawer.
Inside was a thick folder.
The cover read:
> **SPECIAL PATIENT RECORDS**
Patient name:
**Luc Minh**
Date of birth:
**July 15**
Age at admission:
**Four years old**
Luc Minh froze.
"No way..."
"I've never been here."
He turned to the next page.
There was a photograph.
A boy around four years old,
wearing a peachwood necklace.
It was him.
## The Second Person
To Nhuoc opened the next file.
Patient name:
**Unknown**
Date of birth:
**July 15**
Age:
**Four years old**
The photograph...
Someone had torn away the entire face.
Only clothing identical to Luc Minh's remained.
A handwritten note appeared in the remarks section.
> **"Two vessels."**
> **"Only one is allowed to live."**
A chill ran down Luc Minh's spine.
"Two vessels?"
"What does that mean?"
## The Singing
Suddenly,
a lullaby rang out.
Very softly.
Very sadly.
Luc Minh turned around.
A woman in a hospital gown was sitting on the bed.
She held a baby in her arms.
Her face was deathly pale.
Her eyes were bloodshot.
She looked at Luc Minh.
"You've grown up."
Luc Minh stood there, stunned.
"Do we... know each other?"
The woman didn't answer.
She simply handed him the baby in her arms.
When Luc Minh bent down,
the baby slowly opened its eyes.
Its face...
was exactly like his when he was little.
But its eyes were completely black.
It smiled.
"At last..."
"...you came."
## The Erased Truth
The baby pointed toward the wall.
"Look."
Luc Minh lightly tapped the wall with the hilt of his sword.
**Knock... knock...**
Part of the wall gave off a hollow sound.
He and Tran Hai broke through the old plaster together.
Behind it was a small safe.
There were only two things inside.
A half-burned notebook.
And...
an old photograph.
The photograph showed the Maoshan Temple.
Luc Thien Ha stood in the middle.
Beside him was a young woman holding two newborn babies.
One was Luc Minh.
The other...
Someone had savaged its face with a knife.
On the back of the photograph,
there was a line written in blood.
> **"Don't let the two of them meet."**
## A Meeting in the Darkness
The moment Luc Minh picked up the photograph,
the entire room began to shake.
The lights went out.
Children's cries echoed throughout the hallway.
From the far end of the corridor,
a shadow figure slowly approached.
Red clothing.
Long hair.
No face.
But this time...
she was leading a boy around four years old by the hand.
The boy wore an old hospital gown.
When he raised his head,
Luc Minh felt as if he had stopped breathing.
It was...
him.
Or rather...
a child whose every feature was identical to his.
The boy smiled faintly.
His childish voice rang out, cold and chilling.
> "Big brother..."
> "...you stole my life."
At the same time,
the black mark on Luc Minh's wrist burst into fierce flame.
Blood dripped from his palm onto the floor.
Inside the **Maoshan Evil-Sealing Scripture**, a page turned open by itself.
For the first time in eighteen years,
a name appeared.
> **"Twin Vessel Plan."**
**End of Chapter 9.**