I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

The air in the hospital was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

The patient's ward is on the fourth floor. The ward door is half-open, and the bed number plate on the door reads "101 years old, Shen Nanshan" in black marker.

Yu Songmian knocked on the door first, and a young girl's voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

Qian Fang explained his purpose at the door, and the girl came out to open the door. She looked to be in her early twenties, with her hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a light gray thin jacket.

"Are you from the Special Investigation Bureau? Please come in."

The girl lowered her voice and opened the door a little wider: "I'm his great-granddaughter. Please put your phones on silent. My great-grandfather is sleeping."

The three of them tiptoed into the room.

This is a double ward. The bed by the window is empty, while an elderly person is sleeping on the bed by the door.

The old man was very thin, his arms were dark and dry, and his face was covered with deep wrinkles, like a withered old tree stump.

His breathing was very light, as if he were dozing off.

Upon closer inspection at the end of the Song Dynasty, one could see that the old man had a pair of reading glasses by his bedside and a thick stack of books.

The top book is a study guide for the National Unified Legal Professional Qualification Examination, and the bottom book has "Civil Servant Recruitment Examination Administrative Aptitude Test Past Exam Questions" on its cover.

No ghostly aura was found in the ward at the end of the Song Dynasty.

This surprised her somewhat.

Given that hospitals are one of the possible locations for dungeons, there are bound to be more shadows and ghosts than ghosts, but this ward was surprisingly "clean".

……

……

"My great-grandfather had been in the hospital all year, and only two days ago did he suddenly regain his spirits."

The patient's family member added quietly, their tone tinged with helplessness and worry:

"The old man is 101 years old this year. His health has never been very good. He used to be confused."

But when we were feeding him the day before yesterday, he suddenly woke up, his appetite improved, he was able to sit up by himself, and he even clamored for braised pork. We thought it was too greasy, so we didn't dare let him eat too much.

But there was something really strange about it: my great-grandfather always asked us to find him these exam books, saying he needed to study for exams.

Many people do inexplicable things before they die, so it's understandable that their families are worried.

"Did he say anything?" Qian Fang also lowered his voice, afraid of disturbing the old man.

He just said he had an exam, but when I asked what it was about, he wouldn't say.

The family sighed:

"We thought he had lost his mind, but later he asked me to find books for the bar exam and civil service exam. When I didn't find them for him, he got upset."

He found it, but he couldn't read the words on the book very well. So he had us read it to him one page at a time. When I read a little louder, he told me that things should be done in secret and not made public.

"Does he think you revealed that he's going to take the exam?" Song Mo suddenly asked.

The granddaughter glanced at Song Mo and nodded:

"Yes, the old man was a little unhappy when he heard that the Special Investigation Bureau was coming."

They said he just passed the background check and hadn't even taken the written exam yet, so how could they have already told everyone?

At this point, the family members in the ward all looked somewhat sorrowful, clearly feeling that the old man was about to pass away and had begun to talk nonsense.

Yu Songmian and Qian Fang exchanged a glance, both agreeing that the elderly man's anxiety and delirium were a result of his long-term hospitalization.

This is actually not uncommon in geriatrics.

The fact that a 101-year-old person might occasionally experience sudden heightened mental activity does not necessarily indicate the presence of supernatural beings.

The human body is amazing. Before death, some people experience a brief moment of lucidity and can even talk to their family for most of the day.

But exams... that's such a strange way of putting it.

When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Why would they ask a 101-year-old man to take an exam?

"Political vetting?" Song Mo repeated in a low voice.

"Um."

Some family members nodded in agreement:

He said this exam is the same as the civil service exam, with a background check to see if the ancestors were clean, whether the person had done anything bad in their life, and whether any of their descendants would be bad people.

My grandfather served in the army when he was young, went to the battlefield, fought against the Japanese, and had blood on his hands, but that was to protect the country, not to commit murder…”

The family member stopped abruptly before finishing speaking, glancing quickly at the bed. Song Mo followed her gaze:

The old man had woken up at some point and was now staring at the ground.

……

……

"You are the authorities."

The old man spoke, his voice sounding a little weak, but his enunciation was clear:

"I don't like it. Now you know my secret. I've already told you, things are accomplished in secret."

Yu Songmian and Qian Fang opened their mouths but didn't say anything, while Song Mo took a step forward.

"Grandpa, are you taking the City God exam now...?" she asked with a smile. "Did they tell you when the exam is going to start?"

Everyone in the room was startled.

The City God is a local official in the underworld in folk beliefs.

When normal people mention this, it's bound to be a bit superstitious, especially when it comes from a volunteer from the Special Investigation Bureau, which adds to the eeriness.

The old man laughed:

"Look, only you, a little kid, believe it. That's rare, very rare."

Yu Songmian and Qian Fang exchanged a glance; they were still unsure what was going on.

The family members looked helplessly at Song Mo, as if seeking help.

"Grandpa, are you planning to take the City God exam?" Song Mo asked casually. The old man patted the edge of the bed, gesturing for her to sit down.

"Come, come, sit down, come closer."

At the end of the Song Dynasty, he sat down on a round stool beside the bed.

"Which organization are you from?" the old man asked, glancing at the volunteer work badge hanging around Song Mo's neck.

"Special Investigation Bureau," a family member whispered from behind, "This girl works for the Special Incidents Investigation Bureau; they specialize in handling these kinds of things."

"oh."

The old man nodded. "I've seen it on TV. They say there's some kind of...spiritual energy going around everywhere these days?"

The world is different now, I know. You're all on your phones all day, they have all sorts of things on them. I even know someone who was fishing by the river and ended up filming a female ghost in a red dress, and it even made the news.

The old man snorted.

Neither Yu Songmian nor Qian Fang responded.

"When I was young, I didn't believe in these things either."

The old man continued, speaking slowly, as if he were telling Song Mo a story from a very, very long time ago:

"When I was young, I fought against the Japanese. On the battlefield, the bullets went past my ears like locusts."

He paused for a moment, and a gurgling sound came from his throat.

Song Mo naturally handed over a cup of water. The old man took a sip, and a few drops of water leaked from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin onto the blanket.

"Sigh, I'm getting old, I'm getting old. I had a dream a few days ago."

The old man seemed to like the late Song Dynasty very much, and he spoke slowly in a low voice:

I dreamed of a temple.

"It's right at the entrance of our old village, under that old locust tree. That temple never existed before."

It has been renovated to a brand new look, with red walls and gray tiles, and a red wooden plaque hanging at the entrance. It looks new and beautiful.

I thought to myself, "It's been decades since I've been back to my hometown, let's go in and take a look." But as soon as I went inside, the clay statues in the temple started moving their mouths.

At this point, the old man glanced at the astonished or horrified expressions on the faces of his family members around him, and said smugly:

"That clay sculpture said to me, 'Shen Nanshan, you have accumulated a lot of good deeds in this life. You were kind and generous while you were alive. Now that the City God exam is approaching, you should prepare well for the exam.'"

The ward was quiet for a few seconds.

"When I woke up, I was covered in sweat."

The old man said excitedly, "I was so excited! I dreamed about it every day after that. The next day, I dreamed that the temple was crowded with snakes, hedgehogs, and owls."

On the third day, I dreamt of two short underworld messengers standing in the hospital room—look, right where you're standing now, they bowed to me and said, 'Lord Shen, prepare yourselves well.'"

Standing to the side, Yu Songmian and Qian Fang rubbed the goosebumps on their arms and shivered as they moved closer to Song Mo.

I don't know if it's the old man's dreams that are more terrifying, or if it's the thought of having to take exams even after death that's more frightening.

……

"I didn't dream the night before last, but I started dreaming about that clay statue again yesterday. It told me to read a book."

I asked him what books he was reading, and he said, "What you have now is not enough; you need to study the Fa (the Dharma)."

I told him I was over a hundred years old and couldn't read anymore, and he said, "Let my great-granddaughter read it to you."

The old man squinted his eyes and happily shared with Song Mo:

"Look, look, everyone knows I have a great-granddaughter, it must be true."

"So that's why you asked me to find books for the bar exam and the civil service exam?" A family member couldn't help but whisper in the background.

"Um."

The old man nodded, his expression showing some regret.

"I told the clay sculpture that I don't know many characters and didn't study for many years when I was young."

It insists that it doesn't matter, as the City God mainly tests judgment in cases, not in writing.

But then it said that the laws of the underworld are not yet set, so for now, we should follow the "Fengdu Laws." The City God needs to understand some human laws so that he can communicate with the human world.

He also said that there are many cases in the human world now, and the underworld is short-staffed. After I pass the exam, I will have to coordinate with the underworld regarding cases of wrongful death, unjust death, suicide, and homicide in the human world—if I don't learn some law, I won't be able to understand the files later.”

The old man spoke so earnestly, it hardly seemed like he was telling a story.

The group was stunned, and the more they thought about it, the more frightened they became—if it was a deathbed lucidity or a nightmare, how could it be described in such detail?

It's precisely because of the numerous details that it's even more terrifying.

Yu Songmian and Qian Fang also had speechless expressions.

The more they listened, the more they felt something was wrong.

The old man's logic was so clear that he didn't seem like a centenarian who was about to pass away.

But if this is really just delirium, how come there are even details about "connecting with the living world"?

Is the modern City God going to collaborate with the mortal world on government affairs?

What is this?

Is the underworld also undergoing digital reforms?

The family members had already believed most of it; some had red eyes and turned their faces to the side to wipe away tears with the back of their hands, while others kept sniffling.

Song Mo was indeed a good listener; she asked softly, "Is there anything wrong with your body?"

The old man shook his head: "No, I just feel like my time is running out."

"grandfather!"

"Great-grandfather!"

A family member nearby called out softly.