Chapter 9 Corpse Cart

Just as Jiang Cheng inserted the wire into the lock, everyone's nerves tightened. Huai Yi, Fatty, and Wen Liangshan immediately turned around and looked into the dark depths of the corridor.

"Glug glug..."

"Glug glug..."

A grinding sound came from the darkness at the end of the corridor, like something with wheels rapidly approaching them.

And judging by the sound, this thing was not small.

After Jiang Cheng's reminder, Huai Yi immediately realized that what was rapidly approaching them was a trolley specifically for transporting corpses.

"Glug glug..."

"Glug glug..."

The noise of the wheels rubbing against the ground was like a death knell. What was even more terrifying was that even though they could hear the sound getting closer, they couldn't see anything a few meters away because of the darkness.

What did this corpse cart look like?

Was it carrying a corpse?

Or... was someone pushing the cart?

Everything was unknown.

This invisible pressure was driving them crazy.

Jiang Cheng focused all his attention on unlocking the door, never once looking in the direction of the sound.

Listening to the sound of the speeding corpse cart, no one doubted that if they were hit, they would surely die.

Finally, just as Huai Yi steeled himself, ready to team up with Fatty to grab Wen Liangshan and use him to take the brunt of the impact, a crisp "click" sounded.

The door was open.

Without hesitation, the group immediately fled into Room 9.

The next second, a rusty corpse cart rushed out of the darkness, speeding straight past the front of Room 9, the immense force creating a gust of wind.

No one doubted that if they had been a step slower, they would all have been finished.

Still shaken, Wen Liangshan turned his head tremulously, his gaze towards Jiang Cheng beyond mere admiration.

Jiang Cheng, however, was very calm. He put away the thin wire, patted the non-existent dust on his shoulders as he looked around, and then said slowly, "How many times have I told you, it's always good to have more skills. You guys just don't listen."

"Ordinary people can't do that. The more skilled ones have all been caught and locked up," Fatty muttered softly.

Worried about danger lurking nearby, everyone consciously turned on their phone flashlights and shone them around, focusing on finding the register for the 4th floor so they could write their names.

Room 9 was larger than expected and very empty. Not far from them were several corpse refrigerators, old-fashioned ones that looked at least 20 years old.

The indicator lights on the side were still on, one red and one green, flashing alternately from time to time. Even someone as mechanically inept as Huai Yi could tell that something was wrong.

A piece of white paper was stuck on the cabinet door, with the words "Please do not touch" written on it.

"Doctor," Fatty said, pointing tremulously at one of the corpse refrigerators with his sharp eyes, "When did that door open?"

Having just entered, Jiang Cheng's attention had been diverted by the surrounding environment, and he hadn't paid much attention.

Hearing Fatty's words, he noticed that the door of the middle corpse refrigerator, right next to the wall, was open.

But it wasn't fully open, only ajar, leaving a dark gap about three or four fingers wide.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but after looking at it for a while, he felt like a hand might reach out from the gap at any moment, or someone might crawl out.

"Was that door closed when we came in?" Huai Yi, also sensing something was wrong, asked Fatty.

"Yes, I saw it very clearly," Fatty replied with certainty.

A corpse refrigerator that had been in use for who knows how long had silently opened a crack without them noticing.

If this were a horror novel, it would definitely be a good plot point.

But no one wanted to read a novel now. Everyone was just thinking about how to find the register, sign their names, run away, and ultimately survive.

Time was running out, and they couldn't afford to hesitate any longer. Jiang Cheng found a metal pipe with a curved end nearby, which felt heavy in his hand.

Later, Fatty learned from Jiang Cheng that it was used to retrieve corpses.

Because the conditions for storing corpses were limited in the past, many corpses were concentrated in pools of formaldehyde. Since the corpses were slippery, a tool like this was needed to retrieve them from the bottom of the pool, using the hook at the other end of the metal rod.

But now, Jiang Cheng used the hook to open the ajar cabinet door.

Everyone held their breath. Wen Liangshan was even prepared to see a terrifying corpse inside, or...

"Huh?" Jiang Cheng himself was a little surprised.

The corpse refrigerator was actually empty.

As if not believing it, Jiang Cheng asked Huai Yi to use the tool to hook the cabinet door while he shone his phone inside.

At the very back of the corpse refrigerator, there was a blue folder.

Seeing this, Fatty's face lit up. "Doctor, is that... is that the register!"

It was indeed the register, almost identical to the ones they had found before. But this time, Jiang Cheng didn't look excited, because this location was even more bizarre than the last one.

Deep inside a corpse refrigerator.

So how were they supposed to sign it?

Climb inside?

Looking at the location of the register, even Jiang Cheng felt it was a bit tricky. If they climbed in and the cabinet door suddenly closed, the person inside would be trapped.

Jiang Cheng slowly turned around and looked at Wen Liangshan. "It's very dangerous inside, but this time I need you to go in. If you can survive, I'll protect you for this mission."

Hearing Jiang Cheng ask him to go in, Wen Liangshan's face turned pale with fright. "No, I don't want to, I refuse..."

Huai Yi said coldly, "It's better for you to climb in yourself than for us to stuff you in. If you don't want to go in with dignity, we'll help you."

In the end, Wen Liangshan compromised. He was a man of dignity.

But just as he leaned in to look inside the corpse refrigerator, he suddenly seemed to discover something. His pupils contracted, and then he began to tremble.

"Come and take a look," Wen Liangshan said, his face mournful. "What's... what's all this inside?"

Everyone hadn't looked closely before, but now, as they approached, they noticed that the inner walls of the corpse refrigerator were covered with scratch marks. There were marks not only on the sides but also on the top of the refrigerator, and everyone was familiar with these marks.

They were left by fingernails.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought emerged in everyone's mind.

Once, a living person, a woman, had been locked inside this corpse refrigerator and eventually frozen or suffocated to death.

And for a long time before her death, she had been frantically scratching at the walls, desperately struggling and crying for help, but to no avail.

The long hair stuck to the inner wall seemed to confirm just how desperate the woman's struggle had been.

This was a crime scene.

Even standing here, they could feel the woman's despair.