Chapter 10 The Corpse

The qipao woman suppressed her fear and looked up.

The next second, her expression froze.

“Aaaaah!!!” Her eyes bulging, the qipao woman fell backward, her mouth opening involuntarily as she let out a shrill scream.

A dark shadow flashed before her eyes, and the intense pain lasted only a moment before everything went silent.

A misty color filled the dark corridor, lingering for a long time.

…

It was a peaceful night, at least for Jiang Cheng and Fatty.

Fatty was still sound asleep when the piercing scream suddenly erupted.

He had two blankets on him, and heeded Jiang Cheng's advice, pulling them up to his chin, leaving only his chubby face exposed.

Just then, a sharp cry rang out outside their room: "Aaaaah, someone's dead!!!"

Fatty was jolted awake, nearly falling out of bed.

Jiang Cheng had taken Fatty's place for the night watch several hours prior and was still awake.

The scream came from a woman, not very old, and Jiang Cheng recognized her voice.

It was one of the three newbies – the dinosaur pajama girl.

"Doctor," Fatty stammered, wanting to say something, but perhaps because he had just woken up, his mind wasn't clear, and he mostly just repeated his fear, without saying anything meaningful.

So Jiang Cheng told him to shut up and immediately moved closer to the door.

He waited until he heard the sound of a door opening and hurried footsteps outside before opening the door and stepping out.

Fatty followed him, looking terrified.

Not far away, the pajama girl was slumped on the ground, and the door to the room opposite her was surrounded by people. A crimson color seeped out from inside the encircled room, glaringly scarlet.

Judging by the amount of blood alone, the person inside was undoubtedly dead.

Fatty's small eyes darted around, and after a moment he swallowed and whispered, "The qipao woman is gone."

Actually, Jiang Cheng had noticed that the qipao woman was missing from the crowd, so it was obvious who was dead.

The pajama girl was terrified and beside herself, screaming incessantly.

"Damn it!" The baseball cap guy, already in a bad mood, was annoyed by the girl's noise, swore, and then turned to face the girl with a grim expression, raising his hand and slapping her.

After a crisp sound, the world fell silent.

The pajama girl was knocked to the ground. She stopped screaming, and lay half-prone, her body trembling, but her eyes were filled with a suffocating despair.

This time, no one helped her, or even offered a word of comfort.

Even the usually gentle suit man ignored her plight.

After seeing the glaring blood, everyone seemed to revert to their original selves.

In a sense, the mission only truly began when someone died.

Jiang Cheng led Fatty closer, and the others noticed them approaching, the middle-aged man in the undershirt even making way for them.

This was also a dormitory room, but it looked abandoned. Not a single window was intact.

A pair of pale white legs stretched out from behind the corner, with specks of blood on them.

Jiang Cheng was certain that it was the qipao woman's body.

When she arrived, Jiang Cheng noticed the white pantyhose on the qipao woman's legs, and out of respect for the details within the mission, he couldn’t help but give them a long, careful look.

Finally, he decided that the texture of the stockings must be very delicate, and her legs were beautiful, white and straight, probably having undergone special training.

The door was half-open, but he didn't know if it had been like that all along, or if someone had arranged it that way.

In any case, he reached out and pulled the door open completely, then stepped inside.

Fatty's body trembled violently, the shaking spreading throughout his entire body. He opened his mouth to stop Jiang Cheng, but he was too late.

Jiang Cheng had already entered the room and was now looking down at a corner of the room.

Near the corner, lay a woman's body.

The corpse was surrounded by a large pool of blood.

The blood was splattered everywhere, on the tables, the wardrobes, the discarded bed, and even on the surrounding walls.

The floor of the dormitory was uneven, and the blood had gathered near one side of the bed, eventually forming a pool.

The ground was slightly muddy, and stepping on it produced an uncomfortable, greasy feeling.

It was indeed the qipao woman's corpse. She was lying face down on the floor, and from the current angle, there were no signs of struggle or external injuries, so it was impossible to find the source of the bleeding.

At this time, several other people entered the room: the suit man, the baseball cap guy, and another woman. Their faces turned ugly the moment they saw the qipao woman's body.

Sometimes, confirmation of a guess is also a form of pain.

Then Fatty also forced himself to enter. He stepped on a patch of blood, slipped, and almost fell.

A strange odor filled the air, a mixture of pungent sweetness and a faint musty smell, involuntarily bringing bizarre images to Jiang Cheng's mind.

This was an old habit of his. He shook his head, trying to suppress the feeling, but it backfired.

In a daze, he took a step back.

Unexpectedly, this simple action caused a chain reaction. The suit man, the baseball cap guy, and the ponytail woman from room 406… everyone took a step back.

"What's wrong?" the baseball cap guy exclaimed.

Jiang Cheng ignored him, opened his right hand, extended his thumb and middle finger, and pressed hard on his temples.

After a while, he felt a little better. When he looked up again, the suit man and the others had retreated to the doorway of the room.

Everyone was staring at him, ready to turn and run at the slightest provocation.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Jiang Cheng asked, frowning.

The baseball cap guy looked him up and down suspiciously for a long time, and not finding anything unusual, he replied, "Nothing, just think you're acting strange." He pursed his lips and tentatively asked, "You… did you discover something?"

"No."

"Really?" The suit man seemed unconvinced.

"Really," Jiang Cheng said firmly. "Now I need someone to come over and help me turn her body over to take a look. Maybe we'll find some clues."

"Who's coming?" he added.

At this, everyone fell silent. Even though turning over the corpse wouldn't trigger a ghost's attack, the ghastly appearance of the body still instilled fear in everyone's hearts.