Translator: CinderTL
The moment Jiang Cheng slipped the wire into the lock, everyone's nerves tightened. Huai Yi, Fatty, and Wen Liangshan immediately whirled around to stare into the pitch-black depths of the corridor.
Glug, glug...
Glug, glug...
A grating sound echoed from the darkness at the end of the corridor, like something with wheels hurtling toward them. Judging by the noise, this was no small object.
Remembering Jiang Cheng's warning, Huai Yi instantly realized what was coming: a specialized corpse cart, speeding toward them.
Glug, glug...
Glug, glug...
The relentless grinding of wheels on the floor sounded like a death knell. What made it even more terrifying was that, despite the sound growing louder with each passing moment, only a few meters away lay impenetrable darkness, obscuring the cart entirely. They couldn't see a thing.
What did this corpse cart look like? Was it loaded with bodies? Or worse... was someone pushing it? Everything remained shrouded in uncertainty.
This invisible pressure threatened to drive them mad.
Jiang Cheng remained completely focused on picking the lock, never once glancing toward the approaching sound.
Listening to the onrushing corpse cart, none of them doubted that a collision would mean certain death.
Just as Huai Yi steeled himself, ready to team up with Fatty to ambush Wen Liangshan and use him as a human shield against the impending danger, a crisp "click" echoed through the air.
The gate swung open.
Without hesitation, the group scrambled into Room 9.
A moment later, a rusty corpse transport vehicle burst from the darkness, hurtling past the entrance of Room 9 with such force that it stirred up a violent gust of wind.
No one doubted that if they had hesitated for even a second longer, they would have been crushed to death.
Still trembling from the near-death experience, Wen Liangshan shakily turned to Jiang Cheng, his gaze beyond mere admiration; it bordered on reverence.
Jiang Cheng, however, remained remarkably composed. He carefully coiled the thin wire he had used to pick the lock, casually brushed imaginary dust from his shoulder, and drawled, "How many times have I told you? It never hurts to have too many skills. You never listen."
"But normal people can't do that," Fatty muttered under his breath. "Anyone good at this kind of stuff gets arrested and thrown in the hole."
Anxious about lurking threats, everyone instinctively switched on their phone flashlights, scanning the surroundings. Their priority was to find the 4th-floor registry and sign their names.
Room 9 proved larger and emptier than they had anticipated. Not far from them stood several antiquated mortuary cabinets, their aged designs suggesting they were at least twenty years old.
The indicator lights on the side of the mortuary cabinet blinked red and green, occasionally flickering back and forth. Even Huai Yi, who knew nothing about machinery, could tell something was wrong.
A white paper was taped to the cabinet door, warning, "Please do not touch without authorization."
"Doctor," Fatty said, his eyes darting nervously as he pointed to one of the mortuary cabinets. "When did that door open?"
When they first entered the room, Jiang Cheng had been too distracted by the surroundings to notice. Now that Fatty had pointed it out, he realized the central cabinet, pressed against the wall, had its door ajar. It wasn't fully open, but rather slightly ajar, leaving a pitch-black gap about three or four fingers wide.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but the longer he stared at the gap, the more it seemed like a hand might reach out from it, or someone might crawl out at any moment.
"Was that door closed when we came in?" Huai Yi asked Fatty, sensing something amiss.
"Yes, I'm sure of it," Fatty replied firmly.
A mortuary cabinet of unknown age had quietly opened a crack while they hadn't been paying attention. In a horror novel, this would be a classic setup.
No one cared about novels now; their sole focus was finding the registry, signing it, escaping, and surviving.
Time was running out. Jiang Cheng found a curved metal pipe nearby, its weight reassuring in his hand.
Later, Fatty learned from Jiang Cheng that this tool was used for retrieving corpses.
In the past, due to limited storage facilities, many bodies were kept together in formalin-soaked pools. Their slippery surfaces made it necessary to use tools like this to hook them from the bottom, using the hook at the end of the metal pipe.
Now, Jiang Cheng used the hook to pry open the slightly ajar mortuary cabinet door.
Everyone held their breath. Wen Liangshan even braced himself for the sight of a horribly disfigured corpse, or perhaps something even worse.
"Huh?" Jiang Cheng himself seemed surprised.
The mortuary cabinet was completely empty.
In disbelief, Jiang Cheng had Huai Yi use the tool to secure the cabinet door while he shone his phone inside.
At the very back of the cabinet lay a blue binder.
Fatty's face lit up. "Doctor! It's... it's the registry!"
It was indeed the registry, almost identical to the ones they'd found before. But this time, Jiang Cheng showed no excitement. The location was even more bizarre than the last: deep inside a mortuary cabinet.
How was anyone supposed to sign this?
Crawl inside?
Even Jiang Cheng found the registry's position problematic. If someone crawled in and the cabinet door suddenly slammed shut, they'd be trapped.
Slowly turning to Wen Liangshan, Jiang Cheng said, "It's dangerous in there, but I need you to go in this time. If you survive, I'll personally protect you for the rest of this mission."
Wen Liangshan's face turned ashen at the prospect. "No, I refuse! I won't do it!"
Huai Yi interjected coldly, "Better to climb in yourself than have us stuff you in. If you don't want to lose face, we'll help you lose it."
In the end, Wen Liangshan relented. He was, after all, a man of dignity.
But as he leaned closer to peer into the mortuary cabinet, he suddenly froze. His pupils constricted sharply, and his entire body began to tremble.
"Come quickly and take a look," Wen Liangshan said, his face a mask of horror. "What... what's all this inside?"
Earlier, they hadn't examined the mortuary cabinet closely. Now, leaning in, they noticed the interior walls were covered in deep scratches. The marks weren't just on the sides; they even reached the ceiling. And everyone recognized them immediately.
They were fingernail scratches.
A horrifying realization dawned on them: a living woman had once been locked inside this mortuary cabinet, eventually freezing to death—or perhaps suffocating.
For what must have been an agonizingly long time before her death, she had clawed frantically at the walls, desperately struggling and screaming for help—all in vain.
Strands of long hair clinging to the interior seemed to bear witness to the woman's desperate struggle.
This was a murder scene.
Even standing there, they could almost feel the woman's final despair.
(End of the Chapter)
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