Translator: CinderTL
"What's wrong, Doctor?" Fatty asked, his instincts on high alert.
Jiang Cheng stared at the doorknob for a few seconds before calmly saying, "Nothing. Let's go."
"Oh."
Unsure if the corpse might suddenly reanimate or undergo some other transformation, neither of them dared turn their backs on it. Fatty was forced to carry it, severely hampering their movements.
Several times, they heard the faint rustling sound again, but they managed to evade whatever was causing it. After a nerve-wracking journey, they finally reached the main gate on the ground floor.
The gate stood open, and the surrounding area was eerily quiet.
Just as Huai Yi had described, a layer of lead-gray mist shrouded the outside world. Separated by the gate, the inside and outside felt like two distinct realms.
"Doctor," Fatty whispered from behind a corner, peeking halfway out, "there couldn't be an ambush waiting, could there? I've seen it in movies—the hero thinks they've won, but then the villain suddenly jumps up, a big fight breaks out, and some important side character dies. The ending is always the hero mourning their fallen comrade, with tear-jerking scenes and everything."
Hearing Fatty's words, Jiang Cheng turned and stared at him with a peculiar expression.
Fatty grew increasingly nervous under Jiang Cheng's gaze. He swallowed hard and asked, "Doctor, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing," Jiang Cheng replied. "I just wanted to let you know that if our experiences were ever adapted into a novel, I'd definitely be the protagonist."
After a few moments of contemplation, Fatty's face suddenly darkened. He seemed to have realized that he was destined to be the sacrificial side character, offered up to the protagonist in the story's climax.
They listened intently for a while when a strange sound drifted down from above, seemingly from somewhere between the second and third floors.
To Fatty, it sounded like something was hunting for them. He tensed up. "Doctor, shouldn't we leave? It sounds like that thing is getting closer!"
Jiang Cheng stood sideways, his sharp black-and-white eyes piercing the gloom as he focused on the gate. A peculiar glint flickered in his gaze. "What did the gate look like when we came in?"
Fatty hesitated. "Doctor, I don't understand what you mean."
"I mean, how did we open the gate when we entered?"
Fatty blinked. "Shi Xiaoya pulled it open."
"It was pulled open from the outside," Jiang Cheng confirmed, nodding toward the gate. "So how did it open now?"
Fatty shifted his gaze back to the gate, then suddenly realized the problem. A chill ran down his spine.
The gate was indeed open, but not outward—it had been pulled inward.
"I was just wondering," Jiang Cheng said, "why Ghost Face Granny chased us so relentlessly at first, but now she's taking her time, only making occasional noises."
"To scare us and wait for us to fall into her trap," Fatty replied, taking a deep breath. "This gate is a fake. It's waiting for us to walk right into it."
"Right," Jiang Cheng agreed, slowly retreating into the darkness behind them. "Let's go back."
Jiang Cheng led the way, with Fatty following behind, carrying Xiaoting's corpse. They returned to the third floor.
After calculating the time, Jiang Cheng set a timer on his phone and placed it around a corner. Then, they quietly circled back to the first floor by a different route.
Hiding in an empty room about twenty meters from the gate, with the door slightly ajar, Jiang Cheng peered out through the crack, keeping a watchful eye on the outside.
Fatty cradled Xiaoting's body, waiting silently in the tense atmosphere.
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from somewhere above. Moments later, the gate began to move—not just the gate itself, but the entire wall it was set into writhed like living flesh.
Slowly, a grotesque monster composed of stitched-together limbs descended from the dark ceiling, its body completely shrouded in thick, viscous strands like spider silk.
The creature scuttled swiftly toward the source of the scream.
About ten seconds after the monster disappeared, Jiang Cheng grabbed Fatty and bolted for the gate. Now that the creature was gone, the real gate behind the false one was revealed.
Jiang Cheng had been right: the true gate lay hidden behind the deceptive facade.
As they burst through the gate, an enraged roar shook the ceiling above. Even two floors away, they could feel the monster's fury at being tricked.
But it was over.
Just as Jiang Cheng caught his breath and began considering their next move, Fatty's voice suddenly rang out, laced with confusion and terror. "What the hell's going on?"
Turning around, Jiang Cheng saw Fatty staring down at his arms. They were still held in the posture of cradling a body, but his embrace was now empty.
Xiaoting's body was gone.
"Doctor, the body was just here! She vanished the instant we stepped outside!" Fatty exclaimed, his eyes fixed on Jiang Cheng.
"Don't worry," Wang Qi said, stepping forward. "If the body's gone, it means this girl isn't our target. Otherwise, there's no point in continuing the mission."
Everyone was present except Shi Xiaoya, who had already seen the body. Huai Yiwen and Liang Shan, relieved to see Jiang Cheng and the others unharmed, finally relaxed.
Jiang Cheng's gaze swept across Wang Qi's face, then moved to Gao Yan and Shen Mengyun. An unnatural expression flickered across Shen Mengyun's face before she explained, "Mr. Jiang, we also encountered some inexplicable phenomena and got trapped."
Surprisingly, Jiang Cheng remained calm. "I understand. Thank you for your efforts," he said.
His unexpected leniency only made Shen Mengyun feel more awkward.
Back in the dormitory, Fatty recounted their ordeal to Huai Yi, emphasizing that he hadn't imagined things. Xiaoting was real and unique. He sighed, lamenting that when they returned, she was already dead, her body still warm.
After a moment of contemplation, Huai Yi voiced the same question they had all been pondering: "If the Ghost Face Granny chased us, then who killed Xiaoting?"
"I don't know," Fatty said, recalling the scene. "Xiaoting didn't have a single scratch on her body. She just looked like she was asleep." Even now, the whole thing struck him as deeply bizarre.
"There was water on the Anatomy Room doorknob," Jiang Cheng suddenly said. "But it wasn't there when I opened the door the first time."
Huai Yi paused, then his pupils abruptly constricted. He seemed to have grasped something, his voice urgent. "The water... is that from the thing that's been following us?"
Jiang Cheng offered no definitive answer, merely continuing his analysis. "The thing you mentioned that was tailing us in the Medical Building—that must be it too."
Hearing this, even Fatty realized the situation was far more complex than they had initially thought.
The entity leaving the water trail had first appeared the previous night outside their dormitory door, then followed them all the way to the Activity Center.
(End of the Chapter)
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