Chapter 380: Corpse Retriever

"What's that sound?"

"Are you crazy? Breaking the rules of the game for a bitch?!"

"Forget about that, pin Number Four to the chair first!"

The group was in an uproar. When Du Yu heard a new alarm sounding from the direction of the cell, he dodged to the side. He had helped Wang Yuchun out of sympathy, but there was no need to offend everyone for her sake.

"The alarm probably isn't the key to the resentful spirits outside the door claiming lives. It's just one of the methods the organizer uses to remind the game participants." I saw things more clearly than Du Yu. Ever since those unknown entities appeared outside the iron door, this situation had exceeded all expectations. "The Underworld Live Show live broadcast is definitely not simple. I just don't know who the organizer is or why they're doing this."

The true answer was about to be revealed. Once the second round of accusations ended, this killing game would officially enter its final stages.

I watched the rather cruel scene playing out by the Electric Chair without saying a word.

Wang Shi grabbed Wang Yuchun's arms while Tian Teng held her legs, pinning her down in the Electric Chair. No matter how much she struggled, it was of no use.

"I'll count to three, and we all let go together." Number Six Zhang Bei held the helmet and slammed it down onto Wang Yuchun's head. When the wiring behind the Electric Chair sparked, the three men backed away in unison.

Regaining her freedom, Wang Yuchun immediately reached up to pull the helmet off, but before her fingers could even touch the cold metal, high-voltage current surged along the wires and into the helmet.

The sight was rather gruesome. The more beautiful something was, the more intense the contrast when it was destroyed.

Her tender white skin charred black, and her once gorgeous face was altered beyond recognition.

By the time the alarm stopped, Wang Yuchun's corpse was still twitching. The game participants had lost another member.

The hall fell somewhat silent. The executioners felt no sense of guilt whatsoever. After two or three minutes, Tian Teng was the only one to speak. "This woman smells even worse now."

Wang Yuchun was dead. Her name was erased from the projection on the back wall, but apart from that, nothing else changed.

"Looks like she wasn't the killer." Wang Shi shook his head. He had harbored a sliver of hope earlier.

...

At four in the morning, the alarm sounded again. The consistently low-profile Number Eleven dragged Wang Yuchun's corpse out of the chair and casually put the helmet on.

When he passed by Number Five Tian Teng, I noticed a small detail: Tian Teng's legs were trembling involuntarily. The shaking was so slight that even he hadn't realized it.

'Instinctual excitement or fear?' I looked up and quietly observed Number Eleven. He had a tall, thin body, like a bamboo pole. He had a square face with rather dark skin, and the size of his head matched the helmet perfectly. 'This guy gives me a familiar feeling too. How strange.'

"It's four in the morning, and there are seven people left. As long as two more die, the game can end." Number Six Zhang Bei's eyes darted among the few of us. He looked at me first, quickly gave up, and finally settled his gaze on Tian Teng, Wang Shi, and Number Eleven.

He toyed with his machete, his gaze growing increasingly sinister.

Compared to the rest of the people in the room, Number Eleven seemed somewhat special. He was too calm.

"My name is He Bo. Most of you probably haven't heard of my profession. I'm a corpse retriever from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River."

"Since ancient times, there have been people making a living off the water around great rivers. A single river nourishes the lives on both its banks. A great river is a dragon vein above ground, yet the riverbed is a Yin Meridian of the Yang Realm."

"I've actually heard of the corpse retrieving industry. Fishing bodies out of the river water, then demanding exorbitant prices to extort the people who come to claim them. I heard a single corpse can sell for thousands of yuan, bringing in at least a hundred thousand a year." Jin Zhouzhe looked at Number Eleven He Bo with a fake smile. "I just wonder if any of the corpses you've salvaged were the ones I murdered and dumped."

"I heard about this profession in a bestselling novel before. That book was called 'Yangtze River Corpse Salvager,' and the author seemed to be..." Number Six Zhang Bei suddenly looked at Number One Wang Shi in astonishment. "That book's author was Corpse Body Human Face! You wrote that book!"

"So what if I wrote it? The stuff in the book was all made up. How would I know this was a real profession?" Wang Shi spread his hands, looking at He Bo with curiosity. "Weather-beaten and solidly built. You really do look like a boatman."

"Salvaging corpses to sell for money isn't illegal, but it goes against morality," Du Yu said flatly, then said no more.

Number Eleven on the Electric Chair ignored everyone and continued, "There aren't corpses every day. It's truly unjust that they call us water ghosts. Most of the time, we make a living by clearing the accumulated garbage on the water's surface. Each person is responsible for a fixed section of the river, and the government provides a certain amount of subsidy. Additionally, a lot of garbage like plastic bottles can be sold for money. Corpse retrieving can only be considered extra income."

No flaws could be picked out from this speech, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Number Eleven was hiding something. He wasn't lying; he simply hadn't mentioned the most important part.

"The reason I was brought here might be related to a water disaster that happens once every few years. The upstream dam released water. Downstream, in Houlian Village, a high-ranking official was driving his wife and child home to visit relatives. They got into an accident while crossing Feiku Bridge. The floodwaters washed away the bridge that had stood for years, and the whole family was swept into the water."

"I don't know if the official himself was corrupt or not, but after the accident happened, he fulfilled his duty as a father and a husband. He fought with his life to push his wife and child out of the car, while he himself sank to the bottom of the river with the vehicle."

"I was right there on the bank and witnessed everything. However, when the reservoir released water, the higher-ups strictly forbade boats on the river, so I only marked the location on the bank and then began tracking the figures of the official's wife and child."

"Once the huge waves passed, I found the official's wife and child five or six li downstream. The two of them weren't meant to die yet. They were clinging to a piece of rotting wood and drifting along the river. By the time I rushed over, they actually still hadn't breathed their last."

"The official's wife was draped in gold and silver, and she even had a large diamond ring on her finger. She was dressed up beautifully. That single set of jewelry she wore was worth as much as the money I'd earn retrieving corpses in a whole year."

"The place where that mother and son eventually came to a stop was called Underpants Bend. The water conditions there are complex, and it's rarely visited by people."

"At the time, there were two choices placed before me. Saving them and sending them to the hospital would waste a whole day of my time, and the estimated reward would only be a few thousand yuan, which was far less than a single piece of jewelry on the official's wife."

"My mind was blinded by greed at the time. I stood far away on the bank and didn't reach out to rescue them, quietly waiting for them to die."

"Later, that woman woke up from her unconsciousness. I don't know where she got the strength, but she actually waved at me, wanting me to save her child."

"In my eyes, her condition at the time was probably just terminal lucidity. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the woman and the child sank into the water."

"I watched them die right before my eyes. Then, I rowed my boat closer, fished out their corpses with a pitchfork, and tied them to the stern with a hemp rope."

"I felt through the woman's pockets and took everything of value. Finally, I delivered their bodies to Houlian Village and sold them for a decent price." Number Eleven He Bo's expression was incredibly placid as he said this. It wasn't clear if he was deliberately hiding something, or if he had grown numb after seeing too much life and death.

After he finished speaking, he took off the helmet. His confession time was the shortest among all of us.

"That's it?"

"Is leaving someone to die equivalent to direct murder?"

"What you did isn't called a crime. At most, it's a moral issue."

Everyone's reactions varied. I took a pointed look at Number Five. Tian Teng was sitting by the table, not even daring to glance at Number Eleven, and the fat on his face was covered in a fine layer of sweat.

"No, you're lying." I looked at Number Eleven, who was just about to get up from the Electric Chair, my gaze turning sharp. "You definitely aren't a simple corpse retriever. You must have hidden something crucial."

"Lying means getting electrocuted to death." He Bo couldn't care less. He left the Electric Chair and returned to his seat.

"Whether you lied or not, you know perfectly well in your heart. Evading a polygraph test isn't exactly difficult, either." My eyes locked onto Number Eleven's square face. The more I looked, the more familiar he seemed. My voice gradually turned grim. "Number Five Tian Teng can smell the stench on other people. When you passed by him, his whole body was trembling. I don't know if he was afraid or excited, but one thing is certain: out of all the game participants, the stench on you is the strongest. You are the most dangerous person among us."

"Perhaps." He Bo thought about it and replied, "I've worked in the corpse retrieving trade for over ten years, and I've come into contact with hundreds of corpses. You can't prove anything solely based on the stench of corpses."