Chapter 62: Ten Evils Divine Fiends (1)

The handwriting on the yellow paper was scribbled, slightly blurry in the darkness. I patted Yiyi's head and asked softly, "Yiyi, is the 'Yi' in your name the 'yi' for the number one?"

"No, it's the 'yi' for 'still.'"

"Then could you let me see what you have in your schoolbag?"

Seeing my firm attitude, Yiyi somewhat reluctantly unzipped her bag.

Besides her textbooks and that group photo, it held over a dozen postcards. They were all signed with the same name—Tie Yixiang.

I checked all the postcards. The return address was the Municipal Police Sub-bureau, and the most recent one had been mailed just a day ago.

"Yiyi, how come I've never heard you mention your dad?"

"Dad divorced Mom when I was really little. He went to Guangdong and only occasionally sends us letters and money."

"Did Mom say anything before she left?" I narrowed my eyes. This was what I truly wanted to ask. The little girl had gone out in the middle of the night to find her mother, meaning her mother must have left her behind. Since I had accepted this commission from the Underworld Live Show, the truth would undoubtedly be cruel. Right now, I just wanted to figure out why whoever was hiding in the dark would target such an innocent, kindhearted child.

The Woman in Red had targeted Zhang Rong because Zhang Rong destroyed her family and indirectly caused her death. That was karmic retribution.

But from our brief time together, I could see Yiyi was pure by nature. She had absolutely nothing to do with committing crimes or doing evil.

"Mom went on a business trip two weeks ago. Her health hasn't been good, and the very day she was discharged from the hospital, people from her company picked her up."

"People from her company picked her up?"

"Yeah."

The girl's logic was riddled with holes. I tried my best to slow my questioning. "Your mom has been gone for a long time. Weren't you scared all by yourself?"

"My aunt stayed with me, and I talked to Mom on the phone every night."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. It was Mom."

What a stubborn girl. I remained silent for a long moment before finally crouching down in front of her.

"Yiyi, can you promise me one thing today?"

"What is it?"

Time seemed to freeze inside the terrifying mortuary. I grabbed her shoulders with both hands. "If you see your mom tonight, whatever you do, don't go with her. Wait until dawn. You absolutely must wait until dawn!"

"Why?" The girl looked at me in confusion. Her eyes were as clear as water, bright as a highland lake.

"If you don't want your mom to suffer eternal agony and guilt, then do exactly as I say." Squeezing out a forced smile, I stood back up and glared coldly at the iron table in the center of the room. "Come out. Stop playing tricks. I already see you!"

The iron table shifted, and a little girl crawled out from underneath, still clutching a white sheet.

"You were actually here." Yiyi was badly startled. I had actually noticed someone under the table a while ago; I just hadn't pointed it out.

"Why are you helping me?" The missing little girl had led me all the way here just so I would see the driver's corpse. With the appearance of this crucial piece of evidence, all the fragmented clues in my head could finally connect.

Expressionless, the girl acted as if she hadn't heard me. She draped the white sheet back over the table and walked toward the door.

I saw it very clearly—she was walking on her own two feet.

"Yiyi, do you know this girl?"

"No, I've never seen her before."

She wasn't a friend of Yiyi's, and I had no memory of her either, but her short stature gave me a faint sense of familiarity.

"Her build is a lot like Sakurako's, but she looks completely different." Hurrying to catch up, Yiyi and I followed closely behind her out of the room.

None of us backed out of the room facing the iron table like Half-Immortal Liu had instructed. Because of that, none of us saw the corpse on the center table slowly sit up right after we turned around.

"Ten Unpardonable Evils, not a single one can be missing..."

Once out of the room, the little girl didn't pause. She led us to the back door of another room, pushed open the window, and nimbly vaulted inside.

"What is this room used for?" Uncertain, I hopped in after the girl. Two computers sat on a simple wooden office desk.

The little girl stood quietly beside the computers like a signpost, pointing at a monitor.

"You want me to turn it on?" I plugged it in and booted it up.

The old-fashioned computer was incredibly slow to start. A full minute passed, and it was still stuck on the boot screen.

Faint blue light illuminated the room, making all our faces look terrifying.

"Uncle, I think someone is coming outside." Yiyi stood by the door. She was just about to peek out when I pulled her back.

"Go find something to cover the monitor. Don't let the light show." Sending Yiyi away, I stood behind the door and slipped my phone through the crack in the window, broadcasting the feed of the corridor to the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room.

"No one on the left. On the right..."

The moment I panned to the right, shock seized me. I nearly dropped the phone.

On the live stream feed, a woman was crawling on all fours down the right side of the corridor. Her hair hung in a wild tangle, making her look like a starved, maddened beast.

I waved at Yiyi and the little girl, signaling for them to hide immediately. Tucking away my phone, I grabbed a random cloth to cover the computer screen, then crouched behind the door and held my breath.

'How did Zhang Rong get in here? And where is Wang Chunfu?' I hadn't looked closely just now, but thinking back on it, Zhang Rong seemed to be covered in quite a bit of blood and filth.

'That crazy woman.' Separated by a single door, the footsteps in the corridor outside drew closer. She seemed to stop for a while in front of every door.

'She's almost here.' I picked up my phone and turned the brightness all the way down. Wedging myself into the blind spot between the wall and the door panel, I aimed the camera at the window.

A moment later, a hysterical face rose from below the windowsill, pressing against the glass to peer inside.

A gust of night wind blew past, pushing the window slightly inward. I cursed inwardly, breaking into a cold sweat.

I had been so focused on covering the computer monitor that I had forgotten to shut the window. If Zhang Rong stuck her face even half a palm's length further inside, she would spot me hiding behind the door.

Every second felt like a year. It was only when the footsteps resumed and that grotesque face vanished from my phone screen that I finally exhaled in relief.

'Is she gone?' Standing up, I quietly slipped my phone back out the window. Only darkness remained on both sides of the corridor.

"You don't have to hide anymore. We're safe for now." I hurried over to the computer and scanned through the files on the desktop. "What exactly does this girl want me to see? Hmm?"

My eyes naturally locked onto a single file—the 25th cremation task table.

'Wasn't yesterday the 25th?' I opened the document. The table was simple and straightforward. The first row was for names, the second for ages, followed by cremation times, storage times, special remarks, and so on.

"Uncle, what does this table mean? Aren't the names on it the people we were just riding the bus with?"

"Wang Jianye, Wang Jianbang, Wang Chunfu, Zhang Rong, Zhou Wei, Qu Fei..." I read the names out loud one by one. In my heart, I felt both the thrill of uncovering the truth and a wave of terror washing over me.

"In the early hours of the 24th, a major accident occurred at Miyun Mansion. Crane operator Wang Chunfu was working under the influence of alcohol and operated the machinery improperly, resulting in three deaths and multiple injuries. Due to unresolved compensation disputes with the families of the deceased, the bodies are temporarily kept at the Bridge No. 3 Crematorium, awaiting further directives."

"On the morning of the 24th, a woman in Garden Community Building 9 committed suicide by taking sleeping pills. Prior to her death, she suffered from severe mental illness, suspected to be linked to multiple abortions that resulted in infertility. Her parents had severed ties with her. The body is temporarily kept at the Bridge No. 3 Crematorium, awaiting further directives."

"At 5:00 PM on the 25th, a fatal car accident occurred on Garden Road. The body of the deceased, Zhou Wei, was transported to the Bridge No. 3 Crematorium for temporary storage."

"On the night of the 24th, cancer fighter Qu Fei passed away from illness. The body is temporarily stored at the Bridge No. 3 Crematorium."

...

By the time I read the final entry, my back was drenched in sweat.

'Right now, there are only three people whose identities I can't confirm: Yiyi, the little girl, and Yuan Feng.'

I continued reading, scrolling through the document to search for previous records. The sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the window again. It sounded like a man running.

"Uncle, let's hide, quickly!"

"You guys hide first, don't worry about me." Eyes glued to the screen, my hands were slick with sweat as I desperately scrolled the mouse. "Two weeks ago, two weeks ago... got it. Tie..."

Smack! The partially open window was shoved wide, and a disheveled figure vaulted into the room. Pressing his back against the door, he skillfully locked the window.

"Yuan Feng?" The man clearly hadn't expected anyone to be in the room and jumped in fright. Once he saw clearly that it was me, he said in a panicked rush, "Hurry up and turn off the computer! Zhang Rong, that crazy bitch, is coming!"