Chapter 623: White Fiend (2)

I had learned a lot from Chen Mo, the medical student, and now had a solid understanding of leukemia. This disease—often called blood cancer—carried a mortality rate as high as fifty percent and ranked sixth in malignant tumor deaths.

Gu Tongtong had died of leukemia, and the blood splattered across her clothes had been left by a leukemia patient.

"Once a leukemia patient gets a cut, it's incredibly hard to heal," Chen Mo explained. "Their blood has mutated, their platelet count drops drastically, and their white blood cell count surges. It's not surprising to find marks like these on their clothing." He paused in thought, then added, "The wound on the patient's hand probably appeared just a few hours ago."

"Do they look any different from a normal person?" I asked. I strongly suspected the Writer was pulling the strings here, and I mentally reviewed his physical features.

"Not really." Chen Mo shook his head and handed the strip of cloth back to me.

"Where's the flashlight?" Zhang Heng suddenly called out from the front where he was leading the way. "My DV is dead. Let me use it for a second to swap the battery."

Chen Mo obediently handed the flashlight over. I watched Zhang Heng take it and immediately quicken his pace. It struck me as odd.

I had seen him swap batteries in the pitch black before. That DV was his livelihood, and he knew its internal structure like the back of his hand. He should have been able to change a battery with his eyes closed.

Weighed down by Chen Mo, the distance between us and the other two gradually widened.

I activated my Judging Eye. Up ahead, Zhang Heng and Gu Bei had their heads together, muttering to each other as if they had struck some sort of deal.

Zhang Heng showed absolutely no intention of returning the flashlight. He marched forward without a backward glance, as if he had completely forgotten we were behind them.

"If we run into trouble later, stick close to me," I told Chen Mo. "I'll carry you."

"I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Don't argue. Zhang Heng is completely unreliable. He's clearly scheming something." I realized Chen Mo had gone quiet behind me. Assuming he understood, I didn't look back. Instead, I kept my focus locked on Zhang Heng, guarding against whatever trick he might pull.

My concentration was pushed to the limit. I kept Breath Listening and my Judging Eye active simultaneously. Everything seemed normal, and there was no sound of dripping water in my ears.

Before long, we left the third underground floor and moved quickly through the emergency stairwell. No one spoke; the stairwell echoed only with our heavy, ragged breathing.

The flashlight's beam bobbed in the darkness, its pale yellow halo acting as a beacon to guide us.

"Thank god, that monster isn't here!" In less than a minute, we reached the first underground floor. Looking up at the top exit, relief washed over everyone. "We're finally getting out of this hellhole!"

The exit was right above us. The flashlight's beam had already hit the glass panel of the fire door.

But in that brief flash of light, I froze. I didn't know if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but the glass seemed to have just reflected five figures!

'Aren't there only four of us?' I didn't have time to process it. Instinctively, I whipped my head around.

There, in the darkness, someone else was walking right behind Chen Mo!

"Watch out!" I shouted, lunging to grab Chen Mo before I even got a clear look at the stranger's face. But I was still a step too late.

My hand grasped empty air. Hearing my shout, Chen Mo—balancing on one leg—was scared half to death. He didn't dare look back and scrambled frantically forward.

But he was a beat too slow. I watched with my own eyes as the monster in the white hospital gown reached out from its loose sleeves. Its arms, completely wrapped in bandages, spread wide like the wings of a massive bird before seizing Chen Mo in a tight embrace!

Then, something even more terrifying happened. It was as if Chen Mo's body had been suctioned to it. A tremendous force dragged both him and the monster sliding backward!

Completely silent, and incredibly fast!

"Chen Mo!" I roared, throwing out a Suppression Talisman. It struck the monster's body, flashing with golden light before it was instantly smothered. A thick, putrid stench rolled off the monster, neutralizing the talisman's power.

'What the hell is that thing?!' It had taken us less than a minute to get from Mortuary No. 2 to this stairwell. When did that monster slip in behind Chen Mo? How did I not notice it at all?

"What happened?" Zhang Heng and Gu Bei, who were up ahead, jumped in fright. However, their reactions were entirely different.

Gu Bei shuddered and froze in place. He stared at the monster in the white hospital gown, sheer terror spilling across his face.

Zhang Heng, the seasoned opportunist, was far more cunning and decisive. The moment he heard trouble behind him, he didn't even bother looking back. Instead, he sped up, reaching the fire door in a single breath.

"I'm not playing around with you guys anymore!"

I watched him move to shove the door open, but before his hands could even touch the metal, I heard the door hinges groan.

'Someone's outside?' My heart skipped a beat. Then I remembered—I had kicked the first-floor fire door open, leaving it swung inward when we left. But right now, it was shut completely tight. It had obviously been closed from the outside. 'Oh no!'

I wanted to warn Zhang Heng, but it was already too late.

His hands landed on the fire door, but before he could even push, the door was shoved open!

It was lucky the fire door opened inward. Caught completely off guard, Zhang Heng was knocked off his feet. He landed hard on the stairs, staring wide-eyed out the doorway.

Two soaking-wet monsters stood in the doorway. Bandages were haphazardly wrapped around their bodies, and large swathes of their exposed skin were completely replaced by open wounds!

The gruesome, bloody sight was enough to draw out a person's deepest, most primal fears.

"They're alive! The dead came back to life! Ghosts!" Gu Bei's brain had completely stopped working. Like a headless fly, he turned and fled straight back down into the basement.

"Come back! It's a dead end down there!" Before the words even left my mouth, Zhang Heng scrambled up from the ground. Pushing on his hands and knees, he chased right after Gu Bei into the depths of the basement.

Fear is contagious. I hadn't been that scared initially, but watching the two of them break caused my own courage to snap. Without a second thought, I turned and sprinted away.

"They're coming! They're right behind us!"

"Why are there so many of them?! Are they all fucking dead bodies?!"

Since I was the last to run, I fell to the back of the pack. I mentally cursed Gu Bei and Zhang Heng to high heaven. They were absolutely useless when it came to helping, but the moment things went south, they were faster than anyone.

I didn't dare look back as I bolted down the stairs, the wind whistling past my ears. The image of Chen Mo being snatched away flashed in my mind. Those monsters possessed incredible strength; a full-grown adult stood no chance of fighting them off.

At that thought, I circulated the Profound Truth Mental Method and ran even faster.

If the three of us had combined our strength, we might have been able to take down one of the monsters. Unfortunately, there was zero unity between us; everyone only cared about saving themselves.

The monsters were incredibly fast, and running deeper into the basement was a dead end. I had no idea how we were going to break out of this situation.

By the time we reached the second underground floor, the monsters were still hot on our heels, nearly grabbing me a few times.

Not caring whether it would work or not, I threw a massive handful of talismans behind me. Sprinting with everything I had, I actually managed to overtake Zhang Heng, leaving the old bastard sweating buckets in panic.

"Split up!" I roared the moment we hit the third underground floor. Instead of going further down, I bolted into the corridor.

The monsters behind us paused for a split second before separating. One continued after Zhang Heng and Gu Bei, while the other peeled off to chase me.

I used that brief hesitation to put some distance between us, tearing through the pitch-black corridor. 'I need to find a way to lose them.'

Without realizing it, I had looped right back to Mortuary No. 2. As I rounded the corner, a desperate plan formed in my mind. I slipped into the mortuary, slowed my breathing, and carefully crept into the inner room.

I had no idea if the monster would follow me in, and I didn't want to fight it head-on for now. My Judging Eye swept over the row of corpse freezers against the wall. Steeling myself, I yanked open an empty morgue drawer, climbed inside, and grabbed the edge with both hands to pull it shut.

'Crap, I forgot to ask Chen Mo if these morgue drawers can be opened from the inside!' But it was too late to worry about that now. I controlled my breathing, terrified of making a single sound.

The morgue freezer drawer was incredibly narrow, offering barely enough space for a living person. Staring at the metal panel less than twenty centimeters above my forehead, I felt like I was lying in a coffin.

The silence was so oppressive it was suffocating.

About a dozen seconds later, the familiar sound of dripping water echoed in the mortuary.

Those two monsters must have just crawled out of the water tanks; the chemical fluid on their bodies hadn't completely dried yet.

In this dead silence, that dripping sound made my skin crawl. I was terrified that my drawer would suddenly be yanked open.

Drip... Drip...

The nerve-wracking sound echoed through the room. It sounded like the monster was pacing right in front of the drawers.

One minute, two minutes...

The wait was pure torture. Five long minutes dragged by before the dripping sound finally began to fade away.

'Did the monster leave?' I still wasn't reassured. I channeled my Pre-Heaven True Qi into the acupoints behind my ears, but there wasn't a single abnormal sound in the mortuary.

'It probably didn't expect me to hide in a place like this.' I let out a soft breath of relief and raised my hand to push the drawer open. I didn't push hard at first; I just wanted to crack it open slightly so I could observe the outside.

But after pushing it a few times, the metal panel didn't budge. Something seemed to be jamming it from the outside.

'You've got to be kidding me.' I pushed harder, but the panel still showed no sign of moving.

The freezer compartments were made of metal. Even after twenty years, they were as sturdy as ever.

'What kind of design is this? You can't open a morgue drawer from the inside? Are they trying to stop the corpses from escaping?' I was speechless. I didn't dare make too much noise for fear of drawing the monster back, but pushing lightly wasn't doing anything. 'There has to be a handle or something in here!'

I twisted my body, trying to shift into a better position. As my leg moved, the Large-Screen Phone stuffed in my pocket slid out.

'My livestream viewers are from all over. There's got to be a medical student among them, right?' Clinging to a shred of hope, I put away the Brooch Camera, held up the phone, and looked at the screen.

The lighting was incredibly dim. When my face finally appeared on the stream, the livestream viewers—who were used to my usual third-person camera angles—were caught off guard.

"Good evening, viewers. I've run into a bit of trouble," I whispered into the phone. "I was just wondering—if you happen to get locked inside a morgue freezer, how do you get out without a key?"