Chapter 714: I Am Here to Help You

Zhu Li wore a strange expression as he said this, placing heavy emphasis on the word "cute."

Normally, describing a little boy that way wouldn't be so hard to accept, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he meant something else. Sweeping my gaze over the bloody, gruesome silhouettes painted on the wall, I realized his version of "cute" likely differed from a normal person's.

"The kid on the sixth floor often plays in the hallway. There's a high chance you'll run into him, and when you do, he'll give you a little surprise." Zhu Li acted mysterious, pausing for a breath before continuing. "The tenant on the seventh floor went missing a few days ago. Of course, it's also possible they sneaked out in the dead of night without anyone noticing. Not everyone likes the environment here, after all. Oh, right, the emergency stairwell on the seventh floor connects to the other three units, meaning you can move freely between all four units inside the Red Building."

"A woman lives alone on the eighth floor. She sells 'meat' for a living. She's fairly good-looking, just a bit dirty."

"I don't know the situation from the ninth floor up. There should be people living there. A few days ago, I heard a scream come from the ninth floor."

"There's an elevator installed from the sixth floor of the Red Building upward. It's very convenient, but I'll give you a piece of advice: take the stairs if you can, and try your best to avoid the elevator." Zhu Li held up three fingers. "There are three taboos in the Red Building. First, don't make too much noise when going upstairs, and don't trigger the voice-activated lights. Second, never take the elevator on a rainy night. Third, do not knock on the doors of unoccupied rooms."

"What strange taboos." Zhu Li had quickly summarized the basic situation inside the Red Building. After listening, I frowned deeply.

If that live show streamer really lived here, what role was he playing? In my eyes, none of the tenants Zhu Li mentioned matched the profile of a live show streamer.

Was Zhu Li lying? Was he hiding something? The Red Building was divided into four units in total. He had only told me about the tenants in Unit One. Perhaps that live show streamer lived in one of the other units.

At that thought, the urge to leave sprouted in my mind. The livestream was about to begin; at this critical juncture, I couldn't afford any accidents.

"I've already told you everything I know. How much longer are you going to loiter around here?" Zhu Li was also staring at the clock on the cabinet. Midnight seemed to be a special time for the tenants of the Red Building as well.

He had spilled everything I wanted to know all at once. It seemed he didn't want to clash with me right now and just wanted to shoo me away as quickly as possible.

Knowing I couldn't get any more clues out of Zhu Li, my gaze drifted between Bai Ya'er and him before I stated my final demand. "I'll leave right now, but I want this woman to come with me."

Without waiting for Zhu Li to respond, I grabbed Bai Ya'er's arm and pulled her to my side. "Mr. Zhu, I'll be borrowing your model for a bit. Don't worry, I won't hurt her."

Giving Bai Ya'er no chance to resist, I dragged her out of Zhu Li's room, through the pitch-black hallway, and back into her own small apartment.

"Let go of me!"

I gently closed the iron door and pinned the frail Bai Ya'er against the wall.

"What do you want? What are you trying to do?" She flailed her arms, hitting my chest. Just as I had expected, this woman was very weak. With her strength alone, it would have been extremely difficult to silently abduct a seven- or eight-year-old child.

"Shut up and give me your room key." I pinned both of Bai Ya'er's arms with one hand and patted her down with the other.

The Red Building was dangerous. The tenants here were bizarre and twisted. If I wanted to investigate this place, I had to leave myself a way out, and Bai Ya'er's rented apartment was the sanctuary I had in mind.

This woman was timid and cowardly, yet harbored a sadistic complex. She enjoyed torturing living things weaker than herself—a severe mental illness.

A long time ago, when I was in the police academy, I had read about a similar case. Three sisters were imprisoned by a thug. By the time they were rescued, the eldest sister was pregnant with the kidnapper's child, the middle sister was severely injured and disfigured, and the youngest sister had been tortured to death a few weeks prior.

At the time, the police all thought the murderer was the kidnapper, and everyone silently cursed him for being an animal. But when the forensic results came out, the one who had killed the youngest sister and maimed the middle sister wasn't the kidnapper, but the eldest sister.

During their captivity and abuse, the mindsets of all three sisters had drastically changed. For food and water, their initial resistance evolved into submission, and ultimately, the eldest sister actually fell in love with the kidnapper.

She found pleasure in the abuse, and then inflicted that agonizing torment on her two younger sisters. Submitting to the strong while committing atrocities against the weak—in that pitch-black, hopeless dungeon, the absolute worst side of the eldest sister's human nature had been fully exposed.

That case left a profound impression on me back then. Thinking about it now, Bai Ya'er and that eldest sister were likely the exact same kind of person.

I respected neither heaven nor the gods, and I believed that all living things were equal. Earlier, when I saw Bai Ya'er drive over that frog, I had already formed a rough judgment of her character.

She would be submissive in the face of the strong, and the negative emotions accumulating inside her would only be vented on lives weaker than her own. This was also why I chose her as my breakthrough point.

After fishing out the key and slipping it into my pocket, I looked at Bai Ya'er, who still wanted to resist. I reached out to cup her pale, delicate face, then slid my hand down to grip her neck. "I've taken the key. Stay put in your room tonight and behave. You aren't allowed to go anywhere."

With every word I spoke, the grip of my hand tightened a fraction more. Bai Ya'er gradually lost her breath. Her face flushed completely red, and the impending suffocation left her panicked and terrified.

"Understood?"

Only when I saw Bai Ya'er give a strained nod did I loosen my grip.

"Are... are you trying to kill me?" She slumped to the floor, clutching her neck with both hands as she gasped for air.

"Murder is merely an option. If it really comes down to it, I'm not opposed to it." My tone was icy. I wasn't worried about Bai Ya'er; the one I truly needed to be mindful of was Zhu Li. I couldn't see through that lunatic at all, and he made me feel a sense of profound danger.

After dragging Bai Ya'er into the living room, I glanced at the clock on the wall. There were only six minutes left until midnight.

'I can't let these people know about my livestream.' After a moment of thought, I tucked the key away, turned, and left alone.

With the door securely locked, I stood in the pitch-black hallway and took out the Large-Screen Phone. Just as I was about to turn it on, the sound of nails scraping against rust suddenly echoed in my ears.

Amidst the dead silence, the noise sent a shiver down my spine.

Looking toward the source of the sound, I saw that right next door to Bai Ya'er's apartment, her other neighbor was standing in the doorway.

The red-painted wooden door had been pulled open just a crack. Hiding behind it was a tall, thin, middle-aged man in a white coat. He was waving at me.

'Is he the Doctor Zhu Li mentioned?' I hesitated for a moment, then let curiosity drive me toward him.

He pulled the iron door open and took a few steps back. Taking the opportunity, I stepped into his rented apartment.

Separated by just two doors, it felt like an entirely different world.

A faint, strange odor drifted through the room. My nostrils flared, and a single word quickly flashed through my mind: formalin.

The dim light shone on my face, and the Doctor stood with his back to the light source. For a split second, I had the illusion that the spot where he stood was casting a massive shadow toward me, trying to swallow me whole.

'There's something off about this guy.' I was immediately on high alert. If nothing else, formalin was most commonly used to preserve corpses. It was hard not to let your imagination run wild when a tenant's home reeked of the stuff.

I didn't lock the outer iron grate, only shutting the inner red wooden door. "What do you want with me?"

"Don't be nervous. I just didn't want to watch you walk to your death, so I decided to save your life," the Doctor said with startling frankness. He took a step back, and the light illuminated his face.

When I saw his features, my eyes widened.

His face was covered in scars, looking as though chunks of flesh had been gouged out. They crisscrossed unevenly like centipedes. The widest one slashed right past his left eye, nearly tearing the eyeball out and leaving him completely unable to open that eye fully.

I drew in a sharp breath but quickly regained my composure. "You want to save me? Why don't I see it? Zhu Li said that the Red Building will undergo a massive change after midnight. By stopping me now, aren't you just delaying my escape?"

"It's already too late. Once the old lady on the second floor closes her door, it means the stairwell is no longer safe. Even if you go down now and manage to run out of the Red Building, you still won't be able to leave the Pig Cage Apartments."

"Isn't the Red Building the Pig Cage Apartments?" Feeling a bit confused, I interrupted him.

"The Red Building only shares the same name because it was built on the Old Site of Pig Cage Apartments. I'm talking about the real Pig Cage Apartments from decades ago." He pointed out the window. "This entire massive area is part of it. You can't escape."

The Doctor's words didn't quite line up with what Zhu Li had said. As the seconds and minutes ticked away, I had to make a decision. "So, you're saying you want me to stay the night at your place? How am I supposed to trust you?"

Whether it was his appearance or the various setups in his room, the Doctor gave me a very strange feeling. I didn't believe there could be any such 'good' person in the Red Building.

"Every tenant in the Red Building has a reason for living here. It is their greatest secret. I can't tell you the truth, nor can I make you completely trust me. I only wanted to give you a warning and offer you one more choice." The Doctor spoke in a deep, earnest tone. "I don't know what Zhu Li told you, but I can say with absolute certainty that he was lying to you. That man is a lunatic, a complete and utter lunatic."

"You're right about that. I agree with you on him being a lunatic, at least." Offering a faint smile, I leaned my back against the red wooden door and hid the Large-Screen Phone in my jacket.

"You still don't understand your situation. If I were you, I definitely wouldn't be smiling right now." The Doctor shook his head. "The Pig Cage Apartments is not a place you should have come to. It's very difficult to survive here. Let me help you."

After saying this, he pulled his hand out of his pocket. Resting in his palm was a sharp Scalpel...