Chapter 93: Eight Rooms

"Someone's coming!" A cold sweat broke out all over my body. Ignoring the madwoman's frantic behavior, I pressed myself against the wall and hid behind the door.

A key slid into the lock, the mechanism turned, and the heavy iron door was pushed open.

As the gap in the doorway widened, I grew more tense than ever before. Sweat mixed with dirty water on my palms, and my wounds stung sharply, but I ignored the pain, fixing my absolute focus on the opening iron door.

'I only get one chance at this!'

I tensed every muscle in my body, flexed my calves, and lowered my center of gravity.

The door opened about ten centimeters, but for a long time, no one stepped inside.

'Was I discovered? Did they notice me?' A flurry of thoughts flashed rapidly through my mind. I could barely hold back the urge to charge out.

The open door was right in front of me! Freedom and safety seemed only a single step away!

My body leaned forward involuntarily, my hands already reaching out, but just then I heard a grumble from outside. "Damn it, how many locks are on this door? Old Ghost is way too paranoid."

The sound of locks opening clicked twice more in succession before the iron door was finally pushed halfway open.

I couldn't help but feel a wave of relief. If I had acted impulsively just a moment earlier, it would have been all over.

Peering through the gap, I saw a man outside wearing a white coat and a pair of glasses. He looked refined and gentle, but his gaze was full of malice.

Before he had even fully stepped inside, his hand latched onto the woman's calf. "Having another episode? Did I play a little too rough last time?"

His brutal actions starkly contrasted with his gentle tone. Standing at the doorway, he yanked on the iron chains with zero regard for the sick woman, wrenching her body into a Y-shape. The chains sliced into her skin, and blood flowed from where she was bound.

In his eyes, the woman seemed to be nothing more than a toy.

I gritted my teeth and waited for him to have his fill of twisted fun. I thought he would come in to give her medicine, but to my surprise, he started stripping off his clothes outside the door. "Having an episode, huh? Let me give you a proper cure!"

He let out a bizarre laugh, looking as smug as a nobleman about to feed his pet, and finally stepped into the cell.

He had a very young face, looking no older than his early twenties. Judging solely by his appearance, it was impossible to associate him with such a sadistic abuser.

He stepped into the room, vibrating with excitement, and lunged at the seizing woman like a dog.

"You dared to interrupt my sleep. This time I'm gonna..."

He never got to finish that sentence. Seizing the opportunity, I darted out from behind the door, clamped my hand tightly over his mouth, and locked my arm around his throat.

Seeing the shock and terror in his eyes and hearing the muffled, agonized whimpers caught in his throat, I felt a rush of unprecedented satisfaction!

"So you know how to be scared? You can feel fear too?" I pinned him to the floor. Bloody, gruesome images of what had happened in this room flashed through my mind, and murderous intent welled up inside me.

If I didn't know how to pick locks, if I hadn't happened to have that one-yuan bill in my pocket, the fate awaiting me probably would have been even more miserable than this madwoman's!

They couldn't even be considered human anymore. They were beasts in human skin, worse than wandering ghosts and wild spirits.

I didn't give him a chance to speak. Rather than risk extracting information of unknown truth from him, it was better to make him quietly shut his mouth forever.

Rage clouded my mind. I strangled his neck with all my strength, the veins in my arms bulging.

I couldn't give him a single chance. If I let him cry out or make too much noise, it would likely draw in the people outside.

Once the killing intent sparked, the surging bloodlust could no longer be contained. A faint red tint filled my eyes, and my pupils slowly narrowed into vertical slits. My eyes no longer looked human—they looked like those of a starving Blood Fox!

My strength continued to build. The young doctor's neck twisted into a grotesque angle, his eyes bulged out, and his face and body turned two different colors.

People can always tap into unimaginable potential on the brink of death. He clawed at my arms with both hands, his nails digging deep into my flesh and carving out bloody gouges.

We remained locked in this stalemate for a long time. Only when he finally stopped struggling did I slowly loosen my grip.

The young man on the floor looked like a dead fish, his eyes bulging and his fingers splayed out as he lay sprawled over the blood-painted artwork. I had exhausted all my strength as well and sat down by the door.

'Is he dead?' Staring at his motionless body, an immense, indescribable horror washed over me, as if I had been thrown into a pitch-black valley surrounded by howling gales on all sides.

His clothes and keys were out in the hallway, but I found myself completely unable to stand. My arms were still spasming slightly, and my fingertips kept trembling.

I rolled the young doctor over. He wasn't entirely dead yet; his chest was still rising and falling.

Logic told me the safest move was to hold him down in the water trench and end his life for good, but I couldn't take that step no matter what.

The bloody tint in my eyes gradually faded. I silently recited the Profound Truth Mental Method to calm my restless heart.

'Kill him or not?'

This doctor was about my age. Judging by his looks alone, no one would ever guess he was actually a twisted psychopath.

While I was hesitating, the woman stopped her frantic behavior. Her face was covered in blood, and the sound of her wailing echoed through the room.

She was laughing amidst her tears. I finally understood what Jiang Fei meant; this crying really was far too eerie.

I pushed myself up from the floor, only just now noticing the burning pain in my arms.

Stepping out of the cell, I found myself in a corridor two meters wide. Cells were built along only one side; the other side was a solid, heavy wall.

The hallway was equally damp and gloomy. The ceiling was so low I could touch it just by raising my hand.

'Just as I guessed.'

The corridor was about thirty meters long and held a total of eight cells. The door numbers on each cell were quite peculiar. They were labeled Monday, Tuesday, all the way to Sunday. Only the eighth cell had no markings at all.

The madwoman's cell was marked Tuesday, while the cell I had originally been in was labeled Sunday.

'Do these door numbers have some special meaning?'

I had too few clues, and besides, now wasn't the time to overanalyze. I took the young doctor's clothes into the madwoman's room and put them on. The doctor and I had similar builds, so his clothes fit me pretty well.

Pulling a massive ring of keys from the pocket, I tried them on the woman one by one, but I only managed to unlock the chains on her wrists and ankles.

The heavy padlock around her neck was completely seamless. I examined it closely but couldn't find a keyhole. This meant the lock on her neck was never made with a keyhole to begin with; her abusers had never once considered unlocking it and setting her free.

'These animals!' Shackled by that massive lock, the woman couldn't leave. I could only go save the others first.

I took the chains that had bound the madwoman's limbs and trussed up the young doctor. Only after confirming he couldn't break free did I feel secure enough to leave.

Arriving at the cell marked Friday, I decided to rescue Jiang Fei first.

Under the current circumstances, she was the only person I could trust.

I unlocked the three heavy padlocks on the door and pushed it open. Jiang Fei's reaction took me by surprise—she had been hiding behind the door the whole time, and the moment I opened it, she launched an attack.

If I hadn't just used a similar trick myself, and if I wasn't naturally cautious, I probably would have fallen for it.

I caught her fist and lowered my voice. "Look closely, I'm Gao Jian!"

"Gao Jian!" The despair in her eyes instantly morphed into shock, which then melted into pure joy. With tears welling in her eyes, she mumbled a few words under her breath.

I couldn't hear what she said clearly, nor did I ask. I crouched down and began unlocking her chains. "You don't need to thank me. Saving you is saving myself. We might run into even more danger once we get out of here. Whatever happens next, you have to listen to me and do exactly as I say."

"Okay." In the face of life and death, Jiang Fei finally put away her rich-girl temper and nodded obediently.

After freeing Jiang Fei, I didn't rush to save the others. Instead, I leaned against the wall to think calmly.

The people in the other cells wouldn't be much help in my escape. Song Xiaowang and Song Xiaofeng were just children with intellectual disabilities, while the taxi driver was devious. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about him.

Right now, the plan with the highest chance of success was to take only Jiang Fei. Two people made for a smaller target and could adapt quickly, but leaving the others behind was an incredibly selfish act.

Because whether or not we managed to escape, anyone left down here would definitely suffer. Our captors weren't idiots; since the young doctor had been down here this long without returning, they would absolutely send someone to check on him.

'Do I save them or not?'

The keys were right in my hand, and freedom seemed to be beckoning me. Two choices. A single thought could lead to hell, and another to heaven.