Dressing Up

The exploration of the second-floor bathroom ended there,

This extreme darkness and eeriness were like a fountain pen writing the word "fear" across the surface of the brain,

Although Luo Di could forcibly suppress the feeling through his intense obsession with serial killers, the class monitor was somewhat overwhelmed. The mental strain brought by fear made her instinctively reach out for something she could rely on,

Naturally, she grabbed hold of something nearby that was close to body temperature and, in her heart, dependable.

Their palms touched,

Along with warmth came a very strange sensation.

Rough, uneven, partially stiff,

It did not feel like a high school student's hand at all, but more like the palm of a laborer in his thirties or forties. Yet that discomfort brought an added sense of security, temporarily restraining the fear in her heart.

The class monitor's gaze slowly traveled upward, looking at the owner of that hand—Luo Di. He did not turn his head, merely silently watching the second bedroom ahead.

Perhaps Luo Di believed that in such a dark environment, physical contact was necessary to better ensure their safety.

Thus, hand in hand, they gradually approached the second bedroom to investigate any possible dangers inside.

Creak~ As they pushed open the door, a rotten, choking stench rushed out to greet them.

Light squeezed into the room, revealing a second bedroom that had apparently been unoccupied for who knew how long. It was full of dust and cobwebs, piled with all sorts of clutter.

This struck Luo Di as strange,

Generally speaking, residents in housing complexes like this had to apply as family units, and the size of the home was allocated according to the number of family members. There should not have been an unused bedroom.

However, although this second bedroom had been sealed away for a long time, they found no problems within it.

That left only the master bedroom at the very end,

Whew~

Luo Di took a deep breath as well, gripping the hilt of his knife tightly as he and the class monitor arrived before the master bedroom door, which stood slightly ajar.

The wooden door had been painted crimson, yet what it gave off was not the smell of paint, but a bloody stench.

They pushed the door open,

The master bedroom had been stretched in size as well, more than twice as large as the living room—comparable to the master bedroom of a luxury apartment.

Yet in such a huge room, only a single candle burned. It sat in the depths of the Corner, atop a redwood dressing table decorated with embroidery.

The bride they had seen earlier was sitting there,

Only, her bridal veil had been removed,

Revealing the back of her head, where barely any hair remained, resembling the surface of the moon.

This appearance perfectly matched the Pseudo-Human that had broken into the house earlier. Only, she was no longer spider-like; all four limbs had returned to normal lengths, making her look human.

Her hands moved before her, as though she were applying makeup.

Because the mirror had been completely smashed, they could not see the woman's face clearly.

Furthermore, the groom sat upon the master bedroom's large bed. Like the one they had seen in the living room, this groom was also a paper figure.

Though there were no windows, a chilling wind drifted through the room, pressing the dressing table's only candle flame down to its weakest glow.

At the same moment, the woman's voice rang through the master bedroom,

"Humans your age generally cannot escape the palm of my hand, yet you two perfectly escaped my ambush.

"As expected, this Girl is very special.

"Whether it's her looks, her hair, or her figure, she is the most perfect I've ever seen in my life. The moment she knocked on my door, I knew she had to be the one.

"How wonderful~ With this face and that hair, I can marry my husband!

"As for you, boy, the two girls I killed earlier were quite pitiful. Originally, I planned to use one girl's face and the other's hair to complete my wedding, but now neither of them is needed.

"You can stay here and keep them company. They will definitely be very happy. When you met in the bathroom earlier, they were already smiling.

"Hahaha~"

As the woman continued laughing, the candle flame flickered erratically,

Her head slowly began to turn, gradually revealing her full face.

She was not applying makeup at all,

Holding a pair of scissors and a utility knife, she had already cut away her entire facial skin, exposing the bloody internal structures beneath,

She had already made her preparations, ready to put on her so-called "new face."

Within the blood-stained face illuminated by candlelight, the bridge of the woman's nose split along the centerline, the crack extending all the way to her mouth as the corners of her lips split apart as well.

It formed a facial fissure with X, Y, and Z axes, more like a "flesh-and-blood corner"—the key sustaining this Corner Space.

When that bloody face appeared, Luo Di prepared himself for battle as well.

But then, whew~

The woman did not pounce on them. Instead, she opened her mouth and blew out the candle.

The room's only light source went out, plunging it into instant darkness.

Only then did Luo Di suddenly realize something: the class monitor was holding an electric lamp. Even if the candle went out, the bulb should have been enough to illuminate the master bedroom.

Now, only the few red candles scattered across the second floor provided a faint glow.

Luo Di turned to look beside him, toward the class monitor who was clearly still holding his hand,

However,

In the weak firelight, all he saw was a paper figure,

The sensation in his palm turned to paper the moment he saw it, and spiders crawled out from within, one of them biting the back of Luo Di's hand.

Ignoring the spider bite on the back of his hand, Luo Di threw aside the paper figure and rushed into the pitch-black master bedroom in a single stride.

But there was nothing left inside the master bedroom, including the paper groom he had seen earlier.

"Damn it!"

He seemed to realize something. Turning around, he rushed out of the master bedroom, preparing to head for the living room downstairs.

Just then,

The bathroom made a sound again,

No longer dripping water, but footsteps...

The swollen paper figure Luo Di had thrown away earlier, its body stuffed full of spiders, walked out from within. However, two girls' heads had been grafted onto the paper figure's head,

Their expressions were exactly the same as when they had floated before, smiling miserably.

Their hair also began growing wildly, wrapping toward Luo Di as they tried to capture this handsome boy, wanting to stay with him forever.

However,

Through the gaps in the black hair, what he saw was a face filled with hatred,

Luo Di's eyes were wide open, his eyeballs bloodshot. He looked exactly like a serial killer at the height of fury when a movie reached its climax.

Drip~

A drop of blood fell onto the floor,

The black hair had not inflicted any wound,

Rather, Luo Di had drawn his thumb across the blade, feeding blood to the "zombie pituitary" living within it while shifting to a two-handed grip.

The seeping blood was immediately absorbed by the Zombie Skin and nerves covering the blade's surface, transported to the pituitary, thereby activating some kind of transformation.

It felt like a sacrifice,

He offered blood and was granted corresponding power.

Creak, creak~ Strands of dark, sinister nerves sprang from the hilt's surface, attaching themselves to Luo Di's palms and forming a bizarre union.

In the end,

His entire palms and wrists became covered in zombie skin, forming a zombified structure.

Even his nails lengthened slightly, darkening as they became hard and sharp.

Both hands became like this,

The back of the hand previously bitten by spiders was completely restored, the poison within eroded away by corpse toxin.

During the half year he had possessed this "Corner-transforming item," Luo Di had spent time practicing with it every night, unknown to anyone.

Around two months after obtaining the item, he heard a whisper from within the blade for the first time.

≮Give me blood≯

Now that half a year had passed, he was already thoroughly familiar with using this Corner-transforming item.

Slash!

The encroaching black hair was severed in its entirety,

The muscles in his bulging calves erupted in an instant, propelling Luo Di toward the Two-headed Paper Figure before him.

During the charge, both hands moved at once,

Slash and Claw

One slash split open the right girl's head,

One claw tore apart the left girl's face,

The two mutilated heads fell to the floor, and the paper figure's body collapsed with them.

The stiff smiles on the girls' faces seemed to soften at that moment, turning relieved before they were finally swallowed by the swarm of spiders.