The Scene

The Qipao Woman suppressed her fear and turned to look in the mirror.

The next second, her expression froze.

"Ahhhhh!!!" Her eyes bulged, and the Qipao Woman fell backward onto the ground, her mouth involuntarily opening into a piercing scream.

A black shadow flashed past. The intense pain lasted only a moment before everything fell silent.

A misty color filled the dark corridor, lingering for a long time.

It was a peaceful night, at least for Jiang Cheng and Fatty.

Fatty was still fast asleep when the scream erupted in a daze.

He was covered by two blankets, and heeding Jiang Cheng's good advice, he had pulled them up to his chin, revealing only his chubby face.

Just then, a sharp scream rang out from outside their room: "Ahhh, someone's dead!!!"

Fatty jolted, nearly rolling off the bed.

Jiang Cheng had taken over Fatty's watch a few hours ago and had been on duty until now.

The one screaming was a woman. She wasn't old, and Jiang Cheng recognized her voice.

It was one of the three newcomers—Dinosaur Pajamas Girl.

"Doctor," Fatty stammered, wanting to say something. But perhaps it was because he had just woken up and his mind wasn't clear, most of what he said was just a repetition of his current fear, completely nonsensical.

So Jiang Cheng told him to shut up and immediately moved towards the door.

Only when he heard the sound of the door opening outside, followed by hurried footsteps, did he open his own door and step out.

Fatty followed closely behind him, his face full of terror.

Not far away, Sleepwear Woman was slumped on the ground. A crowd had gathered at the entrance of the room opposite her, and blood was faintly seeping from the enclosed room, a glaring crimson.

Judging by the amount of blood, the person inside was likely beyond saving.

Fatty's small eyes darted around. After a moment, he swallowed and whispered, "Qipao Woman is gone."

Fatty didn't need to say it. Jiang Cheng had already noticed that Qipao Woman was the only one not in the crowd. So, who the deceased was, was self-evident.

Sleepwear Woman was pale with fright and ignored everything else, just screaming incessantly.

"Damn it!" Hat Man was already in a bad mood, and the girl's incessant noise annoyed him further. He cursed, then his face turned ashen as he walked towards the girl and slapped her.

A crisp sound echoed, and the world fell silent.

Sleepwear Woman was knocked to the ground. She stopped screaming, lying half-prone on the floor, her body trembling uncontrollably. But her eyes were filled with suffocating despair.

This time, no one helped her, not even a word of comfort.

Even the usually gentle Suit Man turned a blind eye to her plight.

After seeing the glaring blood, it seemed everyone had reverted to their true selves.

In a sense, the mission had only truly begun when someone died.

Jiang Cheng walked closer with Fatty. The others noticed them approaching, and the vest-wearing Middle-aged man even made way for them.

This was also a dormitory, but it looked long abandoned. Not a single window was intact.

A pair of legs extended from around the corner. Looking closely, they were splattered with specks of blood.

Jiang Cheng was now certain that this was indeed Qipao Woman's body.

The door was ajar. He wasn't sure if it had been like that when they arrived or if someone had left it that way.

He reached out and pulled the door fully open, stepping inside first.

Seeing this, Fatty's body trembled violently, the tremor spreading throughout him, giving him a rippling texture like the surface of a lake. He opened his mouth to stop Jiang Cheng, but it was too late.

Jiang Cheng had already entered the room and was looking down at a corner.

Near the corner lay a woman's corpse.

Large areas of blood surrounded the body.

The bloodstains were chaotic, splattered on the table, the wardrobe, the abandoned bed, and even the surrounding walls.

The dormitory floor was clearly uneven. The blood pooled towards the side with the bed, eventually forming a pool of blood.

The ground was slightly muddy, and stepping on it produced an uncomfortable, slippery sensation from time to time.

It was indeed Qipao Woman's body. She lay face down on the ground. From the current angle, there were no signs of struggle or external wounds, so the source of the bleeding couldn't be determined for now.

A few more people walked in then: Suit Man, Hat Man, and another woman. Their faces turned grim the moment they saw Qipao Woman's body.

Sometimes, confirming a suspicion was also a form of pain.

Then Fatty reluctantly walked in. He stepped on a patch of blood, slipped, and almost fell.

The air was filled with a pungent, sweet, bloody odor mixed with a faint musty scent, a strange combination that involuntarily conjured bizarre images in Jiang Cheng's mind.

This was an old habit of his. He shook his head, trying to suppress the feeling, but it only made things worse.

In a daze, he took a step back.

Unexpectedly, this simple action triggered a chain reaction. Suit Man, Hat Man, and Ponytail Woman, who lived in Room 406, all took a step back in unison.

"What's wrong?" Hat Man exclaimed.

Jiang Cheng ignored him, opening his right hand and extending his thumb and middle finger to press hard on his temples.

After a while, he felt a little more comfortable. By the time he looked up again, Suit Man and the others had retreated to the room's doorway.

Everyone was staring at him, clearly ready to bolt if things went south.

"What's wrong with you all?" Jiang Cheng asked, frowning.

Hat Man scrutinized him up and down with a suspicious gaze. Seemingly finding nothing unusual, he finally replied, "Nothing, we just think you're acting a bit strange." He pursed his lips and asked tentatively, "Did you discover something?"

"No."

"Really not?" Suit Man sounded unconvinced.

"Really not," Jiang Cheng affirmed. "Now, I need someone to come over and help me turn her body over so I can examine it. We might find some clues."

"Who wants to volunteer?" he added.

As soon as he spoke, everyone fell silent. The corpse's bizarre death was genuinely unsettling.