The bloodstained rope around the Red-clothed Woman's neck had been the weapon that killed her. It possessed a sinister power of its own: as soon as Wu Xian looked up, it would automatically loop around his neck and hang him just as it had her.
But when Wu Xian didn't look up, the rope stayed looped around her neck—and it was far sturdier than an ordinary rope.
So...
The Red-clothed Woman was caught completely off guard. Her cervical vertebrae snapped at once, and her body thrashed like a fat catfish hauled from the water. Only then did she remember she could control the rope herself. She hurriedly loosened it and dropped to the ground.
"I'm going to... cough, cough... eat you for the rest of..."
Before she could finish, Wu Xian rolled away, putting some distance between them. He pressed his thumb against his middle finger, then flicked it at her.
True Fire Incantation!
The Red-clothed Woman was busy setting her head straight. Her tongue slithered back into her mouth, inch by inch. The moment the last bit disappeared, before she could close her lips, a bright flame darted into her gaping mouth.
A headless corpse with its abdomen hollowed out hung from a billboard on the building across the street. It noticed Wu Xian looking at it, raised its head, and licked its yellow-black, decayed teeth with its tongue as it twitched incessantly at him.
A huge hand pried her mouth open and forcibly shoved in something shaped like a funnel. A warm substance with a distinctly gritty texture poured through it and into her mouth.
The flames gradually died down.
Because the woman in front of her was nothing like the one she'd seen through the peephole.
Lu Yuzhu opened the door with delight, ready to welcome a companion who could weather the ordeal with her.
Her voice cut off abruptly.
"Ah, so it really was just a nightmare. It's all right now that I'm awake."
Wu Xian covered his ears and got to his feet, a grin spreading across his face.
Wu Xian climbed out of bed and pulled the curtain aside, peering at the view outside.
At around three in the morning, he heard heavy footsteps in the hallway. They stopped outside a room. Then came a thunderous crash, followed by a pained moan.
Dawn had barely broken, and the sun had only just peeked over the horizon.
The door to Room 405 opened.
If everything in this Fudi were only this dangerous, Wu Xian's fellow detectives wouldn't all have met their ends here. This long-tongued Hanged Woman was probably no more than a common roadside monster in the Fudi.
After saying that, Yu Yinghua sprawled on the floor and crawled out into the hallway, wriggling like a lizard. Her twisted limbs made it clear she was no longer human. Wherever she passed, she left streaks of gray, muddy water...
A constant scraping sound came from outside the door. Every so often, someone knocked, and a woman would ask questions under one pretext or another. Wu Xian ignored them all.
"So there really are ghosts in this Fudi. But... isn't she too weak?"
A dark-red incense stick lay where she had been. Wu Xian picked it up without examining it, then pressed his ear to the door to listen for sounds outside.
The person knocking was a middle-aged woman in a black-and-white floral dress. She looked terrified, and it seemed something had struck her forehead, leaving blood running down her face.
"Please, help me. I'm..."
Yet after entering the Fudi, though things were more dangerous, he felt at peace. That urgent fixation was gone, and he no longer felt the need to deprive himself.
But she was a Living Person!
So Lu Yuzhu, as if she'd found a lifeline, opened the door. "Come in quickly. I can't stand being alone any longer..."
Her sleep had not been entirely peaceful.
She seemed to be soaring through the sky, passing through clouds. The sunlight warmed her, soothing her body and mind. Her eyelids fluttered.
She had seen the same brutal slaughter as Wu Xian, but she wasn't as strong-hearted. Fear had shattered her defenses, and she desperately needed someone to share the terror with her.
Blinding flames burst from within the Red-clothed Woman, burning from the outside in until they consumed her completely. The fire was yellow and not very hot; it set nothing else alight.
He'd once been inexplicably fixated on the Fudi Case. He'd neglected sleep and meals, kept day and night upside down, and lived so poorly that even the slaveholders at the South American Manor would have thought his quality of life was a little too low.
Terror appeared on the exquisite dead face.
Figuring out the abilities and patterns of these two creatures would be the key to surviving in the Fudi.
Wu Xian didn't believe these two creatures could be dealt with by a single True Fire Incantation, the way the Hanged Woman had been.
"Let go of me! No, help—mmph, mmph..."
"A lifetime, a lifetime..."
Lu Yuzhu's face turned ashen. Numbly, she closed the door and returned to bed. She lay down beneath the covers, occasionally letting out a foolish laugh, then fell fast asleep.
She was so terrified that she could no longer cope with reality.
Lu Yuzhu struggled desperately, but all four of her limbs had been restrained, leaving only her head free to move. Against that huge green hand, she was as helpless as a chick. Her throat was forced to swallow as a muddy liquid burned her mouth and esophagus.
He'd spent most of the previous night in a light sleep. He'd already witnessed the Fudi's dangers, and sleeping now was risky, but it was still better than staying awake until he was at his limit and falling asleep when he shouldn't.
After some time, Lu Yuzhu felt a warm sensation in her dream.
Wu Xian shuddered and touched his mouth. He decided he needed to brush his teeth.
The morning light wasn't fresh and clear. Instead, it was gloomy gray, as if the whole city lay beneath a veil of dust. No pedestrians were on the streets. Dilapidated vehicles stood scattered along the road, and dried bloodstains marked the ground and walls everywhere.
Yu Yinghua stood helplessly at the doorway, soaked and coated in half-dried, dark-gray cement. Blood and muddy water mingled on her face. Her eyes were swollen and vacant. With her mouth full of slurry, she gave Lu Yuzhu a chilling smile.
One of them was a woman named Yu Yinghua. She appeared no later than midnight and wandered the hallway, doing everything she could to sniff out the presence of Living People.
"Miss, you're such a good person. Good people get what they deserve."
She writhed and struggled in the flames, letting out a silent wail. Though no sound came, Wu Xian's eardrums still ached.
She opened her eyes in delight and saw a huge green hand.
Creak.
Wu Xian let out a breath of relief. "That woman's abnormality is obvious. I hope no fool opens the door for her..."
Clearly, there were two monsters in the hallway at midnight.
The woman was still knocking, trying to trick the other tenants on the floor into opening their doors. That meant the brief scuffle just now hadn't caused any further trouble.
The other was a huge creature. Its heavy footsteps were unmistakable. It appeared at three in the morning, forced open a room door last night, and killed the person inside.
So that warmth had come from the cement burning her skin!
A tear slid from the corner of her eye and vanished as it mixed with the cement.
As Wu Xian was thinking, his expression suddenly changed.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door again. This time, the sound was different from the one at midnight!
Before you continue