Saving Someone

Chapter 21: Saving Someone

"Drip—drip—"

Bai Yanliang, who was leading Jiang Li down the stairs, suddenly looked up and listened closely.

Seeing him stop, Jiang Li stopped too and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Bai Yanliang furrowed his brow and stared at the floor above. Though he couldn't see anything, he had a vague sense that something was happening up there...

"Miss Jiang, can you hear... the sound of dripping water?"

Bai Yanliang's question startled Jiang Li. She listened carefully, and after he mentioned it, she seemed to hear the faint dripping too. It was very quiet, though. If the inn weren't so silent, the sound would have been almost impossible to hear.

"Something's not right..." Bai Yanliang murmured. Then he looked at Jiang Li and said, "You go on ahead, Miss Jiang. I'm going back to the sixth floor to take a look."

Jiang Li's expression changed. She hadn't expected Bai Yanliang to do something like this. But... she really didn't dare go down the dark staircase to the first floor alone!

Besides... though she didn't say it aloud, she truly felt safe around Bai Yanliang.

Did this man not fear anything?

So Jiang Li didn't give it much thought and immediately made up her mind. "I'm coming with you!"

Bai Yanliang didn't try to dissuade her. He only nodded slightly.

"Then let's go."

The two turned around and headed back to the sixth floor.

Despair filled every corner of Xu Zhi'an's body.

As he watched, the "man" with a face of mangled flesh slowly turned around.

Meanwhile, the water in the sink had already overflowed...

The water was spreading toward Xu Zhi'an. Terrified, he kept backing away until he had reached the hallway.

Xu Zhi'an's eyes were wide. He could vaguely make out what looked like a woman's silhouette in the water...

Who... was that?

"W-who are you?" Though Xu Zhi'an's mental defenses were nearly shattered, he still asked the question instinctively.

As expected, neither "he" nor "she" answered.

Then, before Xu Zhi'an's horrified eyes, the figure in the water came out!

First, a deathly pale arm reached out, followed by a head covered in long hair. Her body was grotesquely twisted, and she lay sprawled on the floor, limp as if she had no bones.

Xu Zhi'an wanted to get up and run.

But it was too late...

The "man" with the ruined face had somehow already blocked the way behind him.

And in front of him was the "woman" crawling out of the water.

He was trapped!

"It's over... I'm going to die this time..."

Xu Zhi'an trembled all over, his mind a complete blank.

His eyes were wide open, but he couldn't make out the woman's face at all.

In a daze, he only felt that the twisted woman, who seemed boneless, had already reached out and grabbed him by the throat...

A powerful sense of suffocation washed over him. Xu Zhi'an kicked wildly and clawed at "her" fingers.

But it was all in vain. All he could feel was cold...

So terribly cold...

And wet, as if the hand had been soaked in water...

"D-damn it..." Xu Zhi'an's face had gone from red to white, and now it was turning blue.

The veins bulged along his neck. Tears and saliva began to pour uncontrollably from his face.

Xu Zhi'an could clearly feel his life slipping away...

The dripping grew louder and louder.

Bai Yanliang quickened his pace. It wasn't far from the fourth floor to the sixth, so he didn't take long to get there.

Jiang Li stayed close behind him, already preparing herself for what she might find.

...Preparing to see a ghost.

Bai Yanliang must have noticed something, or he wouldn't be hurrying back to the sixth floor like this.

Soon, they both reached the sixth floor.

But... the scene before them stunned Jiang Li, despite all the mental preparation she'd done.

She had imagined all sorts of things, but never this.

Xu Zhi'an, the office worker who looked to be around thirty, was lying in front of the restroom, choking himself with all his might!

His eyes had rolled back, but he was still squeezing as hard as he could!

The veins stood out on his hands. He was trying to strangle himself to death!

"Help me!"

Bai Yanliang's shout snapped Jiang Li out of her confused thoughts and the fear beginning to spread through her. She instinctively did as he asked.

Bai Yanliang struggled to pry Xu Zhi'an's fingers apart while calling out to him continuously.

"Mr. Xu? What's wrong, Mr. Xu?"

At Bai Yanliang's call, Jiang Li hurried over too. They each grabbed one side and tried to pry Xu Zhi'an's fingers apart, but it was no use!

Who knew why Xu Zhi'an was so strong! Bai Yanliang was sure he wasn't weak. At Ye City Psychiatric Hospital, he had never stopped training his body. He wasn't as strong as a seasoned athlete, but his strength and speed were well beyond those of an ordinary person.

And yet... even he couldn't pry Xu Zhi'an's hands open!

Bai Yanliang stared at him. Xu Zhi'an seemed trapped in a nightmare, completely unresponsive no matter how they called to him. His face had turned blue, and he looked moments away from strangling himself to death!

For some reason, this bizarre scene seemed familiar to Bai Yanliang, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember why.

That was very unusual. Bai Yanliang rarely forgot things, but he couldn't recall where this inexplicable sense of familiarity came from.

"N-no, it's no use!" Jiang Li gasped. "I can't pry his hands open at all!"

Jiang Li had already given it everything she had, but the scene before her filled her with fear and despair. Xu Zhi'an's body seemed to be controlled by someone else, using far more strength than he normally could to kill himself!

"Move!"

Bai Yanliang suddenly barked.

Jiang Li didn't hesitate and got up at once. As she stood, she saw a shadow flash past, then slam into Xu Zhi'an's arm joint!

"Crack—"

Jiang Li's eyes widened. She stared in disbelief as the refined, mild-mannered Bai Yanliang kicked Xu Zhi'an's joint so hard that it snapped!

Xu Zhi'an's right elbow bent completely backward. Just looking at it was enough to make anyone wince in pain.

While Jiang Li stood there stunned, Bai Yanliang kicked again!

"Crack—"

Xu Zhi'an's left arm broke with a snap too!

Though it looked horrible, Xu Zhi'an's life had been saved!

His arms twisted at grotesque angles, broken by Bai Yanliang's kicks. At last, Xu Zhi'an's fingers lost all their strength and fell limp.

Only then did Jiang Li understand what Bai Yanliang had done.

She looked at him and saw that he still seemed perfectly calm as he slapped Xu Zhi'an's face, trying to wake him.

Jiang Li didn't even realize that an emotion had crept into her eyes. It was almost like the feeling of seeing a ghost. It was called fear...