Toxic Resentment

Chapter 27: Toxic Resentment

Bai Yanliang had barely left the staff lounge when Wang Sheng came out of a room behind him.

His eyes were sunken, and he looked drained. After standing in the hallway for a long while, he finally knocked on the neighboring door.

Footsteps sounded inside, and a man opened the door. He glared at Wang Sheng with a dark expression and asked, "What is it?"

It was Jiang Chaojie, and his displeasure was plain on his face.

Wang Sheng shuddered. He hardly dared look at Jiang Chaojie and stammered, "Brother Jiang... sh-should we burn some paper money for the landlady?"

Jiang Chaojie's expression changed. He grabbed Wang Sheng by the collar and dragged him into his room.

"Listen up. You weren't the one who killed her, and neither was I! Whether we saw it or not, he already killed the landlady! Don't give me any of that guilt-ridden crap, and don't talk about seeing ghosts! If you go around blabbing, maybe I'll let you off—but do you think he will? Huh?"

"B-but... I keep feeling like... someone's watching me from the ceiling..."

As he said it, Wang Sheng instinctively glanced up at the snow-white ceiling.

Jiang Chaojie's hand tightened on Wang Sheng's collar, then went still. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt exactly what Wang Sheng described—that someone was watching him.

It was eerie and terrifying. His back kept growing cold, as if... a pair of eyes were always watching him from some corner.

"Phew..." Jiang Chaojie took a deep breath and let go.

He slumped onto the bed, clutching his hair with both hands.

Over the past few days, his mental state had been getting worse. He could tell Wang Sheng was in about the same shape.

It might have been a coincidence if it were just one person, but if both of them were like this, then something was definitely wrong.

"No... We're just imagining things. Even if she turned into a ghost and wanted revenge, we wouldn't be her targets. She should go after her husband! That man! We only happened to see Ding Lei throw her into the water tank..." Jiang Chaojie was braver than Wang Sheng, but even he couldn't stop his heart from pounding.

He and Wang Sheng had accidentally seen Ding Lei carrying a wooden ladder up to the rooftop, and they'd been puzzled.

The boss was the sort of man who never lifted a finger or knew where his food came from. He usually made them do that kind of heavy work, so... Jiang Chaojie and Wang Sheng had secretly followed him to see what he was up to.

Then... the two of them saw a sight that made their scalps tingle.

Li Yuhua lay limp as Ding Lei carried her over his shoulder and climbed the stairs step by step, then threw her into the water tank.

Even now, Jiang Chaojie could clearly remember Li Yuhua's face. Her eyelids seemed to have twitched. Was she still alive? Had she only been knocked unconscious?

With one heave, Ding Lei sent Li Yuhua plunging into the four-meter-deep water tank, then put the lid on.

Soon, the tank began to shake! She really was alive! She was struggling desperately in the water!

But... Ding Lei merely stood beside the tank, silently watching.

The two waiters hiding on the stairs stared wide-eyed, horrified and distraught, but they still didn't go to save her.

Li Yuhua gave in to despair. Icy water poured down her throat and into her nostrils and lungs. The choking sensation gradually numbed every nerve, and her consciousness began to blur. At the moment she neared death, her intense resentment erupted!

Her face was deathly pale, her eyes wide as she stared fixedly at the walls of the tank, as if she could see the people outside.

She had been drowned alive.

"Anyway... we don't know anything. The boss caught us in the end, but he promised us hush money. So keep your mouth shut, understand?" Jiang Chaojie sounded as if he were trying to persuade Wang Sheng—and himself.

"But..." Wang Sheng said in a low voice, his face full of worry.

"What more do you want?" Jiang Chaojie glared at him, barely able to contain his anger.

"N-nothing... I just need to use the bathroom..." Wang Sheng shuddered with fright and hurriedly explained, stammering, "Brother Jiang... why don't we go together?"

Jiang Chaojie was about to refuse when he suddenly felt the urge to use the bathroom too. He needed to take a dump.

The urge had come out of nowhere, and it was intense.

"Fine. Remember, stop letting your imagination run wild." As he spoke, Jiang Chaojie opened the door.

Wang Sheng followed him with a miserable expression. The bathroom was at the end of the hallway, right beside Zhang Wen's room.

As Jiang Chaojie and Wang Sheng headed for the bathroom, they somehow felt colder and colder.

"Hey, Wang Sheng, don't you think the hallway seems a little narrower today?"

Jiang Chaojie asked in a low voice.

Wang Sheng shuddered, partly from fear and partly because he was about to burst from needing to pee.

"N-no, I don't think so," Wang Sheng said, denying it.

Jiang Chaojie assumed he was just imagining things and stopped thinking about it.

"Damn it, who got water all over the floor in front of the bathroom?" Jiang Chaojie grumbled, glancing at the soaked floor.

Wang Sheng didn't answer, though he knew who it was.

It was obviously Zhang Wen. Everyone knew she was mentally unwell. Every so often, she would cup water from the sink and let it spill all over the place.

But Jiang Chaojie refused to believe it. He liked Zhang Wen, and everyone knew that too.

The two of them stepped through the water and entered the bathroom. Wang Sheng hurried to the urinal while Jiang Chaojie quickly opened a stall door and went in.

"Bang—"

Jiang Chaojie shut the door.

Wang Sheng's thin stream of urine pattered outside the stall.

Jiang Chaojie quickly pulled down his pants and squatted.

Just then, water suddenly surged into the toilet beneath him!

The splashing water even hit his backside.

Frowning, Jiang Chaojie turned to look at the toilet, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. He hadn't even flushed it, so why had it started on its own?

But... a sight that made his scalp tingle appeared before him.

Blood!

So much blood!

What was flushing through the toilet wasn't water at all—it was blood!

Jiang Chaojie was scared out of his wits. He yanked up his pants, stood, and slid the latch aside, trying to rush out.

But although the latch was open, the door wouldn't budge, as if someone had locked it from the outside!

"Wang Sheng! You bastard, open the door! Open it now!!"

Jiang Chaojie screamed and roared as he rammed the door with all his might, but... no matter how hard he hit it, the flimsy door didn't budge!

Then, the rushing water suddenly stopped.

Jiang Chaojie swallowed. By now, he was drenched in sweat, his face ashen and his limbs weak.

But... when he forced himself to look back, he froze in place as if struck by lightning!

A hand was reaching out from the toilet bowl...

A deathly pale hand!

Jiang Chaojie's mind went blank. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the floor.

"Hah... huh..."

His throat made sounds that meant nothing, as if something were caught in it. He couldn't get a single complete word out.

And that pale hand... was reaching for his neck, drawing closer and closer...