The Specimen Room, Gloomy and Terrifying

My footsteps echoed continuously through the Dissection Building.

The sound of "tap, tap, tap" went on without end.

By the time I chased him to the stairwell, the Dissection Teacher had already vanished.

But by the light cast by the emergency exit signs, I saw wisps of black mist in the corridor.

It was coming from Chen Guofu's wound after I had stabbed him.

As long as I followed the black mist, I would be able to find him.

But I was afraid too, afraid he would ambush me.

After all, I had no experience dealing with ghosts, much less in a situation like this, where it was a fight to the death.

I became cautious and stopped charging forward recklessly.

You only got one life. If something went wrong...

If the vengeful ghost did not kill me, I might send myself to my grave first...

When I reached the first floor, I continued following the black mist.

I discovered that it had actually turned toward the basement level.

The basement of the Experimental Building was the Specimen Room, and below that was the Corpse Storage Pool.

I had been there a few times. Even in broad daylight, it was terrifying and gloomy.

Let alone now, when I was chasing a vengeful ghost.

But I had no choice but to go down.

I steadied myself, gripped the Fish Bone Sword tightly, and continued down the stairs.

But I was exceptionally careful...

When I reached the basement level, the air was thick with the pungent smell of formaldehyde, mixed with the strange stench of corpses.

Straight ahead was the Specimen Room.

The black mist drifted into the Specimen Room.

Breathing heavily, I nervously walked inside.

The Specimen Room was not completely dark. Several purple lamps illuminated it.

At a glance, all I could see were glass tanks.

Inside were various human body specimens and organ specimens.

There were many of them—men and women, young and old, from every age group.

Their main purpose was to help students like us better understand the human body, so we could treat the sick and injured more effectively in the future.

Under the purple lights, I could not tell which direction the black mist had gone.

I tried turning on the lights nearby.

But the white lights would not turn on at all.

They flickered twice with a "bzz, bzz" before going out.

This definitely was not a problem with the lights. That ghost was behind it.

Since I could not turn on the lights, I could only find him under these purple lamps and take him out.

Even if it was dangerous, I had to do it.

I walked forward, passing several specimen tanks.

Inside them floated the body specimens of two children, motionless in the liquid.

The strong smell of formaldehyde made me extremely uncomfortable.

The black mist drifting around inside was not easy to find either.

I could only move forward little by little, with great caution.

Weaving through all those human specimens filled me with a horrifying sense of dread.

And just as I reached the middle of the Specimen Room...

There was a loud "clang" behind me. The Specimen Room door that had been open slammed shut.

I looked back and felt chills run down my spine.

My grip on the Fish Bone Sword tightened even further.

I widened my eyes and searched every corner, warily watching my surroundings.

But at that very moment, a gust of icy wind swept over me from behind.

A sense of danger flashed through my mind, and I spun around.

Chen Guofu, who had fled, had somehow appeared behind me without a sound.

His feet did not touch the ground, and his face was twisted into a ferocious grimace.

Under the purple light, he looked even more vicious.

"Bad student..."

He extended his claws and slashed at me.

His mouth also lunged for my neck.

The attack came too suddenly. If I had not been on high alert, I truly would not have reacted in time.

Even so, all I could do was hastily raise my hand to block.

With a "bang," his ghostly claw struck my Fish Bone Sword.

His strength was still considerable, but compared to before, I could withstand it now.

However, the clothes over my chest were torn apart by his claws.

I staggered back several steps before steadying myself.

I glanced at my torn clothes and sneered.

"Teacher Chen, it's time for you to go!"

I said viciously.

Now that I had found his true form, there was no way I would let him escape and ambush me again.

"Bad student..."

Chen Guofu still rolled his white eyes and snarled.

He opened his mouth full of sharp teeth and lunged at me again, trying to bite me to death.

I clenched the Fish Bone Sword and charged forward once more.

If Chen Guofu had not drunk the Substitute Rabbit's blood, and if I had not stabbed him earlier...

I would have been no match for him.

But now, I was no longer afraid of him.

In a head-on fight, I even held a slight advantage.

He was more like a drunken madman.

He looked fierce, but he could barely stand straight, and his movements had become sluggish.

He swayed around, unable to target me properly at all.

After only a few exchanges, I kicked him to the ground.

Then I drove the Fish Bone Sword into his stomach again.

The pain made him cry out, "Ah! Ah!"...

Black mist continuously seeped from his wound.

As for me, my clothes had merely been torn and my skin scratched.

I did not care at all.

As long as I sent Chen Guofu on his way, all the ghosts haunting me would be dealt with, at least for now.

I looked at Chen Guofu, severely injured and barely able to resist, then spoke again.

"Get on your way!"

With that, I raised the Fish Bone Sword and stabbed downward.

Chen Guofu was already at the end of his rope and had no ability to fight back.

He stared at me in terror.

My sword struck true, plunging into his chest.

"Ah..."

A hoarse sound came from his mouth. His eyes bulged wide, as though they were about to burst.

At that moment, black smoke was also pouring continuously from his mouth as his body struggled violently.

I kept pressing down, driving the Fish Bone Sword deep into his chest.

More and more black smoke poured from his mouth.

As the black smoke escaped, Chen Guofu's struggles grew weaker and weaker.

After roughly seven or eight seconds, his body began flickering in and out of sight. Then his chest suddenly arched upward.

With a "bang," like a balloon bursting, his entire body transformed into a ball of phosphorescent fire before my very eyes and vanished...

It was the first time I had seen anything like that.

The hand gripping the Fish Bone Sword was still trembling slightly.

"Is this... having one's soul scattered?"

I stared at the vanished phosphorescent fire and muttered.

But before I could rejoice, before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, something unexpected happened.

After Chen Guofu's soul scattered...

All the glass tanks in the Specimen Room began making "thump, thump, thump" sounds.

The formaldehyde inside began churning continuously with loud splashing noises.

It was as though someone was shaking the glass tanks and knocking against them from within.

At that moment, I stood up in horror.

I looked at the abnormal glass tanks all around me.

Terror gripped me, because beneath the purple lights...

I discovered that all the human specimens floating inside had turned around in perfect unison, their bodies dyed purple by the lamps.

Every single one of them stared at me from within the glass tanks with eyes bleached white by the formaldehyde.

Their gazes were ashen and lifeless, yet seemed to gleam with purple light.

Every hair on my body stood on end.

That invisible terror and oppressive feeling sent a chill down my spine.

I did not know why this was happening.

But I knew that this was not a place to linger. I had to leave this eerie Specimen Room immediately.

Otherwise, I was truly afraid that by tomorrow morning, I would be soaking in one of those tanks too.

How could I dare remain there for even a moment?

Clutching the Fish Bone Sword, I dashed for the door like a madman.

I wanted to leave this damned place as quickly as possible.

But this place was eerie and strange, a Specimen Room where the dead gathered and resentment soared to the heavens.

Getting in had been easy.

But now that I wanted to get out, how could it possibly be that simple?