Attraction
Translator: CinderTL
The sharp tip—it was a woman's fingernail.
"Who is it?" Huai Yi's expression was strange. "Is it Yu Yu, or Lin..."
He stopped abruptly, suddenly remembering the beautiful woman with the surname Lin. She seemed to have a special relationship with the man beside him.
He decided not to meddle.
He'd heard that the people in Crimson were unpredictable. He didn't want to provoke their wrath.
Jiang Cheng reached out and slowly pushed open the door.
He wasn't particularly nervous because he knew exactly what kind of person Lin Wan'er was.
If only one of the three—Lin Wan'er, Yu Yu, and Cao Yang—were still alive, it would undoubtedly be Lin Wan'er.
The door scraped open with a faint sound, yet it was piercingly clear in the silence.
Huai Yi couldn't help but glance around nervously.
The ward was pitch-black. He could vaguely make out a bed and, along the wall, several dark gray shapes of varying sizes—presumably medical equipment.
The moment the door opened, a wave of nauseating blood stench slammed into them.
The flickering lightbulb in the hallway suddenly stabilized, and as Huai Yi's eyes adjusted to the dim light, his expression changed drastically.
Bloodstains covered the floor, the bed, the walls, and the medical equipment. Even the ceiling was splattered with large droplets of blood. This place resembled a battlefield in hell.
A slick, greasy sensation clung to their feet. Lifting a foot gently, it felt as though they were pulling up viscous threads. This didn't look like the scene of a single murder.
On the bed lay a headless corpse. The pristine white nurse's uniform was soaked through with blood, and the limp sleeve still dripped slowly. There was no doubt this was Zhao Ru's body, confirming Yu Yu's words.
Jiang Cheng shifted his gaze to the corner of the room, where a black metal cabinet lay torn open by immense force. A corpse was sprawled across it in a grotesque posture. The body was mangled beyond recognition, barely resembling a human form. Scattered around the corpse were fragments of flesh, jagged white bone fragments, and the traces of a desperate struggle. It was clear that from the moment the ghost dragged this person into the room until their final death, they had endured a long and agonizing ordeal.
"It's Yu Yu," Huai Yi whispered. The half-torn shoe still clinging to the mangled foot made identification easy.
She was likely attacked by the Ghost in the hallway and dragged into Ward 624. The girl reacted quickly, even after being dragged into the room, attempting to crawl into the metal cabinet and succeeding.
This was evident from the torn metal cabinet.
But she was facing a Ghost, so this only slightly prolonged her suffering without changing her inevitable death.
And her death was clearly far more painful than Zhao Ru's.
Zhao Ru's body had only one wound: the flesh on her neck was torn outward, ripped apart by immense force—possibly by massive, sharp teeth.
They briefly searched the ward but found no clues about Lin Wan'er, Cao Yang, or Director Qi.
However, Jiang Cheng found a rope made of torn bedsheets under the bed.
"What's this?" Huai Yi asked curiously, examining the rope.
"Director Qi is probably still alive," Jiang Cheng said, tossing the rope aside. "The Multi-headed ghoul first controlled Director Qi, then bound and imprisoned him under the bed in Ward 624."
"But while the Multi-headed ghoul was chasing us, Yu Yu and the others found Director Qi and rescued him. Unfortunately, during their escape, Yu Yu was caught by the returning Multi-headed ghoul and killed."
Huai Yi stroked his chin thoughtfully. "No wonder the Multi-headed Ghoul was so close to catching us but then left. It probably sensed that Director Qi had been rescued."
"That's likely," Jiang Cheng agreed.
Director Qi's rescue was a rare piece of good news.
Their immediate priority was to find the remaining survivors and stall the Headless Ghost as long as possible.
As they left Ward 624, preparing to head upstairs to regroup with the others, the door to the adjacent room—right next to Ward 624—slowly creaked open.
Huai Yi, who was walking at the rear, was highly alert and immediately noticed the anomaly.
"Don't panic," Cao Yang said, his face pale with terror as he emerged halfway from the door. "It's me."
Huai Yi's face had paled at the sight of the door opening, fearing the Multi-headed Ghoul had been lying in ambush.
"What are you doing here?" Jiang Cheng frowned. "Where are the others?"
"There aren't any others left," Cao Yang said, tears welling in his eyes as if he had finally found his group. "That Ghost chased after Miss Lin and killed her first, then came back and killed Yu Yu too."
As if reliving a terrifying scene, Cao Yang, a burly man, trembled uncontrollably. "I'm telling you, you didn't see that Ghost! My God, its shoulders were covered in heads! Five... no, at least a dozen or more! It scared me to death!"
"Impossible!" Jiang Cheng stepped forward, grabbing Cao Yang by the collar and nearly lifting him off the ground. "Lin Wan'er couldn't have died! If you survived, why couldn't she?"
Jiang Cheng's sudden outburst startled Cao Yang, who stammered, "Brother Jiang, I know you and Miss Lin were close, but I swear I'm not lying."
"If she's dead, where's the body?"
"Let go of me first... let go of me first," Cao Yang pleaded. It was only after Huai Yi stepped in that Jiang Cheng finally released him. But neither dared to provoke him further.
"Here's what happened," Cao Yang continued, his voice still trembling. "Yu Yu and I were hiding safely when Miss Lin found us. She told us you were fighting the Ghost."
"She said Director Qi probably wasn't dead, just hidden by the Ghost. So we started searching with her. We finally found Director Qi tied up and unconscious under the bed in Ward 624. He was still alive!"
"But we had just woken up Director Qi when that ghost—that ghost—returned!" Cao Yang exclaimed excitedly. "We couldn't run fast with Director Qi, so Miss Lin volunteered to distract the ghost and told us to escape quickly with him."
"Bullshit!" Jiang Cheng retorted. "The ghost's target was Director Qi. How could she possibly distract it when he was in your hands?"
Seeing Jiang Cheng's emotions about to spiral out of control, Cao Yang quickly explained, "It's true! I don't know why, but the ghost just followed her."
"Wait!" Cao Yang suddenly seemed to remember something. "Miss Lin also cut her wrist. Maybe—maybe the smell of blood attracted the ghost."
He pointed to a spot about two meters away, where scattered bloodstains dotted the floor. The trail of bloodstains trickled all the way to the corner at the end of the corridor.
"So, you're only speculating that Miss Lin is dead, without any direct evidence, right?" Huai Yi gave Cao Yang a sharp look.
"I didn't see it myself, but how could Miss Lin possibly have escaped the ghost's pursuit alone? She must be dead," Cao Yang stammered, but his certainty was unwavering.
(End of the Chapter)
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