Chapter 31: Who Is He?
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
“Eight?”
“Stop kidding!”
Lao Zhao’s words made everyone’s heart skip a beat. The light in the Murder by Midnight scenario was exceptionally weak. The group looked at each other, their bodies frozen.
“Where’s the eighth person?”
“Stop panicking!” Brother Feng ordered as he pulled out his phone. As he was about to turn it on, the sound of chains from the other end of the corridor suddenly turned rapid.
“Someone is coming!”
As Brother Feng unlocked his phone, a bloodied monster turned the corner. The timing was perfect as if the monster already knew where they were.
“What is that‽”
Underneath the blood-soaked doctor’s coat were chains that dragged themselves across the floor. The monster’s head was lowered, and the hammer in ‘his’ hand was dripping with blood. Everyone started to worry, and only Brother Feng managed to keep his cool. Ignoring Chen Ge’s earlier warning, he turned on the flashlight inside the Haunted House.
A ray of light shot through the long corridor, s.h.i.+ning on the monster. The light attracted the monster’s attention who turned ‘his’ head and glared at them through the curtain of long hair.
At that moment, the group of medical students had their hairs stand on end. The monster had a face that was sewn together with the features of several males. The st.i.tches on the mask observable even through the distance!
The monster seemed to be ultra-sensitive to light because when the light hit ‘him’, ‘he’ went berserk and started to charge down the corridor, waving the hammer crazily in the air!
The chains knocked into the walls as the heavy footsteps echoed across the thin corridor. As the madman approached, it was unknown who was the first to move, but it created a domino effect, and the group of students scattered to run for their lives.
Some hid inside the nearest room, others rushed down the stairs to hide on the second floor, while some shot down directly to the first floor.
Everyone was spooked by the sudden appearance of the monster, and the approaching footsteps and clinking chains deeply unsettled them. Fight or flight was a natural human response to threats, and when the brain sensed this was a fight that they could not win, they naturally chose to escape and run.
Xiao Hui was the one closest to the stairs. When the monster rushed at them, she was a bit at a loss, and the man beside her suddenly turned and ran down the stairs. Her brain frizzled by fear, she did not think twice and ran after the man. At the time, her instinct was merely to run away from the monster.
The phone was left in a forsaken corner. The calmness of the group of students was completely shattered, and screams tore through the corridor. The group dispersed like a flock of spooked chickens.
When Xiao Hui followed the man before her to the first floor, the screaming from the third floor had not ceased. Then came a halting tempo to the sound of the chains, which sounded like the monster was coming down the stairs!
Xiao Hui increased her pace and did not dare turn back. She kept close to the man in front of her, afraid that she might be left stranded. The creepy music and endless screams caused fear to breed within Xiao Hui’s heart. The bigger the fear, the greater the need for company.
She chased after the shadow before her like her life depended on it. The shadow had become a rock for her to rely on inside the darkened Haunted House.
No matter what happens, at least we’ll be able to look after each other. Xiao Hui did not dare imagine what would happen if she was abandoned all alone inside the Haunted House. To prevent that from happening, she picked up pace again and reached out to grab the s.h.i.+rt of the person in front of her.
The sound of chains drew closer. Xiao Hui was led by the person to the first floor, where he ran into one of the rooms to hide.
A dead-end? Xiao Hui paused at the door while she saw the man jumped into the only furniture in the room, a cupboard to hide. At this juncture, Xiao Hui only had two options left: run on her own or hide inside the cupboard alongside the man.
The sound of the chains dragging on the floor came closer, and she decided on the latter option. Once the cupboard door was closed, it seemed like she had entered a different world, one that was filled with darkness and silence. The only thing that made her feel safe was at least she had a companion with her.
The make-up on her face had already been ruined. Holding her breath, Xiao Hui leaned toward the crack to try to take a look outside.
She saw the chains glint in the dark. The doctor stopped at the door. ‘He’ used the hammer to knock on the door before walking into the room.
Xiao Hui’s heart was racing at an impossible pace. She bit on her finger and shrank deeper into the cupboard, her heart praying softly, Please don’t come any closer, please don’t come any closer.
Her prayers were answered because the doctor only took a look around before ‘he’ left. Xiao Hui sighed in relief and lightly shook the arm of the person beside her. “The monster doesn’t seem to have spotted us. We’ll wait for a little longer, and then we’ll go meet up with the rest.”
Only Xiao Hui’s voice could be heard echoing inside the cramped cupboard. She waited for a response, but there was no answer. She frowned, feeling something was wrong as she turned to look at the man.
The man hiding inside the cupboard with her had an average frame, neither thin nor fat.
Definitely not Monkey or Lao Zhao: Brother Feng is taller than this, and He San is smaller. Xiao Hui called out cautiously, “Lao Song?”
There was still no answer. Xiao Hui’s heart cracked with tension. Wait a minute, Lao Zhao did say there was an eighth member among us…
Xiao Hui’s blood started to chill, and her breath caught in her throat. Xiao Hui slowly pulled out the phone in her pocket. She turned her phone to the side, its cold light flas.h.i.+ng. In the sealed compartment, a deathly white and completely unfamiliar face was staring right back at her.
The phone slipped from her fingers, and after two seconds of absolute silence, an ear-splitting scream escaped from within the cupboard!
Xiao Hui scooted back in an attempt to escape, but the cupboard was only so big. In her desperation, the back of her head knocked against the cupboard wall, and perhaps from the pain or perhaps due to the shock, this fas.h.i.+onable girl collapsed to the floor of the cupboard with her head lolling to the side, appearing as if she was about to die in a few minutes.
“Didn’t I already warn you guys not to use your phones inside my Haunted House?” Chen Ge pushed the cupboard door open, picked up the phone from inside the cupboard, and shoved it inside Xiao Hui’s pocket. Then he used his own to contact Xu Wan. “Xiao Wan, temporarily make them stay away from the first floor.”
After giving the order, he carried Xiao Hui into the bathroom. He opened the trap door in the bathtub and carried Xiao Hui out of the scenario using the worker’s pa.s.sageway.
We’re definitely lacking in physical help.
After placing a piece of warm towel on Xiao Hui’s forehead, Chen Ge returned to the scenario.
One down, six to go. Chen Ge closed the pa.s.sageway and called Xu Wan on her phone. “Xiao Wan, where are you now?”
“There’s someone hiding on the second floor in the first room on the left from the staircase. I’ll go to force him out, and you’ll be able to ambush him with a ‘surprise’ from the right exit.”
“Xiao Wan, you’ve been corrupted.”
“Boss, you have no right to say that; this is all thanks to you.”