Translator: CinderTL
"Cough, cough."
An unpleasant sound interrupted the conversation. Huai Yi turned to look and saw the middle-aged woman who had caused trouble earlier in the day.
Li Kaifeng.
She was sitting on the bed, her body unnaturally curled up, her eyes dull. If one looked closely, they could see her shoulders trembling slightly.
Under the dim light, her face showed an unusual flush.
No one had a good expression toward the woman, especially the middle-aged man named Wang Changguo, whose tone was particularly sarcastic.
Seemingly aware that she had caused trouble for everyone, Li Kaifeng didn't try to defend herself. She hung her head low, her mind constantly replaying the terrifying scene she had witnessed not long ago.
In the elevator, behind everyone, there had appeared... a gate.
A gate that had grown out of the Cleaner's body—a black gate covered in flesh and blood.
Squeezed out from the flesh, the gaps in the gate were filled with dense, wriggling Flesh Buds, a sight that made one's scalp crawl.
What was even stranger was that she couldn't help but wonder what lay behind that gate.
"Are you okay?" Yu Yu, who was closest to her, asked. She looked at the woman, who was almost curled into a ball, and a trace of pity flickered in her eyes.
Li Kaifeng shook her head, then began coughing uncontrollably again. She tried to keep the sound low, but some things were beyond her control.
"Can you keep it down?" Wang Changguo snapped at her, his dissatisfaction growing. "Are you trying to get us all killed?"
His frustration with the woman was only part of it; more than anything, it was fear of their current situation. Wang Changguo's agitation was also fueled by using the woman as a scapegoat for his own anxiety.
Huai Yi couldn't help but sigh.
He shared the same concern as Jiang Cheng. While it was somewhat acceptable that the newcomers lacked experience, what was truly terrifying was their poor emotional management.
Emotions are contagious.
In a real crisis, if even one newcomer lost control, it was likely that others would be affected as well.
Once the group spiraled out of control, what awaited them was being hunted down one by one by the Ghost.
During their last mission, he had heard an older teammate recount a similar experience. The teammate had been part of a 10-person team that had been scattered in the Dark Forest, and only two of them had survived.
The Ghost had barely appeared.
It had merely used a few frightening tricks to scare the newcomers into losing control, causing them to blindly break away from the group and rush deep into the forest.
From there, the group had completely fallen apart.
Everyone had fled in different directions.
Only the two who had stayed put had survived.
The teammate who told the story had been one of them.
The ironic part was that they later discovered the exit gate had been less than 50 meters ahead of them, beneath a withered old locust tree.
Huai Yi rubbed his face and walked over, standing in front of Li Kaifeng.
He placed his hand on her forehead, a gesture that startled her. Li Kaifeng reacted instinctively, trying to pull away.
Frowning, Huai Yi withdrew his hand. "She's sick. Her forehead is burning up."
Hearing this, Cao Yang also stepped forward, then seemed to remember something and began rummaging through his pockets.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find the medicine. "I remember putting it in my pocket," he said, puzzled. "Why can't I find it?"
"This is a hospital," Yu Yu spoke up. "Why don't we go ask the nurse? She should have some medicine."
"I meant tomorrow during the day," Yu Yu added, worried that everyone might misunderstand her intention.
There was no other choice.
Having just arrived in this world and not yet familiar with the situation, the chances of encountering those things at night were very high.
Picking up the thermos from the floor and giving it a shake, Cao Yang found it was full. He took a large enamel mug, poured some hot water, and brought it to Li Kaifeng.
Seeing Li Kaifeng's discomfort, everyone suggested she go to sleep first and advised her not to overthink things.
Huai Yi emphasized that since they had arrived in this place, only by working together could they hope to leave alive.
"How much longer until we can leave this damned place?" Wang Changguo asked.
"Probably a few days," Huai Yi replied. "It usually doesn't take more than a week."
Upon hearing that they might have to stay in this place for so long, everyone's faces darkened.
"What if we still haven't found a way out after a week?" Cao Yang asked, looking at Huai Yi.
Hearing this, Huai Yi pursed his lips and gazed out the window. After a long pause, he slowly said, "Believe me, if we haven't found any clues by then, we won't live to see that day."
In contrast to the atmosphere in Huai Yi's room.
Jiang Cheng's side was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Five minutes ago, he had been woken up by a pinch.
Opening his eyes, his heart immediately sank. The room was pitch black, and the light had gone out without a sound.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
But thankfully, the hand that had pinched his face was warm.
And he immediately recognized it as Lin Wan'er's hand.
At the same time, he heard a very faint sound, like the rustling of leaves in the wind, coming from the corridor outside the door.
Rolling out of bed quietly, he noticed that Weiwei and Du Feng were also there.
They were huddled by the bed, their faces filled with terror.
Slowly moving closer to the door, he wanted to hear more clearly. Lin Wan'er wanted to follow, but Jiang Cheng stopped her.
He signaled for Lin Wan'er to stay with Weiwei and Du Feng.
Alone, he went to the wall and crouched down.
Just on the other side of the wall was the corridor.
Pressing his ear against the wall, Jiang Cheng's pupils gradually changed.
The rustling sound became clearer. It wasn't the rustling of leaves in the wind, but someone in the corridor moving with very light footsteps.
Jiang Cheng could even imagine the person tiptoeing.
But what was even stranger to Jiang Cheng was the person's walking posture and rhythm.
"Rustle—"
"Rustle—"
"Rustle—"
About twenty-some steps.
Then silence for about ten seconds.
Then the same sequence repeated.
Jiang Cheng patiently counted the steps.
23 steps.
Every time it was 23 steps.
Not one step more, not one step less, and the rhythm was always the same.
And the sound was getting closer to his location.
Jiang Cheng immediately understood the other party's intention.
The intermittent footsteps were the number of steps it took to walk from one door to the next adjacent door.
The pauses were the time the person outside was looking through the window.
The person outside... was looking for someone! Looking for them!
A chill ran down his spine. Jiang Cheng hadn't expected the Ghost this time to be so impatient, actually coming to their door on the very first night.
He had thought tonight would be relatively safer.
"Rustle—"
"Rustle—"
The footsteps finally reached their Gate. Jiang Cheng was certain that the figure outside was peering through the glass covered with the Lifeline Note.
As a normal person, one definitely wouldn't be able to see anything.
Therefore, it was clear that whatever was outside wasn't human.
It's starting, it's starting.
(End of the Chapter)
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