Chapter 686: Chapter 536: Ambush_3
He maintained his stillness for a full half-minute, and when the footsteps did not resume, Yang Xiao finally let out a breath of relief. Staring at the "dismembered" trash can at his feet, he couldn’t help but shudder from lingering fear. He now had a new hypothesis about the identity of that person—it didn’t seem like they were "bad," but rather one of the teammates who had entered the task with him.
The person had run upstairs, so he decided to go downstairs. Otherwise, if he followed them now, there was no telling if he would encounter another ambush from this cunning individual.
However, no sooner had Yang Xiao descended the staircase than he suddenly heard a horrifying scream from above—a soul-piercing wail, indicative of extreme agony. The screaming lasted a good ten seconds before coming to an abrupt halt.
Above him... Yang Xiao deduced that the sound probably came from one floor above, that is, from the fourth floor. Based on the direction and position, the most likely source was the same person who had just ambushed him.
"Damn it!!"
All the frustration in Yang Xiao’s heart vanished in an instant. It seemed that the individual, in blind panic, had dashed upstairs only to run headlong into another ghost.
This was a predecessor who had scouted the path with their own life, reminding Yang Xiao that another ghost was hiding on the fourth floor. He excluded "Frog" because Yang Xiao was certain that if Frog wielded those large scissors for murder, it would be a quick kill, dismembering the body with chaotic slashes.
With a ghost lurking on the fourth floor and the whereabouts of "Frog" unknown—though most likely still on the third floor—it implied that, currently, there were at most only one ghost on the second floor and below.
However, since the teammates mistrusted each other and avoided contact, the danger posed by one’s comrades was even more fearsome, not to mention that "bad" elements could be hiding among them.
In such a situation, actively contacting Qu Muzhi would undoubtedly be dangerous and foolish. Right now, the best outcome for the two of them was to not encounter each other.
Upon reaching the corridor on the second floor, the layout was slightly different from the third. This level had fewer rooms and doors, but each room was larger in size.
He chose a room at random and, after confirming it was safe inside, hid himself away. He then took out his phone and communicated with the rag doll, "Frog, Hai Hai, and Hu, do they have a fixed patrol order, like floors they commonly visit or anything like that?"
"No, they could go anywhere. Frog moves the fastest, and Hu, I remember, is the slowest," the rag doll warned.
"What abilities do Hu and Hai Hai possess?" Yang Xiao pressed on.
"I can’t remember. Don’t leave me behind. When you encounter them, I... I might remember," the rag doll, fearing abandonment, quickly added.
Yang Xiao sighed inwardly. By the time he really encountered them, he might be done for. Who knows what bizarre abilities those two creatures had.
He listened intently. The corridor outside was quiet, so he pocketed his phone and stealthily left the room. On his way out, he restored the door to how it was and stuck close to one side of the corridor, walking while observing—emergency department, dermatovenereology, pediatric internal medicine, and some unmarked rooms with unknown purposes. After examining a few, Yang Xiao found that these unmarked rooms were mostly useless, with many even being empty.
He walked slowly, treaded lightly, and did his best to reduce his presence, occasionally changing his route from walking along the left wall to the right, often pausing for ten seconds at a time to listen for nearby sounds, in case he was being followed.
On guard against both people and ghosts, Yang Xiao was on high alert. Suddenly, amidst his heightened state, he heard a faint noise and followed it to find its source in a room not far to his right. The room had a sign on the door: Convenience Store.
Yang Xiao was baffled. How could there be a convenience store inside a hospital building? Moreover, judging by the age of the sign, this convenience store had been here for at least twenty years.
The door of the convenience store was ajar, and the rustling noise came from inside—as if someone were moving things around.
Peeking through the door crack, Yang Xiao first noticed several shelves sparsely stocked with various snack foods. Another row was filled with beverages, many of which were brands Yang Xiao had never seen, the packaging looking old and cheap.
The sound came from behind several rows of shelving; through the gaps between the shelves, Yang Xiao could see a few large freezers placed against the wall, with various frozen goods tossed out beside them.
"Freezers?" Yang Xiao furrowed his brow; he could vaguely make out the outline of the freezers, large enough to hide a person inside.
The interior of the freezers was also very cold, and Yang Xiao dared not confirm whether the rag doll’s body was hidden inside. Not wanting to go in, with conditions unclear, he realized the consequences could be unpredictable should Ghost find the rag doll’s body first, or if another teammate found the body on him before he did.
Instead of rashly pushing the door open, Yang Xiao observed through the crack in the door and indeed, he found a trap—a plastic mineral water bottle was perched atop the slightly ajar door; any attempt to push the door would cause the water bottle to fall and sound an alarm.
Using the kitchen knife in his hand, Yang Xiao steadied the water bottle before pushing the door open little by little. As soon as he removed the water bottle, the door was about to open wide enough for an adult to slip through sideways when, unexpectedly, something fell to the ground behind it with a "thud."
"Roll, roll—"
Another beverage bottle containing a small amount of water rolled out from behind the door. Yang Xiao immediately understood; the other party had set up two traps, one overt and one covert, with the overt one on the door and another bottle hidden behind it.
Hearing the noise, the rustling sound inside the room abruptly stopped, and a deathly silence ensued.
But Yang Xiao was not overly anxious. Analyzing the traps that had been set, he concluded the other party was human, not a ghost. This gave him the courage to communicate.
"Don’t be nervous; I’m human, just passing through," said Yang Xiao, immediately shifting his position in anticipation of a possible sneak attack.
However, the other party was very vigilant and remained silent.
"You’re looking for a body, aren’t you? I might be able to help you," Yang Xiao said as he changed his position again, this time stepping out the door. "I don’t want to be your enemy. The mission doesn’t limit the number of survivors; as long as we stay alive, that’s enough. There’s no need for us to fight to the death."
After a few seconds, a very young voice came from behind the shelves, "How can you prove you’re not ’bad’?"
The other person was a woman, judging by her voice, around 30 years old. As long as they could communicate, it would be manageable. Yang Xiao immediately replied, "If I were bad, I would’ve locked you in there by now and then lured the Ghost over. You’d be as good as dead."
While communicating with the woman, Yang Xiao also texted Rag Doll who clearly told him that Frog, Hai Hai, and Hu, none of them could talk or communicate. As for "bad," it was someone like them, very cunning, but whether "bad" was male or female, what their age was, or what they looked like, Rag Doll knew nothing.
The woman on the other side feared that Yang Xiao was "bad." Similarly, Yang Xiao suspected her identity. Retreating outside the room, he was also being cautious of being trapped by a ghost.
"I don’t trust you," the woman spoke again, her position having changed. She was also on guard against Yang Xiao. "Please leave immediately, or... don’t blame me for being rude!"
"Fine, then I’ll lock the door, and you can play on your own, dear," Yang Xiao didn’t waste words. As soon as he finished speaking, he was about to close the door, which frightened the woman, who hastily changed her tone, asking Yang Xiao to come in and talk, begging him not to lock the door.
In truth, Yang Xiao was just bluffing. He didn’t have a key to lock the door, and the lock looked so rusty it was questionable whether a key could even fit.
"You’re looking for a body, right?" Yang Xiao asked in a hushed voice after entering the room and moving aside. "Where have you hidden your body?"
"In... a narrow place, filled with the smell of food," the woman hesitated for a moment but eventually spoke up.
