Chapter 698: Chapter 543: Found_2
But no matter what, Qu Muzhi had managed to escape trouble. Yang Xiao loosened his breath slightly, but before he could move forward, he suddenly froze. From behind him came the sound of friction, a sound he was all too familiar with—the elevator doors had opened.
"Thud."
"Thud."
A pair of heavy boots stepped out of the elevator.
It was the Frog Ghost!
It had taken the elevator down again!
Holding his breath, Yang Xiao dared not make a move. With his back to the elevator, he was at most 6 or 7 meters away from the Frog Ghost. At this distance, he had no chance of escaping.
His heart pounded fiercely. He was gambling, gambling that the Frog Ghost hadn’t noticed him yet.
As he had predicted, the Frog Ghost did not charge toward him. As the seconds ticked by, the heavy boots started moving again, coming toward him.
It was at this moment Yang Xiao realized how awkward his position was. He was standing sideways, just a bit to the left in the middle of the corridor. He was certain the Frog Ghost hadn’t spotted him, but now it seemed intent on passing down the hallway, meaning it would bump into him.
And what made it more hopeless was that he still couldn’t move. Any movement would reveal his presence, but staying still meant that if touched, the Frog Ghost would immediately realize someone was hiding there. It couldn’t see stationary objects, but it was not stupid at all.
Yang Xiao’s heart was in turmoil. After a brainstorming session, he couldn’t think of any way to evade detection. He even began to envision his own demise, being cut into pieces by the giant scissors as if he were paper.
Having endured so much only to perish at the final moment, he felt an overwhelming unwillingness to accept this fate.
"Thud."
"Thud."
The footsteps were getting closer, neither hurried nor slow, torturing Yang Xiao’s nearly shattered mind. Then, he saw a door to the right of the corridor open slightly, and a small, reflective mirror cautiously jutted out.
The mirror paused for two seconds in his direction, then the glass hit the floor. Qu Muzhi burst through the door at high speed and ran out. Qu Muzhi looked back at Yang Xiao, his body awkwardly pressing against the right wall. The next second, as expected, he was targeted by the Frog Ghost.
"Thud."
"Thud."
"Thud."
The Frog Ghost suddenly accelerated toward Qu Muzhi. Because Qu Muzhi was positioned close to the right wall, the Frog Ghost altered its intended path, and the dirty white lab coat almost brushed Yang Xiao’s shoulder as it ran past.
Qu Muzhi turned and ran, luring the Frog Ghost towards the other end of the corridor. Seizing this opportunity, Yang Xiao quickly hid himself.
Roughly two minutes later, the Frog Ghost failed to find Qu Muzhi at the end of the hallway and descended the stairs with heavy footsteps.
Yang Xiao moved carefully forward and indeed, around the corner at the end of the hallway, he made contact with Qu Muzhi, who had his body pressed against the wall.
"Thanks for that," Yang Xiao texted.
"It’s I who should be thanking you," Qu Muzhi replied, "Captain Yang, I owe you a favor."
Exchanging information, Yang Xiao learned from Qu Muzhi that there was a movie room on the fifth floor, but it contained no bodies. However, Qu Muzhi had been lucky enough to find a floor plan of the hospital on a long table inside the movie room.
Though it was an old, tattered map, he had identified a broadcast station on the seventh floor of the hospital, which likely held the body he was searching for. Additionally, he had found a refrigeration room for Yang Xiao, on the sixth floor.
"Just now, there was another guy trapped by the sick ghost in the corridor outside your door," Yang Xiao suddenly remembered.
"I was trapped by the ghost, and it was this guy who set me up. We even had a brawl," Qu Muzhi said, not typing, but speaking in a hushed voice, "I suspect he is Prisoner No.44."
"Is it him?" Yang Xiao couldn’t help raising an eyebrow, regretful that he had nearly managed to take out this Prisoner No.44 by accident.
"Yep, and one more thing, we exchanged a couple of blows, and I got hurt. Touch my wound," Qu Muzhi whispered, "Please don’t be surprised by what follows and refrain from using your cellphone for communication. Things... might not be what we think they are."
Yang Xiao understood. It seemed Qu Muzhi had also discovered the secret about their bodies. With his abilities, he surely must have guessed that the rag dolls by their side had ill intentions. The reason not to use cellphones was to prevent leaks; these rag dolls were the real "bad."
They continued to communicate by speaking. The two huddled close together, their voices barely above a whisper. Sure enough, after being injured, Qu Muzhi had discovered something wrong with his body, which led him to suspect something was amiss with the rag dolls. The so-called body must be their own.
But now was not the time to show their hand. They still needed the assistance of the rag dolls to help them find their bodies.
Suddenly, Yang Xiao’s cellphone screen lit up, signaling a new message, "Why aren’t you guys talking anymore?"
It was sent by the rag doll. Yang Xiao scared it by saying there might be ghosts nearby.
True to form, after seeing the word "ghost," the rag doll fell silent. But half a minute later, it bravely reminded Yang Xiao to be wary of the unreliable "friends" they encountered on the way. These "friends," who were also trying to escape, were the worst; ready to do anything despicable to survive, even if it meant betraying their own team.
"We are the only friends here we can rely on. I promised you, as long as you help me find my body, I’ll definitely get you out of here!" This was not the first time the rag doll had made this promise.
"Don’t worry, I understand. We are brothers for life, this other stuff is just a charade," Yang Xiao replied.
"Brothers for life!" the rag doll responded eagerly.
Qu Muzhi told Yang Xiao that the Frog Ghost had gone downstairs, and it seemed the sick ghost had also descended. This presented a rare opportunity. The two quickly made their move. Yang Xiao went to the sixth floor, while Qu Muzhi continued upwards, intending to reach the broadcast station on the seventh floor.
As expected, following Qu Muzhi’s directions, Yang Xiao quickly found the cold storage room. The rag doll on the way reminded him more than once to hurry, as "it" was freezing to death.
The door of the cold storage room was a white iron door, which felt cold to the touch. According to Qu Muzhi, this had to be one of the remaining places that fit their criteria, so their bodies were very likely inside.
"Hurry up! Hurry!" the rag doll became increasingly agitated, "I’m... I’m so cold, I’m about to freeze to death!"
With a slight push, the door cracked open. It was unlocked. At the same time, a chill seeped out through the gap.
The inside was spacious, fitted with metal racks, and along the wall were cold storage cabinets with transparent glass doors, filled with pharmaceuticals; some rolling refrigerated carts contained stainless steel blood baskets stuffed with blood bags.
The light inside was dim, offering many potential hiding spots for a body. Yang Xiao closed the door gently behind him, then unwrapped the bindings holding the rag doll, leaving it alone at a metal rack by the door. The rag doll’s mission, as far as he was concerned, was finished.
"What are you doing?"
"Don’t leave me!"
Sensing that it had been left outside the range of Yang Xiao’s body, the rag doll immediately protested.
"What are you talking about? We’re brothers," Yang Xiao reassured it, stalling for time, "The situation here is complicated. It’s inconvenient to move with you. Once I find your body, we can leave together. I still need you to show me the way."
"Alright then," the rag doll reluctantly agreed.
Looking around, Yang Xiao did not search the cabinets because it was unnecessary; his body wouldn’t have lasted in the low temperatures inside the cabinets. He focused his search on the cold storage room itself.
A few minutes later, behind a stainless steel table hidden by boxes in a corner, he saw two feet curled up together.
