Chapter 481 - All Kill [2 in 1] (1/2)
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
Wang Dan looked at the tunnel behind the closet and felt flustered. The impression that the few doctors had left on him earlier was very weird. They had initially been kind and friendly, but their tone had changed conspicuously after they found out that he had skipped class.
Did I say something wrong? Skipping class is not something serious right? Without skipping class, one’s university life is not complete. Many seniors have said that.
Wang Dan moved one step deeper into the tunnel. The temperature inside the tunnel was much higher than the temperature outside. After a long moment of hesitation, he retreated backward.
“What’s wrong?” Xiao Lee stuck close to Wang Dan from behind. He could not wait to leave that godforsaken place already.
“It’s nothing. I just have this feeling that those doctors from before feel so similar to our disciplinary teacher.” Wang Dan’s feelings were complicated. “This is just impossible. I’ve imagined the many different scary things that might happen to us here, but I really did not expect to run into a school teacher while skipping class. Could it be that so many students have come to visit Boss Chen’s haunted house that the university was worried about its students, so they sent over some of the lecturers to come catch us?”
“You’re not making sense. This has to be your first experience skipping class, right? It’s normal to feel nervous. You’ll get used to it after several more times.” Xiao Lee urged Wang Dan to move. “Both of us fainted at the same time, but you were placed on the clean bed with two mattresses placed under you whereas I was directly dumped on a wooden board. From how they treated us, it is clear that those few doctors know you, so they would not lie to you.”
“I also sensed a certain familiarity from them, but I could not place it.”
The holes in the pool in the middle of the room kept bubbling, and the lights on the wall flickered. The steel doors in the corridors creaked slightly, like people were moving them back and forth. Under the circumstances, Wang Dan did not dare drag things on for too long. He was afraid that the lights might go off and the monsters would start chasing them again.
“Let’s go. If you’re afraid, I’ll walk ahead, and you only need to help me remember the route that we should take.” Xiao Lee had been at this job for quite some time. He was smart and sharp. He would be one of the futuristic theme park’s most important workers in the future, and he courageously volunteered to take the lead this time.
Wang Dan did not reject Xiao Lee’s kindness. He leaned back for Xiao Lee to walk past him. He saw Xiao Lee crouch and enter the tunnel. “Be careful.”
“I know.” Xiao Lee took out his phone and used the flashlight to guide his way. “Come on, let’s get moving. I don’t want to open my eyes and see the doctors again.”
The two entered the tunnel one after another. The tunnel became narrower as they moved forward. There was something that looked like moss growing on the wall.
“Why haven’t we reached the end yet?” The more they moved forward, the more unsettled Wang Dan felt. The tunnel was large enough to only allow one person to pass through at a time. This meant that it was unavoidable for him to brush up against the ‘moss’ on the wall. His clothes got wet, and his skin became itchy. He followed closely behind Xiao Lee, feeling incredibly nervous.
“This should be the way that will lead us outside.” The complete opposite of Wang Dan, Xiao Lee was very confident. “Did you notice we can barely smell the formalin in the air anymore? Instead, there is a nice floral scent in the tunnel.”
He sniffed the air, and indeed, Wang Dan did smell a pleasant smell, but he was not as optimistic as Xiao Lee. “Is it because of the moss on the wall?”
He reached out to touch the wall, and the hard walls were covered in the moss, soft under his touch.
“Finally, we don’t need to suffer that weird stench anymore. This tunnel should lead us outside. The hidden passage is for the visitors to use. After all, this Haunted House is really not for everyone, and this hidden passage is like a surprise for people like us.” Xiao Lee bent lower. The tunnel became smaller, and the ground softened like it was covered with a thick carpet.
“I still think the smell of formalin is more familiar and comforting.” The fragrance that curled around his nose gave Wang Dan a nauseous feeling. “This is not a natural fragrance, but it doesn’t feel like it’s a chemical fragrance either. It smells very weird.”
Wang Dan tried to search through his mind, and he finally remembered it. “When I was studying the history of autopsy, it introduced something called cadaver fragrance, and the description is very similar to this smell.”
“Cadaver fragrance?” Xiao Lee shivered. This was the first time that he had heard of something like this.
“There are many types. The most famous is to harvest the oil from a beauty’s cadaver and then process it through a special method to create a candle-like substance…”
“Stop! Please stop!” Xiao Lee picked up his speed. He started to maintain a distance from Wang Dan. Normal people still had some reservations about things related to human bodies, and they were unable to talk about certain subjects with such insouciance like a medical student would.
Xiao Lee, from the futuristic theme park, continued to move forward, and Wang Dan could only follow. The two walked for several meters before Xiao Lee suddenly stopped.
“What’s happening?” Wang Dan used his phone to shine the light in front of him. Xiao Lee stood where he was, and after a long time, he forced out, “There’s no way to move forward anymore.”
By then, the two’s bodies were arcs, their faces almost touching the ground. The tunnel was so narrow that it was hard to even turn around. They were surrounded by the red ‘moss’, and their clothes were drenched. The air was filled with that strange fragrance.
“So… should we go back the way we came?”
“Wait a minute.” Xiao Lee was indeed courageous. He lifted his hand to press on the red-colored moss before him. His fingers increased in force, and his palm slowly sunk.
“It’s hollow behind this.” Xiao Lee cursed silently. He did not expect to come into such a trial so close to the exit. “Thankfully, I gave it a try. If we’d just turned back like that, I would’ve regreted it forever.”
He was proud of himself. He was going to turn around to tell Wang Dan the good news. His body leaned against the wall, and Xiao Lee tried his best to turn his neck around. “The moss is used to trick us. It is a disguise. The exit is just in front of us. We’ll be able to…”
When he spoke, Xiao Lee’s eyes swept the space behind him. He saw Wang Dan… as well as the person following behind Wang Dan!
Silently, quietly, and its face falling as it moved. Those things had been following them!
“What are you looking at?” Wang Dan used the phone to shine at Xiao Lee’s face. Before he could get a clear look, when the light from the phone swept the ceiling, a pale arm dropped down from the moss above them. The swinging arm fell right before Wang Dan’s face. His stunned face looked upward, and more arms fell down on him.
In the cramped passage, enveloped by the soft red moss were the passionate and warm ‘dead bodies’ that Boss Chen had completed the night before.
…
At the edge of the central hub, Yang Chen, Lee Xue, Ol’ Zhou, and Duan Yue stood together, looking at the two editors who were standing two feet away from them.
“Three people have disappeared, but why are the two of you completely fine?” Yang Chen’s voice was shaking. He had already seen through the boss’ ploy and was familiar with the two editors’ real identities.
“How is their disappearance related to us?” Ah Nan thought that Yang Chen was being unreasonable. “When the lights went off and the footsteps started, I even told them to not run away, but they refused to listen to us. Now that they’ve disappeared, you turn around to pin the blame on us?”
“You’re still acting?”
From the depths of the corridor earlier, he had heard Wang Dan scream, “I will never skip class again!”
It had sounded so raw and desperate; it did not sound like it was fake. It was because he had heard Wang Dan’s scream that Yang Chen had started to get panicked. He did not plan to wait anymore and decided to expose everything.
“We’re acting?” Hu Ya frowned. “Do you have some kind of misunderstanding?”
“Drop the act. I’ve already seen through your ploy. Actually, I have to admit that you are quite professional.” Yang Chen took one step forward to shield Lee Xue, Ol’ Zhou, and Duan Yue behind him. “You two are the Haunted House’s paid actors, right? This is a setup organized by Boss Chen, isn’t it?”