Chapter 314: 310 Disappearance

Ji Jian wanted to throw his phone away, but there seemed to be a powerful attraction between his hand and the phone; he could not let go, could not shake it off, and at the same time, a devilish whisper welled up from the bottom of his heart, urging him to click on the new video.

Ji Jian did not want to do so, but his hand had already uncontrollably clicked on the video.

His heart was filled with utter despair, yet his eyes were full of longing; as the video opened and the sound emerged from the phone's speaker, Ji Jian felt his consciousness and soul being gnawed away along with the chewing sounds in the video, gradually shattering along with the tapping noises.

It was a comfortable, soul-dissolving pleasure, yet terrifying enough to make one's soul fly away and scatter.

The experience of listening to this Sleep Aid Video this time was more deeply etched in his memory than ever before, and Ji Jian was finally able to perceive the Abnormal nature of this Sleep Aid Video while in a state of conscious awareness.

Ji Jian's room was slowly being eroded by a blood-red color; the walls took on the characteristics of biological flesh and blood, the surface covered by a layer of translucent, smooth mucous membrane. Structures resembling blood vessels and veins spread everywhere, and the swelling and contraction of blood and bodily fluids flowing through these veins could be seen clearly. It was as if Ji Jian, along with the room, had been transported into the esophagus of a living creature.

Subsequently, the ceiling bulged, presenting a humanoid outline, like a person who had been swallowed alive by the walls but had not yet been digested.

Looking closely, it was not human; the details of that humanoid outline were full of inhuman features. The overly long fingers had more joints than a human's, and the soles of the feet were strangely large; rather than looking like a human, they were somewhat similar to the hind foot structure of a feline.

The face of that humanoid outline slowly revealed a sunken part—it was its bloody maw, with a mouth full of serrated teeth densely growing on the alveolar ridges. One could believe that those sharp fangs could easily tear apart the skin of any creature.

Seeing its appearance, Ji Jian was so terrified that his face became hideous; the memories lost over these past few nights flooded into his brain like a tidal wave.

He remembered it all: the version of himself whose mind had been bewitched by ghosts and evil spirits over these past few nights, and exactly what kind of crazy things he had done with such a monster possessing a humanoid female body.

He could not believe that he could have fallen so low, and even less could he believe that he had committed such a terrible act that violated human ethics.

"No! This isn't real." Ji Jian felt as if he were about to collapse at any moment. Lying on the bed unable to move, he discovered that he was being wrapped in flesh and blood. His whole body was slowly being covered by those growing buds of flesh until he too became a human cocoon, which was then slowly pushed toward the ceiling by the mass of flesh that kept growing upward behind him.

Ji Jian's screams echoed throughout the apartment building where he lived all night long; every resident in the apartment heard his screams in their sleep.

However, when the apartment building manager broke into Ji Jian's home, they found nothing at all. They only saw his phone lying on the floor, the screen still lit, frozen on the "Video playback finished" interface, while Ji Jian himself was nowhere to be found...

"Ji Jian is missing?!"

When Ji Jian's colleagues learned of this news from their leader, everyone was shocked.

Huang Zhengdao, the colleague and friend who got along best with Ji Jian in daily life, first thought that Ji Jian had run into trouble. He said with some worry: "He was perfectly fine; how could he suddenly go missing?"

Regarding this, the leader who broke the news suddenly put on a mysterious expression, beckoned everyone to lean in closer to listen, and then whispered: "This matter might involve Abnormal factors; even the Xuanmi Group has intervened directly."

In an instant, everyone's expression changed upon hearing this.

Abnormal factors, Xuanmi Group?

Even if there were only one of these two keywords, it could instantly change the nature of a situation qualitatively.

Ever since the Xuanmi Group and other anti-Abnormal organizations stepped out from behind the scenes into the spotlight, and after they showed the world the chaotic and filthy side of things, people have had a different understanding and definition of fear and death.

Generally speaking, once an ordinary person gets involved with Abnormal factors, they are bound to end in an unknown death and are bound to experience unknown fear.

"I am also very sorry about Ji Jian's situation, but this matter is not ordinary, nor is it a joke. My advice is not to get involved with his affairs, and even more so, do not investigate what happened to him." The leader sighed and said to everyone in a grave and earnest tone.

Ji Jian was a good colleague, even an excellent one; everyone saw this. But the matter was of great importance and involved everyone's personal safety, so it was necessary for everyone to make a choice.

Afterward, the office where Ji Jian originally worked remained in an eerie atmosphere for several days. Everyone tacitly avoided that name and even deliberately steered clear of everything related to him.

However, there was one person in the office who could not avoid or suppress his longing for Ji Jian.

That was the colleague who got along best with Ji Jian before he went missing: Huang Zhengdao.

Ji Jian's job position and Huang Zhengdao's were A and B counterparts; when one party of the A/B pair could not work normally, the other would inherit the other's job duties.

Now that Ji Jian was missing, Huang Zhengdao had to take over Ji Jian's work. At least until a new colleague was hired and could successfully take over the position, all the work Ji Jian had before he went missing had to be handled by Huang Zhengdao.

This was a huge mess for Huang Zhengdao, so he worked in extreme misery every day. Whenever he was busy and overwhelmed, he would involuntarily miss the days when Ji Jian was still around.

When that guy was around, Mingming everything was peaceful and safe, and everything could be quiet and good.

But... why did it have to be you who ran into trouble? I wish it weren't you, and I wish even more that you could return safe and sound.

"Ji Jian, where on earth did you go?" Huang Zhengdao was working overtime again and returned to his rented apartment late. He collapsed on the bed and couldn't help but say in a low, pained voice.

"This damn new colleague is like a retard; I can't teach him anything, and I don't know how long it will take before he can work independently." Huang Zhengdao covered his head with the quilt, punching the mattress left and right, desperately venting the unhappiness in his heart. "It's been a month! A whole damn month has passed, and he still can't remember a single basic regulation. Even when I let him copy the template to edit the things he writes, he can't do it. Damn! What a total asshole!"

"Other colleagues can basically get up to speed within a month; they've long since remembered everything they need to. But this idiot-like thing—do you know what that blockhead leader said? She actually praised him for being quick to pick things up and learning well. I'm dying of laughter!"

Huang Zhengdao punched and kicked at the air, not stopping until his limbs were exhausted. He looked at the ceiling with a sorrowful face and muttered: "It's so sad. I want to resign, but where can I go in such a short time?"