Chapter 12: The Second Victim

3:00 a. m.

Thud, thud-thud!

Heavy footsteps came from outside the door, drawing nearer.

Fang Zhi gripped the crowbar tightly; the plastic bag over his face hid his expression, but his trembling hands betrayed his true state.

"This patient differs from the previous one—he has undergone bodily mutation due to the virus and is highly aggressive; he must be subdued before treatment."

Boom!

The door was kicked open by a massive foot.

Boom!

A huge palm seized Fang Zhi's head and easily pinned him to the ground; no matter how hard he struggled, the giant spirit remained unmoved, yet he still pounded its skull with the crowbar.

He yanked open the cabinet door and saw his parents' bodies twisted, forcibly crammed into the tiny space until not a single gap remained.

He wiped the palm print off Yue Mei's door, then smeared his hand across the still-wet mud-water imprint on the floor, pressed it onto the door of Room 402 where Qi Zhiyong slept, and made a few quick scribbles with a pen—it now resembled Yu Yinghua's palm print by nine-tenths!

A terrifying figure appeared before Fang Zhi; according to Qi Zhiyong's words, such a thing could not be a weak wandering spirit, but a great spirit beyond mortal reach!

Fang Zhi shook like a sieve.

Wu Xian pondered for a moment, then began his scheme.

Chen Hua's cypress incense: calms the spirit, reduces swelling and bruising; three sticks per set, suitable for offerings to deities.

This meant that, from now until dawn, the corridor would be safe and hidden!

The accuracy of this guess was not one hundred percent, but for greater gain, Wu Xian could only choose to risk it.

Wu Xian first surveyed all the rooms.

Flashbacks even flickered through his mind—scenes from his life that had left deep impressions.

Puff…

Wu Xian spread his hands in a mocking tone: "I just remembered something happy."

"Otherwise, wouldn't it become my fault?"

And that day…

His family love, his romantic love, the honors he had earned.

"Why me? I've been careful enough—wasn't it because that woman found me that I was marked? Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

The great spirit lifted its hand, shook it slightly, looking slightly puzzled.

When this image appeared in Fang Zhi's mind, his trembling stopped; he roared like a furious beast, raised the steel crowbar, and smashed it down onto the great spirit's skull.

Fang Zhi's door had been smashed open, covered with over a dozen palm prints—Yu Yinghua clearly held deep resentment toward him.

"Go back and get some sleep, rest up, and have some fun with Qi Zhiyong later."

Wu Xian didn't find any statue this time, but beneath the mattress he discovered three brown incense sticks emitting fragrance; after taking them, new content appeared on the item page.

It was profit!

This period is the best chance to monopolize the benefits of Fang Zhi's room!

Entering Room 407, Wu Xian saw Fang Zhi's shattered skull; his hand still tightly gripped the crowbar, clearly still trying to fight back until his final moment.

This was the natural fear of a low-tier creature toward a predator.

If death was ultimately unavoidable, Wu Xian preferred to die like Fang Zhi, not suffer like Lu Yuzhu.

Tch…

The corridor was gloomy, the floor covered with still-damp mud-water imprints; the dim yellow lights flickered incessantly, creating a suffocating, terrifying atmosphere; merely opening the door sent a chill straight to Wu Xian's heart, as if every pore on his body had opened.

Wu Xian frowned in disappointment—he'd thought the three sticks could be used three times.

After finishing this, Wu Xian did not return to his room.

Two faces, crushed and deformed, revealed strange smiles.

He had three purposes in doing this.

His expression shifted unpredictably, anger held back but simmering like a volcano about to erupt.

Wu Xian stepped out last, rubbing his sleepy eyes, saw Qi Zhiyong's ugly face, and burst out laughing.

Fang Zhi is dead; now comes the crucial part.

Wu Xian swiftly searched the room.

Qi Zhiyong cursed loudly, then turned away, refusing to look at Wu Xian—he had neither the mood nor the time to argue with him.

Hearing Fang Zhi's roar, he shook his head.

What courage did this meal have to charge at him?

Qi Zhiyong sent Wu Xian to investigate Lu Yuzhu's room precisely to make Wu Xian bear the risk while he gathered intelligence; Wu Xian suffered the curse, yet received no compensation afterward, and was even deliberately treated differently.

Though deeply creepy.

"I know—I've always known it's all true… but I must believe ghosts don't exist, otherwise…"

On the door of Room 408, a fresh, still-wet palm print had appeared.

Beneath the giant hand.

His attitude convinced Wu Xian that if one person had to be sacrificed, Qi Zhiyong would unhesitatingly sacrifice him.

So Wu Xian felt it was only fair that Qi Zhiyong gather intelligence and bear some risk for him.

This was Yue Mei's room; this timid nurse had been targeted by the evil spirit early on.

Merely testing the evil spirit's behavior pattern wasn't enough to justify Wu Xian taking such a risk—the real reason he stepped out before dawn…

But Wu Xian didn't care about Fang Zhi's family background; he tossed the photo aside carelessly and thoroughly searched the room.

Wu Xian straightened his back; since yesterday morning, he had deduced from the drying time of the mud-water imprints that Yu Yinghua had left half an hour before dawn—yesterday's sunrise was at six, so he set his alarm for 5:30.

But rice, is just rice.

Instead, he came to Fang Zhi's room 407.

Pfft!

Fang Zhi's skull was crushed.

Fang Zhi's face was twisted, tears mingled with blood streaming down.

……

After waiting for a while, Lu Yuzhu's phone buzzed — Wu Xian had set an alarm on it beforehand, and without this phone, Wu Xian really wouldn't have had a good way to keep track of time.

During the search, Wu Xian saw a photograph — a family portrait of Fang Zhi with his parents; in the photo, the faces of the father and mother had both been rubbed until they were blurred.

Qi Zhiyong turned and glared furiously: "What are you laughing at?"

His parents didn't come out to greet him as usual; he searched around in confusion, and finally discovered a small cabinet in the house that was seeping blood outward.

Even if he mustered all his courage, it would only add a bit of chewiness, that's all.

That night, he returned home as usual and pushed open the door of the cheap new house he had bought.

"Son, you're back — this house is such a good buy…"

Previously, Wu Xian had always thought Fang Zhi was just a stubborn coward; he hadn't expected him to make such a big commotion before dying.

Wu Xian sat by the wall, taking in every sound from outside the door.

First, Yue Mei the girl was still decent — he wanted to try to save her.

Qi Zhiyong was especially angry.

But there was no one in the corridor, and no evil entity either!

"Just as I expected!"

"Died very cleanly, not bad — fairly lucky."

Wu Xian sat up from the floor and carefully opened the door; because he had smeared it with pig intestine grease, the sound of opening the door was negligible.

Secondly, he wanted to try to crack the logic of how the great evil entity kills people — to know how it chose its targets: was it the hand seal? Or the door that had been marked with the hand seal? Or perhaps it marked the room, or simply marked the person?

Lastly, Wu Xian was very displeased with Qi Zhiyong and wanted to cause him some trouble.

……

Wu Xian's mockery was deliberate.

Having been treated that way by Qi Zhiyong, if he saw Qi Zhiyong's misfortune and wasn't happy, it would make his scheming seem too dark and might arouse the vigilance of the others.

(End of this chapter)