Chapter 203: Search, Hide
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Uncle Hong, you should go in with us. It’s a great taboo to move alone.”
He Jin immediately persuaded when he saw the short-sleeved middle-aged man trying to stay for a smoke.
“I know, I’ll catch up to you after I take a few puffs.”
However, the middle-aged man shook his head and remained stubborn.
“Alright, let’s go in first.”
Seeing him like this, He Jin entered the building with the other four.
Under the light of the flashlights, they could see the old and empty passage. The paint on the wall had peeled off, and other than some benches and some trash, there were not many things visible.
“This place looks a little like a hospital.”
He Jin spoke.
“Yeah, it looks a little like it, but it’s too empty.”
Yi Fu nodded.
Zhou Chen was quietly observing the surroundings with the Bloodthirst passive skill.
First, he confirmed that there were no living people in the building other than the six of them. The short-sleeved middle-aged man who had stayed outside for a smoke was quickly leaving the building.
“I have a question, what will happen if one of us doesn’t enter this building or leaves it?”
Zhou Chen asked He Jin curiously.
“It will be very, very dangerous.”
He Jin carefully observed the front of the passage and replied to Zhou Chen.
“Although the mission location is also very dangerous, there is usually a chance of survival. However, if you don’t carry out the mission or leave the mission location for a long time, you will definitely encounter great danger, and there is basically no chance of survival.”
“You’re talking about Hong Qiang, right?”
Just as He Jin finished his explanation, the short fatty behind Zhou Chen interjected. He turned around and used the torchlight to shine behind the passage and saw that the short-sleeved middle-aged man had already disappeared.
“He told me that there is an urgent matter at home and he has to leave the apartment as soon as possible, so he plans to go straight home without doing the mission.”
The short fatty seemed to have some interaction with the middle-aged man named Hong Qiang. He continued to speak to Zhou Chen and the others.
“I expected this when I saw his expression earlier.”
He Jin, who was walking in the front, said calmly.
“I’ve already advised him. There’s only death if he leaves without authorization. He probably thought that this mission is too dangerous and wants to risk it.”
“It’s best if the few of us don’t split up. If you see Uncle Hong return, you have to be vigilant because he might be replaced by monsters.”
“The monsters can disguise themselves as us?”
Yi Fu was surprised when she heard this.
“Of course, the evil entities have many strange abilities. It’s quite common for them to disguise as a human.”
He Jin replied calmly.
“If we want to survive, we have to be careful. Not only Uncle Hong, but even the people beside us cannot be trusted easily. If you sense anything wrong, quickly escape.”
The few of them walked to the end of the corridor and arrived before an elevator.
The digital indicator light of the elevator was still on, indicating that it was working.
“We will take the stairs.”
He Jin glanced at the elevator and said, leading the group to the staircase to the side of the elevator.
No one had any objections. The elevator space was too narrow, and there was no way to escape if an accident occurred. It was better to take the stairs.
But then, they saw that there was a locked gate blocking the stairs.
“Let me try to pick the lock.”
He Jin seemed to be prepared for this. He took out a thin iron wire from his pocket and stabbed it into the keyhole in the chain lock, and started to fiddle with it.
Everyone waited patiently behind him.
However, a minute later, before He Jin could open the lock, a strange sound came from behind them. The few of them turned around and saw that the elevator door had suddenly opened.
Under the light of the flashlights, they saw that there was nothing in the elevator. It was empty, but it was this that made them panic. Since no one was using it, who opened it?
Realizing the strange scene behind him, He Jin immediately broke out in cold sweat, clearly feeling immense pressure.
“Let me try.”
Zhou Chen could not watch on anymore. This Brother Glasses’ lock-picking skills did not seem to be good. He did not want to waste time here.
Therefore, he bent down to search the chain without waiting for He Jin’s agreement. He said in surprise,
“One of the chains is loose!”
Then, he broke the chain like noodles and pulled it out of the gate.
“Let’s go in quickly!”
Seeing this, He Jin did not care if there was really a broken segment in the chain. He immediately pulled the gate to the side, leading the way in.
They quickly entered the stairs and began to climb.
“Stay close. Pay attention to the people around you.”
He Jin reminded them as he walked.
“Don’t talk so much. Let’s quickly find the bizarre items. This place is terrifying. I don’t want to stay here even for a moment more.”
The short fatty looked a little nervous as he complained.
However, before He Jin could answer, Yi Fu suddenly said to them uneasily,
“Uhh, are we missing someone?”
“Who?”
He Jin was puzzled.
“That Zhang something girl.”
Yi Fu replied immediately.
“She’s behind me. I might be blocking your vision.”
Zhou Chen was speechless. That thin girl called Zhang Xiuxiu had always been by his side and was not missing. However, he was quite large and blocked her. Moreover, she did not say a word, making Yi Fu think that she had gone missing.
“Oh… Sorry, I didn’t notice.”
Yi Fu rubbed her chest and felt relieved when Zhou Chen leaned to the side and she saw Zhang Xiuxiu behind him.
After the false alarm, the five of them entered the second floor of the building and began to search for the bizarre items.
There were many rooms on the second floor. Most of the rooms were open, making it easier for them to search.
However, after trying to turn on the lights several times, they realized that there was no electricity in these rooms, so they had to continue to shine the flashlights.
“There seems to be a bizarre item here!”
Suddenly, the short fatty pointed his flashlight at a chair in the room and said to the others.
Their attention was immediately attracted over. Under the light, they saw a chair that looked different.
It was an ordinary chair, but its surface was covered in blood. The blood looked very fresh, as if it had just dropped, making the chair look somewhat terrifying.
“It does look like a bizarre item.”
As the most senior resident in the group, He Jin looked at the bloody chair and judged.
“Shall we try to take it out first?”
The short fatty wanted to return to the apartment as soon as possible, so he was very anxious to complete the mission.
“Don’t be in a hurry.”
However, He Jin shook his head.
“This bizarre item is too large. We’ll decide if we want it later.”
“Huh? There are so many of us. Can’t we even carry a chair?”
The short fatty seemed to be displeased. He wanted to enter the room to take the chair.
However, He Jin grabbed him and gestured for him to be silent. Then, he pulled him away and said,
“Let’s ignore this room for now.”
He Jin’s abnormal behavior immediately attracted Zhou Chen’s attention. He then observed the chair in the room from a different direction. A few seconds later, he noticed something.
Behind the chair that was covered in blood, there was something hiding! It was difficult to notice it without looking carefully.
“Evil entity? But why isn’t this monster attacking us? Can it only attack those who enter the room?”
Zhou Chen judged that there was an evil entity hiding behind the chair, but its strange behavior puzzled him. The monsters he had encountered before were all very aggressive. He had never seen such a monster who would not attack of its own initiative.
Under He Jin’s lead, the few of them walked away from the room and arrived at the other side.
“There was something in the room just now?”
The short fatty was not a fool. He asked softly after being pulled over by He Jin.
“Yes. Observe carefully before you act. Let’s quickly search this floor and leave.”
Just as He Jin finished speaking, a sound suddenly came from a closed door that they had yet to search. It sounded like a knocking sound, but from inside.
“Is anyone outside? I’m locked here! Help!”
A hurried female voice came from the room.
“Shh ~”
He Jin immediately gestured for everyone to be silent. Then, he led them gently back the way they came, which was the staircase.
He seemed to sense that there was something wrong with this floor and was going to skip this floor.
The few of them understood what he meant. The cry for help in the room was almost certainly a trick by an evil entity. They had encountered two evil entities on the same floor, so they naturally could not stay here for long. They had to leave quickly before those ghosts targeted them.
However, even though everyone retreated decisively, they encountered an unexpected situation.
Under the light of the flashlights, on the stairs not far in front of them, bright red liquid began to seep out of the walls, emitting a putrid smell. It was a greatly different scene from when they came in.
“Stop, we can’t go forward.”
He Jin immediately stopped the crowd with a serious expression.
“Let’s quickly find a room to hide.”
He then cast his gaze to a room beside him. They had searched this room before, but there was nothing unusual.
“That thing doesn’t seem to be out yet, can’t we climb up quickly?”
The short fatty saw the strange state of the staircase ahead, but he was hesitant. He felt that it was not wise to stay on this floor.
“It’s too late, quickly hide.”
He Jin ignored him and walked into the room beside him. He quickly hid in a cabinet with Yi Fu .
Zhou Chen and the others followed suit.
Seeing that the others had gone to hide, the short fatty did not dare to walk into the strange staircase that was dripping with blood. He quickly ran into the room and crawled under the bed.
Zhou Chen was hiding in a closet with Zhang Xiuxiu, while He Jin and Yi Fu were hiding in a closet.
He was now very interested in the apartment’s mission. He found it novel, so he was copying the actions of the experienced He Jin.
While hiding in the cabinet, other than using his perception to check his surroundings, he also observed the outside through the gap in the cabinet door.
He had Dark Vision. Even though it was dark here, he could still see the situation outside.
A few minutes later, Zhou Chen was starting to feel bored when he noticed the abnormality.
He could feel the bloody stench coming from the stairs becoming heavier. Sounds of drops of blood falling on the ground appeared, as if it was raining.
At a certain moment, the sound of blood dripping suddenly disappeared, replaced by a rustling sound.
Zhou Chen looked out from the gap in the cabinet and saw a terrifying crawling figure in the corridor outside the room. It was like a person who had been in a car accident. It was crawling through the corridor and moved past this room!
“Another evil entity. I wonder how strong it is.”
Zhou Chen wanted to fight this bloody humanoid monster, but he remembered that the few evil entities he had encountered before were very difficult to deal with. He had spent a lot of effort but had gained nothing. Instead, he had been chased around everywhere, so he decided to temporarily hold back from provoking it.
However, even though he decided to not provoke this bloody humanoid monster, this evil entity seemed to not want to let him go.
The bloody person, who had almost crawled past the door, suddenly moved back strangely and looked inside the room with its broken head.
“It noticed me?”
Zhou Chen guessed.
“Maybe not me… I didn’t make any sound. The thin girl beside me is also covering her mouth. It might have been attracted by someone else.”
Zhou Chen was not afraid of the bloody humanoid monster that was slowly crawling in. As a Survivor with rich experience, he had seen many monsters that were more terrifying than this evil entity. He no longer cared about the appearances of these things. He was only observing the movements of this evil entity to decide how he should react.
Time passed bit by bit. In this dark room, an indescribable sound of something rubbing against each other sounded as the blood monster gradually crawled in the room. It crawled forward little by little, bringing great mental pressure to everyone hiding in the room.
Besides Zhou Chen, the other humans could not see anything and did not dare to make a sound.. They could only pray that the thing that had entered would not find them.