Zhang Xiangyi reacted fast, pulling out the chipped kitchen knife. Her whole body strained as she swung backward with full force. The hair around her waist was instantly severed.
It recoiled in pain.
The moment she landed, she staggered, but quickly steadied herself. She grabbed a pen from the holder on the nearby table and drove it straight into the creature’s eye socket. For symmetry’s sake, she didn’t spare the other eye either.
“Ah——”
The remaining strands of hair retracted again, trying to pull the pen out. A hoarse, furious voice leaked from its mouth, like a demon out of hell.
“Squeak—”
A heavy object shifting made a dull sound, clearly noticeable in the otherwise scream-filled space.
Zhang Xiangyi tightened her grip on her only weapon, her other hand resting lightly on a wooden stool beside her. Her gaze locked onto the source of the sound.
Behind a tall potted plant, the wall opened at a 30-degree angle. As the sound stopped, a faint beam of light spilled out. Seeing that same weak light, Zhang Xiangyi relaxed slightly, most likely it was the doctor from 1-2.
As she’d expected, it was Xi Zirui.
Xi Zirui also hadn’t counted on opening a door that led to 1-1, and even less on walking into a scene like this.
The head on the floor, already filthy from rolling around, now had blood seeping from its eye sockets, while white strands of hair desperately tried to pull something out.
Every time the hair pulled hard, it let out a scream. A truly miserable one.
It would pause, catch its breath, then pull again, followed by another scream. The cycle repeated over and over.
He didn’t know how far the pen had been pulled out, but this level of reckless self-torture was the first he’d ever seen. Out of professional, humane instinct, he kindly reminded them:
“Generally speaking, it’s not advisable to handle this yourself. Improper technique may damage other nerves. I’d strongly recommend going to the hospital.”
Zhang Xiangyi: “……”
“Go die!”
“Go die!”
“All of you, go die!”
The voice screeched as if its throat were being strangled, sharp and twisted, raising goosebumps everywhere.
The corrupted long-haired monster was not to be trifled with. Sparse strands multiplied into more and more, growing longer and denser as they surged at the two of them, though the main target was still Zhang Xiangyi.
Zhang Xiangyi stayed alert. The moment the change came, she grabbed a wooden stool and hurled it. Watching the monster get knocked down so easily, she frowned and asked, “Got a lighter?”
Xi Zirui adjusted his glasses, which had slipped from the movement.
“I’ll go get it for you.”
The long-haired monster flew into a rage. It shoved away the stool pinning it down, sending it crashing into a nearby glass cabinet. With a sharp, deafening crash, the cabinet shattered on impact.
Glass scattered across the floor. Zhang Xiangyi only gave it an indifferent glance, using that pile to dispose of the monster later wouldn’t be a bad idea. Self-service cremation, so to speak.
The monster lunged at her again. If rage could be measured, it was probably already maxed out.
Zhang Xiangyi weighed the chipped knife in her hand, she was getting more and more used to it. She sidestepped and slashed down wildly without hesitation, not caring where she hit. As long as it made contact, that was enough.
The monster’s rage only stacked higher.
Zhang Xiangyi tried to pull her knife back, but felt resistance at the slightest tug. After a quick thought about the structure of its head, she flung it without hesitation toward the pile of glass shards it had just made.
At that moment Xi Zirui came back and handed her a lighter. He also opened a bottle and threw its contents at the monster.
“This’ll make it burn faster,” he said.
Zhang Xiangyi stepped forward and lit the fire. Hearing the monster’s final screams, she rubbed her numb right hand. As soon as she relaxed, pain flared all over her body.
She glanced down at herself, covered in small cuts, her clothes and face stained with blood.
“1-1 and 1-2 are connected. What about 1-3 and 1-4?”
She looked toward the door, then went back to the kitchen to grab a fresh knife before heading to 1-2.
“There’s no danger in 1-2. Aside from basic household items, there’s nothing else. It also looks like no one’s been living there,” Xi Zirui said, following behind her, suppressing his shock and forcing himself calm. “If our guess is right, the entire first floor is interconnected.”
As soon as he finished, a figure suddenly rushed toward them. As an adult man with years of work experience, he instinctively moved to step in front of Zhang Xiangyi, but was shoved aside before he could react.
After seeing who it was, he shrugged and moved to the side.
“You okay?” Xiao Xingzhi grabbed her and looked her over from head to toe.
Her thin clothes were torn in countless places. Some wounds were just surface cuts, others deep enough to show bone. Yet the girl calmly brushed his hands away as if nothing had happened.
“I’m fine. Did you find anything over there?”
The cross-dressing man, Zhong Ziqian, came out behind Xiao Xingzhi. Seeing the scene, he quietly stood beside Xi Zirui. He glanced at Zhang Xiangyi, her “battle-damaged” state, the wounds that went down to the bone, the blank face, and swallowed nervously.
A ruthless one.
Who could even handle that?
Do all cute-looking girls have this kind of extreme contrast?
Xiao Xingzhi pressed his lips together, his gaze complicated as he looked at Zhang Xiangyi, but he still relayed her instructions:
“1-4 should be the home of the long-haired monster and Fugui. It had a strong lived-in feel, the household items all matched what you’d expect for an elderly person and a young man. Other than that, not much useful info. Basically just a living space.”
“1-3 and 1-2 are similar. They’ve got household items, but don’t look lived-in recently. Very clean, no useful clues,” Zhong Ziqian added. He suddenly felt relieved he’d chosen 1-3, if he’d run into what she did, it would’ve been even worse.
“Doctor Xi, I need your help with something.”
Zhang Xiangyi lifted her eyes, her gaze bright, her baby-fat cheeks dimpling faintly, her expression pure and almost harmless.
Xi Zirui, who’d been addressed and found her as cute as his own niece, suddenly had a very bad feeling…
“You know his surname is Xi?”
Zhong Ziqian leaned in. Seeing that Xi Zirui didn’t deny it, he was genuinely shocked. They’d only been apart a short while, how had he already fallen so far behind?
“Zhong… sir.”
Zhang Xiangyi wasn’t sure how to address the cross-dressing man.
“Just call me by my name.” Zhong Ziqian shivered. “Since you already know it, everyone’s going to find out anyway. Let me introduce myself, I’m Zhong Ziqian, a streamer with over ten million followers. I’m actually pretty well-known.”
“Xi Zirui, chief physician of the emergency department at Jiangcheng First People’s Hospital.”
“Zhang Xiangyi, first-year computer science student at Jiangcheng University.”
“Xiao Xingzhi, third-year computer science student at Jiangcheng University.”
“So you’re from the same school. No wonder.” Zhong Ziqian sized the two of them up, then recalled their earlier behavior. “You told us all this… you’re not planning to silence us afterward, are you?”
Zhang Xiangyi: “……”
How had this guy survived in society?
Xiao Xingzhi grinned, neither confirming nor denying. The curve of his smile grew increasingly eerie, almost a match for an NPC in the instance.
“Guess~”
“All right. So what do you need me to do?” Xi Zirui rubbed his aching brow. He’d just finished several surgeries and barely gotten home to rest, only to be pulled into a game instance, rest was clearly impossible here too.
Zhang Xiangyi brought him to 1-1 and pointed at the wardrobe.
“What I need help with is inside.”
Xi Zirui frowned. Although the room still carried the burnt smell of the long-haired monster, he’d already caught a faint… whiff of decomposing flesh when he first arrived.
“You two go check the other rooms first.”
He pulled medical gloves from his pocket and a leather case. Inside lay gleaming surgical tools.
Zhong Ziqian: “……”
So I’m the only newbie here, huh?
Zhang Xiangyi already knew what was inside. She picked up the tenant list and led them to the living room, but as soon as she opened it, Xiao Xingzhi snatched it away and tossed it to Zhong Ziqian, who looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself.
The sudden document nearly stunned him, but seeing the two of them, one standing, one sitting, he didn’t interrupt. He simply moved aside and began examining it with a flashlight.
“What are you doing?”
Xiao Xingzhi felt irritated, and didn’t even know why. His teammate was clearly capable and fully focused on finding clues to clear the instance, he should be happy.
But seeing her covered in injuries yet staying so calm made him uneasy. Someone who could endure this much had clearly suffered a lot in real life.
“Treating your wounds first. If they get infected, don’t blame me if it slows our way out.”
He found a basin, filled it with water, and gently began wiping her wounds. His movements were careful, but the grime didn’t come off much.
Zhang Xiangyi couldn’t stand it, snatched the cloth back, and ordered, “Go check 1-2 for medicine. I’ll clean myself up for now.”
Since Xi Zirui had already found alcohol in 1-2, there was likely medicine there too.
Xiao Xingzhi didn’t fuss or say anything else. He was quiet in a way that didn’t suit him at all.
Zhang Xiangyi glanced at him a few times but couldn’t make sense of it, eventually figuring he’d just turned serious.
This guy did tend to talk less when he was focused.
Before long, Xiao Xingzhi came back carrying a medical kit. This time, no matter how much Zhang Xiangyi refused, he insisted on doing it himself. Watching his slow, careful movements, she gave up looking and said, “Unit 4-2 was never rented out. So from the start, the girl we thought we knew was an NPC. More importantly, from the earliest rental records to the latest occupancy list, every building except the first floor has never rented out the second unit on each level.”
The other rooms, by contrast, all had rental history.
That was very abnormal. Why was the second unit so important that it couldn’t be rented out? What was it being used for?
“If all four units on each floor are connected internally, then to make abductions easier, leaving one unrented gives them access through the second unit to reach the other three, moving people around without anyone noticing.” Zhong Ziqian rarely sounded this sharp. “Even if the tenants’ families report them missing, when police investigate, they won’t find anything wrong with the building itself.”
“In that case, the girl in 4-2 might come through a hidden passage into any of our rooms. We’d better not sleep too deeply tonight and see if she shows up,” Xi Zirui suddenly said from the bedroom. “But we need to move fast.”
“Then we might as well just make a big move out of it!”