Chapter 105 - The Institute (46)

A pale-faced one-armed man and an alert-faced, middle-aged chubby man with a few missing fingers, each clutching a white cloth bag that even in the darkness still glowed with an unnatural red light– appeared out of thin air at the entrance of the long and narrow corridor. The two of them were not by their sudden teleportation, they just glanced at each other hastily, and then they looked around at the darkness around them like a great enemy.

The two people, one fat and one thin, were like bow strings drawn to the extreme at this time, their muscles and nerves were tense, and a slight crackle from underneath their feet instantly made them tremble, and the short fat man even jumped up, flashing a short metal knife frantically in the air!

They didn't have time to waste here... The one-armed man seemed to hesitate before gritting his teeth and pulling out a flashlight, the pale glare exuding dim, even bluish light, casting their bodies in a gloomy silhouette, but finally making the surroundings clearer.

The things in the hall and the bottomless corridor briefly appeared:

Familiar broken infusion bottles, needles with half a tube of dried medicinal liquid, corners soaked with dried blood stains and unknown brown liquid. The bare windowless walls... glass scattered haphazardly on the floor beside their feet. In the hall, connected by corridors a few steps away, the blurred outlines of rows of seven or eight rows of metal plated doors stretched to the other side of the corridor, almost inseparable from the shadows of the corridor.

The two men hastily made a break through the halls, finally appearing before one of the rooms, the fat man's face turned blue, eyes swimming in his head with fear and anxiety, his hands that clutched the red bag turned white and when he looked to the other man, his mouth opened and closed as he struggled to force the words from his throat.

"Are....are we really going to do this, those are human lives–"

"Shut up!"

The fat man's jaw immediately locked, hid heart was already racing with guilt but cowardice and timidity had long seeped into his bones from years of being a suppressed and micjed by society, the one-armed man didn't seem to have so much scruples and without hesitation, he opened the red bag and threw the contents at the door!

Almost instantly a rotten, fishy smell assaulted their senses as a dark red liquid splattered from the bag in bloody streams and splashed against the closed metal door with an ominous crimson light, however the blood didn't run, almost immediately coagulated into solid crust against the rusty steel, 

The fat man's face looked as a pale as a ghost but under the scalding, warning glare of the one-armed man he also threw the contents of the bag onto the door. Watching the blood coagulating on the door mad a sick roiling wave churn in his stomach, guilt and disgust made the fat man feel as if he wanted to wretch, but the fear of being caught forced him to swallow the stomach acid that rose in his throat.

The one-armed stared at the door with a cruel, almost ruthless gaze, a sick sneer rising at the corner of his lips, he rolled his eyes slightly and glanced at the trembling fat pig beside him, if it wasn't because he needed someone that would be easier to manipulate later, he would never have chosen to work with this coward.

"I still don't get why we have to do this..."The fat man's voice trembled uncontrollably, the eyes he looked to stare at the man had an extra point of fear that even he didn't notice, the one-armed man glared at him with disdain and contempt and the sneer at his lips grew even deeper, "I'm not sure about you, but I don't want to die. Two useless things, one disabled and the other a walking sack of meat." The fat man felt hit, "If I was monster, I would definitely go for the weakest targets, us, I don't believe that nothing will happen tonight, we already backed out of going to the basement and we're left all alone in the wards, we're prime targets, so if we want to survive we have to make a choice. And that choice is to attract the resentment somewhere else. He's the only one alone, Therefore it's either him or us, what will you choose."

"I–"

The selfish nature of humans were fully revealed here, 

The fat man's mouth trembled, and the hands at his side clenched into fists but even in the end, he still couldn't refute. He felt guilty but he still didn't want to die, he could only say sorry to the other person in the next life.

The one armed man watched him stutter and say nothing, the contempt in his heart only growing deeper. At least his darkness had never been hidden, such a man like this that hides the corruption and filth in their hearts under a timid face, were the ones he hated the most.

He grabbed the bag that carried the black dog's blood, used to temporarily attract the greatest resentment towards the location it had been thrown and activated the teleportation prop, with a final, deep look at the door in front, he and the fat man disappeared with a hasty blink.

The tranquility of darkness was once again restored but slowly, as if being summoned the shadows in the hall started to move, gradually beecoming thicker and darker as a faint stench, filled with the taste of fresh blood slowly clogged the halls, it was almost as if it had just dripped from the wound, still carrying the warmth of a living body, as it slowly swallowed all the light in Institute, shrouding the bloodstained door.

The darkness carried with it a tyrannical stench of rose and blood as if it was a enchanting flower nurtured in a mass graveyard, corrupted yet unable to draw their sights away. 

The darkness continued to advance as the corridor sank into deadly stillness, like the brooding calm before a coming storm.

Then a voice appeared, winding from the deep abyss,

The heavy silence was shattered unbeknownst, as from the depths of the Institute rose a melodic song like the call from a mother's breast or the sweet chime from a lover's arms, It was a monosyllabic chant drawn out faintly in the air, beautiful and hypnotic, rippling as if one could possess the entire world once they've held its source.

The voice was faint and did not spread far, but the vague muffled tremors seemed to shroud the Institute in a sinisterly heavy gloom, that if anyone were to trespass into they would sink like a helpless fly trapped in a stick swamp of honey dew.

The more negative emotions a person had, the more distracted they would become. It seemed that what they were hearing wasn't a song, but a call from heaven, from paradise, from the most beautiful and happy place one could imagine— a place where there was no stress, no worries, and no suffering.

A place filled with psychedelics clouds and a euphoric trance-like haze, unable to escape, unable to think, just sinking into the depths of abyssal freedom.

The voice traveled through the air, softly caressing the ears of its listeners,

Chu Yi, who was down in the second negative floor suddenly raised his head sharply, something in his heart suddenly surged to the tip of his chest, and even his footsteps couldn't help but pause, a faint melody seemed to be ringing soflty in his ears, completely enamoring his mind and seemed to want to strip him lf Amy conscious thought, it was as if as long as he turned back now, he could be brought away from here and fancifully whisked to a place of joy and pleasure.

Chu Yi raised a hand to chest, feeling his heartbeat booming rapidly, as if the mere thought made even his cells clamor in excitement –

Tch–

Red eyes squinted darkly, completely ignoring the sudden rising emotion, he almost rolled his eyes in ridicule and quickly turned his head back, not hesitating to continue deeper into the bloodstained and filthy basement, a sneer rising at the corner of his red lips, his mind was resolute.

In fact such a utopia only seemed boring, chaos and bloodthirst had long been rooted deep into his bones, he'd rather die without a whole limb than live his life like a caged beast.

In fact, Siren's were beautiful but their chanting was horrifying. Thousands of classified documents proved that sailors suspected of having heard the song of the merpeople became slightly crazy— some more than others. Legends told that covering one's ears wouldn't stop them from hearing their singing voices; instead, one must tie themselves to the ship's mast if they didn't want to be lured into the sea.

In reality, merfolk didn't bring disaster; they were merely attracted to the humans who were about to face one. Things like devout prayer could have the effect of removing negative emotions such as fear, anxiety and anger, and it could even lead the sailors to make peace with themselves because they believed that they'd go to heaven as such it gave them hope. 

But Chu Yi never entertained the thought of going to heaven, this was his playground, this was his game and when he left, it would only be when it becomes boring, when his world stagnates back into the dull, disgusting filth, without excitement, a never ending boredom that makes living worse than hell.

As if sensing something, the song in his ears fell, a steady and powerful heartbeat rising, the feeling of his rapidly beating heart that felt as if it was going to going to jump out of his chest weakened, gradually slowing until the heartbeat and the sound heard in his ears combined back to normal.

Red lips rose into a sinful almost triumphant grin, the song only seemed to excite the maliciousness and craving inside his heart, his blood boiled and his thirst only raised in anticipation.

What kind of disaster are they going to face–

"Hey– what are those," they stopped in their tracks,

The players raised their heads, the light of the single flashlight is not bright, but it still sprinkles softly on the blooming red rose above their heads, shining as if it was not just a flower, but a bright and dazzling gem.

As soon as they happened upon, these beautiful red roses bloomed even more amazingly. The tip of the nose carries faint sticky fragrance that even overpowers the rancid and rotting smell of flesh that permeated the entire basement floor.

Some even had the sinful urge to reach out and touch these flowers, their gazes blank and trance like as if bewitched, a few sober players quickly noticed something was wrong and hastily pulled the others away,

"Let's just go. It's common knowledge that the more beautiful the flower is, the more poisonous it is. Think about it, how can such beautiful plants be born in such a dark place. Where do you think it got its nutrients from..."

Ad if they were abruptly woken up from a dream, The bewitched players broke out into a cold sweat and hurriedly walked away from the vines with lingering fear.

It was better to stay away from all the things that were lived here.

Chu Yi glanced up at the hanging rose, the vibrant red petals causing a strange feeling rising in his heart and followed the others to walk away.

It just that no one noticed that when the flower felt it's master's familiar scent, the beautiful red rose stretched out trying to bloom and show it's lush vìbes, the layers of flexible petals glimmering like familiar scarlet orbs, the powerful fragrance in the air intensified as if it was currying favor.

But such a transformation was destined to go unappreciated as the trespassing humans finally found something that would break away from the monotone of death and filth.