CH 8

QiLeren knew that this was a world where looks were everything, but he didn’t realise just how superficial it was. It had taken a whole second for XueYingying to betray him, flittering over to the attractive young man before them – SuHe, his name was – with a sultry “Hey, handsome.”

Dr Lu had no concept of repelling like charges, launching into discussion with SuHe on the enlightening topic of…the corpse at their feet…

To say that XueYingying was slightly grossed out by the subject matter would be an understatement, but she willed herself to be strong. It was all worth it for the beauty in front of her.

QiLeren, however, was deeply concerned about the prospects of their situation; how did this SuHe person avoid the murderer? Judging from the time, he must’ve either hid behind something on the rooftop this entire time or, like the rest of them, made his way his way up after the murderer’s departure.

“I came to the hospital to visit someone, but this situation’s a bit of a surprise,” SuHe said, slightly wrinkling his brow.

“Same! This is the worst thing that’s happened to me since I first started working here three years ago!” Dr Lu griped irritably. “I would never have gone into medicine if I knew this was going to happen. Just who the hell did I offend in my past life?!”

“……” XueYingying, who just wanted to come to the hospital to get an abortion and ended up miscarrying because her bus crashed on the way, wisely chose not to speak for she was unfortunate enough already.

“……” QiLeren, who just wanted to go fix his laptop and ended up in the hospital (and lost his laptop) because his bus crashed on the way, likewise chose not to speak for he was probably the most unfortunate one there. That title was not one he cared to win. “Did you see the murderer?” he asked.

SuHe shook his head. “This corpse was here when I arrived, and the number “5” was written in blood beside it. If there really is a murderer as you say, then it’s likely that this wasn’t his first victim. Perhaps the fifth?”

XueYingying nodded furiously throughout his deduction, “Yeah, you’re completely right! You probably don’t know yet, handsome, but there’s a murderer wandering around right now who’s really messed in the head. Dr Lu said he’s a convicted serial killer that got sent here for self-harm.”

“We’re in quite a troublesome situation…” SuHe muttered to himself.

XueYingying couldn’t help but to sneak a few more glimpses at the stunning sight of a handsome man in deep thought, earnestly reassuring him that there is power in numbers.

Having brushed the jaws of death twice thus far and firmly retaining the murderer’s wrath after a certain “ball-shattering” incident, QiLeren stayed silent. If they ran into the murderer again, he’d…

Just thinking about it made him weary.

The sky was grey and dreary with clouds and fog, letting through only tiny rays of light and soon none at all as dusk approached faster than anybody had anticipated, plunging the world into darkness. The heavy fog weighed down on all the inhabitants trapped within it, thickening into the distance and obscuring any view of surrounding buildings.

Dr Lu gave a sudden shudder. “Let’s leave,” he said urgently, feeling a heightened sense of danger, “I have a bad feeling about this place…”

Everyone except SuHe, who had not yet caught up on the state of affairs, tensed up immediately. QiLeren and XueYingying had both experienced firsthand just how accurate Dr Lu’s sixth sense for danger was.

Pausing in her rush to the stairs, XueYingying spun around to hurry SuHe only to freeze up at the sight. “H-Hand… Ghost…” she stuttered, eyes wide and unblinking.

QiLeren, standing next to SuHe, subconsciously looked down at XueYingying’s terrified words – a pale, gaunt hand reached between the railings from beyond the edge of the building, seizing SuHe’s wrist in a vice grip and dragged him off the rooftop.

QiLeren caught SuHe’s other hand out of pure instinct, but the alarmingly overwhelming force took him to the edge as well. The only reason he managed to stay on was by catching himself on the railing, but the same could not be said for SuHe; more than half of his body was dangling perilously off the edge, held by QiLeren on one hand and unable to break free of the bruising grip the ghost had on his other.

It was nothing short of a miracle that allowed QiLeren to remain on the rooftop, muscles straining as SuHe struggled in midair. Dr Lu rushed to help QiLeren, only to be intercepted by XueYingying with her yell of “Move over, I’ll do it!” and pushed aside. She pulled with renewed strength from her earlier bout of blood loss.

“Use blood! SuHe, use blood! It’s scared of it!” Dr Lu urged frantically.

At SuHe’s confused blink, QiLeren bit down on the tip of his tongue and spat the blood onto him. The grip on SuHe’s arm loosened at the droplets of blood scattering in the mist, giving XueYingying the opening to pull—

The two fell into a heap on the rooftop. QiLeren steadied himself on the railing with a hand and leaned over to survey the scene down below. Any trace of the ghost had long since vanished, leaving behind nothing but thick fog…hold on, did something just move?

QiLeren’s vision blurred. A faint shadow shot through the fog with the speed and edge of an arrow, slithering its way to him in mere seconds with its spidery, twisted, inhuman shape.

Seeing XueYingying and SuHe safe and sound, Dr Lu turned around to call for QiLeren and jumped violently at the scene before his eyes – QiLeren enveloped in the embrace of a white silhouette, falling off the edge and into the mist that engulfed them.

……

……

……

[Law of S/L cooldown complete.]

It was when QiLeren was still holding onto SuHe with all the strength in his body that this notification appeared. The one hour cooldown had passed by without his knowing.

After pulling SuHe up, as QiLeren first caught glimpse of the shadow shooting up towards him, he felt an indescribable sense of foreboding. It was then that he activated his skill without a second thought in this time of imminent peril. Not a second later saw him consumed by the sinister shadow all but throwing itself into his face and plunging them off the building, the sting of cold air filling his nostrils.

The world stood still on its axis at this moment and left QiLeren’s weightless body to freefall through the fog. It should have been over in a short few seconds, shattering his bones in an instant before he even had a chance to make out his surroundings.

But he saw it. He saw through the translucent figure wrapped around him, the fog obscuring his view no longer. He saw the boundless sea of people on the ground, male and female, old and young. He saw their faces, twisted in terrifying mockeries of smiles, of joy, of happiness.

He saw their eyes, welcoming him as a new addition of their kind.

The moment passed by in a flash, leaving QiLeren no time to feel the terror blooming inside his chest as his skull hit the ground and burst open like an eggshell on cement.

[Load successful.]

QiLeren lost consciousness. He found himself back on the rooftop a second later, legs giving out under him as he collapsed onto the ground before his three shocked companions.

His trembles were not from the chill but from gripping, paralysing fear.