CH 12

Her!

An onslaught of primal fear overtook QiLeren’s mind in an instant. The bloodstained dress, the decapitated, limb-less corpse, even the number carved into the peeling flesh of her face – she was fourth victim they had stumbled upon, whose scream had drawn away the murderer and exchanged QiLeren’s death for hers.

She was dead. The horrifying girl standing before him was no more human that the corpse they had left behind.

The acknowledgement of this fact tripped a live wire within QiLeren’s mind. He tried to yank his hand back in a rush mindless insanity, but the pale hand clamped down on it with a vice grip.

“Are you afraid? Your hand is very cold,” she echoed. Her voice was no longer imitated the dark, velvety tones that SuHe spoke in but was instead the chipper voice of a girl. It was the exact same question but somehow unnerved QiLeren ten times as much, hackles rising in terror.

“Let go of me!” he screamed, lashing out with a kick that connected with nothing but air. Her cold, unyielding grip never faltered, skinny arms slamming him against the glass behind them.

Her head lolled and dangled from her neck. The remains of a severed spine and muscles were exposed to the air around them, but there was not a trace of blood within the knitting of flesh. Pushing him down with one hand, the girl sluggishly righted her head back onto her neck. “What are you looking at?” she asked.

There was a trace of cruel yet naive curiosity on her waxen face, glazed eyes reflecting QiLeren’s terrified expression in their film of grey. “What are you looking at?” she repeated like a broken record. “What are you looking at?”

If he wanted to break free, he’d have to…

The dagger QiLeren had taken from the workshop materialised in his hand and was plunged into his chest without a second thought. The icy coldness of the blade pierced through his ribcage, colder than death itself. He could see the place of his save file over the ghost’s shoulder – there were three seconds left.

He had not yet died. This injury wasn’t fatal enough.

Under the ghost’s dull gaze, QiLeren gripped the dagger with trembling hands and pulled it sharply to the left – the blade freed itself from the confines of his ribcage and cleaved his heart cleanly in two.

[Load successful.]

He was already standing a few metres away when his eyes refocused. The ghost had her back facing him, turning around lethargically as if noticing her prey had escaped. There was not surprise nor anger in her expression.

9

The ghost advanced towards QiLeren.

8

QiLeren took out a bag of blood, ripping it open.

7

The bag constricted under the pressure of his fist, shooting a stream of blood.

6

He rushed before the ghost, emptying the contents of the bag onto both the ghost and himself.

5

She retreated half a step, eyes unfazed.

4

She reached out a hand.

3

There was no time.

2

A glint of steel flashed in QiLeren’s eyes. He charged at the ghost, baring his throat before slitting it with the sharp edge of his dagger. Fountains of blood spurted out of his open arteries with the beating of his heart.

1

[Fatal wound experienced within 10 second(s). Continuous save file loaded successfully.]

QiLeren once again stood at his save location, swaying dangerously on his feet. The continuous usage of his skill drained him of his strength, rendering him incapable of using the third chance he was privy to, inhumane though it was.

The shrill sound of torturous screaming echoed around the room. The ghost rolled and struggled against an invisible enemy on the ground, body flaking off into wispy tendrils of black. QiLeren staggered over, looming above her with his crowbar in hand.

Her body was a twisted, contorted mess. Hate and malice rang true in her screams, but QiLeren was calm enough to assess the situation with a clear mind.

Yes, there was a split second in which he felt immense guilt towards this girl who had unknowingly saved his life. Seeing her corpse had only solidified his shame.

But the insignificant feelings of pity and remorse was worth nothing compared to his life.

He wanted to live, live, no matter what.

And so he raised his crowbar and brought it down heavily onto the inhuman body of the girl. It connected with something solid that gave way, eliciting a howl of agony before what was left of her strangled and crumpled into nothing but black smoke.

The ghost was gone, but the fog around him lingered.

QiLeren sat for a while, gathering his strength before making his way over to the fishbowl. It was only a distance of ten or so metres, yet every step he took sapped him at his strength until he was barely holding himself upright. It was cold, like an ice cellar.

This was strange. He had never experienced such severe symptoms after using his skill before.

QiLeren stood at the fishbowl, observing the corpse of the fish at his feet. It was a lonely mess of guts and liquid, having died a long time prior.

Was he the only one left? QiLeren asked himself with a detached sort of bewilderment. Were they still alive? Were Dr Lu, XueYingying and SuHe still alive?

Something blurred across his vision; QiLeren refocused on the fishbowl. A goldfish swam out from behind the decorative rock, speeding towards the surface before breaking through and landing in a squirming heap beside the first one. Immediately after, another fish followed suit and joined the two.

One dead goldfish and two on the verge of death, enacting a bizarre, foolish farce at his feet. QiLeren stood, unmoving, before bending down and tossing the two back into their fishbowl.

The moment they plopped into the water, QiLeren felt a heavy weight lift off of his shoulders. The heavy fog surrounding his mind only grew thicker, however, and soon he found himself sliding down the wall he leaned against for support.

Despite his best efforts, the lethargy that stemmed from his very core conquered all logic and fear, claiming him as its own with its soft blanket of darkness.

“…ren? QiLeren wake up! Dude, where do you think you’re sleeping?! Oi!”

“He most likely ran into a ghost of some kind. At least there doesn’t seem to be any injuries.”

“Will Leren be alright?”

QiLeren could hear the chattering of voices nagging at his consciousness. Irritated, he croaked out a faint “Shut up”.

The voices halted for a moment before resuming with twice the volume. It was to the touch of a wet towel that QiLeren finally woke; the towel was cold as ice, shocking him from his slumber.

He was greeted with the sight of three faces very close to his – Dr Lu, XueYingying and SuHe.

“He’s awake! How’re you feeling?” asked Dr Lu.

“…I’m okay,” QiLeren responded after a pause.

“Your complexion is rather pale,” SuHe said, crouching before him. “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere in particular?”

QiLeren forced a smile. “A bit wobbly, but nothing too bad. I feel a lot better now, actually.”

“You know,” XueYingying grinned, holding the towel in her hand, “I was scared to death when you guys all disappeared. Thank god I had blood bags to fight off the hoard of ghosts that appeared or I would’ve had to take a page out of your book and use my own blood.”

Dr Lu nodded next to her. “Yeah, I blinked and suddenly you were all gone. How fast I bolted to Director Li’s office would’ve put The Flash to shame.”

The three stared at him quizzically, not understanding.

“You guys wouldn’t know this but Director Li is super infamous among the hospital staff for being a devout Buddhist,” Dr Lu explained with a straight face. “And by devout I mean really devout, to the point where his office is just filled with Buddha statues. The entire way there I was being chased by ghosts practically right behind me, so as soon as I got in I lit all the candles and sandalwood I could find and recited the Diamond Sutra a couple of times. I still can’t believe it worked, but the ghosts just lurked around outside for a while before leaving.”

The others found themselves truly speechless at Dr Lu’s miraculous survival.

“…Well,” SuHe broke the silence solemnly, “my situation was more similar to XueYingying’s in that there were many ghosts I had to fight. The strange thing was that I had definitely been holding hands with QiLeren, and yet I found myself alone all the same. It was almost as if there was something obscuring my senses.”

“What about you?” Dr Lu asked QiLeren.

QiLeren gave a weak chuckle in response. Before he spoke, however, something surfaced in the forefront of his mind and he turned to the fishbowl. The ground below it was spotless and free from goldfish corpses.

There was not a single goldfish in sight.