Habitación número 143

Capítulo 15

After walking down several more floors, their expressions grew increasingly somber. Finally, Ke Liang couldn't help but say, "Forget it, let's not waste our energy. We've been going around in circles."

Shishi's disdainful expression had disappeared. She asked, "When did you find out? I found out too, but I didn't dare to say anything, afraid of scaring you."

"I threw away the chewing gum wrapper just now to make a mark." He pointed to the wrapper, which was indeed still on the corner of the steps.

"When I was chewing gum just now, I spat one out and secretly stuck it there as a mark. Now I can see it very clearly. It really was me who stuck it there myself."

The two men were ashen-faced. Looking up, they saw countless steps and floors; looking down, they saw countless more floors. No matter which way they went, they were just going around in circles.

They were trapped.

Qin Jin was talking to Ziming when she abruptly stopped, her gaze fixed on something behind her in terror. Ziming followed her gaze and turned his head, his pupils suddenly contracting.

A pale hand emerged from the pool of corpses—no, not just one, but many, all outstretched and making a loud noise, as if someone were taking a bath in it.

Ziming held the gun, pointing it firmly in that direction, his back against the door. Suddenly, a sound came from outside the door—the sound of the old woman licking blood on the floor. The sound rubbed against the floor like tens of thousands of sandworms crawling into his ears. Moreover, the sound grew louder and louder, as if it could crawl through the door.

Even the doorway wasn't safe, so the two huddled in another corner of the room. At that moment, Qin Jin screamed loudly. She saw that all the heads in the containers had opened their eyes and were staring at her. It seemed that all the severed heads and limbs in the house had come to life, and those things were staring at the two living people as if they had violated them.

The corpses began to reach their hands out of the pool, as if trying to get out, while the door was being slowly forced open. Lu Ziming gritted his teeth and fired a shot accurately into the crack in the door that was being forced open.

"Bang!" Tang Shishi and Ke Liang looked up together and heard a sound.

Next came a series of thumps—no, it was someone bouncing a ball on the floor below them.

Someone's here! Tang Shishi's face turned ashen. They were trapped downstairs, but someone was bouncing a ball down there.

They both knew perfectly well that what was below them couldn't be human. Yet, they exchanged a smile—perhaps the ugliest smile Ke Liang had ever managed—and offered each other a reassurance. With a wink, they quickly rushed down.

Whether it's a human or a ghost, the most important thing right now is not to get trapped here and die. Otherwise, not only will they not be able to help Qin Jin, but they will also risk their own lives.

The lower floor was completely empty, with nothing there. Ke Liang was already sweating profusely.

Lu Ziming was firing recklessly, but the corpses were beyond saving. The bullets struck the pale, macerated bodies, drawing no blood, only a clear liquid seeping from the moving corpses. Qin Jin, hiding behind Lu Ziming, had a thousand thoughts racing through her mind. She hoped Ke Liang would come to her rescue, given the Crimson Moon, a magical artifact from the Celestial Master, in his ear; she hoped Hei Bao would arrive to subdue the ghosts. But it was all too late. She saw the clear liquid seeping from the corpses slowly turn into blood, leaving streaks on the ground. The door had been forced open, and an old woman was lying on the ground, licking the blood with her tongue, the rustling sound growing louder.

The bullets were all used up, but they couldn't stop the corpse and the old woman from getting closer. Qin Jin finally screamed.

Ke Liang suddenly heard a rustling sound, and a familiar scream.

Ke Liang recognized Qin Jin's voice coming from downstairs. Tang Shishi had obviously heard it too. Suddenly, he said, "I know! It's an illusion. We're not downstairs anymore. What we're seeing is just an illusion. We must be at the morgue by now, and Qin Jin is nearby." Before Shishi could react, he suddenly closed his eyes, grabbed Shishi, and violently lunged at the enclosed wall. The wall suddenly broke, and they lost their balance and fell heavily to the ground. The surrounding scenery changed. Before them were rows of corpses. They were running in circles inside the morgue, running up and down the rooftop, but they were actually just running around the corpses.

The bodies covered by white sheets had their hands raised, but Shishi and Ke Liang couldn't care less. They heard screams coming from next door—it was Qin Jin. Ke Liang's heart tightened, and he ran out frantically. Next door was the specimen room. Ke Liang was the first to rush in. He found a gun pointed at him, and Lu Ziming was retreating to a corner with a gun in his hand, with a trembling Qin Jin behind him.

Shishi saw it too. Lu Ziming's eyes were already glazed and frantic. He couldn't see anything; all he could see were waving corpses. There was only one bullet left in his gun, and he didn't dare to fire it. He was saving the last bullet to protect Qin Jin.

When Ke Liang noticed that Lu Ziming was pointing a gun at him, he assumed that Lu Ziming was suddenly frightened by him. As he walked over, he said, "It's okay, everything you saw was an illusion."

Ke Liang walked towards Qin Jin. Qin Jin's eyes were also glazed over. Her flustered appearance made Ke Liang's heart ache for no reason. He wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her.

In Lu Ziming's eyes, a bloodied corpse was slowly approaching Qin Jin. The muzzle of his gun was already aimed at the corpse's head. No matter what, he couldn't let anything hurt Qin Jin.

Shishi sensed something was wrong and desperately told Ke Liang, "Don't go over there, it's dangerous, Ke Liang, they've gone mad, don't go over there."

It was too late. Ke Liang, that reckless guy, had already touched Qin Jin's shoulder, and the gun was already on the trigger.

With a loud bang, everyone turned around.

A black cat stood on top of the counter, squeezed down the bottle containing the eyes, shattered the bottle, and the eyes lost their vitality.

Lu Ziming suddenly came to his senses. All the corpses in the room had disappeared, and his gun was now pointed at Ke Liang's head.

Qin Jin opened her eyes. The old woman who had been touching her was gone. Only Ke Liang's concerned gaze was on her. Her heart warmed, and she threw herself into Ke Liang's arms, bursting into tears. Shi Shi ran forward and took Lu Ziming's pistol away.

Lu Ziming sat on the ground. If it weren't for the sound of Hei Bao squeezing and smashing the bottle, which woke him up, he would have almost killed Ke Liang under the influence of the hallucination.

Hei Bao jumped over and threw himself into Qin Jin's arms. Qin Jin hugged Hei Bao tightly, having narrowly escaped death, and kept saying, "Hei Bao, where did you go? You scared me to death!"

Blackie's eyes flickered, and tears seemed to well up in the pink light. His big cat eyes looked at her as if he were telling her about his grievances.

Only then did Qin Jin notice that Hei Bao was injured, as if he had been thrown to the ground and injured. One of his legs was no longer functional, and he walked with a limp.

Qin Jin was heartbroken. She held Hei Bao and looked at him again and again, saying, "Who hurt you, Hei Bao? Who hurt you?"

Meanwhile, Ke Liang was arguing with Lu Ziming: "You almost killed me, you know? I knew you'd always disliked me. Humph, if Hei Bao hadn't arrived in time, you would have definitely shot me."

"Who told you to look like a corpse?"

"What? A corpse? You mean I look like a corpse? You're the one who looks like a corpse! Look how scared you were just now."

"Aren't you scared? If you're not scared, why are you sweating all over?"

"I'm covered in sweat because I just ran up and down the stairs."

Shishi shouted from the side, "Alright, what are you two still arguing about? Heibao is injured."

Everyone then focused their attention on Hei Bao. The four of them surrounded a black cat and discussed how to treat it. Just then, the sound of a ball bouncing came from outside the door.

Hei Bao narrowed its cat eyes, meowed, and pounced into Qin Jin's arms, refusing to come out.

Just as everyone was relaxing, they clearly heard the sound of a ball bouncing coming from the corridor. Heavy yet rhythmic, each bounce was the sound Shishi and Ke Liang had heard at the entrance to the building.

The four slowly peeked out. The corridor was empty, but the sound of a ball bouncing continued. Upon closer listening, they realized it was coming from the morgue.

Ke Liang rushed to the front, driven by his intense curiosity. Shi Shi tugged at Lu Ziming and said, "Let's go! Let's not worry about it." But they still went into the morgue, where the corpses' hands were already down, and the muffled sound came from the very back row of corpses.

The four walked slowly forward, and a red headscarf gradually came into focus. Qin Jin exclaimed, "The scarf is here too!"

Sure enough, the figure had a red scarf around its neck. That red, apart from blood-red satin, could never be so vibrant, so alluring, so captivating yet chilling.

The figure became clearer and clearer among the white sheet covering the corpse. As everyone moved, they finally saw that it was a little child bouncing a red ball.

Shishi pointed at the child and said, "It's her, she's the one who led us to the hospital. We followed her in."

Qin Jin said, "I came here because I was chasing after her."

It's clear now; it's a little girl wearing a white tulle dress and red shoes, intently bouncing a ball. She looks about three or four years old, with a small red mole near her mouth.

The red scarf and red headscarf were already on her body, along with the red bib that Lu Ziming picked up from the broken bottle on the ground, and the red short-sleeved cheongsam that Tang Shishi left in her ancestral graveyard. All the fabric was complete. The difficult part now was to take the clothes off the child.

Lu Ziming called out softly, "Little sister, why are you dribbling the ball all by yourself?"

The little girl didn't turn around, but answered crisply, "I'm not alone, lots of people are playing with me here!"

Everyone looked around at the somber corpses and felt a chill.

Ke Liang asked, "Where are your parents?"

At this moment, Hei Bao screamed, and the little girl turned around abruptly and said, "Bad cat, I'll kill you! When I was about to hit you, you ran away."

It turned out that she was the one who injured Hei Bao. Qin Jin knew very well that she must have incredible abilities to be able to hurt Hei Bao.

When Shishi saw the very pretty but pale little girl, she exclaimed, "Dingdong, how could it be Dingdong!" She rushed over, took off her scarf and headscarf and threw them aside. Then, she hugged the little girl in her arms and kept comforting her, "Don't be afraid, Dingdong, it's Aunt Shishi. I'll take you away now. Stop playing and let's go."

The little girl obediently nestled on Shishi's shoulder. Shishi seemed even more shocked than if she'd seen a ghost, and she ran out with the child in her arms. Lu Ziming picked up the headscarf and scarf, and everyone followed Shishi out. As the little girl passed the morgue, she waved to the empty room filled with corpses and said, "Goodbye, you guys play by yourselves!"

Shishi ran for her life, with the three of them chasing after her. They ran all the way outside, where the sun was shining brightly, but Shishi still felt a chill in her bones. She waved and hailed a taxi, heading straight for the mental hospital. Ke Liang asked curiously, "Shishi, why are you taking this child to see Yingqi? Do you know her?"

The car was moving very fast, and Shishi seemed to be lost in thought.

"Qin Jin, we can't delay any longer. If this curse isn't broken, the people around us will fall into it one by one. Dragging it out will only hurt more innocent people," Shi Shi said to Qin Jin.

Holding the injured Hei Bao, Qin Jin thought for a moment in the back seat and said, "Then let's set off immediately for the village where we got the red satin. Let's not delay any longer. Let's go get the clothes from your family's cemetery now."

Shishi said, "Wait, I want to see Yingqi. There are some things I think she has the right to know."

The little girl lay in her arms as if asleep. The sleeping child looked very cute, but Ke Liang felt scared when she thought about how she had almost killed everyone today.

Suddenly, Ke Liang exclaimed as if he had just realized something, "Didn't the nurse say that the red headscarf had been taken away by Yingqi's sister? Why is it on this child's head now? Is this child Yingqi's sister's daughter? Is she wearing it and also under a curse?"

Shishi's face grew paler and paler.

They arrived at Yingqi's ward quickly, with the same nurse leading the way. Qin Jin and the others, still shaken from their ordeal, refused to separate, squeezing into the gloomy room. Tang Shishi held the child in her arms and gently said to Yingqi, who seemed deaf, "Dingdong and I have come to see you."

Yingqi didn't react at all; her eyes remained fixed on the ceiling.

Shishi gave a bitter smile and said to the few bewildered people, "Would you like to hear a story?"

Ke Liang was about to explode. He suppressed his great displeasure and came to the ward, but the woman said she wanted to tell a story. She said that if he was in the mood to tell a story, he should go and break the curse.

But Qin Jin gave Ke Liang a wink. She knew her friend too well; under normal circumstances, Shi Shi wouldn't hide anything from her.

Shishi began, "Once upon a time, there was a silly girl. She was very gentle and beautiful, and her family was well-off. Her parents hired many teachers to educate her. However, the girl fell in love with her art teacher despite the huge age difference between her and the teachers. She gave him her most precious virginity. But the teacher already had a wife and children. The silly girl couldn't accept the deception and wanted to commit suicide, but she was already pregnant. Later, she gave birth to a daughter. For the sake of her family's reputation, she gave the child to her sister and told everyone that it was her sister's child. But because she couldn't accept that love, she never dared to face the child."

Qin Jin had completely understood. Looking at the little girl named Dingdong and then at Yingqi, she indeed found her somewhat similar.

That silly girl was Yingqi; no wonder she was always so sad. And this child was Yingqi's child, raised by her older sister. The sister took the red headscarf, probably intending it as a keepsake for the child, never expecting it would bring such a nightmare to the child.

Unexpectedly, Yingqi has a child named Dingdong, who is also under a curse!

After finishing her story, Shishi picked up the child and turned to leave. Just as she reached the door, she heard Yingqi softly call out, "Please!" Everyone turned around and saw Yingqi struggling painfully, saying, "Please, save the child, save her!"

Qin Jin shed tears. At this moment, Yingqi was able to overcome the female ghost controlling her soul and pleaded with them for the sake of her child.

Shishi turned around, looked at Yingqi's worried eyes, and nodded firmly: "I will definitely rescue the child, don't worry."

It's possible that Yingqi didn't dislike the child; at this crucial moment, she was no longer pleading for her own life, but for the child's.

As she left the ward, she met the concerned gaze of a nurse. Shishi exchanged a glance with her and reassured her that she would do her best to help Yingqi.

Shishi returned home and chose her best SUV. She opened the door; inside, all sorts of travel essentials were already prepared. She was always someone who could leave at any time, so the servants were used to having the car ready to go at any moment. Ziming drove, Shishi sat in the front holding the child, and Qin Jin sat in the back holding Heibao and Keliang. The car sped away, beginning their new journey.

Chapter Eighteen: Heart-Fluttering (1)

Leaving the city, the car drove along the national highway, the scenery flashing past like an oil painting. The car was filled with the sounds of Ke Liang and Lu Ziming bickering. Shi Shi and Qin Jin were asleep in the lowered back seat. The car was spacious and well-equipped; Hei Bao lay quietly beside Qin Jin's head. Night, like a spilled bottle of black oil, slowly spread, darkening everything, and gradually, people were enveloped by the oil, sleepiness creeping in.

Lu Ziming handed the car over to Ke Liang to drive, and then fell asleep in his seat.

Ke Liang listened to the radio while driving, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. Long-distance bus rides at night are the hardest to drive; it's hard to keep going without someone to talk to or find something to laugh with. But everyone was exhausted, and no one could talk to him anymore.

A small hand reached out from behind and gently touched his lips.

"Eat up! Are you hungry?"

It was Qin Jin's voice. She offered him a piece of chocolate, and Ke Liang lowered his head to eat it. His lips lightly touched the back of Qin Jin's hand, and in that instant, it was like being electrocuted; both of their hearts pounded wildly. A low sigh sounded in their ears, and the two looked in the direction of the sound. A figure was reflected in the window.

The two were startled at first, but after they saw clearly, Ke Liang said irritably, "Grandpa, do you always have to make such a thrilling entrance? It's too flashy."

Qin Jin blushed and her heart pounded as she withdrew her hand, as if she had been caught red-handed doing something wrong.

Grandpa slipped into the carriage, and everyone woke up to see this unexpected guest.

Grandpa looked at Qin Jin with deep affection and said, "Junior Sister, are you alright?"

Qin Jin didn't dare to answer, but Ke Liang interrupted, "Grandpa, we all know about your romantic history, but Qin Jin isn't your junior sister. Save your breath. Qin Jin is the same age as me."