Welcome to the Nightmare Live - Ch 23

Fukang Hospital

Edited by: Worldworks

The morgue became pitch-dark, so dark that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of you1Idiom for Pitch-black..

The cold air was filled with the pungent smell of formalin, and the rotten smell of the corpse could also be vaguely detected.

The bare soles of their feet rubbed against the ground, moving slowly and sluggishly in the darkness.

“Jingle”, “Jingle”.

The eerie sound of bells rang from all directions, echoing in the empty morgue.

In the corner of the third morgue, Qi Shen was curled up on the ground, shivering.

He buried his head deep into his knees while holding something tightly in his hands. He seemed to be in a daze, and from time to time, an indistinct scream came from his throat.

“Jingle”, “Jingle” —

The sound of the bell was approaching.

Qi Shen’s eyes widened in horror. Staring at the bottomless darkness in front of him, he had already begun to construct a picture in his mind.

The pale corpses swayed and surrounded him step by step. The bells on their ankles made noises as they walked. Pairs of dead grey eyes stared at him, and then slowly stretched out their stiff and cold hands—

“AH! AAAHHH!! AAAAHHHHHH—”

Qi Shen let out a sharp and intermittent scream, and retreated backwards in horror.

“Jingle”, “Jingle”.

The voice quickly approached.

It was so close, so close, almost as if it was ringing in his ears.

The next second, a palm came from the depths of the darkness without warning and suddenly covered Qi Shen’s mouth, blocking the rest of his screams back into his throat, turning them into a meaningless “woo, woo” sound.

“Shh, be quiet!”

The young man’s deliberately lowered voice sounded in his ear, “It’s me.”

But Qi Shen still seemed to be trapped in a nightmare, like a dehydrated fish, struggling and trembling frantically. The strength that burst out of a person in a moment of despair was too great, so much so that Wen Jianyan could hardly hold him down, and the back of the other party’s head banged against the metal freezer, making a strange noise in the darkness.

If he continues like this, it will definitely attract the attention of the corpses, and his previous efforts will be in vain.

“Don’t move.” Wen Jianyan hurriedly said, his voice calm: “I’m also here to find your sister.”

“!!!”

The moment these words came out, Qi Shen suddenly stopped struggling.

He was still trembling in horror, but the look in his eyes gradually became clearer, as if he had finally come back to his senses.

Qi Shen gasped sharply and rolled his eyes with difficulty, trying to look at the man covering his mouth.

He couldn’t see anything.

However, in the dead silence, he could vaguely hear the breathing sound of someone other than himself. Although it was a little faint, it was controlled evenly and steadily.

The hand covering his nose and mouth was strong and warm. The human body was close to him, his chest rising and falling with his breathing, and the fiery temperature of his skin was all that was transmitted in the darkness.

Qi Shen finally calmed down.

He held on to the other person tightly and didn’t let go, as if he was clenching the last life-saving straw.

“……”

The life-saving straw’s face twisted slightly in the darkness.

Hiss.

This hand is really strong. The place where he pinched will definitely turn green after a while.

Wen Jianyan walked very carefully all the way.

As an old acquaintance who had been targeted by this garbage live broadcast room several times, he already had a vague idea about the current situation before getting to the elevator.

Therefore, in order to prevent the previous chase from happening again, Wen Jianyan had been memorizing the layout and route here since entering the morgue.

Although the darkness also brought him a lot of obstacles, it wasn’t that much of a problem after groping in the dark for a while.

Wen Jianyan listened carefully to the sound of the bells making noises in the other two morgues, led the corpses stuck in the corridor away, and then left quickly, carefully avoiding the sound of the bells as he rushed toward the third morgue.

After holding down Qi Shen, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he was on time.

The ten minutes of search time should also be almost over. Wen Jianyan stared at the darkness in front of his eyes; every nerve in his body was subconsciously tense, and he silently counted the countdown in his mind.

Waiting in the dark was always tormenting, and after an unknown amount of time, that familiar voice sounded again:

【Ding! Congratulations to the anchor for completing the scene: Hide-and-seek!】

【Bonus Points: 5000】

The moment the sound fell, those jingling bells in the distance disappeared instantly, as if they had never been there.

Wen Jianyan suddenly seemed to be amnestied. He exhaled slowly, his body relaxing a little bit.

He let go of Qi Shen, who was still trembling, took out his phone from his pocket, turned on the screen, and ended the looping playback of the recording.

At the moment when the stop button was pressed, there was only boundless silence left in the darkness.

Compared to just now, the dead silence at the moment seemed extremely reassuring.

Not far away, the sound of the door of the refrigerated cabinet being pushed open sounded, and Su Cheng’s half nervous and half hesitant voice rang out from the first morgue, “Hey… you, are you still alive?”

Wen Jianyan wiped his face and raised his voice, “I’m still alive.”

Su Cheng’s voice relaxed significantly, “That’s great… you really scared me to death just now.”

He was huddling in the freezer alone, listening nervously to the noise outside.

Suddenly, the thin light that was penetrating through the crevice of the cabinet disappeared, leaving only darkness, and then, things gradually became weird.

The sound of bells became more and more complex, and the sound of deliberately lower running could be vaguely heard. From time to time, various strange noises were coming from different directions, making Su Chen’s heart jump, so much so that he didn’t even dare to move in the cabinet.

While worrying about whether they had done something wrong, he couldn’t help but also worry about the safety of Wen Jianyan, who was not with him. He didn’t feel relieved until the sound of the final task completion prompt sounded.

“Why did the lights go out?”

Wen Jianyan sat paralyzed on the ground, and as the adrenaline disappeared, the side effects of the thrilling scene finally took effect.

He was feeling so weak that he could barely get up now and could only command Su Cheng in a weak voice,

“I turned them off, you… go to the elevator, about five steps to the right of the elevator door, and you will be able to find the electric switch.”

Across the walls and corridor, Wen Jianyan heard Su Cheng fumbling forward in the darkness, and from time to time there were a few ‘clanging’ sounds of him hitting the opened door of the freezer, and the sound of him gasping for breath.

Three minutes later, there was a distant “popping” sound.

The electric switch was turned on.

The lights overhead made a sizzling sound and then turned on together.

The sudden light made Wen Jianyan’s eyes flicker, and he squinted his eyes subconsciously before finally getting used to the light.

The cramped mortuary had been restored to its original state, except for the opened freezer doors.

In the third morgue, the missing corpse also laid back on the iron bed obediently. Except for the white cloth that was covering it, which hadn’t recovered, the rest was almost the same as before.

Soon, Su Cheng rushed in from the corridor, “Are you alright?”

Wen Jianyan stood up staggeringly with a blank face and waved at the other party, indicating that he was okay—

Then he suddenly rushed to the corner, leaned against the wall, and started vomiting.

Su Cheng: “……”

No matter how you look at it, you don’t seem to be okay.

He stepped forward, his eyes swept over Qi Shen, who was still sitting in the corner, and he basically understood what had happened—Wen Jianyan probably thought of some method just now, that’s why he rushed out of the hiding place to save the NPC.

Su Cheng patted Wen Jianyan’s back. The young man’s back arched, trembling slightly from vomiting, and he could almost feel the other’s bulging thin bones under his palm.

After a few seconds, Wen Jianyan straightened up.

His face was pale, and it didn’t look like he would have the courage to rush out of the hiding place.

Su Cheng stared at the young man in front of him with a puzzled face.

Really… I don’t know if this guy’s psychological quality is good or bad.

If it’s good, he wouldn’t run faster than anyone else when encountering a ghost and vomit more often than anyone else.

If it’s bad, the things he could do sometimes made Su Cheng feel terrified by just thinking about them in his mind.

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and wiped the corners of his lips. Except that his face was a little paler, he looked almost the same as before.

He took two steps towards Qi Shen, who was still slumped on the ground, and before he could say anything, something from the side caught his attention—

Wen Jianyan turned his head to look at the iron bed, and subconsciously inhaled a breath of cold air.

The corpse came back, but the white cloth on his body was also lifted, revealing its full appearance clearly.

It was a male corpse.

There was a large open wound on his neck, just enough to cut off his aorta, and through the whitish, rolled-out skin and flesh, the pale neck bones were faintly visible.

But this shocking cut wasn’t the real reason for his attention.

The reason why it attracted Wen Jianyan’s attention was because of the corpse’s face—

On the corpse’s pale face, there were thin black lines like crooked worms, passing through the bluish-purple bloody eyelids and lips, stitching his upper and lower eyelids and mouth together.

According to the color of the wound, it should have been sewn up while he was still alive.

Su Cheng raised his hand, twisted the tag on the corpse’s foot, and read, “Zhang Hua, twenty-five years old, estimated time of death: 2:00 a.m. on April 20, 2014.”

Other than that, there was no other information.

Wen Jianyan walked to the front of the iron bed and looked at the male corpse in front of him. He was not a coroner, but as a professional fraudster, he had his own way of obtaining information.

He held up the corpse’s palm and looked at it.

The knuckles had calluses, and based on the position, it should be because of long-term manual labor.

There were traces of being bound at the wrist. According to the color of the congestion and the angle of rotation of the wrist joint, his hands should have been tied behind his back during his lifetime, but the technique wasn’t very professional, and there were traces of struggle to get free.

But obviously, the other party had failed, otherwise the corpse would not have been placed in front of them.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Aaaahhhh, the anchor is nb2Slang for awsome/amazing!]

[My good fellow, this is a high-difficulty side quest! Even in the C-level instance, the high-difficulty side quest is not something that can be done casually. Really, he’s too good, too good.]

[And the operation just now was really amazing, I really couldn’t imagine that someone would think of such a solution… Not only was the map memorized, but the position of the corpse could be accurately predicted by sound. He is simply an escape game master!]

[It’s really amazing. Although it’s theoretically feasible, it’s very difficult in practice. In fact, I always believed that the anchor was a rookie, but now I had to go to the vest faction…]

Wen Jianyan secretly memorized the details he had observed from the corpse in his mind, which might be useful later.

At this moment, Qi Shen, who had been slumped on the ground just now, finally got up and stepped forward slowly.

He held his breath slightly, looking at Wen Jianyan half in disbelief and half in hope.

“Brother Zhao, you just said… You came here to find my sister… Is it true?”

Wen Jianyan was awakened from contemplation by the voice of the other party.

“……”

Fuck, almost forgot about it.

Generally speaking, Wen Jianyan wouldn’t tell such a lie under the premise that he had far less information than the other party, especially when it involved relatives whom the other party was familiar with and he knows nothing about.

The chances of this kind of lie being exposed are too great, even Wen Jianyan can’t guarantee that it won’t go wrong.

However, the situation was urgent just now. In order to prevent Qi Shen from continuing his frantic struggle and stop him from courting death, he had no choice but to resort to this…

Lying for a while was cool, but lying continuously to patch it up was the crematorium.

But what could be done now?

He had to do it.

Wen Jianyan cheered himself up and took a deep breath, then turned to look at Qi Shen, and nodded slowly.

“That’s right.”

Su Cheng looked at Wen Jianyan with a confused look on his face, and his head was filled with small question marks.

Dude, what are you talking about?

Wen Jianyan didn’t look at the other party, but said in a low tone,

“A-Qing and I used to be a couple.”

“What?!”

Qi Shen and Su Cheng exclaimed at the same time.

On the list that Xue Mingyan gave to Wen Jianyan, there was basic information about all the corpses, including the corpse that had disappeared from the beginning and had not reappeared until now.

Lin Qing, female, 29 years old.

Although the two have different surnames, according to the previous situation, Wen Jianyan boldly guessed that the deceased might be Qi Shen’s sister.

So he took a gamble.

“But… but… sister never told me.”

Qi Shen said in disbelief, “She actually fell in love with you? This… how is this possible?”

Very good, he took the right gamble.

Wen Jianyan breathed a sigh of relief without a trace.

Great, now he can play freely.

“She came to see you at school at that time, but I don’t know why she only chatted with me. Although it has been a long time and I have forgotten the content of our conversation, I can still recall the moment when she smiled at me that day. I think… I’ve been moved since then.”

Wen Jianyan sighed, “Later we added each other’s contact information and got to know each other slowly.”

Qi Shen thought about it for a few seconds, and then, as if he thought of something, his eyes widened slightly, and he slowly took a deep breath, “…You guys have known each other since my sophomore year?”

The details fit together perfectly and are quite stable.

Even if Qi Shen argued that his sister had never come to school to find him, Wen Jianyan had a way to get things around.

The two had different surnames, and it was very likely that they had been separated since they were young. Maybe it’s because of family reasons that they have gradually drifted apart—then, her coming to school can also be explained as: Although the older sister didn’t say it on the surface, she actually cared about her brother very much, so she secretly came to the school to visit after work, but never told the other party.

Just bring the other person into your own rhythm, and the next step will be much easier.

“We have been secretly dating, but because of the huge age gap between us and because I am your college classmate, your sister has been reluctant to disclose our relationship.”

Under the light, the handsome young man raised his thin eyelids, and under his long and thick eyelashes, a pair of amber eyes looked over fixedly. His sad eyes were almost hot, making people’s hearts tremble.

“Then… We… We broke up.”

“When I heard A-Qing’s name again, it was the news of her death.”

He looked sad and affectionate, and the contours of his face were shrouded in a melancholy color, which could even make hard-hearted people feel moved, “That’s why I asked my mentor to put me into the internship team of Fukang Private General Hospital, just to see her secretly for the last time.”

Su Cheng: “……”

I fucking believe you!

Damn liar, you are too impersonal! You lied to me at the beginning, but now you have even lied to the NPC!

The new victim, Qi Shen, showed a deeply moved expression on his face, and it was obvious that he had completely believed the other party’s lies.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[……]

[Look up at the name of the live broadcast room, and everyone will understand what I want to say.]

[Come on everybody, spit it out and go! (50 reward points)]

[Bah! Shameless! (100 reward points)]

[Although I know that this dog liar is making this all up, his affectionate appearance is really handsome, and I am moved. (50 reward points)]

[Give me the way, give me the way! The current partner is here! Thank you, everyone, we will be together happily from now on!]

The air fell into a dead silence.

After a long time, Qi Shen took a deep breath slowly, as if he had made up his mind, “Since you and my sister have such a relationship, then I won’t hide this from you.”

“I just heard something as if my sister was talking to me.”

Wen Jianyan took a step forward, her eyes widened in amazement, “What?”

“She… told me to get out of here quickly.” Qi Shen said without thinking.

He opened his hand, revealing what he had been holding tightly in the palm of his hand—it was a thin card, something like a work card.

“Then, then she gave me this.”

Wen Jianyan stretched out his hand and took the card from the other’s palm.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang in his ears.

【Congratulations to the anchor for obtaining the hidden item in the instance (Difficult)!】

【Collection level ¼】

Wen Jianyan calmed down and looked at the card in his hand.

The plastic seal on the identity card was slightly folded, and there was a little dried blood on it. Across the blood, Lin Qing, who was wearing a white coat, was smiling in the one-inch photograph.

—Attending physician in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department.

Wen Jianyan looked up at Qi Shen and asked cautiously, “This photo… Can I keep it?”

His face was pale, and his thin lips were pursed, making him look extra fragile, “We have always been in a secret relationship, I don’t have anything to miss her, not even a photo…”

“Of course.”

Qi Shen sighed sadly. He stepped forward, raised his hand, and patted Wen Jianyan’s shoulder.

“You… Keep it.”

“……”

For the first time, Su Cheng, who had been watching the whole process from God’s perspective, couldn’t bear to look at it.

He silently covered his face.

After all, as a former victim, the sense of substitution in this scene was too strong!