Free Web NovelChapter 22: Chapter 22: Still Missing One Piece
The instant the old security guard’s wrist was severed, two things happened at once.
The severed hand that fell to the floor began to rapidly rot and reek. The thick stench of a three-year-old corpse and its fluids, no longer held back, erupted in an instant, so overpowering Gao Tian could barely open his eyes.
At the same moment, the old security guard, having lost the severed hand, no longer had a reason to exist as a puppet carrying the body part. He began to decay at a speed visible to the naked eye. Chunks of his flesh peeled off, melting into a puddle of pus on the ground. Soon, only a skeleton with scraps of flesh clinging to it remained, struggling to stay upright. But even the skeleton couldn’t hold on for long.
"I... remember now..."
"Everything... I remember... everything... The scene... I saw that day..."
"That thing... was a monster... with four faces of a man, a woman, an old person, and a child... stacked together..."
"And a man... in a trench coat... was stabbed to death..."
The skeleton stood in place, as if it still couldn’t accept its own fate. Its skeletal jaw moved up and down, struggling to speak.
"The man in the trench coat... left his severed hand... on me..."
"From that day on... I was already dead..."
The truth was exactly as Gao Tian had predicted.
The man in the trench coat was, of course, Xu Yuan.
The vengeful ghost that killed him was an aberration with four faces stacked together.
Before he died, Xu Yuan saw the old security guard. Since the guard had witnessed the ghost’s murder, he was doomed to die anyway. So, with his last moments, Xu Yuan turned him into a temporary human vessel for the body part, leaving him to live on in a daze, repeating the motions of his former life.
After speaking its final words, having recalled what had happened to it in a flash of memories, the old security guard’s remaining skeleton crumbled into a pile of ash in an instant. A living, breathing person had vanished right before Gao Tian’s eyes.
Holding the lone, rotting left arm, Gao Tian didn’t know what to say.
’Even though the real security guard died three years ago, it feels like I just killed him with my own hands.’
’There’s no time to waste here. The clock is ticking. I’ve only found one of the six body parts. If I don’t find the other five before the mall closes, the penalty for the green-text mission will be swift.’
Gao Tian hid the arm under an arcade machine, planning to retrieve it after finding all the other pieces. Then he closed the arcade’s doors, went down the corridor, and returned to the main area of the mall.
The huge glass canopy overhead showed the sky outside was beginning to darken. Time waits for no one. What Gao Tian found strange was that the white mist hadn’t dissipated. It had only thinned out a bit, but it still lingered on every floor of the mall.
’At first, I thought it was a byproduct of the temporal chaos. But young Xu Yuan has already returned to his own timeline, and our connection is broken. The mist didn’t disappear with him—instead, it’s spread even further.’
Ahead, a crowd of shoppers had gathered. A few people at the front, looking agitated, were in a heated discussion with mall staff.
Gao Tian turned his walkie-talkie back on and switched to the channel Xia Ta and the others were on.
"I’ve figured out the puzzle of the hidden parts. I’ve found the first piece."
"The real trick to the green-text mission is that the six body parts are hidden on six people. And these six people must be mall employees so they can show up at the mall every day without arousing suspicion..."
He explained the origin of the first body part as concisely as he could.
"Gao, you’re a fucking genius."
Jiang Yang’s effusive praise came through the walkie-talkie.
Boss Jin and the two other newcomers were also full of praise for Gao Tian. After all, as time went on without them finding a single piece, they had grown very anxious. Everyone was thrilled that Gao Tian had made a breakthrough.
Just then, Xia Ta’s calm voice came through:
"I’ve found two pieces over here as well." free𝑤ebnovel.com
"But the situation doesn’t look good."
"Just a heads-up, the entire Sapphire Mall seems to be surrounded by a strange white mist. Now, no one inside can get out, and no one outside can get in. People are starting to panic."
’That’s Xia Ta for you,’ Gao Tian thought. ’Her efficiency is ridiculously fast.’
The body parts she had were the left leg and the right arm. Including the piece Gao Tian had hidden in the arcade, that left the head, torso, and right leg yet to be found.
The news from Xia Ta was definitely not good. The lockdown of the mall meant the customers inside would grow more and more panicked. Panic would lead to crowds and chaos, making it even harder to find the remaining body parts disguised as people.
As Gao Tian passed the gathered crowd, he overheard a middle-aged man at the front saying agitatedly:
"My dad’s having heart trouble. We need to leave the mall now! What right do you employees have to keep us here?"
"If we’re late to the hospital and something happens, I’ll hold every single one of you legally responsible!"
Two mall employees, sweating profusely with anxiety, were desperately trying to explain:
"Sir, it’s really not that we won’t let you leave. For some reason, a strange white mist has appeared at all the exits, blocking them off. Anyone who walks into the mist just ends up back where they started, no matter how far they go. That’s been proven time and time again."
"We’ve already called the police and are waiting for rescue personnel from outside. Please, sir, try to remain calm. Staying here is for your own safety..." freёwebnovel.com
Gao Tian’s gaze shifted back and forth between the few mall managers.
’I can’t see any trace of a body part on them. Judging by their intact bodies and clear minds, it’s not them.’
He searched the entire third floor, even checking the restrooms and emergency exits. The shoppers trapped on this level were clearly growing more and more agitated. People were constantly on their phones, complaining to someone on the outside.
’The sky outside is getting darker. It’s already 6:00 PM. I didn’t realize time was passing so quickly. Less than three hours until the mall closes.’
"Found it!"
"I found a body part over here too..."
"Hey, you bastard, stop running! Let’s see you try to get away now!"
Jiang Yang’s excited voice suddenly crackled over the walkie-talkie, along with the ragged breathing of the two newcomers. Apparently, after they’d found the employee, a short chase had ensued. In the end, Jiang Yang’s group had used their numerical advantage to subdue their target.
Just then, Xia Ta’s eternally calm voice came over the walkie:
"I’ve found one here as well."
"Part of the torso."
In the background, Boss Jin’s hearty laugh could be heard. "A hundred thousand reward for each person who found a piece!"
He had every reason to be in a good mood. Gao Tian had found 1 piece, Jiang Yang 1, and Xia Ta 3, for a total of 5. At this rate, finding the last piece was only a matter of time.
The left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg, and torso—they had them all. The only piece still missing was the head.
The two newcomers’ voices also sounded optimistic. With three hours left, they had more than enough time to find the last piece, the head.
This was only their second green-text mission, after all, and it didn’t seem that difficult. Plus, with two admins who had completed five missions before, handling a green-text mission of this level should be a piece of cake, right?
Among the group, only Xia Ta remained completely calm. Her voice on the walkie-talkie held no trace of joy. Instead, she coolly warned them:
"Don’t celebrate too soon. As long as the last piece is still missing, this game isn’t over."
"Besides, the last piece is the head. It won’t be that easy to find. The other parts were hidden in the employees’ clothes, in their sleeves or pants. But a rotting head? Where could you possibly hide that? There’s definitely something fishy about this. Think about it."
’The hiding place for the final head must be a mall employee who needs to wear a mask,’ Gao Tian mulled. ’Otherwise, someone walking around with a highly decomposed head would have been noticed by the shoppers long ago.’
’Furthermore, this employee’s reason for wearing a mask must be completely plausible, so as not to attract any attention or suspicion. So plausible that even though Xia Ta and the others have been in the Sapphire Mall long enough to collect five pieces, they’ve completely "overlooked" this perfectly logical presence.’
’So who could that person be?’
Just as Gao Tian was about to voice his theory over the walkie-talkie and ask for the others’ opinions, Xia Ta’s voice came through again. But this time, her usually placid voice held a rare hint of urgency.
"Something’s wrong."
"Something’s wrong with this green-text mission!"
Jiang Yang’s lazy voice piped up:
"What’s wrong, Sister Ta?"
"Did you find some kind of wordplay in the mission’s description?"
Xia Ta:
"Look at the list of participants for the green-text mission again. Originally, there were only three people..."
"While we were looking for the body parts, another name was added. Now there are four people."
"I’m sure of it. When we got the mission, there were definitely only three people. The fourth person was added later. My memory hasn’t been affected by some supernatural phenomenon, has it? You guys check too, cross-reference."
Hearing Xia Ta’s words, Gao Tian felt a sense of foreboding.
’That’s right. When I first saw the green-text mission, the participants listed were Boss Jin and the two newcomers.’
’Xia Ta, Jiang Yang, and I were all just observers who joined in.’
’So who was this extra name that had suddenly appeared on the mission roster?’
’Xia Ta and Jiang Yang are both veterans who’ve completed five green-text missions. It’s impossible for their names to appear on the list for two missions.’
’That leaves only one possibility.’
’That extra name...’
Gao Tian took out his phone and opened the photo of the wall that Xia Ta had sent him on WeChat—
Gao Tian.
The fourth name, printed on the wall in green text, was his own.
"Gao Tian, your name has been added to the green-text mission too."
"You’re not just an observer anymore. You’re a participant in this mission now—a teammate whose life is on the line with the rest of us."
