Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 1003: Chapter 703: Substitute for Death

"They...they are dead?" Xi Huijun didn’t dare look directly at the TV, clutching Yang Xiao’s arm tightly, pressing herself against him.

Yang Xiao sighed helplessly and pulled Xi Huijun off him. It wasn’t that he was insensitive, but this posture would be very passive in case of a sudden situation.

"If they are all dead, who sent the ring and this disc back?" Yang Xiao explained.

Sure enough, shortly after the screen went black, the picture resumed its fragmented state, followed by a woman’s scream.

As the image stabilized, a man with his head covered in a black cloth was dragged towards a woman lying on the ground, struggling the entire way.

What’s eerie was the young woman with a geisha face laying motionless on the ground, looking dead, yet the piercing scream never ceased—it was clearly a woman’s voice.

The next second, the mystery was solved. The man’s black hood was ripped off, revealing a terrified face. Upon seeing the woman on the ground, he opened his mouth wide in horror and let out a piercing scream, which was indeed a woman’s voice!

Not only that, the man’s actions and expressions were exactly like the woman’s. As soon as the Black Wood Society leader gave an order, the nearly paralyzed "man" was dragged away, commanded to kneel before a rock wall.

During this time, the "man" kept begging for mercy, but the ghost-faced Japanese man behind him slowly drew his sword from his waist, raised it high, and with a single stroke, a head flew out, blood spurting from the headless body, spraying the rock wall. The body swayed and collapsed to the ground.

As the "man" died, the woman lying on the ground suddenly sat up like a corpse coming back to life, screaming and scratching her neck frantically, the fear and confusion in her eyes were unmistakably real.

At this sight, the Japanese men around burst into cheers, the man behind the woman even danced with excitement. The Black Wood Society leader said a few repeating words, Yang Xiao assumed it meant: "It worked!"

Before the woman could come to her senses, there was a sudden "stab", her body trembled, a bayonet thrust through her chest, instantly dyeing it red with blood.

Life faded from her eyes, and as the bayonet was pulled out, she fell straight to the ground, twitched a few times, then lay still.

The video ended there.

Yang Xiao and the other two stared at the now blank TV screen, unable to calm down for a long time. The woman’s face was undoubtedly the Resentful Eye; these guys were using live humans for experiments.

The experiment process was horrifying. The woman’s consciousness, covered by the ghost face, was extracted and entered another man’s body. As the man was killed, the consciousness returned, and the woman awoke.

Of course, the woman didn’t survive either, she was silenced like the man. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Not long after, Yu Kai and Dou Jie returned. Yang Xiao saw that only the two of them came back, and he already knew seven or eight tenths of the truth. He figured Xiao Yaqin had little chance of survival.

"Why are only you two here? Ms. Yaqin, she..." Xi Huijun looked behind Yu Kai and Dou Jie, but didn’t see Xiao Yaqin.

"Xiao Yaqin is dead. We found her body. She fell down the stairs, broke her neck." Yu Kai kept it brief.

Xi Huijun had not yet recovered from the horror of the video, and upon hearing this bad news, she felt dizzy. Qu Hong helped her to a chair, poured her a glass of water, then left her alone.

Dou Jie noticed the assembled TV and player and immediately asked, "You...what are you doing?"

"We’ll talk about this later. First, tell me how Xiao Yaqin died. Did you see the owner of the haunted house?" Yang Xiao pressed on.

Upon hearing this, Dou Jie explained the whole sequence of events, with Yu Kai filling in any gaps.

From the two men’s explanation, Yang Xiao quickly listed three points of suspicion in Xiao Yaqin’s death.

First was the timing. According to Yu Kai, Xiao Yaqin’s body already showed livor mortis, indicating a death time of at least over four hours, but four hours ago, they were all together.

Next was the bell. The bell on Xiao Yaqin’s body was missing, and Yu Kai and Dou Jie couldn’t find it on her body or nearby.

Finally, the scrap of paper in her hand. With his hospital work experience, Yu Kai identified it on the way back as resembling some kind of medical record, similar to a hospital ward inspection record.

Considering these three doubts, Yang Xiao thought for a moment and analyzed them one by one, "Where were we four hours ago?"

"Just about entering that haunted house," Qu Hong calculated the time.

"You mean Yaqin was killed right after entering the haunted house?" Dou Jie’s face tensed up. "That’s impossible."

"It’s just a hypothesis. Perhaps she was targeted by a ghost or some kind of curse upon entering. We might all be cursed."

Yang Xiao continued, "The bell disappeared after Yaqin died, so it must have been taken by the ghost. But we can’t conclude that the bell is directly related to her death. Whether carrying the bell makes you a priority target for the ghost is uncertain. We need to wait for the ghost’s next move."

"But the bell is gone." Yu Kai suddenly reminded.

"It’s not gone, the ghost has it," Yang Xiao corrected.

"Mr. Chu, please continue." Qu Hong listened quietly, like a humble student.

Yang Xiao picked up the scrap of paper, "Next is this. This was tightly clutched in Yaqin’s hand. I think it must have been torn from the ghost or influenced by the ghost. This ghost has something to do with a hospital."

"Excuse me, Mr. Chu," Dou Jie raised his hand, "We have learned that the two people who died in the haunted house were a writer and a housewife."

"You’re confusing two concepts. The ghosts in the haunted house aren’t Zheng Churou and Yin Kun. They were killed by the ghost. Their room was full of wind chimes before they died, indicating they sensed something wrong."

"Moreover, I am certain those two knew the origin of the killing ghost. One of them or both conspired to kill the ghost. Considering they were outsiders living in isolation, they were hiding from that ghost."

"Why?" Dou Jie asked.

"If they were ordinary people who sensed their house was haunted, would they continue living there? I’d rather sleep on the street."

Yang Xiao grew impatient. Dou Jie was too dumb. Even if he survived this, he would die later.

"Don’t interrupt Mr. Chu," Yu Kai impatiently slapped Dou Jie’s arm. Judging by Dou Jie’s reaction, it was quite forceful.

Qu Hong also gave Dou Jie a shutting up look. Sure enough, after receiving dual warnings from Yu Kai and Qu Hong, Dou Jie sat there more obediently.

Later, Yang Xiao told Yu Kai and Dou Jie about their findings in the office, the identity of those Japanese, and finally played the murder video.

Yu Kai wasn’t bad either. After watching the video, he roughly guessed the ability of the ghost face. Unexpectedly, their mistaken disguise coincided with the Japanese identities.

Being the oldest and experienced, Yu Kai explained that decades ago, the situation was unstable. The Japanese apostles frequently infiltrated, conducting secretive plans, and were harshly dealt with.

Since the last big war, the Japanese island apostles suffered heavy losses and have been quiet.

"Seems like Brother Yu has quite a story." Qu Hong smiled.

Yu Kai didn’t mind, "That was a long time ago. I used to work for the Apostles Union. Now I’m old and out of such matters. I’m a doctor now, a Chinese medicine practitioner."

"Chu, is this the only video?" Yu Kai asked.

"We searched the office, found just this one." Yang Xiao knew Yu Kai’s thought; there had to be more experiment footage revealing something new.

Yu Kai looked around, suddenly thought, "Have you searched that secret room?"

"No."

"I’ll check it out." Yu Kai stood up, called Dou Jie, and took Xi Huijun. The small space didn’t need more people.

Watching the three enter the door, Qu Hong slowly exhaled, rubbed her temples with a wry smile, "Brother Yu is from Apostles Union, I am a Chamber of Commerce bounty hunter, and Mr. Chu is a Patrol Defense Office squad leader. The three major forces are complete."

"With us three teaming up, there’s a good chance to break through. Besides, we will find the other six people." Yang Xiao reassured.

Qu Hong put down her hand, eyes interestingly looking at Yang Xiao’s face, "Mr. Chu, you seem very intent on finding the other team. Is someone you know among them?"

"Yes," Yang Xiao nodded seriously, looking at Qu Hong, "I know all six. They are all my brothers from Patrol Defense Office."

Qu Hong was stunned. A few seconds later, she covered her mouth, laughed and lightly punched Yang Xiao’s arm, "Mr. Chu, you’re so bad, scaring me!"

Yang Xiao laughed too, then casually asked, "Miss Qu, don’t you want to find the other team?"

"No." Qu Hong shook her head.

"Why?"

Qu Hong squinted, glanced at the opposite door, leaned forward, lowered her voice:

"Mr. Chu, did you forget the name of this mission?"