Free Web NovelChapter 1748: Chapter 1004: Corpse
Yang Xiao walked forward and slowly pulled back the blanket that covered Kato Atsushi. In the next second, everyone’s eyes widened in shock as they saw bloodstains appearing on Kato Atsushi’s clothes.
Hasegawa Hideji immediately wanted to go over for a closer look but was stopped by Yang Xiao, "Don’t move the body. Someone go and call the people downstairs up."
Soon, having received the news, Jiu Shan Sha Yue, Beiyu Ye, and others hurriedly arrived. They were all stunned upon seeing Kato Atsushi’s tragic death.
Someone among them stole a glance at Sakurai Miyuki, their eyes filled with suspicion.
This was understandable, as Sakurai Miyuki was the first to be attacked tonight, yet she survived, while Kato Atsushi, who lived on the same floor, died mysteriously and unjustly.
Mitsuo Takeda asked the others to step back so he could handle the body. He brought a pair of scissors when he arrived and used them to slowly cut open Kato Atsushi’s shirt without moving the body.
"Oh my god..." Takagi Sayo couldn’t help but cover her mouth tightly, her face filled with horror. Kato Atsushi’s body had multiple wounds, predominantly on the arms, and quite a few on the back, resembling knife slashes.
Moreover, there were at least dozens of stab wounds. This scene instantly reminded everyone present of the moment in Sakurai Miyuki’s room not long ago.
Behind the wooden cabinet door was the same scene, only this time Kato Atsushi was caught, unlike Sakurai Miyuki who managed to escape.
Mitsuo Takeda, worthy of his rank as a Chief Inspector, performed a very professional forensic examination. After a while, he exhaled deeply.
"Mr. Takeda, any findings?" Heize Lin couldn’t help but ask.
"This ominous instrument is quite strange; it’s not a conventional knife, not even a sharp tool. Look here," Mitsuo Takeda pointed at a scar on the body’s arm, the wound’s heart was a bloody mess, "The edges of this wound are very rough, and the direction is off. This means the wound wasn’t smoothly cut by a sharp instrument but was torn open."
"I suspect the weapon is a small object resembling an awl but with a very short point, which explains why each stab wound is shallow, with the spike length not exceeding 1 centimeter."
Mitsuo Takeda borrowed a pen from Jiu Shan Sha Yue, picked it up to demonstrate to everyone, mimicked "stabbing" his arm with the pen tip, then made a quick pull motion, indicating it was more or less like that.
At this moment, someone brought the previously dismantled cabinet door from Sakurai Miyuki’s room, comparing the marks on the door with the scars on the body, and everyone was convinced the methods were identical.
This means the ghost that killed Kato Atsushi is the same that attacked Sakurai Miyuki earlier.
"But... Mr. Takeda, where is the fatal wound?" Beiyu Ye examined the body closely, voicing the doubt in everyone’s mind.
The body indeed had many wounds, but they were all external injuries, far from fatal, so the real cause of death wasn’t these.
But this question remained unanswered. Mitsuo Takeda shook his head, "I also don’t know, these external injuries are far from fatal. Moreover, his cervical vertebrae are intact, showing no signs of being broken. I suspect... he might have been scared to death, but that requires a corpse dissection to conclude, which we currently can’t do."
"How long passed from when you heard the noise to when he died?" Qingshui Cangjie asked.
Yang Xiao recalled for a moment and provided an inaccurate answer, "I didn’t time it exactly, but certainly not short, a few minutes at least."
"Were there any other noises besides the screams?" Qingshui Cangjie asked again.
"No." Everyone answered in unison, as many heard it from outside the door.
The subsequent inspection confirmed everyone’s words; they checked the wardrobe, bedside cabinet, bathroom wooden door, wooden window frame, and even under the bed board but found no similar scratches or stab marks, unlike the previous attack on Sakurai Miyuki.
"This attack seemed to have no forewarning; Kato Atsushi had no reaction time at all, he was killed instantly." Heize Lin revealed the mystery.
"No, not accurate, he was caught instantly, then lost resistance and was brutally tortured by the ghost; this process lasted a few minutes." Yang Xiao filled in, the scars and screams were evidence.
"But why would the ghost do such a thing?" Shibuki Naoko questioned, in her view, the ghost was more like a precise machine, following some fixed rules, not doing anything redundant or meaningless.
"I don’t know, maybe to trick us into going in, maybe for something else, but personally, I think the possibility of tricking us in is very low. After all, no one is foolish enough to rush in knowing there’s a problem inside." Yang Xiao shared his opinion.
There were too many doubts about this; judging by the screams, Kato Atsushi was tortured for several minutes, yet there was no sign of struggle at the scene.
He seemed to have just lain there obediently, motionless, brutally murdered by the ghost, a scenario that was chilling just to imagine.
Obviously, this wasn’t Kato Atsushi’s intention; Yang Xiao judged he couldn’t move but remained conscious, hinting the ghost might possess some bizarre ability.
Curiously, why did someone experienced like Kato Atsushi get tricked, while a complete novice like Sakurai Miyuki escaped unharmed, what made her different?
"Miss Sakura, what were you doing before you heard the screams of Kato Atsushi?" Sure enough, someone pointed the finger at Sakurai Miyuki; it was Heize Lin, who had a strong martial arts presence, and his tone was full of command. freewebnoveℓ.com
Sakurai Miyuki was somewhat afraid of him, not even daring to meet his gaze, "I was sitting in a chair resting at the time, and when I heard the noise, I was terrified."
"You are the only witness, have you forgotten to tell us any clues?" Heize Lin further pressed.
"No... no, really, please believe me!" Sakurai Miyuki said fearfully.
"Mr. Heize, don’t be like this." Qingshui Cangjie spoke up, turning to Sakurai Miyuki, first comforting her with a few words, and then asking her to recount the scene when she was attacked by a ghost once more, emphasizing that she must be thorough, even though she had already repeated it three times.
This time, as she spoke, the group interrupted with questions now and then, taking a full ten minutes to go over it again, but unfortunately, there were still no new clues. Sakurai Miyuki’s escape seemed purely like luck; hearing the strange sound, she ran away in fear, and then... then she survived, until Kato Atsushi died.
No rules, no clues, nothing at all, the group was still in the fog.
Because some of them were tasked with duties at the reception desk or responsible for security, they couldn’t leave their posts for long, so they dispersed, but Kato Atsushi’s death was like a thorn in everyone’s side, the first victim had appeared, and it was believed there would soon be a second.
With no breakthrough direction, a corpse was a very good point to start looking for answers; the remaining people could gather many critical pieces of information from both the deceased and the surrounding environment.
But before that, they first needed to ensure they were survivors, rather than being the corpse displayed after death.
"Miss Yabuki, please take me away, let me stay with you tonight!" Sakurai Miyuki clutched Shibuki Naoko’s arm pleadingly, "I won’t sleep in your bed; I... I just need a room to sit in, I won’t disturb you!"
But, inevitably, she was refused again, Sakurai Miyuki then tried Tong Han, Nishimura Yuna, and others, but unsurprisingly, no one was willing to accept her.
Jiu Shan Sha Yue saw she was pitiful and found her a room, but it was still on the 6th floor.
It was clear that Sakurai Miyuki was very frightened and didn’t want to stay at all.
At this moment, Hasegawa Hideji walked over, pulled out a spoon from his pocket, and brandished it in front of Sakurai Miyuki’s eyes, threatening, "Miss Sakura, let me make it clear, if you dare leave the 6th floor tonight, I will gouge your eyes out and leave you in this room with Kato Atsushi."
"I’m not the only one who thinks this way, am I?" Hasegawa Hideji grinned, turning to look at the others, and this time, remarkably, no one objected.
Seeing this, Sakurai Miyuki felt despair, as if resigned to fate, she walked into the chosen room, and closed the door, locking it.
Yang Xiao, although he disliked Hasegawa Hideji’s nastiness, had to admit that certain things were more effective when he handled them.
Unless in extreme circumstances, Yang Xiao was unwilling to deal with these newcomers directly; he preferred not to resort to threats or intimidation, not even considering hitting them, because he could see himself in these new people’s eyes.
Of course, Yang Xiao believed that even during his first time, his performance was much better than these newcomers, but he was an exceptionally talented individual, incomparable to them.
Earlier, Elder Sheng had said that being noticed by the female demon of Heavenly Water Pavilion was itself a kind of talent, a recognition of his, Yang Xiao’s, character and ability.
Also, his appearance.
On the way back, Sato Shouta was so scared that his face turned white upon seeing a dead body up close for the first time, "Mr. Yang, will anything happen tonight? Will anyone else die?"
"Probably not." Yang Xiao comforted him, "But nothing is absolute; in this world, there are no absolutes. Just stay in your room, don’t open the door, don’t open the window, in a few hours it will be daylight."
"Everything will be better once it’s daylight, right?" Sato Shouta asked eagerly.
Originally Yang Xiao intended to tell him a part of the terrifying truth about the Nightmare World, like how many more people would die, a lot more people would die, but seeing the hope in Sato Shouta’s eyes made him pause and change his answer after a moment, "Yes, everything will get better once it’s daylight, the nightmare will eventually pass."
Upon hearing this, Sato Shouta’s eyes brightened, his mood visibly improved, "Yes, Mr. Yang, you’re right, everything will pass, we will all go home alive, isn’t that right?"
"Yes, we... we will go home alive." Yang Xiao stiffly smiled, his expression unnaturally avoiding Sato Shouta’s gaze.
Walking out of the service room door, Yang Xiao took a deep breath, his steps a bit heavy. He had a chance to go home, but some others were destined not to return.
But before that, he hoped to do something for Sato Shouta, even if it was to let him die in a relatively comfortable manner, as a small token of return for his trust in him.
To be honest, it’s not wise and somewhat foolish, but Yang Xiao felt it necessary. Angel Envoys were a group of pitiable creatures inching towards the abyss, and Yang Xiao hoped not to let down any beam of light that appeared beside him as he headed toward the abyss.
