Free Web NovelChapter 696: Chapter 542: Contraband
The burnt ghost didn’t need eyes; it could kill solely with its sense of smell, and its shadow revealed by light was one of its few weaknesses. Now that all the lights had gone out, no one could hold on for long in such conditions.
To ensure this person was thoroughly dead, Yang Xiao picked out two pieces of rusty wire from the iron box, bent them, and stuffed them into the lock of the morgue door, completely sealing it shut.
After doing all of this, Yang Xiao didn’t stay long—he had lingered here too long already. The sick ghost might still be nearby, and he absolutely had to be cautious.
Unable to afford time to check his injuries, leaving this place was currently the most important thing. He hobbled along, supporting himself against the wall. He had almost finished searching the first underground floor, and had not found the place he was looking for. When he found the stairs to go up, he inadvertently discovered something that resembled a fire hydrant decoration at the corner—it jutted out from the wall and had a metal casing covering it, with a full glass panel embedded in the direction it faced. Due to years of neglect, the metal casing was severely rusted, and the glass was covered with dust.
"Forbidden item exhibit..." Staring at the faintly visible red letters on the glass panel, Yang Xiao was momentarily bewildered.
Forbidden items from this hospital?
This successfully piqued Yang Xiao’s curiosity. He looked up and down for a moment and, after confirming the area was temporarily safe, he swiftly wiped a clean spot on the murky glass with his clothing and peered inside. To his surprise, he found that the so-called exhibit was actually a toy car.
Beside the toy car was an old-fashioned plastic remote control—it was a remote-controlled car!
Almost in an instant, Yang Xiao realized the value of this remote-controlled car. It could move, meaning it could very well draw the Frog Ghost’s attention. Of course, this was provided that, after being stored for so long, the remote-controlled car could still work.
After some effort to retrieve the remote-controlled car, Yang Xiao excitedly discovered that not only could the car move, but it could also emit a piercing siren sound while it ran. Besides the Frog Ghost, the sick ghost would be attracted too. With this treasure, he would have a significant margin for error.
"I’ve found a forbidden item, a remote-controlled car. Maybe it’s one you used to escape back in the days," he shared the good news with the rag doll right away.
With the remote-controlled car carefully tucked into his embrace, Yang Xiao felt a lot more at ease. His lower left leg had been cut by a knife, causing severe pain, but just as he bent down to treat the wound simply, he witnessed an incredible scene. His trousers were cut by the knife, yet there was no blood.
How was that possible?
He could feel the intense pain from the wound; every step he took was agonizing. He took a deep breath, pulled his trouser leg up to reveal the wound, and the next second, the scene before his eyes nearly made him suffocate. The flesh at the wound was torn open, but inside, there were no muscles or bones, just off-white cotton stuffing and some shredded pieces of cloth.
On instinct, his legs gave way, and Yang Xiao collapsed to the ground. His entire body had already transformed into a rag doll’s. From the look of it, it wouldn’t be long before he became just like the rag dolls on the morgue corpse beds.
No, that’s not right—Yang Xiao’s pupils suddenly constricted. The ones in the morgue weren’t any rag dolls; they were living people who had unsuccesfully tried to flee and had been transformed by the ghosts in this hospital!
The rag doll he carried was the same!
Quickly, Yang Xiao realized something even more important and somewhat terrifying. The rag doll said it needed him to find a body. Yang Xiao had always thought it was referring to the body it once had, but now it seemed that might not be the case. He clearly remembered what the rag doll had once said to him: it didn’t know what the body they were looking for looked like, but it had also said that he would definitely recognize it as soon as he saw it.
What kind of body could one recognize with just a glance?
The answer was simple—his own body!
So a new question emerged: why would the rag doll go to such lengths to help him find a body? Was it because it was kind-hearted?
A bold assumption formed in Yang Xiao’s mind a moment later: the rag doll was not entirely his ally. This guy was using him. What it really wanted was his body. It had lost its body and sought to possess a new one!
At the same time, Yang Xiao immediately thought of the so-called "bad." "Bad" wasn’t fictional; it truly existed and was hiding right among them, embodied by the rag dolls that everyone carried with them!
"What’s wrong with you?"
"Why aren’t you talking?"
Words flashed on the screen of the cellphone. The rag doll couldn’t see or hear; it couldn’t perceive changes in the outside world, only communicating through Yang Xiao.
Calming his emotions, Yang Xiao feigned calmness in his few responses and did not reveal to it that he had discovered his body had been swapped.
Whether his guess was right or wrong, Yang Xiao had become suspicious of this rag doll. He knew he must not let this rag doll touch his body, it was best not even to get close—the creature’s danger was in no way inferior to those three ghosts.
Yang Xiao wanted to notify Qu Muzhi of this critical message, but their only means of communication was through mobile phones, and the moment he used his phone, the rag doll would be aware. Therefore, he decided to look for Qu Muzhi and remind him in person, besides, he was going upstairs anyway.
As he made his way upstairs, Yang Xiao carefully thought over the previous conversation with the rag doll, believing most of the information it disclosed should be true, for it needed him to find its body so it could proceed with its next plan.
In other words, as long as the unspoken truth wasn’t revealed, they would still be allies against the three ghosts, two peas in a pod.
"After helping you find your body, what should we do?" Yang Xiao typed tentatively, "You’ve promised to help me leave this place."
"Don’t worry, I keep my word. Once I find my body, I’ll save you. We’ll leave through the hospital’s main door. I know the way," the rag doll immediately promised.
"But I’ve been to the first floor, and there’s no door in the lobby," Yang Xiao continued typing.
"There is a door, trust me. We just can’t see it in our current state. Once we find my body, I... we’ll be able to see it!" The rag doll’s reply didn’t seem like it was typed but converted through voice recognition, with a very abrupt transition.
"Hisss—"
From the tone inadvertently revealed by the rag doll, Yang Xiao was eighty percent certain that the little thing was deceiving him—it was the "bad" one.
Perhaps after such a long ordeal together, the rag doll was convinced it had Yang Xiao completely under control, and its speech became more careless, allowing Yang Xiao to spot many oddities in succession. Seizing on one point, he rebutted, "What did you mean by ’there is a door, but we can’t see it as we are now’?"
This time the rag doll hesitated for over ten seconds before sending a deflecting message: "It’s nothing. Right now, the key is to find the body. As long as you help me find it, I’ll definitely be able to take you with me. I promise!"
Chucking coldly to himself, Yang Xiao now had an additional piece of life-saving equipment—two in fact; one was the remote-controlled car, and the other was the rag doll. In a critical moment, he could sacrifice the rag doll to take a bullet for him. Its value was almost completely wrung out. According to the intel extracted from the rag doll so far, once he found his own body, he would revert to a normal person and be able to see the true entrance door on the first floor, and that would be his escape route!
Looking down at the kitchen knife in his hand, another puzzle unraveled. No wonder he couldn’t use the Magic Artifact after waking up—this body wasn’t even his. It would be truly bizarre if the Magic Artifact could work. Now, inhabiting this special rag doll body, Yang Xiao was encountering such a peculiar thing for the first time.
Treading stealthily to the second floor, Yang Xiao hid in a corner and sent a message to Qu Muzhi, informing him that he had escaped and was asking where Qu Muzhi was, as he had something very important to tell him.
"What’s the Director’s name? Huang something?" A message appeared on the screen half a minute later from Qu Muzhi.
Yang Xiao couldn’t help but give a wry smile. He had forgotten that asking Qu Muzhi’s location as soon as he arrived was a typical ghostly act. Qu Muzhi didn’t trust him and treated him as a ghost.
"Your Director is named Huang, mine is Nolan."
Once the code was confirmed, Qu Muzhi also became convinced it was Yang Xiao on the other end. He quickly sent a message asking Yang Xiao to avoid the fifth floor as he was trapped in a room in the right corridor on the fifth floor, with the sick ghost right outside the door.
"What are you talking about, I’m coming to help you." Yang Xiao replied, "Wait for me."
"Be careful."
Qu Muzhi didn’t put on airs about receiving help from Yang Xiao and quickly shared the situation with him. The circumstances on the fifth and sixth floors were very complicated, with both the sick ghost and the Frog Ghost nearby. Qu Muzhi warned Yang Xiao to be careful when going upstairs, as he had heard the Frog Ghost had seemingly discovered a survivor, and the sound of boots was heading downstairs.
With the remote-controlled car and the rag doll—two Magic Treasures to discard—Yang Xiao was confident he could manage, unless he faced a point-blank slaying or a direct ambush.
But as he just reached the turn of the stairwell on the fourth floor, something unexpected happened. As he glanced around the corner, he saw a terrifying figure; the Frog Ghost was standing on the steps of the fifth-floor staircase, its back fortunately turned, and its massive head rotating slowly like a radar.
Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately turned around to sneak down quietly, but he was a step too slow. The last bit of his background was caught by those huge eyes. The next second, as Yang Xiao made it down the stairs, heavy footsteps were heard pursuing him from behind.
It was too late to use the remote-controlled car now. On instinct, he sprinted for an escape, but the Frog Ghost was faster. Bursting out of the stairwell, he ran towards one end of the corridor. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the elevator on the right moving, going up.
He knew he couldn’t outrun the Frog Ghost in a straight dash, and even if he hid in a room, he would be cornered. Instantly, he made a bold decision, abandoned the idea of running away, and sprinted to the elevator, pressing the button with force. ƒreewebɳovel.com
The moment he stabilized himself after pressing the button, the Frog Ghost burst out of the stairwell. Simultaneously, the elevator came to Yang Xiao’s level, and as the doors of the elevator gradually opened, the Frog Ghost took notice and charged towards it. It rushed into the elevator, swinging the big scissors wildly, piercing randomly, with the ear-piercing friction sound filling the air.
But soon after, the elevator doors closed slowly, and the elevator continued to ascend, carrying the Frog Ghost away.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Yang Xiao didn’t dare linger. Quickly determining his direction, he chose to continue upstairs from another route. Right before he left, the elevator finally halted on the seventh floor.
