Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 763: Chapter 577: The Nonexistent "11

"Brother, this must be your first time at a place like this," said Yang Xiao outside the door, turning to Fang Zhou beside him, lowering his voice with a laugh.

Fang Zhou frowned upon hearing this and similarly turned his head, offering Yang Xiao a calm, composed smile, "Of course not, why do you ask?"

"People tend to subconsciously make some meaningless movements when they are nervous, like adjusting their glasses, tugging on their hair, or frequently blinking, and your habit is to rub your sleeve," Yang Xiao glanced at Fang Zhou’s left hand hidden behind his back.

Sure enough, as soon as Fang Zhou heard Yang Xiao’s words, his fingers stopped rubbing the sleeve and clenched tightly, a flash of panic crossing his eyes, yet he still insisted, speaking calmly, "Mr. Yang, I think you might be mistaken, these don’t prove anything."

Yang Xiao wasn’t bothered and spoke lightly, "Don’t worry, I mean no harm. Everyone has been through this stage, if you’re an old hand, then forget what I said. If you’re a newbie, remember my words, speak less, listen more, that’s how you stay alive."

"Why are you telling me this?" Fang Zhou, on his guard, took a step back into the room, getting closer to the bathing women before he asked.

Yang Xiao slightly turned his head, the next second, his gaze jumped past Fang Zhou to focus on a row of bathing women, to be precise, on the second barrel from the left in the stalls, where mist hovered above the water, but one could still make out that there was no one in the barrel.

Pushing past Fang Zhou, Yang Xiao rushed over, startling the other three women, and when he reached the barrel, he lifted the partially lowered curtain to find a layer of petals floating on the surface of the water, but the person was gone.

"Where is she?!"

The stall space was small, and Yang Xiao, having circled to the back of the barrel, found no trace of the woman. At that moment, the other three women also realized something was wrong and immediately wrapped themselves in robes, running out barefoot.

It was easy to determine that this stall belonged to Yuan Ruoci, the strikingly beautiful girl who batted her eyes seductively at Yang Xiao.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Xiao stepped forward, slowly moving aside the petals on the water surface, and the next second, a pair of wide-open eyes and a lifeless face appeared from beneath the water.

It was Yuan Ruoci!

"Hurry up, come here, there’s been an accident!" wrapped in a garment, Chang Chuchu rushed outside and yelled downstairs.

Nalan Shuo and the others acted swiftly, in less than a minute, they arrived upstairs, wrapped in robes—all five of them, as being alone at such a time was not wise.

With wet hair and bare chests, Nalan Shuo was the first to charge up the staircase, slowing down only upon seeing Yang Xiao unharmed.

Soon, all ten people had gathered, encircling Yuan Ruoci’s bathing tub in a somber silence. Yuan Ruoci lay submerged, her face turned upward, her hair, spread open, gently billowing in the water, set off by the petals, lending a tragically artistic beauty to the scene.

A living person had died, almost right before everyone’s eyes. Yuan Ruoci’s stall was in the middle, flanked by people on both sides, and with Yang Xiao and Fang Zhou standing guard outside, yet it wasn’t enough to save her life.

The deceased was not to be feared; it was crucial to figure out how the death occurred. A silent, inexplicable death was the most terrifying. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"Let’s get her out of the water first," Zhang Songde finally couldn’t stand it, rolling up his sleeves while also asking, "Which brother is willing to lend a hand?"

"I will," Chang Chuchu gathered her hair, casually securing it at the back of her head with a wooden hairpin, then she approached the barrel to assist Zhang Songde, each grabbing one of Yuan Ruoci’s shoulders, preparing to lift the body up.

But the very next second, both Zhang Songde’s and Chang Chuchu’s expressions changed drastically, and they quickly retreated, Zhang Songde’s expression even worse than if he had swallowed a fly in shock, "There’s...there’s something pulling her from below!"

Hearing this, everyone instantly backed away, Nalan Shuo ordered, "Nobody panic, leave a few people to guard the door, keep an eye on your backs. Fengchen, come with me, don’t use hands, get a bucket, let’s drain the water!"

"Also, rip down these curtains, spread out, don’t leave any blind spots in your field of view!" Nalan Shuo’s orders brought calm to the scene, showcasing the mettle of seasoned players as everyone got to work.

The curtains from the other three stalls were torn down, four people stood by the door outside, while Xiang Fengchen’s actions were even more radical than Nalan Shuo’s, striding forward and delivered a ferocious kick to the edge of the barrel. His powerful kick showed his martial training, and after several kicks, the edges of the barrel burst apart at the seams, allowing water to spill out.

Soon, water covered the floor, and when most of it had drained, Xiang Fengchen and Nalan Shuo cautiously approached. By then, most of Yuan Ruoci’s body was exposed in the barrel, which aside from the corpse, contained only a bathing stool, a wooden hairpin, and a few petals.

They managed to smoothly pull out the body this time. Yet, upon examination of the corpse, everyone noticed something unusual—dark purple bruises appeared on the lower limbs of the body.

"Livor mortis?" Chang Chuchu, the Funeral Master, knitted her brows.

Normally, livor mortis would appear about two to four hours after death, but Yuan Ruoci had been dead for no more than half an hour.

Furthermore, upon closer examination by Chang Chuchu, it was confirmed that Yuan Ruoci had indeed drowned. But it was impossible for a living person to drown without a sound in a bathtub, especially since her body had been pulled into the water by something earlier.

Yet, what was strange was that there were no external injuries on the body at all.