HM Chapter 18

Taking a few more steps closer, the three bodies that slid out from the mortuary cabinet were now fully exposed. Their lower halves were covered with white cloth, showing only slight body movements and raised toes—nothing particularly unusual. However, the horrific state of their upper halves was beyond what anyone could bear.

From their imperfect facial features and hairstyles, it was clear these bodies belonged to males of different ages: a young boy, a middle-aged man, and an elderly man.

Their faces were painted with clown-like makeup, with red paint forming a grotesque smile on their lips. Their facial features were incomplete: the boy was missing his eyes, the middle-aged man had his nose removed, and the elderly man had a gaping hole in his skull, revealing the gray matter and brain tissue inside.

Their torsos were even worse. Limbs were twisted into bizarre positions, as if they were toys assembled from building blocks. One was missing a hand, another had an extra hand growing from under the arm—clearly visible since there were no clothes to cover it. This hand seemed to naturally grow from there, as if it was normal for someone to have three hands.

Their chests were a bloody mess, almost entirely split open. Dark red organs were crudely stuffed inside their slightly bulging skin.

The scene was so detailed and vivid that even though Gold had little fear left, she felt nauseous.

When were these bodies placed here, and why were they so—

Gold had an inappropriate word pop into her mind.

Fresh.

As if they had been killed recently.

Before Gold could dwell on this thought, she saw Yuan Yuxue suddenly reach out, pulling the white cloth down a bit more.

The exposed parts were also bloody, and it seemed he wanted to touch them.

Gold instinctively resisted the idea of his beautiful fingers being stained with the foul-smelling blood.

"Don't..." She stepped forward, suggesting with hesitation, "Use a tissue. Don’t let it get dirty."

"Hmm?" Yuan Yuxue looked back at her. "It won't get dirty."

He peeled back the chest area, examining the organs inside. Finding something odd, he retracted his hand, his fingertips still pristine. Yuan Yuxue calmly explained, "These are models."

Gold was stunned.

Yuan Yuxue had seen many dead bodies.

So many that, at first glance, without relying on data scans, he could tell these were just lifelike models.

The models weren't crudely made; they were realistic enough to deceive the eyes.

The models were nearly life-sized, their texture highly realistic, indistinguishable from real flesh and bone in the dim, atmospheric lighting. Even Curly mistook them for real corpses until he got closer and didn't smell any blood, realizing they were just dummies.

No wonder Yuan Yuxue said they couldn’t be considered specimens.

Even if they were real corpses, Curly wouldn’t have been afraid, let alone when they were fakes. He scrutinized them for a while, then nonchalantly reached into the open chest cavities, rummaging through the model organs and intestines, only to conclude regretfully: there's nothing real inside.

Trying to take a shortcut to find the specimens was impossible.

As he withdrew his hand, the overhead light suddenly flickered.

The hanging incandescent lamp shook violently, flashing on and off. In the strobe-like intervals, Gold saw the model bodies on the table seem to twitch. Her heart skipped a beat, and then the light went out completely, plunging the room into darkness.

With the light gone, their hearing became extremely acute. It seemed like something was scraping against the metal table, coming closer.

In such darkness, every sound was terrifying. Gold instinctively stepped back, her ear brushing against something.

Cold and soft, like skin without elasticity.

Yuan Yuxue blinked in the dark.

The "models" he found odd had all sat up, crawling out of their slots, squatting in two different directions.

The boy model didn't go far; its leaping ability was astounding.

It sprang to the ceiling. Half its bloody body adhered there, while the other half dangled down. The modified pale hand extended longer and longer, even surpassing the height of its entire body.

Until it brushed against Gold's head, swinging to touch her ear.

It seemed to want to grasp her head, its fingers slightly closing.

Had the light returned at that moment, Gold would have seen two pale hands on either side of her vision. If she looked up, she would see the creature on the ceiling, staring at her with a twisted, eyeless face and a grotesque clown smile.

Yet, its hand was held back by someone.

Yuan Yuxue didn’t quite understand why this model chose the ceiling. Nonetheless, he ruthlessly grabbed the dangling hand and yanked it down, causing it to crash to the floor with a dull thud.

Model: “……”

At that moment, the light flickered back on.

Gold blinked her dry eyes, seeing the empty slots in the cabinet and realizing the three models could move.

One lay on the floor, another had its arm broken by Curly in the dark—probably because it had tried to attack and failed.

The third one stood next to her. Looking up, she saw the drilled hole in its head and the gray brain matter inside.

…Disgusting.

Though shocked, the "flashlight scare" didn’t terrify her. She quickly retrieved a holy water item she had previously exchanged and splashed it on the model. The exorcism effect was immediate; the model staggered back, covering its face, with a hissing sound like magma melting the ground.

Curly, seeing the moving models, asked with interest, “Does this count as them being alive? If we soak it in the holy water, can we use it as a makeshift specimen?” While Curly was thinking about where to find the water to make specimens, he heard a faint rubbing noise.

Not from the model beneath him but from further away, a frequent, agitated sound.

Yuan Yuxue noticed it too.

His hearing, far sharper than a human’s, picked up the sound immediately. His ears twitched slightly as he glanced towards the mortuary cabinet.

Like winter eggs hatching from the soil, the cabinet was being rhythmically tapped. The initially weak noise had become a high-pitched tone, splitting headaches and becoming impossible to ignore.

The cabinet's slots were slowly opening, many at once.

"…" Curly fell silent briefly. It was rare to see him restrain himself. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly. "How many drawers does this cabinet have?"

"One hundred and forty-four," Yuan Yuxue replied.

Curly seemed to consider for a moment before admitting defeat for the first time—

"Run."

He suggested sincerely.

A hundred and forty-four emerging monsters—

For Yuan Yuxue, there was no need to face them head-on. His energy was low and needed to be conserved for maintaining his normal functions.

Curly wasn't incapable of escaping unharmed, but as the team's main fighter, he wasn’t suited for protecting others. He could eliminate threats easily, but in such dense ghost-filled surroundings, he doubted he could ensure the safety of his teammates.

As for Gold.

—No need to think about staying.

The three immediately agreed and ran out the door without hesitation.

The white door was pushed open again. Curly glanced at the fallen chains, picked them up, and draped them over the door handles. Since a section was broken, he haphazardly tied them in a knot to keep them in place.

Just after completing this, a loud banging came from behind the door.

Bang, bang, bang…

It sounded like countless hands pushing the door, countless bodies knocking, making the door shake violently. The chains clanked, likely to break soon.

Run!

But where to?

Gold felt her rational mind fraying. As the eerie footsteps grew closer, she said, "In such a chase, there must be a safe zone, or at least a temporary hiding spot—"

Pausing for a moment, she suddenly thought, "The place with the medical equipment!"

Being sensitive to temperature, she recalled that the abnormal chill had disappeared when they reached the equipment area.

They had left quickly, disgusted by the cruel tools.

But these "models" or rather, the ghosts possessing them, might be equally afraid of those tools.

The medical instruments might have been the very things that killed them, thus holding a deterrent power.

Gold quickly explained her reasoning and changed direction. They retraced their steps to the equipment storage area.

As soon as they entered, the dense footsteps behind them vanished.

Escaping a dire situation, Gold breathed a sigh of relief. The creepy instruments seemed more comforting now, and she murmured, "Thank goodness for a safe zone."

Yuan Yuxue's skin was still pale. Despite running, he didn’t seem out of breath, though his long eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Curly, worried about Yuan Yuxue's condition, moved closer, “Hey, are you alright?”

“No,” Yuan Yuxue suddenly raised his head, fixing his gaze on a point in the air. His tone remained calm, “A safe zone doesn’t necessarily mean it's safe.”

It might be so dangerous that even the ghosts dare not enter.