Chapter 44: Sleep

Chapter 44: Sleep

Sang Xu quickly hooked Zheng Shitou’s backpack, pulled out a folding shovel, and began digging himself out of the meat. He dug from his waist downward, and with each shovelful of meat removed, he saw that his legs were still there, unharmed. Relieved that his legs were fine, Sang Xu let out a sigh of relief. He looked up to see backpacks and sacks left behind by the other companions.

They probably hadn’t intentionally abandoned Sang Xu—otherwise, they wouldn’t have left their backpacks behind. Sang Xu had a foreboding feeling. Had they all been buried in the sacrificial meat?

Suddenly, a sack not far away shuddered.

Sang Xu whipped his head around, staring at the sack.

The opening of the sack wasn’t tied tightly. Amid rustling sounds, a rotting hand emerged from the sack, its long nails digging straight into the sacrificial meat. At the same time, Sang Xu heard a hissing coming from inside the sack.

A familiar terror seized him. Sang Xu suddenly remembered the four-headed ancient corpses from the Gate of Hell and hurriedly stuffed tissues into his ears from his pocket while shoveling faster.

Another rotting hand emerged from the sack, and the corpse fully emerged. The four growths on its neck opened their eyes simultaneously, each one blood-red, glowing faintly in the darkness like will-o'-the-wisps.

Sang Xu broke out in a cold sweat. If it spotted him, would it tearfully recognize him as family? He doubted it.

Sang Xu moved quietly, hiding half his body behind the kitchen counter as he frantically shoveled the meat. His left leg was free, but his right leg was still trapped. In the living room, the monstrous corpse supported itself with its hands, crawling like an insect through the narrow room, sniffing and probing. Its tumor-like heads swiveled as if searching for something in the room.

Was it looking for him? Sang Xu wondered.

He dug more fiercely, with only one foot still stuck in the meat. As he dug, Sang Xu cautiously lifted his head to check on the monster in the living room. The camping lamp cast a dim, flickering light, and the living room was gloomy and shadowy. The sacrificial meat was growing slowly and silently, with blood vessels hanging down like vines, resembling dirty dust clusters.

Sang Xu’s gaze scanned the living room.

The monstrous corpse was gone.

Sang Xu shoveled out the last bit of sacrificial meat, pulled his right foot free, and searched through Zheng Shitou’s backpack for a handgun. He slowly stood up, first checking behind him—it was empty. The monster hadn’t hidden behind him while he wasn’t looking. Tiptoeing into the living room, he heard rustling sounds coming from the bedroom.

Peeking into the bedroom, he saw it was pitch-dark, mostly occupied by sacrificial meat. Sang Xu carefully shone his flashlight inside and saw the four-headed monster hunched over with its back to him, digging frantically at something. Sang Xu considered slipping out of the apartment while it was busy digging, but as he reached the door, curiosity got the better of him—what was it digging for?

After a moment’s thought, Sang Xu returned to the bedroom door, deciding to ambush it. He aimed at its middle head and fired.

Bang! The shot missed. His marksmanship was far inferior to Han Rao’s.

The monster twisted around with a shrill, chaotic screech. Sang Xu fired two more shots. The monster pushed off with its arms, leaping onto the ceiling like a grotesque insect, scurrying rapidly toward Sang Xu. Sang Xu braced the gun with one hand and pulled the trigger with the other—bang, bang, bang! Finally, just as the monster lunged at him, a shot hit its skull squarely.

It crashed to the ground, its remaining three tumor-like heads writhing as if trying to get up again. Sang Xu stepped on its body to reload, then fired at each of the tumors one by one until the monster stopped moving completely.

Sang Xu walked into the bedroom, crouched down, and examined the hole it had dug. It had dug through not only the sacrificial meat but also the wooden floor. Following the direction of its digging, Sang Xu shoveled a few more times, pried up the floorboard, and discovered a sandalwood box hidden inside.

This box… Sang Xu carefully lifted it out and examined it closely.

This box was identical to Zhou Xia’s urn.

Only much older. Zhou Xia’s was new, bright, and clean, as if Grandpa had specially picked it for his ashes. This one, however, was discolored and chipped in many places. It was sealed with an old yellow talisman paper, and he had no idea what was inside.

Could this be the Sang family relic the Zhou family was searching for?

It looked far more significant than those pots and pans.

Sang Xu didn’t dare open the box recklessly—what if some ancient ancestor popped out? Better to wait until Zhou Xia arrived. To prevent the monster from causing trouble again, Sang Xu smashed its tumor-like heads to pulp, dismembered it into even smaller pieces to ensure it couldn’t be reassembled, and stuffed it into a sack.

The sack was for handing over to the Zhou family, but the sandalwood box he intended to keep for himself.

Sang Xu took out the walkie-talkie and tried to contact Zhou Xia and the other companions.

"Anyone there?"

The walkie-talkie crackled, and Guo Hongjian’s voice came through again.

"She’s looking for you…"

Sang Xu frowned. "Who?"

"Sun Wanqing…"

"Tell her to stop," Sang Xu said. "Do you know where my companions went?"

"Many people are looking for you…" Guo Hongjian’s voice drifted faintly.

"Are they my companions?"

"No…" Guo Hongjian said. "It’s your mom, dad, grandpa, grandma…"

As the words faded, the crackling on the walkie-talkie intensified, and faint, elusive calls could be heard.

"Xiao Guai…"

"Xiao Guai…"

Sang Xu turned off the walkie-talkie.

He couldn’t be sure if it was really Guo Hongjian speaking to him. This place was too full of bizarre occurrences—maybe it really was a ghost contacting him through the radio.

As for "the one following him"…

It was probably that monster with the faces of his mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma.

Sang Xu didn’t believe it was really them. After all, during the fire, his mother had desperately urged him to escape.

What kind of monster was impersonating his family?

Recalling the monster’s appearance—four heads… Could it be related to the Sang family’s beliefs? Sang Xu had an unbelievable suspicion, but he didn’t dare confirm it.

Forget it—there was no time to dwell on that now. The priority was to reunite with Zhou Xia. Being alone here really made death more likely. He removed his earplugs, checked his Heaven-Mending Pill, Nuo mask, and other equipment, tucked the handgun into his waistband, shouldered his backpack and the sack, and was about to open the door to check outside when suddenly, there was a firm knocking.

Who would be knocking in a place like this?

He didn’t answer.

"Brother Jian Guo?" A familiar voice came from outside the door.

Sang Xu frowned. Was that Shen Zhitang!?

Worried it might be a ghost in disguise, Sang Xu still didn’t respond. He quietly pressed against the door, confirming it was locked.

"I heard you talking with Lao Guo on the walkie-talkie," Shen Zhitang’s voice whispered from outside. "I know you might be suspicious, wondering if I’m still alive. You can ask me questions to verify my identity."

"In the last dream, whose information did I ask you for?"

"The Impermanent Immortal."

"We ran into Guo Hongjian, and he said you went missing. What happened?"

"I didn’t go missing—I hid. Lao Guo is a pervert who harasses people. I was afraid something might happen to me, so I hid midway." Shen Zhitang continued, "Not long after you and your teammates entered 1817, I detected you with the scanner. You were already resting, so I didn’t dare show myself. Brother Jian Guo, you made a fatal mistake."

"A mistake?"

"Yeah, wanna know? What’ll you give me for it?"

Sang Xu now believed it really was Shen Zhitang.

He opened the door to find Shen Zhitang crouched outside, filthy from head to toe. She looked utterly exhausted, her lips pale and dark circles under her eyes. A girl who'd been pretty now resembled a walking corpse.

"Brother Jian Guo, I'll give you what I know, and you help me get out. I've been in here for nine days, and in a few hours, it'll be ten." Shen Zhitang looked at him and said, "I'm running out of time."

"The time is too short; I can't make any promises." Sang Xu frowned.

"But I believe if you say yes, you'll try to find a way." Shen Zhitang said, "Among the outsiders, I only trust you and Brother Han."

This deal was all upside, no downside for Sang Xu. Even if he couldn't help her find a way out within those few hours, he wouldn't be out anything. It was clear Shen Zhitang was truly at the end of her rope.

"Deal. What mistake did we make?"

"You shouldn't have slept."

Shen Zhitang showed him her watch. Sang Xu realized they had fallen asleep at 7 PM, and it was still 7 PM now.

That was impossible—did time stop?

Wait, time hadn't stopped; they had slept far longer than they imagined.

"How long did we sleep?" Sang Xu asked.

"A full three days."

Shen Zhitang took out her phone and showed him the infrared thermal imaging surveillance video she had recorded. She had been scanning their location from upstairs with a detector, keeping her distance so Zhou Xia didn't spot her. In the video, five red dots remained in Room 1817—Sang Xu, Zhou Xia, and the others.

Sang Xu examined the positions of the five red dots, figuring the top one was him, the three below were Wen Yuan, Fang Lanze, and Zhou Xia, and the bottom one was Zheng Shitou.

After he returned from standing guard by the door, he hadn't moved. The other red dots occasionally shifted but mostly didn't move, indicating everyone was resting. Shen Zhitang dragged the progress bar forward. Two hours later, except for the red dot representing Sang Xu, the other four just vanished into thin air in an instant.

Earlier, Sang Xu had speculated they might have been swallowed by the growing sacrificial meat in their sleep, like Guo Hongjian.

Sang Xu was wrong. They weren't swallowed by the sacrificial meat—they disappeared suddenly, like popping soap bubbles.

After that, Sang Xu was out for three days alone.