Wei Ge picked up the two large buckets from the ground and headed deeper into the corridor. Li Xu stayed behind, holding his flashlight, unable to stop himself from shining it into the morgue. He knew all too well that somewhere in the darkness, an open-eyed corpse was watching him.
"I'd better just close the door. Out of sight, out of mind."
Li Xu shut the morgue door and glanced around. Wei Ge was already far ahead, and being alone in the corridor made his heart race.
He looked back. In the places the light couldn't reach, something monstrous seemed to be lurking. He kept feeling like someone was hiding around the corner of the passage.
He wanted to go look, but didn't dare.
After a long internal struggle, he decided he'd feel safer with Wei Ge.
"This place is way too creepy. At least two people can watch each other's backs."
Clutching his flashlight, Li Xu looked back every few steps, terrified that something might suddenly burst out behind him.
"I hope I'm just being paranoid."
Once Li Xu had gone far enough, a massive, grotesque hammer with blood grooves emerged from around the corner.
He stepped out from the corner and stopped at the warehouse entrance. "None of the photos Zhang Li gave me had anything about this morgue. Could this be the legendary Chamber No. 8 that supposedly doesn't exist?"
Chen Ge pushed open the iron door and peered inside. Other than several glass containers holding cadavers, there was nothing unusual.
"The deceased look peaceful — they probably donated their bodies voluntarily. I can't sense the slightest trace of resentment in this room. In no way does it match the rumors about Chamber No. 8."
Chen Ge's experience with haunted houses was extensive. After one cursory glance, his doubts only deepened. The situation in this underground morgue might be far more complicated than he had imagined.
"Just now, I think I heard those two talking about handprints, something having gotten out…" Chen Ge was about to step inside when the white cat perched on his backpack suddenly leaped to the ground and bolted deeper into the corridor.
There were other people still in the passage, and Chen Ge didn't want to reveal himself. Without a word, he temporarily abandoned Chamber No. 8 and followed close behind the white cat.
After devouring the blood threads from the Strange Tales Association, the white cat seemed to have grown slightly larger, its movements more agile. It was fast, covering several meters in the blink of an eye.
"What's drawing it?"
Chen Ge knew the white cat well. Every time they went out together on trial missions, the cat would cling desperately to his side. It had once been quite bold, but a comfortable life had drained it of its wildness — most of the time it was an absolute coward. So it would never willingly leave Chen Ge's side unless it was absolutely necessary.
Fearing the white cat might get lost, Chen Ge quickened his pace. Man and cat reached the end of the corridor together.
Someone had apparently bricked up this section at some point, but something had happened since then that caused the brick wall to collapse.
The middle of the path was piled with all kinds of debris, and right in front lay a fallen signpost with a message: "Structural decay. Collapse hazard. Entry strictly prohibited!"
On the stone bricks beside the sign, traces of that viscous liquid were still faintly visible. Li Xu and Wei Ge had run in this direction.
"The outer zone is the newest extension, containing seven chambers. Go any further in and you've reached the middle zone."
Jiujiang Medical University had been built decades ago and was the city's earliest medical school. The middle zone of the underground morgue had been preserved almost exactly as it had been back then.