Tales of Aegiceras: Cave in

10. The Night Watchman (10)

Translator: Superbomb

What was wrong?

Did he remember wrongly?

“Zheng… Zheng…” Lu Xia called out cautiously from behind him.

“I’m fine,” Sun Zheng had regained his composure when he turned around. “What happened just now?” What the hell is wrong with the elevator and the staircase?!”

“Zheng!” Lu Xia moved closer and put his hand on his shoulder. “God knows what’s going on! Everything is wrong in this hospital!”

“I wonder how come… how come it was Zhang who walked upstairs? How come…” Sun Zheng’s chest was still heaving slightly as he spoke. ”If it were someone else, we might be able to get out of the hospital with him… ”

“Impossible! Zheng, you should know it’s just you and me here.”

“Lu Xia, you know what? Actually… I once heard of the tales about ferocious ghosts.” Sun Zheng looked up at Lu Xia and continued, “But I never believe in ghosts. There are no ghosts in this world at all.”

“I know you don’t believe this, Zheng,” Lu Xia put on a gloomy smile. “What did you hear of?”

“Just as Mao said, people have to shave the heads of those who die with grievances or of unnatural death, cover their eyes with a piece of black cloth. Otherwise, the dead will suddenly bounce up, and…”

“Shaving their heads and covering their eyes with a piece of black cloth can prevent the dead from becoming zombies? But actually, the sudden bouncing up of a corpse should have something to do with the intense biochemical reaction caused by the organism being stimulated by the outside air in a closed environment… ”

“So… That’s why they will put a lump of pure gold wrapped in hair into the dead’s mouth.”

Lu Xia widened his eyes instantly. He put both hands on Sun Zheng’s shoulders and looked at him.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes!” Sun Zheng nodded.

“I see! I’ve always had a feeling that…” Lu Xia revealed a thoughtful smile.

“Take a closer look at Mao’s record again!” Lu Xia handed the notebook to Sun Zheng.

“What?” Sun Zheng hadn’t figured out what he meant. “Why…”

Before he could finish his words, Lu Xia suddenly grabbed his hand, gesturing him not to speak.

Thump! Thump! Thump…

Someone was walking!

The creepy sound rang again!

They felt as if their hearts were being hammered as that person walked along the staircase step by step.

He was going downstairs.

Sun Zheng wanted to move but was pinned in place by Lu Xia.

After thirteen steps down the stairs, the footsteps softened. Sun Zheng’s heart still trembled slightly with fear.

For a moment, he felt as if he had seen a hunchbacked figure moving forward slowly, step by step, until it disappeared in the pitch-darkness.

“Keep listening,” Lu Xia whispered in his ear.

After thirteen flights of stairs and two long platforms, he reached the 3rd floor.

“Thump! Thump! Thump…”

He was still going downstairs.

On that eerie night, he was plodding along with a heavy heart.

After another two flights of stairs and two long platforms, he reached the 2nd floor.

“Lu… Xia?” Hearing the footsteps from nowhere, Sun Zheng felt a shiver down his spine. He called out tentatively to confirm that Lu Xia was still with him.

“The footsteps have disappeared, Zheng,” Lu Xia let go of Sun Zheng’s hand. “He stopped on the 2nd floor.”

“Huh?” Sun Zheng was confused.

“He didn’t go further down when he reached the 2nd floor. The temporary morgue is on that floor.”

The mor…. morgue?

The hair stuck in the elevator… the sound of footsteps lingering between the 2nd and the 4th floor…

In the darkness, Zhang stopped on the 2nd floor.

He turned around slowly, looking at Sun Zheng.

In the faint light, he looked pale and Sun Zheng even saw him reveal a bitter smile.

Sun Zheng shivered as these spooky scenes flashed in his mind.

“Zheng, your back is soaked,” Lu Xia said with concern.

“Lu Xia,” Sun Zheng turned and looked at Lu Xia’s vague profile. “What did you just say you understood?”

After pausing for a while, Lu Xia spat out the words slowly:

“Mao told a lie, an out-and-out lie!”