Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Ancient clothing consisted of layer upon layer; for someone who had never worn them before, it was quite a puzzle. By the time the three of them were properly dressed and headed out, the corridor outside was already packed with people.

The trio only waited at the back for a short while before the people who had entered the room started rushing out like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

One after another, they clutched their mouths, and soon the sound of retching could be heard.

Chu Yue peered inside curiously but couldn’t see anything.

There were no obvious bloodstains in the room, nor any signs of a struggle, which only heightened his curiosity about the scene inside.

Guan Doujin was the first to squeeze his way in, only to walk back out a few seconds later with a dark expression.

“It really is that girl. She’s dead. You’re better off not going in to look.”

His warning backfired; saying it like that only piqued Chu Yue’s curiosity further.

Shen Yubi glanced at Guan Doujin twice before stepping inside, and Chu Yue followed close behind him.

Just as they entered the room, before Chu Yue could see what was happening over there, Shen Yubi turned around.

Not paying attention, Chu Yue bumped right into him. “What are you doing?”

Shen Yubi placed a hand against Chu Yue’s forehead and pushed him back. “You really shouldn’t look. I’m afraid you won’t be able to eat later.”

Chu Yue was suspicious. “Is it really that terrifying?”

They clearly hadn’t seen anything last night, and not a single sound had come from the room.

He had seen dismembered corpses and severed limbs before; he had even witnessed Monsters skinning and eating people alive. What was left that he couldn’t handle?

He shook his head, dislodging the hand from his brow, and leaned to the side to peer over Shen Yubi’s shoulder.

At first glance, he didn’t see anything.

“Where’s the body?”

As he spoke, he bypassed Shen Yubi and took two more steps forward.

This was a double room. The bed was a standard double, two meters by two meters, which was plenty of space.

Gauze curtains hung around the bed, making the area atop the mattress appear somewhat dim.

Aside from two pillows, there was only a single quilt on the bed.

Perhaps that wasn’t entirely accurate. There was a bulge under the quilt, clearly concealing something underneath.

Chu Yue guessed that it must be the woman’s corpse.

He walked over and reached out to lift the quilt, but his hand was caught by Shen Yubi. “Are you sure you want to see? It’s not so much terrifying as it is incredibly disgusting.”

Chu Yue replied, “Might as well take a look.”

“Fine,” Shen Yubi said. Without waiting for Chu Yue to act, he took the initiative and flipped the quilt back.

Then, Chu Yue saw a meter-long, bright red hunk of flesh.

From head to toe, the entire body had turned a vivid red.

Every drop of blood had been completely drained. Exposed to the air was nothing but raw meat, muscle tissue, and bone.

Oh, and a pair of bulging eyeballs.

The woman’s skin was gone.

Every inch of skin, along with her hair, had been peeled off in one perfect piece.

Shen Yubi let go, and the cotton quilt fell back over the mass of flesh.

Chu Yue showed no particular reaction and simply turned to leave the room.

It was fine.

It wasn’t beyond his limit of tolerance.

By the time they reached the Inn’s Hall, five people were already sitting below-a pair and a trio-silently eating with their heads down.

However, it was obvious from their states that their minds were elsewhere.

They called over a Waiter and ordered a few dishes, and the three of them began to discuss the situation.

“Did you see where that woman was sleeping?” Guan Doujin pulled a chopstick from the container and used it to gesture on the table.

Chu Yue nodded. “I saw. She was sleeping on the inside. But when all this happened last night, the person sleeping on the outside was completely oblivious. They didn’t find the body until they woke up this morning. No wonder they were scared out of their wits.”
Anyone would be scared half to death finding a corpse lying next to them first thing in the morning.

Sleeping in the same bed as a dead person all night was certainly bad luck, but once the shock wore off, the real source of fear was likely the fact that the killer had committed the act right in front of him last night.

If the culprit could slip into the room and kill the person sleeping on the inside of the bed without making a sound, they could naturally slip in and kill him during the next middle of the night just as easily.

As they were speaking, three more people came down from upstairs.

Zhang Duo and her man were among them, and the person walking beside them was deathly pale-presumably the survivor.

“I don’t know anything. I didn’t hear a single sound,” the young man said. Though his complexion was poor, his voice remained relatively steady.

He continued, “Whether you believe it or not, we really didn’t do anything last night. We went to bed early, and I slept straight through until dawn without waking up once. Who knows when she was killed?”

He paused after speaking.

Zhang Duo asked, “Did you remember something?”

The man’s face darkened. “I don’t know if this counts, but while I was drifting in and out of sleep last night-I’m not sure if I was awake or dreaming-I thought I saw the light in the room turn on, and I seemed to hear the sound of running water.”

“Be more specific.”

“I can’t. I really wasn’t paying attention at the time. The sound was too brief. I just thought she was thirsty and had gotten up in the middle of the night to drink some water.”

As he spoke, the man slumped down at an empty table.

“And then it was morning, and I saw her body.”

The Waiter came over to ask what the three of them wanted to eat, and Zhang Duo casually ordered a few items.

“If she didn’t do anything else, then tearing the paper cutting must be a Death Condition,” Shen Yubi said.

Chu Yue nodded in agreement. It was fortunate they hadn’t touched the things hanging above their bed last night.

Earlier in that room, after seeing the body, he had curiously glanced up; there were paper cuttings on the ceiling of that bed as well.

However, compared to theirs, that paper cutting looked much friendlier.

It was a giant paper cutting of a rabbit-round, plump, and actually quite cute.

“Where are we going in a bit?”

Shen Yubi said, “Let’s walk around the Market. Since we came here as merchants, we naturally have to go take a look.”

The other two agreed.

Even though there were eleven people sitting in the Hall, there wasn’t much conversation. No one knew what the others were thinking.

“My, eating already? And without waiting for me?”

Halfway through the meal, a flirtatious female voice suddenly cut in.

A girl walked gracefully into the Inn through the entrance.

The voice was somewhat familiar to Chu Yue, but he couldn’t immediately place it before seeing her.

He looked up just as the haughty girl stepped inside. Light streamed in from behind her, creating a dreamlike, ethereal silhouette for a moment.

Her previously willful tone had turned soft and seductive. The moment she appeared, the already quiet Hall fell into a sudden, dead silence.

The expressions of many people shifted visibly.

She, however, seemed not to notice the change in the crowd’s mood. Step by step, she walked over to Zhang Duo’s table.

Her slender, jade-like arms looped around the young man’s neck. “Darling, why didn’t you call me for breakfast?”

The young man swallowed involuntarily. In the next heartbeat, he bolted upright.

The woman was thrown to the floor by his sudden movement, her entire body sprawling across the wood.

Chu Yue watched as her skin seemed to ripple slightly. Then, the girl looked up with a weak, fragile expression, her eyes brimming with tears.