Chapter 126
Chapter 126
That night, Jiang Li had stood in the corridor, having no idea how she had lost consciousness.
When she woke up the next day, her head felt like it was splitting open.
She found herself in the Staff Lounge.
The door was locked from the inside.
The blanket was neatly tucked around her.
Jiang Li was momentarily stunned.
Could it be that everything that happened yesterday was just a bizarre, grotesque dream?
Jiang Li searched her pockets.
She found two items that hadn’t been there before.
One was an Aberration tool she had snatched while fighting a Specter-a windproof Black Gold Bead.
The other was the downward-bound Staff Elevator Card that the Guest of Room 206 had intentionally left for her.
The items were real.
This proved that the events of last night were no dream.
Once she had cleared her head, Jiang Li got out of bed.
After a quick tidy-up, she opened the lounge door and stepped out into the corridor.
Jiang Li’s eyes widened slightly at the scene outside.
The corridor was as noisy as ever, with the sense of many people moving about.
But this time, it wasn’t empty in Jiang Li’s eyes.
She could now see the “hands and arms” of that crowd.
Hands and arms…
Jiang Li’s heart jolted.
Last night, after being blasted by the Black Wind, it was specifically her hands and arms that had shown signs of becoming transparent.
Does this mean a part of her body has already been “assimilated”?
Once her body was fully assimilated, she would be able to see those transparent entities in their entirety.
But it also meant she would become just like them-trapped here forever, never able to escape.
Jiang Li glanced at her own arm to confirm.
In her own eyes, her arm looked normal and was not transparent.
She fell into thought.
This situation was likely a deviation in her own self-perception.
It was just like Ran Xinxin at the elevator door yesterday; she could see her own face, but the machine couldn’t recognize her.
Only during the night after 4:00 AM could one accurately see the extent of their mutation.
During the day, everyone still perceived themselves as complete human beings.
As she was thinking this, Jiang Li suddenly glimpsed a pair of hesitant, “withered old hands” hiding in the next room.
Those Withered Hands were pressed against the edge of the wall. The skin was shriveled and covered in age spots.
They looked like they were trying to stay hidden.
Judging by the long fingernails on the Withered Hands, they belonged to an Old Lady.
Jiang Li’s intuition told her that this Old Lady was most likely hiding there, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
After a two-second silence, Jiang Li decided to pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
She stretched at the doorway and said with deliberate laziness:
“Oh, Yingying, the corridor is so noisy, but why isn’t there anyone here? How strange.”
Jiang Li threw out a smokescreen, broadcasting the information that she couldn’t see them.
From the corner of her eye, she glanced at the Withered Hands in the corner again.
Sure enough.
Upon hearing Jiang Li’s words, the Withered Hands relaxed their guard slightly.
The Old Lady lying in wait carefully held her breath, lightened her steps, and crept out along the wall.
Jiang Li withdrew her gaze and let a faint smile play on her lips.
The little fish… was about to take the bait.
“Forget it. I don’t have anything to do today anyway. I might as well go back inside for a nap.”
After speaking casually, Jiang Li turned and entered the Staff Lounge.
As she went inside, she intentionally left the door slightly ajar.
Not long after she entered, the pair of eerie Withered Hands floating in the air slowly reached out and felt for the doorframe.
With a creak, the door was pushed open from the outside, widening the gap.
Jiang Li stood before the washbasin with her back to the door, leaning over to wash her face.
Hearing the sound of the hinges turning, Jiang Li looked back with a look of feigned confusion.
The Withered Hand suddenly tensed up and froze.
It seemed as if it was terrified that Jiang Li would discover it.
After a quick sweep of the room, Jiang Li withdrew her gaze with a calm, unruffled expression.
“Tsk, how did the door open? That’s strange. Was it the wind?” Jiang Li muttered to herself.
She picked up a cotton towel and wiped the water from her hands.
Red Infant chimed in, “Yeah, it’s so weird. I clearly didn’t see anyone.”
After saying this, Red Infant bit his lip, trying his best to hold back a laugh.
“Yingying, go help Mommy close the door,” Jiang Li told Red Infant.
“Okay, Mommy!” Red Infant agreed readily.
He hopped down from Jiang Li’s shoulder, his short legs pitter-pattering as he ran to the door of the lounge.
The Withered Hand, which had been lingering at the entrance, immediately scurried into the room the moment it heard Jiang Li wanted to close the door.
Red Infant held the doorframe, pushed the door shut, and even turned the lock to bolt it.
Meanwhile, the Withered Hand that had sneaked inside crept closer, moving behind Jiang Li.
Behind Jiang Li’s back, the Withered Hand slowly rose.
It aimed for Jiang Li’s neck, preparing to lunge forward and choke her with all its might.
*Clatter-*
A mouthwash cup shattered on the floor.
The Withered Hand lunged forward, but Jiang Li suddenly crouched down.
The Old Lady, who was attempting a sneak attack, lunged into thin air.
At the same time, Jiang Li’s complaining voice rang out: “Oh… how did the cup fall? I’m so careless.”
Jiang Li pricked up her ears, paying close attention to the movement behind her.
The Old Lady, who had intended to pounce and strike Jiang Li from behind, suddenly lost her balance when Jiang Li dodged.
The Old Lady nearly fell over.
The Withered Hand quickly braced itself against the sink.
Its body was hunched in an arch, while Jiang Li crouched below it, picking up the broken glass shards.
The Old Lady barely managed to steady herself, gasping for breath in terror.
“What was that sound? I think I heard someone breathing,” Jiang Li asked abruptly.
The Old Lady immediately held her breath, not daring to let out even a whisper of air.
With her breathing obstructed, the Old Lady felt like she was about to suffocate.
But there was no choice. In the art of the sneak attack, the greatest taboo was “startling the snake.”
Since she intended to ambush Jiang Li, she absolutely could not let Jiang Li discover her!
Jiang Li gathered the glass shards and suddenly stood up straight.
The Withered Hand couldn’t move out of the way in time; startled, it immediately pushed off the sink and recoiled backward.
It moved fast enough that Jiang Li didn’t touch it.
However, Jiang Li saw something in the mirror above the sink.
The Withered Hand flailed twice in mid-air.
Evidently unable to keep its balance, the Old Lady landed hard on her backside next to the trash can in the room.
With a dull *thud*, it sounded like a heavy fall.
The Old Lady hissed in pain, quickly clutching her rear with her hands, feeling as if her tailbone had cracked.
That sensation of falling and wanting to scream out loud but not daring to make a sound was truly agonizing.
The Withered Hand had one hand on its waist and the other on the floor, not yet having the chance to scramble up.
Then, Jiang Li took the pile of glass shards and began tossing them toward the trash can behind the Old Lady.
Jiang Li threw the shards one by one.
She threw one; it was blocked by the air and fell down.
She threw another; it was again blocked by the air and fell down.
Every single glass shard that fell was stained with blood without exception.
As for where the blood came from…
It came from the air.
This thing in front of her had intended to harm her.
Therefore, Jiang Li naturally would not show it any mercy.
“Oh dear, is my aim really that bad? The trash can is so close, how do I miss every time?”
Jiang Li shook her head helplessly, suppressing the widening smile at the corners of her lips.