Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Psychologically, darkness is usually tied to the unknown, to suffocation and despair. That is why humans seek the light.

On the fourth underground level, after the lights went out, furious barking erupted on both sides.

Every dog here hated humans, and above them was a vicious beast about to break through the door.

If that one-horned beast was smart enough, under its master’s command, it might even smash open the door to the third underground level and let even more vicious dogs join the hunt.

Could things possibly get any worse than this?

Qin Ying was fairly certain they could not.

The more desperate the situation, the tougher she became.

Once she calmed down, she took out her phone and turned on the flashlight.

Everyone besides Zhang Lang tried to follow suit, but Qin Ying stopped them.

“One flashlight is enough. We still don’t know how long we’ll be trapped down here, so we have to preserve our phone batteries as much as possible. Put all your phones on silent.”

The others did as she said. Qin Ying raised the phone in her hand and led the group toward the fourth-floor staff break room Huang Zezhong had pointed out.

A single phone could only provide so much light.

Dog cages lined both sides of the passage. Some held dogs; some were empty.

It was like opening blind boxes. Every so often, as they passed a cage, a dog inside would suddenly hurl itself at the bars, scaring their hearts into racing.

Of them all, Huang Zezhong was by far the most terrified.

As the saying went, a clear conscience feared no ghost at the door.

Huang Zezhong, who had personally witnessed countless dogfights and helped dispose of countless defective products, had the guiltiest conscience among them.

With visibility so poor, suspicion bred monsters in the dark. He had reached the point where every rustle sounded like an enemy.

After the power cut out, the underground ventilation system had completely stopped. It was stiflingly hot, and he was drenched in sweat.

Every few steps, the slightest noise made him let out a shrill cry.

Never mind Qin Ying, whose temper was genuinely bad-even Yin Minmin could not help turning around to glare at him.

When he shrieked for the third time, Qin Ying finally reached the end of her patience.

If they did not still need him to lead the way, she would have loved to leave him here.

As they passed an empty iron cage, Qin Ying noticed a pitch-black rag of some unknown purpose draped over it.

So she said to Huang Zezhong, “Stuff that cloth in your mouth.”

Huang Zezhong tugged at the corner of his mouth, about to force out a placating smile.

Qin Ying abruptly leaned closer. “I’m not joking. Are you going to do it yourself, or do we have to help you?”

Meeting her eyes, Huang Zezhong suddenly shuddered. He hurriedly yanked down the cloth and shoved it into his mouth.

A sour, spicy, bitter stench spread across his tongue, mixed with a rank dog odor, but Huang Zezhong did not dare resist or complain.

In that brief moment their eyes had met, his instincts told him that if he did not wise up, Qin Ying would silently deal with him-regardless of whether her methods were legal or humane.

Without Huang Zezhong holding them back, their pace quickened.

Soon, they approached the area Huang Zezhong and the others had named the Incinerator.

Even from a distance, they could smell the stale, heavy reek of smoke and grease.

The soles of their shoes also began to pick up a strange, sticky sensation.

Huang Zezhong carefully pulled the cloth out of his mouth. He did not dare spit for fear of making noise, so he swallowed and whispered, “It’s just up ahead.”

He pointed toward a pitch-black door.

Lin Yicheng and Yin Minmin both let out quiet breaths.

Just then, the pouch hanging in front of Qin Ying’s chest suddenly shifted.

Han Lie, who had been quietly squeezed together with Fuzhu inside the pouch, patted Qin Ying through the fabric.

Before Qin Ying’s mind had time to process it, she had already shouted on instinct, “Careful!”

The instant her voice fell, a shadow lunged out of the darkness.

Yin Minmin dodged on reflex, but her foot came down on something soft with a hard core.

She tripped, stumbled, and fell to the ground, her hand landing in something cold and sticky.

That stumble saved her life.

But Huang Zezhong behind her was not so lucky.
What lunged out of the darkness was the golden retriever that had once been locked in the cage.

Golden retrievers were always called the warm, gentle types of the dog world, but this one’s eyes were filled with hatred.

It let out a low snarl and snapped at Huang Zezhong’s throat.

Huang Zezhong dodged on instinct, avoiding the vital point at his windpipe, but its teeth sank into his left shoulder.

The golden retriever that had pounced from the dark bit down and began thrashing its head like mad.

Zhang Lang reached out to pull the dog away, but only tore a large, slime-covered patch of fur and skin from its back.

The golden retriever was shedding its skin in a way no normal animal should.

In the darkness, Qin Ying heard Zhang Lang murmur in disbelief, “The dog is turning into a Monstrous Beast.”

Qin Ying’s mind went blank with a sudden buzz.

If she remembered correctly, the golden retriever in the cage had still been perfectly fine a few hours ago.

For it to turn into a Monstrous Beast now, the most likely explanation was… someone had done something to it.

She steadied herself and called out, “Don’t worry about it. Kill it first.”

Zhang Lang obeyed on reflex. He stepped forward and locked an arm around the golden retriever’s neck.

The next instant, there was a crisp crack.

The dog’s head lolled to one side, and its limp body collapsed onto Huang Zezhong.

Only after they moved the dog’s corpse away did Huang Zezhong let out the faintest breath of sound.

After mutating, the golden retriever’s bite force had increased significantly. Half of Huang Zezhong’s shoulder was drenched in blood.

There was also a tear on the side of his neck, and blood was gushing out.

He stared at Qin Ying with wide eyes. He couldn’t speak, but the plea for help in his gaze was obvious.

Qin Ying checked the lacerations on his body and shouted, “Lin Yicheng, didn’t you learn emergency first aid?”

No one answered her question. Confused, Qin Ying turned her head and shone her phone over.

She saw Lin Yicheng and Yin Minmin squatting side by side.

In front of them was a corpse that had been half eaten.

The corpse’s abdomen had been split open, and most of the organs and offal that had spilled out had been devoured.

Judging from the crooked face, it was the pockmarked man who had been trying to catch the dog earlier.

The stench on this floor was so mixed and foul that Qin Ying and the others hadn’t even noticed the smell of blood and viscera.

Just now, Yin Minmin had fallen, and when Lin Yicheng went to help her up, he stepped on a mostly eaten human liver.

Neither of them had ever seen anything like this before. Their legs had gone weak at the same time, and they ended up squatting side by side like elementary schoolers studying an ant nest.

“I’m talking to you!”

Qin Ying kicked Lin Yicheng in the butt. “Get it together. Don’t you love pushing your limits?”

Lin Yicheng nearly burst into tears. Obediently, he got up and crouched beside Huang Zezhong, chanting under his breath, “Press the artery proximal to the wound to stop the bleeding. Press the artery proximal to the wound to stop the bleeding.”

But where exactly that proximal point was, his mind had gone completely blank, and he couldn’t remember a thing.

Seeing that he was truly useless, and not wanting to waste time in the dark, Qin Ying cursed softly, took off her casual jacket, turned it inside out, and pressed it against Huang Zezhong’s wound.

Underneath, she wore only a racerback tank top, with a small pouch hanging over her chest.

“Help him up. Move!”

At her order, Zhang Lang and Lin Yicheng lifted Huang Zezhong, whose head was drooping limply.

Qin Ying pulled the terrified Yin Minmin to her feet.

They headed toward the employee break room Huang Zezhong had pointed out earlier.

Only when they got closer did they realize the door wasn’t shut.

From the gap where the door hung open, a blood stench so thick it seemed almost solid rushed at them.

Qin Ying shone her phone inside, and the ominous feeling in her heart was confirmed.

Inside the filthy break room were two bunk beds, a desk, and a peeling sofa.

And… three corpses lying across the floor.

Half their heads hung at odd angles. All of them had been bitten to death by dogs.

Blood pooled on the ground, gleaming like dark red gemstones under the flashlight on the phone.

At the same time, the door Qin Ying and the others had come through suddenly rang with a violent impact.

The iron cage blocking it let out a sharp, grating screech.