Chapter 131: The Rampaging Corpse

In the beam of the flashlight, three pinkish-purple carapaces shimmered with a glossy, oily luster!

Looking closer, these were actually three plump woodlice, each the size of a child's slipper!

It was the first time Li Tianque had ever seen woodlice this large. They had hooked ventral legs, fan-shaped tails, and the stripes on their carapaces were bulging with succulent flesh, the crystalline meat inside clearly visible.

Usually, if woodlice were thrown as Li Tianque had just done, they would have been startled and scurried away in all directions. Yet these creatures seemed utterly fearless; after being grabbed by Li Tianque, they merely twitched their antennae and crawled lazily into the corner.

It seemed Li Tianque’s rough handling had caused them no damage, a testament to the remarkable durability of their shells.

Li Tianque stood up, his hands covered in sticky, foul-smelling fluids and mud.

At that moment, Fatty Bi was still in pursuit in that direction. Li Tianque scrambled after him, shouting toward the top of the stairs where Fatty Bi had already ascended:

"Brother Bi, wait for me, you..."

Li Tianque stepped onto the stairs in pursuit, but before he had taken more than a few steps, a thunderous boom erupted. His entire body jolted, and he tumbled back down the staircase.

He felt thick dust billow into the air, clouding his vision. Only the sound of Fatty Bi’s footsteps remained, fading into the distance.

This fall was much harder than the last, and Li Tianque struggled to pull himself up against the wall.

Looking closely, he realized that shortly after Fatty Bi had stepped onto the stairs, the concrete structure had suddenly collapsed from the center.

About six steps in the middle had been destroyed by the collapse, with the rubble falling into a large hole.

Li Tianque staggered to his feet and discovered that the hole opened into a small storage room beneath the stairs. Because this small room was located at the base of the staircase, it had created a hollow space under the concrete.

This bizarre construction had compromised the load-bearing capacity of the stairs. He was plagued by haunting, eerie thoughts, worried he might encounter the jump-scares he had seen in movies—like a bloody face suddenly emerging from the darkness or a pale, skeletal hand reaching out.

He felt his sanity had improved slightly, but he was still far from immune to such terrifying scenes.

About five minutes passed. The radio remained silent from Fatty Bi and Ling Chi, but then the sharp voice of Wu Miaoran broke through, issuing an order to Fatty Bi:

"Fatty, catch that living corpse wearing the glass cover! Catch it!"

A living corpse? A glass cover?

What on earth was all this?

Could the strange corpse Wu Miaoran was talking about be the thing they had seen at the corner of the stairs earlier?

However, if it were just a corpse, Fatty Bi’s reaction wouldn't have been so intense.

Fatty Bi was a professional rescue worker, after all. Based on the stories he bragged about, he had seen all manner of gruesome deaths and sometimes treated the reassembling of body parts like a game.

Even if the corpse could move on its own, Fatty Bi shouldn't have been that panicked—unless...

As Li Tianque pondered, Wu Miaoran exclaimed again:

"Fatty, stop chasing it for now! Wait for Li Tianque, go together!"

Wu Miaoran could observe the situation from their chest-mounted cameras. Li Tianque thought to himself that if she wanted Fatty Bi to wait for him, it meant the target was likely very difficult to handle.

She hadn't mentioned Ling Chi, which suggested Ling Chi was either performing another task or had run into trouble.

"No, he doesn't need to help. You just stay at the stairs! This thing is too dangerous... you’d better get the tranquilizer gun ready," Fatty Bi’s voice sounded increasingly strained. His heavy breathing made the radio signal even more distorted.

"Hold on, I'm finding a way up now!" Li Tianque replied urgently.

"No, no, you absolutely must not come up! I can handle this myself!" Fatty Bi shouted suddenly, his tone clearly impatient and angry.

This made Li Tianque realize that the "living corpse" Wu Miaoran mentioned must have some connection to Fatty Bi; perhaps they had known each other.

Why wouldn't he let him come up? Could that living corpse be connected to him as well?

Li Tianque felt increasingly uneasy, yet he was in a dilemma. He feared that rushing up might put Fatty Bi at risk or add to his troubles, but he also worried that if he didn't arrive in time, Fatty Bi would be in danger.

Regardless, it was impossible to climb up from here now. Even if he wanted to help, he would have to find the other staircase to reach the second floor.

With that in mind, Li Tianque drew his tranquilizer gun, gripping it tightly. Using his flashlight to scout the path, he prepared to head toward the other stairwell.

Li Tianque walked slowly down the steps. A cold, eerie draft blew through the dim corridor, making his skin crawl. The narrow beam of his flashlight cut through the hallway, making the darkness outside its reach seem all the more profound.

Li Tianque huddled into himself. He didn't know if it was the effect of aflatoxin, but his body felt unnaturally stiff, as if his joints were rusted shut.

Suddenly, in the pitch-black space, a series of rustling, strange noises began to echo, sounding as if a busy market were nearby.

Li Tianque’s hair stood on end. He listened carefully and realized the sound was coming from beneath his feet.

He immediately aimed his flashlight downward, and his stomach lurched, his skin crawling with goosebumps.