Chapter 25: Shielded

The two of them were still shaken, but Yang Han and Shi Xiaoxue, who hurried over, were even less able to handle the situation. Earlier, Shi Xiaoxue had only glanced down from the window on the third floor, but upon confirming up close, she couldn't help but scream again. Yang Han, though a boy, had never witnessed such a bloody scene before. Combined with the overwhelming stench filling the courtyard, who wouldn't be terrified?

Had it been before, Qi Yan wouldn't have fared much better than them. Yet, while the blood-soaked corpse in the pool was dreadful, it was merely a dead body—disgusting, but not on the same level as the water corpse from Haimu Ravine.

Ignoring Yang Han and Shi Xiaoxue's panic, Qi Yan turned and dashed back into the house. He found Du Zhou still peacefully asleep on the sofa, hugging a pillow, untouched by the commotion, only rolling over to change his sleeping position.

Qi Yan was dumbfounded. What? The corpse wasn’t Du Zhou? Then who could it be? He was unharmed, Li Ruoke was fine, and the other four were couples sharing rooms. If something were to happen, the most likely victim would be Du Zhou, sleeping alone in the downstairs living room.

Outside, Yang Han was already bent over, vomiting by the wall. Qi Yan rushed over, hauled him up, and asked, “Where’s your girlfriend?”

*Cough, cough, cough… Xiaoyue… Oh, right, Xiaoyue! She said she forgot to turn off the air conditioner on the first floor and went down herself. She’s been gone awhile and hasn’t come back, so I was about to go look for her when Shi Xiaoxue suddenly screamed.” Yang Han caught his breath, answering in a daze.

Qi Yan pressed urgently, “How long has she been gone?”

“By now, it’s been… probably ten minutes or so?” As soon as Yang Han finished, realization dawned on him. His eyes nearly popped out as he asked, mouth agape, “Could… could the one in the pool be…!”

At that moment, Li Ruoke walked over and stressed, “It shouldn’t be her, don’t panic. The corpse is unrecognizable, but it’s probably not Cheng Ziyue. Even though the skin is in that state, the skeleton is still large and sturdy, and the body is too long—it’s a male corpse.”

Yang Han breathed a huge sigh of relief, though sweat still beaded his forehead.

Now Qi Yan was even more puzzled. “Not Cheng Ziyue? A man? There are only four men here: me, Yang Han, Du Zhou sleeping in the living room, and…”

This time, it was Shi Xiaoxue’s turn to be utterly terrified. As the first to discover the body, she was already so frightened she could barely stand. Qi Yan’s words seemed to single out Wang Yudong as the corpse.

“No, impossible! Impossible! He and I shared a room on the third floor. Although I left later, I stayed on that floor. He never left the room, how could it be him?” This guess was even more unlikely. Wang Yudong and Shi Xiaoxue were together in the room; she was certain he never left. How could he be silently killed, skinned, and dumped in the pool without anyone noticing?

“Quick, let’s check the third floor!” Qi Yan called, and everyone crowded together, heading back into the house.

Yang Han wanted to turn on the living room light, but after pressing the switch several times, nothing happened. Power outage?

“Damn! Why won’t the lights work? How could the power go out now!”

Things were becoming increasingly strange. The scene was chaotic enough, and now there was no electricity...

There was no choice—they had to ensure everyone’s safety first. Fortunately, their phones were at hand. Hastily, they turned on the flashlights of four phones and returned to the third floor. When they reached the room, it was empty—Wang Yudong was nowhere to be found. Though the window was open, it faced the backyard.

“When did he leave? Wang Yudong!” Shi Xiaoxue’s mind was in disarray, overwhelmed by fright, and she shouted his name loudly.

Qi Yan ignored her and asked the others, “Did your phones have any problems?”

Li Ruoke responded first, “Problems? What could—wait, strange, there’s no signal at all!”

Yang Han’s phone was the same: no internet, not a single bar.

Though this area was newly developed and a bit remote, it shouldn’t be completely out of range. Besides, everything had been fine earlier.

A series of sudden changes crowded together, making Qi Yan’s heart sink, and he became more certain of his terrifying suspicion. “Let’s go, let’s go, back to the first floor. Du Zhou is still sleeping alone down there. Yang Han, Shi Xiaoxue, get your car keys, quickly!”

Everyone panicked, ignoring everything else, hurriedly grabbed their keys, and returned to the first floor.

Even though the power was out, at least five of them were together.

“Where’s Xiaoyue? And Wang Yudong? Where are they?” Yang Han asked anxiously.

Qi Yan glanced at the time on his phone: 2:13 a.m. He told Yang Han, “You and Shi Xiaoxue, go bring the car in, quickly. I’ll search for Cheng Ziyue and Wang Yudong with Lao Li. But let me be blunt: I’m not sure about Cheng Ziyue, but the body in the pool matches Wang Yudong’s build almost exactly!”

Shi Xiaoxue became agitated again upon hearing this, and Yang Han forcibly dragged her outside. “Let’s go, hurry!”

As they rounded the pool, Qi Yan slumped onto the coffee table, finally beginning to breathe heavily with nerves.

Li Ruoke was worried too. Seeing Qi Yan like this, she reproached herself, “It’s all my fault. I should have listened to you and left after the party ended. That way at least we wouldn’t be caught up in all this… This can’t be… man-made, right?” Though she’d had clues earlier, she wasn’t confident enough to voice such a possibility. She wasn’t Li Lan, lacking sensitivity to spirits.

Qi Yan took out a cigarette, hastily lit it, and after a moment’s daze, calmed himself before answering, “Man-made? Don’t tell me you still think this is a murder someone could pull off? The power outage alone, and now all our phones have no signal…

Just skinning an entire human body is a massive task, and apart from the pool, there’s not a single trace of blood along the way… That blood corpse outside is almost certainly Wang Yudong. As for Yang Han’s girlfriend… I don’t believe she could have survived. Everything happening in this house must be the work of a vengeful ghost!”

It was the first time in his life he’d so firmly attributed everything to a ghost.

“Could it be… your…?” Li Ruoke asked sheepishly.

Qi Yan frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head. “It shouldn’t be that. If it manifested, I’d feel a strong reaction, but I haven’t sensed anything this time. Besides, what reason would it have to murder Wang Yudong so cruelly? I’ve never even spoken to him alone!”

“Oh, Shirley! I left her in the room!” Li Ruoke suddenly remembered the little dog.

But before she finished, Yang Han and Shi Xiaoxue came scrambling back, clearly shaken by something else, gasping, “Our… our car… the gas tank… it’s completely empty!”

“What did you say!” Qi Yan and Li Ruoke exclaimed in unison.

Phone signals blocked, total power outage, and now even their cars had been sabotaged? Were they being trapped here, forbidden to escape?