Lu Youyi: “…”
After Jiang Luo said that, Lu Youyi shuddered uncontrollably. His scalp tingled as he felt the clothing of the person in front of him.
The fabric was rough and stiff, and if he sniffed closely, there was a musty smell—as if it had been locked up damp for a long time—along with a faint earthy odor.
It definitely wasn’t Jiang Luo.
Lu Youyi broke into a cold sweat. He wanted to let go but was afraid to alarm the “person.”
“Ye Xun,” he said, “There’s definitely something between me and Jiang Luo.”
The extra “person” stood there motionless, as if they didn’t understand the conversation.
Ye Xun asked, “What is it?”
Lu Youyi was nearly crying. “I don’t know. But judging by the smell… I think it’s a walking corpse.”
Why would a walking corpse appear here?
Ye Xun frowned and handed Jiang Luo a talisman. “Stick it on the Tianzhōng, Tianting, and Sikong points.”
Jiang Luo said, “Uh… which spots are those again?”
Ye Xun: “…Just stick it on the center of its forehead.”
Jiang Luo tucked the stuffed bunny under his left arm and freed a hand. He was mentally prepared to touch something terrifying, but to his surprise, he felt nothing.
Jiang Luo hesitated, then moved his hand down and touched something cold and clammy. It was stiff yet soft at the same time, and beneath it something squirmed—like maggots.
Jiang Luo instantly withdrew his hand and said grimly, “It doesn’t have a head.”
What he had touched was the rotting flesh on the corpse’s neck.
There was no need to describe what kind of worms could grow on decaying flesh.
Ye Xun grabbed Jiang Luo’s arm and stepped forward to deal with the walking corpse, but Jiang Luo stopped him. He said calmly, “Let’s turn the lights on first. Since it’s following us without doing anything, it’s temporarily not hostile. Let’s get to the utility room and turn on the lights first.”
Jiang Luo had a point—fighting this kind of thing in the dark definitely put them at a disadvantage. The three of them kept their original formation and moved forward cautiously. Lu Youyi, walking behind the headless corpse, even felt a little lucky. “Good thing it’s following you.”
Jiang Luo stayed alert to any danger from behind and replied casually, “How do you know it’s following me? It doesn’t have a head. What if it’s actually facing you and just holding me backwards?”
Lu Youyi broke out in goosebumps. “What the h*ll—don’t joke around like that!”
The corpse’s grip on Jiang Luo’s clothes was getting stronger, and the sound of its dragging footsteps grew louder—like a body being pulled across the floor. They finally made it to the studio, hearts pounding. Ye Xun went to find the power switch, and a minute later, the harsh lights suddenly turned on.
Lu Youyi instinctively blinked, then saw clearly the corpse in front of him. The head was indeed missing. It wore a prison uniform soaked in blood, its skin purplish-blue with patches of livor mortis. The wound at its neck was grotesque, with flesh turned outward, stained with rust from a blade and crawling with maggots.
Jiang Luo had already fled several meters away, furiously scrubbing his hand with a packet of wet wipes. He stared at the corpse with a blank expression. The grip had been so strong that when he ran, part of his shirt had been torn off, barely covering his waist.
The corpse was visually horrifying. Lu Youyi gaped, “Sh*t, there really are moving corpses…”
Before he finished the sentence, he looked down—and saw the corpse’s feet.
Its toes were pointed toward him.
Lu Youyi screamed, “HOLY SH*T—AAAAAHHH!!!”
The corpse really had been walking backward the entire time while facing him!
Lu Youyi shrieked and kicked the corpse, then bolted in panic toward Jiang Luo and Ye Xun. The corpse stumbled, turned around, and suddenly lunged at them.
All three immediately turned and ran. Ye Xun remained unnervingly calm, watching Jiang Luo wipe his hands even while running. “According to experts,” he said, “maggots actually aren’t dirty. They secrete antibacterial salts when digesting decayed flesh. They also contain antibiotics and immune-boosting properties. They’re good bugs, really.”
Jiang Luo forced a smile. “Bro, if you don’t do something soon, you’ll get to personally experience their benefits.”
Ye Xun suddenly stopped, pulling out a black net from the stuffed rabbit Jiang Luo was carrying. “Lu Youyi!”
Lu Youyi, dragging Jiang Luo along, veered down another hallway with the headless corpse in pursuit. “Ye Xun, hurry up! This thing’s fast—I can’t hold out much longer!”
He was practically spitting as he ran, barely catching his breath. Jiang Luo was nearly being lifted off the ground from how hard he was being dragged. “Lu Youyi, don’t you have anything to fight this thing with?”
Lu Youyi yelled even louder, “Jiang Luo, are you brain-dead? You might be last in class, but I’m second to last!”
Jiang Luo: “…”
Lu Youyi suddenly felt guilty, remembering how Jiang Luo had once praised and trusted him. His voice grew louder and more panicked, “Besides, I’ve only heard of walking corpses—I’ve never actually seen one!”
Jiang Luo: “…Enough out of you.”
He abruptly picked up speed and sprinted past Lu Youyi.
Lu Youyi stared, dumbfounded. “D*mn it!”
The headless corpse was closing in fast, now only half a meter behind Lu Youyi. Gritting his teeth, Lu Youyi suddenly spun around and shouted, “Screw it—I’ll fight you!”
But the headless corpse ignored him, bypassing him entirely and going straight for Jiang Luo.
Lu Youyi was left blinking in confusion.
Was this… good luck?
Jiang Luo also noticed. His temples twitched. “Why is it chasing me specifically?!”
The high-speed chase left his breath ragged. The original body had poor physical fitness; it was already amazing he could outrun Lu Youyi. His throat burned, his breath grew hotter, and he pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth to try and steady his breathing.
Ye Xun had already opened the black net by a column and shouted, “Jiang Luo! Run back this way!”
Jiang Luo turned and lured the corpse toward him.
The corpse didn’t tire, only getting faster. The stench of decay now filled the staircase and workroom. Jiang Luo could hear his own heavy breathing and pounding heart. His legs were about to give out.
He glanced up. The black net wasn’t far, but even if it dropped right now, it likely wouldn’t catch the corpse in time—it was too close.
He had to go faster and give the net time to drop.
The taste of blood reached his mouth. Jiang Luo cursed his body’s limitations. He took a deep breath and, using the last of his strength, burst into a final sprint.
Almost at the same moment he passed under the net, Ye Xun pulled it down—ensnaring the headless corpse in one clean motion.
The corpse struggled violently. Its skin sizzled as the net burned deep, black scars into the flesh. The smell of scorched rot was sharp and revolting. Lu Youyi gagged a few times, covered his nose, and handed Jiang Luo a water bottle.
Jiang Luo’s legs shook as he leaned against the wall, finally collapsing onto the workbench nearby. His breathing was still rough, hair stuck to his sweaty face and neck, completely disheveled. Ignoring the awful stench in the air, he took a long swig of water. “What the h*ll is this net?”
“Soaked in black dog blood,” Lu Youyi answered, stuffing tissues into his nose while crouching beside the net to examine the corpse. “Probably wrapped with some talisman paper too.”
Ye Xun’s black net had tightly bound the headless corpse, which now laid completely motionless—as if it were dead. Lu Youyi watched curiously for a while, then asked, “Ye Xun, why do you think it fixated on Jiang Luo?”
Ye Xun shook his head. “No idea.”
Jiang Luo coughed a few times, rubbed his throat uncomfortably, and said, “He’s wearing a prison uniform, right?”
Lu Youyi said, “Yeah.”
“Judging by the style, this corpse has probably been dead for a few hundred years,” Jiang Luo examined the walking corpse and said with certainty, “Since it’s from ancient times, it should’ve had long hair on its head. Among the three of us, my hair is the longest—maybe it mistook my head for its own.”
Lu Youyi and Ye Xun suddenly understood. Lu Youyi said, “Makes sense.”
“The sound of the bouncing ball we heard on the stairs earlier was probably its head,” Jiang Luo took another sip of water. “I just don’t know why its head is separated from its body.”
Ye Xun seemed to be thinking, then suddenly said, “The three missing girls all had long hair too.”
Lu Youyi clenched his fists. “D*mn it! That walking corpse must have mistaken their heads for its own and killed them.”
But Jiang Luo wasn’t so sure.
If the headless corpse really killed the three girls, and even took their heads, then why were the bodies never found?
Not to mention, the scene of the room where the girls went missing had been clean and orderly—not a trace of blood. Would the girls have willingly followed a headless corpse?
He didn’t argue with Lu Youyi, just shrugged and got down from the table. “Shall we go check out where the other trail of incense smoke leads?”
Of course, they were going.
On the way, Lu Youyi roughly dragged the black net and turned to Jiang Luo with disdain. “When we get back to school, wanna start working out with me? Your physical fitness is awful.” He couldn’t even run for long when being chased by a ghost.
Jiang Luo recalled the pain of that sprint and shuddered. “Sure. I really need to start training more.”
Two-thirds of the incense in Ye Xun’s hand had burned down. Ashes fell into the bowl of rice. The smoke was still splitting in two: one trail pointed back toward the trapped headless corpse, and the other led them to an unfamiliar door.
Jiang Luo stepped up and knocked a few times. No one answered, so he simply pushed the door open. The smoke wafted straight inside and slipped under the bed.
There was no one in the room.
The three of them cautiously surrounded the bed. Ye Xun placed the incense on the floor by the bed, took back the bunny plush from Jiang Luo’s arms, and said coldly, “Come out.”
Suddenly, the sound of a bouncing ball came from under the bed. A head rolled out from the foot of the bed—long black hair tangled around it, making it look like a ball entirely covered in hair.
Ye Xun didn’t move. The head naturally rolled to Jiang Luo’s feet. One eye peeked out from the hair and said, “Young man, your hair is so shiny and flowing. Would you mind sharing your hair care routine with me?”
Lu Youyi sneered, took a step forward, grabbed the head viciously, and said, “I think your hair’s not bad either!”
The head let out a sharp scream. “Don’t pull like that! I’ll go bald! I’ll go bald!”
Lu Youyi flinched in fright, his fierce expression collapsing. He nearly let go. “Holy cr*p, stop screaming!”
The head started sobbing, “You brute, don’t tug on my hair!”
Disgusted, Lu Youyi shivered and put the head on the bed. The three of them surrounded it like predators. “Talk. Why are you at the 129 Hotel?”
The head bounced twice, flinging the hair back to reveal a pale greenish face. “My name is Ning Xiu. I used to be a scholar. A long time ago, I was beheaded at the execution ground for peeping at an official’s daughter while she bathed.”
As he spoke, the head choked up. “It was such a disgraceful death that even my family didn’t want to collect my body. With no complete corpse, how could I enter a grave? So I wandered around holding my head. This place used to be a tailor’s shop, so I came here hoping a tailor would sew my head back on.”
Ye Xun said, “The slaughterhouse nearby used to be an execution ground a long time ago.”
There were often tailor shops near execution sites because people used to value leaving behind an intact body. The families of the beheaded would usually take the body to a tailor to have the head sewn back on. If no one claimed the body, the corpse might come back at night holding its own head, seeking a tailor.
The head said, “But the tailor always closed up before dark, and I couldn’t find anyone to help sew my head back on. So I waited and waited. Then, a month ago, I found out the landlady here was also a tailor. I came to her room every night, hoping she’d help.”
Lu Youyi asked darkly, “So why did you kill people if all you wanted was to sew your head back on?”
The head widened its eyes in outrage. “Young man, don’t slander me! When did I ever kill anyone?”
Lu Youyi paused, then asked suspiciously, “The three girls who went missing at this hotel—wasn’t that you?”
The head bounced again in anger. “Child! Just because I’m easygoing doesn’t mean you can smear my name!”
Jiang Luo crossed his arms and rubbed his chin. The left side of his ripped T-shirt exposed a smooth patch of waist like polished jade. The pose made his shirt ride up slightly, his beauty level surging. He curved his lips and smiled. “Scholar, you come to this room every night to find the landlady?”
The scholar stared blankly at him—already a lecherous type, his pale face flushed red. “Yes, I came every night.”
Jiang Luo said, “But it seems like the landlady doesn’t live here.”
The head said mysteriously, “You don’t understand. The couple who run this place had a lot of fights a month ago. The landlady’s temper got worse, so they started sleeping in separate rooms. She moved into this one. I saw her patching up her own body with needle and thread. But strangely, every time I came by at night, she was never here.”
Ye Xun caught the key point. “She was repairing her own body?”
The severed head spoke with deep emotion, “Yes, she’s such a brilliant seamstress. I’m sure she could stitch my head back onto my body perfectly.” But when he glanced at the body inside the black net, he couldn’t help but show a pained expression. “But every time I see my body, I just don’t want to be stitched back together with it.”
Jiang Luo smiled faintly and turned to look at Ye Xun and Lu Youyi. “Tell me, what kind of woman sews her own body back together in the middle of the night and doesn’t sleep—where do you think she’s going?”
Ye Xun frowned and thought for a moment, then tossed the head into the black net. Lu Youyi tugged the net as they returned to the corridor, and Ye Xun made a call to the hotel owner.
The landline used a separate power circuit, so it worked regardless of whether power was out in Hotel 129.
After a few rings, the groggy voice of the boss answered. “Hello?”
Ye Xun asked, “Where’s your wife?”
The boss immediately snapped awake, cautiously asking, “What’s the matter, Student Ye? My wife’s sleeping with my mom and the kid.”
“Isn’t her room 102?”
“Yes, she moved there after we had a fight,” the boss said with a bitter smile. “Business has been bad, and she’s been losing her temper more often. During the day, I have no idea where she goes, and whenever I see her, her makeup is heavier than ever… But she can’t let go of the kid. Every night after the child sleeps, she always comes back to be with the child until dawn, then disappears again. I don’t even have time to sit down and talk to her.”
The boss’s family lived in a house right across from the hotel. As Ye Xun listened, he felt more and more uneasy. “We’re coming over.”
The group made their way through the dark. The incense had burned out just as they reached the house across the way. Ye Xun sighed, placed the rice bowl in a corner, and they went upstairs, where the boss was already waiting at the door, draped in a coat.
He led them inside, rubbing his hands anxiously. “Uh, what exactly are you saying…?”
“We want to see your wife,” Ye Xun said. “She may be in trouble.”
The boss instantly tensed up, clenching his hands. After a long silence, he forced a smile. “That’s impossible.”
“No way,” he murmured to himself, laughing and crying. “You’re messing with me.”
Lu Youyi looked at him sympathetically. “Boss, if you want this resolved quickly, you need to be ready for the worst.”
The boss slumped, completely defeated. He led them to a bedroom door and pushed it open gently.
A stiff figure stood at the foot of the bed, staring intently at the elderly woman and child sleeping soundly. Black mist shrouded the figure’s body—just like the mist Jiang Luo had seen on the child’s arm.
Lu Youyi whispered in alarm, “Such heavy yin energy!”
The moment the door opened, a chilling gust swept over Jiang Luo. His eyes locked on the quilt, which had two still mounds under it—one old, one young, both deep asleep.
The figure at the foot of the bed slowly turned its head toward them with an eerie stiffness.
Jiang Luo’s pupils shrank.
The hotel owner’s wife was covered in stitching—she looked like a mass of mangled flesh barely held together by thread. Her features were crooked, her face was a bloody mess—terrifying to behold.
The boss collapsed to the floor behind them, legs trembling, crying out in terror, “Ahhhhhh—!”
