Chapter 47 Dissection

Chu Ning descended the stairs, his eyes flickering with a gentle red glow when no one was looking. The light flashed several times before fading completely, like a warning of a failing power source.

He suddenly halted mid-step at the front of the group, then resumed a steady pace, preparing to lead them out of the building.

“What’s wrong with you?” Tanya asked timidly, pausing and gazing fearfully at Chu Ning, whose demeanor seemed off. In such a terrifying environment, even the slightest disturbance bred suspicion.

“It’s nothing, just remembered something all of a sudden!” Chu Ning replied, a strange smile on his face with his back turned, before spinning around with a gentle grin as he explained himself.

“Let’s keep moving! The environment around us has returned to normal, the maze has been broken, and there’s likely nothing left to stop us from leaving.”

With that, Chu Ning returned to the head of the group, whistling lightly as he walked, his toes tapping the iron railing of the stairs and causing a resonant clang. In response, the stairwell lights flickered on, illuminating the darkness.

Tanya followed, uneasy, holding up the rear where no one could see the fear etched on her face. She watched the two ahead uncertainly, unsettled by the atmosphere just moments before.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something important had slipped her mind. No matter how hard she tried to reason it out, she was left bewildered, staring at the now-normal staircase.

Suddenly, dark red bloodstains appeared before her—on the floor, the stair railing, the glass windows—everywhere. Under the amber lights, they were especially jarring.

Tanya staggered back like a startled cat, jerking her hand from the railing as if shocked, tiptoeing to find a safe spot to land, and then did what any normal person would—she screamed in terror.

Her shrill cry, piercing as a soprano’s high note, echoed through the stairwell. Yet the two men ahead remained as motionless as wooden statues, offering no reaction at all. Embarrassed, Tanya’s scream soon faded.

Chu Ning sidestepped the blood on the floor, nonchalantly scratching his ear. “Hey, done already? Can you stop making such a fuss? You nearly shattered my eardrums!” he called back to Tanya, unconcerned.

“You just wait…” Tanya rasped, coughing, her throat raw from screaming. Neither of those heartless bastards ahead showed any intention of comforting her.

“Uh, are you alright? Stay calm, be ready,” Zhang Long offered belatedly, looking apologetically at Tanya and gently reminding her. He hesitated for a long moment but swallowed back the words on his tongue.

“It’s not fresh anymore—what a pity,” Chu Ning lamented, gazing at the dark bloodstains splattered everywhere in the stairwell. He glanced up at the once-white ceiling, now speckled with droplets of blood.

Chu Ning stared absently at the floor before speaking abruptly. “Zhang Long, that monster that attacked you really has a twisted sense of humor. It clearly has the strength to kill in one blow, yet it leaves its prey with a sliver of hope, toying with its catch. Am I right?”

“Maybe. Let’s just get out of here,” Zhang Long replied emotionlessly, watching Chu Ning’s back with inscrutable thoughts.

“Hey, are you composed now? We need to get moving—time might be running out, so hurry up!” Chu Ning pressed Tanya impatiently, sneaking a glance at his silver wristwatch.

Tanya drew a deep breath, flashed Chu Ning a sweet smile. “Alright, let’s go!” As he turned away, she raised her fist in defiance, pouting and reluctantly following.

She kept her head down to avoid the blood, muttering under her breath, “Wooden-headed idiot… just wait till I get the chance…”

Suddenly, a pale, bloodless, fat hand appeared in Tanya’s view. The fingers, thick as carrots and pressed tightly together, left not a gap between them. The back of the hand bulged grotesquely, the skin stretched so taut it seemed a poke could burst it, spilling foul liquid.

Her gaze followed the arm, revealing the corpse in full. The fatal wound was clear—guts torn out from the belly, intestines trailing down the stairs, oily fat and blood mingling in a nauseating mess.

The dead man’s eyes were bulging, his bluish tongue lolling out, his head twisted towards five o’clock. If Tanya wasn’t mistaken, she’d seen this man before—he was one of Zhang Long’s teammates, one who had participated in the ritual with them.

Tanya stared blankly at the gruesome scene. The explicit horror assaulted her senses. Zhang Long accidentally stepped on the greasy entrails, making a sickening squelch.

Finally, she lost all control, doubling over to retch against a patch of clean wall. She was grateful that her appetite had faded, or she might have vomited up bile.

Now, merely coughing and tearing up felt like a blessing. Leaning weakly on the wall for a moment, she forced herself to press on with the two cold-blooded men ahead—she didn’t want to be left behind here alone.

Chu Ning skirted the corpse, glancing at the undisturbed fifth floor sign on the wall and thinking that everything seemed normal. He wasn’t surprised by the dead body—after seeing the blood on the twelfth floor, he’d expected someone to die.

With that much blood, it would be a miracle if no one had.

“Zhang Long, what’s your take on the cause of death? Analyze it for us—might as well, since we have nothing better to do.”

Tanya rolled her eyes. She couldn’t fathom how Chu Ning could say such callous things. She was about to scold him in the name of humanity when another wave of nausea hit.

The mingled stench of rot and blood in the air triggered relentless dry heaves. She had no idea how the two men could remain unfazed, chatting so breezily in such hellish conditions.

Zhang Long glanced apologetically at the suffering Tanya, then faced forward and offered his assessment. “The killer probably drove a hand precisely into the victim’s lower right abdomen, grabbed the rectum, and pulled out the intestines as if stretching noodles.”

“And the victim didn’t resist—or perhaps the power gap was too great, leaving him only able to flee in panic. The killer’s technique was expert; notice how none of the intestines are torn. That shows real control.”

As they walked, Zhang Long explained the method. “The body was arranged after death, or else the intestines wouldn’t be so neatly laid out. It’s not as if the victim wanted to die with artistic flair.”

“See? Rectum, cecum, ileum, colon, duodenum—all arranged in order. Some of the longer intestines are even folded neatly. The small intestine alone is about five to seven meters long—no way it all fits in the stairwell.”

Chu Ning nodded in agreement, adding his own observation. “The killer probably stood where you are, watching the victim—like a gutted fish flopping on the ground, struggling. He must have watched as the victim’s breath faded and he died, unwilling to let go.”

Tanya recoiled to a cleaner spot, hands clamped over her ears to block out the horrifying discussion. She had no curiosity about the victim’s death, nor any interest in his past.

But then Chu Ning pointed to the clean patch under her feet, saying that’s where the killer had stood. A chill ran through Tanya as if the killer’s breath was brushing her neck.

Following Chu Ning’s logic, if the killer wanted to savor the victim’s agony, this spot provided the perfect vantage to witness every detail. Tanya tried it herself, realizing he was right.

“Could you two please stop?” she begged, staring at them. The brutal scene, paired with their professional, detailed commentary, made everything even more terrifying—as if watching a gourmet show, but the vivid description only made her sick.

Their reenactment of the murder left Tanya shivering in the cold, oppressive atmosphere. In her mind, the killer’s actions played out in vivid, horrifying detail.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize your nerves were so fragile. My apologies,” Zhang Long finally ceased the discussion, though his words were more mocking than sincere.

“Got it,” Chu Ning drawled, glaring at Tanya with annoyance. Clearly, he’d been enjoying the rare chance at a meaningful conversation.

But Tanya’s outburst had killed their mood.

“Hmph!” Tanya huffed, turning away from the two men with their morbid interests. She couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of what they might do to her, her imagination conjuring up all manner of horrors.

Chu Ning glanced regretfully at the corpse. He had wanted to ask why the killer had positioned the head towards five o’clock, but the opportunity slipped away. He sighed deeply and led the way onward.

Now they were on the fifth floor. If nothing unexpected occurred, the fourth floor would be next.

Zhang Long’s eyes followed Chu Ning’s back, a delighted grin curling his lips as he rubbed his hands together, eager to continue.

Tanya, overwhelmed by everything she’d witnessed, felt more shaken than ever. What kind of madness was this? She pursed her lips in frustration, held her breath, and hurried past the body.