Chapter 281

Chapter 68 Ward 2

It was like a pungent potion mixed with something unimaginably rotten. I couldn’t tell if it stank or not, but it certainly stimulated my nostrils and even made my eyes water a bit.

“Achoo!”

I couldn’t hold back a small sneeze. I shook my head, furrowing my brows as I pinched my nose and peered into the room.

First, I saw an old wooden table right in front of the door. The table was stacked with books, and beside them stood a lit silver candlestick. The flickering light illuminated a row of ebony cabinets on the left side of the desk. These cabinets seemed to be some kind of sample cabinets, filled with large and small yellowish transparent containers, inside which were vaguely liquid and… wait?

Hadn’t I seen this before in a fleeting image?

What were those things?

An unpleasant… or rather uncomfortable feeling welled up in my heart. It felt like I was subconsciously rejecting this place, as if a voice deep within was telling me not to go in, not to see those things. But my body moved involuntarily, and by the time I realized it, I was already inside the room.

The space wasn’t large, and the furnishings were relatively simple. It looked like an office, but like the corridor outside, it was damp and dimly lit.

Dark and gloomy…

So I walked straight to the desk, reaching out to pick up the candlestick. Suddenly, I noticed a thick leather-bound book placed in front of the desk.

…Hmm?

Almost as if compelled, I picked up the book first, holding it up to examine it by the flickering light.

The book was heavy, with a very intricate cover. Silver and gold inlaid, adorned with white bone carvings of elaborate patterns. I couldn’t understand the meaning of these patterns, only that there was a line of small text in the center: “The Book of Songs — Faith reborn is the foundation of all service.”

What does that mean?

Is this some kind of poetry collection published by the Holy Church?

I casually flipped through a page, then another… After flipping several pages, I found that the book contained no content at all, just blank sheets of paper, not a drop of ink.

What is this…

It makes no sense.

I gently shook my head and put the book back on the desk, picking up the candlestick and walking over to the cabinets. Holding the flame close, I leaned in to look at the containers… each one contained a translucent liquid, and within the liquid, there seemed to be fleshy—

“Ah!”

Upon seeing what was inside, I let out a short, sharp cry and immediately covered my mouth, my face turning pale as I quickly backed away.

What was that!

What were those fleshy pieces… organs? Whose… no, whose flesh…

Those bright red fleshy pieces were slowly wriggling in the containers, as if they were still alive, but they were clearly cut-off tissues. I felt my scalp tingle, and a chill ran down my spine. Standing there stunned for a moment, I began to move towards the door in small steps.

Hurry up and leave. This place is disgusting and a bit scary…

Clang!

Suddenly, a circular container fell from the cabinet, shattering and splashing liquid that nearly reached my feet. I jumped in shock, tensing up and holding my breath, blinking rapidly. Then, in the flickering light, I saw a dark brown, pulsating mass of flesh slowly crawling towards me from the floor nearby.

“Ew—”

At that moment, I felt my hair stand on end.

What disgusting thing is this!

My mind raced, two choices surfacing almost instantly: Should I rush forward and crush it with my foot before running, or should I turn and run directly? I didn’t think for more than half a second before decisively choosing to turn and run.

No way am I stepping on such a disgusting thing!

I dashed out the door, turned around, and closed it in one fluid motion.

“Huff—”

I breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately became tense again.

Where am I…

What is this place! What was that room used for? How could there be such disgusting things! Is someone conducting live experiments here?

Those wriggling pieces of flesh reminded me of Teresa… Could this strange place have any connection with the terrifying power of the Gate of Truth?

As I stepped out, I accidentally noticed a black cloak hanging on a rack by the door. I had run too fast to see it clearly, but it seemed similar to the Pope’s knight’s cloak, except for the pattern on the back… it looked like a blood-red thorn flower.

Could that be the owner’s cloak?

I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to go back in to confirm anything.

Leave this place quickly…

I quickened my pace and walked deeper into the corridor.

I couldn’t tell if it was an illusion, but the further I went, the darker it seemed to get. The candles on both sides of the corridor were still burning, but their flames seemed to be swallowed by an unseen darkness, illuminating only a tiny area near me. I protected the flame in my hand, making sure it could barely illuminate a small area around me. Though I could hardly see the ground beneath my feet, this faint light brought me some comfort.

This can’t be real…

Reality wouldn’t be like this. This must be a dream…

But how do I get out…

Drip, drip.

The sound of dripping water echoed in my ears, never ceasing, and becoming clearer as I moved deeper.

I’m so scared.

But I don’t know what to do, so I keep moving forward.

Soon after, I saw another slightly ajar door, with a faint light seeping through the gap. Unlike before, this door was on the right side of the corridor. From a few meters away, I could hear someone mumbling incoherently.

“God bless… I’m not evil… God bless… Where is God… Where are you… Oh heavens! Is it in my belly? Ahahaha—”

“Alive… dead… alive… dead… alive… I won’t die… hehe…”

The eerie voice was distant yet mad, seeming to come from behind the slightly open door, but upon closer listening, it sounded as if it were right next to me, mingling with the sound of dripping water, like a demon’s melody in my ear.

Alive… dead… drip… Rabies… Hermes… drip… alive… dead… Rabies… Hermes… hehe…

I stood not far from the door.

After a long while, I felt as if my entire body was frozen, electrified and immobile. My cheeks trembled uncontrollably, my breath became heavy, and my heart felt like it was about to leap out of my throat.

There might be someone in this room…

He was muttering about Labis Hermes, the name the Abyss told me!

Regardless of whether he is truly human or if this is a dream, he must know something… That person definitely understands something.

Should I go in?

But I’m too afraid. So scared…

“Hey…”

I clenched my fists and called out softly, my soft voice trembling uncontrollably.

“Is anyone there?”

After I asked this, the murmuring abruptly stopped.

“Uh…”

Why has it gone silent?

I hesitated for a moment, then slowly, slowly moved towards the door and gently pushed it open.

Creak—

The light was slightly blinding. I squinted, and after two seconds, gradually adapted to the brightness, rubbed my eyes, and looked inside the room.

In front of me were dozens of pure white single beds, separated by sheer curtains. These small beds almost filled the entire large room, with each bed having a matching pure white low cabinet at its head. On one of the nearby low cabinets, what appeared to be… were they pliers and medicine bottles?

This seems like a ward… but there’s no one here? Then who was speaking just now—

“Labis Hermes.”

The demon’s whisper suddenly exploded in my ear.

!!!

It felt like my soul had left my body. My head first buzzed, then something seemed to snap, my pupils dilated, and my consciousness went blank. For an instant, I was dazed, then my heart violently contracted twice, and I widened my eyes.

Deep breath, open mouth: “Ahhhh—”

I’m going crazy.

I feel like my soul has scattered, and I don’t care about anything, turning around and running away.

I just run, not even caring about the path.

Run faster… even faster…

This is a terrifying nightmare.

I want to wake up… please let me wake up…

I don’t know how far I’ve run, but until I was panting heavily and my lungs felt like they were on fire, I didn’t want to stop.

I’m so scared…

Snap, snap.

The short scythe reappeared in my hand, fierce cold air wildly surged around me, yet it couldn’t give me even a bit of safety.

Thump thump thump…

The sound of shoes hitting the floor was incredibly sharp. Only after running did I realize that the ground below seemed to be suspended, with the gaps between the wooden boards appearing darker. I didn’t dare look closely at what was underneath, only focusing on running as fast as possible.

I only slowed down when I reached the end of the corridor.

I’ve reached the end, there’s no more path ahead, an iron door with a window, resembling a prison door, stands before me, looking extremely solid.

Is this… the exit?

I tightened my grip on the short scythe and cautiously stepped forward. Suddenly, the iron door emitted a loud grinding sound from the gears.

Clunk clunk clunk—

Boom!

It slowly opened, as if welcoming me.

Drip, drip.

This time, I heard it clearly; the water droplets were coming from inside the iron door. But there was almost no light inside, visibility was zero, like a monster’s dark, terrifying maw that could swallow everything.

What should I do…

At this point, I can only go in and take a look.

I held the candle holder in one hand and gripped the short scythe tightly with the other, stepping cautiously inside the iron door.

Apart from darkness, there was nothing else inside.

No specimen cabinets, no beds, no whispers, not even a ceiling or floor. It was like a dimensionless space, filled only with endless darkness.

Drip, drip.

The sound of water drops was unprecedentedly clear, clear enough for me to discern their direction. Following the sound, I saw a beam of white light in the darkness.

The white light was like a stage spotlight shining out of nowhere, illuminating a patch of shadow below… something was there.

I have to go see…

Take a deep breath, muster up my courage, and walk toward that beam of white light. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the shadow beneath the white light was actually an old, rusty operating table. The side of the operating table stood a similarly rusted IV stand, with an unfinished IV bag hanging on it, fresh red liquid flowing down the tube, dripping from the needle hanging beside the bed—drip, drip.

The liquid was swallowed by the darkness, making sounds.

I suddenly froze.

This is—

An indescribable emotion welled up in my heart.

Fear, panic, anger, and… an unrelenting sorrow.

I don’t know what’s happening, I threw aside the scythe and candle holder, letting them fall with the liquid into the darkness, and slowly walked to the operating table, reaching out to touch the hard leather, tears sliding silently down my face.

…?

What am I crying about?

I don’t know, but my vision blurred.

In a daze, I saw many figures in black cloaks bustling around. Soon, they approached me, raising syringes in their hands… I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality, unable to react.

In the next moment, a strong sense of weightlessness overwhelmed me, and I plunged into darkness.

“Do you remember now?”

A child’s voice echoed in my ear.

“Peyelo sister…”

…………

“A!”

After a brief exclamation, I suddenly opened my eyes.

“Huff—, huff—”

My chest heaved rapidly, covered in cold sweat, my legs shaking badly… but I ignored these, immediately scanning my surroundings. Suddenly, I realized that I had returned to the manor.

At this moment, I was still standing on the same terrace. There were no crows, no sound of dripping water, just the trellis-covered railing in front of me, not moving an inch. Looking back, the familiar second-floor corridor behind me was brightly lit by the chandelier in the living room below, with no long, dark corridor.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand, then fell into a daze.

Was it a nightmare?

No, it doesn’t seem like a nightmare. Could I really have fallen asleep standing up?!

But what was that thing…

My emotions were hard to settle, and I subconsciously glanced back again, looking at the familiar home behind me, still feeling very scared.

I don’t want to stay here…

Turn around, bend my knees, and without hesitation, jump off the terrace. Landing on the lawn, I turned and ran toward the second house without looking back.

Let me think about it later, anyway, tonight I won’t sleep alone here!