Chapter 87: Wang Family Funeral Home
What is it like to have one’s body scorched by fierce flames?
In the past, Lu Jinzhao could only rely on imagination to guess, but now, she was experiencing it firsthand.
Agony swept through her entire body, the pain of being scorched by fierce flames more intense than the stimulation from any other pain. Lu Jinzhao felt for a few seconds that she could no longer sense her own existence and was unable to think, with only the concept of pain left in her brain.
This was the first time she had endured such intense agony. In that instant, the agony produced by her entire body, including her internal organs, being scorched caused her brain to crash directly. The only thought left in her mind was: I really want to die.
If she died right now, this pain would disappear along with it, right?
Even when she boarded the [Summon Ghosts] ride, with the flesh and blood of her feet shaved off and her shoulder pierced, the pain at that time was not even one-tenth of what it was now!
There were a few instants when she even wanted to give up, but the very next moment such thoughts arose, she forcibly suppressed them.
Clearly, there was no firelight at this moment, yet she saw her skin undergo some terrifying change, as if an invisible inferno was truly scorching her flesh.
Her internal organs, bones, and flesh and blood were all curling up due to the flames. She could hardly control her limbs; even with the mobile phone gripped in her hand, manipulating her fingers to press the switch became a difficult problem.
Persistence and giving up tugged back and forth in her mind, and the pain in her body tormented her endlessly. She could only feel fortunate that this ghost’s attack did not kill her in an instant, but instead came with extreme torment, determined to make everyone who died by its hand suffer enough pain.
This killing mechanism actually gave those with sufficiently powerful willpower a chance to survive.
Her fingers spasmed uncontrollably. Lu Jinzhao did not know how long it took for a person to burn to death in fire, but she figured it wouldn’t be too long. She struggled amid the agony to maintain a shred of clarity, constantly trying to control her spasming limbs to carry out the commands from her brain.
The agony always prevented her from focusing on controlling her limbs, but fortunately, Lu Jinzhao already had some experience manipulating her body amid pain. She could feel her flesh and blood and skin constantly changing. The invisible flames had nearly destroyed more than half of her body, but before they could completely burn her to death, she successfully pressed the power button on the side of her mobile phone.
The instant the mobile phone and elevator lights illuminated the surroundings, Lu Jinzhao suddenly felt her body become very “light.”
She had even somewhat lost the ability to distinguish agony from lack of pain, only feeling as if her body had become very light. As for whether it hurt or not, it took her two or three seconds to realize belatedly that the fire seemed to have receded with the light.
The pain produced by the burning had disappeared, but the sensation of her body being scalded had not dissipated. Lu Jinzhao wanted to leave this place immediately, but as soon as she moved, her body was like a fragile balance that had been broken; she couldn’t control herself and vomited up a mouthful of blood.
Looking closely, that blood actually contained some scattered fragments of internal organs.
She did not know to what extent her body was now ruined; she only felt that most of her senses had gone haywire. She was simply controlling her body based on past experience; sometimes, she couldn’t even feel the existence of certain organs and limbs.
But fortunately, her condition should have warranted lying in the intensive care unit, yet she could still move.
She could no longer run.
Lu Jinzhao struggled to control her body as she walked toward the elevator.
There was no way around it; she already felt that climbing the stairs was too much for her now.
As for whether there would be danger inside the elevator…
As long as the light source was still there, there wouldn’t be.
So, in such a confined space as the elevator, once the light source was sufficiently bright, it was actually very safe.
But the danger lay in the fact that the light source wouldn’t always be sufficient; once something unexpected happened, escaping from such a place would become impossible.
Lu Jinzhao held her mobile phone and walked into the elevator.
A faint rotten smell permeated the elevator car. Lu Jinzhao saw several dirty footprints in the elevator car, one of which was an extremely obvious charred black—likely left by that ghost.
—Bang
The elevator door closed gently, then began to ascend.
As she had thought, no accidents occurred during the elevator’s operation.
Because there was light, the ghost did not follow into the elevator.
If the light source remained sufficiently bright, staying in a confined space was actually very safe.
But unfortunately, before they entered this platform, they had not anticipated this, so they hadn’t brought a light source that wouldn’t go out even until morning.
“If someone had the ability to foresee the future, this platform would be quite simple for her, right?”
After all, the funeral home mission could be cleared easily without injury with sufficiently soundproof earplugs and earmuffs, and a light source that wouldn’t fail for a night.
Lu Jinzhao looked at her mobile phone. The instant the elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened, the phone’s battery dropped a large chunk!
“As expected…” she thought: “The dangerous moments are when the elevator doors open and close, but during operation, as long as that ghost doesn’t come up, it’s safe.”
But unfortunately, staying in the elevator forever wasn’t feasible.
Because the ghost would press the elevator buttons.
But staying in a confined space was still better than staying in an open area, so Lu Jinzhao’s current plan was to bring Meng Ning back to the duty room.
The duty room wasn’t large, with only one door for entry and exit. The ghost couldn’t easily blow out her candle like before; it would have to force the candle to burn rapidly from outside the door.
However, the most dangerous patrol mission was already complete. She still had a mobile phone with less than half its battery left, a candle with a bit more than one left, and a wooden box.
With the remaining light sources, if she stayed alone, unless she was extremely lucky and the ghost completely ignored her, she couldn’t last until dawn.
Her body was also at the end of its tether. If she made another transaction with the wooden box, she probably couldn’t bleed anymore. As for chopping off part of a limb, the flesh and blood ravaged by the ghost’s attack— even just one finger—probably wouldn’t satisfy this greedy ghost.
Her spirit had also reached its limit. If she chopped off a few more fingers, she wasn’t sure she could hold on.
Once she passed out, she would be at its mercy.
Several chaotic thoughts flashed through her mind. After walking a short distance away from the morgue, she saw Meng Ning looking at her in surprise not far away.
The other probably hadn’t expected to see her come out alive, and from her appearance, she seemed to have suffered quite a bit.
Blood spread in large patches from her mouth and nose onto her clothes. The exposed skin of one wrist looked as if it had been burned by fierce flames, leaving hideous scars and large blisters. The unsteadiness of her steps also showed that her body was now riddled with holes.
Meng Ning didn’t speak immediately but watched Lu Jinzhao vigilantly, as if asking: Are you human or ghost right now?
Lu Jinzhao looked at her too, roughly understanding what she was vigilant about, so she picked up her mobile phone. She no longer said anything to persuade her to go down to the morgue for patrol, but typed:
[I’m going back to the duty room now. Do you want to come?]
With two people together, at least the candles wouldn’t run short in the short term.
Meng Ning hesitated, glanced toward the morgue, then withdrew her gaze and typed somewhat timidly on her mobile phone screen:
[What just happened to you down there?]
Lu Jinzhao looked at her, her lips curving slightly.
[Little sister, how could there be such a good deal? Why would I give you messages for free at such a dangerous time?]
[One candle, and I’ll tell you what happened.]
Meng Ning’s eyes widened, her gaze toward Lu Jinzhao carrying a hint of unfamiliarity. She didn’t resent Lu Jinzhao’s current approach; after all, upon seeing such a weakened Lu Jinzhao, some unkind thoughts had flashed through her own mind.
She just felt that the current Lu Jinzhao was somewhat different from before.
The previous Lu Jinzhao had always appeared quite gentle, yet it made Meng Ning feel a bit uneasy. She couldn’t explain why, but she vaguely felt that this teammate of hers hadn’t been fully seen through.
But now, she sensed a “reality.”
This reality made Meng Ning feel wary.
A premonition lingered in her mind, causing her to suppress those unkind thoughts.
Although Lu Jinzhao now looked extremely weak, who knew?
Who knew if she had a backup plan?
Didn’t she still have a supernatural item?
I’d better not act rashly… for now.
Thinking this, Meng Ning’s fingers moved:
[Can I think about it?]
