Chapter 63: Corpse, Tier 2 Soul Bead, and Cloth Bag

The fat man was a straightforward fellow. The person he had a crush on had died a violent death, and he had been holding back his anger for a long time.

Now that they were all facing death, he didn't bother to be polite with his words.

"Harming her?"

"Xia Li" shook her head upon hearing this.

With the profound tone of someone who believed their paths were fundamentally different, she posed a rhetorical question: "Little kid, do you believe in fate?"

Zhao Kai didn't understand what she meant. "What does this have to do with whether I believe in fate or not?"

He only knew that if Senior Xia Li hadn't stepped inside tonight, she wouldn't have died.

The fat man refused to back down and demanded, "If you hadn't made Senior Sister pretend to be a spirit medium, how could she have died?"

"Xia Li" didn't grow angry at this. For the sake of the Ji family, she offered an explanation: "Without my intervention, she would have died last year."

With that, she added meaningfully in a deep tone, "In this lifetime, if you want to get what you want, how can you expect not to pay a price?"

She didn't elaborate further.

As a nether deity, she had distantly heard the desperate pleas of that female student standing on the rooftop last year, driven to her wits' end after maxing out her credit cards.

She had granted the girl a way out.

She had even bestowed upon her wealth and glory.

Yet, once destiny was altered, how could there be no price to pay?

Living until today was merely settling the karma of the past.

...

Zhao Kai was still brimming with anger.

However, "Xia Li" no longer had any intention of explaining.

By this point, her body was completely covered in tadpole-like runes, and her spiritual pressure had reached a terrifying degree.

She had come inside to inspect the seal.

She had never intended to chat in the first place.

It was only upon encountering an old acquaintance that she had felt inclined to say a few extra words.

Yet, right at that moment, the situation changed drastically and abruptly!

Without any warning, the ground began to shake violently.

The jars and bottles in the specimen room shattered against the floor with loud crashes, yellow liquid spilled everywhere, and the outer walls shed plaster in showers of dust.

It felt as though something beneath the earth was thrashing about, turning the entire hospital upside down.

Ji Yun guessed that it was the work of Shang Xiaoyu, who had left earlier.

However, when "Xia Li" saw the cracked rune chains embedded in the walls, her expression changed dramatically, and she blurted out in shock, "The Demon-Suppressing Chain has broken? How is that possible!"

Fearing whatever terrifying consequence came to mind, she no longer had any time to pay attention to the three of them. Without a moment's hesitation, she dashed out through the door.

In the blink of an eye, she vanished.

Left behind in the room, the three of them could only stare at each other in dismay.

...

The building continued to tremble.

Yet the shock within the hearts of Ji Yun and his companions was even greater.

After exchanging glances for several breaths, they still couldn't digest what had just happened.

The tremors in the building lasted for over a dozen seconds before abruptly stopping.

Ji Yun frowned deeply, turning over in his mind the massive amount of information contained in that conversation with "Grandma Zhong Seventh."

Beside him, Zhao Kai was still fuming with indignation over Senior Xia Li's death.

He didn't understand anything about fate; he only knew that the dead could not return.

Lu Jiu, on the other hand, maintained her composure.

Recovering instantly, a flicker of nervous trepidation quivered in her eyes as she asked, "Ji Yun, what should we do... now?"

Though the two hadn't been close before, the shared life-and-death experience of this night had rapidly drawn them together.

Ji Yun looked around the room and voiced his thoughts: "We need to find a place to hide and stay alive first."

Hiding had been pointless before because the two rookie investigators, Wu Feng and Zhang Xiaonan, were entirely unreliable.

But the situation was different now.

The heavy hitters pulling strings behind the scenes had all appeared and started fighting each other.

Regardless of who emerged victorious, they just needed to wait for the outcome.

With Ji Yun's brief explanation, Lu Jiu and Zhao Kai exchanged glances and nodded.

...

The door to the specimen room had been smashed to pieces; they could no longer stay here.

Just as Ji Yun thought about leaving, an eerie gust of wind from an unknown source swept fiercely through the entire corridor.

*Whoosh—*

It whipped the three of them, making their clothes snap loudly.

Subconsciously, Zhao Kai muttered, "Why did the wind suddenly start blowing?"

A sudden realization struck Ji Yun, and his expression changed drastically: "The seal underground might have broken!"

Ordinary people could not perceive the nature of this wind, but in the eyes of a transcendent, was this even wind?

It was wave after wave of nether energy!

Ten times denser than before!

The evil entity residing within Ji Yun's body felt exceptionally comfortable.

Yet this was also a dangerous signal.

He had seen similar situations mentioned on the forum; whenever such a large-scale eruption of nether energy occurred in a ruins realm, it meant that some terrifyingly monstrous ghost had appeared!

...

"Not good!"

Realizing this, Ji Yun quickly called out to the fat man and the girl, "Let's run!"

The previous ghost nurses made their rounds on a schedule, giving them a chance to hide and evade, but that might not hold true anymore!

Seeing the look of mortal peril on Ji Yun's face, Zhao Kai and Lu Jiu didn't hesitate to follow him as he bolted out.

Sure enough, the moment they stepped out, Ji Yun caught a glimpse of several ghost nurses roaming the southern corridor.

Fortunately, they were too far away to notice the three of them.

However, they blocked the path to the southern building.

Catching sight of those ghost nurses, Zhao Kai shuddered in terror: "Brother Yun, where are we going now?"

Encountering three ghosts earlier had almost wiped them out completely; if they were cornered here, it would be certain death with no hope of survival.

Yet their problem wasn't wanting to go somewhere anymore.

It was *where* they could possibly go!

Ji Yun's gaze swept rapidly across the entire floor; there was nowhere left to hide in the corridor: "This way!"

Ghost nurses were already roaming the southern end, leaving only the north.

Leaving no room for hesitation, the three of them quickly rounded a corner and entered the northern wing of the hospital.

No sooner had they arrived than misfortune struck in succession!

At the end of the left-hand corridor, the room bearing the sign [Operating Room] slowly illuminated with an orange light.

Within the eerie, greenish tint of the hospital, this yellow light looked exceptionally glaring.

The door slowly opened.

Ji Yun's expression shifted drastically, as he realized that the nether energy unleashed by the shattered seal had probably driven every single ghost in the entire building berserk.

Before he could even think of a way out, a terrifying wave of spiritual pressure surged from the operating room like a tide of blood.

Even with his toes, he could deduce that a terrifying ghost had emerged from that operating room.

There was no escaping it!

*The operating light on the third floor burns bright, whatever you do, do not look back.*

At this critical juncture, this nursery rhyme flashed fiercely through Ji Yun's mind.

With no time to explain, he hooked both arms around the shoulders of Zhao Kai and Lu Jiu, forcefully spinning them around together so their backs faced the operating room, and shouted urgently, "Don't look back!"

At the very same instant, the sound of a door being flung open with a loud *bang* echoed from behind them.

Almost the moment they turned away, the three of them felt a chilling sensation against the back of their necks, as if the blade of a scalpel was pressed right against their skin.

Ji Yun knew that the "nether entity" was right behind them at that very moment!

...

Ji Yun's heart leaped into his throat.

Lu Jiu and Zhao Kai, the two he was holding onto, were also trembling like chaff in the wind.

All three of them clearly sensed it!

Something was following right behind them.

Yet after taking a few steps, they realized... they weren't dead?

As long as they didn't turn around face-to-face, it wouldn't trigger a fatal effect?

Ji Yun realized that the nursery rhyme was correct!

It was a supernatural rule!

With pounding hearts, the three of them hurried forward quickly.

Yet the danger was far from over.

They hadn't taken many steps before the nether energy behind them became as bone-chillingly cold as a block of ice pressed against their spines.

It was a terrifying contamination of fear that caused both body and soul to tremble violently.

It was like walking on a razor's edge; the slightest loss of balance would cause the sharp blade to cut a person in half.

Ji Yun felt he could hold on for a little longer.

However, Zhao Kai and Lu Jiu beside him had been drained of all color by the terrifying spiritual pressure pressing down from behind.

Ji Yun couldn't even feel any warmth in his hands, which were still resting on their shoulders.

At this rate, even if they weren't killed by a ghost, they would be scared to death.

Fortunately, they hadn't walked far when Ji Yun caught sight of a sign hanging beside a room on the left side of the corridor ahead: [Ward 4-8].

That was it!

There was another line in the terrifying nursery rhyme: *Under bed number five, a person hides.*

A flash of inspiration struck Ji Yun's mind.

Get inside!

Since every line of the nursery rhyme had proven true so far, this had to be an important clue.

Regardless of what lay inside, judging by the current situation, it couldn't possibly be more terrifying than the thing behind them.

It was also their only remaining option at the moment.

The fat man on the left tacitly understood Ji Yun's intent, and without looking back, the three of them sidestepped sideways.

They pushed open the ward door.

Glancing inside first, they saw it was empty—no ghost nurses.

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief, slid inside with a lateral step, and slammed the door shut with a sharp *click*.

...

The moment the ward door closed, that wave of nether energy was abruptly cut off.

Miraculously, Ji Yun discovered that the "great terror" that had been closely tailing them had not followed them in.

It seemed that the ward did not belong to its active territory; it only roamed the corridors.

With the immediate threat of death lifted, all three let out a collective, heavy sigh of relief.

However, this was no time to relax.

Turning his face, Ji Yun looked around the room.

He needed to figure out what that line in the nursery rhyme meant.

Like the previous wards, this room contained four single hospital beds.

Bed number five was the second one from the entrance.

Beneath these old-fashioned wooden beds was a space sixty or seventy centimeters high, usually used for storing chamber pots, basins, and other sundries.

Yet the bedsheets hung down, obscuring whatever might be hiding underneath.

All the ward windows faced outward, and the green moonlight spilled into the room, maintaining its usual eerie ambiance.

The gazes of all three were locked firmly onto bed number five.

Zhao Kai swallowed hard, too terrified to speak. He glanced at Ji Yun beside him, silently signaling: *What do we do now?*

Although Ji Yun's expression was equally grave, after sensing the surroundings carefully, he felt no spiritual pressure, and the nether energy remained stable.

Did that mean there were no ghosts inside?

The situation was much better than anticipated.

Figuring that a ghost nurse might come by for rounds shortly, Ji Yun knew he couldn't afford to stall.

At the very least, he had to rule out the risks first.

After all, one thing was certain according to the rhyme: a "person" was hidden underneath.

...

With this thought, Ji Yun raised the bloody talisman in his hand and walked toward the hospital bed.

Understanding his intent, Zhao Kai didn't flinch and followed him.

Lu Jiu followed as well, looking equally terrified yet eager to help.

Having fought through several brutal encounters, the three of them seemed to have developed a certain tacit coordination.

Lowering their breathing, they stood by the bedside without daring to get too close.

Displaying quick wit, Zhao Kai detached an IV pole from the bedside.

He reached it out.

Then, he cautiously lifted the drooping bedsheet.

As soon as he pulled it back a fraction, a dark-blue palm came into view.

The three of them couldn't help but swallow in unison.

Sure enough!

There was a "person" lying beneath the bed!

Judging by this skin tone, it was either a jiangshi or a corpse.

It was definitely not a living human.

Having already witnessed the scene of "Song Wei's" corpse hidden in the bathroom ceiling, however, the three of them had mentally prepared themselves.

Now, looking at the bruised blue hand under the bed, while they were still afraid, their emotions remained relatively steady.

Moreover, the fact that the hand hadn't come to life was already the best-case scenario.

Without further hesitation, Zhao Kai yanked the bedsheet all the way open.

The corpse of a man dressed in a black suit instantly came into view.

The moment Ji Yun saw the suit, he found it somewhat familiar.

Previously, he had only seen one group of people who could pull off that kind of mysterious aura in suits.

It was the group of black-clad men from the Extraordinary Investigation Bureau who had detained him back at Happiness Residential Compound.

Yet this person had evidently been dead for a long time; his face was ashen, and not a trace of vitality could be seen anywhere on his body.

Perhaps because of the suit, Ji Yun felt considerably more at ease looking at it.

After waiting for a few seconds, the corpse didn't suddenly spring back to life, and the hearts hanging in their throats finally settled back down.

...

Why was there a corpse here?

Since he wasn't terrified anymore, doubts immediately surfaced in Ji Yun's mind.

Even if this person wasn't a member of the Extraordinary Investigation Bureau as he suspected, the style of the suit was still a modern product.

It did not belong to the original timeline of Ward 426.

In other words, the "corpse" had entered the ruins realm from the outside world.

Ji Yun walked closer to inspect the situation.

Yet before he could even get near, as if stirred by the passing breeze of his footsteps, the entire corpse rapidly faded into paper-like ash and dissolved into fine powder.

In the blink of an eye, the body vanished!

Zhao Kai and Lu Jiu trembled at the bizarre phenomenon.

Ji Yun had seen such scenes before, so he wasn't surprised; instead, he felt a surge of anticipation. *"Oh... could he really be a transcendent?"*

With that thought, he noticed that following the disappearance of the corpse, a black bead had been left behind on the ground.

Alongside it was a bag made of Tai Chi eight-diagram cloth.

Ji Yun's eyes instantly lit up.

Seeing the corpse vanish right before his eyes, Zhao Kai couldn't help asking, "Brother Yun, what's going on here?"

"It's like cultural relics in an ancient tomb oxidizing and vanishing the moment they see the light of day. Time flows differently here compared to the outside..."

Ji Yun offered a simple explanation.

Knowing what was lying on the ground, he reached down and picked it up.

A surge of joy blossomed in his heart.

Sure enough, it was another [Nether Soul Bead].

However, this [Nether Soul Bead] differed slightly from the one Ji Yun had obtained from the male jiangshi corpse.

This one wasn't pitch black.

With the naked eye, one could see wisps of metallic, steel-like sheen shimmering across the surface of the bead.

A look of eager expectation surfaced in Ji Yun's eyes: "Could this be a Tier 2 Nether Soul Bead?"

He recalled a statement from the forum: when transcendents who had fused with two or more evil entities died, the Nether Soul Beads they left behind would carry a metallic sheen.

Testing it in his hand, he found it heavier, and the nether energy was vastly denser.

It seemed it truly was.

"Good stuff!"

Ji Yun's expression brightened. For transcendents, items like this were high-grade hard currency.

People bought soul beads on the forum's black market year-round, but it was exceedingly rare to see Tier 2 ones for sale.

Most of the time, money was just a means to an end for transcendents as long as they had enough.

Therefore, truly high-level transcendent items in the black market were almost exclusively traded through barter.

This was something money couldn't necessarily buy.

Ji Yun put the bead away.

Possessing this bead meant not only a windfall of unexpected wealth, but also another trump card to ensure his survival.

At the same time, he grew increasingly curious: why would the corpse of an advanced transcendent—one who had fused with at least two evil entities—be lying under bed number five?