Coma

Zhu Yan was curled up inside the puppet, his eyelids already growing heavy.

Earlier, Jin Rongxu had no idea what he’d read, but he had blurted out, “The merchandise must be kept close at hand.”

If not for those words, Zhu Yan would have been snoring away long ago.

Unfortunately, he was currently the weak and insignificant Zhu Zeyu. It was necessary to play along with Jin Rongxu.

Outside the door, the Walking Corpse dragged its feet, carrying those gaudy, shabby bags as it slowly approached Jin Rongxu and the others.

“Merchandise.”

The door was hardly soundproof. Zhu Yan heard an old, hoarse voice coming from the other side.

“There are four portions in total, one for each person. They’re all the same. There’s no difference between them.”

Old Man Huang distributed the bags, his dilated black pupils shifting from side to side.

“What about that reckless young fellow in your group? Where did he go?”

Zhu Zeyu flung the door open, snatched the bag from the Walking Corpse’s hand, then slammed and locked the door again.

“I’m right here. Thanks, old man!”

The dust on the door trembled and flew all over the Walking Corpse’s face.

Fortunately, the Walking Corpse didn’t take offense. Instead, a strange smile appeared on its face.

It handed the remaining bags to the other four players besides Jin Rongxu and slowly reminded them, “Remember what I told you, all right?”

“I’m going to prepare the wedding feast now. Stay here obediently. Don’t go anywhere.”

Jin Rongxu’s expression was already thick with murderous intent.

That murderous intent wasn’t directed at the Walking Corpse, but at Zhu Zeyu behind the door.

This student was so ill-mannered that he was utterly lawless.

In the next public-test dungeon, he would make sure Zhu Zeyu died in the most painful way possible!

…

As the Walking Corpse’s shuffling footsteps gradually faded away, Zhu Yan could no longer fight off his drowsiness.

He dug his thumb hard into his palm, forcing himself to remain conscious as he staggered toward the window.

No. He couldn’t keep the urn of ashes beside him.

Although the puppet couldn’t be selected as a target, Zhu Yan was about to fall into a deep sleep, and the thought of having the thing nearby made him deeply uncomfortable.

He would wait until the Walking Corpse had gone farther away, wrap the thing in some clothes, and throw it out the window.

Who knew what might happen over the next ten hours?

Zhu Yan took off his uniform jacket, wrapped the urn and its cloth bag in layer upon layer of fabric, then leaned against the glass and looked outside.

In just a few minutes, the sky outside had grown even darker.

The Walking Corpse soon appeared within Zhu Yan’s field of vision.

Unlike its usual shuffling gait in front of others, the thing was now moving at a brisk pace, staggering wildly from side to side like a puppet with stiff limbs.

Once it disappeared into the distance, Zhu Yan quickly opened the window and tossed the heavily wrapped urn out of the small building.

When it hit the ground, it made only a soft, muffled thud.

After checking the window, curtains, and door one last time to make sure everything was in order, Zhu Yan ignored the whispers of his teammates outside, collapsed onto the floor, and fell asleep.

…

“Captain, it’s dark,” the military doctor reminded him. “Should we go to sleep too?”

The muscles on Jin Rongxu’s face were taut.

The military doctor noticed his anger and quietly tried to persuade him.

“Captain, it’s already dark outside. If we don’t go into our room and sleep, who knows what might happen.”

The light in the corridor had grown extremely dim.

The military doctor’s face was close at hand, but it was devoid of color, resembling that of a fresh corpse.

Jin Rongxu finally entered the room without saying a word. Only after the group had locked the door did he speak through clenched teeth.

“Doctor, I want Zhu Zeyu’s left hand.”

The left hand bore the player mark. With it, one could go to the Hall of Mourning to withdraw money.

“He’s been ranked first so many times. There’s no way he doesn’t have at least ten thousand bone coins on him, right?”

The military doctor understood at once. “No problem. Cut it off as you please. I’ll be responsible for regrowing his left hand afterward.”

“Zhu Zeyu has been spoiled by his lack of sense, and everything’s gone smoothly for him along the way. He really deserves a setback like this to knock that arrogance out of him!”

Jin Rongxu grunted in agreement before changing the subject.

“Anyway, it’s still early, and we can’t sleep yet.”

“Pot Lid!”

Pot Lid jolted at the shout. “Captain!”

Jin Rongxu cursed inwardly. What a useless fool.

“Go stand by the door and keep watch. See if any terrifying creatures come near.”

“The rest of you, come with me. We’ll examine the merchandise.”

Pot Lid trembled without saying anything, but his thoughts rang loudly in Jin Rongxu’s mind.

“The merchandise… It’s so frightening.”

“What exactly is inside these bags?”

Jin Rongxu suddenly raised his head and turned his gaze toward Pot Lid.

Pot Lid raised one finger and asked fearfully, “Captain, are we really allowed to keep these beside us?”

By the faint trace of daylight remaining outside, Jin Rongxu could see Pot Lid’s face.

In the briefest moment, his complexion had become even worse than the military doctor’s. His lips had turned a dark purplish black, and extremely fine black veins had appeared across his cheeks.

Jin Rongxu sensed that something was wrong.

Preparing to activate his ability, he tightened his grip on his military knife and took a step forward to examine Pot Lid.

“What happened to you?”

Pot Lid narrowed his eyes.

For no apparent reason, a deep and violent wave of drowsiness swept over him.

The exhaustion even overwhelmed his fear. He yawned hugely, then staggered sideways in a daze and slowly slid down the wall.

He came to rest directly beside the urn of ashes.

“I’m sleepy,” Pot Lid said. “Captain, I’m sleepy. You should all…”

His head lolled to one side, and he fell completely unconscious.

Jin Rongxu turned on his phone’s flashlight, illuminating the dark room—and Pot Lid’s face.

Oddly enough, the several clearly visible black veins seemed to have been nothing more than Jin Rongxu’s imagination. Pot Lid’s complexion looked fairly normal. Only his lips were unusually dark, as though he had simply been frightened.

He breathed in a steady rhythm, with a faint snore accompanying each breath. He was clearly sleeping soundly.

Jin Rongxu warily took a step back, then turned and carefully studied the military doctor.

Although the military doctor’s face was gray and pallid, he really didn’t have the fine black veins that had appeared on Pot Lid. His thoughts also sounded completely normal.

Jin Rongxu relaxed slightly, but he still moved farther away from everyone else without making a sound.

He gripped his military knife tightly, pressed his back against the corner, and prepared himself to attack at any moment.

“Military doctor, examine Pot Lid. What happened to him?”

“Is there any sign of a terrifying creature invading his body or possessing him?”

The military doctor took a step forward and extended his palm, holding it above Pot Lid’s head.

Several minutes passed before he finally shook his head, sweat covering his forehead.

“Nothing so far, Captain. His body still has the aura of a living person. I don’t know what affected him.”

After a pause, he speculated, “It may also be a protective mechanism of the merchandise. But…”

The military doctor didn’t finish, but Jin Rongxu understood what he meant.

“But these things are far too cold.”

“What’s inside them? Is it really human flesh?”