The Smell of Decay

Looking at this strange bronze spike, Wang Ye carefully put it in his pocket.

After making sure the post office would not give any more extra clues, Wang Ye returned to his living room and turned on the computer.

He logged into the 'Ling Mi' website proficiently and looked up information about Qin Yuan community.

Archive: Qin Yuan community.

Code name: Ghost Child. (D level)

Murder pattern: Those who are stared at by the Ghost Child will be hunted down.

Resolved.

Note: Eternal Night 2 years, March 29, a paranormal incident broke out, 23 deaths, esper Zhou Han led a team to resolve the incident. Currently most of the community has been relocated and is sparsely populated.

"It's been resolved?"

Wang Ye frowned slightly and mumbled to himself.

He believed the post office would not let him do something meaningless.

From the information in the archive, Wang Ye gradually believed that the reason the information about the suburb cemetery was not available was not because the security level was too high, but because it was simply not recorded.

After all, the information he could see about Qin Yuan community showed that the paranormal incident in the community had been resolved and it was currently safe.

But judging by how the post office operates, it was unlikely they would send him to somewhere safe.

Last time with just a slightly blood-stained letter, he had nearly lost his life. This time they directly gave him a spike that was likely paranormal. Things were definitely not simple.

It looked like he needed to plan this out carefully.

After all, not awakening to paranormal abilities in his last life was Wang Ye's biggest regret. Now the opportunity was right before his eyes, he didn't want to capsize in a ditch.

With this thought, Wang Ye seriously looked up the address of Qin Yuan community, as well as the floor plan and interior layouts of the buildings.

And various other information.

After double checking that there were no mistakes compared to his mental map of the community layout, especially the location of Building 4, Wang Ye left home.

...

Ming Zhu community.

By the time Wang Ye arrived at Ming Zhu community, it was already afternoon.

Under the sun's rays, the already desolate community was especially quiet, as if there was no danger at all.

But as Wang Ye stood at the entrance of Ming Zhu community, he gradually became vigilant.

Those so-called ghosts fearing sunlight and no ghosts during the day...

Wang Ye found it somewhat laughable. If ghosts really feared sunlight, then the wild lands outside the city, with ghosts running amok, would become a joke.

So even during the day, one could not let their guard down.

Wang Ye stood at a distance observing the community, and after confirming there were no discrepancies from the layout in his mind, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked in.

As an ordinary person who had lived through paranormal incidents again and again in his last life, what he relied on was not top-notch martial arts, but prudence.

Any slight mistake could become the reason for his own demise.

Inside the community, the buildings were somewhat old and uninhabited.

Wang Ye did not bother observing his surroundings, but headed towards Building 4, Unit 4 at an extremely fast pace.

Suddenly...

A somewhat crazed laughter could be heard.

Wang Ye's body tingled slightly as he stood in place, abruptly looking towards the source of the sound.

A disheveled woman in a bright red dress was standing not far away, looking at him crazily.

"Hehe... hehehehe..."

The woman laughed while her complexion was very pale, as if malnourished for a long time.

"Horror."

"Great horror."

The woman kept mumbling to herself expressionlessly, her eyes out of focus, as if she had not seen Wang Ye at all.

Wang Ye cautiously stood at a distance, staring intently at the woman for a long time.

In an empty community, the appearance of such a mad woman, yet with no information about her at all on the 'Ling Mi' website.

All these mysteries gave Wang Ye a mystifying impression of this woman.

However, after observing for a while and seeing that the woman just stood in place giggling crazily without any other actions, Wang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. He retreated two steps, circled around the woman, and continued towards Building 4.

Those too curious did not live long. As long as he completed the task and left alive, that was enough.

As for who this woman was and what was going on with her, he could report it to Team Tian and let them figure it out.

With luck, he might even earn some points.

The community was not very big. Wang Ye soon arrived at Building 4, Unit 4 entrance.

For some reason, ever since entering the community, Wang Ye had felt a vague sense of unease in his heart, but could not find the source.

Taking a deep breath, Wang Ye calmed himself down and looked at the somewhat gloomy corridor. He walked in.

Inside the corridor, the lights in the stairwell were broken from long-term disuse, making it a bit dark.

The empty stairwell echoed only Wang Ye's footsteps.

Soon, 4th floor.

Standing in front of Room 404, Wang Ye's pupils shrunk slightly.

The door to this room was not closed. Instead it was ajar, faintly revealing the furnishings inside through the door gap.

As expected, the task from the post office would not be simple.

Having mentally prepared for this, Wang Ye gently pushed open the door and walked in, observing the surroundings.

Covered in dust from long-term vacancy, there was old wooden coffee table, chairs.

On the wall hung a huge cross stitch.

The cross stitch was made with red thread, seemingly embroidering...

Wang Ye stared blankly for a moment.

It was a hand.

That's right, the cross stitch only embroidered a severed hand, even with blood dripping down.

The stitching was very skilled, making the entire cross stitch look very realistic.

The bloodstains at the severed wrist seemed to be flowing out, giving one the creeps.

Wang Ye quickly averted his gaze. He felt this cross stitch was no simple object. Just looking at it for a few seconds made him feel mentally dizzy.

But soon, Wang Ye froze again, his eyes flashing sharply.

On the dust covered floor, there were clear footprints.

Someone had been here!

Other than himself, who else would come to such a ghostly place!

Wang Ye frowned deeply for a long time before continuing forward.

Not far away, from the kitchen area came a rich stench. Wang Ye smelled it and his expression became even more serious.

Rotten corpse smell.

From his experiences of too many paranormal incidents in his last life, coming into contact with too many rotten corpses, he could be certain.

This familiar smell was something Wang Ye would never forget in this life.

But how could this smell appear in the kitchen of Room 404!

Damned Team Tian, was their cleanup work after paranormal incidents always so sloppy!

Wang Ye cursed inwardly and walked into the kitchen.

As expected, inside the kitchen the rotten smell grew even stronger, to the point of being nauseating.

But oddly, the kitchen was also covered in dust.

Wang Ye searched everywhere that could hide objects - pots, fridge, but found nothing.

Just then...

Wang Ye's gaze fell upon the dusty cutting board.

A boning knife stained with dried blood quietly lay there.

The source of the rotten corpse smell seemed to be coming from this boning knife...