CHAPTER 265: CHAPTER 265: WHY SHOULD I?

Qingran responded, "Copy. We’ll regroup at the hall junction in ten."

She turned off the comm and stepped between Yu Song and Wei Sheng.

"Come here.." she said, gesturing to Shen Li. "You’re with me from now on."

Wei Sheng’s smile faltered for just a second.

Then it returned, sharper this time.

"Protective, aren’t you?" he said.

"She’s just a kid."

"So? I’m not doing anything."

"No, but you want to."

That made his smile freeze.

The room stayed still.

Then Wei Sheng exhaled slowly. "That’s a little unfair, isn’t it?"

Qingran didn’t move."Go stand by the door."

For a heartbeat, she thought he might refuse.

But he did move.

Just... too slowly.

As he walked away, Shen Li reached out and gripped Qingran’s sleeve.

"I don’t like him, being around makes my skin crawl" she whispered.

"I know..."

Shen Li’s hand trembled.

"They way he stares at me, it’s as though he wants to rip me apart.."

Qingran didn’t answer.

She watched Wei Sheng settle against the far wall, humming softly to himself.

Then her device crackled again.

"Qingran." Ruihuang’s voice came through, tight. "You’ll want to see this."

"What is it?"

"We opened the sealed room."

"And?"

A pause.

Then:

"There’s blood. A lot of it. And something else. You need to come now."

Qingran’s grip on Shen Li’s shoulder tightened just a little.

"Yu Song, take point.." she said, her voice clipped. "We’re heading to Ruihuang."

Yu Song gave a sharp nod. His gaze flicked toward Wei Sheng who was still leaning against the far wall, eyes half-lidded, that same faint hum vibrating from his throat like he had no care in the world.

They didn’t speak again as they moved.

Shen Li kept close to Qingran, her hand never leaving the older woman’s sleeve. The corridor they passed through was darker than the others, the emergency lights flickering with every other step.

Something about the air changed as well. It felt heavier, warmer.

Like walking into someone’s breath.

Ruihuang stood by the junction when they arrived, his arms folded, a grim set to his jaw.

He didn’t wait for greetings, all good vibe would be ruined by what they saw in the room anyways.

"This way.." he said. "You’ll want your hand over the kid’s eyes."

They followed him into the next hall and through the doorway of a room that had been locked since they arrived.

The steel door now stood pried open, bent at the edges like something monstrous had forced its way in or out.

The smell hit first.

It was metallic, sour and thick. A stench so strong, it made one’s stomach churn.

Even Yu Song gagged quietly, turning away.

Then came the sound.

A low buzzing, constant and dense...flies.

Qingran’s eyes adjusted to the dim space just enough to see.

The room was painted in blood.

Not smeared or pooled.

Spattered high across the walls and ceiling in wide arcs. Limbs were scattered like broken toys, arms, legs, chunks of torsos, most stripped of clothing.

Dried gore crusted the floor. But what drew the eye most wasn’t the dried blood.

It was the fresh blood.

Still wet.

Still dripping from one of the hanging light fixtures.

Shen Li gave a sharp gasp and buried her face into Qingran’s side.

Qingran didn’t move.

She stepped forward slowly, forcing herself to take it in.

The bodies or what was left of them were dressed in fine materials, some with insignias still visible on their ruined lapels. Officials. Government workers. Those who’d taken refuge in the bunker before the end.

Only they hadn’t survived.

She crouched beside what might’ve been a woman once. Her lower half was missing, and her torso bore long, deep gashes that didn’t match any weapon she knew.

Not machetes or daggers.

These were ragged.

Yu Song stepped up beside her, his face pale but silent.

"It’s like they were..." he hesitated, "...shredded."

Qingran didn’t answer.

Instead, she reached for a corpse closer to the center of the room, tilting the jaw slightly.

There, along the neck and jawline. They were bite marks.

A familiar bite mark that sent chills down her spine.

Her chest tightened.

It all made sense now. They really couldn’t get a day off from danger couldn’t they.

"Meng Nian, you remember that man that were rescued from the school? Along with Tianming and the others now? These bite marks are the same one.."

-_-

"You’re saying.."

She nodded "Yes. That thing is here somewhere and they’re are 80 of us here that’s going to be it’s next meal if we don’t do something about it..."

She took a step back and left the room, they needed to go back to the main hall.

"Let’s head back. Those people are left unprotected.."

As they turned to leave the blood-soaked room, Wei Sheng suddenly laughed.

It wasn’t casual or polite.

It echoed down the hall with a sharpness that made them stop in their tracks.

"Why are we going back?" he asked, still chuckling as he followed lazily behind them. "If they die... isn’t that just more room for the rest of us?"

The words sounded wrong.

But it was what came next that made Qingran freeze.

Wei Sheng’s eyes flicked to Shen Li, and he licked his lips slowly, like he was savoring something sweet.

"I want her blood.." he whispered. "It smells so delicious. I bet it tastes like divine."

He was close now, too close for comfort.

His hand reached forward, tracing the curve of Shen Li’s neck with unsettling delicacy, as though he were petting a pet, not threatening a child.

Shen Li stiffened, the terror blooming in her eyes was immediate and raw. Her lips trembled, and she took a single step back, nearly tripping, but she only brought herself closer to Wei Sheng who now has his arms around her.

Qingran’s stomach turned.

"Let her go.." she said, her voice deadly quiet. "Or I’ll give you a beating you’ll never forget."