Chapter 55 Accelerated Time
From the main group splitting up to search for tools, and then to finding a safe house.
Even though this took quite some time, the sky did not darken that quickly.
It was the same last night; although time still passed agonizingly, it always felt shorter than seven or eight hours.
There was a problem with the flow of time in this apartment.
Liu Haoyu’s gaze was solemn, his mind racing.
If only he had a watch… No, even if he had one, it was very likely that it would also be affected by the accelerated flow of time here.
While thinking, Liu Haoyu searched the room for useful information and items.
The room they were in was 201. The door lock was intact, and they should be able to spend the night safely.
Once locked from the inside, no one else could get in.
Moreover, it was only the first day, so there were still many rooms with intact locks outside. They probably wouldn’t be competing with him for a safe house.
Compared to ghosts, Liu Haoyu feared human nature more.
If they realized that escape was impossible, no one knew what people in this apartment would do.
“Where are you going?”
Qiu Leling, still a little scared, saw Liu Haoyu walking towards the kitchen and quickly followed behind him.
Without Liu Haoyu’s instructions, she did not dare to help casually.
“I’m going to check this room to see if there are any useful clues. Do you want to come?”
“…”
Facing Liu Haoyu’s question, Qiu Leling, still a little scared, nodded quickly without much thought.
She knew very well that she was just a burden, especially after witnessing such a terrifying way to die, she was even more convinced of it.
So, in order to get Liu Haoyu’s protection, she would listen to whatever he said.
If he said east, she would definitely not go west. If he said south, she would definitely not go north.
Next, the two began to search around the room.
The kitchen window was also sealed with boards of various sizes, and the bathroom door was currently open.
However, due to what they had encountered before, Qiu Leling did not dare to approach rashly, so she could only let Liu Haoyu check.
Fortunately, there was nothing inside.
The window was also sealed.
The kitchen floor was littered with kitchen waste of all sizes, and coupled with the humid environment, it emitted an unpleasant stench.
There were also some notes on the bedside table, which were blank except for a mess of random patterns.
Liu Haoyu pieced them together and found that they were not talismans, but simply meaningless scribbles. He could only disappointedly throw them into the trash can.
“Ah… Mph!”
At this moment, Qiu Leling’s voice came from the kitchen.
Liu Haoyu, who was still searching in the living room, picked up the table leg when he heard the sound and ran towards the kitchen.
When he rushed into the kitchen, he saw Qiu Leling covering her mouth, her small face pale. Due to excessive fright, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
She tried her best to restrain her voice, her expression terrified, pointing to the opened refrigerator in the kitchen.
Seeing this situation, Liu Haoyu cautiously walked up to the refrigerator.
He saw a female head with a purplish face placed quietly in the refrigerator.
“…Damn.”
Liu Haoyu managed to utter a word.
He didn’t know if the head in the refrigerator was the victim from last night.
Why was there such a thing in the safe house?
Liu Haoyu felt an urge to curse.
From this, it could be inferred that what came out of the bathroom last night was likely a body part, possibly someone’s hands.
Liu Haoyu observed the corpse in the refrigerator with a blank expression.
He certainly hadn’t forgotten the words on that A4 paper.
“Scattered body parts are spread throughout the apartment. Stay away from these pieces.”
However, it was not yet twelve o’clock. From these body parts, he might be able to glean some useful clues.
Liu Haoyu thought so.
The head in the refrigerator seemed to have been frozen for a very, very long time.
Her eyes had long since rotted, leaving only two dark hollows.
Her lips were frozen black and purple. From her startled expression, it seemed she hadn’t encountered anything terrifying.
It was more like she hadn’t expected to die at all.
Her face had no wounds, and there were no marks of strangulation on her neck, only knife wounds from being cut off.
In this situation, she was very likely murdered by someone she knew.
This woman probably didn’t die in this room. She was killed, dismembered, and scattered throughout this apartment.
But who killed her? Liu Haoyu wasn’t sure, as he didn’t know the deceased’s relationships when she was alive.
He slowly closed the refrigerator door.
Qiu Leling, who was sitting on the floor, recovered herself. Her pale little face looked at Liu Haoyu helplessly, as if asking if they should change rooms.
“Let’s go back to the bedroom first.”
Liu Haoyu said calmly and returned to the bedroom in the center of the room.
After returning to the living room, the girl’s complexion improved a bit, but she still looked very pale.
“Dong~ Dong~ Dong~”
The clock began to chime, ringing twelve consecutive times.
Midnight has arrived!?
Liu Haoyu’s head buzzed.
As expected, the flow of time here was not normal. It had definitely been accelerated!
But the problem was that there was still a dead person’s head in the room. What should they do now?!
Liu Haoyu’s mind raced. It was definitely too late to change rooms now.
He quickly scanned the room for places to hide, and then he noticed a sofa in the bedroom.
The sofa was facing away from the kitchen door. If they hid behind it, it might serve some purpose.
Liu Haoyu took Qiu Leling’s hand, and the two of them sat on the sofa, lowering their bodies as much as possible.
Qiu Leling tightly covered her mouth, even biting her tiger’s mouth with her teeth, using the pain to ward off the fear in her heart.
A bloody aura began to emanate from the room, growing stronger and stronger.
Occasionally, strange sounds could be heard.
“Zizi…”
In the dim room, the old, worn-out television suddenly lit up.
The television was facing the two people on the sofa, and static sounds constantly emanated from it.
Perhaps it was due to a supernatural event, but there were no images on the television, only black and white snow.
The two held their breath, their four eyes fixed on the television screen.
The light in the room was very dim, and the black and white snow on the old television began to gradually disappear, as if a video was starting to play.
Although the image displayed was not clear, Liu Haoyu could see that it seemed to be playing a cartoon.
However, the art style of this cartoon was too strange. It was like a shadow play and a puppet show.
But what was certain was that Liu Haoyu had never seen such an animation before.
The television began to make sounds, which sounded like footsteps?
No!
These gradually clearer footsteps were not coming from the television, but were echoing within the bedroom…
Something was walking around inside the house.
