Chapter 12 - Battling the Corpse Nightmare (Part I)

Chen Shaoxian and his group descended the stairs and casually picked a restaurant for dinner, also buying three flashlights and three pairs of gloves. Seeing that it was still early, they returned to the car to rest.

The three took turns watching the building entrance to see if He Xin would return, and they also kept an eye on the renovation crew to see if they had finished for the day. By 9:30 PM, they saw the lights in the building turn off and a group of people, including the owner and some workers from earlier in the day, emerged from the building. After waiting about forty minutes to ensure no one else would return, they proceeded upstairs to He Xin’s apartment door.

Chen Shaoxian knocked on the door and, after listening at it to make sure no one was inside, jokingly told Xiao Zhuang, “Go ahead.”

Xiao Zhuang nodded, took out a piece of wire he had found downstairs, and fashioned it into a cross shape to insert into the keyhole. Within about ten seconds, they heard the lock click, and Xiao Zhuang gently twisted the wire, causing the lock to creak until he finally forced the door open with a strong push.

Chen Shaoxian and Liu Baodong gave Xiao Zhuang thumbs-up before all three entered the room and closed the door behind them. The room was filled with the scent of lime mixed with a tangy smell reminiscent of century eggs. Liu Baodong turned on his flashlight and illuminated the floor, which was covered in a layer of white lime that had already stuck to the ground.

Chen Shaoxian surveyed the situation and warned the others, “Looks like no one’s been living here, be careful not to touch the lime.” He then turned on his own flashlight and shone it around the room. Xiao Zhuang found the light switch near the door, tried it, and shook his head.

The apartment was about 120 square meters, seemingly a two-bedroom layout. Chen Shaoxian and the others, now wearing gloves, split up to search for clues. Liu Baodong stayed in the living room, Xiao Zhuang headed to the kitchen and bathroom on the right, while Chen Shaoxian checked the room on the left with his flashlight and discovered it was a secondary bedroom. After searching for a while, Chen Shaoxian found nothing, and neither did Xiao Zhuang or Liu Baodong.

They then moved to the master bedroom and found the door locked. The men exchanged glances, and Chen Shaoxian gestured to Xiao Zhuang with his mouth.

Xiao Zhuang took out his wire again and used the same method to open the door. The room was filled with an overpowering smell of century eggs that nearly made them vomit. The three retreated to the living room and waited for the smell to dissipate considerably before they could finally enter the master bedroom.

Under the beam of the flashlight, it was evident that the room contained no lime. The bedroom was spacious but sparsely furnished-a nightstand, a bed, and a wardrobe, one item per person. As Chen Shaoxian rifled through, it seemed he heard something. The others heard it too, and all activity ceased. The sound became clearer, a distinct puffing noise.

The trio exchanged looks. Chen Shaoxian stood up and followed the sound, with Xiao Zhuang and Liu Baodong joining him. They found that the noise came from the other side of a wall, hidden by a door that had eluded their notice earlier due to the poor lighting and the distractions of the furniture. The puffing sound was coming from behind it. Liu Baodong speculated, “It might be from the bathroom in the master bedroom.”

Chen Shaoxian pushed at the door but it wouldn’t budge. He gestured to Xiao Zhuang to try his luck. Xiao Zhuang took out a wire again, but after several minutes of prodding, he couldn’t get it open. He then examined the lock, twisted the handle, and pulled outward-the door swung open. Xiao Zhuang gave Chen Shaoxian a scornful look and muttered under his breath, “The door wasn’t locked, it opens outward.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Chen Shaoxian quickly apologized, thinking to himself, “That was embarrassingly stupid.”

Suppressing a laugh, Liu Baodong suggested, “Let’s go inside and have a look.” The trio then entered.

Upon reaching the bathroom, the puffing sound had become more urgent. Shining their flashlights, they saw that the source of the sound was obscured by a curtain. Chen Shaoxian used the flashlight to search along the wall, found a clothes hanger in the corner, and slowly drew the curtain open with it.

As the curtain parted, it revealed a bathtub, the source of the sounds. They moved the flashlight over the tub, where a layer of white dust rose and fell with each puffing sound.

Approaching the bathtub, they saw it was filled with white dust. A small area of the dust was being blown into a convex and concave pattern, with the middle portion moving up and down-a sight created by the puffing sounds they were hearing.

The sound intensified as they drew closer. The disrupted patch of white dust grew larger, gradually revealing a dry, shriveled mouth-the very source of the dust moving up and down.

Chen Shaoxian glanced back and, without saying a word, grabbed the two men and ran outside. Just as they reached the bathroom door, a loud splash came from behind as the thing in the bathtub stood up. Chen Shaoxian leaned against the door and anxiously shouted, “Quick, find something to block the door.”

Before Xiao Zhuang and Liu Baodong could push the bed over, Chen Shaoxian was hurled out along with the door by a tremendous force. Fortunately, Xiao Zhuang reacted quickly and grabbed Chen Shaoxian, but was also pulled back several steps, his shoulder painfully twisted.

The creature headed towards Liu Baodong, who was closest. Liu Baodong reacted swiftly, grabbing a desk lamp from atop a cabinet and hurling it fiercely at it. Then he quickly turned and joined Chen Shaoxian and Xiao Zhuang in the living room.

The three ran towards the door. Chen Shaoxian reached to open it, grabbed at nothing, and then shouted, “Damn, no handle!” and began frantically to ram the door. The other two rushed to the kitchen to grab anything they could use to hold off the creature. The creature, hit by the desk lamp Liu Baodong threw, staggered, its face covered in glass shards, and moved towards the door.

Chen Shaoxian rammed the door several times without success. Seeing the creature exit, he took a kitchen knife handed to him by Liu Baodong, ready to fight desperately.

Liu Baodong, holding a ladle in one hand and a flashlight in the other, stood in front of Chen Shaoxian, his voice trembling as he asked, “What is this thing?” At that moment, Xiao Zhuang also pressed forward, holding a bone cleaver, panting heavily beside Chen Shaoxian.

Before Chen Shaoxian could answer, the creature charged. Liu Iron Mouth, wielding the ladle, smacked it hard on the creature’s chest, leaving a thick layer of white lime.

Xiao Zhuang, holding the knife, said, “Don’t hit the body, it’s covered in lime; aim for the head.” He then plunged the knife viciously into the creature’s eye. As the knife penetrated, the creature howled and flung Xiao Zhuang away, his knife sticking out with a green eyeball attached.

Chen Shaoxian, gripping the knife, struck fiercely at the creature’s head. The creature grabbed Chen Shaoxian’s clothes and pulled him forward, opening its mouth to bite. A foul stench emanated from its mouth, choking Chen Shaoxian.

Seeing Chen Shaoxian grabbed, Liu Baodong charged at the creature, colliding with it and knocking it off balance, causing it to stagger several steps.

Seizing the moment, Chen Shaoxian broke free and stepped back, gasping for air and shouting to the others, “This thing is a corpse nightmare, Xiao Zhuang, find some water!” After biting his tongue and spitting blood onto his middle fingers, he saw an opportunity to jump onto the creature’s back and plunged his fingers into its eyes.

The corpse nightmare tried to shake Chen Shaoxian off, moaning loudly, its mouth emitting green vapors, and the room filled with the increasingly choking smell of century eggs. The corpse nightmare’s movements slowed.

Chen Shaoxian shouted, “Xiao Zhuang, hurry up!”

Xiao Zhuang rushed out of the kitchen with a jar. Chen Shaoxian yelled, “Throw it now!” while pushing the corpse nightmare with his knee, propelling himself backward to fall and roll on the ground, quickly standing up again. Liu Baodong hurried to position himself protectively in front of Chen Shaoxian.

Xiao Zhuang smashed the jar against the belly of the corpse nightmare, shattering it. The water inside splashed onto the creature’s stomach, causing it to swell.

“Damn, that’s all the water we have?” Chen Shaoxian roared.

Xiao Zhuang also shouted, “There’s no water in the pipes.”

Suddenly, Liu Baodong had a flash of insight and yelled, “Go smash the water meter!” The group split up, running towards the kitchen and two bathrooms.

The corpse nightmare, now with a bloated belly, moved much slower than before, swaying as it pursued Chen Shaoxian.

“I found it, hold on,” Liu Baodong shouted while fiercely kicking the water meter, which burst open after a couple of kicks, spraying water. Liu Baodong scooped up a large ladleful.

“Uncle Liu, hurry up!” Chen Shaoxian’s anxious voice came from the master bedroom. Liu Baodong, carrying the ladle, rushed towards Chen Shaoxian’s location. Meanwhile, Xiao Zhuang had found a large pot in the kitchen, filled it with water, and quickly ran over.

Chen Shaoxian was searching for the water meter in the master bedroom bathroom when he heard Liu Baodong’s voice and was about to run out. Just as he dashed into the master bedroom, he saw the corpse nightmare staggering toward him. Chen Shaoxian dove onto the bed, rolling to the other side, playing a game of cat and mouse with the creature.

Liu Baodong burst in and, seeing Chen Shaoxian circling around with the corpse nightmare, yelled, “Come here!”

Hearing Liu Baodong, Chen Shaoxian quickly dodged the creature to get behind Liu Baodong, who then threw the water from his ladle at the corpse nightmare.

The creature, drenched, swelled up rapidly. Xiao Zhuang also threw the water from his large pot. The corpse nightmare’s body inflated like a balloon.

Chen Shaoxian, pulling the two men, slammed the door shut and snatched the ladle from Liu Baodong, smashing all the living room windows.

At that moment, a muffled ‘puff’ sound came from the master bedroom, and a puff of green smoke emerged from under the door.

Holding the ladle, Chen Shaoxian motioned for the others to run to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen with the door shut, they followed him to the balcony, where he also closed the door and smashed all the balcony windows with the ladle. Finally, they sat down on the floor, gasping for air. Soon, the entire room was filled with the smell of century eggs.