Ning Qiushui was in the middle of speaking when he suddenly noticed something.
After rummaging around for a while, he pulled several pieces of meat out of the refrigerator.
These pieces of meat were vacuum-sealed, without any labels.
Inside… there were dark, shadowy things.
But because they were covered with too much crushed ice, they couldn't see clearly what it was.
So Ning Qiushui handed the meat to Liu Renfeng beside him.
"Cut it open."
Liu Renfeng took a knife to slice the vacuum bag, but suddenly froze.
"Holy shit…"
He stared at the meat inside the plastic vacuum pack, unable to stop himself from cursing.
The piece of meat inside the vacuum-sealed bag… actually had thick hair on it!
From the location of the hair, it looked like a leg part… and it was human!
"The thing in this bag… is human meat?!"
Terrified, Liu Renfeng threw the piece of meat to the ground.
The frozen meat hit the floor with a sharp, crisp thud.
Suddenly recalling the meat they had eaten earlier, he gagged.
Liu Renfeng knew that what he ate before was beef, but the thought still made him nauseous.
Ning Qiushui picked the piece of meat up from the floor, examined it carefully, and finally put it back into the bag.
"I think I know why the old woman on the second floor won't eat meat…"
Beside him, Liu Renfeng tried to suppress his nausea, his face pale.
"Why?"
Ning Qiushui slowly said,
"Because before we came, someone must've fed her pieces like these… causing her to develop severe psychological trauma toward meat."
"And don't you find something strange?"
Liu Renfeng frowned.
"Strange? What do you mean?"
After sealing the meat, Ning Qiushui placed it back in the fridge.
"That old woman is clearly paralyzed, yet the windows in her room are nailed shut with tons of metal bars, like someone was afraid she might escape…"
Thinking back, Liu Renfeng realized that was indeed the case.
Then a chill ran down his spine as a terrifying possibility came to mind.
"You mean… her paralysis…"
With sharp eyes, Ning Qiushui nodded.
"Most likely."
"But that's not the scary part. The truly terrifying thing… is still ahead."
After saying that, he took another piece of lamb from the fridge and tossed it to Liu Renfeng.
"There's… something scarier than this?"
Liu Renfeng caught the lamb, his face drained of color.
Ning Qiushui frowned.
"You still haven't noticed… there isn't a single family photo in this house."
Liu Renfeng's hand paused as he cut the meat.
That was true.
Earlier, the little girl the lady of the villa held by the hand looked at least eight or nine years old.
After all those years, even if the couple had divorced, there should still be at least a few photos of the woman and her daughter…
But in reality, neither the first floor nor the second floor had any photos of the woman, the girl, or the old woman on the second floor!
Why… was that?
"Also, unless my eyes deceived me… the women's shoes in the shoe cabinet by the door…"
As Ning Qiushui spoke, he suddenly stopped, then shook his head.
"Forget it.Let's cook first."
"These questions… we'll likely get answers tonight."
Seeing that Ning Qiushui didn't want to say more, Liu Renfeng didn't press him.
But he secretly studied him.
This man… was too strange.
Whether it was seeing the fat man's skin earlier, or all the bizarre events since entering the world beyond the blood door, he never panicked.
He was even calm to a frightening degree.
Such terrifying mental stability—Liu Renfeng had never seen in his thirty-plus years of life.
Was this guy really just a veterinarian from the outside world?
Liu Nhan Phong was becoming increasingly curious about Ning Qiushui.
Dinner.
Everyone sat at the table in silence.
"Liu Renfeng, why aren't you eating the vegetables?"
Xue Guize noticed that the cook, Liu Renfeng, only served himself a bit of plain porridge and wasn't eating any of the dishes.
Tonight's lamb smelled delicious.
But Liu Renfeng didn't touch a single piece.He even placed the lamb as far from himself as possible.
"Huh? Vegetables?"
"Oh, right… vegetables… I—I have a bit of a stomachache…"
He muttered, looking pale.
He and Ning Qiushui hadn't told the others about the human meat in the fridge.
After all, two people were already dead.
Everyone was already on edge—revealing that information would only make things worse.
Besides, even if they knew, it wouldn't help them survive.
The mission required them to care for the elderly person in the villa for five days, so they had to stay here for the full five days.
After dinner, a new problem arose—
How should they arrange a room for Yan Youping?
Since the two girls had died, Yan Youping was now the only female left in the group.
There was no way… they could let her sleep alone, could they?
"I—I don't want to sleep alone!"
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Yan Youping was on the verge of crying.
Was this a joke?
Let her sleep alone in a place this terrifying?
That was the same as killing her!
Compared to life and death, modesty between men and women meant nothing to her at this point.
"Then… you can sleep with us tonight. We two guys will take the sofa, you sleep on the bed." Bei Dao said.
Xue Guize didn't object.After all… the fewer people left, the more dangerous it became for the survivors.
Yan Youping nodded, looking at the two with gratitude.
Ning Qiushui saw this and shook his head slightly.
He knew that if the ghost hiding in the villa wanted to kill, even a hundred people gathering together would make no difference.
Seeing that their expressions had eased a bit, he said,
"It's late. Everyone should rest… Ah, and check the doors and windows.
Make sure everything is shut tight."
"After tonight, there will only be three days left before we can leave."
Everyone nodded.
After turning off the lights on the first floor, Ning Qiushui went upstairs with the others.
After they each entered their rooms, he turned off the hallway light.
The light switch was at the top of the stairs.
Normally, such places used two-way switches—one to turn on, another to turn off. Convenient.
But for some reason, the hallway light on the second floor of the villa was designed with only a single switch.
When the hallway light went out, the entire villa was swallowed by darkness.
A chill ran through Ning Qiushui. He was about to walk toward his room when suddenly he heard a faint sound from behind him.
It wasn't loud, but in the dead silence of the dark, it was incredibly clear.
It was the sound… of the iron gate leading to the third floor being unlocked.
Ning Qiushui's body stiffened.
From upstairs…
Something seemed to be coming down.
And it was… right behind him.