Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. He knew he couldn't have been mistaken.
No matter how dim the lights in the Prison were, the No-Eyes Technique had already granted him basic night vision.
Besides, there were faint bloodstains left on the human skin.
Ren Qing shot a look at Li Mian and the other two, signaling for them to be careful, then walked over to a Fireworker's corpse at the edge of the group.
He carefully recalled that the Forbidden Guard he had met earlier had been clutching a piece of human skin. The two incidents were surely connected.
'It was very likely, then, that there was more than one living human skin in the Prison.'
Ren Qing dared not leave anything to chance. His eyes darted around, constantly scanning his surroundings.
After a brief moment of panic, the men began to handle the corpses with practiced motions.
They took out the needles and thread they carried and sewed shut the corpses' eyes, ears, mouths, and noses. This was said to suppress the resentful energy generated by a violent death.
Ren Qing felt out of his depth. 'I'm so unprofessional. I don't even know what the taboos are.'
"Aaaah!!!"
A Fireworker cried out in shock. He had just tried to lift a corpse, only to find that wherever he touched it, the skin would slough off like soft tofu.
And what was revealed beneath the skin was stark white bone—the flesh and blood were nowhere to be seen.
The rumors about the Prison Cell had already left everyone on edge. Now, seeing a corpse in such a bizarre state, a palpable fear gripped them all.
A few of the younger Fireworkers even began to weep quietly, and the scene devolved into utter chaos.
Just then, a Fireworker in leather armor stepped forward, muttering curses.
"The sooner we get these bodies out, the sooner we can leave. You all get that, don't you?"
Although the Fireworkers all had their faces covered with headcloths, Ren Qing recognized the man's voice. It was the middle-aged Fireworker from the meeting hall.
'I can't believe a Steward would personally enter the forbidden zone and face the danger himself.'
The crowd quieted down. The middle-aged Fireworker announced loudly, "My name is Bo Feng. I'm sure most of you have heard of me."
Ren Qing was taken aback. Even someone as isolated as him knew of Bo Feng. Word was, the Fireworkers under his command rarely died.
He was also known for being hands-on, which made him stand out among the Stewards of the Government Office.
Bo Feng let out a heavy sigh, then continued to shout, "If you want to make it back alive, then calm down and listen to me."
"Now, everyone get to tying the red ropes."
As if they had found their backbone, the men took out red ropes, tied them to the corpses' limbs, and then steadily lifted them.
Some of the Fireworkers' movements were unpracticed; they must have been taught just before setting out.
Ren Qing's group of four was the only one that hadn't even prepared red ropes. They felt completely out of place watching the others, who looked like professional undertakers in comparison.
Bo Feng noticed and walked over, handing Ren Qing a few red ropes.
"Do you know how to tie them? Do you want me to..."
"No need, thank you."
Before he could finish his sentence, Ren Qing, relying on the enhanced perception from his No-Eyes Technique, had already tied up the corpse's limbs.
Bo Feng gave a slight nod, then went to help the other Fireworkers.
Ren Qing's group of four quickly got the hang of carrying the corpses while the others finished their own preparations. For the moment, nothing happened.
To prevent accidents, they were normally arranged in groups of five, with four carrying the corpse and one ready to take over at any moment.
However, this greatly reduced their efficiency. They estimated it would take at least three trips to get all the corpses outside.
Ren Qing politely refused Bo Feng's kind offer to lend them a hand, as he didn't want to reveal the strangeness of his eyes to an outsider.
He said to Xiaowu and the other two, "When we're carrying the corpse, don't look back no matter what you hear."
"Understood, constable."
"And another thing..."
Ren Qing's stern gaze swept over them. "Unlike the five-man teams, there are only four of us. If one person has a problem, the rest of us will die."
"So all of you, stay sharp. You hear me?"
Xiaowu and the other two answered in unison, "Understood."
Once all the Fireworkers were ready, Bo Feng led them toward the exit, with each group keeping half a meter's distance from the next.
Ren Qing's position was near the edge of the procession. While theoretically more dangerous, it also gave him a perfect vantage point to observe everything.
As they moved slowly, he noticed that besides the human skins, there seemed to be a few crawling things in the hidden corners of the Prison.
Ren Qing spared them a glance but paid them no mind, focusing instead on keeping the corpse balanced.
The heavy sound of their footsteps echoed without end.
What should have been a journey of a few minutes now felt as if it would take years. Every step was fraught with heart-pounding terror.
Thankfully, they made it without incident. The entrance to the stairs leading to the upper floor was just ahead.
Just then, a group of five sped up and broke away from the main procession, trying to be the first to reach the stairs.
Bo Feng couldn't help but curse under his breath. In the forbidden zone, any unauthorized move was fraught with risk, and a single mistake could doom them all.
The five men had obviously planned this, but as they sped up, their steps fell out of sync, causing the corpse they carried to lurch.
From just that slight jolt, the corpse's entire skin sloughed off. A bare skeleton crashed to the ground, making a considerable racket.
Like a line of dominoes, the groups in the procession collided with one another. Some even had their clothes torn, exposing their skin.
Ren Qing's eyes flew open wide. He clearly perceived several blurry figures flashing past nearby.
Then, before anyone else could react, the five men who had broken away from the group collapsed to the ground, dead in the same manner as the Fireworker by the stairs.
Having scented blood, the human skins clearly had no intention of letting the remaining Fireworkers go. They slithered across the floor, moving with stealthy speed.
Seeing this, Ren Qing gritted his teeth and whispered urgently, "Slow your steps. Three meters to the left."
Xiaowu and the other two didn't hesitate, coordinating with Ren Qing to dodge an oncoming sheet of skin. The men near them were not so lucky.
"Three meters to the right."
"Five meters, front left."
Ren Qing commanded them calmly. To an observer, they looked like they were running around the Prison Cell like headless chickens, but in truth, every step was a dance with death.
The Fireworkers scattered like frightened rats, hoping their sheer numbers would allow some of them to escape alive.
But the moment a sheet of skin touched a living person, it would burrow into their body. Within a few breaths, they would be stripped of all their flesh and blood.
Tears streamed down Ren Qing's face, and he felt a searing pain in his eyes.
He realized the skins were, intentionally or not, forming an encirclement. The only gap in their formation was in the direction of the stairs leading to the Third Floor.
"Drop the corpse!!"
The four of them let go at the same time. Then they heard Ren Qing roar, "The only way out is on the Third Floor below! If you want to live, follow me!"
Ren Qing spun around and charged, Xiaowu and the other two right behind him.
Seeing this, the others scrambled to follow, all wishing they could sprout a fifth leg.
Ren Qing wasn't just being a hero. His main concern was that if only his group of four made a break for it, they would be too conspicuous a target.
Once Ren Qing was inside the stairwell, he noticed the skins seemed wary and showed no intention of following.
"We're safe here. Let's rest for a moment."
Ren Qing swallowed several pig eyeballs in a row before the feeling of weakness subsided.
Twenty or thirty more people trickled into the stairwell. They hadn't yet recovered from the shock, and simply sat on the ground, completely at a loss.
Ren Qing did a quick count. Out of a hundred men, fewer than forty remained. The carnage had been horrific.
Bo Feng had reacted quickly and managed to survive. He was half-lying on the ground, his eyes vacant.