Half Immortal

Chapter 15 – Promenade Hotel (15)

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Yan Wei slowly bent down beside the bed.

He raised his hand, wanting to pull away the blanket covering the corpse but just as his pale and slender fingers were about to touch the blood-stained sheets, Yan Wei remembered the matter of him having no choice but to grab the painter’s hand last night —- After returning to his room, he had washed his hands for over ten minutes.

He stepped back a little bit and waved Gao Ming over, “Do me a favour and lift this blanket.”

“Huh?” Gao Ming was taken aback.
His expression collapsed and he leaned forward in resignation, “He’s already dead so why are we lifting the blanket for? Forget it…….I’ll just do whatever you say…..”

Before Gao Ming could reach out, Yan Mingguang who had been standing silently next to him this entire time had already pulled the blanket away.
Gao Ming stepped back and tried not to get in the way of these two beginner players who were much more skilled than him examining the corpse.

Yan Wei sent Yan Mingguang a thankful look and then pinched his nose and muttered ‘I should bring gloves with me after leaving this place’ before leaning forward to take a closer look.

He had died the same way as Gao Ming’s roommate.

Yan Wei carefully scanned up and down—-The clothes on both players were neat and orderly and there were no other injuries apart from the hollowed-out eyes.

They had both died from having their eyes dug out and the method of it being dug out was extremely cruel.

“Gao Ming, did you hear anything last night?” Yan Wei retracted his gaze and stood up.

Gao Ming nodded, “Yes.
I thought that since I would need to get up at dawn to meet you two the next day, I should go to sleep as soon as the sky has darkened, but I didn’t sleep very deeply.
Later, I even needed to…..um, go to the bathroom, but you reminded me not to open my eyes or move if anything happens so I held it in the entire night……”

Yan Wei, “…….” So that was why Gao Ming had such dark eye bags.

“I vaguely heard the sound of my roommate getting up.
He probably wanted to go to the bathroom, but he never came out again.
I didn’t dare move so I only checked the bathroom when dawn arrived, and I found him dead inside.
Before going down, I even did a simple autopsy.
From his position on the ground, it is likely he had died while he was washing his hands and, because his expression didn’t change, he likely had a quick death.”

Yan Wei’s expression didn’t change much as he listened to Gao Ming’s explanation.
He took out a coin from his pocket and gently rubbed his finger along its edges before tossing it into the air.

The coin drew a perfect arc in the air.
He continued to stare ahead in thought.

A moment later.

Faint sounds could be heard in the originally quiet corridor outside.
It was airy and light, and it sounded like it was both far and near as it gradually reached Yan Wei’s ears.

Yan Wei’s eyes hardened.
He caught the coin and threw it back into his pocket, “Did you two hear anything?”

Yan Mingguang nodded.

Gao Ming’s expression became even more unsightly, “So many female voices.
They seem to be calling out for…….eyes.”

Yan Wei listened intently.

“Eyes……”

“….Give me eyes……..”

“Eyes……Where are they……eyes…….”

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“………”

Yan Mingguang’s dark eyes stirred slightly.
There was bottomless coldness concealed in the depths of his eyes.
He slowly took out the folding knife in his pocket and swiftly flicked out the blade.

Yan Wei also tightened his grip around the self-defence weapon in his pocket.
He said quietly, “They should be the women in the paintings.
Since it’s the last day, the restrictions on them must have weakened and the weapons we have on us may not necessarily harm them when those restrictions are completely gone.
We still have not figured out the matter with the underground floor.
Let’s hurry and go there.”

Yan Mingguang walked out ahead without another word.

But as soon as he reached the door, his footsteps paused, and his indifferent eyes moved slightly to glance back at the room.

Yan Wei looked at him, “Are you thinking about giving Sun Shi a reminder?”

Please read this from kk translates

Yan Mingguang looked at him in surprise.

Yan Wei knew what he was thinking.

He and Yan Mingguang were completely different from each other in terms of their external appearance and their inner personality.
He looked gentle and kind on the surface but was cold and rational inside.

Yan Mingguang was the opposite of him.

He said, “Although I think that this behaviour is particularly silly, but if you really think that it is necessary, we can leave a note——”

“No need.” Yan Mingguang calmly interrupted him, “He chose it himself.”

After saying that, the man spun the knife in his hand and turned back to lead the way.

Yan Wei shrugged and immediately pulled Gao Ming along to follow Yan Mingguang.

As soon as he left the room, he immediately felt a creepy sensation coming from his right.
His subconscious vigilance made Yan Wei subconsciously tilt in the other direction.
Yan Mingguang who was walking ahead also noticed that something wasn’t right.
As soon as he returned to his senses, he immediately pulled Yan Wei away with force.

The three of them looked back and only now saw that……

—–There was a woman’s arm sticking out of the painting!

In an instant, arms stretched out from all the paintings lining the walls of the corridor as they seemed to be reaching for something.

The beautifully decorated corridor was now filled with outstretched arms.
They twisted about without restraint and tried to grab something in the air while the mirrors scattered between the paintings reflected the warm yellow lights.

The mirrors all stood opposite each other.
Through the countless reflections, it looked as if there were hundreds of arms waving around in the corridor.

Yan Wei and co quickly moved through the middle of the long and narrow corridor.
Those thin and graceful arms continued to reach out and their fingers would occasionally hook onto their clothes as they passed by.

The lights in the corridor flickered a few times.
There seemed to be countless pairs of eyes staring at them from within the darkness on both sides.

Despite his docile appearance, Gao Ming cursed, “Is the purpose of these damned mirrors just to make the scene scarier? The hands reaching out of the painting and the hands reflected in the mirrors, I can’t tell which is which!”

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“Let’s hurry and go to the underground floor.” Yan Wei’s tone became more serious, “The restrictions on the ghosts…..it’s getting weaker.”

.

In the entertainment area of the world inside the tower, at the casino.

During this time, new instance live broadcasts had appeared at the casino one after another and there were also new faces coming to try their luck.
There were cries of joy from those who had betted successfully as well as wails of despair from those who had lost.

“……Hasn’t the number of low-level instances activating the betting stage increased lately?”

“Not only that, but there has also been an increase in mid to high level instances too!”

“Recently, more and more players have been selected by the tower……”

“………..”

The projection of the instance in which Yan Wei was in was constantly showing Sun Shi’s perspective.
A large number of players had gathered under this projection.
Some would come from time to time to check the progress and worry about the result while others who had not placed their bets came to analyse the instance and build their knowledge and experience.

After Jiang Xiu placed his bet, he returned to the organisation to analyse a few instances before returning with his younger brother Jiang Ping to take a look again when he was done.

As soon as he arrived, everyone under the projection consciously gave way, clearing a large area of empty space for Jiang Xiu—–Everyone except for a young man in black.

His clothes were all black and he carried an arrowless bow on his back that was similarly pitch black in colour.
Even in a brightly lit place like this, he constantly seemed like he would blend into the darkness any moment.

This person stood in the empty space cleared for Jiang Xiu very conspicuously, but he didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with that.
He only continued to look up at the projection showing Sun Shi going to the studio from the restaurant with his lips slightly hooked up.

When Jiang Xiu saw him, his brows furrowed, “Lin Zhen? You also placed a bet? A beginner instance that would surely fail actually attracted you over….”

Lin Zhen chuckled lightly.
On what is considered a rather delicate appearance, the smile revealed was devilish and evil, “I heard you trash brother will be entering an instance soon.
You probably wanted him to win a round of betting so that he caould choose the simplest instance? If that’s the case, you should hurry and get him some life-saving items instead of waiting for the betting results.
As soon as you lose the bet, you trash brother will be directly dragged into a high difficulty instance….”

Jiang Xiu was displeased, “What do you mean?”

“This instance will be cleared.”

“Are you kidding me? With that player who got misled by that fake diary? That player has underestimated the difficulty of this instance.
This instance is now on par to a level five or greater instance but he’s using his experience as a level two or three player to try and clear it.
He will definitely die.
I bet that these group of idiots will fail.
Just you wait and see.”

Please read this from kk translates

“You’re the idiot.” Lin Zhen’s smile grew even bigger.
There was bloodthirstiness and glee hidden in his eyes “Can’t you see that silver-haired man in the black jacket in Sun Shi’s perspective? That should be a beginner player.
Although I can’t see his face, I can tell that he’s strong….very strong.
As for that Sun Shi, he’s doomed.
Let me enjoy his last moments of being killed by the ghosts….”

Seeing Sun Shi fearfully evade the arms outstretched from the paintings and arrive at the art studio, Lin Zhen laughed out loud.

He raised his hand and bit his finger to the point where he even broke through the skin.

The taste of fresh blood filled his mouth.
He really enjoyed this bloody taste.
He snickered, “This is a very strong beginner player.
I wonder which instance he would get after clearing this instance….? I should go to the same one…..”

.

After Yan Wei and co entered the elevator, Yan Mingguang took out the magnetic card and swiped it.
Sure enough, the ‘-1’ button lit up.

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The restrictions binding the ghosts were weakening and the entire hotel was shrouded in a strange atmosphere.
All the lights in the hotel flickered including the inside of the elevator such that it turned dark from time to time.

When the elevator stopped at the underground floor and the heavy doors opened, the light in the elevator happened to just turn back on.

A strong smell of blood reached their noses.
It was completely dark outside, and the surroundings were abnormally quiet.
Despite this, they seemed to still be able to hear the low murmurs for eyes from the paintings upstairs…..

A sharp blade cut through the air.
Yan Mingguang stepped out first.
He said lowly, “Follow me.”

Yan Wei and Gao Ming followed behind Yan Mingguang.

Before they could take more than a few steps, Yan Wei noticed that the ground below them was wet.

While slowly advancing, he cautiously reached out to feel around, “…..I seem to have touched some kind of machine….there is a metal texture, and a handle….wait a minute, this is a treadmill.
The underground floor is a gym—-Ah fuck!”

He had tripped over a fitness equipment.

The man walking in front of him immediately turned around and caught him just as he was about to fall.
A reassuring warmth came from the man’s hand, but his voice was rather cold, “Are you okay?”

With darkness obscuring his vision, his other senses had become more sensitive.
Yan Wei seemed to even hear the sound of his palm rubbing against Yan Mingguang’s.
With the sound of their breathing enhanced, this room filled with the smell of blood finally contained signs of life.

….Was there warmth concealed under Yan Mingguang’s cold and aloof external appearance?

Yan Wei was distracted by this thought for a moment.

But he soon returned to his senses and stabilised himself, “I’m fine.”

As he said this and straightened himself up, the lights all suddenly turned on!

The first thing Yan Wei did was to look around.
The moment he turned his head, he suddenly noticed that on the treadmill beside him laid a corpse whose eyes had been dug out!

The corpse slumped stiffly against the treadmill with his blood-stained face facing Yan Wei.
Those hollow eyes seemed like they were staring at him.

No matter how brave Yan Wei may be, he was taken aback by this and subconsciously staggered back, only to stumble again.
Fortunately, because the light was on this time, Yan Wei was able to stabilise himself by grabbing onto the handle of one of the nearby fitness equipment, but when he looked back, he saw that what he had grabbed onto wasn’t a fitness equipment, but the body of the woman in the long dress.

Under the bright lights, the scene inside the gym was completely revealed.

There were mirrors attached to the walls, making this large underground gym appear even more spacious and there was various fitness equipment laid out.
The body of the middle-aged man was leaning against a fitness machine while the body of the woman in the long dress was sprawled across the ground.
Their eyes were empty hollows, and their bodies were covered in blood.
There was even a pool of fresh blood around the middle-aged man’s body — That was where they had walked through earlier.

The blood beside the woman in the long dress had already dried up.

In addition to those two, there was also a skeleton lying beside the body of the woman in the long dress!

Yan Wei felt a little uncomfortable because of the unpleasant smell in the air.
He frowned and said, “Sure enough, the underground floor is where the attendant disposes the corpses.
The corpses of the two deceased players are all here but why didn’t he deal with the two players on the thirteenth floor…..?”

Yan Wei raised his foot and stepped past the pool of blood and several fitness equipment before bending down in front of the skeleton that laid beside the body of the woman in the long dress.

This time, without him needing to say anything, Gao Ming whose job was in this field had already bent down next to him, “Let me take a look at it this time.
I should contribute a little instead of relying on you the whole time.”

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Yan Wei smiled, “I originally planned to ask you to help since I don’t have any experience examining skeletons.
Since it has already turned into bones, this person should have been dead for a long time…..”

Gao Ming nodded and carefully examined the remains, “This skeleton should belong to a woman who has been dead for many years.
The underground gym isn’t a confined space so although she has corroded into bones, her time of death probably wasn’t a very long time ago.
Probably several years to a dozen or so years at most.
Look at her skull, the damage there is very serious.
In terms of the degree of trauma…..I think someone must have used a sharp tool to dig out her eyes and they even reached parts of her brain in the process and damaged the skull.
It was a particularly cruel death.”

Yan Wei’s eyes stirred, “That female doctor!”

He stared at the skull, his gaze resting on the eye socket where damages to the bone were still evident….

The lights in the gym flickered again at this moment.
As it switched repeatedly between dark and light, the lights buzzed intermittently.

Suddenly!

Yan Wei’s mind was a mess.
It was as if something had entered his mind.
His vision turned dark, and he felt as if the world was spinning.
He couldn’t think properly at all.

He felt that he may have fainted, but his consciousness was foggy.
Several scenes gradually appeared before his eyes.
Those scenes were unfamiliar and the people he saw were also people he had no impression of.
It seemed to be a memory fragment.

He seemed to have become another person and was experiencing the memories of that person through their perspective.

Scenes flashed by one by one.
Most of them were at a hospital.
With the familiar building and layout inside, it appeared to be the same hospital they went to yesterday.
From the perspective of the owner of this memory, many patients came and went, and the owner interacted with those that are male, this owner’s head would be raised most of the time.
This meant that the owner of the memory wasn’t tall.

Yan Wei immediately understood.
This memory belonged to the first victim —- The female doctor in charge of taking care of Yan Wei’s psychological issue.

Towards the end, Yan Wei saw the female doctor’s last patient.

It was a familiar face——The painter’s face!

The painter who had not yet had his eyes dug out looked just like the self-portrait they found in the art studio.
He was suave and handsome and gave off an elegant, artistic air.
This attractive painter was extremely charming.
Every time he came for a consultation, he would vividly describe the artistic world in his mind as well as his thoughts behind each of his paintings.

The female doctor and the painter fell in love.

His abundant imagination and enthusiasm for his work had moved the female doctor and the doctor’s beautiful and gorgeous eyes that were as dazzling as stars attracted the painter who was already very obsessed with drawing eyes.

Then came the painful memories.
The scene shown to Ye Jia was the last scene the owner of the memories saw before their death.
It was of the painter raising a knife, smiling wickedly, before plunging it down into the owner’s eye.

Because the emotions behind that particular scene was too strong, Yan Wei was caught off guard and even felt as if it was his eyes that had been dug out.
That terrible pain shot through all the nerves in his body.

Soon afterwards, his eyes regained focus.

He was still in a half-crouching posture in front of the female doctor’s skeleton.
Next to him, Gao Ming rubbed his eyes in daze as he seemed to have similarly returned to his senses.

Yan Wei glanced back and saw Yan Mingguang nod at him.

“Like me, did you two also suddenly get instilled with a particularly strong memory? And….”

Gao Ming at this moment had completely recovered.
He widened his eyes and blurted in amazement, “And we now know how to find the stairs!!”

Yan Wei blinked a few times.
Still in his half-crouching position, his face revealed a smile.
Those good-looking eyes of him seemed to glow brightly as his thin lips hooked up slightly.
His white complexion appeared quite soft under the pale lights.
With just a glance, the young man looked like an inexperienced student who had just managed to solve a difficult problem.

But at an angle unseen by the others, Yan Wei silently reached into his pocket with his right hand and tightly grasped onto the small dagger inside.