After being poisoned by mushrooms, all the strange creatures became fascinated by me.

Although she had been there a few days earlier, Tang Li was still somewhat unsure of the way to the old archives.

The last person to give her directions was Gu Xiaoying. And everything that happened that night felt like a dream, not quite real.

The spider ran very fast. Tang Li, perched on his back, whispered in his ear, "Old Yan, the one who guarded the old archives... is he still alive?"

She remembered that night when the werewolf-like Sun Ping fought with Lao Yan. In the end, Lao Yan was thrown away and never heard from him again. On his aged face, his lips, almost the same color as his skin, were open, with blood foam spilling from the corners of his mouth, staining his few remaining teeth red.

"Already, Old Yan is already," the spider's voice came intermittently, accompanied by the sound of the wind, "dead."

died?

So, will anyone at the hospital collect Lao Yan's body? Tang Li felt a chill run down her spine: what if she went to the archives this time and accidentally saw Lao Yan's already decomposed corpse when she opened the door?

Tang Li murmured, "I hope I don't see anything too exciting."

"No, it won't happen." A timid female voice rang out, considerately preventing Tang Li's words from falling into the void.

Tang Li and Spider were both startled, and then belatedly realized that the voice sounded somewhat familiar. Tang Li hurriedly rummaged through her pocket and pulled out the things that Gu Xiaomei had given her.

That's a...earphone?

Bluetooth headphones can also have speakerphone functionality?

The incessant voice of the new female ghost, "Xiao Mei," came through the earpiece: "Hint: Please put it on. Hint: Please put it on. Hint: Please put it on..."

Tang Li had a gut feeling that "Xiao Mei" didn't want the spider to hear something, so she put the earphones into her ears.

"I am AI Xiaomei. My master has asked me to protect you." Xiaomei said in the earpiece, "After the strange things in the hospital die, Dean Lei Hong will absorb power from their corpses. In the end, what may be left is just a palm-sized dried corpse doll."

Xiao Mei paused for a moment, then added, "The dried corpse doll is also a valuable item, and it would have been picked up by the ghost long ago. Therefore, there should be no trace of Lao Yan left in the old archives at this time."

"The 'Director Cao' doll that the dean gave me before has been stuffed into your other pocket by its owner. In an emergency, just throw it out. It grows when it gets windy and can withstand attacks."

Tang Li's eyes flickered slightly, and she pressed her fingers against the pocket through her clothes, feeling a human-shaped protrusion. Director Cao.

She felt a chill run down her spine.

"My master asked me to remind you not to trust spiders too much. The supernatural are a bunch of obsessive madmen. The more stubborn a supernatural being is, the easier it is to fool them. But if one day they realize the truth themselves, they will go on a crazy rampage to take revenge."

"So don't let the Dean and the Spider meet. The Dean has the ability to prove to the Spider that you are not the omnipotent 'adult' he thinks you are."

"You must be careful."

"I understand," Tang Li replied softly.

How could she let her guard down against the spider? Not long ago, she had witnessed firsthand how the spider dismantled the three-nosed, bizarre body.

Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts.

"Oh, right," Tang Li suddenly remembered something, "Xiao Mei, Fang Yingjie installed a lot of surveillance cameras before, can you use them?"

Since Fang Yingjie left the instance, it's as if they've lost a pair of eyes that can see the whole picture.

"Sure, please wait a moment." Xiaomei was always responsive. In just a few seconds, she said briskly in her ear, "We have connected to the monitoring system called 'Don't Want to Work Overtime Tonight,' please provide instructions."

Tang Li chuckled inexplicably at the Easter egg Fang Yingjie had left behind: "Can you locate the dean?"

"Yes. The dean is currently..."

Eighth floor.

"Please, please..." Liu Dan pleaded, her head half-shaved off, blood everywhere, her body covered in wounds from the wind blades, each one deep enough to expose bone.

"How dare you! How dare you!"

The enraged Dean Lei Hong roared at her from across the room.

The wind blades, carrying his rage, continued to slash Liu Dan's body.

He thought Liu Dan had been tracking Tang Li's whereabouts all along. He thought Liu Dan was like a fine hunting dog, relentlessly chasing Tang Li's tail. He thought Liu Dan had chased Tang Li all over the hospital, making her flee in a sorry state like a stray dog!

When he excitedly arrived at the eighth floor according to Liu Dan's location, the entire floor was empty except for Liu Dan. There wasn't a single person or even a ghost!

Liu Dan was lying to him! He thought Liu Dan was already quite loyal, but she had also been won over by Tang Li! How dare she betray him!

"Please, please let me explain, Dean!" Liu Dan was still alive. She pleaded intermittently, her fingers convulsively pressing against her stomach. "She...she forced me...she threatened me with my life. I really...had no choice..."

Another sharp wind blade sliced ​​from Liu Dan's lips all the way down to her neck. There was only a thin layer of skin connecting her head and neck. Her injuries were so severe that she could not survive, but the dean continued to vent his anger.

"Then you deserve to die! You stupid fool who's been played by humans!" The dean paused for a moment, and with each pause, a new wind blade pierced into Liu Dan's body.

Liu Dan had completely lost consciousness. Lei Hong, still seething with anger, sneered and placed his hand on Liu Dan's blood-soaked body, thinking, "Just making use of trash."

The same scene that had occurred with Director Cao also happened with Liu Dan's body.

Something seemed to quickly leave Liu Dan's body and be absorbed into Lei Hong's palm. Her body suddenly began to shrink rapidly, twisting, contorting, and shriveling. Pale yellow mucus seeped from her pores, turning into tiny lipid spheres the instant it left her skin, scattering and rolling to the ground.

Countless tiny pale yellow spheres detached from Liu Dan's body, coalescing on the ground to form a human-shaped outline. Liu Dan, now a dried-up corpse doll, lay amidst the spilled drug particles from the shattered capsule.

At the same time, Lei Hong let out a satisfied sigh, as if he had just eaten a delicious and nourishing dish.

He picked up the mummified corpse doll that seemed a little bigger than Director Cao, and suddenly paused when he touched it.

—The weight is incorrect.

All the dried corpse dolls that had been drained of their power were light and airy, but Liu Dan's dried corpse doll was heavy and felt rather cumbersome.

Lei Hong, as if possessed, squeezed... inside the doll, there seemed to be something hard.

On the other side, in the corridor.

"...The dean picked up the dried corpse doll..." Xiao Mei reported the situation on the eighth floor in real time to her ear.

Tang Li put her hands into her pockets and pressed her thumb against the button that she had already warmed up.

"Bang!" she muttered to herself, tilting her head.

Eighth floor.

A loud explosion rang out.

Lei Hong felt the light and heat, but it was too late. The explosion started in his palm and engulfed his entire body.

The dried corpse doll was completely engulfed by the flames, and the last trace of Liu Dan left in the world turned into a bit of charred soot.

"Tang Li—Tang Li!"

A voice, filled with venomous rage and near-madness, echoed amidst the explosion.

at the same time.

The second floor.

Jiang Huigang pulled the curved surgical scissors off the floor of the imaging room.

She raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, but paused slightly.

Qiu Wanting keenly sensed something: "What's wrong?"

Jiang Hui tilted her head, listened intently for a while, and then hesitated before saying, "I think I heard... an explosion?"

"No way," Qiu Wanting said doubtfully. "Only players use bombs, and there are only a few of us left in the dungeon. If it wasn't you, then it could be...?"

The two looked at each other, speechless, both thinking of the same person.

"Haha," Jiang Hui laughed awkwardly, "You won't learn from me that quickly."

...Can explosions also lead to human-to-human transmission?