"Incredible." The guide of Room 14 was astonished. "It's the first time I've seen simultaneous transformations."
One must understand that Numbered Rooms arrange for guides and 'roommates' so that if a transformation occurs on one side, it can be reported promptly.
Precisely because of this,
Personnel arrangements follow staggered transformation times to avoid simultaneous occurrences.
But today, an exception had appeared.
"Is it because of Jiang Jiuguo?" Number 35 looked toward Zhou Fengchun's room.
The timing of Ghost Sequence transformations depends on factors like the environment and physical condition; there is no fixed schedule.
But based on years of experience,
Number 35 calculated that Zhou Fengchun's final transformation shouldn't have happened until tomorrow at the earliest.
After a brief analysis of the cause,
He finally pinned it on Jiang Jiuguo.
"Is it because of the Ghost Sequence Jiang Jiuguo is transforming into? The Ghost Sequence in Zhou Fengchun's body sensed a crisis, inducing an early transformation."
Number 35's eyes flickered with a cold light.
Combining his knowledge and experience dealing with Ghost Gate Pass and ghosts, he thought of this reason.
Much like how a person instinctively pulls their hand back when touching fire,
Ghosts also have their own instincts.
When a ghost encounters a threat or danger, it will manifest phenomena such as actively attacking the threatening target.
Zhou Fengchun was only one step away from turning into a ghost. Theoretically, he leaned more toward being a ghost than a human and already possessed many ghostly characteristics.
Self-preservation instincts were naturally included.
"If that's the case, Jiang Jiuguo's Ghost Sequence can be confirmed as one of the powerful ones."
Number 35 thought to himself while watching Jiang Jiuguo's room.
"To start the second transformation after only about half a month... Jiang Jiuguo's total number of transformations might be more than thirteen."
He had also estimated Jiang Jiuguo's number of transformations.
Like Zhou Fengchun, he estimated at least thirteen to fifteen times.
"Argh!!!!"
The screams were heart-wrenching, making anyone who heard them feel a chilling empathy.
The sounds came one after another from Jiang Jiuguo's and Zhou Fengchun's Numbered Rooms.
Inside 'Room 15',
Zhou Fengchun's body was undergoing an eerie transformation.
His entire body was covered in blue and purple livor mortis, his sallow face became hideous, and his eyes turned grayish-white, more hollow than ever before.
Meeting those eyes,
The two people in Room 14 instinctively backed away, feeling a bone-chilling dread.
Those eyes were numb, without a single trace of life.
It wasn't like locking eyes with a person, but rather staring at a corpse that had been dead for a long time.
No one wants to lock eyes with a corpse.
They were no exception.
"Is that person in Room 15 dead?" the roommate from Room 14 asked.
"Not dead yet," Number 35 replied, glancing back sideways.
"Those eyes... they look just like my grandmother's when I saw her for the last time after she passed away. They're too similar—cloudy and lifeless."
The Room 14 roommate felt a chill down his spine.
If Zhou Fengchun were to crawl out of the room now, he would absolutely believe it was a corpse reanimating.
However,
Zhou Fengchun's change was still continuing.
During the time the two from Room 14 were talking with Number 35, Zhou Fengchun had turned from a human into a corpse... but now it was different.
The corpse was gradually transforming into a ghost.
That's right.
A ghost!
"Argh—"
Zhou Fengchun let out a roar.
The sound was mournful and piercing, exceeding human limits, sounding more like the howl of a monster.
"!!!!" The two people in Room 14 covered their ears.
They wore terrified expressions, looking back and forth as if they had seen a ghost.
In that instant just now,
While listening to Zhou Fengchun's roar, they realized the sound didn't seem to come from inside the room, but more like someone was screaming right behind their ears.
It was too real.
Both of them thought Zhou Fengchun had turned into a ghost and run up behind them.
But looking toward 'Room 15',
"He's still inside?"
"He didn't run out?" The roommate had a look of lingering fear. "I almost thought Zhou Fengchun had broken out."
His words were heard by the guide.
The guide said, "You heard Zhou Fengchun's voice too, didn't you? Coming from behind us."
"Yes." The roommate nodded repeatedly. "You heard it too?"
As the two of them discussed what had happened,
Their faces both changed color.
The sensation had been incredibly real. Not only did they hear the voice, but they could also feel the other party's breath and the feeling of someone leaning close to their ears, making the fine hairs on the back of their necks itch, forcing them to look back and see what was there.
"Argh—"
As Zhou Fengchun let out several more roars in succession,
They were certain they hadn't felt wrong.
Every time Zhou Fengchun roared, that sensation of a scream from behind existed, becoming more real each time.
"When you hear the sound later, don't keep turning your heads," Number 35 said at this moment. "If you don't want to die."
"?!"
The two in Room 14 were startled.
Although they didn't fully understand the meaning of Number 35's words, they both obeyed.
The guide gave Number 35 a deep look, somewhat understanding his intent.
He turned his face to explain to the 'roommate' beside him.
"When a human transforms into a ghost, they get closer and closer to being a ghost with each transformation, eventually becoming one. At that point, they also gain certain ghostly characteristics."
"These characteristics aren't those of an ordinary person; they are traits that can threaten human life."
"Right now, that person in Room 15 should be acquiring ghostly traits. That's why when we hear his voice, we experience a perceptual illusion that confuses the direction of the sound."
"Isn't there something like this in folk customs?"
"When encountering ghosts, they can deceive the eyes or create a Ghost Wall. This should be a similar characteristic."
The roommate nodded upon hearing this.
The Room 14 guide didn't say anything more, his eyes fixed intently on Zhou Fengchun.
He didn't have many transformations left either—only two.
Now that he had the chance to see someone else's final transformation, he didn't want to miss it. Closely observing the other's final transformation might help him with his own.
Meanwhile,
Seeing the two of them being cautious and not daring to turn their heads,
Number 35 felt relieved and turned his attention back to Jiang Jiuguo.
Inside 'Room 14',
Jiang Jiuguo's current situation was also not optimistic.
While Zhou Fengchun was undergoing the eerie change from human to corpse and from corpse to ghost,
His own transformation was equally bizarre.
Furthermore,
It was even more bone-chilling in its strangeness.
"Argh!!!!"
Jiang Jiuguo screamed repeatedly. He couldn't endure it silently, nor could he pretend to be like Guan Yu, calmly playing chess while his bones were scraped to treat a wound.
In his view,
If Guan Yu were to go through this, forget about playing chess—he'd be ready for burial and would be crying for his mother and father too.
His body was molting.
The skin all over his body was cracking, and the living skin was being torn off.
By... Jiang Jiuguo's own hands.
He felt an extreme itchiness on his skin.
It was as if thousands of ants were biting him and maggots were squirming under his skin, driving him to perform the anti-human act of tearing his own skin apart.
The sound of living skin and flesh being torn echoed through the room.
Jiang Jiuguo was like a madman, screaming in the pain of tearing his skin while simultaneously enjoying the relief it brought.
"My God, what is he doing?!"
The one who spoke was the roommate from Room 14. He heard the screaming from Jiang Jiuguo's side and took a curious peek.
With that one look,
His scalp went numb.
Inside 'Room 14' where he lived, Jiang Jiuguo was frantically tearing the skin off his own body.
Looking at Jiang Jiuguo again,
His body was a bloody mess; no skin could be seen.
Looking at the floor,
Chunks of flesh were scattered messily around Jiang Jiuguo like tattered rags, discarded carelessly everywhere.
If there were Eighteen Levels of Hell in the world,
The Room 14 roommate believed that the 'Room 14' before him was hell—specifically, the Hell of Lingchi.
"Damn it, what on earth is his Ghost Sequence?"
"Is he... is he going mad because he can't handle the transformation?"
"Are you sure this isn't his final transformation?"
The roommate spoke repeatedly, his words slurring because of the scene he was witnessing.
Number 35 didn't say anything.
His sharp-featured face was as solemn as ice.
"Shut up."
He finally spoke, offering no explanation, only a sharp command for the Room 14 roommate to stop talking.
Jiang Jiuguo was undergoing an unimaginably eerie and cruel transformation.
The room was well-soundproofed.
But to ensure Jiang Jiuguo's transformation wasn't affected by external factors, every possible interference had to be eliminated.
"Jiang Jiuguo, I hope you can pull through," Number 35 murmured in his heart.
But just as he finished murmuring,
Inside the room, Jiang Jiuguo tore off the last piece of flesh.
Rip!
Jiang Jiuguo pulled off the skin on his face that was hanging by just a few fibers.
Not a single trace of skin remained on his body.
Thud.
As if he had exhausted all his strength, he fell backward and lay motionless on the ground, like a skinless corpse.
However, Number 35 caught the twitching of Jiang Jiuguo's tightly furrowed brows, proving he wasn't dead yet.
Then, after he had been unconscious in shock for about ten minutes,
"Hmm?" Number 35's gaze narrowed.
An eerie change, different from before, was occurring on Jiang Jiuguo's body...