Horror Game Designer

Chapter 58: The Flower I Once Admired

Gao Ming had once encountered a statue of the Flesh Immortal in a restaurant located on the first underground level of Building A. This prior encounter was markedly different from the current scene in the meat shop’s blood pool, which featured not one but eight statues. To his horror, Gao Ming observed that each of their hands held a stone heart that began to exhibit veins of blood, unnervingly suggesting they were transforming into real beating hearts.

“The Flesh Immortal must have glimpsed into Xuan Wen’s memories. That explains the presence of these eight statues. They symbolize the eight female leads from the love game!” Gao Ming deduced, piecing together the chilling puzzle.

Haunted by vengeful spirits, Xuan Wen had previously stolen the photographs and powers meant for the other eight female characters from the shadow world. This theft, however, had created deep fractures within her, allowing the shadow world to assail her soul and mind through these eight menacing statues and female heads manifested from blood.

Amidst this chaos, as the Heart of Mortality within him pulsated with power, Gao Ming, with Li Xiu in tow, bound by his chain, violently collided with the nearest statue. Beneath the blood-drenched waters, a fierce battle ensued between the two.

Gao Ming’s advantage lay in his superior recovery ability, enhanced further after consuming the heart, while the Flesh Immortal’s influence progressively deteriorated Li Xiu’s sanity.

Li Xiu, ingesting copious amounts of the bloodied water, began to lose the light in his eyes. His movements, reminiscent of a butcher wielding a cleaver, eventually mirrored the lifelessness of the animals he used to slaughter.

Having overcome Li Xiu, Gao Ming swiftly moved to topple the remaining mud statues. He noticed that when his wounds came into contact with the “stone hearts,” the blood veins on the mud statues would seep into his body, causing the statues to fracture and crumble.

Through this method, Gao Ming systematically destroyed each statue. However, the female characters, emerging from the blood water, harbored no intention of forgiving Xuan Wen.

Their profound hatred inflicted deep, irreparable wounds on Xuan Wen. She was ensnared by the shadow world’s grip, rendering her escape nearly impossible.

At the bottom of the blood pool, Gao Ming, bearing Xuan Wen’s weight, became a target for the female ghosts’ wrath. His recently healed wounds were mercilessly reopened by their attacks.

“I’ll get us out of here!” he proclaimed with unwavering resolve.

In spite of the harrowing situation, Gao Ming managed to propel Xuan Wen towards the surface.

Breaking free from the confines of the blood pool and gasping for fresh air, Xuan Wen’s eyes abruptly opened. Within them, numerous shattered faces could be seen, hinting at the turmoil within her soul.

Meanwhile, the investigators in the meat shop seemed to have sensed a disturbance. Their eyes slowly clouded over, and they were soon transfixed by the ghostly apparition in their sight.

With their maimed limbs, they lunged towards the blood pool, their intentions clear – they were set on dragging Xuan Wen back into the murky depths.

At the exact moment when Gao Ming’s head emerged from the water, he was immediately dragged back in. The scene around him was horrific: eight female heads, each manifested from coagulated blood, showed no mercy, treating both him and Xuan Wen as if they were to blame.

“Give me your hand!” During the rapid descent, Xuan Wen suddenly caught hold of Gao Ming’s chain from above.

Together, they found themselves occupying just a tiny portion of the pool’s edge, desperately clinging to the wall as the frenzied investigators searched the pool center.

“This supernatural event has been escalated to a level four emergency by Situ An!” Gao Ming, mentally drained and with a fiery sensation burning in his chest, knew that this fire could only be extinguished by defeating his enemies or succumbing to himself.

“We must escape from this pool immediately,” Xuan Wen urged, her voice tense. “The Flesh Immortal is trying to dominate my consciousness. It’s not me consuming the legend anymore; it’s the legend consuming me. These creatures might be numerous, but they are nothing more than walking corpses. As long as we avoid falling back into the water, we should be…”

Before she could complete her thought, Gao Ming felt himself being dragged down again, his legs seized by the heads lurking beneath the water’s surface.

The heads, belonging to eight female figures with long hair, floated eerily in the water, reminiscent of carnivorous fish lying in wait.

“Why are Wei Dayou’s creations attacking me for?” Gao Ming, pushed to his limits in frustration, reached towards the pool, his hands covered in the blood of his own heart. “Fine! If it’s death you want, we’ll die together!”

“They are mere illusions of the Flesh Immortal, incapable of being killed,” Xuan Wen clarified urgently.

“If they can’t be killed, then I’ll consume them!” In a desperate move, Gao Ming grabbed one of the blood-formed heads, intending to press it into his wound, allowing the flowing blood from the Heart of Mortality to dissolve it.

After realizing the extent of Gao Ming’s desperation, Xuan Wen took hold of the chain. With her slender arms, she began to pull it up again, exerting all her strength to rescue Gao Ming from the pool first.

The commotion of their battle within the meat shop had already caught the attention of others. When Gao Ming and Xuan Wen heard rapid footsteps approaching in the corridor, their expressions turned grave – the number of people heading their way was significant, and they were likely led by Situ An.

“You get out of here first! Forget about the heads! The influence of the Flesh Immortal pervades Sishui Apartments, but its main consciousness doesn’t seem to reside in the statues. It could be hiding within one of the residents! Find it and destroy it!”

Xuan Wen had resolved to sacrifice herself, but their time had already run out. Footsteps were echoing throughout the meat shop, indicating their pursuers were already upon them.

Merely seconds had passed when a young girl, her hair styled in cute braids, cautiously peered around the corner. Her eyes widened in awe as she whispered, “Ahh…”

“Nannan, don’t run off on your own!” came a slightly scolding voice behind her.

The little girl, Nannan, was quickly followed by her older sister. Shortly after, the mysterious black-robed ghost mama and the four-mouthed Ms. Nosy made their entrance into the meat shop.

Finally, coming in last and clearly out of breath was none other than Wan Qiu, the living senior, followed closely by the hunched-back elder Zhou Ji, the one who has a leeching son.

“Wan Qiu!” exclaimed Gao Ming, visibly surprised to see Wan Qiu alive and accompanied by what appeared to be reinforcements. Among the group, Gao Ming noted that Wan Qiu looked to be in relatively better condition.

“Do-Don’t be afraid, they are my friends,” Wan Qiu declared, his hands struggling to pick up a butcher’s knife from the ground. “I’ll save you.”

“You better stay back,” interjected a young man adorned with black rings on his arms, brandishing knives in both hands. “I’m Gui Zai, we’ve met before.”

With each determined swing of his knives, Gui Zai relentlessly slaughtered the investigators, viewing those who worshipped the Flesh Immortal as having lost their humanity.

The carnage continued without restraint, blood and destruction engulfing the space. Blood ominously trickled down the stairs, the very foundations of Sishui Apartment seemed to quiver under the weight of this violence.

The blood pool, a grim altar to the Flesh Immortal, appeared to have reached a critical point, having collected sufficient blood and faith. The statues of the Flesh Immortal, scattered throughout each room of the building, began to lose their form, cracking and dissolving, their pooled blood ominously converging downstairs.

As Gao Ming and Xuan Wen managed to escape the meat shop, their survival seemed to trigger a sense of real danger in the consciousness of the Flesh Immortal.

“We’re heading to the first underground level of Building A!” Xuan Wen announced, her voice urgent. “The Flesh Immortal’s shrine is there. It’s amassed enough blood and faith, so its main consciousness must be returning!” She, having battled with a fragment of the Flesh Immortal’s will and possessing a unique ability to delve into the depths of consciousness, was privy to some of the entity’s secrets. “Regardless of which body the Flesh Immortal’s main consciousness has taken, it’s surely making its way to the shrine.”

“No! First, we have to rescue Yan Hua!” Gao Ming asserted determinedly.

He was soon joined by other surviving residents of the building, all of them rushing downstairs together.

As they passed the fourth floor, Gao Ming couldn’t help but notice that all the white lanterns were extinguished. Moreover, the room where Gong Xi’s family had been hiding was now eerily empty.

Without pausing to ponder, they hastened towards the first floor of Building A via the right staircase.

At that precise moment, Situ An, along with the remaining flesh-eating investigators, burst through the main entrance of Building A from outside.

“We meet again, I didn’t expect you to escape the ninth-floor meat shop alive,” came a voice, heavy with both surprise and a sinister undertone.

Upon his arrival, Situ An’s gaze quickly zeroed in on Gao Ming. With a commanding gesture to his followers, Qing Ge and three other investigators promptly collaborated to haul a corpse into view.

This corpse presented a harrowing sight, its skin marred with wounds and inscribed with black characters. In death, its muscles were rigid, frozen in an eternal stance of combat. The hands were clenched in unyielding fists, defying any attempt to pry them open.

The body, in its silent defiance, resembled a resilient flower. It possessed an inherent fragility, yet it had flourished in the most unforgiving conditions. This corpse, like the metaphorical flower, had never recoiled from pain or suffering and held no belief in destiny.

Its roots, metaphorically speaking, had delved deep into the darkest soils, symbolizing a life spent battling against overwhelming odds. It seemed as though, even in death, the corpse was poised to strike at the heavens, never yielding to fate’s cruelty.

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