Chapter 21: She's Been Dead for Months!
The power of money was immense. Though the middle-aged man was tall and burly, his previous reactions clearly indicated he wasn't particularly courageous.
However, the moment Yang Haoran mentioned money, the middle-aged man's demeanor shifted, and he began to waver.
Seeing this, Yang Haoran knew he had a chance. He forcibly dragged the middle-aged man out and urgently said, "First, help me get this door open. Once it's done, I guarantee the price will satisfy you!"
"Empty promises don't interest me. Do you take me for a three-year-old? " The middle-aged man sneered, turning to go back inside.
Yang Haoran cursed inwardly, but held his tongue. He deftly pulled out his wallet from his jacket pocket, took out all the cash, and shoved it directly into the middle-aged man's hand.
"Here’s over five hundred; take this first. I’ll give you another five hundred once it’s done. Hurry and help, or something truly awful is going to happen! " Yang Haoran was burning with impatience.
This five hundred yuan was what Jiang Zhenzhen had given Yang Haoran. He hadn’t even had a chance to deposit it in the bank, yet unexpectedly, it was coming in handy now.
As for the loose change beyond the five hundred, it was all he had left. To show his sincerity, he shoved all of it, in one go, into the middle-aged man’s hand as well.
Seeing Yang Haoran pull out every banknote from his wallet, clearly not faking it, the middle-aged man finally took the money, glanced at it under the light, and stuffed it into his pocket.
Yang Haoran hastily nodded. "Absolutely, absolutely! Please, just help me get this door open first! Do you have any tools in your house?"
To get inside and save Jiang Zhenzhen, the security door had to be forced open first. Asking whoever was inside to unlock it was unrealistic; first, the thug wouldn’t open the door himself, and second, Jiang Zhenzhen couldn’t possibly open it. If she had the ability, she would have long since escaped, rather than suffering inside.
Therefore, to enter, they had to break in.
Yang Haoran alone couldn’t possibly force open the security door quickly; he simply didn’t have that kind of strength. That’s why he sought out the middle-aged man.
"Wait here! " The middle-aged man dropped the words and went straight into his house.
Yang Haoran was frantic inside, but utterly helpless. He furiously kicked the security door, but besides producing dull thudding sounds, it had no other effect.
Jiang Zhenzhen’s terrified screams continuously echoed out, each one grating on Yang Haoran’s nerves.
"Open the door, you bastard! Open it! If you’ve got guts, open the door and let me in! I’ll show you if I can kill you! " Yang Haoran furiously kicked the door, roaring curses.
"Get out of the way! Don’t be a nuisance!"
Yang Haoran turned around, just in time to see the middle-aged man emerging from his house, carrying a huge contraption that delivered a far greater visual shock than the kitchen knife in Yang Haoran’s hand.
It was a damn chainsaw!
The sight made Yang Haoran involuntarily take a step back. He never would have imagined this middle-aged man would pull a chainsaw out of his house.
Instantly, his gaze towards the middle-aged man became cautious and wary. Compared to that chainsaw, his kitchen knife was utterly useless. If the middle-aged man snapped and turned it on him, he’d be done for.
The middle-aged man ignored Yang Haoran. Seeing him step back, he gave a sharp pull and started the chainsaw.
Vrrrooom!
The roar of the chainsaw sent a chill down Yang Haoran’s spine. Watching the rapidly spinning blade, he couldn't help but imagine the scene if that chainsaw ever landed on a person—it would be simply. . .
Yang Haoran shivered, not daring to imagine further. Just then, the chainsaw bit into the security door, emitting a grating shriek.
"This chainsaw of mine is the latest model! It can cut through reinforced concrete! A cheap security door? Tsk, that’s nothing!"
The middle-aged man shouted, clearly excited. With the sharp chainsaw in his hand, his demeanor was vastly different from before. If he had seemed timid and fearful earlier, now he appeared not just bold, but completely unhinged.
In just a short while, the security door was completely sawn open by the middle-aged man’s chainsaw. Seeing this, Yang Haoran, regardless of whether he might get injured by the saw, charged into the room.
The moment he burst inside, a familiar chilling cold assailed him. He froze in place, a look of utter shock on his face.
He wasn’t frozen by the cold, but by the terrifying sight before his eyes.
The instant Yang Haoran’s body stiffened, the middle-aged man, chainsaw in hand, also charged in.
"Damn it, you’ve been disturbing me all night! Tonight, I’m gonna show you what a real Chainsaw Massacre is!"
The middle-aged man’s face was twisted with madness. He yanked Yang Haoran aside and, chainsaw raised, prepared to settle the score with the thug Yang Haoran had mentioned.
But when he pulled Yang Haoran away, his reaction was no different from Yang Haoran’s. He too froze in place, and the chainsaw clattered to the floor with a loud clang.
However, he only froze for an instant before snapping back to reality. He mechanically turned his head to Yang Haoran, saying woodenly, "You son of a bitch, you lied to me! What thug? What nonsense? She’s been dead for months!"
The middle-aged man’s voice was devoid of all emotion, as if he had lost every feeling in that single moment. As his words faded, his eyes rolled back, and his tall frame collapsed straight onto the floor, having actually fainted.
The middle-aged man’s words jolted Yang Haoran out of his daze. His face went pale, and he let out a curse.
"Damn it! You gotta be kidding me!"
No lights were on inside the room, but under the moonlight, the situation within was clearly visible.
Though visible, the moonlight only made the rental apartment appear even colder and more sinister.
At that moment, Jiang Zhenzhen was cowering in a corner, hair dishevelled, body trembling uncontrollably. Her hands clutched her hair as she continuously screamed, but her throat was already raw, leaving her cries hoarse and weak.
And before Jiang Zhenzhen stood a rotting old woman, her entire body decayed. Rather than standing, it would be more accurate to say she was floating.
She floated before Jiang Zhenzhen, seemingly about to do something to her.
Yang Haoran had rushed in from outside just in time to witness this scene. Of course, the old woman also sensed his arrival, so she turned around, her face twisted in a ferocious smile, to confront him directly.
Yang Haoran, who had originally prepared to come in and deal with a thug, saw the old woman’s rotting face, crawling with maggots, and his mind buzzed. He froze on the spot.
There was no thug in the room at all! This was clearly a damn haunting!
The day Jiang Zhenzhen had sought out Yang Haoran, she had described the haunting in the room in meticulous detail. Especially when mentioning the rotting old woman, Jiang Zhenzhen, despite her fear, had been exceptionally thorough, knowing that was the key point, and the very problem she needed solved. That’s why her description of the rotting old woman was so incredibly precise.
Precisely because of this, Yang Haoran had already conjured a terrifying image of the rotting old woman in his mind.
When this entirely rotted old woman appeared before his eyes, he immediately realized who she was; she had to be the one Jiang Zhenzhen had described to him.
Although the rotting old woman’s appearance was completely different from what he had imagined, her horror surpassed anything he could have conjured in his mind, and then some!
It was precisely because the rotting old woman’s appearance was so utterly terrifying that he had been completely dumbstruck a moment ago.
Though he made his living from this line of work, he was, after all, merely a charlatan with no real abilities. Furthermore, since entering this profession, he had never actually seen a ghost before; today was his first time. It would have been strange if he hadn’t been terrified.
He had initially thought some thug, driven by lust and having taken a liking to Jiang Zhenzhen, had followed her home, intending to force himself on her. He never imagined things would turn out like this.
Whether this rotting old woman was a 'thug' or not was unclear, but judging by her actions towards Jiang Zhenzhen, she was indeed preparing to 'force herself on her'. It was just that her method of 'forcing herself' differed in nature from a thug's.
Yang Haoran stared blankly at the rotting old woman, who was also staring back at him. Her terrifying appearance and ferocious smile made his body involuntarily tremble slightly.
At this very moment, he envied the middle-aged man lying at his feet. Fainting meant not having to deal with anything, not having to endure this soul-deep terror. He wished he could faint too, but he lacked the ability.
Just as Yang Haoran’s heart swelled with fear, the old woman in his sight suddenly vanished. Before he could even react, the next second, that terrifying rotten face was inches away.
Yang Haoran’s pupils instantly dilated, and his face was covered in terror. The rotting old woman’s sudden move nearly stopped his heart. If he hadn’t managed to catch his breath, he might have been scared to death by her right then and there.
In a panic, Yang Haoran found strength from somewhere and hacked his kitchen knife at the rotting old woman right in front of him.
Clang!
The kitchen knife passed through the rotting old woman’s body and slammed heavily into the wall, leaving a mark while also rattling Yang Haoran’s wrist numb.
If one didn't look closely, the rotting old woman’s body still appeared quite real; aside from her invisible feet, she looked little different from a living person under the moonlight. However, the fact that Yang Haoran’s kitchen knife passed right through her indicated she had no physical form.
Yang Haoran’s blow didn’t harm the rotting old woman, but it seemed to enrage her. She let out a furious, mocking laugh at Yang Haoran, revealing a set of sharp, pointed teeth. Disgusting pus continuously oozed from her mouth, dripping onto the floor.
However, after the pus dripped onto the floor, it vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there at all.
"Young man, do you know what ‘crisp and crunchy’ means?"
The rotting old woman asked Yang Haoran this question in a sinister tone, but she didn’t seem to expect an answer. As her words fell, she forcibly snapped off her right index finger, threw it into her mouth, and began to chew.
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
It was the sound of a finger being chewed to pieces. Crisp and crunchy!
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