Chapter 3: Floating Corpse

This genuine tactile sensation told him he wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating; everything before his eyes was real.

Looking at his blurry reflection on the water’s surface, Su Li’s mind became somewhat dazed.

Alone in this desolate place, seeing no sign of life or hope, a sense of despair and loneliness, of being abandoned by the whole world, arose in Su Li’s heart.

Suddenly, a splash erupted from the water in front of him, and a faint sound seemed to be transmitted.

Su Li, who was somewhat dazed, was startled, and he suddenly stood up.

“Who is it?” He suddenly felt like there was something in the water before him, and instinct made him take a step back.

He stared at the water for a good few dozen seconds, only to find the plastic basin floating on the surface was slightly swaying. Other than that, there was no other movement.

After about one or two minutes, confirming there was no other movement, Su Li slowly approached the stairwell water’s edge again and looked into the water at close range.

This time, he saw a dark mass submerged in the water at the turn of the stairs leading to the next floor. However, because the stairs blocked his line of sight, he couldn’t clearly see what the dark mass was.

Su Li stared at the dark mass, his heart starting to thump wildly. From the angle he could see, the exposed dark mass looked more and more like a human head.

He was sure he hadn’t seen this dark mass before. He wasn’t sure if he just hadn’t noticed it earlier or if the dark mass had just floated over.

“That… that looks like a human head… the things floating out look like long hair. Could it be a woman’s head…”

The more Su Li thought about it, the more his scalp tingled, and a chill ran down his spine. He could no longer control this fear, causing him to stumble backward.

He fled all the way back to his apartment, slammed the door shut, and only felt the fear and unease in his heart slightly lessen and his mind calm down a little once he was back in the familiar space. He began to reconsider what he had just seen.

“Yes, that might really be a woman’s head. Because it could be a person who drowned, very likely a resident on the 29th floor. If this is true, it means not everyone evacuated, but many people were swept away and drowned by the sudden flood before they could escape. I am a survivor in the flood. Maybe there are other survivors trapped just like me; I’m not alone.”

Thinking this, Su Li’s mind settled down a bit. After thinking for a while, he decided to go back to the stairwell to get a clear look. He wanted to confirm whether it was indeed a corpse immersed in the water.

He searched through his belongings and found a flashlight he hadn’t used in a long time. He tested it and confirmed it still worked. Bringing the flashlight and also picking up a clothes drying rod, he opened the door and walked out again.

The corridor was still silent. Su Li walked to the end of the hallway, pushed open the two doors on the side of the corridor, and walked inside.

Reaching the top of the stairs going down, he turned on the flashlight and shone it toward the water in front of him.

Although it was daytime, the windows in the stairwell were small, and the light wasn’t particularly bright. In his panic earlier, he hadn’t looked closely. Now, he shone the flashlight toward the water for a careful look.

Finally, Su Li could basically confirm that the dark mass emerging from the water at the turn of the stairs was indeed a human head belonging to a corpse. Because it was soaked in water, the long hair on the head was scattered, making it look very eerie and quite frightening at first glance.

With psychological preparation, Su Li wasn’t overly panicked this time. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, put away the flashlight, and held the clothes drying rod with both hands. He poked it into the water, intending to salvage the corpse immersed in the water.

Facing a corpse alone, Su Li’s palms were sweating, and he felt his throat dry up. He gritted his teeth and finally gathered the courage to extend the clothes drying rod into the water.

Soon, Su Li realized the clothes drying rod wasn’t long enough to reach the head. He frowned and finally stepped onto the stairs, putting one foot into the water and descending one step.

His shoes got wet, and Su Li felt a chill.

Since he had made up his mind, Su Li didn’t overthink it. His only thought now was how to salvage the corpse and examine it.

Holding the clothes drying rod, he walked down several steps along the submerged staircase. Soon, the water was above his knees, and the clothes drying rod finally reached the corpse immersed in the water.

Su Li first used the clothes drying rod to gently prod the head. The head floating in the water slightly wobbled, and ripples spread out in the water.

The corpse’s head was emerging from the turn of the stairs. Due to the water level, the corpse was blocked by the wall above and wedged there, so it hadn’t floated over.

Su Li used the clothes drying rod to push and pull a few times. Because of the buoyancy of the water, he didn’t need to use much force. After just a few pushes, the corpse slowly floated toward him.

Seeing a corpse truly float toward him in the water, Su Li took a deep breath and hurried back, retreating up the stairs to the top.

Although he understood it was just a corpse, an uncontrollable chill still surged in his heart. At the same time, there was a trace of curiosity: who was this corpse? Could it be someone he knew?

Of course, the greatest possibility was a resident from the 29th floor, as the likelihood of a corpse from any other floor floating up to this level was far less than that of the 29th floor.

Switching the clothes drying rod to his left hand, Su Li turned on the flashlight again, wanting to observe the corpse carefully.

When the flashlight beam shone upon the floating corpse, Su Li shuddered, and a look of fear appeared in his eyes.

Perhaps due to being immersed in water for a long time, the floating corpse appeared bloated and fat. Su Li couldn’t tell who the person was, only that it was a woman based on the long, scattered hair.

However, what truly terrified Su Li was that the female corpse was not intact. The surface of her bloated body was bloody and mangled. White bones were exposed on her thighs and chest/abdomen, signs of being chewed on, which looked absolutely ghastly.

Su Li, who had lived for 27 years, had never seen such a terrifying and gruesome scene. His heart trembled, and he abruptly stumbled back two steps. The somewhat murky water before him suddenly seemed sinister and weird.

“What could have been chewing on this? Was it fish in the water or some other animal…”

Su Li dared not think further. His scalp was tingling, and a strong sense of unease suddenly surged in his heart, making him unwilling to stay and examine the half-eaten corpse any longer. Instead, he quickly retreated to the corridor with the clothes drying rod, then tightly closed the door leading to the stairwell, feeling his heart pounding violently.

(End of Chapter)