Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-Pierce, Proofreader-adjective
After smashing the vase, the man collapsed onto the ground, his body slumping directly on the broken pieces of porcelain.
Several people couldn’t help but gasp in shock at the same time.
“Ah… it’s tragic…”
Ji Xiao’niao shivered and reached out to touch his arm.
When he was in the second [Film], [Separation of Flesh and Bone], to kill the huge skeletal monster controlled by the BOSS, he exploded an ultraviolet lamp in its brain. The splattered glass shards had left his arm in a bloody mess.
Although his injuries completely disappeared upon returning to the [Peach Blossom Spring], when he saw the footage on the surveillance video, his body immediately recalled the feeling of being riddled with wounds, causing him to unconsciously clench his jaw.
Fan Luming held the mouse and dragged the progress bar back for about a minute.
Then, everyone saw the motionless man lying on the ground suddenly stiffen and stand up, swaying as he turned around. With stiff and stumbling steps, he walked toward the direction where the camera was located.
At this moment, the younger brother pressed the pause button.
The pixel rate of the surveillance video itself was not high quality; from the four or five overlapping watermarks in the upper right corner, it was obvious that this was a version that had been passed around multiple times, resulting in a messy frame drop.
Ji Dong and the others squinted and tried to distinguish the man’s face for a long time, but they couldn’t see the man’s facial features. They could only roughly determine from the dark and light reddish-brown patches on his clothes and arms that they were all bloodstains seeping from his body.
Fan Luming operated the mouse to drag it back a little bit and replayed the entire process of the man crawling up and walking out of the camera’s view.
“Although it’s hard to see the expression on his face, the man’s body movements seem off.”
He pointed at the screen and made his judgment as a future doctor, “His joints are stiff, unlike a living person. It’s almost as if he has been dead for a while and has developed rigor mortis.”
Mo Tiangen let out a gasp, “So, this time, are we facing the traditional horror movie scenario… zombies?”
“If only it were just simple zombies.”
Fan Luming clicked on another video.
“To be honest, in terms of timing, this video may have been leaked later, but the events in it happened about three months earlier than what you just saw.” He briefly introduced, “Nonetheless, in terms of its creepiness, it’s just as eerie as the previous one.”
The video started playing.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
This time, the distance of the surveillance camera was a bit far, and the location of the filming was not in the museum exhibition hall, but in a large room that resembled a laboratory. The room was filled with workstations, as well as some instruments and lighting fixtures whose purpose was unknown.
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“This person… from the looks of it, seems to be a researcher.”
No one here was an archeology major. There was no chance for them to go to a place like a restoration room. Therefore, they naturally couldn’t tell whether it was real or fake and could only assume for now.
The video was still playing.
On the screen, the man in the white lab coat bent down halfway, and with his bare hands, he reached into the coffin and rummaged around inside for a while, then pulled out something.
“What is he holding?”
Ji Dong widened his eyes and observed. He felt that the object in the person’s hand seemed to be long, slightly longer than a palm. Since the distance was quite far, it was difficult to identify whether it was black or brown. Anyway, it looked dirty and dusty, definitely not something that would give people the courage to touch it barehanded.
“Hehe.”
Fan Luming let out two meaningful dry laughs, “You definitely can’t guess what that thing is.”
Then he opened a webpage and read the contents to everyone.
It turned out that about five months ago, something strange happened at the museum.
In the middle of the night, a researcher pried open a Ming Dynasty coffin, cut off a piece of the female mummy’s arm, and brought it out of the restoration room.
The next day, when the others came back to work, they noticed something odd in the restoration room and checked the surveillance footage. They realized that this was a serious matter, so they immediately reported it to the police.
The police quickly found the researcher responsible for the incident.
However, what was surprising was that when they found the researcher, he was sleeping in the restroom on the third floor of the east wing of the museum, completely unresponsive no matter how much they called.
About a day later, the researcher woke up in the hospital with no recollection of what he had done the previous night. When others asked him about the whereabouts of the missing piece of the mummy’s body, he could only respond with confusion, saying that he didn’t remember anything and couldn’t provide any clues.
After multiple unsuccessful investigations, the museum had no choice but to dismiss the researcher and hand him over to the police on charges of damaging cultural relics.
“So, the piece of the mummy’s arm was just lost like that?” Mo Tiangen asked, rubbing his chin after reading the webpage.
Fan Luming nodded and said, “Yeah. I searched the entire internet, but couldn’t find any follow-up reports on this incident.”
He pushed off with his foot, spinning the chair he was sitting on in place.
“If I’m not mistaken, this missing piece of the mummy’s arm is the cause of those series of strange incidents that happened in the museum afterward,” Ji Dong caught onto the keyword.
“Series?” Ji Xiao’niao questioned.
“Yes, series,” Fan Luming replied.
“Afterwards, several strange incidents occurred one after another, just like the video you watched. The museum staff, including security guards, tour guides, researchers, and even a visitor, who seemed perfectly normal during the day, would secretly sneak into the exhibition hall at night. They would cut off their flesh and put it into containers, like bottles or jars, and then smash or destroy the containers. When they were found the next day, they were already insane and unable to answer anything.”
The younger brother carried on and pointed to the screen behind him, saying, “After several incidents of people cutting their flesh and going insane, the museum panicked. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the cause, so they announced the closure of the museum about two months ago and temporarily stopped public access.”
“Cutting their flesh and putting it in jars… it feels like some kind of ritual,” Mo Tiangen observed the new clues from the mummy, jars, and flesh-cutting, overturning his previous speculation about zombies.
“Could it be that this is a hypnotic brainwashing by a cult? You know, in those horror movies from the United States, there are often themes like this, where they use their flesh and blood to resurrect an evil god or summon demons.”
“Oh, about that…”
Fan Luming thought for a moment and added another clue:
“According to logic, if the flesh and blood that was cut off from the body were thrown into jars and containers, even if the containers were later smashed, the pieces of flesh should still be there, right?”
Seeing everyone nod, he continued:
“But there’s a rumor circulating online, supposedly an insider obtained information from the police. This hearsay claims that although they can find bloodstains and bits of flesh belonging to the victims from the broken vases, there are no large pieces of skin or flesh at all…”
Fan Luming’s bright almond-shaped eyes glanced around and he asked, “What do you think this means?”
Ji Xiao’niao listened with a shudder.
“Are you suggesting…”
He instinctively touched the back of his neck and felt a chill run down his spine.
“That whatever is in those jars… has consumed all of their flesh?”
Fan Luming nodded slowly.
Everyone: “………………..”
Everyone remained silent for a moment.
If the hearsay online was true, that’s just too disgusting. It meant there was a group of creatures lurking in the museum, feeding on human blood and flesh in the middle of the night. And tonight, they’re going to confront those things!
“Hey, have any of you seen the old horror movie called ‘The Mummy’?”
After about 30 seconds of silence, Mo Tiangen cleared his throat and broke the awkward silence in the study.
“I remember that in the movie there was a kind of insect called the ‘Scarab’, which was a parasite in the ancient tomb of the Pharaoh. After being awakened by the resurrected villain, a large group of them swarmed in and could devour a person in an instant.”
Teacher Dagen surmised.
“We may not have Pharaohs here, but isn’t it possible there are any Miaojiang Gu techniques or ancient tomb of the King of Dian or something else here, right? Perhaps the insects from the Ming Dynasty mummy were released and now they need human flesh to survive.”
As a prospective doctor, Fan Luming had a moment where he wanted to sarcastically comment on folk legends like “Insects devouring each other, only the survivor becomes the gu.”
But then, he thought again. This was a completely illogical supernatural [Film] where even the specimens of killers could turn into vengeful spirits.
If a group of immortal insects were to run rampant in the museum, it wouldn’t be that surprising.
At that moment, Teacher Dagen slapped his forehead and continued, “I remember there’s a big bottle of insect repellent in the bathroom. How about we bring it with us tonight?”
——————————-
After the group finished studying the strange tales in the museum, it was almost dinner time.
Teacher Dagen took out the most expensive and delicious ingredients from the kitchen and prepared an incredibly lavish meal.
Everyone indulged in the feast, feeling extremely satisfied.
After dinner, Ji Xiao’niao and Ren Jianmo returned to the study together, while the other three stayed in the living room to continue organizing and discussing the details of tonight’s actions.
“Are you okay by yourself?”
Ji Xiao’niao sat in the corner, inserting his fingers into the socket he pried open to charge himself, and looked up to ask Ren Jianmo, who was sitting in front of the computer.
Ren Jianmo was focused on working with the computer. Without even lifting his head, he simply responded with a short monosyllable, “Mm.”
“Oh……”
Ji Xiao’niao knew it wasn’t the right time to disturb him while he was working, so he reluctantly turned his head back and boredly looked around.
Charging himself was the most boring time for Ji Xiao’niao.
It was because he was currently like a human battery, with sparks crackling all over his body. If anyone or any metal got too close, they would be struck by the occasional electric arc that burst from him. Even if he wanted to pass the time by using a cell phone, it would immediately short-circuit and burn the fragile and pitiful electronic device.
Once he got bored, he couldn’t help but start daydreaming.
Especially when Ren Jianmo was sitting in front of him; with the two of them alone in the room, Ji Xiao’niao’s thoughts began to wander. He unconsciously started silently reminiscing about the kiss that Ren Jianmo, this attractive man, planted on his forehead earlier in the day.
Author, is it really okay to be pulling Western references left, right, and center like this? Has the author always done this, or is it because I binge read my stockpile of both stories I’d been saving up the past three-four months that I noticed? 🤔
I have not seen “The Mummy,” but I’m pretty sure scarabs don’t act like that IRL, author. 😅 I mean, scarab is just a fancy name for “dung beetle.” 😂
Thanks for the translation! I waited to read this for it to be daylight out. I don’t want to rely on my seventh month old for comfort if I get too scared. 😅