Chapter Fourteen: The Secrets of the Garden

Perhaps it was because of the injury to my head, but as soon as I stood up and took a few steps, I stumbled dizzily and collapsed onto a corpse nearby!

In my clumsy struggle, I unintentionally pulled down the white cloth covering the body. As the cloth slipped away, a familiar face appeared before me—it was the fat man whom Brother Can had forced to duel with me earlier!

His lower body still bore the wounds I had inflicted during our fight. Beside him lay another small, delicate corpse—the girl whom Brother Can had shot dead earlier.

She was still staring wide-eyed, just as she had been at the moment of death, her body marked by several bowl-sized gunshot wounds that had completely scabbed over.

Wait a minute!

Scabbed over?

A strange feeling rose in my heart—only the wounds of the living scab and heal; the dead do not. That’s common sense.

Summoning my courage, I pressed my palms together and bowed to her: “Little sister! I didn’t harm you! No need to be afraid! Please don’t haunt me!”

Holding my breath, I carefully unbuttoned the bullet-ridden floral blouse on her corpse.

Had this been before, such an act would have landed me three years in prison!

As these thoughts flickered through my mind, my fingertips touched her wounds, and I could clearly sense something was off with myself.

What am I thinking! Not even sparing the dead!

I quietly cursed myself, forcing my attention back to the wound.

After examining it for a moment, my hand began to tremble uncontrollably—I was almost certain the wounds were scabbing and healing!

Though I wasn’t a forensic expert, I could still distinguish between coagulation and scabbing.

Still unconvinced, I thought to myself: a person dead for days, their cells cannot possibly divide or function—medical common sense.

I checked the other two corpses nearby. These, too, must have been executed in the park, their bodies crisscrossed with whip marks as evidence. To my astonishment, the wounds on these bodies also showed signs of healing.

At that moment, a possibility occurred to me—perhaps the reason the park kept this place so highly classified was because of these corpses.

My mind raced, but the biting cold was making my hands and feet numb. After all, this was a morgue, where the temperature would surely be below freezing.

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Sticking close to the wall, I groped around and quickly found the light switch.

I flipped it on, and the dim yellow glow illuminated the entire morgue.

Glancing around, I finally spotted a temperature control panel in one corner.

“Damn it! Minus ten degrees! I’m freezing to death!”

Cursing, I set the temperature to balanced mode—matching the outside temperature. Little did I know that this action nearly doomed the entire park!

I wandered the morgue for about half an hour as the temperature gradually rose to around twenty degrees.

No longer feeling the chill, I began to consider how to leave. I couldn’t just stroll out—this was a highly secret area. If I did, even feigning death would become real death at the hands of the guards.

“What’s going on? Why’s the light on?”

“Did someone just go in?”

“No!”

“You lot! Go in and check!”

Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside, followed by a cacophony of hurried footsteps growing ever closer—at least seven or eight people.

Panic-stricken, I scanned the room for a hiding place, but found none. Left with no choice, I returned to my earlier spot, pulled the white cloth over myself, and lay down again.

Almost the instant I covered myself, the morgue door was violently pushed open.

Though the cloth covered my face, I could still vaguely see my surroundings through its semi-transparency.

Seven guards entered, each armed with an AK, bayonet affixed and gleaming with a blade half an arm long.

“Brother Can said this place is crucial to the company! No outsiders allowed! Search every inch!” a minor leader barked.

The guards began lifting the white cloths from each corpse with their bayonets, checking one by one.

I was immediately nervous. Though I’d returned to my spot, I was still very much alive—a stark contrast to the frozen, rigid bodies. If the guards weren’t blind, they’d surely catch me.

One guard drew closer. I clenched my fists, ready to fight to the death.

But just as his hand touched me, a shrill scream pierced the morgue.

All the guards froze, turning to the source of the sound.

---

My gaze followed theirs, and what I saw would haunt me forever.

The girl’s corpse beside me was sitting upright, her pale hand gripping a guard’s throat.

By the time the others rushed over, that unlucky guard was sprawled on the floor, mouth foaming blood, his throat crushed beyond recognition.

“Are you stupid? Brother Can said the walls are full of hydraulic pipes!”

“Damn it! I forgot! They’ve thawed! They’re all about to get up!”

One guard raised his gun to shoot, but another stopped him: “Are you daft? Brother Can told us—the walls are full of hydraulic pipes! If we’re not careful, it could explode!”

“So… what do we do now!”

“You two guard the door! You two, come with me to get help! You, call Brother Can!”

With that, the guards fled the morgue in panic.

Carefully, I sat up and looked around. The girl’s corpse had vanished, leaving only the guard lying on the floor, mouth full of blood, staring at me half-dead.

My heart skipped a beat—I thought he was dead.

“Help me… help me!”

He pleaded, eyes full of despair. I frowned—if word got out that I’d uncovered the park’s secret, I’d be silenced for sure.

Resolute, I grabbed the AK he’d dropped and drove the bayonet through his throat.

Glancing at the AK in my hands, I was secretly pleased to finally have a weapon.

Looking at the dead guard, I quickly stripped his clothes and put them on myself.

Only then did I truly understand what gear the park’s guards carried.

Besides the AK, I found a stun baton, a mobile phone, and an ID card for movement within the park!