Chapter 80: Toying in the Palm of His Hand!

“Come over here and take a look!” Old Lin called out to us from a corner.

I immediately warned Li Xingchen that it was best not to speak too much in such a tense atmosphere. Li Xingchen nodded in agreement.

We hurried over and found Old Lin looking up at the corner of the wall.

There was a surveillance camera mounted there. The indicator light on the camera was glowing, a clear sign that someone was watching us through it.

“They’re monitoring us through the surveillance camera and remotely controlling things inside the room,” Old Lin said.

The young soldier’s face turned ashen. “Old Lin, I’m sorry, but I have to get everyone out of here right now, no matter the cost. I’m worried there are explosives here. I have the authority to do this, and I believe the situation is dangerous enough to warrant it. I must use my authority now.”

With those words, the young soldier ran to the door without hesitation, unfastened an electronic device from his belt—I recognized it as an electronic bomb.

Old Lin quickly called out to stop him. “You can’t do that. If they know we’re trying to escape, they’ll definitely attack first. We should wait for a moment when they’re not paying attention and then make our move.”

The young soldier looked at Old Lin, pale and anxious. “Old Lin, I know you don’t want to cause public panic. But compared to our own safety, that hardly matters right now.”

With that, he stepped in front of us, shielding us, and pressed the detonator in his hand.

But the electronic bomb didn’t go off.

The young soldier froze, instinctively moving forward to check.

Old Lin immediately stopped him. “Don’t go over there. The bomb has been taken over by the enemy, too!”

The young soldier stared at Old Lin in disbelief.

Old Lin explained, “The signal from the remote was absorbed by a device they installed here. If they release that signal remotely, the bomb will go off, and none of us will make it out alive.”

The young soldier was filled with remorse. “I’m sorry, Old Lin. I was reckless.”

Old Lin reassured him, “It’s not your fault. Get the main force here quickly. We’ll have to breach the door manually.”

No sooner had he spoken than a sticky, squirming sound arose from within the walls. We instantly quieted down, listening closely to the ominous noise.

It was as if a giant hand was slapping around in a vat of paste.

Li Hong stepped forward and stabbed his dagger deep into the wall. When he pulled it out, it was smeared with a shocking amount of blood.

There was something inside the wall.

Li Hong gasped.

He used his dagger to dig out a small hole. The wall seemed to have been corroded, the blade cutting through it with unexpected ease. We then discovered that the wall had been sealed on the outside with a wooden board, leaving a gap between the board and the wall itself.

As soon as the hole was made, a torrent of insects poured out.

A mass of sticky corpse beetles tumbled and writhed across the floor, squirming frantically.

Li Hong retreated immediately.

Li Xingchen’s nerves snapped. “Old Lin, once the wooden board is completely eaten away, will the corpse beetles all come rushing out? Are we going to be drowned in a tide of these things?”

I turned to Li Xingchen. “Don’t talk nonsense. Old Lin, I think we should have our people blow open the door manually—there seems to be no other way.”

Old Lin nodded.

The young soldier immediately picked up his walkie-talkie to communicate with the main force, but there was no signal. I took out my phone, only to find there was no signal either.

I quickly realized what was happening. “Short-circuited, the power’s been cut.”

I remembered encountering the same situation when Li Hong and I were investigating the 330 bus case at an adult store—that’s why I reacted so quickly.

Li Hong and I immediately focused on the only machine in the room that was still running.

We found the power cord, only to see it was tightly encased in a thick iron pipe, nearly impossible to cut through.

Old Lin, clearly more experienced, took off his shirt and handed it to me. “Burn the pipe with fire. The heat will melt the insulation and cut the power.”

I lit Old Lin’s shirt, took off my own, and used them to heat the pipe.

Soon, the pipe was glowing red, and we heard a faint popping sound from inside. The machine finally stopped running.

The circuit breaker had probably tripped. I checked my phone again—still no signal.

“It’s not working,” I said. “It must be a different circuit. The enemy is very security-conscious. What kind of woman could be so vigilant?”

Tang Jingjing suggested, “Old Lin, maybe we should make some noise to send a distress signal to our rescue team.”

The young soldier nodded. “Three long, two short—that’s our SOS signal.”

He found an iron pipe and banged it against the machine in the pattern.

Almost immediately, we heard urgent footsteps and the whine of an electric saw at the stairwell. I breathed a sigh of relief—the police must be trying to cut a passage through the door.

But things were not that simple.

Just as the saw cut through, a sudden screech startled us. We looked around and discovered a flat-screen TV hanging above us.

At first, the TV displayed only static, but soon an eerie scene appeared.

The image showed a narrow room with three coffins laid side by side. Each coffin bore a plaque labeled with the names Old Huo, Ashan, and the young soldier.

Inside each coffin lay one of those three people.

Old Lin was stunned and screamed, “Stop! Don’t go any further…”

The noise ceased. From outside, the commander’s voice sounded, “Old Lin, what’s going on in there?”

Old Lin drew a sharp breath. “The killer is forcing us to make a choice. If you break down the door, something will happen to Old Huo and the others. Don’t go any further.”

The commander was silent for a long time before sighing, “Old Lin, look around the room—where’s the weakest point?”

Old Lin replied, “Wait, let me think.”

But the commander’s urgency was clear. “Codename 01, you are ordered to find the most vulnerable spot around you.”

The young soldier immediately reported, “Commander, we can’t touch the walls—there are countless corpse beetles inside. We can’t let them escape. I’m looking for another weak point and will report back as soon as possible.”

“Good,” the commander said. “You have ten minutes. If anything happens to them, you’ll be held responsible.”

He told us to remain calm and said he would consult the think tank and technical team.

Soon, the commander returned, bringing the fire department with him.

He announced, “Everyone, stay calm. I’m going to flood the room with water. There must be a drain somewhere. The water will reveal its location, and we’ll use that as our exit.”

It was a sound plan. We climbed onto the machine to avoid the rising water.

Before long, water was pouring in through the cracks around the door, quickly rising to half a meter deep.

A whirlpool formed in one corner.

The young soldier shouted, “Commander, I found the drain—it’s in the southeast corner!”

“Are you sure?” the commander asked.

Old Lin confirmed.

“We just found a timed bomb in that spot,” the commander said. “We’re calling in demolition experts now.”

“What?” Li Xingchen gasped. “What happens if water hits the time bomb?”

Li Hong replied gravely, “We can only hope the water isn’t conductive. If the timer shorts out, it could explode at any moment.”

Li Xingchen collapsed by the intake chute. I pulled him up and slapped him. “Pull yourself together. Don’t panic.”

“We have to go to Plan B,” the commander said. “We need to remove the entire door.”

Old Lin agreed.

The commander sent people to clear the cement around the doorframe. Soon, the whole door began to loosen.

We breathed a sigh of relief.

But as we prepared to move the door, we discovered a thick bundle of cables wedged between the door and the wall.

It was clear these cables were connected to some mechanism. If triggered, either we or Old Huo’s group would die.

“Turn the door sideways,” the commander ordered. “Be careful of those cables!”

Everyone carefully tilted the door, opening up a passage above and below. We crawled out underneath the doorboard.

Even after escaping, we didn’t relax. The building could be blown up at any moment!