Ma Donghe’s eyes sparkled, staring intently at Fang Cheng.

There was an uncontrollable urge to show off in his gaze, as if urging:

"Hurry and ask! Ask me!"

Seeing his high spirits, Fang Cheng didn’t spoil the mood.

He sat beside him and cooperatively asked:

"What did you encounter?"

Hearing this setup, Ma Donghe slapped his thigh and instantly started talking:

"Wasn’t I turned into a security guard in his forties at the time?"

"I was lazing around in the security room, when the captain insisted I patrol the morgue on the second basement level in the middle of the night."

"The corridor was chillingly cold, and the bulb overhead flickered with a ’buzz.’ The morgue was in the innermost room."

"I hadn’t reached the door when I suddenly heard a ’bang, bang’ noise from inside, so I leaned in to listen. Guess what?"

"It seemed... to be coming from one of the cold storage cabinets holding bodies!"

Ma Donghe’s storytelling was vivid, exuding an immersive eerie feeling, much like a late-night radio host.

Fang Cheng, keeping a calm expression, casually asked:

"Did you go in?"

"Of course, I did! Why wouldn’t I go in?"

Ma Donghe slapped his thigh again, spittle flying:

"At the time, I thought, this damn place is just an illusion realm, why should I be scared of anything?"

"So I just pushed open the door and went straight in, following the sound, pulling open one of the iron drawers of the cold storage cabinets."

"Lo and behold, there lay a male corpse, and all of a sudden, its eyes opened, all white."

"It sat up straight, opening its mouth to crawl out and bite me."

Ma Donghe got more animated as he spoke, gesturing as if slapping with his hands, creating a whistling sound:

"Seeing this scene, without a second thought, I swung my arm and slapped it hard!"

"With a ’smack,’ I slapped it flying, crashing against the wall like it was facing a wall in reflection."

"Damn it, even in death, it should just lie there properly. Coming out to scare people, what the hell!"

"Then that zombie got angry..."

Ma Donghe shook his right hand, seemingly reminiscing about the feeling from back then:

"A forty-year-old security guard’s body was just too weak; after slapping it, my hand went numb."

"But that zombie was incredibly strong, vicious, and came at me, spewing a mouthful of black, foul-smelling liquid right at my face!"

Upon hearing "black liquid," Fang Cheng’s heart skipped a beat.

The terrifying scenes at the abandoned water plant flashed across his mind.

Wang Lan, Zhou Ming, and the others, when possessed and lost their minds, would also spew similarly foul black liquid from their mouths.

Fang Cheng’s eyes flickered slightly, immediately forming a judgment in his mind.

The creature Ma Donghe encountered was definitely of the same kind as the shadows at the water plant.

However, the shadows at the water plant possessed living people, while the one in the morgue invaded the corpse.

Ma Donghe didn’t notice Fang Cheng’s change in expression, fully immersed in recounting his heroic deeds, spitting wildly as he continued:

"That black liquid burned painfully on contact, causing rashes, incredibly poisonous; damn it, it almost ruined my face!"

"At the time I didn’t care, just wiped it with my clothes while retreating and shouted on the intercom for backup from my fellow security guards."

"That zombie was ferocious; it took my slap like nothing, crawled on the ground like a giant spider, and ’whoosh,’ it was at my feet.

"Then it clamped onto my leg with its pincer-like hands, opening its black-water-filled mouth, trying to bite down!"

"I kicked desperately, and it ripped a piece off my shoe sole!"

"I had no choice, grabbed a dry powder fire extinguisher from the wall, pulled the pin, and sprayed it fiercely, then slammed the iron canister on its head!"

"Damn, its skull was hard as iron, wouldn’t die no matter how much I hit it—oh wait, it was already dead, just rose again tonight." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Finally, the other security guards arrived, piling up like Arhats to pin it down, then called the cops to take this damn thing away."

"However, I got some of that black liquid on me, got infected, my vision went black, and I fainted."

Ma Donghe changed his sitting posture, scratching his head, looking puzzled:

"Logically, fainting means getting out, right? But when I opened my eyes, I found myself still in the illusion realm, lying in a hospital bed on IV drip."

"Then it got even more ridiculous, a woman with a kid came rushing into the ward, crying and shouting ’husband’ while holding my hand."

He smirked, looking embarrassed:

"I’ve been single since I was born, never even held a girl’s hand, and suddenly there’s a wife and kid, gave me goosebumps all over."

"Luckily, the nurse who came to change my IV was pretty cute, made the illusion realm feel not so bad."

Fang Cheng listened quietly, without interruption.

"I originally thought after handling the zombie, lying in the hospital for a few days would count as passing."

Ma Donghe’s voice suddenly lowered, his broad shoulders shrank, clearly recalling some extremely uncomfortable scene.

"But come night, the ward became especially cold, particularly dark."

"I lay sleepless in bed, turned my head, and saw several black shadows seeping from the corners and ceiling,

"Their eyes glowing red, staring intently at me, making faint laughing sounds."

"Those things were spooky, no doubt ghosts!"

Ma Donghe swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple moving up and down: