The three men went downstairs one after another, heading straight for the fifth-floor laboratory.
Pushing open the door to the secondary bedroom, Sun Ya and Wei De hurried in ahead of Su Jin to check on the rat cages.
Su Jin unplugged his phone, which had grown hot to the touch, from the power bank.
While he was still tapping through the screen, Sun Ya's terrified voice rang out. "Another one's gone! Rat Number Six disappeared... The cage is intact, with no opening!"
Su Jin's brow furrowed, and he opened the video recording.
"Never mind that for now. Let's watch the footage first."
The two older men looked at the phone at the same time, glanced at each other, and then turned their eyes back to the screen.
He set the video to play at double speed.
In the recording, everything in the cage appeared normal until the timestamp reached the thirty-five-minute mark.
The rat marked with the number 3 began moving unnaturally, stalking closely behind another rat.
After two minutes of stalking, the rat opened its mouth.
The hairs on Su Jin and the others' bodies stood on end!
In the video, Rat Number Three’s jaws began opening normally, but the corners of its mouth continued tearing open all the way down to the middle of its torso!
A gaping, bloody maw opened wide... and swallowed its cage mate in a single bite.
After ingesting prey of equal volume, Rat Number Three’s body swelled to more than twice its size.
Only after a dozen or so minutes did its physique return to normal.
Su Jin lowered the phone, his entire body stiff.
Sun Ya and Wei De looked at Rat Number Three—acting perfectly normal inside the cage—and felt a chill run through them from head to toe.
Just as Su Jin was about to speak, heavy banging echoed from below.
Faint shouting and cursing drifted up with it.
Startled, all three turned toward the doorway.
"You two head back. I'll go see what's happening."
Acting decisively, Su Jin grabbed the handbag beside him, shoved his phone inside, and bolted downstairs.
In a few bounds, he dropped straight from the fifth floor to the third.
Judging by the noise coming from Room 302, Su Jin kicked aside the sofa blocking the entrance and used his gun to shove the door open.
The moment the door swung inward, his eyes fell upon Li Kai and Cao Chengping grappling with each other.
Seeing Su Jin appear, both froze at once.
Before Su Jin could utter a word, Cao Chengping dropped to his knees, slid right up to him, pointed at Li Kai, and sobbed, "Big Brother! He's gone mad! He turned into a monster... He killed Li Fang!"
"Bullshit!" Li Kai shouted, his eyes nearly tearing at the corners with rage. "You were the one who killed her! You waited until my guard was down and choked her to death! You're crazy... I know what you're up to, you—"
Before he could finish, Cao Chengping cut in, "He drank the rainwater! He must have drunk the rainwater and lost his mind! Big Brother... he's faking it! Kill him, quick!!"
Su Jin kicked Cao Chengping sprawling to the floor, stepped back into the doorway, and leveled a frigid stare at them.
"Neither of you move. Stand properly."
Silenced by terror, both men dared not make a sound or move a muscle.
As the two backed away trembling, Su Jin stepped into the apartment and glanced toward the bedroom doorway.
Li Fang lay sprawled across the bed, completely unresponsive.
A pillow rested beside her; at a glance, it looked like she had been smothered with it.
After taking a couple of quick looks, Su Jin backed out the doorway again.
At the landing between the third and fourth floors, Wei De and Sun Ya leaned over the railing, peering down toward Su Jin.
Sun Ya whispered, "Xiao Li, wasn't this entire entryway cleared? Did a zombie get in?"
"It's fine if you watch from there, but stay behind me and don't cross the line," Su Jin said coldly. "One of the three is dead. One of these two has definitely turned into something like that rat... Looks like we caught it in time."
Wei De and Sun Ya exchanged a look and hurried down a few steps to get a clearer view.
They had just discovered a brand-new infection type!
The host's internal structure and mind underwent a certain degree of mutation, granting them an innate hostility toward living creatures, yet allowing them to conceal themselves flawlessly among their own kind.
Neither of them had expected a human specimen to appear so quickly.
Now was the perfect opportunity for observation; they had to get to the bottom of this.
Su Jin shifted the barrel toward Cao Chengping. "Tell me everything from the beginning. What happened here?"
Cao Chengping shrank back, stammering in a panic, "Just now... just moments ago, Li Kai suddenly collapsed to the floor..."
Su Jin and the two older men listened intently to the account while scrutinizing both men's expressions.
Once he finished, the gun turned toward Li Kai. "Now it's your turn."
"Big Brother, don't listen to his nonsense! That was all his own doing! He was the one who smothered Li Fang!" Li Kai gestured frantically, trying to explain. "He woke up from his faint and went crazy all of a sudden. I wasn't paying attention, and he just rushed her..."
Their stories were nearly identical, and their expressions revealed no flaws.
Su Jin glanced back at Sun Ya and Wei De.
Both shook their heads solemnly.
Nothing gave it away... The imposter was remarkably skilled.
Given such cunning and intellect, there was no reason for the culprit to commit murder in an environment where they had already encountered Su Jin.
The only viable explanation was that the killer had mutated from an infection moments ago.
Their nature had already transformed, and the moment they woke after turning, they had failed to control their impulses.
Su Jin narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze sweeping back and forth between the two men.
Finally, he motioned with his gun.
"Both of you, strip off all your clothes! Everything!"
"Big Brother..." Cao Chengping wailed. "It really wasn't me! Is this really necessary?"
Li Kai began shedding his clothes without a word.
The two elders promptly fixed their eyes on Li Kai.
Soon, both stood completely naked, submitting to Su Jin’s sweeping gaze up and down their bodies.
Normal. Everything looked entirely normal, showing not the slightest difference from ordinary humans.
"Turn sideways," Su Jin ordered, gesturing with the muzzle.
"Big Brother, isn't that enough?" Cao Chengping asked tremulously. Glancing over and seeing Li Kai complying obediently, he turned sideways. "Big Brother, are we good now?"
"Turn around!" Su Jin barked again.
After examining their backs, they still found nothing out of the ordinary.
A bead of sweat formed on Su Jin's forehead. "Get on your knees! Hands behind your backs!"
Neither dared protest any longer. Facing away from Su Jin, they knelt and clasped their hands behind them, with Cao Chengping periodically craning his neck to look back at Su Jin.
"Stop moving around."
"Big Brother... please let me off. Stop tormenting and humiliating me, will you?" Cao Chengping sobbed. "I shouldn't have cursed at you before! I was wrong..."
Li Kai gritted his teeth, glancing toward Cao Chengping with teary, murderous eyes.
Su Jin and the two old men continued studying them closely.
A sudden shriek pierced the air from the stairwell!
Startled, Su Jin turned around, only to see Fu Qingdai standing behind them.
Both of her hands were pressed tightly over her face.
"Qingdai! Who told you to come down here?" Su Jin snapped in anger.
"I didn't see anything!" Fu Qingdai squeaked through her fingers.
"Who asked you that? What did you come down here for?" Su Jin fumed. "Go back!"
"Dinner is ready... My mom told me to call you to eat. I saw no one was downstairs..."
While Fu Qingdai was still explaining, a flurry of hurried footsteps came scrambling down from above.
Fu Hu rushed down with an anxious expression, clutching a bow and arrows, with Zhang Wan right behind him.
Behind Zhang Wan, Cheng Du emerged holding a wine bottle, accompanied by a flustered Auntie Liu.
The narrow stairwell was instantly crammed to capacity.
Yet the moment the newcomers looked down into the corridor, they froze as one, looking as though they had been struck by lightning.
"Who told all of you to come down?! And you, Cheng Du—weren't you supposed to stay isolated in your apartment? Do you want to stay here or not!" Before Su Jin could speak, Sun Ya barked angrily, glaring toward Fu Hu.
Fu Hu swallowed hard. "I heard my daughter scream, and I got worried..."
Cheng Du’s gaze kept darting downward. Licking his lips, he stammered, "I... I heard the commotion too. It felt off, so I ran out. Who would have guessed... ahem."
"This is no time for jokes. One of these two is infected. Every single one of you, get back right now!" Su Jin barked, raising a hand.
"Who's infected?" Cheng Du asked, his eyes wide. "They look completely normal to me."
Su Jin's eyes locked onto Cao Chengping, and he raised the muzzle. "I already know who it is. We'll talk about this later. All of you, get back to your rooms right now!"
Chapter 39