The moment the voice of Number Two, the professional woman, rang out, an uncontrollable shiver shot up from Song Qingxiao’s back and quickly spread throughout her entire body. 

It felt like someone had stabbed her throat with a knife, and the sensation of impending death returned. She instinctively tilted her head back, trying to take a deep breath. 

The tank was already cramped, covered with a heavy lid that blocked out all light. The murky water in the tank soaked her lower body, creating a sensation of thinning air. 

As Song Qingxiao tilted her head back, her movements froze, and she slowly exhaled the breath she had just taken. 

With stiff movements, she used the back of her hand to touch her own throat, forcing herself to calm down due to the fear of death. 

“Number Nine?” 

Number Two, the professional woman, continued to call her name. Her voice was approaching, and it sounded like she had entered the factory building. 

In this environment, a woman’s soft and delicate voice seemed eerie, especially since Number Two intentionally lowered her voice and used a gentle tone. This voice echoed through the factory and bounced off the decrepit walls, creating a chilling, haunting sensation that sent shivers down the spine. 

“Number Nine, where are you?” 

The voice grew closer, accompanied by the sound of rustling grass being stepped on. Occasionally, the footsteps seemed to pause. 

Song Qingxiao’s alertness was at its peak. At this moment, she felt like her body was split in two. 

It was as if her soul had left her body, and the other “her” could see her physical body curled up in the tank, motionless, with a pale face, like a corpse. It was reminiscent of the scene when she had been stabbed in the throat with a dagger in the alley before. 

She seemed to “see” the professional woman cautiously walking inside, bending down to inspect the traces of her earlier movements on the ground, trying to discover her hiding place. 

“Come out.” 

Number Two’s voice was not fixed, indicating that she was now moving around the factory. Apart from that, Song Qingxiao didn’t hear any other sounds. 

In her consciousness, there were still three unturned cards, indicating that the doctor was still alive, perhaps standing nearby, observing silently. 

Song Qingxiao’s heart rate increased rapidly, and Number Two’s footsteps grew closer. Around her, apart from the sound of clothes rubbing against the edge of the tank and the rustling of the grass, there was no more shouting. 

This eerie silence only increased her panic. 

After a few breaths, the footsteps lightly approached the side of the large tank where Song Qingxiao was hiding. Her heightened concentration allowed her to become even more sensitive to sound. It was as if something lightly tapped on the edge of the tank. Number Two, with a smile in her voice, whispered: 

“I’ve found you…” 

The tone and intonation in that sentence almost made Song Qingxiao scream in response. 

However, she faintly sensed that something was wrong. So, in the moment she realized that something was amiss, she bit down on her tongue hard, forcibly suppressing her instinctive reaction. Otherwise, she might have been discovered immediately. 

Even though she hadn’t screamed, the extreme fear caused her pores to open wide, and cold sweat poured out in waves. Her body began to rapidly cool down, and she couldn’t help but tremble. 

Fortunately, after tapping the tank and speaking, Number Two didn’t hear any movement from inside. She quickly left. 

She walked to the other side of the tank and lightly tapped it again, lowering her voice and saying: 

“I can see you…” 

Upon hearing this, Song Qingxiao’s stiff body relaxed. She realized that the professional woman hadn’t actually discovered her but was pretending to find her. 

This action indicated that the doctor was very likely lurking nearby, waiting for the professional woman to expose her before making a move to kill her. 

Her heart rate continued to accelerate, reaching a point where Song Qingxiao felt like she might faint or suffocate at any moment. This was not the time for her to lose consciousness; she bit her tongue hard again, and the taste of blood filled her mouth. It reminded her of the nauseating sensation when she had killed the middle-aged, chubby man, Number Six, and tasted blood in her mouth. 

Biting her tongue had caused a minor wound, but due to her nervousness and fear, it only brought a faint, dull pain. She bit it a few more times in succession, and the painful stimulation helped her regain some composure. 

After circling around without finding anything unusual, the professional woman grew impatient. She called out a few more times before finally dropping her pretense of gentleness: 

“Is she not here?” 

The moment she said this, Song Qingxiao almost dared to confirm that the doctor was nearby. 

Perhaps the doctor had also realized that the professional woman had exposed her intention. He stopped concealing his footsteps and breathing, and after a long while, he spoke: 

“It’s impossible.” 

In this space, the man who had once been trustworthy now spoke in a way that sent chills down the spine: 

“The body of Number One is nearby, but Number Six is missing.” 

His analysis was methodical: “The area here is quite messy, and Number Nine is very clever. She deliberately disturbed the crime scene, intending to interfere with our judgment.” 

The doctor’s words reached Song Qingxiao’s ears through the tank. 

It was strange. In her life, she had low social status, came from a troubled family, and rarely received praise for being intelligent. She lightly moved her fingertips and touched the dagger. This reassured her a bit.  

The doctor continued: “But she overlooked one thing.” 

A single sentence easily made Song Qingxiao’s heart leap to her throat. 

“If I’m not mistaken, she should have disposed of Number Six’s body and dragged it here,” the doctor continued after a brief pause. “People have different weights, and their footprints vary in depth. She was carrying Number Six, so the areas she walked on have deeper footprints, and the damage to the grass is more significant.” 

Song Qingxiao raised her chin, pursed her lips, and took rapid, shallow breaths. The doctor seemed to take a few steps, getting closer to where Song Qingxiao was hiding. 

“Perhaps she might be hiding on this side.” 

Indeed, as the doctor said, carrying the weight of another person left more noticeable traces. Even if Song Qingxiao had tried her best to deceive later, she couldn’t deceive someone as clever as him. 

The tapping sound of fingers hitting the edge of the tank came from outside, as if the doctor was bending his fingers and lightly tapping the edge. 

“Here, this side, or maybe here.” 

Hearing this, the professional woman seemed to step back several paces one after another, and her voice became cautious when she spoke: 

“So, is she inside here?” 

“I’m not sure. It’s possible she’s hiding alone, or she may be with Number Six’s body.” 

The doctor pondered for a moment, and the professional woman pressed on with a tense tone:”How about lifting these covers?” 

As soon as she made the suggestion, the doctor paused for a moment, then smiled and said: “You go find some dried grass and ignite it under this tank.” While he spoke, it seemed like he was fiddling with something in his hand, and the sound of a lighter clicking followed by a small “boom” as the flame ignited reached Song Qingxiao’s ears. “It turns out Number Seven’s lighter comes in handy.” 

In this situation, the doctor’s suggestion was undoubtedly cruel. Song Qingxiao’s body trembled, and she instinctively reached out to lift the lid of the tank with the hand holding the phone. 

But in the next moment, she remembered the professional woman tapping the edge of the tank earlier. It was the same psychological tactic the doctor was using—first manipulating the professional woman to act, while he lured Song Qingxiao out. 

What should she do? In Song Qingxiao’s heart, a tug of war raged, leaving her in a dilemma. 

The current situation was highly unfavorable for her. All three of them had blood on their hands, indicating their strong desire to survive. It appeared that the professional woman and the doctor had formed an alliance. If she was discovered, it would be extremely dangerous. 

“I’ll count to three, you’d better come out on your own…” 

The doctor spoke while his gaze scanned the large tanks in the factory. “One…” 

“Two…” 

His tone dragged on longer, and before he could reach three, the professional woman indeed hadn’t moved far. She suggested, “Why don’t we move all these tanks and take a look?” 

The doctor agreed with her plan, and both of them approached the area where Song Qingxiao was hiding. The doctor had chosen a tank that didn’t contain Number Six’s body or Song Qingxiao. Out of the remaining two tanks, if Song Qingxiao’s hiding spot was found first, she would be in grave danger. 

On the contrary, if the tank containing Number Six’s body was found first, it might still deceive the doctor and the professional woman, providing Song Qingxiao with a chance. 

Luck was clearly on Song Qingxiao’s side. After the doctor made another choice, they lifted the lid together. The professional woman gasped when they found the body of Number Six, lying upside down with his head down and feet up inside the tank. 

“Here!” The professional woman’s voice trembled as she saw Number Six’s body. It was unclear whether she breathed a sigh of relief or remained on edge. 

The tank was quite large, and from their perspective, they couldn’t see the middle-aged man’s face, only his legs pointing upward. The doctor frowned and instructed the professional woman, “Climb onto the edge of the tank and take a look!” 

He wanted to know how Song Qingxiao had killed the middle-aged man and whether she was hiding beneath the body. 

The professional woman, seemingly obedient to the doctor, hesitated for a moment and then climbed up, but Number Six’s body was chubby and took up most of the tank. His head was bent forward at an angle that a living person would never have achieved. 

His face was partly submerged in the dirty water, and the professional woman took a look, appearing quite scared. “She’s not here!” 

She fell to the ground with a “thud,” and the doctor seemed somewhat disappointed. “Really not here? Then let’s check elsewhere…” 

As they discussed, Song Qingxiao, hiding inside the tank, tightly closed her eyes. Her tense body relaxed a bit. Earlier, when the doctor and the professional woman were too close, she dared not breathe and had held her breath for so long that she had started to feel lightheaded. 

These two people had formed some kind of agreement to cooperate, and their chances of survival together in this situation should be much greater than those of a lone individual. The fact that they had defeated Number Seven, the muscular man, indicated as much. 

Once these two people left without finding her, this fragile alliance would inevitably dissolve as time passed. 

Internal conflicts, mutual distrust, and even infighting were bound to occur between the professional woman and the doctor, leaving one person behind, and that would be Song Qingxiao’s only chance. 

Just as she had barely let out a breath and her brain was still in a state of mental emptiness, she was jolted by a violent impact on the tank she was hiding in. The tank had been here for an unknown amount of time, and its bottom had already sunk into the ground. The first impact only caused it to sway slightly without tipping over, but then came a second forceful impact!