Liu Yuning furrowed her delicate brows and walked out quickly, with Ye Sha following closely behind. A mysterious unease lingered in his heart.
Inside the gym, chaos reigned. The front door was inexplicably locked, trapping a group of panicked customers who shouted to be let out. The coaches, though frightened themselves, tried their best to reassure the customers.
"Don't panic. Tell me, what happened?" Liu Yuning's authoritative voice immediately calmed the scene.
Not far away, in the weightlifting area, a couple of coaches reluctantly made way, revealing a gruesome sight. A male customer lay on the bench press, pinned under a heavy barbell, his face pale and lifeless. He had been crushed to death!
"Who was responsible for him?" Liu Yuning demanded sternly. Such an oversight was unacceptable; someone should always be supervising during bench presses.
"Boss, I went to the restroom, but I clearly told him to wait until I got back to continue! He didn't listen!" The middle-aged coach defended himself, looking terrified.
"You..." Liu Yuning was frustrated but helpless. She wasn't a police officer; how could she distinguish truth from lies?
"Boss, check the surveillance footage? Even if Li Ge wasn't there, someone else should have noticed! Why did a grown man suddenly die like this?" Ye Sha suggested, sensing that something was amiss.
Liu Yuning nodded and turned to Xiao Liu at the front desk, who immediately retrieved the footage and displayed it on the gym's large TV.
Watching closely, Ye Sha saw that Li Ge had indeed spoken to the customer before going to the restroom. But the customer suddenly seemed to change, lying down on the bench press and lifting the barbell weakly before letting it fall on himself. His face turned red, eyes bulging, but he made no sound, no scream, and died within moments. There was no one in the weightlifting area during this time; Li noticed the body several minutes later.
"Bizarre!" Ye Sha's heart trembled. Such a death was undeniably strange. He had encountered something similar last night; it wasn't normal.
"Where's the surveillance footage?" Liu Yuning rubbed her throbbing temples. She had only come to the gym on a whim to tease Ye Sha and hadn't expected this.
"I called the police. They said no one here can leave; they need to investigate," Xiao Liu replied nervously.
"So many people here today! The gym class must be lively!" A creepy voice suddenly came over the speakers, a man's voice, slightly hoarse.
"Who's there?" The gym's occupants looked around, trying to locate the speaker.
Xiao Liu trembled, nearly in tears. "Boss, there's no one at the front desk!"
Liu Yuning suddenly realized. The PA system was at the front desk for calling customers and playing music. With no one there, who was speaking?
"Li Guofeng, please do a set of standard sit-ups now!" The voice over the speakers began to command.
"Who's playing tricks?" Li Guofeng was the middle-aged coach, already frightened by the customer's death and now being the first one named, he shouted with a mix of fear and anger.
"Li Ge, don't speak. Just do as he says!" Ye Sha shouted immediately. This was eerie; disobedience might result in some horrifying punishment!
Li Guofeng and Ye Sha had a good relationship. Hearing Ye Sha's advice, Li promptly lay down on the floor and began doing sit-ups.
The other coaches and customers watched him with a mix of fear and suspicion. They weren't foolish; they sensed that something supernatural was afoot.
"You're doing well. Everyone, give him a round of applause!" The voice from the speakers sounded somewhat pleased as Li Guofeng got up from the floor.
But the gym's occupants were slow to react, not following the voice's instructions.
"Clap!" The voice suddenly turned extremely sharp and aggressive, causing everyone to instinctively cover their ears.
However, the voice seemed to have no effect on Ye Sha. He was the first to start clapping, and Liu Yuning followed suit.
The gym was filled with enthusiastic applause, as if at a staff meeting. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was incredibly tense, everyone wearing fearful expressions.
"Stop!" Everyone promptly ceased clapping at the broadcasted command.
"Some students don't listen and try to skip class!" The voice from the speakers spoke slowly, "So, the punishment from the coach is: death!"
A young coach squeezed through the crowd near the entrance. His expression was one of terror, his body seemingly controlled, moving stiffly towards the center of the open space.
"The lock won't open! I just wanted to run out!" The coach's forehead was covered in sweat, seemingly unable to turn his head, only able to shout at the wall.
The gym's lock was electronic. Finding the switch could easily open or close it. Now, this coach claimed it wouldn't open, indicating he too was under some supernatural control.