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Ping An Asylum
Chapter 164: Elevator
In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:
[!]
[Ah, if you think about it, the small chapel in the courtyard is indeed unusual…]
[Although there have been anchors who have touched upon that area before, they were mostly either spreading their nets to map out the terrain or rushing through during a chase, choosing any available route. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone with such a clear purpose.]
[I have to say, the anchor is really skilled at finding blind spots!]
[But now the instance has mutated, and no one can predict what will happen next.]
[That’s true, but this time feels different from before! As a loyal fans of the Ping An Asylum, I’m already looking forward to it!]
Soon, this entire floor was basically explored.
After confirming that there was no overlooked information, the group headed once again toward the closed iron door.
Wen Jianyan cautiously stepped forward, bringing his ears close to the closed iron door and holding his breath to listen to the sounds outside.
Outside the door was dead silent—no footsteps, no squelching sounds made when the fleshy membrane expanded—just a deathly silence.
“Shall I open the door?” Luce, standing by the door, asked.
Wen Jianyan nodded.
After receiving a positive answer, Luce raised his hand and pressed the door-opening button. With a “creak” sound, the tightly closed iron door made a rattling noise and slowly opened.
Light seeped in through the widened gap, illuminating the dark corridor.
Subconsciously, Su Cheng wanted to move forward. He had been in a coma during the previous chase, and his understanding of the instance was still stuck before entering the laboratory, unaware that the instance had mutated.
Wen Jianyan quickly grabbed him and said, “Wait!”
Su Cheng stumbled back as he was dragged.
He stabilized himself and looked outside, taking in a sharp breath.
Although they were back in the real world now, there were things in the corridor that shouldn’t exist in the real world.
On the walls, on the floor, and on the ceiling, crimson membranes spread unevenly like clusters of fungi, pulsating rhythmically like neurons. However, unlike before, they did not attack; instead, they maintained a nearly dormant state, motionless and silent, much like in the laboratory.
But, in any case, it shouldn’t be present here.
Instead, it should have disappeared along with the ringing of the bell, just like before.
“This… didn’t the bell ring?”
Blond showed a puzzled and suspicious expression, lowering his voice and asking, “Why…”
“Haven’t you realized yet?” Wen Jianyan turned his head, glanced at Blond, and said, “We haven’t returned to our original location.”
Blond was stunned.
Right.
Previously, after entering the inner world, no matter how much they ran inside the inner world, their position in the outer world would not change.
When the bell rang, logically, the inner and outer worlds should undergo a transition together, and they would return to the position before the bell rang, which was at the entrance of the laboratory.
But this time was different.
Even though the bell had rung, they were still inside the dean’s office.
“There are two possibilities.”
Wen Jianyan slowly took a deep breath and said, “Either the rules of the instance have changed, or…”
“Or what?”
Luce anxiously asked.
Wen Jianyan turned his head to look at him and said, “The rules of the instance haven’t changed; we just misunderstood from the beginning.”
“Let’s go. In any case, we need to leave this floor first.”
The area covered by the membranes on the iron door was too large, making it impossible to get close. They could only see the winding staircase through the gaps, inside of which was also densely covered with crimson membranes, with almost no areas to step on.
So, everyone approached the elevator with a glimmer of hope.
Fortunately, the elevator was still functioning smoothly.
Watching as the elevator ascended slowly, it opened before them, revealing its aged brass-color interior.
Inside, there were no signs of erosion.
The few individuals exchanged glances and cautiously stepped inside.
Although taking the stairs would have been the safer option, in the current situation, the elevator became their only choice.
“Buzz—”
Accompanied by the mechanical roar, the elevator started running again, slowly descending.
The metal floor beneath their feet vibrated as the elevator cables extended, distancing the iron box from the fourth floor.
[4]
[3]
Observing the decreasing numbers on the narrow screen, Wen Jianyan breathed a long sigh of relief.
Su Cheng turned to him, somewhat surprised, and asked, “Are you so nervous?”
Wen Jianyan replied, “Yes.”
After all, the sound of the elevator running wasn’t exactly quiet, and he was genuinely worried that halfway through the journey—
“Clinck… clinck!”
Intense mechanical noises echoed from above, sounding like the dull clatter of hinges that hadn’t been oiled in a long time. Accompanied by the irregular flickering of brass-colored lights, the iron box vibrated violently.
Instinctively, everyone raised their hands to support themselves against the walls, panic evident on each person’s face.
“Wha-What’s happening?”
“Ouch… This can’t be right?”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
He remained expressionless and raised his hand to wipe his face slowly.
No way?
He hadn’t even spoken the words…!
Why was everything so inexplicably precise in situations like this?
“Click… click!”
The sound of the iron cables snapping echoed from above.
The next moment, a strong sense of weightlessness hit them, and the old-fashioned elevator rapidly descended from the elevator shaft!
The overhead lights flickered, casting an intermittent light on everyone’s pale faces. They involuntarily pressed their backs against the walls, experiencing a free fall with the iron box.
The lights dimmed.
“Zzzzz—”
The sharp and grating sound of metal scraping against metal filled the air, almost visualizing the sparks that sprayed out in the darkness, ending with a resounding “bang!”
The entire process lasted only a few seconds, but the ordeal felt like an entire century.
Finally, the elevator came to a stop on its descent.
All the noises vanished, and the narrow iron box fell into a deathly silence, with only the intermittent sound of panicked breaths.
“Is everyone okay?”
Luce, having caught his breath, asked.
“Yeah.”
People gradually calmed down and responded one after another.
The only fortunate aspect was that the Ping An Asylum’s floors weren’t too high. The elevator malfunction and the subsequent fall, while terrifying, didn’t pose a significant threat to the people inside.
After a couple of buzzing sounds, a small emergency light in one corner of the elevator illuminated, casting an uncertain and dim yellow light that barely lit up the pitch-black interior, revealing the frightened faces of everyone.
Wen Jianyan stood up, leaning against the wall, and looked up at the small screen.
It displayed the word “Floor 1.”
Wen Jianyan breathed a long sigh of relief.
Luckily.
He had prepared for the worst just moments ago, but his luck hadn’t deteriorated to that extent. At least, the elevator didn’t plummet all the way to the bottom.
“Let’s go; we need to find a way out.” Wen Jianyan broke the silence.
“The elevator is very unstable. It’s probably temporarily stuck here. We don’t know when it might start descending again,” he looked at everyone, calmly analyzing, “Although it’s dangerous to pry open the elevator midway, the two floors below ground are locked and contain high-risk patients. Dealing with them is much riskier.”
“…”
Everyone recalled the unpleasant experience of dealing with patients on the second underground floor, involuntarily shivering.
Indeed.
Facing high-risk patients directly might be more relaxed than being crushed by the elevator.
“Let’s all push together.” Luce nodded. “This is an old-style elevator, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to force the door open.”
Several strong male anchors raised their hands and grabbed the iron elevator door, exerting force simultaneously.
“Hey!”
The rail-mounted iron door emitted a creaking sound under the strain, slowly opening to one side.
The ground of the first floor spanned close to the head’s position, barely leaving a narrow gap just enough for one person to crawl through. It was evident that the elevator was stuck halfway between the first floor and the first underground floor.
The iron door was pulled open.
Now, what they needed to do was venture out one by one.
Wen Jianyan stood on his tiptoes, attempting to look outside through the gap. However, for some reason, the first-floor light in the hospital became very dim, with extremely low visibility. Due to the angle, he could barely see the ground within two meters of the elevator and nothing else.
After contemplating for a while, he turned to look at Blond. “You go first.”
The guy with yellow hair turned pale. “…Ah?”
“Your vision is the best. You can quickly assess the current situation on the first floor and determine if there’s any danger in climbing out,” Wen Jianyan spoke calmly, listing his reasons, “More importantly, you have the narrowest build among us. Even if there’s danger or the elevator shows a tendency to fall, we can quickly pull you back in.”
The second point was the most critical.
Wen Jianyan had just roughly estimated everyone’s body sizes visually. The gap was too narrow; he and Luce had similar frames, and while they could pass through, there was a risk of getting stuck in the middle. Su Cheng, although barely fitting, had some increased risk due to the excessive feeding by Ji Guan.
Although Shao Yao could also climb up, she lacked the visual advantage in the darkness that Blond had. Even if she managed to climb out, her impact would be limited.
“Okay, okay,” Blond said with a mournful face, reluctantly nodding.
“If you notice anything wrong, shout immediately, understand?”
Wen Jianyan reminded.
Blond took a deep breath, nodding as if resigned to his fate.
With everything ready, the others supported Blond’s body, allowing him to crawl through the gap.
“Did you see anything?”
Wen Jianyan, dragging Blond by one leg and supporting his weight on his shoulder, raised his voice to ask.
“It’s very dark outside…”
Blond’s voice came through the iron door, sounding muffled and somewhat distant.
“The overhead lights are gone, seems like—”
The next second, as if his throat were suddenly constricted by something, Blond’s voice abruptly stopped.
Wen Jianyan sensed that the guy’s body seemed to have suddenly stiffened.
“What’s wrong?” Wen Jianyan frowned, a foreboding feeling slowly rising.
“…”
After a brief silence, Blond let out a hysterical scream, shattering the silence: “Pull me back! Pull me back!!! Quickly!!!”
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Poor Blond – the telescope became a periscope!