(4/5)
Changsheng Building
Chapter 214: The real source
In the empty room, the “shh-shh” sound of electrical interference was clear and piercing.
The male broadcaster’s voice was like it was stuck, playing over and over again, echoing in the shop bathed in dim light. It sounded eerie and terrifying, making everyone’s spine crawl with cold sweat.
They were certain that all the “problematic goods” chosen by the Tong Yao had been thrown out of the shop, but this action brought very limited relief.
The deadly silence lasted less than a few minutes before the sound of the radio reappeared.
This meant that the content just played by the radio wasn’t lying to them; everything they had done before was in vain.
——It seemed that all the radios were dangerous, not just those previously selected!
Looking at the large shop and the half-filled shelves of radios… everyone felt cold all over, their palms sweating.
The copper oil lamp welded to the counter flared up again, making a “hissing” sound. Obviously, as the sound from the radio reappeared, its consumption increased again.
“Since all of them are problematic, let’s throw out all the radios!”
Qi Qian gritted his teeth and said,
“With the props in our hands, there shouldn’t be a big problem.”
Although he said this, Qi Qian was not confident in his heart.
After all, their foolproof strategy just now proved to be useless, and no one knew if this would be the same…
Although they were in the undisturbed light range, those eerie words “useless” still seemed to echo in their ears, like a curse, mocking everything they did.
The struggle was futile.
What awaited them was only death.
However, none of the anchors who had survived until now would sit and wait for death. Even if they understood the danger, to survive, they could only fight with all their might.
Qi Qian turned his head to the right shelf and raised his voice:
“Hey! You two, come back first!”
After the radio’s voice sounded again, it was really too dangerous to stay far from the light, especially since those two had no great self-defense ability. It was better to return to the safe zone and then plan.
Outside the light.
The male announcer’s voice playing just now seemed like a trigger. After his voice disappeared, more radios began to operate again.
Eerie sounds flowed out of each radio.
There were old people, children, men, and women.
Some were crying, some were giggling, and some were whispering. The sounds mixed together, and the specific content was indistinguishable. The only thing that could be felt was the bone-chilling malice seeping out.
Everything made one’s scalp tingle and the spine shiver.
Su Cheng had heard Qi Qian’s shout.
He turned to look at Wen Jianyan and couldn’t help but be slightly stunned.
Wen Jianyan stood still, his flickering gaze fixed on the shelf in front of him. Although Su Cheng didn’t know what he was thinking, he could see that Wen Jianyan didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving.
“…Not planning to go under the light?”
With the spreading sound, Su Cheng could feel the coldness they had just dispelled rising from his fingertips again. He could see that Wen Jianyan’s hand hanging by his side was the same.
The previously fair skin had turned a ghastly blue like a corpse, with faintly rotten corpse spots appearing on the back of his hand.
All this symbolized one thing:
They were no longer safe.
At this moment, Qi Qian and the others had already started to move. With the ringing of the bell, the shop’s glass door opened and closed. Apparently, they were now throwing out all the radios, trying to stop the spread of death.
“It’s useless.”
Wen Jianyan shook his head.
Su Cheng was shocked: “What?”
“This shop will ‘restock’.”
Wen Jianyan pointed to the place where he had just taken the brown radio—now, it was already filled with new radios, looking no different from before.
“!”
Su Cheng’s pupils contracted, and he instantly felt a chill from head to toe.
An endless supply of radios also meant an endless source of curses.
Such horror…
In that instant, an indescribable feeling of despair rose from the bottom of his heart.
How could they survive this instance?
“No, that’s not right.”
Unexpectedly, Wen Jianyan quickly shook his head, seemingly immediately denying his previous idea, “It’s not entirely like this.”
If the shop could indiscriminately restock the shelves, then after the “customers” left, the shelf that held the “problematic goods” chosen by Tong Yao should also be automatically refilled. However, even before Wen Jianyan left the counter, that shelf remained empty, without any new radios added.
However, the blank positions of these radios that were taken away individually can be quickly filled.
Why?
Could it be that the shop’s restocking ability wasn’t strong enough? Or was it simply a matter of speed?
No, it shouldn’t be that simple.
Otherwise, that shelf couldn’t have remained empty until now, without a single radio being “restocked”.
Is it… that this state of replenishment requires some conditions to be met?
“Perhaps, clearing out the radios to cut off the curse is feasible, but it must be done by clearing an entire shelf at once.” Wen Jianyan suddenly turned to Su Cheng and spoke slowly.
No matter how many weird dangers were hidden in the Changsheng Building, it was still a “shop” after all, and “restocking” was just a function of the shop.
If only individual radios were taken from the shelf, it would naturally restock the goods.
But if an entire shelf was emptied quickly, the shelf would be deemed “idle,” losing all its coordinates for goods, and the shop wouldn’t restock that shelf.
“Go tell the others this information.” Wen Jianyan decided and ordered, “Try my hypothesis to see if it’s correct.”
Su Cheng was stunned: “Wait, what about you?”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and looked toward the depths of the shelf:
“I have a new idea to verify.”
“Also, send Tong Yao in to find me,” Wen Jianyan added, “in the name of the prophet.”
“Okay.” Su Cheng didn’t ask much. He solemnly nodded to Wen Jianyan: “Be careful.”
After speaking, he turned and quickly ran towards the counter.
Soon, Su Cheng conveyed Wen Jianyan’s message.
“You need me?” Tong Yao was taken aback, looking at Su Cheng.
Su Cheng nodded: “Yes.”
He had basically gotten used to his prophetic persona; even in such times, he could remain calm and not reveal any flaw.
“It’s part of the prophecy,” he said.
“Okay, I’ll go right away.”
Tong Yao’s strength had clearly not yet recovered.
Compared to earlier, her face had become even more pale, but despite this, she gritted her teeth, nodded, and without hesitation, headed in the direction Su Cheng pointed.
Su Cheng watched Tong Yao’s back, and in that moment, he seemed to suddenly understand a series of arrangements Wen Jianyan had made since entering this scenario.
Indeed, in the hands of a capable person, the card of prophecy was incredibly useful.
Tong Yao’s physical burden had reached its limit. If at this time she was required to do anything more, regardless of the purpose, the other party would certainly consider it carefully.
However, with the title of “prophecy,” everything was different.
This almost unconditional trust not only saved time and improved efficiency, but also brought about a terrifying degree of blind obedience… and this was exactly what Wen Jianyan needed.
An unwavering, self-sacrificing team under his control.
They were almost… like death soldiers.
Meanwhile, Qi Qian and others attached great importance to another new clue brought by the prophet. According to the instructions, they tried to clear the two front shelves.
The results were remarkable.
Seeing the empty shelves, with no new radios appearing, the group couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope, as if they had seen a new chance for survival.
Great, it worked!
“Clear the shelves one by one! Quickly!” Qi Qian urged.
***
While they were busy clearing the radios from the front, Wen Jianyan stood at a distance, always keeping an eye on the door—
Soon, he heard their excited voices.
It seemed that clearing the shelves was effective.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Since that guess was correct, his next inference had a higher chance of success.
However, Wen Jianyan didn’t plan to place all his hope on this method—clearing the shelves and throwing all the radios out of the store, though effective, was too simple and crude.
Wen Jianyan speculated that this was probably the “back-up plan” retained by the instance.
The so-called “back-up plan” meant the measures taken to save their lives when no pattern was found.
In other words, under normal circumstances, there should be a simpler solution to this scenario.
There are two ways to break a curse: one isisdestroy all the carriers, which was what Qi Qian and the others were doing; the other was to directly find the source of the curse, which was what Wen Jianyan was doing.
Wen Jianyan was a cautious person.
You shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.
If his plan failed, he would quickly retreat and fully support Qi Qian’s action.
If… Qi Qian’s plan failed or met some obstruction, they wouldn’t be completely hopeless and waiting for death.
At this moment, a series of rapid footsteps came from the other side of the aisle.
Wen Jianyan turned to look.
It was Tong Yao.
“Do you need me to use my talent?” she asked directly as she ran over.
In the dim light, Tong Yao’s face looked particularly bad, ghastly pale like a corpse. The short run had left her panting heavily, clearly at her limit.
Even so, she gritted her teeth and asked the question.
Obviously, as long as Wen Jianyan nodded, Tong Yao would use her talent without hesitation.
Wen Jianyan glanced at her and shook his head:
“Not needed for now.”
Tong Yao was in too poor a state, and over-exerting her now would make the rest of the journey even harder.
Good steel should be used on the blade.
Tong Yao was stunned: “Then we…?”
“First, come with me and take a look ahead,” Wen Jianyan said. “I’ll tell you when we need to activate your talent.”
On the shelves on both sides, the radios of various sizes kept making noises—elderly sighs, children’s giggles, women’s cries. These sounds were like persistent whispers, indistinct but clearly filled with a cold chill.
The further they went, the stronger the smell of decay in the air became, almost making one suspect they were in a graveyard.
After entering the corridor for only a few dozen seconds, Tong Yao felt her fingers start to stiffen with cold. But before she could habitually take out her noise-canceling earmuffs, Wen Jianyan stopped her:
“Don’t.”
Don’t…?
Tong Yao was stunned and turned to look at the girl in the white dress beside her.
The other party stood calmly on the spot, her arms hanging by her side were smooth and white, and one of the hands had already shown signs of decay. From the fingertips to the wrist and then to the forearm, everything had turned a shocking and miserable blue. Dots of corpse spots appeared on it.
But she seemed completely unconcerned.
“Don’t worry, just follow me forward.” Wen Jianyan said, “I’m on the left; you’re on the right. Stay side by side and don’t get too far apart.”
Tong Yao hesitated for a moment but then nodded, putting all her noise-canceling gear back into her backpack.
The two walked step by step into the darkness.
Wen Jianyan’s thoughts were clear; he knew exactly what he was looking for.
Firstly, where did the real danger come from?
At the start, they naturally assumed the danger came from those cursed radios. With the help of the medium, Tong Yao, these radios were identified and thrown out of the shop.
But after these radios were removed, other previously silent, ordinary radios also began to emit terrifying sounds.
This indiscriminate release was abnormal.
Unless…
The radios themselves were not important.
That is, whether brown, black, large, or small, all the radios were merely carriers of the curse, not the curse itself.
So, what was the real curse?
With this realization, the answer naturally emerged in Wen Jianyan’s mind:
“The sound.”
From the brief contact earlier, it was clear that these “sounds” were not ordinary. Even using tools to block the ears couldn’t stop the sound from invading; it would resonate directly in people’s minds.
The “sound” was the real source spreading the curse.
However, the sound itself had no form, meaning it must have a source.
This was where logic hit a dead end.
While standing by the shelves earlier, Wen Jianyan suddenly realized that, to some extent…
It seemed like all of them had been distracted.
Even he was not an exception.
With the crisis escalating and death approaching step by step, they had mostly forgotten the real source of danger—
The goods bought by the “customers.”
On the first floor, there were quite a few mannequins, a total of four or five in the entire shop, but only one had come to life—the one wearing the clothes bought by the “customer.”
After reaching the second floor, due to the characteristics of the second-floor items, the danger was far less obvious than on the first floor, so they mostly ignored this point.
What’s important is not what was taken, but what was left behind.
On the first floor, there was a mannequin wearing human skin clothes, but on the second floor, there were only radios. Since the “customer” took a radio, then what was left behind?
This was something Wen Jianyan hadn’t figured out.
Until… he suddenly realized the shop’s “restocking” mechanism.
Since the “customer” took a radio, the original position should also be replenished with a new radio.
With this, the entire logic was complete.
After the “customer” took the radio, the store would replenish a new radio in the empty spot, and it would spread the death curse.
As for the other radios in the shop, they were all distractions, merely the medium for the curse to spread, not the source.
Wen Jianyan moved step by step toward the depths of the store. He remembered that the footsteps of the “customer” earlier should have headed in this direction.
As for the aisle, it was the one he chose at the very beginning.
Although almost all the radios started making noise at the same time back then, there was a subtle order. Wen Jianyan remembered that the first one to make a sound was the radio in the aisle where he was.
If that’s the case, the most crucial radio was likely deeper in this aisle.
But… how should he locate it?
Sound was coming from all directions.
It was almost impossible to locate the source by sound.
Wen Jianyan felt the changes in his body.
The cold temperature was slowly climbing from his fingers.
He could feel that both his arms had lost their warmth, as if frozen under an ice lake, with all sensations and senses becoming dull.
Even without looking down, Wen Jianyan knew his skin was losing vitality, turning a ghastly blue, as if transitioning into a corpse.
The further he went, the faster this change happened.
Now, every radio was a medium. If they didn’t block their ears and didn’t touch any specific radio, the only variable was the distance to the source radio. By this logic, the closer they were to the source, the greater the impact.
This was a method of controlling variables.
By using the degree of bodily decay, it was possible to locate the real source of the curse.
However, the reason Wen Jianyan chose this almost crazy method wasn’t impulsive or merely masochistic.
He cherished his life and wouldn’t take risks with it.
This seemingly extreme method was actually the safest.
Now, Qi Qian and the others had already cleared half the shop, with most of the sound-producing mediums, the radios, thrown out of the store. Although the source hadn’t been found, the curse brought by these sounds had been greatly suppressed.
So, even though Wen Jianyan was delving deeper, he could feel that the spread of decay on his body was not as fast as imagined, and he still had some leeway.
The most important point was that this decaying state was reversible.
As long as they entered the area covered by the oil lamp, these seemingly terrible conditions would recede. Even if they encountered danger, they could immediately retreat and rely on Qi Qian’s team to turn the tide. Thus, given Tong Yao’s near exhaustion, this approach was actually more reliable.
***
Qi Qian’s team made good progress. As more radios were thrown out of the store,
It had to be said that the combined effort of several experienced anchors was significant. They had all gone through numerous instances, each with their own critical resources. Once they had a clear direction, their efficiency was remarkable.
In just a few minutes, half of the front shelves had been cleared.
Under their strong suppression, the eerie, hair-raising muttering lessened.
The frenzied burning of the lamp oil began to slow, returning to a normal rate. At this pace, the crisis would eventually be resolved.
Su Cheng swung his arm, hurling the radio in his hand out and hitting the glass door.
In the distance, the radio toppled on the ground. Although it had been struck hard, the black metal shell remained intact without a single scratch.
In the pitch-black darkness, the power indicator light flickered faintly, and an eerie voice sounded from it:
“Here.”
“Here.”
“Here.”
The voice repeated over and over, like a curse, attracting and summoning something hidden in the darkness.
***
Wen Jianyan and Tong Yao walked forward side by side.
Suddenly, Tong Yao frowned, a look of suspicion and uncertainty crossing her face: “I feel something is not right…”
She was a medium, and even without activating her talent, her sensitivity to such things was much higher than Wen Jianyan’s.
Hearing this, Wen Jianyan stopped:
“Let me see your arm.”
Tong Yao bit her lip and rolled up her sleeve.
The corpse spots had spread close to her upper arm. Even though she arrived later, the degree of decay was almost surpassing Wen Jianyan’s.
This meant that the real source was on the shelf to Tong Yao’s right.
Moreover… they were already very close to it.
Wen Jianyan’s eyes lit up.
He looked at Tong Yao: “Now is the time; you can activate your talent.”
Although the degree of bodily decay could measure distance, the precise location required the activation of the medium’s talent.
Tong Yao took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, a thin layer of white film covered her eyeballs.
She turned her eerie eyes, searching for something on the nearest shelf.
Meanwhile.
At the door, Qi Qian and his team suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
The light in the copper oil lamp welded to the counter flickered, seemingly affected by some unknown force.
The team was stunned and stopped their actions in unison, turning to look outside the door.
Outside the glass door was pitch black.
In the darkness, an eerie sound seemed to echo faintly.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
Footsteps?!
How could this be?!
The group exchanged puzzled glances, seeing the shock and fear in each other’s eyes under the dim light.
Could it be…
The next wave of “customers” was coming?
But they hadn’t even dealt with this round yet. If a new crisis arose, the combined effect would be terrifyingly destructive!!
The crisis of total annihilation loomed overhead, bringing an almost despairing chill.
Outside the glass door was endless darkness—nothing visible, nothing distinguishable. The only thing functioning was their increasingly acute hearing under the influence of fear.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
The footsteps were approaching.
“Tap, tap—”
New footsteps joined in.
Wait, not just one?!
It was as if the heavens were playing a cruel joke on them. In the darkness, more footsteps joined, all heading in this direction—
One, two, three…
More “people” were approaching.
The overwhelming terror seemed to descend with them.
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