Thank you Miriam for the Kofi. Here are your Kofi chapters (1/3).
Changsheng Building
Chapter 216: Brass Key
“Rustle… rustle…”
A faint electric current sound came from the pitch-black radio. The power struggled to flicker twice and then went out.
In a second, all the remaining radios in the shop fell silent.
The power lights on the radios went out completely, as if they were just ordinary goods, lifelessly crouching in the shadows on the shelves.
All the whispers, laughter, and sighs disappeared immediately, as if a switch had been turned off.
Only a faint smell of corpse still drifted in the shadows.
“…”
The last bit of strength drained from Wen Jianyan’s body. With a pale face, he leaned against the shelf, feeling a strong urge to vomit.
However, because most of his body had already turned into a corpse, the physiological nausea fought against the psychological revulsion, and Wen Jianyan couldn’t vomit even if he wanted to. He could only lean against the shelf with a twisted expression.
Tong Yao turned her head to “look” in Wen Jianyan’s direction.
She had used her ability too many times, and her vision had almost completely failed, forcing her to rely on her hearing to barely determine Wen Jianyan’s location.
“Did it work?”
She asked cautiously, yet with a hint of hope.
“Yes.”
Wen Jianyan leaned weakly against the shelf. Saying those two words brought an unparalleled sense of relief.
“We succeeded.”
He let out a long sigh, his overly tense nerves relaxing, and felt an unprecedented fatigue.
Wen Jianyan looked down to check his own body.
The corpse spots had spread to his chest and neck, just one step away from completely invading his body and brain. He had almost lost feeling in his limbs.
Rather than being alive, his current state was more like that of a corpse, almost entirely unable to move.
But the good news was that, as long as he clung to life, this state was reversible.
In the darkness, under Wen Jianyan’s guidance, Tong Yao groped her way over and supported him on her shoulder—
Then she staggered and almost fell.
“…”
This seemingly thin and weak little girl, why was she so heavy when she tried to lift her?
Was her own strength declining?
Just as Tong Yao was doubting herself, she heard Wen Jianyan’s slightly apologetic voice in her ear, “Sister Tong Yao, are you okay? If your body hasn’t recovered yet, we can call someone else—”
“No need.”
Tong Yao shook her head, interrupting Wen Jianyan.
Although she couldn’t see just now, relying solely on her hearing, she knew how dangerous the situation had been.
And apart from the initial positioning, she hadn’t been much help.
To think, in an area where she would bleed from her eyes just by “looking,” the other party had to personally venture in, which was why she had lost the ability to move.
After the other party had done the most dangerous part, could she not even carry her out?
That wouldn’t do!
Tong Yao gritted her teeth and propped up Wen Jianyan’s heavy, cold body, standing straight.
“Don’t worry, you’re not heavy. I can handle it alone.”
“…”
As a young man actually standing at 1.8 meters tall, Wen Jianyan fell silent.
Sure, it’s not my fault you’re struggling to carry me.
There is no need to lie through your teeth.
The two walked down the aisle. The radios on the shelves had turned back into ordinary items, no longer capable of spreading curses, lying quietly in the darkness like harmless props.
But…
There was one thing Wen Jianyan was curious about.
If he took another radio from this spot, would a new one appear? Or would this spot remain empty?
As he thought this, Wen Jianyan instinctively glanced at the spot where he had just taken the cursed radio.
His gaze suddenly stopped, and his pupils shrank sharply.
Behind a small, blank area was the shadow of the counter. As he watched, a hand slowly reached out from the darkness.
The hand was blue-black, with a dull, corpse-like sheen, and covered with corpse spots.
But the hand appeared very delicate, seemingly a woman’s hand.
The nails were painted crimson, like fresh blood not yet solidified, looking extremely eerie in the dim light.
Could it be…
This was how the shop “restocked”?
“Tap.”
The corpse-like hand placed something on the shelf, then stiffly and slowly disappeared back into the shadows.
“Wait, wait a moment.” Wen Jianyan hurriedly stopped Tong Yao, “Don’t go yet.”
“This way.”
Following Wen Jianyan’s guidance, Tong Yao supported him as they slowly approached the shelf.
“What’s wrong?” Tong Yao asked, having lost her sight, “Is there something unusual?”
Wen Jianyan looked down at the only blank area on the shelf and couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback.
Among the countless radios, there was a large key placed on the shelf.
It was made of brass and seemed quite old, covered in blackened rust spots that looked like dried, congealed blood, exuding a chilling aura.
In a flash, a scene passed through Wen Jianyan’s mind.
At the end of the shop, there was a locked door.
***
The oil lamp welded to the table also returned to normal. The violently burning wick shrank bit by bit, the dim yellow light seeped through the lampshade, and the “sizzling” sound of burning faded, becoming quiet again.
The sudden silence made it seem like everything had returned to normal.
The few people at the door were momentarily stunned.
They looked at each other, seeing the same look of astonishment in each other’s eyes.
Was it… over?
Did they make it through?
Qi Qian was the first to react, “Quick, block the light.”
The pale, dazed corpses were lurking in the darkness. Although the ones in front have been dealt with, there might still be more approaching.
Since the immediate danger was gone, there was no need to keep fighting.
The phone hadn’t rung like it did on the first floor, meaning they hadn’t yet completed the quota to move from the second floor to the third, and a new customer could arrive at any moment.
But they had no strength left to deal with that right now.
After handling this crisis, the whole team needed some time to catch their breath and adjust, rather than immediately face a new customer.
Following the captain’s orders, they quickly sealed the glass again, blocking it tightly to prevent any light from leaking out.
They could still hear faint footsteps lingering, but as the radios stopped calling, the inexplicable attraction vanished.
The footsteps gradually faded away.
Everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
At this moment, heavy, dragging footsteps came from the aisle. Tong Yao and Wen Jianyan, supporting each other, emerged from the darkness.
The two looked extremely miserable.
Although Wen Jianyan now looked like his usual self, the erosion his body had suffered was equally visible on the surface. The girl’s once slender and fair arms and calves were now a patchwork of blue and white, covered with signs of decay. Tong Yao, although less affected than Wen Jianyan, had her eyes tightly shut, and her pale cheeks were marked by dried crimson tear streaks, making for a striking sight.
Everyone was shocked and hurriedly rushed forward to support them, carrying them into the light-covered area of the counter under the oil lamp.
As the dim yellow light covered his body, Wen Jianyan could feel the cold stiffness in his body slowly receding and the blue-black spots on his skin gradually disappearing.
Su Cheng stood nervously by his side, closely watching Wen Jianyan’s condition.
In the distance, Qi Qian and the others, having taken care of Tong Yao, were now walking towards Wen Jianyan.
Qi Qian: “Are you okay?”
Wen Jianyan moved his arms and legs and nodded:
“Yeah, I’m alright.”
His joints regained flexibility, and he could feel his fingers again. There were basically no lasting aftereffects.
“How’s Tong Yao?” Wen Jianyan asked.
“Her curse was lighter than yours. She recovered before you did, but her ability is exhausted. While her vision won’t be too affected, she probably won’t be able to use her talent for a long time,” An Xin sighed.
Wen Jianyan turned to look at Tong Yao.
Her skin had also returned to normal, and the blood on her face had been wiped away. Thanks to the restorative prop and her teammates’ care, her complexion wasn’t as frightening as before, but her eyes remained tightly shut.
“Just now, Tong Yao told me what happened,” Qi Qian said. “You’ve worked hard.”
Wen Jianyan: “It was nothing, I just did what I could.”
Nearby, Zhang Yu was standing in front of the counter, seemingly checking the oil level in the lamp.
Under the faint light, his face looked deathly pale, even worse than when Wen Jianyan had left the counter. Although he was still forcing himself to move, everyone could see that his condition was deteriorating.
“By the way, there’s one more thing.”
Wen Jianyan remembered something and took out the brass key he had found on the shelf from his pocket.
Everyone was stunned: “This is…”
“It appeared in the empty spot after I took the radio,” Wen Jianyan said, looking thoughtfully at the rusty old key. “I guess it should open the door at the back of the shop.”
If they had used a simple brute force method, even if they had ultimately managed to clear the shelf where the source radio was, preventing the crisis from escalating further, they wouldn’t have triggered the shop’s “restocking” mechanism, and this key would have appeared where the radio had been taken.
So clearly, this key was specifically for teams that “broke the rules and took the source curse.”
It’s almost as if it proves their qualifications.
Qi Qian turned to look at An Xin, and they exchanged a cautious look.
Obviously, the door hid unknown dangers but also potentially hidden rewards.
As the lamp oil was being consumed rapidly, Zhang Yu’s condition was worsening.
The importance of an extra piece of ghost money was clear.
“Let’s go try it.” Qi Qian decided promptly.
This time, the unwell Zhang Yu and Tong Yao stayed at the counter, while Qi Qian, An Xin, Wen Jianyan, and Su Cheng took another spare oil lamp and headed to the back of the shop.
With their previous experience, they knew the storage room at the back was pitch dark and couldn’t be entered with the lamp on. But the light also awakened something inside, bringing great danger.
So they were extremely cautious with the use of the oil lamp this time.
“Be careful once we’re in. No matter what we encounter, don’t let it get close,” Qi Qian warned. “Keep an eye on the lamp, and if anything goes wrong, we retreat immediately. Don’t be greedy; it’s better to leave empty-handed than to risk our lives.”
The group nodded.
After making sure they were fully prepared, Qi Qian took a deep breath, slowly inserted the brass key into the lock, and turned it forcefully.
“Click.”
After a slight metallic sound, the door slowly slid open inward.
A foul, sweet, and eerie smell wafted out.
Under the glow of the spare oil lamp, they cautiously stepped into the storage room.
As expected, the area was several times larger than the previous floor, yet it seemed incredibly empty.
The heavy darkness was driven away by the oil lamp’s light.
The large room was empty, with only a dressing table quietly standing at the far end.
“Approach it carefully,” Qi Qian said. “Check if there’s anything else around.”
After cautiously exploring, they finally confirmed one thing.
This locked room indeed only contained the dressing table.
There were no goods, no corpses… nothing.
Now, only one option remained before them.
They exchanged wary glances and cautiously approached the dressing table at the far end.
Wen Jianyan examined the dressing table up close.
The wooden dressing table had peeling crimson paint, looking quite old, with a similarly crimson wooden stool in front, its color as glaring as fresh blood.
Wen Jianyan felt a chill down his spine, almost immediately recalling the red nail polish on the corpse’s hand.
A large copper mirror sat on the dressing table. The mirror was blurry, but the faint light from the oil lamp could be seen in its reflection.
The mirror showed the reflections of the group.
One, two, three, four…
Five.
Wait a minute…
Wen Jianyan’s pupils shrank suddenly.
Right!
There were only four of them who entered!
