(3/3)
Chamgsheng Building
Chapter 218: Not in the part of the shop we are familiar with.
“……Zzzzzz……”
The TV screen was filled with slowly rising snowflakes, as if the signal were disrupted, displaying black and white bars misaligned vertically, with the image occasionally jumping frames.
However, the movement of the female corpse was not affected in the slightest.
It stood up from the dressing table with its back to the screen, taking stiff steps backward, gradually approaching the screen.
This scene looked like something straight out of an old horror movie.
“If it wants to come out, let it come out.”
An Xin stared intently at the nearest TV and whispered, “This is the same thing as the one locked in the storage room downstairs. We’ve dealt with this kind of thing before!”
Although these images looked terrifying, based on the experience from the first floor, these corpses needed to get closer, to a more intimate distance, requiring physical contact to attack.
Compared to the radio, which cursed anyone who heard it, these physical corpses were actually easier to deal with.
Qi Qian didn’t respond, his eyes flickering slightly.
In a sense, what An Xin said was indeed correct.
Although the female corpse appeared on TV, it hadn’t caused them any harm yet. This meant that only by entering the real world could it possess the ability to inflict damage.
This logic worked in reverse as well.
Only when it left the TV could the anchors touch it, and the props in their hands could be effective.
Moreover, if it was indeed the female corpse from the bronze mirror earlier, it also meant that the extra ghost money should be on it now.
This gave them a second chance.
But…
A series of thoughts quickly flashed through Qi Qian’s mind. He scanned the entire store and finally gritted his teeth, saying, “No, we can’t let it come out yet.”
“Why?” An Xin asked in confusion.
Qi Qian pointed at several TVs: “This time, there is more than one TV.”
An Xin was taken aback and looked up.
In the large shop, there were four screens lit up. In the snowy images on each screen, there was the same red-clothed female corpse, with her back to them, slowly walking, synchronizing in stiff movements. In just a few dozen seconds, her figure had doubled in size.
An Xin seemed to realize something instantly: “Captain, you mean…”
“If a corpse walks out of every screen, we won’t be able to handle it,” Qi Qian said.
As his words fell, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.
Indeed.
They couldn’t be sure whether, when the female corpse backed up to the point where it could leave the TV, what would appear in front of them would be one female corpse or four.
If it were the latter…
They would face unprecedented danger.
According to the situation on the previous floor, in this instance, the corpses, although capable of attacking, could not be “killed.” At that point, they would face four terrifying female corpses that couldn’t be eliminated.
So, the most conservative approach was to prevent them from leaving the TVs.
“Let’s stick to the old method and clear the shelves,” Qi Qian said.
If they only moved the TVs showing the images, the store would continue to restock in the same spot. The only way to stop this was to empty the entire shelf.
Although this was a temporary solution, it would directly reduce the number of pathways for the female corpses to enter reality, effectively suppressing the curse.
“We’ll split up,” Qi Qian said. “An Xin, you and I will clear the shelves. Wen Wen and Yu Yan, you two continue to search for the source.”
This was almost the same method as before.
With the use of tools, Qi Qian and An Xin could clear the shelves the fastest, while Wen Wen and Yu Yan, although having lower combat power, were experts at finding things.
This method had proven effective.
“Okay.” Everyone nodded and dispersed.
Su Cheng looked at Wen Jianyan and asked:
“Should we activate the Hand of Guidance again?”
Wen Jianyan’s eyes flickered, and he shook his head: “No.”
They had already used two Hand of Guidance. This tool had a limit in each instance, and wasting three of them was something they couldn’t afford.
More importantly…
Even if they activated the third Hand of Guidance, it was uncertain whether it would work.
When they were on the first floor, they needed one ghost money to ascend to the second floor. Now on the second floor, by this logic, they would need two ghost money to ascend to the third floor.
This meant two customers, two attacks, and two cursed items.
Including the hidden tool in the warehouse, there were three hidden tools on the entire floor.
One of the radios had already been taken by Wen Jianyan, leaving two more.
Activating the Hand of Guidance would have only a 50% chance of pointing to the correct tool.
And Wen Jianyan was aware of his own luck.
The goddess of fortune rarely favored him, so he wouldn’t waste the third Hand of Guidance’s usage on such a gamble.
“Let’s try the old-fashioned way,” Wen Jianyan quickly thought and looked at Su Cheng: “Touch each one.”
As long as it was a hidden item, a system prompt would sound in their ears when the anchor touched it.
Through this, they could locate the true source of the curse.
It seemed simple and crude, but it was actually the method with the lowest error rate.
TVs were different from radios. They were large, old-fashioned appliances from the last century, occupying a significant portion of the shop’s shelves but fewer in number than radios. There were only a dozen or so on one floor, and it wouldn’t take long to touch each one. Moreover, they had already paid attention to the direction of the “customer” footsteps, so they didn’t need to consider areas that were too far or too close.
Su Cheng perked up and nodded: “Okay!”
In the “Changsheng Building” instance, understanding the rules was actually the hardest part.
During the last attack, Wen Jianyan risked his life to figure out that the “curse source” was a hidden item. Knowing this, they could avoid some detours in the second attack.
Theoretically, the rules wouldn’t change within the same floor.
The group split up and acted quickly and orderly.
In the live broadcast hall of “Changsheng Building,” the Dark Fire Guild team had already won a batch of supporters through their outstanding performance.
[As expected of a veteran guild’s experienced anchors, their thinking and reaction abilities are strong, handling things like a textbook.]
[Yeah, and this new No. 34, Wen Jianyan, right? He’s really something too. That radio incident just now really amazed me. No wonder he climbed so quickly.]
[Qi Qian focuses on steady progress, while Wen Jianyan surprises with clever moves. Their cooperation is really strong. If it were any other team in this instance, they might really clear it. It’s a pity though…]
[Huh? Pity what?]
[This is the Changsheng Building instance.]
Although the TVs were much heavier than the radios, with the cooperation of the teammates and the clever use of tools, Qi Qian and An Xin quickly cleared four shelves.
“Clang—thud!”
The sound of metal cases hitting the ground echoed in the darkness outside, making everyone shudder.
Immediately, the two of them quickly set up devices on the glass door that could seal it at any time to prevent the thrown-out TVs from attracting anything bad or the red-clothed female corpses from leaving the TVs and heading back towards the store.
After doing all this, the two did not relax.
Based on their recent experience, until the true source was found, these actions were just temporary measures. As a medium, other TVs would soon light up again.
Their task was simple: clear the shelves before the female corpses walked out of the TVs to buy time for the other two.
Although urgent, it was not difficult.
The female corpses’ movements were stiff and slow, as if precisely calculated, and they wouldn’t change. Based on this, including the initial time spent sitting at the dressing table, it took at least seven to eight minutes for the female corpses to walk out of the TVs.
In other words, they just needed to cut off the cursed pathway within this time frame.
Outside the glass door.
The TVs lay scattered on the ground, their metal cases dented, and the covers cracked open, revealing tangled wires and cracked screens.
Even though they had been severely damaged, you could still see the red-clothed female corpse retreating on the screens.
“Zzzz…”
The signal seemed to be interfered with.
With a “snap” sound, the screens suddenly went black, and everything fell into silence.
At the same time, An Xin and Qi Qian inside the store heard a “snap.”
Their hearts sank.
The second wave was coming.
They exchanged a glance and then turned around, ready to proceed as methodically as before—
The next second, their pupils contracted, and they almost instinctively held their breath.
In the pitch-black store, the TVs on the shelves lit up again, the fuzzy images shaking slightly amid the “shh-shh” sound of the static.
At the farthest point of the screen was the scarlet-stained dressing table.
However, this time, the female corpse wasn’t sitting at the dressing table like before but was standing in the middle area, closer to the screen.
…And this was precisely the progress on the TV screens when they were thrown out of the store.
With her back to the screen, the female corpse began to step backward once again.
“…”
Qi Qian and An Xin couldn’t help but feel a chill, their faces growing increasingly grim.
The worst scenario had occurred.
The speed at which the female corpse left the TV and entered reality didn’t change, but the progress was retained!
This meant that they didn’t have seven to eight minutes each time to clear the shelves, but rather…only that much time in total!!
At this rate, they wouldn’t even last through the second round.
The female corpse was soon going to emerge from the screen.
“Zhang Yu! Come help!” Qi Qian gritted his teeth and called out.
Although Zhang Yu’s current state was abnormal, they now had to use all their strength to ensure the other two had enough time.
***
Meanwhile.
Wen Jianyan and Su Cheng were also encountering obstacles.
They had split up, with Wen Jianyan starting from the left side of the shelves and Su Cheng from the right, immediately notifying the other if they found anything.
Wen Jianyan had already touched all the TVs on the shelves in his area, but he hadn’t heard the familiar system prompt.
And apparently, Su Cheng hadn’t either.
Could it be…the source of this round’s curse wasn’t a hidden item?
Rules change?
This thought crossed Wen Jianyan’s mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
No, that wasn’t right.
If the rules changed that frequently, the rules themselves would lose their value.
Changing once per floor was possible, but within the same floor, the rules couldn’t undergo a fundamental change.
More importantly, last time, when Wen Jianyan found the radio, the source of the curse, he didn’t know it was a hidden item, and during the approach, he could clearly sense the instance deliberately “hindering” him.
This meant encountering danger.
However, during this entire search process, Wen Jianyan hadn’t encountered any danger, and the positions of the TVs hadn’t changed. There was no presence trying to stop him from reaching the “source.”
So what was going on?
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, his gaze flickering slightly as his mind raced, subconsciously grinding his teeth against his lips.
“Snap—”
Suddenly, the TV closest to him lit up!
It was as if it had turned on right next to his face, startling Wen Jianyan, who instinctively took a step back, still shaken as he looked at the TV.
On the screen filled with snowflakes, the scarlet dressing table was glaringly conspicuous, and a woman in a red dress was sitting at it, stiffly raising her hand to comb her hair.
“Zzzz—”
The picture inside the TV had no sound; the screen flickered silently in the darkness, creating an oppressive sense of suffocation.
Just then, “tap-tap” footsteps sounded from the nearby aisle.
Wen Jianyan turned his head in the direction of the footsteps.
He saw Su Cheng panting as he ran over.
“No.” Su Cheng shook his head, his expression heavy. “Throughout the process, I paid attention to the positions of the TVs; they didn’t change. I also didn’t encounter any danger.”
There were far fewer TVs than radios, so even without a photographic memory, Su Cheng could easily notice any positional changes.
“Also, I met Qi Qian just now, and he told me some bad news.”
Su Cheng’s speech quickened:
“Throwing the TVs off the shelves might not stop the female corpses from entering reality. Their progress is retained, so even if Qi Qian’s group acts as fast as possible, they can at most hold them off for two rounds. He told us to hurry up.”
“…Progress retained?”
Wen Jianyan was taken aback and turned to look at the TV that had just lit up.
On the screen, the female corpse put down the comb, slowly standing up from the dressing table and starting to step backward.
Su Cheng followed Wen Jianyan’s gaze, also taken aback, and his face showed confusion: “Wait, what’s going on…?”
The female corpse on the TVs outside was about to walk out!
Why had it just started to stand up in this one?
“!”
Wen Jianyan seemed to suddenly think of something, turning to Su Cheng: “You just said that Qi Qian’s group used all their strength? Who did he mean?”
“Uh… Zhang Yu.”
Su Cheng was stunned for a moment and quickly replied.
Although Zhang Yu was not in good condition, he could still move, while Tong Yao was temporarily blind and unable to act.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath:
“I understand!”
“What?” Su Cheng was somewhat confused.
“Hurry! Tell everyone to stop what they’re doing, look away, and don’t watch the TV screens!”
Wen Jianyan spoke rapidly, “Including you.”
Although Su Cheng didn’t understand the reasoning, he lowered his head and averted his gaze, raising his voice to shout what Wen Jianyan had told him to say.
In the distance, Qi Qian and An Xin paused their actions. They turned in the direction of the voice and quickly recognized it as the voice of the Prophet.
Stop what they were doing…?
“Listen to the Prophet!” Qi Qian quickly decided.
An Xin gritted his teeth, reluctantly dropping the TV in his hands, and they all looked away, turning towards the glass door outside.
Wen Jianyan did the same.
He lowered his gaze, staring fixedly at the small patch of ground beneath his feet.
Just moments ago, he recalled what had happened to him in the storage room.
The first time he looked into the bronze mirror, their reflections were faintly accompanied by a shadow, which took its first step under his gaze.
There were four of them, and the first four TVs had female corpses constantly moving inside; even when the TVs were thrown out of the store, the backward movement progress was retained.
When Zhang Yu left the area covered by the oil lamp and joined the team, the fifth TV lit up, but the female corpse inside was still in the state it was when first activated.
This meant that the female corpses’ movements were likely triggered by being “watched.”
This corresponded with the first wave of radios.
The cursed transmission method: the first wave was auditory, the second wave was visual.
Unable to observe their surroundings with their eyes, time seemed to slow down extremely; every minute and every second was torturous. They could only count silently in their hearts, their hearts gradually tightening as time passed.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.
According to their estimation, the female corpses should have already left the TVs and entered the real world by now.
An Xin almost felt the impulse to raise his eyes to check the situation but managed to hold back.
Silence spread.
The fourth minute.
The fifth minute.
Nothing happened.
If any of them could raise their eyes, they would see that the female corpses in red dresses were standing stiffly in the five TVs, with their backs to the screens, neither advancing nor moving.
“…”
Wen Jianyan let out a long breath.
It seemed his guess was correct.
“Let’s go, move forward,” he said to Su Cheng, “but don’t look up.”
The two of them kept their heads down, feeling their way along the shelves as they slowly moved forward.
Although they couldn’t look up, they could tell their position by the gradually approaching oil lamp light.
Soon, they reached the counter.
“The corpses only move when they are being watched, right?” Qi Qian said, staring at the glass door outside without turning back as the approaching footsteps sounded.
“That’s what it seems,” Wen Jianyan said.
Although the crisis wasn’t fully resolved, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The speed at which the female corpses left the TVs was terrifyingly fast. Even if the shelves were cleared, when the TVs lit up again, the progress of the female corpses would still be retained. They could only watch in despair as the corpses moved closer and closer until they entered the real world.
But now, although the safety was temporary, it gave them some breathing room.
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t we be safe if we closed our eyes?” An Xin asked.
“I’m afraid not,” Qi Qian shook his head, his expression serious, “Do you remember the radios earlier?”
Even with their ears covered, they could still hear the sound in their minds.
This time wouldn’t be any different.
Even with their eyes closed, the image of the female corpses in red dresses would eventually appear in their minds, gradually walking into the real world.
This could only be a temporary measure. To truly resolve the crisis, they still needed to find the original source of the curse.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t found it.”
Su Cheng was somewhat frustrated. He briefly recounted his and Wen Jianyan’s actions, concluding, “None of the TVs contained a hidden item.”
“Could it be that the source of the curse this time isn’t a hidden item?”
“Or…”
“I have an idea.”
Wen Jianyan suddenly spoke after some thought.
Qi Qian said, “Go ahead.”
“Perhaps the true source of the curse is inside the TVs themselves?”
Everyone was stunned, “What?”
“A customer walked to the center of the shop and bought something. What if what they buy isn’t the TV but something inside the TV? In that case, the cursed object isn’t the TV itself.”
Wen Jianyan organized the clues in his mind and explained them methodically.
“That’s why we didn’t find the ‘hidden item’ earlier, because it wasn’t in this shop—or at least not in the part of the shop we are familiar with.”
Qi Qian was stunned for a moment and suddenly thought of something:
“That comb!”
When they entered the warehouse earlier, they saw the scarlet-painted dressing table, the old bronze mirror, and the female corpse in red, but the one thing they didn’t see was the red comb in the female corpse’s hand.
“Oh my god…”
An Xin was shocked by Wen Jianyan’s bold and absurd guess but also felt a sense of powerlessness:
“If that’s really the case, how can we get the thing inside the TV…”
After all, they were in the real world.
“Since the female corpse can invade the real world, maybe we can invade its world in reverse,” Wen Jianyan said.
His tone was still gentle, light, and low, with a hint of timidity.
But the words he spoke were so crazy, they made one shiver.
Wen Jianyan slightly raised his eyes, staring at his own blurry reflection in the glass door.
As he stared, the blurry glass door seemed to gradually clear, with a faint scarlet silhouette appearing.
He softly said:
“Do you remember the bronze mirror in the storage room?”
