(2/3)
Changsheng Building
Chapter 220: The real source of the threat
Unbeknownst to them, they were now inside the mirror!
The moment they realized this, all their hair stood on end.
Cold sweat instantly crawled up their spines.
This is bad!
In the pitch-black room, a solitary oil lamp emitted a dim yellow light. Beyond the light was the horror and deathly silence akin to the deep sea, with stiff footsteps echoing from within.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
The female corpse’s figure became increasingly clear.
“Hiss!”
The lamp wick suddenly burst, the flame expanding several times, yet it still couldn’t fully illuminate the female corpse’s face.
The only clear sight were its two hands hanging by its sides.
Pale blue, covered in corpse spots, with crimson nail polish smeared on the fingers.
Even without needing a medium or any clues, everyone could clearly feel the terrifying aura emanating from the female corpse, an instinctual fear climbing up their spines from the depths of their being.
It was very frightening.
Run quickly.
“Quick! Run outside the storage room!” Qi Qian shouted hoarsely, his voice almost distorted with an urgent, unhideable desperation.
In the next second, the group ran desperately towards the storage room door, their hurried footsteps and panting breaths mingling and echoing in the confined darkness.
“Tap.”
The light receded, and the female corpse stopped, standing rigidly in place, then slowly turned around, changing direction, and once again followed with stiff steps.
At the door, Wen Jianyan’s forehead was covered in sweat, one hand tightly gripping the brass key, the other hand frantically feeling around in the dark, searching for a way to open the door.
“Is it done?!”
A teammate behind urged anxiously, “Hurry up!”
“No!” Wen Jianyan’s voice was taut, “The lock is on the outside!”
The storage room door was locked from the outside with a chain, and in the world inside the mirror, no one had opened the door from the outside, which meant they were completely locked in this enclosed space.
Wen Jianyan’s conclusion felt like a hammer blow, tightening everyone’s chest.
A sickly sweet and rotten smell floated in the air, very strong and very putrid, making them nauseous.
Behind them, footsteps followed closely.
“Let me!” An Xin gritted her teeth.
In the next second, scorching flames gathered in the air, glimmering brightly in the dark.
Wen Jianyan quickly stepped back to make room.
A fierce whooshing sound cut through the air, and a fire arrow shot out, burning a large hole at the lock position. The edges of the metal were glowing bright red, emitting a distinct heat.
Through the irregular hole, they could see the lock, completely unaffected by the flames.
Clearly, this lock was a supernatural object, unable to be opened by physical means, even in the mirror world.
However, it was enough.
Wen Jianyan hurriedly stepped forward, reaching through the hole burned by the fire, feeling around to unlock the door with the key in his hand despite the lack of visibility.
Due to the limited space, Wen Jianyan’s wrist inevitably touched the burning, hot metal edge.
“Sizzle…”
The sound of burning flesh reached their ears, and the smell of charred flesh filled their nostrils instantly.
Wen Jianyan’s face turned pale, beads of sweat hanging from the tip of his nose.
Endure it.
Continue.
The whole team crowded in front of the iron door, waiting for it to open. Qi Qian stood at the back, clutching the oil lamp tightly and staring intently behind them.
Beyond the flickering, expanding light of the lamp, there was the red figure.
The air was tense, and the pressure made it almost impossible to breathe.
Qi Qian’s pupils dilated slightly, staring at the corpse a short distance away, taking stiff steps, and walking towards them step by step.
Instinctively, he wanted to retreat, but his heel bumped into a teammate behind him.
There was no retreat.
The female corpse’s steps remained steady, not particularly fast, but the distance between her and the group rapidly shortened, leaving only a few meters to Qi Qian.
The smell of decay and stench wafted over.
This monster, in this instance, had a terrifying presence, was devoid of consciousness, unable to communicate, and was indestructible, only hunting humans indiscriminately by instinct.
Qi Qian gritted his teeth, tasting the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.
…Should he take a gamble?
Behind him, the sound of metal clashing rang out. The brass key was finally inserted into the lock, the chains clinking.
The final moment had arrived.
Should he?
“Take this.”
As if making up his mind, Qi Qian handed the oil lamp to the teammate beside him, then stepped forward.
“Captain?”
Zhang Yu’s surprised voice came from beside him.
In the next second, Qi Qian charged straight towards the female corpse!
The lamp wick burst once more!
The darkness deepened, visibility compressed to its limit, and even Zhang Yu at the very back couldn’t see what was happening.
It seemed to slow down.
Every second stretched into a century.
Absolute silence and the unknown suffocated them.
“Clang!”
The sound of the lock falling to the ground echoed heavily, like a signal.
A creak was heard, and the iron door was pushed open.
Wen Jianyan’s urgent voice came from the front: “Quick, the door’s open, let’s go!”
The group rushed forward, Su Cheng following closely. Just then, he heard a dull “thud” behind him.
“!”
Whether due to his prophetic talent or not, Su Cheng inexplicably glanced back.
The lamp’s illumination seemed to recover slightly. He saw Qi Qian lying at the edge of the light, his face pale blue, his pupils dilated, and his body cold and white, already lifeless.
Dead…dead?!
Su Cheng’s pupils contracted, a chill instantly sweeping up, piercing through his back.
How could this be?!
No matter what, Qi Qian was a veteran anchor in the big guild, his backpack full of countless props, yet he didn’t even have time to use his talent…
Just like that…
Dead?
Not far behind Qi Qian, the female corpse’s silhouette was faintly visible.
The corpse stood motionless in the darkness. Perhaps Qi Qian had done something, as it did not chase after them, standing still instead.
At this moment, Su Cheng sharply saw a pale blue fist tightly clenched beside Qi Qian’s body, seemingly gripping something firmly.
?!
Barely able to think, driven purely by instinct, Su Cheng turned around abruptly and charged forward.
Voices of shock came from behind: “What are you doing?! Come back!”
The oil lamp’s light was receding.
Stepping into the darkness meant death.
However, Su Cheng couldn’t care less, his mind blank, driven by a single vague thought, a simple impulse.
He must get it.
In the moment of turning around, Wen Jianyan saw Su Cheng’s action out of the corner of his eye.
He suddenly turned around, blocking others who were about to rush out without knowing the situation. His slender body blocked the door, forcibly stopping the departure of the light:
“Wait!”
He shouted sternly.
The originally soft female voice suddenly became cold and firm, carrying an undeniable, unchallengeable sense of power, and commanded resolutely.
In the slightly flickering light, Su Cheng had already rushed forward.
He squatted down, forcibly prying on Qi Qian’s stiff fingers.
The female corpse was standing not far away.
Too close, so close that Su Cheng could see the hem of her dress, hanging just not far in front of him; beneath that tattered and decayed dress was a pair of cyan-black feet, wearing a pair of scarlet embroidered shoes.
Quick, quicker.
There was a “crack” sound. Su Cheng forcefully pried open the dead, stiff fingers, grabbing the item in his hand.
Got it!
Su Cheng stood up, not daring to look in the direction of the female corpse. He turned around directly and rushed towards the light with all his might!
Wen Jianyan retreated: “Quick, go forward!”
The group ran straight out of the storage room, Su Cheng following while gasping for breath.
During the entire process, Wen Jianyan always guarded the door closely until the last one retreated from behind. He exerted force, closing the iron door heavily at the fastest speed!
The female corpse remained standing beside Qi Qian’s body, motionless.
Even when the light was cut off by the darkness, it did not follow.
The metallic sound of “clang” rang out. Wen Jianyan heavily wrapped the iron chain around the door several times, then stepped back.
He was breathing heavily; the calm and oppressive aura just now had faded from his face; his face was frighteningly pale; and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
“Ugh!”
Wen Jianyan bent over, retching without warning.
His pale fingers pressed against the wall, his wrist marked with shocking burn marks, the skin burnt black and cracked, revealing pink flesh and crimson blood vessels below, with the blood being scorched before it could seep out.
Beside him, Su Cheng collapsed to the ground, exhausted and also breathing heavily.
The reactions of the others were not much better.
Even though they were mentally prepared, the danger in the world within the mirror was still beyond their expectations. The whole process was thrilling, and recalling it now still made them feel afraid.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Zhang Yu placed a hand on Su Cheng’s shoulder, speaking in a low voice.
Su Cheng took a deep breath and nodded, only then realizing that his whole body was uncontrollably trembling.
He opened his palm, revealing a wrinkled ghost money.
A scarlet ghost money, printed with a ghastly pale head.
“This… this… was in your captain’s hand.” Su Cheng’s voice was slightly distorted, “It was him…”
The last scene flashed through his mind.
Qi Qian’s pale, lifeless face; his pupils darkened, dead with open eyes.
Su Cheng bit his lip, not continuing.
Beside him, An Xin was patting Wen Jianyan’s back. Though his face was also pale, he maintained a considerate gentlemanly demeanor in the face of the fragile beauty.
He heard the words, turned around, and exchanged a glance with Zhang Yu and Tong Yao.
Zhang Yu seemed to have made some decision, took a deep breath, and nodded slightly.
“You don’t need to worry too much about the captain.”
Tong Yao said.
She took out a palm-sized paper figurine from her close-fitting pocket.
The paper figurine had its eyes closed, but its facial features were vividly lifelike, exactly like Qi Qian.
“This is…?” Wen Jianyan, who had recovered by now, stepped forward, slightly startled, and said so in surprise.
“This is the captain’s talent.” Tong Yao said slowly, “Substitute death.”
“Activating the talent before entering the instance, leaving a paper figurine behind, once the real body dies in the instance, the captain will slowly awaken on the paper figurine.”
Wen Jianyan and Su Cheng were shocked.
They knew that to climb to the position of vice president with such seniority, Qi Qian’s talent must be extraordinary, but they hadn’t expected this…
It’s like having an extra life for himself.
“Moreover, because the captain’s talent level is already very high, this paper figurine he left behind, besides being equivalent to an extra life, can also display the last words in his mind before death, as a hint to his teammates.”
As Tong Yao spoke, she turned the paper figurine over.
There was a line of small, scarlet characters on it, seemingly Qi Qian’s handwriting.
“Eye contact means death.”
Wen Jianyan stared at the line of characters, seemingly understanding something.
So this was why Qi Qian, who had always been cautious, suddenly acted rashly.
Using one life to test the killing method of the female corpse, leaving instructions for the teammates’ subsequent actions, and if lucky, even grabbing the ghost money from the corpse, it was a strategy with multiple gains.
If Wen Jianyan himself had such a talent, he might have done the same in such a situation.
[Eye contact means death]
No wonder.
The female corpse always had its back to the mirror, so it must first invade the real world to kill.
And once they took the initiative to invade its world, this “back to” restriction disappeared.
“Of course, the captain’s talent also has significant limitations.”
Tong Yao said, “Generally speaking, this awakening process takes at least thirty to forty minutes. If the teammates die during this process, then everything resets, and the resurrection fails.”
This information was classified.
But now everyone was in the same boat, and they would definitely stay together for a while, so even if they wanted to hide it, it couldn’t be hidden. It was better to reveal it openly to make the subsequent actions smoother.
Wen Jianyan lowered his head, habitually thinking.
Indeed, Qi Qian’s talent was powerful.
It’s equivalent to having a free trial-and-error opportunity, but this seemingly bug-like talent was built on dual cooldowns.
The first cooldown is the activation cooldown.
The activation frequency of this talent was probably not high. Even at Qi Qian’s level, activating it once in an instance might be the limit.
And the second cooldown was even more dangerous.
After dying once, Qi Qian would enter a nearly half-hour death state, without any perception, unable to speak, and besides the last words, unable to participate in subsequent actions.
Generally speaking, forcing a seasoned anchor to use a talent at such a high cost meant encountering an insurmountable, terrible danger.
Under such extreme conditions, losing an important combat force, the teammates would have to hold out for about forty minutes to wait for Qi Qian to return.
This talent, when luck was good, was a treasure that could turn danger into safety, but when luck was bad, it was trash with little difference whether it existed or not.
After explaining everything, Tong Yao carefully put the paper figurine of Qi Quan back into her close-fitting pocket.
The others also more or less recovered from the recent crisis.
After a brief respite, they raised their heads and looked around at the strange yet familiar shop in front of them.
Except for the reversed left and right, the layout here was exactly the same as outside. However, the glass doors that could be pushed open were gone, replaced by a cold, hard wall.
Obviously, in this world, the shop was sealed, and it was impossible to leave through the main door.
It was simply a pure death trap.
“Let’s go; we need to hurry.” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and said, “The female corpse didn’t chase us just now. It’s very likely that after killing one person, it will enter a short period of dormancy, but this period is probably very brief. Once it resumes action, that door likely won’t hold it back.”
This was the world where the female corpse resided; she was in her complete form here and would only grow stronger with time until she slaughtered all humans who intruded into her world.
“Eye contact means instant death” might seem like a harsh condition, but “instant death” was extremely terrifying.
Apart from Qi Qian, who had a special ability, it was unlikely anyone could survive an attack from the female corpse.
Moreover…
Wen Jianyan had a hunch that if they stayed in this world too long, the strict condition of “eye contact” might soon be surpassed and compensated for.
They had to seize the opportunity while the female corpse was temporarily immobilized to quickly find the source of the curse and leave this place.
“I’ll activate the Hand of Guidance.” Wen Jianyan said.
The red comb they encountered earlier was most likely an interference option for the Hand of Guidance. After Wen Jianyan obtained it, the interference option was eliminated, so activating the tool again now would most likely guide them to the correct location.
Quickly, the “Hand of Guidance” was activated.
A red arrow appeared in their vision, jumping and pointing towards the middle section of the store’s shelves, precisely where the footsteps had stopped.
Sure enough!
This was simply the best news of the night.
The group felt a surge of energy and quickly walked in the direction indicated by the Hand of Guidance.
Moving away from the blind spot in front of the storage room door, they finally saw the items on the shelves under the oil lamp’s light.
Even though they were mentally prepared, they all gasped collectively.
On the shelves were severed heads.
Human heads were neatly arranged and severed cleanly at the neck. The skin and flesh around the neck were turned outward without a drop of blood, their eyes tightly shut, the skin pale and bluish with signs of decay, emitting a familiar stench.
The shelves were enveloped in a faint red glow, with the heads arranged in a straight line, extending into the distance, unmoving, making everyone’s spine shiver and scalp tingle.
The group exchanged glances; their expressions were equally shocked and confused. They quickly steadied themselves and continued moving in the direction indicated by the Hand of Guidance.
“Be careful, the closer we get to the source of the curse, the stronger the repulsion will be.”
Wen Jianyan warned in a low voice.
The team members nodded and cautiously continued forward.
They soon reached the middle section of the shelves.
Suddenly, Tong Yao seemed to catch something out of the corner of her eye. She jerked her head towards one of the severed heads on the shelves and spoke in a calm voice that couldn’t hide her fear:
“Wait.”
The group followed Tong Yao’s gaze.
They saw a pale bluish severed head placed upright on the shelf. Its eyelids, at some point, had opened, revealing a pair of gray, cloudy eyeballs staring fixedly at them.
“!”
In an instant, a wave of cold surged up from their feet.
The next second, the head next to it also moved, and the pale bluish eyelids slowly and stiffly lifted, revealing equally dark gray eyeballs.
One, two, three…
Silently, the severed heads opened their eyes one by one, staring at the living people among them with those terrifying, corpse-like eyes, their eyeballs slowly turning as the group moved forward.
It was simply horrifying!
Yet, there was no turning back now.
“Don’t make eye contact; keep moving.”
With a stiff resolve, the group continued walking forward, their steps quickening under the gaze of countless severed heads.
Getting closer.
Closer.
Soon, the jumping red arrow was only a few steps away from them.
Their hearts began to race; an indescribable mix of excitement and fear rose within them, urging them to continue forward!
The closer they got, the stronger the stares from the severed heads.
Everyone had only one thought: Get the item quickly and end this nightmare!
“It’s here!”
An Xin’s eyes lit up.
Under the red arrow, on a blank section of the shelf where a severed head should have been, there were instead a pair of blood-red eyeballs.
The eyeballs were connected to bloodied optic nerves, as if they had just been gouged out of their sockets.
Driven by a strong sense of urgency, An Xin reached out towards the object.
“Wait!!”
The girl’s voice, usually soft, turned cold and stern, like a thunderclap in An Xin’s ear.
Slender, pale fingers wrapped around his wrist with an incredible strength that made his wrist bones creak, almost causing him pain.
He froze and looked to his side.
Wen Jianyan’s expression was grave, his hand gripping An Xin’s wrist tightly:
“Something’s wrong.”
Among them, only he had faced the source of the curse before. He knew how terrifying things could get when they were about to touch the source.
This calmness?
Impossible.
As soon as he finished speaking, the scene before them changed in an instant!
The shelves and the severed heads on them all disappeared, and right in front of them was a close iron door wrapped in chains with a large hole that An Xin’s ability had burned through earlier.
An Xin’s hand was now reaching towards the iron door handle.
Through the irregular hole, a glimpse of red could be seen.
The female corpse…
She was now behind the door.
If An Xin had grabbed the door handle and pulled, the chains would have fallen away.
Realizing the terror of the situation they were in, everyone’s pupils were constricted, their hearts pounding wildly.
Wait… what happened?
How did they get back here?
An Xin’s face turned pale, and he quickly stepped back several paces, away from the door he had almost opened.
He realized that if Wen Jianyan hadn’t stopped him, something terrifying would have happened.
He would have faced the female corpse directly.
“When did we start…” Tong Yao’s voice trembled slightly.
Had they not moved at all? Had everything that happened just been an illusion?
Wen Jianyan thought for a moment and said, “Follow me.”
He threw this sentence over his shoulder and turned to walk back towards the shelves.
The others were stunned and hurried to follow.
The shelves in front of them looked the same as they remembered, peaceful, with pale, stiff severed heads placed on them. Their eyes were closed, showing no sign of opening.
Not far away, in the middle section of the shelves, the Hand of Guidance’s symbol was still bouncing.
“We were probably entranced halfway through.” Wen Jianyan thought for a few seconds and said confidently, “If I’m not mistaken, the gaze of those severed heads is the reason we went the wrong way.”
His tool had already been used; this could not be faked.
Just like with the radio earlier, the closer they got to the source of the curse, the greater the interference. Everything would try to prevent them from breaking the curse.
As the severed heads opened their eyes and their gaze fixed on them, the interference gradually increased, distorting their perception.
Thus, they unknowingly walked towards death. Once they moved away from the curse’s source, the threat ceased, and the heads closed their eyes.
“What do we do?” Tong Yao asked.
To reach the curse’s source, they had to go through the shelves, but as long as they were watched, they would be affected. It was a vicious cycle.
“I have an idea that might work,” Wen Jianyan suddenly said.
The others were stunned: “What is it?”
“One of us should blindfold themselves and go alone, while the others stay behind to give directions.”
Wen Jianyan suggested.
Hearing this, everyone felt a chill down their spines.
As always, this seemingly frail girl proposed a plan that was utterly insane.
To walk blindfolded, groping in the dark, through shelves filled with severed heads, relying solely on the guidance of teammates behind her…
And they couldn’t tell if the voices were real or just illusions leading them to death.
The difficulty and the psychological pressure were beyond what an ordinary person could bear.
Tong Yao took a deep breath and stepped forward: “My eyes are almost half-blind now, and my intuition is the sharpest. I’m the best choice.”
She was indeed right.
Soon, Tong Yao’s eyes were blindfolded. She took cautious steps, one hand on the nearby shelf, groping her way forward in the darkness.
The others stayed behind the shelves, giving her directions.
Wen Jianyan stood still, took a deep breath, and then looked away.
In fact, in his plan, the one who was blindfolded was the safest.
He had mostly figured out the pattern on this floor: the radio transmitted curses through sound, while the TV did so through vision.
Like the corresponding items, the curses were transmitted through single channels, meaning that if they blocked their sight, the severed heads couldn’t create illusions to interfere with Tong Yao’s hearing.
As long as the guidance was accurate, Tong Yao could retrieve the item.
