WTNL Chapter 221

(3/3)

Changsheng Building
Chapter 221: Deadlock

Tong Yao closed her eyes, groping forward in the darkness.

Walking became particularly difficult without vision, especially when she was aware of her surroundings. Her breathing became rough and hurried, and every step she took was filled with dread. Human imagination was magnified to the extreme; even with her eyes covered, she could clearly outline her current position in her mind.

In the dim shop, the only old oil lamp flickered faintly. The door had been replaced by a solid wall, and the cold shelves were filled with numerous pale human heads.

As she moved forward, the dead eyes blinked open, staring at her with dull, grey-white eyes.

“……”

After just a few steps, cold sweat broke out on Tong Yao’s back.

The pressure of moving like this was immense.

Even for a seasoned anchor, it was hard to say they wouldn’t be affected at all.

But all she could do was grit her teeth and keep moving forward mechanically.

One step, two steps, three steps…

The blindfold rubbed against her skin, causing a slight pain. The dim light filtered through the fabric, allowing her to vaguely sense the direction she was heading.

The intense smell of decay grew stronger, and the air became colder, like icy blades scraping her skin, giving her goosebumps.

The further she went, the less light seeped through the blindfold.

Tong Yao could clearly feel that she was backing away from the light and gradually stepping into darkness.

Darker and darker.

Tong Yao couldn’t help but stop.

She suddenly realized that the light filtering through the blindfold had completely disappeared, surrounding her in boundless, icy darkness.

In this instance, darkness meant death.

“Why did she stop?” An Xin frowned, puzzled, looking at Tong Yao’s silhouette not far away.

When she was halfway to the crucial cursed object, Tong Yao suddenly stopped and stood still, as if she couldn’t take another step.

“Not there yet,” he called, “Keep going forward.”

A teammate’s voice urged her to continue.

The voice sounded distant and unfamiliar, like a deathly call leading her into an abyss.

Instincts were screaming in alarm:

Turn around! Run!

Tong Yao bit her lip hard, cold sweat covering her forehead, her face almost bloodless.

Wen Jianyan glanced towards the shelves.

He understood why Tong Yao had stopped: it meant that the influence of the heads was intensifying.

Just like in the mirror world earlier, blocking ears or covering eyes couldn’t completely isolate the interference. This curse acted directly on the human psyche.

Even if informed in advance to “trust your teammates’ guidance,” the result would be the same.

Understanding what to do in theory and personally entering a world of comprehensive terror interference were two completely different concepts.

It would be the same for anyone else.

Having Tong Yao be the one blindfolded and moving forward had its pros and cons.

As a medium, she was more sensitive to spiritual knowledge, so she could handle potential dangers better even blindfolded. However, her talent was a double-edged sword, making her more susceptible to interference.

This was like Schrödinger’s experiment: until the box was opened, no one knew if the cat was alive or dead.

They were all standing outside now, unable to do anything but provide verbal prompts and support.

It was up to Tong Yao to get through this.

Even if she failed, they could try again with someone else.

There were enough people in the interference-free zone to pull her back safely, and with enough time, they could come up with backup plans.

Wen Jianyan retracted his gaze and looked at the tightly closed iron door again.

In the hazy dimness, the iron door was firmly shut, the chains unmoved, dead silent.

According to Wen Jianyan’s calculations, a change should be imminent.

But there were no footsteps, no sounds of banging on the door…

Not a single noise.

Could it be that the corpse was trapped behind the door? Without someone opening it, it couldn’t leave the warehouse…?

Could it be that simple?

Wen Jianyan frowned deeply.

Nearby, urged and encouraged by An Xin and the others, the long-stalled footsteps finally began to sound again, struggling forward.

Tong Yao seemed to have made up her mind, taking stiff, slow, but determined steps forward.

Great, it seemed she had finally overcome the influence of the dead stares.

Everyone around An Xin sighed in relief.

But Wen Jianyan, standing at the back of the team, did not feel any sense of ease.

A vague, ominous premonition rose in his heart, making him uneasy.

He felt like he had overlooked something important.

“Thud!”

Suddenly, a faint sound of something falling came from not far away.

Wen Jianyan was startled, instinctively raising his head to look towards the direction of the sound.

It didn’t come from Tong Yao’s aisle but from closer to the counter, an area that couldn’t be illuminated by the oil lamp, submerged in bottomless darkness.

“Thud!” Another sound.

“What the hell is that?” An Xin gritted his teeth, cursing. This instance had been the most torturous one he’d ever experienced, nearly driving him to the point of rage.

“Maybe something is trying to stop us from reaching the cursed source.”

Zhang Yu frowned, took a few steps towards the sound, and lifted the oil lamp, shining it into the darkness.

“Be careful, I’ll check it out.”

Watching Zhang Yu’s back, a strong sense of unease rose in Wen Jianyan’s heart.

“Clunk, clunk—”

In the next second, something rolled on the ground, approaching rapidly with terrifying speed!

Rolling?

Could it be a head?

In an instant, like lightning piercing the dark sky, a thought flashed through his mind.

From the previous radio attack, it was clear: a crisis always had two layers of danger. The first was that hearing the cursed sound led to slow death. The second danger was hidden deeper, activated when approaching the cursed source, hindering the anchors from lifting the curse.

If that’s the case, in the mirror world as a reflection of reality, there should also be two layers of danger:

The first layer being universal, and the second layer only appearing when approaching the cursed source.

But until now, they had only experienced the first layer.

In an instant, like thunder exploding in his ears, the clear clue finally surfaced in his mind—

Realizing this, Wen Jianyan’s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking!

Not good!

“Everyone, close your eyes!”

His voice, sharpened by fear, pierced the air, filled with unparalleled urgency: “Quick!!”

The radio curse was about hearing, leading to slow death.

The TV curse, however, was instant death upon eye contact.

In the real world, and in the mirror world, theoretically, they should be mirror images of each other.

In the real world, the way the curse is activated: looking will activate the TV, and the corpse will appear inside the TV, retreating into reality.

Several people “watching” would cause several TVs to turn on.

The curse is released using the TV as a medium, and in the mirror world, all the TVs have turned into human heads.

Following this logic…

These heads can release the first, most universal curse.

And since they are now inside the mirror world, an even worse situation has arisen.

As the medium for releasing the curse, those heads no longer need the corpse to retreat into reality…

Because they are already in this world!

So, the red-clothed corpse doesn’t need to leave the warehouse.

Because the truly terrifying thing is right there on the shelves in this shop!!!

And similarly…

Death upon eye contact.

If they hadn’t been through the baptism of death, or if the anchor had not gone through enough instances, they might have felt puzzled by such a sudden, unclear command, often hesitating to act until they understood the reason.

But as seasoned anchors, they were all experienced and knew their teammates’ abilities.

Moreover, the rapid rolling sound in the nearby darkness made them instantly realize the severity of the situation.

Out of instinct, everyone immediately shut their eyes tightly.

Darkness descended.

Clunk, clunk.

The sound of heads rolling appeared one after another, coming from all directions, and getting closer and closer.

If the guess was correct, there should be four heads.

Because before the incident, the number of people with sight was “4.”

And these heads were now rolling around them, staring at them with those grey-white eyes from different angles, waiting for the moment they opened their eyes.

Death would descend.

Zhang Yu, listening to the eerie sounds around him, suppressed the urge to open his eyes and look around, and said in a low voice:

“What… the hell is going on?”

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and, trying to keep his voice calm, quickly explained his guess.

After hearing his explanation, everyone gasped, feeling a chill from head to toe.

No one had expected that they were so close to death just now.

If they had hesitated for a moment, or…

Even if they had acted a second slower.

They would now be like Qi Qian just now, with a purple face, lying cold on the ground as lifeless corpses.

Too dangerous.

The level of danger in this instance far exceeded their expectations…

In just a few seconds, cold sweat had already soaked Wen Jianyan’s back, almost drenching his clothes. Although his voice was calm, his hands and feet were numb and cold with fear, and he stood rigidly in place, feeling the urge to vomit again.

Although they had narrowly escaped death this time, the situation had not eased.

Now, everyone was forced to keep their eyes closed.

Unlike the TVs, these heads could move freely, which meant there was almost no chance of opening their eyes without making eye contact with them, to guide Tong Yao.

Without guidance, Tong Yao couldn’t find the source of the curse with her eyes closed.

Whether blindfolded among the shelves full of heads, Tong Yao was far from the interference zone, but they, bound by the curse, were all forced to stop all actions.

The five of them were trapped in a desperate stalemate.

Waiting was not an option.

Because the oil in the lamp was limited.

“Integrity Firs” live broadcast room:

[Help, I can’t breathe…]

[I feel despair even through the screen, how can they survive this?]

[No doubt, the anchors have been assigned the hardest level on this floor. To be honest, I haven’t seen a team last this long inside. Usually, they get wiped out in the first wave with the radio. Given their skills, they should handle the second wave, but they dealt with the first wave so perfectly that it triggered the ‘key’ to a more difficult instance: the appearance of two cursed heads together… Though they are still on the second floor, their experience is almost at the difficulty level of the fourth floor of the Changsheng Building.]

[The fourth floor?! Has anyone ever reached that high?]

[Yes, but that’s the limit. The highest unlocked level in Changsheng is the fourth floor; there is no higher.]

[Mu Sen next door, who does some fortune-telling, did say this was a certain death scenario… Sigh.]

In the shop sealed on all sides by walls, the dim light flickered under the smoke-blackened lampshade, with the wick burning fiercely, emitting the stench of corpse oil.

The five of them stood motionless, unable to act, unable to open their eyes.

Around them, the decayed, pale heads rolled, their eyes fixed on the living people in front of them, waiting for the moment they opened their eyes.

Not far away, Tong Yao stood among the shelves.

Not far from her, less than two meters away, a red arrow pointed downward.

There lay the source of the curse that could end everything.

So close, almost within reach.

But still so far away, unreachable no matter what they did.

The weight of despair pressed heavily on their chests, bringing a sense of crushing helplessness.

And at this moment…

“Clang!”

The sound of chains hitting the ground echoed.

Everyone was startled and instinctively turned toward the sound.

In an instant, the chains fell, which meant…

In the next second, with a creak, a door seemed to be slowly pushed open from the inside.

Upon hearing the door open, two words flashed through everyone’s minds.

It’s over.

Fate loves to play tricks on people.

As if worried they weren’t desperate enough, it pushed them further into the abyss.

Just when they thought things couldn’t get worse, this instance always found a way to prove them wrong: You guessed wrong.

Maybe the heads had not found a target for too long, or perhaps the cooldown period after killing Qi Qian had passed; the corpse that had not moved since they left the warehouse started to move again.

“Tap, tap, tap.”

Stiff, mechanical footsteps sounded from the darkness.

The cold, decayed smell approached, as if something extremely terrifying was coming closer step by step.

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