Changsheng Building
Chapter 254: Easy to understand
Wen Jianyan stared at Wu Zhu’s face, which was so close to his own.
He could clearly capture the momentary change when the golden pupils before him suddenly contracted as he leaned in closer. It was hard to say whether it was due to the hidden meaning in the human’s words or the overly flirtatious and provocative behavior.
Wu Zhu lowered his eyes, staring intently at the human before him, with a dark tide surging deep within his gaze.
His gaze remained cold, cruel, and carried a sense of oppression that originated from something non-human.
Even though he possessed a human-like appearance, under such a gaze, no one would mistake him for a human.
No matter how many times he experienced this, Wen Jianyan always felt the same as he did the first time—a shudder crawling up his spine.
It was the instinctual fear embedded in human blood, the fear of the unknown abyss beyond human comprehension, a survival instinct to avoid harm.
He knew how cold and powerful the body pressed against his own was, hiding a terrifying strength capable of destroying anything. In comparison, the human body, the human hands, were so fragile, with thin skin covering soft, warm flesh, seemingly easy to break.
He understood the stark contrast in power between the two.
It felt like walking on the edge of a knife, standing on the brink of a cliff.
His heartbeat, accompanied by a surge of adrenaline, brought a dizzying sense of dancing with danger, living alongside death, with each passing second.
However, in contrast…
Wen Jianyan knew that the control in his hands was gradually increasing, like an invisible thread, a fine net, slowly spreading out in a way that was impossible to detect, silently at work.
To enter the fifth floor, although the Nightmare had offered so-called protection against death, it never mentioned the possibility of leaving the fifth floor, because that was enough to fulfill its purpose—so Wen Jianyan wouldn’t accept it, not just to gain Wu Zhu’s trust, but also because he didn’t believe in such overly generous gifts.
It might seem like a bargain, but in reality, the price could be much higher.
But just as the paper sedan chair was about to be carried into the courtyard, Wu Zhu appeared in his true form, only to make Wen Jianyan enter the fifth floor in a more convoluted, difficult, and time-consuming way. In other words, the order of importance had unknowingly changed for him.
Wu Zhu probably didn’t even realize how unusual his behavior was.
Wen Jianyan examined his reflection in the depths of the other’s pupils, calmly observing everything. Look, a god with a human heart has become so easy to understand.
Suddenly, without any warning, a cold, wet tongue slowly brushed against his palm.
Wen Jianyan hadn’t anticipated this and couldn’t help but flinch slightly. The hand covering the lower half of the other’s face shuddered from the sensation, almost instinctively wanting to pull back, but Wu Zhu swiftly caught it, pulling it back to his lips.
The man continued to gaze intently into Wen Jianyan’s eyes, lowered his head, and licked the back of the other’s hand, right where his tongue had just touched.
The young man instinctively curled his fingers, as if trying to avoid it, but forcibly stopped halfway.
Wu Zhu held Wen Jianyan’s wrist, pulling it closer, then leaned in and lightly bit the other’s thin, burning ear: “Don’t forget your promise.”
His gaze was like a tightly woven net, trapping the other completely, his voice low:
“Next time…”
Behind the counter, everyone gathered around Wen Jianyan, trying to wake him from his unconscious state.
But before anyone could do anything, they saw his eyelashes flutter and his eyes slowly open.
An Xin: “!”
He leaned down in surprise, “Wen Wen, you’re awake?”
“Mmm.”
Wen Jianyan frowned and responded vaguely.
He hadn’t felt it while in the dream, but now that he had returned to reality, the sense of weakness, as if his vitality had been drained, hit him like a flood. He felt weak and powerless, his limbs cold as if they had been immersed in icy water, and even the slightest movement of his fingers made him feel faint.
Su Cheng hurriedly closed the system shop interface and leaned closer: “How are you feeling?”
While everyone was concerned about Wen Jianyan’s condition, suddenly, a familiar sound echoed from the darkness of the shop in front of them.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
The stiff footsteps moved through the darkness, approaching the counter. In an instant, the atmosphere grew tense again. The “customer” had started moving once more.
And no one knew what had just happened, nor what its current objective was, except—
Wen Jianyan: “Listen to me.”
Everyone froze, turning their heads to look at Wen Jianyan, who was still half-lying in An Xin’s arms.
The silver-haired girl was pale and haggard, but her eyes were calm and determined: “The fourth floor does indeed require feeding the ‘customer,’ but the offering needed is not the incense you obtained before. It’s human vitality. The incense is just a tool to offer a human life to the customer.”
“!”
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.
Qi Qian seemed to realize something: “Wait, how much vitality does it take to feed a customer?”
Wen Jianyan: “If I’m not mistaken, it should be a complete human life.”
Everyone’s pupils contracted slightly.
In other words, to complete the task, the fourth floor actually requires a human life as payment?
“This is the only way, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a loophole,” Wen Jianyan knew their time was limited and didn’t care what the others thought, continuing without pause, “The incense is responsible for converting human vitality into an offering, meaning the ‘customer’ ultimately consumes the offering, not the person directly.”
He raised his eyes and slowly said:
“To satisfy a customer, you need one person’s worth of life force, but if you divide that amount among three different people, then no one will die because of it.”
Orange Candy was stunned. She scrutinized Wen Jianyan’s pale, bloodless face and his overly weak state, as if suddenly realizing something. “You already did this, didn’t you?” Although she used a questioning tone, her voice was full of certainty.
“Yes.”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, held onto An Xin’s shoulder, and staggered to his feet. He raised his eyes and looked into the darkness.
Not far away, in the direction of the incense burner, that faintly glowing red light was still burning, but it had shortened by one-third since just now.
Sure enough, rather than eating humans, the customer was consuming offerings filled with human life force. The reason why the offerings in the mounds and on the plates in the courtyard had rotted was precisely because the customer had consumed them. They were not useless decorations; on the contrary, these offerings provided a lifeline for them.
“Listen.”
Wen Jianyan looked at the people in front of him, quickened his speech, and concisely ordered: “What you need to do next is the same as before. One group takes the red candle and leaves the counter to distract the customer, while another person takes the other candle and goes to the incense burner, drops a drop of blood into the ashes, then drops another drop of blood into one of the plates of offerings that hasn’t rotted. After all of this is done, come back, understood?”
Qi Qian nodded and looked at the group: “Let’s do as she says.”
He lowered his head, looking at Wen Jianyan, who was sitting on the ground, his face pale: “You rest well, leave the rest to us.”
Although Wen Jianyan hadn’t explained the entire process and concept in detail, as experienced anchors, everyone could catch a clue from what was happening before them and more or less realize the underlying rules of this level.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and nodded.
In this instance, losing one-third of his life force was no joke. He now felt dizzy, weak in his limbs, and even had to rely on support to sit. His condition was far from good.
The other anchors quickly took action.
Wen Jianyan and Orange Candy each brought back two important pieces of information regarding the fourth floor: one was the method to break the situation, and the other was the potential dangers when distracting the customer. With these two methods, it was like completing a jigsaw puzzle; everything fell into place, becoming orderly.
However, none of this concerned Wen Jianyan anymore.
He was now sitting on the ground, unable to see what was happening outside from his angle. Even if he could, in the darkness, there would be little to see.
After gulping down several packets of energy drinks, his complexion finally improved a bit, no longer looking as ghastly as a corpse.
While the others were busy dealing with the situation, Wen Jianyan tried every possible way to recover his strength. If he could replenish the lost life force, their margin for error in the next steps would greatly increase.
He sighed and downed another bottle of energy drink. Unfortunately, it didn’t help much, and his hands and feet were still cold.
Wen Jianyan paused, raised his hand, and touched his ear, frowning.
Perhaps because his body was so cold, the spot that had been bitten earlier felt strange—painful, numb, hot, and itchy… It was as if the sensation from the dream still lingered on his skin.
He pinched his ear, forcibly suppressing the weird feeling.
After all, they were experienced anchors, and once they knew how to break the situation, the actions became swift. Soon, the second and third offerings were completed.
Once everyone had gathered again at the counter.
Tong Yao and Su Cheng were helped to sit on the ground, pale-faced, panting as they gulped down energy drinks—having contributed the remaining two-thirds of the life force as supporting roles. According to Wen Jianyan’s theory, the offering should be complete.
“Help me up.”
Wen Jianyan’s voice was weak, but he insisted on speaking. Qi Qian and An Xin, one on each side, helped him stand.
Wen Jianyan leaned on the counter, took a deep breath, and raised his eyes to stare into the darkness.
In the direction of the incense burner, that faint red light flickered and slowly dimmed until it completely disappeared. The vast shop was left in pitch-black silence, as if dead.
Everyone held their breath, nervously awaiting the outcome.
However, contrary to their expectations, even though the light of the incense had gone out, the footsteps did not resume. The customer seemed to be standing still, unmoving, not even attempting to approach the counter again—whether to attack or to pay.
“What’s going on?” Qi Qian frowned, “Is there another step we need to take?”
Wen Jianyan froze, as if suddenly recalling something. He lowered his head and looked at the oil lamp welded to the counter.
In the oil lamp, the flame had stabilized at a normal level, no longer burning as fiercely as before, but it was also nearly out, with only a bit of oil left. It wouldn’t last much longer without being replaced. However, the yellowish light it emitted seemed to be breaking free from the darkness, slowly spreading once more.
A previous scene flashed in his mind.
In the staircase between the third and fourth floors, after the “transaction” was completed, the shadow had vanished right in front of him, unlike in the other levels, where it would turn around and leave. If that’s the case…
Wen Jianyan shook his head: “No, there shouldn’t be anything else we need to do.”
As if to confirm the truth of his words, the light from the oil lamp gradually spread out, driving away all the darkness in the vast shop.
The room in front of them was completely empty. Four crimson tables and chairs were quietly placed in their original positions. On one of the tables was a small brass incense burner. The incense in the burner had completely burned out, and the three plates of offerings placed beside it had already rotted and turned black, emitting an unpleasant smell.
And at some point, the customer’s figure had completely disappeared.
Qi Qian and the others were taken aback.
They left the counter and walked towards the incense burner.
In front of the incense burner, a gray-white joss paper was neatly placed. The moment they saw the joss paper, everyone couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed their attempt had succeeded.
Not only had they successfully completed the first transaction, but they had also figured out the rules of the fourth level—a double success.
Wen Jianyan dragged his two weak, aching legs forward.
The others made way for him.
Wen Jianyan lowered his head and picked up the brass incense burner on the table, examining it carefully.
Although the incense had burned out and left no trace, that eerie, dizzying scent seemed to still linger at the tip of his nose. He looked inside the incense burner.
The blood-stained incense ash had completely disappeared, and the remaining ash had turned a clean, gray-white color—Wen Jianyan guessed that the blood-stained ash had likely been consumed, just like what happened earlier in the stairwell, and the ash in the burner now was from the newly burned incense, waiting to be used next.
If that’s the case…
They might now need to face a truly troublesome issue.
With this in mind, Wen Jianyan pulled out the joss paper from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“This is…?” Qi Qian was puzzled.
“Yes, you’re right. This is an extra joss paper,” Wen Jianyan nodded and briefly recounted what had happened between the third and fourth floors.
Everyone’s spirits lifted a bit.
“So, you’re saying we’ve actually completed two transactions now?”
“More or less,” Wen Jianyan cautiously nodded.
After all, in the Changsheng Building, the number of customers was fixed, meaning the total number of customers they would serve was also fixed. Since what happened earlier in the stairwell matched the rules of the fourth floor, and he had received the corresponding joss paper, in theory, this joss paper should be counted as “revenue” by the instance.
After receiving Wen Jianyan’s confirmation, the atmosphere in the shop relaxed immediately.
It had to be said that so far, everything had been going almost smoothly.
First, Wen Jianyan accidentally completed the first task between the third and fourth floors, then found the safest room on the fourth floor, and without any casualties, they successfully figured out the deeper rules of this floor and found the way to pass with minimal cost… Even though they had been on the fourth floor for less than an hour, their progress was almost several times faster than on the previous floors.
It was truly a leap forward!
After all, they were now on the fourth floor, where the level of horror had significantly increased!
“But,” Wen Jianyan’s tone suddenly shifted.
He raised his eyes, looking at the people in front of him with a serious expression, “To leave this floor, we still need to get two more joss papers.”
“But we only have one incense stick left,” Wen Jianyan said, glancing at Orange Candy—the one holding the last incense stick.
Orange Candy shrugged and said, “I’m afraid that’s the case.”
Upon hearing this, the atmosphere, which had just relaxed, immediately grew tense again.
Although their progress had been smooth so far, the lack of resources was like a tightening noose around their necks, silently and slowly choking them, making it hard to breathe.
At this moment, Qi Qian spoke up, breaking the silence:
“But before that, our most urgent task is to restore the three of you to full strength—or at least find a way to recover.”
If three of them lost their basic ability to move, the loss would be too great.
Especially since they might soon face even more terrifying challenges. If they didn’t get their teammates back on their feet or find a way to restore their vitality, their team’s strength would only continue to weaken over time.
…That’s true.
Although they were short on resources, they still had one incense stick left, so they hadn’t reached a dead end yet. If they slowly reviewed and organized the clues, they might be able to come up with a solution before the worst-case scenario arrived.
An Xin stepped forward and supported Wen Jianyan by the arm, “Let’s go, I’ll help you.”
Wen Jianyan nodded and turned to head back toward the counter.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
Suddenly, faint footsteps could be heard coming from outside the store, gradually approaching, step by step, in the darkness, sounding particularly clear.
“?!”
Everyone was startled, quickly turning their heads to look in the direction of the sound.
Outside the misty glass door, a vague black figure could be seen, taking stiff steps, moving slowly toward them.
Wait, didn’t the last customer just leave? How could there be another—!
Everyone’s expressions grew serious as they stared at the door, their minds filled with the same question.
How could it be so soon?!
