FEG | Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Wall

Bureau Chief Chen was holding the same spiritual artifact as the bespectacled man in the previous round. Bureau Chief Chen’s skill was obviously far stronger than the bespectacled man’s. Did that mean skill upgrades were related to the number of times one cleared the game?

No, not necessarily.

It was not easy to draw a conclusion from just one or two games.

Sun Fangchi had many questions about the game, but the game prompts were stingy with words, and Sun Fangchi had no way of knowing. But he would not treat the game as a pie that fell from the sky and happily accept everything! His survival experience told him that scammers often looked honest, and that harm was often hidden beneath the benefits.

[Use to strengthen the soul? No!]

Sun Fangchi put the bead back in his pocket. At the very least, he would wait until he had asked Old Gu before making any plans.

Most players were the same as Sun Fangchi, choosing to find an apartment and turtle up. Of course, there were exceptions, Zhou Xin and Lao Hongli reappeared in the elevator.

“Luckily I teamed up with you. If it had been with a man, I really wouldn’t know how to say it.” Lao Hongli said with relief and gratitude.

Women always had untimely troubles. The two of them had already reached the apartment room, but Lao Hongli had gotten her period, so she had no choice but to beg Zhou Xin to go with her to the shop outside the apartment to buy some supplies.

“It’s nothing, hurry up.” Zhou Xin was not very happy. She had to rely on Lao Hongli to protect herself, so even though she was unhappy, she did not show it.

After they left the elevator, a row of lights on the lobby’s background wall lit up. The lobby was still fairly bright, but outside the glass doors it was already dark enough that one could not make out anything beyond ten meters.

Among the storefronts outside the apartment, only two had opened their doors, one was the sales office that the residents were besieging, and the other was the shop on the far west side. The shop had not been decorated much, and it had no signboard, only two bright red Song-style characters, “Supermarket,” pasted on the glass door, simple and direct.

Not only was the decoration shabby, the goods inside were equally “shabby”. Aside from rice, flour, oil, and salt, there were only a few daily necessities. After getting the things they needed, the two of them did not look at anything else and went straight to the checkout counter by the door to pay.

The boss lazily scanned the barcode. “15 yuan.”

Lao Hongli was taking out money when the boss’s alarm clock rang, “Beep beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep...”

Zhou Xin frowned. Why set an alarm in the middle of the night...

The boss’s expression changed drastically. “Go, go, go, we’re closing...”

“Why the rush? I still need change...”

“Go, go, go, I don’t want it, I’ll give you the stuff, hurry up and leave!” The boss drove them out.

The two of them were shoved outside by him. With a loud clang, the rolling shutter door dropped against their backs.

“What is wrong with him!” Lao Hongli was furious.

Zhou Xin always felt that something was off. “Let’s go quickly!”

“What’s wrong?” Lao Hongli said in panic.

“I don’t know, in short, let’s go back first.” Zhou Xin pulled Lao Hongli and ran toward the main entrance. The sky had already turned completely black, and only the glass doors at the building entrance gave off light. Their shadows stretched thin and long in front of them.

After successfully entering the sensor door, Zhou Xin only then relaxed and slowed down.

“I keep feeling like something is off...” A sense of discord lingered in Zhou Xin’s heart, but she just could not figure it out.

“That weird boss made people feel uneasy, but nothing has happened now, has it? Don’t worry.” Lao Hongli comforted her. “Look, even the security guard is on duty. What could be wrong?”

A head appeared behind the service desk. Someone was sitting behind the service desk.

Zhou Xin barely nodded and stepped along the shadow toward the elevator.

Suddenly, she thought of one thing, and cold sweat instantly soaked her back. “We’re walking toward the light, why is the shadow in front?”

“Hm?” Lao Hongli turned back in confusion to look, and there was clearly still a shadow following behind her. “Ah!” Lao Hongli’s legs went weak. “What’s going on? Save me, save me...”

“Shut up!” Zhou Xin grabbed her arm. “Don’t yell!”

Lao Hongli hurriedly shut her mouth and wrapped both hands around Zhou Xin’s right hand. “Hurry and think of a way...”

While cursing inwardly, Zhou Xin carefully searched for the light sources in the lobby, trying to figure out how the shadow was formed. She still held a sliver of hope, in case it was simply normal under multiple light sources.

The two women were tangled up not far from the service desk, and the person sitting inside the service desk still had no reaction at all. Zhou Xin finally felt that even the security guard might be abnormal.

Wolf in front and tiger behind, they were trapped between a rock and a hard place.

Zhou Xin steadied herself and said quietly to Lao Hongli, “In a moment, I’ll use Scout. If anything happens, you use your skill, and we’ll run together toward the stairwell.”

Lao Hongli held her breath and nodded. At any rate, she had already cleared several games, and although she had panicked just now, she was already calm now.

[Scout]

A layer of green light covered Zhou Xin’s glasses lenses, and through the lenses, sinister black qi coiled around the security guard behind the service desk. Zhou Xin already had a premonition, so seeing it now was not that shocking. The shadow at her feet was still lying quietly on the ground, and she could not tell whether it belonged to a supernatural being.

Zhou Xin froze for a moment. This was the first time she had encountered something she could not identify, and she could not help feeling suspicious.

There did not seem to be any other danger nearby. As long as she found a way to get past the security guard, that would be enough. Just as Zhou Xin was thinking this, Lao Hongli used one hand to pull Zhou Xin and the other to clutch her necklace. “Run!” Zhou Xin was yanked staggeringly by her. When she looked up, the security guard had stood up from behind the service desk. A blue-purple face emerged, eyeballs bulging, the corners of its eyes torn open, and two lines of black blood dripping down.

Zhou Xin grabbed Lao Hongli and rushed forward. “Did you use your skill?”

“I already used it, there are still twenty-five seconds left!”

Zhou Xin held her breath, pulled Lao Hongli around the security guard, and ran toward the stairs. The alternating swing of her legs was greater than at any time before. The last time she had run like this was for the college entrance exam fitness test back then.

Concealment really worked. The security guard seemed to have lost its direction, circling in place.

“The elevator door didn’t open!” Lao Hongli said anxiously. There were only a little over ten seconds left.

“Take the stairs!” Zhou Xin did not pause at all, pulling her into the stairwell at the end. Inside was deep and dark, and one could barely make out the steps.

Lao Hongli hesitated a little. “Inside...”

“If you don’t want to die, hurry up and go!” Zhou Xin said coldly. Who knew whether the security guard would catch up after the skill expired.

Lao Hongli had no choice but to follow Zhou Xin up to the next floor. In the darkness, the ground was not flat either, so naturally their speed was not fast. Zhou Xin walked in front, Lao Hongli followed behind, and the two of them tested their footing with their feet, climbing the stairs as quickly as possible.

The corridor entrance on the third floor was open, letting in a sliver of faint light. That only sliver of light was also Zhou Xin’s guiding lamp. “We’re here, hurry!” Zhou Xin said quietly. The person behind her did not respond, and Zhou Xin thought Lao Hongli was still shaken, so she did not mind.

Stepping onto the last stair of the third floor, Zhou Xin was in the dim light and turned back to look at Lao Hongli.

Behind her was empty.

Bureau Chief Chen and Jin Qiao both had the key to the fifth floor, Bureau Chief Chen’s was 507, Jin Qiao’s was 515, and they moved into room 507.

After the two of them entered and checked the room’s environment, Bureau Chief Chen sat down on the sofa, and Jin Qiao took the opportunity to sit on Bureau Chief Chen’s lap.

Bureau Chief Chen, face red, pushed her away. “What are you doing?”

Jin Qiao leaned toward him, boneless. “Nothing, I’m just scared...”

“Don’t be like this.” Sweat broke out on the tip of Bureau Chief Chen’s nose. “My age is enough to be your father. You should have some self-respect.”

“I didn’t expect you to like playing this kind of game,” Jin Qiao felt disgusted inside. “Dad, I’m so scared...”

Bureau Chief Chen’s old face turned red, and he said in embarrassed annoyance, “What do you take me for! I never do this kind of filthy business. You sleep on the bed tonight, I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

Jin Qiao curled her lip. “There are only the two of us here, who are you putting on a show for.”

Bureau Chief Chen’s reaction was to sit farther away from her.

Jin Qiao had been rebuffed and went angrily to the bed. “If you’ve got the guts, don’t come crawling into this old lady’s bed in the middle of the night!”

The scene in room 210 where Ma Daobin and Yueyue were staying was exactly the opposite.

Yueyue hugged her cloth doll tightly, sitting timidly in a corner of the sofa.

Compared to Yueyue, Ma Daobin’s body seemed huge as he kept squeezing toward Yueyue, his hot hands brushing over Yueyue’s shoulders and lower back.

“Yueyue, how old are you? You’re so cute, just as cute as uncle’s daughter. Uncle hug you, okay...”

Yueyue curled herself into a tiny ball, her face hidden behind the cloth doll, pitiful to the extreme.

It was just that this scene fueled the fire in Ma Daobin’s heart.

His big hand moved forward along Yueyue’s waistline.

Thump, thump...

A rhythmic knocking came from the wall.

Even though Ma Daobin was plotting something improper, he still kept a bit of wariness in this terrifying game. He stood up and moved step by step toward the wall to check.

The sound was gone, and there was nothing abnormal on the wall either.

Ma Daobin stood by the wall for two minutes, finding nothing. He turned back to look for Yueyue, only to discover that the person on the sofa was gone.

Ma Daobin was not anxious. He had already locked the door from the inside. Unless Yueyue could pass through walls, she was definitely still in this room.

“Yueyue, come out quickly. If you’re being naughty, uncle won’t like you anymore...” As he spoke coaxing lies, Ma Daobin’s gaze searched the room for places where someone could hide.

There were only the bathroom, the cabinet, and the wardrobe.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Ma Daobin opened the bathroom door. Inside was completely empty.

“Yueyue, come out and play with uncle...” Ma Daobin pulled open the cabinet. In the small space, there were only a few empty bowls.

Thump, thump, thump...

The knocking sound appeared again, and the sound was getting louder and louder.

Ma Daobin looked uneasily around at the walls, as if knocking sounds were coming from all four directions. How was that possible!

This was the second floor. At least one wall could not be knocked on from the outside.

Ma Daobin no longer had the mind to look for Yueyue. He stood in the center of the room turning in circles nonstop, every moment feeling as if a sound was coming from behind him.

Thump, thump...

The sounds around him gradually gathered and concentrated on one wall, but the sense of vibration was getting stronger and stronger, as if something was about to break through the wall and enter.

Ma Daobin was facing that wall, the fear in his heart spreading through his whole body. He uncontrollably backed up step by step, until his back hit the cold wall.

The knocking sound stopped abruptly.

After waiting for a moment, the knocking sound did not appear again. Ma Daobin panted heavily, his heart pounding against his chest. His knees went weak, and his whole body pitched forward, when a pulling force came from his back and steadied him.

Ma Daobin turned his head to look, and did not know when his entire back had been embedded into the wall, fitting seamlessly.

“What is going on?” Ma Daobin thrust his body frantically, wanting to break free. However, he seemed to have grown together with the wall, as firm as could be.

“Let go of me! Let go of me! What is messing with me!” Ma Daobin cursed nonstop. “Brat! Was it you? Get out here!”

His honest-looking face was full of ferocity.

A small hand pushed open the wardrobe door, and Yueyue crawled out of the wardrobe, holding the cloth doll, looking helplessly at Ma Daobin in the wall.

“Was it you? Was it you? Little brat...”

Yueyue shook her head, which did not calm Ma Daobin down. “Hurry and come over and pull me out!”