Han Fei pressed for the second floor but the elevator stopped at the second floor basement. Before the silvery doors fully opened, a pale-faced female student appeared outside the elevator. She was about to walk in when her body froze like she spied something. Her pupils darted about nervously. The girl stared at a corner inside the elevator, pulled her advancing step back, turned and disappeared into the dark corridor. ‘Why is there a girl in the second floor basement of a security company? She looks frightened. What happened to her?’
Han Fei hugged the urn and chased after her. The girl’s gait was strange. It was like one of her legs had no bone. Afraid that something bad might happen to her, Han Fei trailed after her but this only made the girl move faster. After she turned a corner, she disappeared. The lights above flickered and when it went off, the corridor would change slightly, the change was so minute that Han Fei couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. Han Fei stood in the middle of the corridor and looked around. The basement of the company was lined with numbered rooms, it looked like this floor was the hostel for the company staff. ‘The guardian spirit for Yi Ming Street lives at a place like this?’
The damp walls were moldy and chill crawled up his body. Han Fei was about to choose a relatively clean room to knock on when he realized the elevator door was still open. ‘The elevator is still waiting for me? How come it feels like it’s watching me when it’s an inanimate object?’
His eyes moved around and noticed the camera at the corner. He assumed that was just a decoration, after all, the layer of dust on it was thick. Han Fei waved at the camera and revealed a friendly smile to show that he meant no harm… at least for now. He tried the door again and realized it was locked. Han Fei considered prying the door open but ultimately decided against it because someone might be watching him. He walked around the second floor basement and returned to the elevator when he noticed all the room doors were locked.
Strangely enough, whenever he entered the elevator, the ‘overload’ warning would light up for a moment and then disappear. The doors slowly closed and then all the numbers on the panel lit up. Just as the doors were about to close, Han Fei saw a woman’s face poke out from the corner of the corridor with trembling pupils, bloodless face and a terrified expression.
When the woman’s face appeared, Han Fei reached out to grab the elevator door to stop it from closing. Sensing the hand, the doors opened again. Han Fei charged towards the corner without any hesitation. But when he arrived, the poor girl had disappeared already. ‘Is she threatened?’ Han Fei really didn’t understand why a female student would show up at a security company. Based on her appearance, she needed help. ‘The girl probably has a hidden mission on her.’
Han Fei sighed regretfully as he turned to the wall. If he had a phone in the cryptic world, he could at least leave his phone number on the wall. At least then they had a channel to communicate with. Returning to the elevator, Han Fei hugged the urn and stood quietly at the corner. He had no idea where the elevator would stop next so his exploration would be directed by the elevator. The number on the panel kept changing. When the doors opened, Han Fei was in the fourth floor basement. The wind blew into the elevator and the overload warning came again. Han Fei took in the empty elevator booth but the overload warning still remained. ‘Should I leave then?’ After he walked out from the elevator, the doors slowly closed and the elevator went upstairs. ‘Why would a security company have so many basement floors, that is worth pondering.’
This floor appeared to be the warehouse and it showed little signs of use. Most of the doors were not locked. The corridor was filled with broken furniture and dusty trash. ‘Even the company staff rarely use this floor.’ The corridor was dark, only the light nearest to the elevator was on. Standing there, it felt like one was inside a horror movie. As a static sound began, the single light started to flicker too. Frowning, Han Fei turned to press on the button to summon the elevator but the button appeared to be broken, it refused to light up. The tapping sound against the button echoed inside the corridor and it sounded quite helpless.
As the elevator moved away from him, Han Fei stopped because a light smell of blood entered his nostril. The smell appeared very suddenly. As he turned around, the light above him went out. A disfigured human shadow appeared at the end of the dim corridor. Its body was jumbled out of shape and it was rapidly shuffling towards Han Fei. ‘What is that?’ The light suddenly came back on but there was nothing in the corridor but the smell of blood appeared to thicken. Han Fei opened the lid of the urn by a gap. Both Han Fei and the thing were waiting for the light to go out. The blood in the air clawed at Han Fei’s heart. After the temporary brightness, darkness descended again.
In the dark, things were shoved out of the way. The disfigured figure moved quickly through the trash. Wounds covered its twisted body. It came ever closer!
When the light came on, everything returned to normal again. It was as if Han Fei had imagined that monster in the dark. Several seconds later, as electricity buzzed, the light went out again. The disfigured monster was only 5 meters away from Han Fei. The latter could even see its badly mutilated face and the broken bones that pierced through its skin. With terror on his face, Han Fei pressed on the broken elevator button crazily. Blood covered everything, and fear crawled up his spine.
4 metres! 3 metres! Red footprints appeared on the trash, the uneven chair was toppled over. When the monster was only 2 metres from Han Fei, it suddenly stopped. Its mutilated face looked behind Han Fei and its split head tilted slowly to the side. It suddenly noticed that whenever the light went out, there would be an extra shadow behind its prey…
The light near the elevator came back on. It chased away the darkness but not the thickening fear. The surroundings were quiet. Han Fei’s breathing was uneven, his expression spoke of intense anxiety and fear. His finger never strayed away from the button. The number on the screen never changed. Han Fei’s expression deepened with increasing fear. It was mixed with despair, his rationality was being slowly eaten away!
And right at that moment, the light went out again. With the most fearful expression, Han Fei looked in front of him, the disfigured monster now appeared 5 metres away. “You’ve decided to retreat?” With the stamp of terror on his face, Han Fei took out a bladeless blade from his inventory. “Was it because you didn’t buy my acting? Everyone’s a critic nowadays.”
