“Bang—!”
Lu Yibei leaped down from the high platform of the window ledge, his feet hitting the ground and stirring up a cloud of dust. As the dust slowly settled like a curtain, a burning pain shot through his eyes. Imdiately after, the dim hotel lobby, like a dark room with a sound-activated light, brightened up.
Thick stone pillars connected spaces with vast height differences. The magnificent, colossal crystal chandeliers on the ceiling were not lit, but a dim, hazy yellow light illuminated the surroundings.
Under this light, the entire building gave the illusion of elongated space, exuding a grand and spectacular aura, like a palace bathed in a setting sun.
Faintly glowing dark red currents moved through the lobby, like massive ribbons with no visible beginning or end.
Nurous figures erged in the hotel lobby. Their limbs were tall, strange, and elongated, their bodies seemingly constructed from chaotic black lines, like detached shadows, yet they each had a different, expressionless face.
Lu Yibei had seen such strange figures many tis before. In fact, most of the shadows he saw on the streets were similar entities, always a fleeting glimpse before they quickly vanished.
But this ti, not only did they show no signs of disappearing, but their numbers were also so great!
They passed through stone pillars, rged into walls, or erged from beneath the ground, constantly wandering aimlessly through the lobby like soulless zombies, occasionally muttering.
Those indistinct murmurs were sotis fragnted, sotis sharp, sotis frantic, sotis deranged, and hearing them made one's emotions feel influenced, causing a swelling sensation in the head.
The mont Lu Yibei landed, all sounds fell silent. Those strange figures all stopped and looked towards him.
'Why do I feel like a petty thief who picked a lock, climbed through a window, and found a group of fierce bandits sitting inside?' Lu Yibei thought anxiously, cold sweat slowly trickling down his temples.
Watched by hundreds of lifeless eyes, he froze in place as if petrified. After a long pause, he expressionlessly waved at the strange figures.
“H-hello everyone! Uh, I might have co to the wrong place. I'll just, I'll just leave!”
Although he had seen these strange figures more than once, he had no idea why they existed or what would happen if they targeted him. All he wanted now was to get out quickly!
As his words fell, those strange figures collectively withdrew their gaze and continued to walk around the lobby as if nothing had happened.
Soon, the entire lobby beca noisy again, with eerie whispers echoing in the vast space.
'They don't seem interested in ?' Lu Yibei frowned. While this was a good thing, still...
'What's with this feeling of
a zombie opened your mind, sighed, and walked away in disappointnt
I feel offended!'
As he pondered, a dull ache began in his stomach again. It seed Zhu Linglong was growing impatient, urging him forward.
“Alright, alright! If it were you, seeing this situation, wouldn't you be scared? Can't a guy take a mont to adjust?”
Lu Yibei complained impatiently, lifted the mingwang statue, and cautiously, yet bravely, walked deeper into the hall.
As he walked through the lobby, Lu Yibei clutched the mingwang statue tightly, ready to swing the dozens-of-pounds bronze statue at those strange figures at any mont.
However, those strange figures acted as if they didn't even notice his presence, continuing their own way.
Passing by the strange figures, Lu Yibei finally heard the content of their whispers clearly.
“The stock fell, it fell again... If it falls any more, I'll have to jump off the roof!”
“Sigh, with this disease, I... I'm afraid there's no hope left, is there?”
“Damn it! Damn it! I'm going to kill you two adulterers!”
...
Lu Yibei quietly listened to the whispers around him, pondering.
'They all seem to be complaining about unfortunate things?'
'Are they all people who died with resentnt? Or are they born from human resentnt?'
While guessing the origin of these strange figures, Lu Yibei thought that next ti he went to Night Watch, he must borrow the si ye book to read.
An Qing said that the book recorded all the known Weird tale types of the Night Watch. Lu Yibei felt that since he had already co into contact with these things, it was necessary to brush up on his basic knowledge.
“Ten pulls! I spent ten pulls and got nothing! Am I dood to stay in Africa my whole life?” Lu Yibei was just thinking when such a voice suddenly drifted into his ears.
He glanced at the strange figure that had just walked past him, rolled his eyes, and thought, 'Only ten pulls and you're already breaking down?'
Although ten pulls with no results was bad enough, this guy was completely on a different level from the previous ones!
If I spent ten pulls and got nothing...
As the thought of “If I...” flashed through Lu Yibei's mind, the strange figure that had walked past him suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked towards him.
Hearing the whisper about spending money on pulls with no results coming from behind him, getting closer and closer, Lu Yibei sharply turned his head, and that face burst into his vision, almost touching his own.
A numb, stiff expression, cloudy, lifeless eyes, and pale, cracked lips eerily wriggled, emitting whispers.
His heart imdiately sank, his whole body trembled, and he jumped back a long distance, swaying precariously and nearly falling to the ground.
“What the... Hey! Hey! Don't co any closer, don't! Damn it!”
Seeing the strange figure getting closer and closer, Lu Yibei felt a creepy, cat-like sensation in his heart. Without thinking further, he cursed and took off running.
With the temporary closure of the resort hotel, the elevators in the hotel naturally stopped operating. Lu Yibei sped through the lobby, pushed open the heavy iron door of the ergency exit, and climbed several floors before stopping, leaning against the wall, panting.
Once he had sowhat recovered and straightened up, his gaze inadvertently swept across his chest, and he couldn't help but be startled.
A thin dark red line extended from his chest, following the staircase he had run up, and disappeared downwards.
The texture of that thin line looked remarkably similar to the dark red currents, with no visible beginning or end, that floated in the lobby.
“Ten pulls! I spent ten pulls and got nothing! Am I dood to stay in Africa my whole life?”
As faint whispers reached his ears, Lu Yibei suddenly realized sothing, his face turning slightly pale.
He seed to have achieved a bizarre resonance with that “no results from pulls” strange figure for so reason!
The sound in his ears grew clearer and clearer, as if that strange figure was following the dark red line, steadily approaching.
Lu Yibei clutched his forehead, 'I shouldn't have opened my big mouth and complained about others! Now look, I'm stuck with it!'
'Who knows what will happen if it catches up to !'
“...You are dood to stay in Africa...” A faint murmur sounded in his ear, only these few words were exceptionally clear.
Lu Yibei, “...” 'Hey, don't change the lines on your own!'
After muttering a complaint in his heart, Lu Yibei instantly felt his body filled with strength. Without another mont's delay, he turned and continued running upstairs.
'What kind of idiotic Weird tale is this?! It's too terrifying!'
'Run! Lu Yibei! Bet your future gacha pull rates, you absolutely cannot let it catch you!' Lu Yibei shouted in his heart.
...
Perhaps it was his obsession with gacha pull rates that unleashed Lu Yibei's human potential. He ran from the lobby all the way to the twelfth floor, the scene of Zhu Linglong's demise, in less than three minutes.
He stumbled and pushed open the ergency exit door, and a strong musty sll, faintly mixed with a hint of blood, wafted towards him.
The windows in the hallway were tightly shut, boarded up with nails, with only a few rays of sunlight peeking through the cracks, preventing the entire hallway from falling into complete darkness.
Lu Yibei looked down at his chest. The dark red thin line was still there, but the whispers in his ear had fallen silent.
That strange figure didn't seem to have followed, perhaps fearing sothing.
The hallway branched into a T-shape, with rows of dusty brown doors tightly closed. So mold spots had already grown on the light gray carpet, and strange-shaped stains adorned the white walls.
Standing in the empty, dim hallway, with a deathly silence in his ears, Lu Yibei frowned and gripped the mingwang statue's arm vigilantly.
Although it was far less “lively” here than the lobby downstairs, it gave him a very uncomfortable feeling. The murky air seed to have turned into a viscous substance, slowly flowing.
A chilling wind blew, and the doors on both sides of the hallway made faint noises. Although the sounds were very subtle, they were exceptionally jarring in such an extrely quiet environnt, making Lu Yibei sowhat worried that as he walked, sothing strange might rush out from inside.
“Gulp—!” Lu Yibei swallowed, lowering his voice as much as possible, “Miss Zhu, which way should I go? Left?”
“...”
“Right?”
A slight pang in his stomach, Lu Yibei nodded understandingly, confird the direction, and walked towards the right side of the hallway.
At the end of the right hallway, there was a corner. As he was about to turn, Lu Yibei cautiously slowed his steps, pressed himself against the wall, and peeked out with half his head to look at the hallway on the other side of the corner.
The hallway on the other side of the corner was empty, about ten ters long. At the end of the hallway was a classical Chinese-style double door. The brown door was carved with exquisite patterns and embedded with copper rings.
Perhaps because Zhu Linglong was killed inside, roadblocks were set up about one to two ters in front of the door, with caution tape strung across and a sign that read “No Entry for Non-Staff.”
After confirming that there was nothing strange hidden on the other side of the corner, Lu Yibei took a deep breath and walked over. In an instant, his eyes felt a strong burning sensation, as if warning him of approaching danger.
The next mont, his hair stood on end, and he froze in place.
A person had appeared in the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) originally empty hallway!
A person wearing a black cloak, tall, and holding a dripping crowbar!
That person had his back to Lu Yibei, stiffly twisting his neck, his bones making faint “click-clack” sounds. He rotated 180 degrees like an owl, and a furry rabbit's mouth was revealed beneath his half-concealed hood.
His palms sweated, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated to the extre, and the fear of death surged like a tsunami, threatening to tear him to pieces.
Lu Yibei stared into the scarlet eyes beneath the cloak for three seconds. It suddenly dashed, running towards him...
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