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墨書 Inktalez
"This floor is so thin," I couldn't help but mutter as I stepped onto it.
The empty room was filled with lime powder packed into Snake Skin Bags, spilling all the way to the window. Hesitating, I started to walk over, but Mu Xuanche suddenly called out to me from behind.
He nodded at me, gesturing for me to look in a certain direction.
In the gap of the ceiling on the second floor, there was a large dark red stain. I was startled and quickly walked over the floor that felt like it could collapse at any moment. Looking up, I saw that the huge dark red stain resembled blood slowly dripping down from the roof, now completely dried and turned black on this floor.
Without much hesitation, I tiptoed to touch the texture of the liquid. It felt smooth and irritating like a blood clot. A metallic smell of rust lingered on my fingers. I wiped my fingers clean and glanced around...
He nodded and we continued upward.
This building seemed to have only a few floors; above us were some wooden boards hastily constructed as a base. Drills and saws were scattered all over the ground.
I had no time to ponder the dried bloodstains left on the second floor or the floor that seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
If the thickness of the floor itself didn't meet standards, then this shoddy construction was truly cutting corners. It probably didn't even meet one-tenth of the inspection standards. My mind raced with thoughts, yet I failed to pay attention to my feet.
At that moment, Mu Xuanche suddenly yanked me back, his sharp gaze fixed on the steps ahead.
Fresh blood mixed with a foul odor slowly trickled down the stone steps. The bright red liquid mingled with the silver-white lime already on the ground, creating a shocking sight.
I gripped Mu Xuanche's hand tightly in fear. "What is going on?"
My words echoed back to me like a voice thrown into a valley, returning from afar. A loud rumble and clang resonated around us, and from somewhere came a soft, slow, and somewhat chilling whisper—
"Go back..."
I was startled and turned my head but saw nothing I wanted to see. The only thing in front of me was the blood gradually pooling at my feet. Mu Xuanche suddenly furrowed his brows and swept me up in his arms. Before I could react, he leaped onto the railing at the corner and jumped down.
I felt a strong wind rush toward me, lifting my long hair as I blinked in shock. When I opened my eyes again, Mu Xuanche had already set me down on the ground.
The scent of blood lingered in my mind for reasons I couldn't comprehend. I rolled my eyes and turned away, crouching down to retch on the ground.
Mu Xuanche pulled a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and handed it to me. Once I finally regained my composure and looked up at the second floor, everything seemed normal again.
"What happened?" I asked.
"That blood is problematic," Mu Xuanche replied calmly. "Living beings exposed to that scent feel as if their insides have been thoroughly scrubbed. It must be blood that has crossed over from hell, carrying a fierce odor and an oppressive presence."
Though I didn't fully grasp his words, I understood that the blood was indeed troubling.
"It would take too long to use the stairs, so I decided to carry you and jump down," Mu Xuanche continued. "That kind of blood resembles a monstrous entity with a spirit; it only retreats when it absorbs living energy."
"But we've already left its pursuit range. We should wait a while before going back up."
"Is that so?" I still felt uneasy and decided to sit still for a moment to rest.
Recalling the fleeting voice that had passed through my mind earlier, I glanced at Mu Xuanche. "Did you hear someone talking just now?"
"No," he frowned. "Did you hear someone speaking?"
"Um, it sounded like a girl named Chen Yi'an." I couldn't be entirely sure; the voice had been like a fleeting illusion, and before I could process it, the overpowering stench had completely overwhelmed my senses.
"What did she say?" Mu Xuanche asked.
I paused before responding, "She told me to go back quickly."
"We can confirm that Chen Yi'an is indeed here," he said as he sat down, looking up at the somewhat gloomy sky. In truth, neither of us intended to return. I sighed and leaned against his back, closing my eyes for a moment.
Why did Chen Yi'an repeatedly warn me to stay away from this place? Was there something sinister lurking here? Perhaps only by finding her could I understand her intentions and the truth behind it all.
After sitting together for a while, we decided to head back up once more. Suddenly, a thought struck me, and I looked at him. "What if we encounter that kind of situation again when we go back up?"
Mu Xuanche paused for a moment, seemingly tilting his head in thought, before suddenly pulling me into the car. He drove to a shop, paid for a bottle of Flower Water, and nearly poured half of it over me. The enchanting fragrance enveloped me, making me feel as if I might faint from its intensity.
"What are you doing?" I asked, instinctively moving my arm away, fearing that I would be overwhelmed by the scent of Flower Water before I could even escape the stench of blood.
"I need to mask your human scent. I can't think of a better way right now, unless you're willing to smear yourself with cement," Mu Xuanche said casually.
Even so, there was no need to pour that much on me. I couldn't tell if he was secretly amused, but judging by the way he was sniffing, he seemed just as affected by the fragrance.
We returned the same way and got out of the car. This time, there were few obstacles as we made our way up to the third floor. Indeed, there was no sign of that pool of blood on the stairs anymore, and I no longer heard any warning sounds coming from unknown sources.
The light outside gradually dimmed as Mu Xuanche and I decided not to leave; instead, we were waiting for nightfall. I lit the candles that had been prepared earlier with a lighter, and our surroundings became shrouded in obscurity.
Mu Xuanche's watch indicated it was seven o'clock. There were hardly any people in this area.
Standing by the window, I could only gaze at the distant neon lights that flickered almost invisibly in the far-off horizon.
On the third floor, we found nothing unusual except for dried bloodstains covering the wall paint, identical to those on the second floor. Just as we were about to ascend to the fourth floor, we heard a rustling sound from somewhere unknown.
In the stillness of the night, the sound of mice gnawing echoed through the air. Through the candlelight, I vaguely saw a large black insect arching its body as it scuttled away into a corner.
It seemed that those insects we had seen on the lower floors had begun to emerge at night. Holding up my candle, I approached and saw dozens of massive Black Insects writhing together as they feasted on scraps of plaster and lime scattered across the ground.
In that moment, it dawned on me why the floor on the second level felt somewhat loose and why there were signs of looseness in certain areas of this building.
Suddenly, I noticed that where they crawled was stained with a large pool of blood that seemed to have been excreted from their bodies.
I was taken aback and quickly pulled Mu Xuanche over to take a look.
I watched in astonishment as the blood suddenly gathered into a mass as if guided by some unseen force and began to crawl up the stairs.
I had never seen blood move so orderly and climb stairs before; it was utterly unbelievable. Mu Xuanche remained silent but gestured for me to follow that trail of blood.
The dim candlelight illuminated the pool of blood in an unusually eerie manner. Suddenly, I thought of Bai Shihou and that massive pool of blood that emitted a foul odor. An idea popped into my mind, one that I found hard to accept even myself.
Could it be that these enormous Black Insects were bred by that pool of blood to provide a continuous source of food?
I did not stop my footsteps as I followed the blood. During this time, Mu Xuanche and I held our breath and remained silent. Perhaps it was the overwhelming silence of the environment that rendered me speechless.
I didn’t have time to check if other floors were like the Second or Third, where blood had flowed down the walls and had already congealed and dried.
I had lost track of how much time had passed.
I couldn't explain why, but the building at night felt like a separate space-time, cut off from the outside world.
(End of Chapter)
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