Chapter 19: The Warning from an Anonymous User
In the dark and silent room, Li Daqiang treated the gruesome wound on his calf with a worm, then stood up and forcefully knocked on the walls and ceiling of the room, creating a “thud-thud” sound as he searched for a way out.
He did not want to stay for a moment longer; he just wanted to leave this cursed place as soon as possible.
Ever since he said the wrong thing and committed a taboo, he felt that the strange eyes had been staring at him from an unseen place, aimlessly, never closing, making him feel chills.
Li Daqiang had faced many opponents over the years, but he had never felt as uneasy as he did now. Those opponents had certain objectives in their conflicts with him; with a purpose, their actions could be traced.
But an opponent with no purpose is the most terrifying; their behavior is completely unpredictable.
After searching for quite some time in the dark room, Li Daqiang finally found a way to leave, but upon seeing that exit, he frowned.
It was a square opening about one meter by one meter, located in a corner of the room, with a corroded iron grate welded to it.
Li Daqiang gently kicked it twice, and the iron bars broke into several sections.
He stared in horror and realized he was most likely inside the South Suburb Slaughterhouse, which immediately struck a chord with him.
That must have been the opening used for pigs to come and go.
The fear of d*ath can easily help people overcome certain psychological barriers.
Li Daqiang stared at the opening, hesitated for a moment, then walked towards it.
As soon as he crouched down, his hands touched something sticky. He instinctively brought his hand to his nose and immediately felt his stomach churn.
A horrible stench, dizzying and nauseating.
It was hard to describe what the smell was like; it resembled decaying flesh and bl**d, mixed with urine, even carrying a sharp chemical odor reminiscent of petroleum products.
Suppressing his discomfort, Li Daqiang wiped his hands against the wall and quickly crawled through the opening, leaving the room.
Just after leaving the room, he froze in place.
He did not expect it to be even darker outside than inside, with not a glimmer of light, and the sides were completely shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see anything.
The cold wind seemed to have a life of its own, flowing through the corridor with a soft “huh-huh” sound.
It sounded like a dying person desperately gasping for air, coming in an uninterrupted, choking rhythm, carrying the stench of decay akin to d*ath.
Li Daqiang leaned against the wall in the corridor, swallowed hard, and softly recited a simplified spell, “Self Spirit, Method Spirit, Yuan Spirit Move, Spirit Light Remain!”
The spell he mastered was different from those recorded within the Siye Society; it was a spell formulated by his great-grandfather, modified from Taoist thunder methods.
However, after his grandfather, no one in the family could learn it until he appeared.
Originally, he had the opportunity to become a “semi-immortal” or “great immortal” in his hometown.
Unfortunately, in Li Daqiang’s view, sticking to that poverty-stricken village was a hopeless endeavor.
Life and d*ath are in Heaven’s hands, wealth and nobility are determined by fate; in today’s society, it boils down to who has more money and who has the ruthless means. To live freely, one must venture out.
As he chanted the spell, he felt a light static buzz at his left fingertips, emitting a faint glow.
With the dim light, he finally saw the full appearance of the corridor.
The entire corridor was long and winding, with no end in sight. There were many rooms on both sides, and none of them had doors, only one square opening each.
He instinctively headed towards one end of the corridor, and surprisingly, things seemed to go smoothly; the ground was flat, and there were no obstacles to trip over, nor did any hand suddenly reach out to grab his arm.
But as he walked, Li Daqiang grew increasingly uneasy; he realized that this corridor seemed endless, like a bizarre loop abandoned by the world.
After walking for a long time, he was close to losing his sense of direction, as if continuing would cause him to be gradually lost in this place.
Suddenly, Li Daqiang seemed to recall something and halted in his tracks.
“Hmph! Ghost blocking the way? Meeting a mountain dragon and encountering a descending tiger, fate is not in your hands, do you think you can trap me?”
He muttered to himself, extinguishing the weak light at his fingertips and closing his eyes.
The best way to encounter a ghost blocking the way is not to rely on sight or even intuition to judge direction; just pinpoint one direction and rely on instinct to move forward to get out.
He closed his eyes, emptied his mind, and after walking about twenty to thirty steps forward, he ran into a hard wall.
Out?
Li Daqiang opened his eyes, glanced back, and saw that the corridor stretched only about twenty meters behind him, with four or five rooms on either side.
Looking ahead again, he noticed a dirty cement wall with an opening similar to those rooms, but it was much longer. Bending down to look, it resembled a small tunnel that flickered with firelight in the distance, accompanied by a faint mechanical hum.
What kind of place was outside?
Li Daqiang hesitated for a moment, drawn by curiosity, and crawled through that narrow opening.
Inside the narrow tunnel, the hard cement walls emitted a strange odor, making him feel as if he had crawled into the intestines of some creature.
“d*mn it, what the hell is this place, it smells terrible!”
Li Daqiang cursed under his breath, covering his mouth and nose with one hand, and quickening his pace. Just as he was about to crawl out of the opening, he was shocked at the scene outside.
It was a massive factory building, filled with a roaring sound from countless machines operating, with a floor piled up with black sludge cracking and occasionally sputtering flames, illuminating the entire factory.
The assembly line, seemingly established on the brink of hell, kept rotating, with rows of rusty hooks hanging from the ceiling. Countless people were impaled by those hooks, hanging in midair, completely n*ked.
They seemed to still be alive, continuously struggling, flailing their limbs, screaming in despair. As they were sent into the massive machines one after another with the rotation of the assembly line, the chilling cries faded away amid the constant cutting, crushing, pulling, and the hissing of the steam from the giant boilers, leaving only the hum of machinery echoing.
Seeing this scene, Li Daqiang recalled the various legends about the South Suburb Slaughterhouse.
It is said that in the quiet of the night, strange screams can be heard coming from the slaughterhouse.
Some people have seen massive figures moving inside the slaughterhouse from hills far away.
The factory manager mysteriously disappeared and has never been found; some speculate that he might be hiding somewhere in the slaughterhouse.
And…
There are a group of animals that raise humans living in the slaughterhouse.
Li Daqiang’s gaze wandered along the walls of the factory, and as expected, he found many openings similar to where he was now.
No doubt, those rooms were where pigs awaiting slaughter were kept, and the factory ahead was the slaughterhouse’s assembly line, Li Daqiang thought.
“Bang—bang—bang—!”
Just as he was contemplating, a heavy thudding sound, almost like drumbeats, echoed in his ears, disrupting his thoughts.
Before he could react, a gigantic head appeared at the opening ahead.
It was a head covered in black hair, with fat piled into wrinkles, and deep, lazy, round eyes lacking emotion. It met Li Daqiang’s gaze for a moment, then grinned, revealing a row of razor-sharp fangs.
That detached smile carried a hint of mockery, akin to humans observing caged animals, sending chills down his spine.
In an instant, Li Daqiang’s ears were buzzing, his body felt as if it had been injected with a sedative, rendering him unable to heed his brain’s commands. A massive whirlpool seemed to appear in his mind, spinning rapidly and pulling his consciousness in inch by inch.
In a panic, he bit down hard on his tongue; the pain and the taste of bl**d spread through his mouth, and he snapped back to reality, using all his limbs to retreat quickly.
Just halfway back, he saw several rusty hooks flying towards the opening of the tunnel, their sharp points clashing against the tunnel walls, sparking a shower of bright embers.
The flickering sparks blurred Li Daqiang’s vision, and the next moment, he felt a piercing pain in his chest and shoulder, accompanied by a horrifying tugging force. In that moment of distraction, the hooks tore large chunks of flesh from him.
“Bang—!”
Li Daqiang finally escaped from the tunnel’s opening back into the dark room, collapsing heavily onto the ground. Scalding bl**d gushed from his wounds, making his consciousness feel increasingly hazy.
He sensed that the pair of eyes that had been secretly watching him had appeared once again, observing him from somewhere out of sight.
But this time, he understood where that peculiar gaze was coming from.
It was the urban legend hidden in the slaughterhouse!
In his dazed state, he heard footsteps approaching from the darkness, with someone gradually closing in.
Before long, a figure wearing a black coat and a fisherman’s hat appeared beside him.
“Help… help…” He instinctively cried for help, but the figure crouched beside him and slowly pulled out a slaughtering kn*fe from its chest.
“I’m sorry, I can’t save you. I’ve made a deal with someone; tonight only one person can survive, and it must be me.”
The person sneered as they spoke, gripping the slaughtering kn*fe tightly and ruthlessly stabbing towards Li Daqiang’s chest.
——————
Far away, on a hillside outside the South Suburb Slaughterhouse.
“Ah! Li Weiyi has appeared, but… but…”
The cat-eared girl stuttered, then turned her head to see a tall, thin man staring at his phone, grinning foolishly. Her expression darkened as she raised her hand and gave him a hard slap on the head.
“Stop looking! Is it really so interesting watching people talk nonsense? Come on, help me analyze why Li Weiyi wants to k*ll Li Daqiang.”
“Honestly, there’s not much point in watching people talk nonsense, but if it’s a beautiful girl talking…” The man began, but suddenly caught a glimpse of the cat-eared girl raising her pink fist; he hurriedly changed his words. “Uh, well, isn’t this a simple matter? A little analysis will make it clear.”
“Then analyze it for me!”
“The fact that Li Weiyi can survive is already suspicious, and now he attacks someone else who’s under review. Can we deduce that he has made some sort of deal with the urban legend in the slaughterhouse?” the man answered.
“A deal?” The cat-eared girl furrowed her willow eyebrows. “But the urban legend in the slaughterhouse doesn’t see people as human! How could it possibly make a deal with him?”
“…” The man contemplated for a few seconds, his expression deepening as he spoke with disdain, “That’s quite simple. If you can’t survive standing, then kneel. So, Li Weiyi just needs to not see himself as human.”
“Think about it. If you had a herd of livestock, but there was one that was particularly clever and exceptionally pleasing to you, what would you do?”
You would treat them as pets… The cat-eared girl silently answered this in her mind but didn’t say it out loud.
She held a deep-rooted aversion towards the term “pet” from the core of the urban legend’s being.
While she was still pondering, the man’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
“Believe it or not, Wang Buliu actually has a talent for being a streamer.” The man pointed to the phone.
“What talent could she possibly have?”
“She’s particularly good at speaking.”
The cat-eared girl, “……”
—————
On the other side, in the open space inside the South Suburb Slaughterhouse’s entrance, Luxianbei took small steps, moving forward bit by bit.
According to the rules, as long as you take a hundred steps, right?
There’s no specification for how far each step needs to be.
Big steps aren’t good; they can easily lead to accidents.
As she moved forward, she held her phone, narrating various legends about the South Suburb Slaughterhouse that she read online in a creepy tone.
“… And that is all the various legends about the South Suburb Slaughterhouse.”
“Although these terrifying legends are spine-chilling just to think about, sometimes I wonder, if there are higher intelligence beings in this world besides humans, would they see humans as food simply because they are a little different?”
After explaining a lot, Luxianbei glanced at her phone screen and suddenly noticed that the number of viewers in the livestream had been increasing; in just half an hour, it had surpassed twenty thousand.
However, the viewers didn’t seem to buy her urban legend stories.
Assassin Happy Sheep: “Urban legend livestream? Another woman walking on the path to self-destruction. Tsk tsk, some people are alive, but she’s already dead.”
Protect Caldea: “The South Suburb Slaughterhouse? That place is nothing interesting. If you’re so impressive, why not stroll around Happy Neighborhood? Or Wolong Hill is fine too!”
Thirty-Six Heads Seventy-Two Arms: “Just arrived, could DIO please tell me which is the urban legend and which is the streamer?”
Fox King of Qingqiu Mountain: “Huh? Isn’t this a beautiful girl ASMR livestream? She just spoke pretty well, and her voice is nice; I almost fell asleep.”
Daoist Priest of Qincheng Mountain: “The one with the phone is the streamer; the one speaking is the urban legend.”
Luxianbei noticed that the barrage didn’t share the tense and exciting atmosphere she felt while exploring the South Suburb Slaughterhouse, scratching her head and saying, “Wait, isn’t it a bit frightening to livestream exploring such a creepy slaughterhouse? Aren’t you scared at all?”
Network Old Pervert 048: “Since the beautiful streamer is speaking, brothers, show your fear on the screen!”
The screen was flooded with “scared” messages flying by.
Luxianbei, “……”
It seemed they weren’t scared at all.
What’s wrong with today’s dumb netizens?
Is their mental fortitude really that strong?
While pondering, Luxianbei’s gaze swept across her phone screen, casually responding to one of the barrage’s questions.
Assassin Happy Sheep: “By the way, streamer, aren’t you going to take a look inside those houses? Aren’t you doing an urban legend livestream?”
“Well… I’m scared!” Luxianbei admitted candidly.
Thirty-Six Heads Seventy-Two Arms: “d*mn! That voice… I’m all set!”
Protect Caldea: “Scared? Streamer, do you want me to gather a few viewers to protect you? I’m quite familiar with the area around the South Suburb Slaughterhouse!”
Anonymous User: “Conflict of interest, I’m anon. I should warn the previous brother that it’s best not to go to the South Suburb Slaughterhouse tonight; something big might happen there.”
An anonymous message stirred up a storm, and the barrage in the livestream instantly became chaotic.
Assassin Happy Sheep: “d*mn! Why does this person sound so strange? Could it be that the streamer’s alternate account is here for show?”
Protect Caldea: “Big deal? How big could it be? I’ve been wandering the world for years without fear.”
Daoist Priest of Qincheng Mountain: “What he said is true; I just calculated, and all the viewers here, including the streamer, shouldn’t go out tonight. It’s best to stay indoors and find a dog to sleep with.”
Lonely Widow Waiting for Old Wang: “Huh? I only have a teddy dog; is that okay?”
Anonymous User: “I’m not joking! According to reliable sources, people from the Solar Eclipse Society might appear near the South Suburb Slaughterhouse tonight.”
Protect Caldea exited the livestream…
Assassin Happy Sheep exited the livestream…
Lonely Widow Waiting for Old Wang exited the livestream…
…
The Solar Eclipse Society? Luxianbei’s pupils constricted momentarily.
What were those guys doing in this place?
Wait, earlier when they reinforced the seal, they discovered a damaged area…
Could it be that those guys did it?
Luxianbei pondered and turned her gaze back to the phone screen to see if the anonymous user had continued to disclose any important information, only to find that the livestream was in an unexpected silence.
After that anonymous user, no one had sent any messages, and the viewer count had plummeted from over twenty thousand to just over five hundred.
Luxianbei, “……”
d*mn it! They’re here messing with the Solar Eclipse Society, and I haven’t received any gifts yet! They scared everyone away!
Blocking my fortune, this grudge is one that can’t be forgiven; if you dare come today…
If I can beat you, I’ll give you a good look, but if I can’t, I’ll remember this grudge! Luxianbei thought.
As the barrage fell silent and the viewer count dwindled, she lost interest in the livestream. She set her phone aside, took the guitar case off her shoulder, and pulled out a pair of ancestral kitchen knives, gripping them tightly.
At that moment, a lonely barrage drifted across her phone screen.
Daoist Priest of Qincheng Mountain: “Good knives! Are you selling them?”
Luxianbei didn’t notice the message, stowing her phone in her pocket and looking up at the buildings engulfed in darkness.
Since there was a possibility that the people from the Solar Eclipse Society would appear, she had to hurry and notify the other individuals under review. At the very least, she needed to let that girl know, whether she was Jiang Li or Miaomiao Sauce.
Moreover, if there was really danger, it would be safer to mix in with the crowd, and if something happened, she could fight back first, right?
Luxianbei thought, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tightened her grip on the kitchen knives, heading in the direction where the girl had disappeared, following her memories.
