Chapter 25: You Can Only Stay in Africa for This Lifetime
“Bang—!”
Luxianbei jumped down from the high platform by the window, his feet touched the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust. As the dust fell like a curtain, a sharp pain flashed in his eyes, and the dimly lit hotel lobby suddenly became bright, as if the darkness of a sound-activated light room had been disturbed.
Sturdy stone pillars connected vast spaces of varying heights, and the grand chandelier on the ceiling didn’t light up, yet a murky yellow light illuminated the surroundings.
Under this glow, the entire building gave off an illusion of elongated space, exuding a magnificent aura, like a palace in a sunset.
Dimly glowing dark red air currents swirled in the lobby, resembling enormous ribbons with no visible ends.
Numerous figures appeared in the hotel lobby; their limbs were long, strange, and slender, their bodies seemingly built from chaotic black lines, resembling disembodied shadows, yet with a variety of numb faces.
Luxianbei had encountered such peculiar figures many times already. In fact, most of the black shadows he saw on the streets were similar existences, always disappearing quickly after a fleeting glance.
But this time, they showed no signs of disappearing, and there were so many of them!
They passed through the stone pillars, melted into the walls, or emerged from beneath the ground, continuing to wander aimlessly around the lobby, like soulless zombies, occasionally murmuring incoherently.
The muffled murmurs were sometimes fragmented, sometimes sharp, sometimes frantic, sometimes insane; when heard, it felt as if his emotions were being affected, causing his mind to swell with confusion.
At the moment Luxianbei landed, all sounds fell silent, and those strange figures stopped in their tracks, turning to look at him.
Why does it feel like a little thief who breaks in through a window, only to find a group of fierce criminals inside? Luxianbei thought nervously, cold sweat sliding down his temples.
Under the gaze of hundreds of soulless eyes, he felt as if he had turned to stone, standing frozen in place. After a long pause, he expressionlessly waved at the strange figures.
“Uh, hello everyone! I might be in the wrong place, so, uh, I’ll just leave!”
Although he had seen these strange figures more than once, he had no idea what caused their existence, nor what would happen if they set their sights on him; all he wanted now was to get out quickly!
As soon as he finished speaking, the strange figures simultaneously looked away and continued wandering around the lobby.
Soon, the entire lobby began to buzz with noise, eerie whispers echoing throughout the empty space.
They seem uninterested in me? Luxianbei furrowed his brows; while that was good, he still felt….
What’s with this feeling of “the zombie opened your brain, sighed, and walked away in disappointment”? This is insulting!
While he pondered that, a dull pain began to stir in his stomach; it seemed Zhu Linglong was growing impatient, urging him to move forward.
“Got it, got it! If it were you, wouldn’t you be scared in this situation? Can’t you at least let me adjust a bit?”
Luxianbei impatiently complained as he lifted the Ming King statue, mustering his courage to cautiously walk deeper into the lobby.
As he walked, Luxianbei clenched the Ming King statue tightly, prepared to swing the heavy bronze figure at those strange figures at any moment.
However, those strange figures seemed to completely disregard his presence, continuing on their way.
Passing by those peculiar figures, Luxianbei finally heard their murmured content.
“The stocks fell again, they fell again… If they fall any further, I’ll have to go to the rooftop!”
“Ugh, with this illness, I… I fear there’s no hope left for me?”
“d*mn it! d*mn it! I’m going to k*ll you adulterous couple!”
……
Luxianbei listened quietly to the whispers, secretly pondering.
They all seemed to be complaining about some unfortunate matters?
Could they be the souls of the dead with grievances? Or did they emerge from the resentment of humanity itself?
As Luxianbei speculated about the origins of these strange figures, he thought that the next time he went to the Siye Society, he must borrow The Book of Siye to take a look.
According to An Qing, that book recorded all known types of urban legends in the Siye Society; since he had already come into contact with these things, it was necessary to brush up on the basics.
“Ten tries! I’ve spent ten tries with nothing to show for it! Is this how I’m going to spend my life in Africa?” Luxianbei thought, when suddenly such a voice floated into his ears.
He glanced at the strange figure who had just walked past him, rolled his eyes, and thought, so you’re breaking down over just ten tries?
Even though not getting anything after ten tries is already tough, this guy’s on a completely different level from the previous few!
If I hadn’t gotten anything after ten tries….
Just as the thought “if only” flashed through Luxianbei’s mind, the strange figure that had passed by suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked toward him.
Hearing the murmured complaints about spending money with no returns growing closer from behind, Luxianbei abruptly turned around, and that face abruptly invaded his vision, almost touching his own.
With a numb, stiff expression, murky, soulless eyes, and pale, cracked lips that twisted grotesquely, it emitted a series of low murmurs.
His heart sank, and he trembled all over, jumping back a significant distance, his form swaying dangerously, nearly falling to the ground.
“What the hell… Hey! Hey! Don’t come any closer, don’t come any closer! d*mn it!”
As the strange figure got increasingly closer, Luxianbei felt a scratchy, chill sensation inside him, without thinking, he cursed and ran away.
With the temporary closure of the resort hotel, the elevators naturally stopped operating. Luxianbei rushed through the lobby, pushed open the heavy iron door leading to the emergency exit, and rushed up several floors before finally gasping for breath and leaning against the wall to rest.
Once he had calmed down slightly and straightened up, his gaze inadvertently swept across his chest, freezing him in surprise.
A dark red thread extended from his chest, trailing along the corridor he had just run through, disappearing below.
The texture of that thread looked remarkably similar to the dim red air currents drifting in the lobby.
“Ten tries! I’ve spent ten tries with nothing to show for it! Is this the way I’m going to spend my life in Africa?”
Whispers vaguely reached his ears, and Luxianbei suddenly realized something, his face going pale.
It seemed he had formed a strange resonance with that strange figure’s complaint of “spending money with no returns” for some reason!
The voices in his ears grew clearer, as if that strange figure was following the track of the dark red thread, getting closer.
Luxianbei rubbed his forehead, thinking, I shouldn’t have run my mouth and criticized others! Now look, I’m being tangled up in this!
Who knows what would happen if it caught up to me!
“You can only stay in Africa for this lifetime…” A faint murmuring rang in his ears, with these words heard especially clearly.
Luxianbei, “……” Don’t you dare change the dialogue on your own!
After silently cursing in his heart, Luxianbei suddenly felt a surge of energy within him, and without a moment’s pause, he turned and continued running upstairs.
What kind of ridiculous urban legend is this!? Isn’t it a little too terrifying!?
Go for it! Luxianbei! Bet on your future luck for draws; you absolutely cannot let it catch up to you! Luxianbei shouted in his mind.
……
Unsure if his obsession with draw rates had sparked his human potential, Luxianbei ran from the lobby to the scene where Zhu Linglong was slain on the twelfth floor in less than three minutes.
He stumbled through the door to the emergency exit, and a strong musty smell hit him, mixed with a faint trace of bl**d.
The windows in the corridor were tightly shut and boarded up, with only a bit of sunlight filtering through the gaps, preventing the entire corridor from being plunged into darkness.
Luxianbei glanced down at his chest; the dark red thread was still there, but the whispers in his ears had fallen silent.
That strange figure didn’t seem to have pursued him, and he wondered if it feared something.
The corridor was T-shaped, branched out to both sides, with several dust-covered brown doors tightly shut, and some mold spots had already grown on the light gray carpet, while the white walls were marked with oddly shaped stains.
Standing in the empty, dimly lit corridor, the complete silence unnerved Luxianbei, and he tightened his grip on the Ming King statue’s arm.
Although this place was far from the “liveliness” of the lobby below, it gave him an extremely uncomfortable sensation, as if the murky air had turned gelatinous, flowing slowly.
A chilling breeze brushed past, causing the doors on either side of the corridor to creak faintly. Although the sound was very soft, it sounded particularly piercing in this extraordinarily quiet environment, making Luxianbei worry that something strange would burst out from within.
“Gulp—!” Luxianbei swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice low as he said, “Miss Zhu, should I go that way? The left side?”
“…”
“The right side?”
A slight pain shot through his stomach, and Luxianbei nodded in understanding, confirming the direction before heading toward the right side of the corridor.
At the end of the right corridor was a corner, and as he approached the bend, Luxianbei cautiously slowed his pace, pressing himself against the wall, peering around the half-corner to look at the corridor on the other side.
On the other side of the corner, the corridor was empty, approximately ten meters long, and at the end of the corridor stood a pair of traditional Chinese-style double doors, the brown doors carved with exquisite patterns and embedded with copper rings.
Perhaps because Zhu Linglong had met her demise inside, barriers were set one or two meters in front of the door, along with a caution tape and a sign saying, “No Entry for Unauthorized Personnel.”
After confirming that there was nothing strange hiding on the other side of the corner, Luxianbei took a deep breath and walked over. In that instant, his eyes felt as if they were warning him of imminent danger, sending a strong burning sensation.
In the next moment, cold sweat broke out all over him as he froze in place.
In the originally empty corridor, a figure appeared!
A tall person in a black cloak, holding a bloody crowbar!
The figure had its back to Luxianbei and twisted its neck rigidly, bones cracking with a “click-click” sound, like an owl rotating one hundred eighty degrees, half-hidden beneath the hood was a fuzzy rabbit mouth.
Sweat pooled in his palms, and his heart raced to its peak, the fear of d*ath crashed in like a tidal wave, as if it were going to tear him apart.
Luxianbei locked eyes with the pair of crimson eyes beneath the cloak for three seconds; then it suddenly charged toward him!
