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墨書 Inktalez
I stared in shock at the person in front of me, then turned my head to Hu Fang, who was standing nearby with a silly grin. "Is this your masterpiece?" I asked. Hu Fang didn't respond, just nodded slightly.
I understood and raised the bag in my hand. "Here, I bought you breakfast. Eat up and get ready to work."
The three of them moved to the table in the dining area and sat down. I took a bite of the cream puff in my hand, suddenly remembering something. I quickly swallowed the food and asked Hu Fang, "Did you tell Li Zhisheng about what happened between us?"
Hu Fang was gobbling down her food, her mouth full. She made a 'K' gesture with her hand, which reassured me.
After we finished eating, I changed into a gray hoodie. Li Zhisheng and I stood silently at the entrance, waiting for the right moment to arrive.
Before long, footsteps echoed from upstairs, followed by the elevator's "ding" as it opened. Hearing this, I pulled the hood over my head and gestured for Li Zhisheng to start moving.
Li Zhisheng shook his clothes and pulled open the door, heading toward the elevator while pressing the down button. Before the elevator doors opened fully, I stepped out and waited at a distance behind him.
As the elevator doors opened with a "ding," Li Zhisheng stepped inside first while I pretended to be flustered and rushed in after him. Just as the doors were about to close, I reached out and stopped them from shutting, causing them to open again.
I lowered my hood and walked in with my head down. Noticing that one of the floor buttons had already been pressed, I quietly stood in a corner of the elevator while Li Zhisheng stood behind me. On the other side was a middle-aged couple; the woman looked sullen while the man appeared somewhat anxious. His hands were clenched tightly at his sides, his sleeves trembling as if he feared something.
I thought to myself, "Given how far apart they are standing, they must be a couple, but it seems like they've just had an argument." As I pondered this, I glanced up at the floor indicator; we had already descended to the seventh floor. Although we were close to reaching the ground floor, I suddenly felt a heavy atmosphere enveloping us.
When the elevator's display showed four, there was a sudden violent jolt, and the lights above flickered incessantly. "Ah!" The woman next to us screamed in terror.
The shaking didn't last long; it stopped almost immediately, and with it, the overhead lights went out completely. Li Zhisheng tugged at me from behind, trying hard to remain calm. "Could this... be an elevator malfunction?"
I didn't answer him but cursed inwardly, thinking, "Damn it, how could this happen? After all that preparation..."
"Don't be afraid; don't... be afraid; I'm here!" The man's voice broke through the darkness. The woman replied with a trembling voice, "How can I not be afraid? It might... be her..." Upon hearing this, the man quickly interrupted her. "Don't be ridiculous; how could that possibly happen..."
"Hey—are you two friends who just got on? Are you there?" The man called out to us. I didn't want to speak up at first, but given the situation, I had no choice but to lower my voice as much as possible to make it sound like mine.
"Here! Don't panic." Li Zhisheng mimicked my voice, saying, "Yeah, does anyone have the property management's number? Call them to come fix this... If that doesn't work, we can report..." Just as Li Zhisheng was about to suggest calling the police, he realized it was the wrong thing to say and quickly shut his mouth.
"I have the property management's number," a man replied. I then heard some rustling sounds, as if he was searching for his phone.
At that moment, I suddenly caught a whiff of a strange odor. It was an odd smell, a mix of something foul with a hint of rust, spreading through the elevator.
"What is that smell?" I heard the woman cover her mouth and ask in terror. As she finished speaking, the surroundings fell into a deathly silence; there was no sound from the man anymore.
A thought flashed through my mind: "Blood! This is the smell of blood!" The woman, noticing the prolonged silence, panicked and exclaimed, "Why are you taking so long to find your phone? Where are you?!"
I thought to myself, "That man is probably in serious trouble. But he hasn't made a sound; what on earth happened..." With that thought, my curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to pull out my phone to check.
Just then, the woman lit up her phone screen before I could. In that instant, both Li Zhisheng and I saw the man leaning against the elevator wall.
His neck had been severed cleanly; blood gushed out from where his head used to be. He was holding his own head in his hands.
The face of the head he held showed no expression; its eyes had been completely gouged out, empty sockets oozing blood.
The woman nearly fainted at the sight. She screamed, "Ah!" and then shouted, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! It wasn't my intention; it was your husband's idea! Blame him!"
As she shouted, her hand trembled and her phone slipped from her grasp, landing screen-up at her feet. With the upward illumination from the screen, I suddenly saw a grotesque Evil Spirit crawling on her back. The Evil Spirit grinned wickedly and extended two withered arms, its sharp fingers plunging into the woman's chest in an instant.
The woman froze for a moment before looking down at her chest in shock. Just at that moment, the Evil Spirit pulled its hands apart forcefully, tearing open her chest. Blood splattered onto my face instantly; I instinctively closed my eyes and raised my arms to shield myself.
But after a while, nothing happened. I cautiously lowered my arms and opened my eyes to be greeted by blinding sunlight streaming in.
I thought to myself, "Could it be that the rescue team has arrived? Am I saved?" As I pondered this, I hurriedly rubbed my eyes. But when I opened them again, I was stunned by what lay before me.
Li Zhisheng was standing perfectly fine in front of the elevator; the doors had not opened. Confused, I looked at my hands—there were no traces of blood... Just as I was trying to make sense of it all, I suddenly heard a "ding" sound from the elevator.
The elevator doors opened, and to my shock, I saw the same two people inside that I had just encountered. However, Li Zhisheng was completely unaware and stepped forward into the elevator.
At that moment, my instincts screamed that I could not let him go in. In an instant, I dashed towards Li Zhisheng like an arrow released from a bow.
Just as he was about to enter the elevator, I grabbed his shirt with all my strength and yanked him back out. I smiled at the two people inside the elevator and said, "Sorry, you can go ahead."
The two inside looked at me with disdain, muttering under their breath, "Crazy..." as they pressed the button to close the elevator doors.
Li Zhisheng, confused, patted me on the shoulder and asked, "Hey, what's going on?" I pointed to the Emergency Exit Stairs nearby and replied, "I still don't understand what's happening. For now, we need to get out of here..."
With that, I pushed open the Emergency Exit door and hurried down the stairs. Seeing my urgency, Li Zhisheng sensed something was off and followed closely behind.
As we reached the sixth floor, a heart-wrenching scream echoed through the air. The sound was so tragic it made my heart tremble.
Li Zhisheng grabbed me from behind and exclaimed, "There are no cameras here, nor could there be any listening devices. What is going on?"
I hesitated for a moment before saying, "This is really complicated to explain. Right now, our priority is to leave; otherwise, we might attract the police and jeopardize our plan. I could be in danger."
After a moment of contemplation, Li Zhisheng said, "Alright, I trust you. Should we continue with our original plan?" I nodded in agreement.
Then we both hurried down the stairs. As we reached the first floor and had not yet exited the stairwell, I paused and let Li Zhisheng go ahead. I waited a few minutes before putting on my hat and finally left the apartment building.
As soon as I reached the district entrance, I saw Li Zhisheng getting into a taxi. Watching him drive away made me anxious; I feared he might get too far.
I quickly scanned my surroundings and noticed a taxi idling under a tree across the street that Li Zhisheng seemed to have missed.
I rushed over without thinking much and pulled open the passenger door to hop in. "Driver, follow that car up ahead but keep your distance."
The driver was dozing off but quickly straightened up at my command. Buckling his seatbelt while starting the engine, he cautiously asked me, "Are you undercover?"
I suddenly felt bewildered, thinking to myself, "Could it be that this driver mistook me for an undercover agent chasing a fugitive?" With that thought, I decided to play along, saying, "Don't ask too many questions. Just follow the car. If you lose it, who's going to take responsibility?"
To my surprise, he took me seriously and pressed down on the gas pedal, responding earnestly, "Yes, I guarantee I'll complete the mission."
I nearly burst out laughing at his response and managed to suppress my amusement. "Well, if you perform well, you might even get a commendation," I added. After hearing this, the driver dared not slack off and followed Li Zhisheng's car at a careful distance.
Before long, Li Zhisheng's car came to a stop. The driver quickly asked me, "What should we do now?!" I pointed to a noodle shop nearby and said, "Just stop there."
The driver complied and slowed down, parking not far from the Dead Apostle Exhibition Hall at a ramen shop. "Well done," I told him as I handed him a red bill before getting out of the car.
To my surprise, the driver leaned out of the window and called after me, "Hey, comrade! Come back; I haven't collected your fare yet..." I turned around and glared at him. Realizing he had overstepped, he sheepishly pulled his head back inside and turned the car around to leave.
I walked into the noodle shop and found a seat where I could see the Dead Apostle Exhibition Hall. I casually ordered a bowl of noodles and began eating while keeping my eyes fixed on Li Zhisheng, who had already entered the exhibition hall.
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