CH 41

(Part 2 – Endless Stairs)

Edited by Silver Wind 

It was quiet both up and down the stairs.

Shen Dongqing was originally walking in the middle with Zhou Wenyan at the front and Blueberry at the back.

But right now, both of them had disappeared.

The beam of light emitted by the phone he was holding flickered and it issued a notification that the phone was low on battery. 

He pondered his options for a short beat and took out a card.

A petite old lady materialised from nothing and as she pressed a palm against her chest, she could not stop gasping: “Huff huff huff—” When her breathing finally stabilised, she opened her mouth to ask, “Cough cough… little brat, whose life do you want this old woman to demand?”

Shen Dongqing shook his head: “I’m not demanding a life.”

The Old Lady widened her eyes, “Not demanding a life? Then what did you ask this old woman to come out for?”

Shen Dongqing said: “To climb the stairs. Climb upwards, only stop when you reach the 14th floor.”

Faltering, the Old Lady stretched out her hand. “You… Why don’t you have a shred of respect for the old or concern for the young ah! This old woman is more than a hundred years old, and you want me to climb the stars? You’re abusing the elderly like this ah.”

Shen Dongqing felt like she was quite correct by saying that, asking an old lady who was more than a century old to climb the stairs was too immoral.

Fortunately, he was a person who knew how to learn from his mistakes and said sincerely, “You speak correctly so you should climb down the stairs and when you reach the end, inform me.” 

Old Lady: ……

Was there any difference?

She still wanted to be unreasonable and make a scene, but when she remembered how Shen Dongqing had grabbed her prior to this, she decided to listen to him obediently and start limping down the stairs.

Shen Dongqing took out another card. 

C atlc jcv rwjii vkjgo jqqfjgfv.

Ktf vkjgo’r ojmf kjr mbibegfv klat afggbg, jcv la fnlvfcais gfwfwyfgfv Vtfc Gbcudlcu’r qgfnlber agfjawfca.

Vtfc Gbcudlcu lcragemafv: “Tbe kjix eq…”

Dfobgf tf mbeiv olclrt, atf vkjgo gjc eq atf rajlgr lc j ragfjx bo rwbxf. 

Cc biv jcv j rwjii utbra rlweiajcfberis vlrjqqfjgfv ogbw atf yfcv bo atf rajlgmjrf, ifjnlcu Vtfc Gbcudlcu rajcvlcu atfgf bc tlr ibcfrbwf jcv ojmlcu atf rmjgifa “13” bc atf kjii.

Shen Dongqing had left a mark on the bodies of both ghosts.

It was a stupid idea, but it was still effective in sounding out what exactly was the matter with these stairs.

However, after waiting for a while, an unexpected event happened because both ghosts disappeared and they did not even leave a trace of yin energy behind. 

At that moment, a female voice spoke from behind him: “Brother Shen…”

It was Blueberry’s voice and her last syllable was shaking as if she had encountered something extremely dangerous. Thus, she could not stop shouting: “Brother Shen, save me, save me!”

Shen Dongqing kept his phone without acknowledging the voice behind him. Instead, he felt for the staircase railings and started walking up.

When he reached another bend of the staircase, he was still on the thirteenth floor.

At this moment, his phone made a last-ditch struggle only to shut off because it had no battery left.

Under the circumstances where there was no light, the “13” on the wall became particularly bright.

“Dongqing, come here, it’s dangerous there.” Zhou Wenyan’s voice travelled from a faraway place. 

Shen Dongqing stuffed his phone back into his pocket again and turned around.

Neither Blueberry nor Zhou Wenyan were behind him; instead, a lanky figure was standing there. Its head was akin to a spiced corned egg with its bareness since it did not have hair, a nose or a pair of eyes, and all it had was a gigantic mouth.

Seeing that Shen Dongqing had turned around, it immediately issued a chilling laugh.

It was a ghost crying for souls. 

As long as the person they were crying for turned their head back, it could blow their soul lights out and absorb their souls.

Huu—

The Faceless Ghost moved closer and blew a gust of yin filled air.

No matter how its yin air was disrupted, the soul light on Shen Dongqing’s shoulder would… 

Wait, why didn’t this person have a soul light at all?

Before the Faceless Ghost could puzzle over the conundrum, it was pressed against the wall by Shen Dongqing.

“Blowing air?”

The Faceless Ghost keenly felt a scalding pain at the place it was being held by, and it made his entire ghost tremble. It was at that moment where it understood that it had kicked an iron plate so it shook its head desperately in response. “I, I…” 

Before he could get all his words out, it heard Shen Dongqing say, “It’s quite comfortable, blow more.”

There were no windows in this stairway and the air had no ventilation at all.  It was stuffy and hot, in addition to the pervasive putrid odour hanging in the air which was making him incredibly irked the longer he stayed there.

When that gust of yin air brushed past him just now, it made his heart untroubled and pleased his spirit.

Faceless Ghost: …… 

Shen Dongqing relaxed his grip.

Despite that, the Faceless Ghost did not dare to run and it became Shen Dongqing’s manual air conditioner, aggrieved.

While he was enjoying the cold air, Shen Dongqing asked: “What’s going on with these stairs?”

The Faceless Ghost replied, “They are endless stairs.” 

Shen Dongqing raised his head to observe it, and sure enough, the staircase above seemed to spiral without an end.

“Do you know how to get out of here?”

Faceless Ghost shook its head: “I’m being trapped here as well; I couldn’t get out no matter what.”

It had not been easy for it to meet someone who could become his meal but he unexpectedly bumped into a big boss. 

Shen Dongqing contemplated it for a moment before he turned around and walked down the stairs.

He did not forget to grab the Faceless Ghost, his air conditioner, to bring along with him.

They walked onto another bend. 

Yet, Shen Dongqing was faced with the bright “13” on the wall.

It was still the thirteenth floor.

Faceless Ghost: “You can’t get out. I don’t know how many years I’ve been walking in here, but I have always been on the thirteenth floor.”

Shen Dongqing stepped towards the door and pushed it. 

There was no lock and the metal door opened with a creak. Although the sound was not loud, it was particularly sharp in the quiet stairway.

Shen Dongqing had long been accustomed to the darkness and he stuck his head out to look.

Behind the door was not an exit, but the same kind of stairs, and the corresponding wall at the back had the exact same blood red “13” written on it.

Since they were endless stairs, it was definitely without an end. 

This made Shen Dongqing mutter to himself: “I hate deciphering games the most.”

Thus, he used the most simple and crude method— he flipped over the staircase railings and jumped down.