chapter 14
I was petrified, frozen in the corner, not daring to move – I even forgot to run.
After a few seconds, she made no further move. She just started dancing in the elevator like a puppet, lost in her own world.
My mind was blank; it was the first time I’d ever seen something so bizarre.
Finally, I snapped out of it. Just then, the elevator doors opened. I pushed past her and ran out without looking back.
I thought I’d reached the first floor, but to my shock, I was still on the sixteenth floor.
I couldn’t go back home, and jumping out the window wasn’t an option.
The only way left was the stairs.
I dashed down the stairwell as fast as I could.
The stairwell twisted floor after floor. Looking down, it was pitch black – there was no end in sight.
In the silence, only my frantic footsteps echoed on and on.
Panting, I didn’t dare stop for a second.
When I couldn’t run anymore, I stopped by the handrail, gasping for breath.
But even though I’d stopped, there were still “thud thud thud” footsteps echoing in the stairwell.
Rapid, urgent footsteps, as if someone – or something – was chasing me from behind.
Could it be… something had been following me all along?
Terrified, I didn’t dare stop and hurriedly continued running down.
But soon,
I realized that no matter how many floors I ran down, I always ended up back on the sixteenth floor.
I should have known – at times like this, you’re bound to run into the legendary Ghost Wall.
When I couldn’t run anymore, I just gave up. Might as well give up – if whatever was behind me caught up, so be it.
Clutching my heart, which felt like it was about to leap out of my chest,
I found a corner and pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Now that I was out of the elevator, my phone should have a signal. I could call the police, or at the very least, ask that person in the livestream for help – he definitely had a way to break this.
Sure enough,
I took out my phone, and the livestream chat was blowing up.
I scrolled through the endless barrage of comments until I finally found what that person had said.
His username was “Master Qingyun.”
He said: [Hey, stop running. You’re making my head spin.]
[Forget it – saving a life is more important than building a seven-story pagoda. Fate brought me to your livestream.]
[Right now, you’re experiencing Ghost Blinding. Running around blindly won’t get you out. Just go up one floor, leave directly from the stairwell, and break the Barrier first. If I’m right, you’ll still end up back on the sixteenth floor. Next, go back to your own home, act like you don’t know anything, find the Red Candle she used for the Blood Sacrifice, and drip your own blood onto the base of the candle. I’ll give you a chant – be sincere. Recite the chant as you drip the blood, and make sure to drip exactly three drops. Then flip the candle over, light it, and keep it burning. As long as the candle stays lit, she can’t get close to you. Hold out until midnight – I’ll get there as soon as I can.]
[If I don’t make it in time and the candle goes out, not even the gods can save you.]
Other fans in the livestream told me to call the police.
I listened to them and pulled out my phone to call the police.
But the call never got through – it was always a busy signal.
Texting the police didn’t work either.
So I could only ask the livestream viewers to help call the police for me.
But Master Qingyun said calling the police was useless. Even if the police came, they wouldn’t be able to find me – I was already trapped inside the Barrier.
My only option now was to save myself.