Chapter 16
Inside the cramped elevator.
Jiang Li stood side by side with that thing.
Using the full-length mirror on the side of the elevator, she caught a glimpse of a corner at the back, where a fresh puddle of blood remained.
The air was filled with an unpleasant, bloody stench.
Jiang Li frowned slightly, suppressing the discomfort in her stomach.
She reached out and pressed the number “1” on the elevator panel.
The elevator’s circuitry seemed unstable.
She had barely touched the button when the elevator lights flickered twice with a “zzzt zzzt” sound.
In the wavering light, the woman standing next to Jiang Li vanished in the blink of an eye.
At the same time,
An electronic voice announcement sounded in Jiang Li’s ears.
“Current floor, four, floor.”
“Elevator descending, please be aware-”
“Elevator descending, please be aware!!”
The voice grew increasingly gritted and menacing toward the end.
As soon as the announcement finished, the flickering white bulb in the elevator flashed twice more, then returned to normal.
Inside the elevator, it was as bright as before.
Jiang Li stood in front of the control panel.
Her Eyes were fixed on the elevator’s digital display.
The number there slowly changed from “4” to “3”.
Jiang Li calmly withdrew her gaze.
For some reason, inside this elevator, Jiang Li kept feeling a chill at the back of her neck.
As if something unclean was lurking there.
Jiang Li thought for a moment, then took out the flip Pocket Watch from her pocket and opened it.
Using the mirror inside the Pocket Watch, Jiang Li saw what was behind her.
Her scalp instantly tingled!
The woman who had disappeared was now standing right behind her, nose extended, sniffing fiercely at Jiang Li’s neck.
It felt as if she was preparing to savor a fine delicacy.
Sensing Jiang Li’s gaze, the thing behind her lifted its head.
Jiang Li saw her face clearly.
Her cheeks were gaunt, eye sockets sunken.
Her lifeless skin was cracked like parched earth, forming a grid of fissures.
Especially at the corners of her mouth, there were fresh, rust-colored traces of blood.
As if she had just feasted.
Noticing Jiang Li looking at her, the woman’s Eyes suddenly lit up.
She grabbed Jiang Li’s arm excitedly. “You can… see me?”
The woman’s voice was hoarse, as if her vocal cords had been slashed by a knife.
Jiang Li raised her hand to shake her off, stepping aside.
“I can’t find my way home. Take me home!”
The woman ordered Jiang Li in a commanding tone.
Jiang Li had no intention of responding.
“Take me home! Take me home!”
The woman drifted back and forth on either side of Jiang Li.
Her voice was chilling, clinging to Jiang Li, relentlessly pursuing her.
“Home… home! Take me home now!!”
The woman was growing increasingly agitated.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Li caught sight of the mirror on the elevator wall.
She saw that the woman’s cracked skin was peeling off in patches, like old paint.
Jiang Li stepped aside, ignoring the thing’s request.
After a while of entanglement,
The elevator’s voice announcement sounded at just the right moment-
“Elevator, first floor, arrived.”
“Elevator, first floor, arrived!”
“Elevator doors opening, please watch your step and stay safe!”
This time, the announcement was very different from before.
This time, it was stifling a laugh.
The barely suppressed amusement in the voice made Jiang Li feel a wave of discomfort.
“Ding dong-”
The elevator doors opened, the lights illuminating a path for Jiang Li.
That pale woman clung to Jiang Li’s arm, her tone softening:
“Please, take me home. I can’t find my way home.”
Jiang Li pried the woman’s hand off and stepped forward to leave.
As soon as she lifted her foot, a low chuckle spilled eagerly from the voice broadcast.
It was just a faint sound, but Jiang Li caught it.
What was that?
Jiang Li froze for half a second.
She glanced at the digital display, which clearly showed the number “1.”
But the number “1” looked strange-crooked and twisted, as if smeared on with blood.
This time, Jiang Li tentatively took half a step toward the elevator doors.
That low chuckle sounded again.
Something was wrong.
Thinking of the blood at the corner of the woman’s mouth, and the pool of blood in the elevator corner-
Jiang Li’s sixth sense told her that if she stepped out of the elevator, that pool of blood might be her own fate.
Jiang Li withdrew her foot.
The unease in her heart grew stronger.
Jiang Li glanced back at the woman. The cracks on the woman’s face had disappeared.
The Red-dressed Woman seemed to see hope, her smile blooming instantly like a flower.
“You’re going to help me, aren’t you? Help me go home!”
A smile blossomed at the corners of the woman’s mouth.
Jiang Li eyed her suspiciously.
Had this woman… just wiped her mouth?
Jiang Li distinctly remembered that just a second ago, the woman still looked as if she had just eaten someone.
Jiang Li lowered her gaze in thought, her index finger twitching slightly.
Suddenly, she looked up sharply!
A bold idea unfolded in Jiang Li’s mind-
She looked at the elevator mirror, her pupils contracting abruptly.
In the mirror, the Red-dressed Woman’s skin looked ghostly, her hair splayed out in all directions, her pale skin cracked into pieces, and blood still clung to the corners of her mouth.
In the corner of the elevator, blood was pooled everywhere…
But outside the mirror, the woman’s face, aside from being a bit pale, looked completely normal.
Even the elevator corner showed no trace of blood.
Corridor Rules, Rule Six:
[What you see may not always be real.]
So the scene in the mirror was the real one!
Jiang Li’s scalp tingled.
If that’s the case, had she missed something…
“The elevator doors are about to close-” the voice broadcast urged.
Jiang Li ignored it.
Suddenly, she seemed to remember something.
Jiang Li quickly pulled out the rules slip and held it up to the mirror.
In an instant,
All the writing on the slip was revealed without a doubt.
The original eight rules had now become nine!
[9. Neighbors are friendly to each other. If they seek help, you must not refuse.]
So the blood in the elevator was the result of refusing…
A chill ran down Jiang Li’s spine.
She recalled the scene not long ago when she asked the Red Infant about the rules:
“Baby, are there any incorrect rules?”
“Mommy, these are all correct.”
He was right-they were all correct.
The Red Infant hadn’t lied to her.
It’s just that Jiang Li hadn’t expected that the damned trap in the rules would be here.
The Red-dressed Woman was still speaking, “Help me go home, please help me, okay?”
Jiang Li composed herself and put away the slip of paper.
She looked up, trying to appear as friendly as possible to the woman.
“Alright, I’ll help you go home.”