Chapter 115 An Extra Step on the Staircase

The severed tendons writhed on the ground like dying snakes before turning into black smoke and dissipating.

The growing chunks of flesh on the wall quickly withered and fell off, emitting the stench of rotting dead rat flesh.

Suddenly, the lantern began to shake violently, and the hand that emerged from the crack waved wildly.

Xie Xun continued to swing his sword, then slashed at the hand with a backhand strike.

"break!"

A flash of sword light, and the pale hand was severed at the wrist, falling to the ground still twitching.

The severed hand quickly melted into a pool of foul-smelling blood.

The lantern suddenly emitted a piercing shriek, and the cracks widened. Xie Xun showed no mercy, thrusting the Seven Star Sword straight at the lantern's core.

With a loud bang, the lantern seemed to be lit, emitting blue smoke. The fleshy color on the surface quickly faded, revealing the dry and blackened body underneath.

The landlady and the fat chef, kneeling on the ground, let out their final wails as their bodies began to decompose rapidly, eventually turning into two skeletons.

As the lanterns were destroyed, the strange phenomena in the kitchen began to subside.

The tendons on the wall fell off one by one, and the chunks of meat growing on the ground rotted rapidly, emitting a nauseating stench.

"vomit……"

Ah-chan, leaning against the wall, was still gagging. "This smell is too strong..."

As Lin Huairou opened the window, she complained, "This is disgusting. I should have brought a mask."

"It's finally over."

Zhou Wei glanced at the mess on the ground, let out a long sigh, and then took out his phone to make a call: "Old Zhang, take a few people to the kitchen of Chuanxiang Skewers on Hefang Street and have them cleaned up."

After hanging up the phone, he turned to smile at everyone, only to see Xie Xun poking at the charred remains of a lantern on the ground with the tip of his sword, his expression showing no sign of relaxation.

"What's wrong, Xiao Xie?"

Zhou Wei walked over, looking puzzled. "Is there anything else wrong?"

Xie Xun used the tip of his sword to pick up a charred fragment. "Captain Zhou, smell it."

Zhou Wei leaned closer to smell it, and his expression immediately changed.

Beneath the burnt smell, there was a faint, almost imperceptible, sweet, fishy aroma, exactly the same as the smell of the meat chunks from before.

"this……"

"It was destroyed too easily."

Xie Xun stood up, frowning as he looked around the rapidly decaying kitchen. "It's like... it's like it deliberately made us destroy this clone."

Fu Qinghuai, who was standing to the side, suddenly chuckled, "Xunxun, do you mean we were fooled by this broken lantern?"

Upon hearing this, everyone who had just breathed a sigh of relief tensed up again.

Lin Huairou leaned closer to examine the fragment, frowning as she said, "Something's definitely not right. Logically, there should be a strong connection between the main body and the clone, but after this thing was destroyed, I didn't feel any backlash at all."

Liu Xiuyuan looked out the window with worry, "Could it be... that the real head of the Liu family doesn't care about losing such an avatar?"

"ah……"

Ah-Can's voice suddenly trembled with tears, "Then all our efforts were for nothing?"

"It wasn't a complete waste of time."

Xie Xun sheathed the Seven Star Sword. "At least we now know that the main body of the Liu family is more troublesome than we thought."

Zhou Wei rubbed his temples, took out his phone again, and his voice was noticeably tense.

"I've sent the technical department to take samples. Now that we've found the remains of the clone, maybe we can follow the trail..."

Before he could finish speaking, his phone suddenly rang.

After listening for a while, his expression grew increasingly serious.

"What happened?" Lin Huairou asked.

After a long pause, Zhou Wei finally hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

"I just received word that a new barbecue restaurant has opened in the south of the city, and business has been booming these past few days. They say it's their meat skewers that are the best..."

He paused, glancing at the rotting pieces of meat on the ground. "Those who ate it all said they had never tasted such delicious meat before."

Everyone's hearts sank.

The lantern is destroyed, but clearly, the Liu family's influence extends far beyond this one place.

"I will send someone to keep an eye on this matter."

Zhou Wei sighed softly, "These bastards are like cockroaches; kill one and a whole bunch of them pop up."

He glanced at Ah-Can, whose face was pale, and Xie Xun, whose brows were furrowed, and then changed the subject, "But let's call it a day for tonight. Everyone, go back and rest."

While wiping the stains off her shoes, Lin Huairou pouted, "Captain Zhou, could you please give me a heads-up next time you're doing something disgusting? You've ruined my brand new shoes."

Everyone was amused by these words and was about to leave when Zhou Wei's phone rang again.

He glanced at the caller ID, looking slightly surprised, and walked over to answer it.

"What? When did this happen?...Okay, I understand."

Zhou Wei hung up the phone and looked at Xie Xun with a complicated expression. "Xiao Xie, there's something I might need to trouble you with."

"Is it that barbecue restaurant in the south of the city?"

Fu Qinghuai asked lazily, "What new tricks have you come up with this time?"

"It's not a barbecue restaurant."

Zhou Wei shook his head. "It's an old classmate of mine. He's now the director of studies at Yucai Middle School. I just heard him say that things haven't been peaceful in their school's laboratory building lately."

Lin Huairou immediately became interested, "Haunted? Tell me more!"

"They say that recently, many students have reported hearing strange crying sounds while studying in the lab building at night. Some even claim to have seen it in the hallway..."

Zhou Wei paused for a moment before continuing, "A faceless figure."

Xie Xun and Fu Qinghuai exchanged a glance.

"Most importantly,"

Zhou Wei lowered his voice, "My classmate also said that they found a very old lantern in the basement of the laboratory building."

The moment the word "lantern" was uttered, everyone's expression turned serious.

Xie Xun's eyes darkened slightly. "When are we going?"

"Tomorrow."

Zhou Wei glanced at the time. "Everyone's tired tonight, and we haven't eaten much. I'll treat everyone to a good meal next time."

After he finished speaking, he seemed to remember something, hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "My classmate said that the most strange thing about that laboratory building is the stairs. During the day, there are clearly twelve steps, but at night..."

Ah-Can swallowed nervously. "What happened tonight?"

"If you count it at night, it will become level thirteen."

Hearing this, Xie Xun frowned even more deeply.

"Alright, it's a deal then, see you at school tomorrow."

Zhou Wei glanced at his watch. "I have a report to finish at the bureau, so I have to go back first. Lao Liu, why don't you take everyone out for a late-night snack and put it on my tab?"

Liu Xiuyuan quickly waved his hand with a smile, "Captain Zhou, you're too kind. I can't accept this."

"Let him go."

Fu Qinghuai lazily put his arm around Xie Xun's shoulder and chuckled, "We've been busy all night, it's not unreasonable for us to treat him to a meal."

"That's perfect!"

Lin Huairou had already taken out her phone and started searching for nearby restaurants with great interest. "I know there's a good congee place in the alley ahead. It should still be open at this hour."

The group walked along Hefang Street into the alley.

The faint fragrance of osmanthus blossoms filled the air in Hangzhou late at night, finally dispelling the lingering smell of rotting flesh.

Ah-chan was still shaken.

"Team Leader Zhou was just mentioning that laboratory building..."

His voice trembled with nervousness, "An extra step on the stairs at night? That's terrifying!"