Chapter 7 The Basement on the Fifteenth Floor 1

"Chang'an, what's wrong?"

As I asked the question, I stepped out of the foyer and closed my front door behind me to avoid being overheard by Ma Zao hiding in the bedroom.

My friend noticed that I deliberately chose to have our conversation in the corridor of an apartment building. Although a little puzzled, he didn't ask any questions. Instead, he started making small talk with me: "I saw that you sent a text message saying you were asking the school for leave. Are you feeling unwell, or is there something urgent? If it's not convenient now, I'll come another day."

"It's fine, I just wasn't in the mood for class today." I first brushed off the matter of taking leave, then steered the conversation back to him, "Let's talk about your problem first. You don't look too well, and you even came to see me. Is there something you need my help with?"

"Yes, there is something..." His attention was more easily drawn than usual, and he was clearly preoccupied. "This matter... I can only discuss it with you."

"Oh?" I immediately became interested. "Could it be..."

Before I could even probe, he bluntly admitted, "It's exactly what you're thinking of."

I nodded as expected.

I know better than anyone how my friends and others perceive me. If there's any topic that specifically requires me as a consultant, it would only be something akin to a ghost story.

However, while I have visited the parties involved in many ghost stories on my own initiative, it is rare for the parties involved to take the initiative to consult me.

Besides, this time it was my friend who consulted me. He's not some clueless idiot lacking basic scientific knowledge, nor is he the type to make up stories to amuse me. I must take the clues he gave me seriously.

Thinking of this, the words that Asaho had just said suddenly echoed in my mind.

—I... am different from you, I am a jinx.

People who are with me, or who are connected to me, are always far more likely to be involved in bizarre events that cannot be explained by common sense than others.

Wait a minute, she just mentioned all this to me, and now something related to ghost stories is coming my way. Could it be that her power to bring misfortune is really at work?

It actually worked that well? This is too miraculous... I mean, it brought disaster right away.

Or is it just a coincidence?

In my opinion, Asaha is an absolutely incredible girl. If there is some causal relationship between this matter and her in some mysterious way, then I need to take her seriously to the highest level.

However, to be honest, without concrete evidence, even I cannot take Asahi's "jinx" remarks with complete seriousness.

"Since you have time, why don't you come to where I am now?" my friend said.

Ma is still at my house right now; I don't want to go far away.

"Can't we explain this here first?"

“It is possible…” he hesitated for a moment, “but if you don’t actually see it with your own eyes, even you might not believe me.”

"Yeah……"

"So you really have something urgent to attend to and can't get away? Then I'll wait until you've finished before I come."

That's what I said, but my friend's eyes were full of fervent expectation. If I rejected him here, he would be utterly devastated.

I made a pause gesture: "Give me a minute to think about it."

My friend could only patiently wait, while I lowered my head and began to think—

What I initially wanted to get from Asaho was nothing more than the secrets she was hiding, and she has already revealed them all, so you could say that I have solved half of my problem.

The other half of the task was to verify the truthfulness of what she told me.

In other words, we'll take care of her for a few days until she recovers enough to use her superpowers. Everything depends on whether she can actually use her superpowers. In other words, Asahi's situation has now changed from an "urgent matter" to something that "cannot be rushed."

I really want to keep a close watch on Mazao, but I can't stay inside all the time before she recovers—no, it doesn't seem impossible? I can get food by ordering takeout, and keeping the door closed is perfectly feasible. More importantly, I'm willing to do it.

However, after careful consideration, I reluctantly made another decision.

"Let's go, let's set off now."

"Great!" My friend was overjoyed.

"Wait for me a moment, I need to go home and tidy up, I'll be quick."

I asked my friend to wait outside. After I got home, I closed the door and went to the bedroom to tell Asaho that I needed to go out for a bit. Asaho didn't seem to expect her self-proclaimed "jinx" to be so quick to respond; she just told me to be careful when I went out. To prevent her from taking the gun back, I took my backpack with me and hid the gun in the deepest part of the bag.

Now that Mazao can't move around freely, I don't need to worry that she'll leave on her own while I'm away. However, concern makes me anxious, and I still overthink things, fearing that she might run away while I'm not around. My going out with friends now is also for other reasons.

Being alone best reveals a person's true and natural state. I want to see how Mazao behaves in my home when I'm not around.

Therefore, I need to install surveillance cameras in my home.

Naturally, it's impossible for such a thing to be properly set up in such a short time while avoiding Ma Zao's perception. Besides, I'm not the kind of person who would keep hidden surveillance cameras in my home all the time.

So I'm going to use my superpowers here.

Back in the entryway, I turned around and stretched out my finger into the air.

I'll keep you in suspense about the specifics of my superpowers for now.

In fact, what I possess is not a complex power that needs to be concealed to this extent; on the contrary, this power is probably very simple and common in the world of superpowered individuals.

But my friend might take me to witness events related to the supernatural, and in those special circumstances, this special power might come into play. Many fantasy stories feature superpowered individuals explaining their abilities while demonstrating them to their targets; I actually yearn for that kind of scenario and want to try it out someday.

Here I will first reveal just the tip of the iceberg of my power.

An orange-red dot appeared on my fingertip, fluttering into the air like a firefly. Then came a second, a third, a fourth…

A dozen or so "fireflies" drifted one after another into every corner of the room.

These little things have a spiritual connection with me; they are my "eyes" when I am not present.

After making these arrangements, I turned around, opened the door, and said to my friends waiting outside, "Sorry to keep you waiting, let's go."

He was eager to try it out, so we went downstairs together, left the residential area, and headed towards where he lived.

I silently sensed the images and sounds in my home through the "fireflies".

The information shared by the fireflies is not strictly speaking visual or auditory information; if you had to describe it, it's like the imagination uncontrollably painting images and sounds in one's mind.

Many people have experienced having the climax of a movie replay in their mind after watching it, or having a catchy song play repeatedly in their head after listening to it. It's actually quite similar to that.

When I left, Mazao in the room didn't react at all, just sitting on the bed resting silently. But as time passed, she seemed to be fairly certain that I wouldn't be returning anytime soon, and the gentle expression on her face quickly faded, turning into a cold and numb look.

She immediately got out of bed, put on her slippers, and slowly moved to the entrance hall. She then opened the door and walked out into the hallway, looking around.

Are they preparing to run away?

I was startled and wanted to return immediately.

But before I could even turn around, she turned back into the house and closed the door behind her.

My friend noticed that my expression was off.

"Acheng, what happened?"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly felt like sneezing..."

I calmed my racing heart and continued to spy on the mysterious and beautiful girl, trying to figure out her every move.

Asaha was like a small stray dog ​​that had just been adopted by a stranger. Her back was tense, and she looked around the house, occasionally glancing back at the entrance, probably to wary of me returning on my way.

Occasionally, he would rummage through the surrounding items, pick them up, and then carefully put them back in their original place, but it didn't seem like he was specifically looking for something; it seemed like he just wanted to investigate my background.

Perhaps it wasn't just that she seemed like a mystery to me; in her eyes, I was also a mysterious figure.

Realizing this, I was somewhat pleased—was I also a "mysterious character"?

She initially reacted with extreme hostility and aggression towards me, a guy who seemed "suspicious." However, after I dealt with the police, she suddenly calmed down. I had been wondering if my act of playing the good guy had fooled her, but now I realize it was all a lie.

Her sudden change to amiable behavior was probably based on a very practical reason—I have a gun.

However, even in such a disadvantageous position, she never fawned over me. Was it because she had extraordinary integrity, or did she feel that such a drastic change in attitude would make me resentful?

Ultimately, why was she identified by the police as a serial killer?

Why was she wearing a hospital gown when I first found her? Was she previously in a hospital? Perhaps she was a patient who escaped from a mental hospital, and everything she told me was just incoherent nonsense?

I'm not in a hurry to get an answer right away. I have plenty of time ahead of me, and I want to savor this extraordinary cohabitation experience slowly.

-

My friend, looking preoccupied, led me to a nearby tea restaurant, and I immediately focused my attention on him.

"To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings later, I need to explain the whole story to you before I officially show you that thing," he said with a serious expression.

"Go ahead and say it," I gestured.

He started by asking a question: "You should remember where I live, right?"

“I remember, it’s the house where someone died,” I replied.

(End of this chapter)