Chapter 8 The Basement on the Fifteenth Floor 2

Before describing where my friend lives now, let me first talk about him.

I met him in college. His full name is Zhu Chang'an, so I call him "Chang'an". He was also a sophomore at Xianshui University. He was a handsome young man who was dressed in designer clothes.

Although his speech has been relatively normal so far, he is actually a well-known "second-generation rich kid" in the area. His father holds a high-ranking position in the government, and his family is extremely wealthy. I don't know exactly how rich they are, but it's certainly beyond the comprehension of an ordinary student like myself, and I have no interest in that kind of thing. I just occasionally hear people at school maliciously calling him "Young Master Zhu."

To say that this malice was entirely based on resentment towards the rich would be a generalization. If my reputation at school was merely that of being unconventional, then Chang'an was universally condemned; the simple explanation of resentment towards the rich is insufficient. The root of the problem lies with him.

He was a notorious troublemaker on campus. It was often said that he was arrogant and domineering because his father had a higher status, and that he caused trouble. There were even rumors that he and his cronies frequented indecent places that students shouldn't go to. Over time, he was ostracized by the vast majority of students who were morally upright.

His bad reputation actually has a hidden story; he did indeed do some bad things, and our relationship was one of misunderstanding and falling in love.

To go into the details of the story would be a long story, so let's focus on his current residence for now.

I don't know if it's true that you get influenced by your surroundings, but he, like me, had a certain interest in urban legends. And since he didn't have any close friends at school, he rented a place off-campus. Coincidentally, in an ordinary residential area near Xianshui University, there was an abandoned house where someone had died. It was located on the fifteenth floor, which is considered a high-rise apartment.

The phrase "people have died" here doesn't refer to an elderly person dying suddenly inside, or a tenant committing suicide by cutting their wrists. It refers to actual, horrific murders that have occurred there.

The incident occurred eight months ago. The previous tenant of Chang'an was found disemboweled in the bathroom by an unknown assailant; the scene was extremely gruesome, even scaring the neighbors into moving out. The killer's identity remains a mystery, and he is still at large. It's completely understandable that no one dares to rent that house.

I heard that the place was haunted at night, so I went to investigate and even stayed there for three days and three nights, but nothing happened. It's been less than two weeks since then. Afterwards, Chang'an rented it under the pretext of testing his courage and moved in in a rather frivolous manner.

"Now it seems that the house really was haunted? Or did the former tenant turn into a vengeful ghost and come after you?"

“No, no…” he shook his head repeatedly, “It’s the basement, I found the basement.”

"So it was just a basement..." I was disappointed at first, but then I noticed something was wrong. "...Wait, you just said 'basement'? In which house?"

"Yes, it's in that apartment on the fifteenth floor."

He was still shaken and began to explain the whole story to me:

The incident began the night before last when he saw videos online of others cleaning old carpets. Carpets—especially plush carpets—are prone to accumulating dirt and grime, and the video uploaders would deliberately take particularly dirty carpets out to clean and film them. So after watching, he thought of the black plush carpet in his living room.

It was something that had been in the living room since he moved in, having witnessed countless tenants. He had never paid any attention to it before, but now he was starting to have a problem with the carpet. Black is a color that doesn't easily show dirt, so it was very likely that it contained a lot of grime, perhaps even the blood of a previous tenant, without his knowledge. He wanted to replace it.

But when he lifted the carpet, something was revealed on the floor underneath that seemed out of place in everyday life.

It turned out to be a "magic circle" drawn with intricate lines using black paint.

Could it be that a previous tenant was a delusional teenager obsessed with dark magic, and this thing is a legacy of his? It's no wonder that Chang'an would have such thoughts.

Soon, he noticed another object in the magic circle that could not be ignored: a square wooden cover about one meter long and wide, embedded in the floor.

Driven by curiosity, he opened the lid.

Unexpectedly, beneath the lid lay a bottomless staircase, leading down into complete darkness.

He was immediately taken aback.

Is this a basement? But this is the fifteenth floor! Where would there be a basement on the fifteenth floor?

He quickly came to a convincing explanation—the stairs probably led to the apartment below. Just in case, he didn't go down the stairs, but instead went downstairs to inquire and, after receiving permission, went inside to check.

There were no stairs or openings in the ceiling of the apartment downstairs.

For a moment, he was gripped by indescribable fear.

That dark staircase leads to a space that does not exist in reality.

-

I was deeply drawn to his description, and my curiosity was piqued.

"Have you gone down there?"

Chang'an slammed his hand on the table and couldn't help but shout, "How could we possibly go down there!"

The staff and customers in the tea restaurant all looked at him. He coughed awkwardly and sat back down.

"In short, I haven't gone down there, and I've already moved to a nearby hotel temporarily. I really don't dare to stay there any longer," he said after calming down. "However, I haven't terminated the lease yet, and I still have the keys."

I nodded and continued, "So, have you tried illuminating the space below that staircase?"

“I tried it, and the depth below should be more than three meters. The bottom of the stairs is a gray concrete floor,” he said dejectedly. “I don’t know anything more, and I don’t dare to go down and explore.”

"Besides me, have you told anyone else about this?"

"Yes, I told my sister yesterday, but she didn't believe me."

"You mean Zhu Shi? You met with me yesterday during the day, right? You talked to Zhu Shi, but you didn't tell me?" I have a problem with that.

Zhu Shi, who is Chang'an's younger sister, is a year younger than both Chang'an and me. I had met her a few times before.

This year she entered the freshman class at Xianshui University. Unlike the infamous Chang'an, she gives people the first impression of a delicate female student, reminiscent of a stream, a clear spring, a misty lake, and other similar images, like a delicate ink painting.

It's normal that she wouldn't believe Chang'an, or rather, any normal person wouldn't believe Chang'an's account.

Chang'an quickly chuckled awkwardly twice, steer the conversation back on track, and added, "Also... when that happened the night before last, I called the police immediately."

"You called the police?" I frowned reflexively.

From my current perspective, it's really hard for me to feel safe with the police.

"And then what? You tell them that strange things have been happening in your house, and they actually come?"

“How could I just say it directly? I made up some excuse to get the police to come first. Then, after the police arrived, I lifted the carpet again in front of them, and then…” Chang’an’s face grew even more grim, “it disappeared. The wooden cover was gone, the entrance to the basement was gone without a trace, and there was only that suspicious magic circle on the floor. I was almost detained for making a false police report.”

Just then, he noticed my expression and quickly explained, "Wait, I'm really not lying to you, I really did see the basement!"

"Although I personally really want to believe you..."

In the past, many of the paranormal survivors I've visited have shared a common characteristic: they claim to have encountered paranormal phenomena on certain occasions, but when I accompany them or investigate on my own based on the clues they provide, the paranormal phenomena disappear.

Chang'an's situation at this moment is quite similar to my experiences. He claims that he has encountered strange phenomena, but only he can perceive them. When other people are present, the strange phenomena disappear on their own.

How can I possibly trust him completely?

However, he is my friend after all, and I still want to give him the most basic trust.

“Believe me! I know you’ve encountered many people who have deceived you before, which is why I didn’t talk to you at school yesterday, because I was afraid you would think I was one of them!” he said frantically. “But…but! Last night I suddenly couldn’t get over it, and I felt that, both morally and logically, I should talk to you about it. Now, you’re probably the only one who’s willing to believe me…”

"Last night, suddenly?" I caught the key point. "Approximately what time was it?"

"Huh? Um... around ten o'clock?" he said uncertainly.

That was when I first met Ma Zao.

Assuming that what Chang'an and Asaho said was true, then I should have missed the strange events that Chang'an personally experienced. However, due to Asaho's constitution that attracts disasters, Chang'an, who was far away, suddenly changed his mind and knocked on my door with clues about this event.

Chang'an's testimony has many questionable aspects, but it does, to some extent, corroborate Ma Zao's statement...

As I pondered the logic between the two events, I said to Chang'an, "Words are no proof. Take me to your residence first."

“Okay, but…” he hesitated.

I countered, "Didn't you come to me just so I could go with you to look at that house again?"

“…Yes. That’s definitely not a hallucination or nightmare I had when I was alone; it’s a real, strange phenomenon. I hope you can help me prove that…that’s roughly what I think.” He admitted it at first, then became hesitant, “But, what if it doesn’t happen this time either…”

“Just take me there,” I said firmly. “I promise, even if there’s nothing under the carpet, I won’t blame you.”

Having already said all that, he couldn't say anything more. After quickly filling our stomachs at the tea restaurant, we went to the house together.

We passed through the entrance to the residential complex, then through the security door of the building, and took the elevator all the way to the fifteenth floor. Chang'an took out his key, opened the door to the target apartment, and led me into the living room.

Despite being described as a house where someone had died, it looked no different from an ordinary house. In fact, Chang'an's recent move-in had given it a more lived-in feel. To put it simply, it had more clutter; there were a few wrinkled clothes and pants lying on the sofa, and the trash can was full of takeout boxes with leftover food scraps and rice grains.

Between the sofa and the television was the black plush carpet he mentioned. It looked like a very ordinary, old carpet with several large brown English letters drawn on it, spelling out the word "carpet".

"Then... I'm going to open it." Chang'an swallowed.

I didn't take it upon myself to open it at his house; I could only verbally urge him, "Open it."

It took him more than ten seconds to mentally prepare himself before he stepped forward, squatted down, grabbed the edge of the carpet with both hands, and suddenly yanked it off.

On the floor beneath the carpet, there was a magic circle with intricate lines drawn in dark paint.

In the center of the magic circle was a light brown wooden lid.

(End of this chapter)