Chapter 740 A Big Fire
Zou Yiluan and the other two looked at each other, completely bewildered.
"Is there...is there any explanation for this?"
"Generally speaking, the number of steps inside a building is fixed, and it's rare for different floors to have different numbers of steps. Especially this number..."
What's wrong with this number?
"What is twelve plus one?"
"Thirteen."
"That's right, it's thirteen. Thirteen sounds like 'lost' in Chinese." Just hearing this meaning, you know it's not a good thing.
“But that doesn’t make sense,” a tall, burly young man following behind Zou Yiluan interjected. “In my hometown, many staircases have thirteen steps, and I’ve never heard of anyone having this taboo.”
"The situation you described includes the ground floor and the platform on the upper floor, which strictly speaking would be level fifteen."
The young man suddenly realized, "Oh, I see."
Zou Yiluan's expression turned serious as he steered the conversation back to the main topic: "So, is this level thirteen...?"
"It is said that in some places, there are twelve steps during the day, but at night, they become thirteen steps."
Zou Yiluan and the others subconsciously turned their heads to look. Just as they were speaking, the setting sun withdrew its last rays and completely disappeared behind the edge of the mountains.
As night falls, darkness envelops the earth.
Realizing this, the group shuddered.
What would happen if I stepped onto this step?
"You might see some things you haven't seen before." Ye Wanxi said, turning to look at the three of them. "Do you still want to go up? If not, I'll take you down now."
Logically speaking, given this strange situation, and the fact that they've all reached this point, going down shouldn't be so easy.
Fortunately, neither Ye Wanxi nor the other person had stepped onto the steps yet, so there should still be a way to get them down.
Although Zou Yiluan and the others were panicked, they were not happy to hear Ye Wanxi's words.
"Going down now would be deserting in the face of battle, wouldn't it? No, we'll go with you."
"Yes, together. We've already come this far, what's the point of turning back? If the other brothers find out, they'll laugh at us to death!"
They all made the same decision, so Ye Wanxi and the other woman couldn't persuade them any further. They simply handed each of them a peace charm and then stepped onto the thirteenth step.
Zou Yiluan and the others were initially worried that Ye Wanxi's mysterious words might lead to an awkward situation if nothing happened after they stepped on the stairs.
Who would have thought that as soon as they stepped on it, they felt dizzy and the world spun around them. When they opened their eyes again, everything in front of them had turned black and white!
"Holy shit!" The three of them almost simultaneously cursed in their minds.
Before they could react, someone came over to greet them.
"You lot, what are you doing, slacking off?"
The three of them: "???"
As soon as Ye Wanxi and Jiang Linpu stepped into this place, they knew it must be an illusion. All they could see was a large but cramped office hall.
To be precise, it was an extremely rudimentary cage.
A layer of ash was casually applied to the brick and mud wall, making it look simple and rough.
Ye Wanxi glanced at the environment and the structure of the building and recognized that this place should be the empty shell building they had visited before.
This lobby should be on... the fourth floor?
It's called an office hall, but it's actually just a large room divided into workstations by simple wooden boards.
The hall was packed with nearly thirty people. Apart from a dozen or so people who were stuck at their workstations making phone calls, the remaining dozen or so people were either standing guard at the stairwell, seemingly keeping watch, or sitting on chairs or sofas not far away, their shrewd eyes fixed on the dozen or so people working, revealing a hint of gloom and coldness.
Zou Yiluan and the others didn't realize what was going on until one of the female staff members was pulled by the hair and thrown to the ground by a burly man who stood up from the sofa.
"You bitch! What nonsense were you spouting on the phone? Trying to get them to call the police? Believe me, I'll kill you right now!"
"Alright, alright, just drag her in and give her a beating, then starve her for a few days. I bet she'll behave. Everyone's like that when they first come in; they'll gradually become obedient."
Upon hearing this, Zou Yiluan immediately understood that this was actually a pyramid scheme operation! And judging from the number of people involved, it was definitely a large operation!
The woman screamed, but those in this line of work had no intention of showing mercy. The burly man grabbed her hair and shoved her into a cramped, dark room next to the hall.
The others in the hall either looked reluctant but ultimately cowered and remained silent, or their faces were numb, as if it were none of their business.
No one stood up for her, and no one pleaded for her.
The dull thuds of fists hitting people and the woman's shrill screams soon came from inside.
Zou Yiluan and the others felt their fists harden as they listened, but ultimately they were unable to stop this evil act.
Ye Wanxi and the other person guessed something from this, their eyes flashed slightly, and they continued to observe.
After this little incident, Ye Wanxi and the others keenly sensed the subtle atmosphere in the hall, which might also be the perpetrator's purpose.
Instead of taking the woman away to deal with her, they chose to punish her so close by, to make everyone understand how terrible the consequences of trying to escape would be, thus intimidating them and making them obediently cooperate so they would never dare to have any other thoughts.
The burly man who emerged from the dark room quickly forgot about the dying woman. He lit a cigarette and chatted with his companions, boasting about how much of a womanizer he was in his youth. He was then called away by a few other people.
The burly man, who left quickly, did not notice that the cigarette ash he had left behind, still carrying sparks, struck the newly photocopied documents on the ground and quickly burned a small round hole in them.
The hole quietly expanded and then ignited the other papers on the other side at an extremely fast speed.
The victim closest to these papers watched this scene, his face numb as he chose to remain silent.
The flickering flames reflected in his eyes, adding a touch of life to his blank face.
Fire is something you don't realize when you light it, but once it's really burning, it's not so easy to control.
By the time the people guarding outside realized something was wrong, it was too late.
This building was already remote and simple, and there were no so-called protective facilities.
Once the fire starts, it's impossible to put it out.
People inside screamed and ran out in the chaos. Those guarding outside were caught off guard and, instead of thinking about how to put out the fire, rushed to catch the young people who were trying to escape in the confusion.
In an instant, screams, running sounds, and curses mingled together, and the building was in complete chaos.
The most terrifying thing is that at this time, no one remembered the woman who was locked in the dark room and was on the verge of death.
(End of this chapter)
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