Chapter 54 A Glimpse into a Century-Old Secret Item ① Fengmen Village. A One-Month Agreement. ...
Jiang Wuyang arrived on a motorcycle. A very cool matte black heavy motorcycle. He secured the suitcase, slung his long legs over it, and raised his eyebrows at her, "Let's go, Sister Yin, I'll take you to the hotel."
Lan Shuyin had booked the same hotel she stayed at last time, but Jiang Wuyang said that the Chang family had already arranged the Peninsula Hotel suite, the most luxurious hotel in the city.
"Uncle Chang said that he had offended you, Sister Yin, before and was embarrassed to contact you directly, but he insisted that I arrange the best."
Lan Shuyin remained noncommittal, neither believing nor disbelieving. She was happy to save money and worry since someone was offering such convenience.
The motorcycle weaved through the bright afternoon streets before finally stopping in front of the hotel. After dropping off her luggage, Jiang Wuyang urged her to leave. However, instead of going directly to the Haitao Building, they went first to a well-regarded, long-established tea restaurant.
"The shrimp dumplings and honey-glazed char siu at this restaurant are absolutely amazing." Jiang Wuyang ordered with practiced ease, "Let's grab a bite before we head out."
The piping hot dishes were quickly served. The translucent shrimp dumplings had thin wrappers and were generously filled; biting into them revealed whole, fresh, sweet, and bouncy shrimp. The char siu had a crispy exterior and a tender, juicy interior, with just the right amount of honey sweetness. Even the simple stir-fried beef noodles were full of wok hei (wok aroma), smooth and delicious.
Lan Shuyin slowly took a bite of the char siu, then looked up at him. "How's your brother?"
Jiang Wuyang paused, holding his chopsticks, and said with a wry smile, "Although I'm not feeling well, I will definitely take you to see him tomorrow, at the latest tomorrow."
“Okay.” She nodded. “Then let’s find Chang Jingyu first.”
"But Sister Yin, what if she really is trapped in the threshold space..."
"Then why did you come to me? To share your troubles?"
"No!" Jiang Wuyang hurriedly explained, "I just felt that you definitely had a way. And I don't believe in any threshold space at all!"
He glanced around and lowered his voice, "I saw a door on the fourth floor that was emitting black smoke. I suspect someone used some kind of secret method to lock Chang Jingyu inside."
"You didn't tell the Chang family about this?"
“I did tell them…” Jiang Wuyang said dejectedly, “I went to check right away. There was a storage room behind the door, and they thought I was seeing things. But Sister Yin, believe me, my eyes have never been wrong…”
Lan Shuyin pondered for a moment and said, "Let's see what happens."
After finishing their meal, Jiang Wuyang volunteered to pay the bill, grabbed a preserved plum candy from the front desk and gave it to her, before heading to Haitao Building.
The elevator indicator lights in the underground parking garage are on.
As Jiang Wuyang walked with her into the elevator car, he explained, "This elevator wasn't very reliable to begin with, but the Chang family had it inspected these past two days."
Lan Shuyin raised her hand and pressed the button for the [23rd] floor, asking, "Is anyone in the control room?"
"There are two security guards, also from the Chang family. They are required to monitor every move in the building 24 hours a day."
The elevator ascended smoothly and quickly reached the top floor. It was still the same abandoned office area, but it seemed to have been cleaned up a bit; the corridors weren't as dirty and messy as before.
The control room was brightly lit, and two security guards, both young, in their early twenties, sat there. Upon seeing Jiang Wuyang, they immediately stood up and called him "Brother."
All the surveillance screens have been restored to normal operation; they are so densely packed that it's impossible to tell which area is which at a glance. All damaged equipment has also been replaced.
Looking at the newly renovated control room, Lan Shuyin understood that the "mysterious person" from that night was now impossible to find.
However, that's not something we should be considering right now.
Just as Lan Shuyin was about to push open the narrow door inside, a security guard said, "The elevator inside is under maintenance and cannot be used."
Jiang Wuyang then said, "Sister Yin, let's use the one outside and let them control it up to the 4th floor."
Lan Shuyin thought for a moment and said to him, "You stay here, I'll go alone."
Jiang Wuyang was taken aback, and immediately objected, "Huh? How can that be? Besides, you don't even know where that door is..."
Lan Shuyin simply shook her head. "Listen to me."
She had seen that "unfinished space," but Jiang Wuyang hadn't. Having this coward around would only interfere with their judgment; it would be better for him to do something practical and useful.
Without further delay, Lan Shuyin walked out of the control room, crossed the corridor, and quickly stepped into the elevator.
The voice call connected. Jiang Wuyang's voice came through quickly, "Sister Yin, we're preparing to take the elevator to the 4th floor."
Lan Shuyin put the Bluetooth earphones on securely, stuffed her phone into her pocket, and then touched the equipment she carried before saying, "Okay."
A moment later, the elevator descended smoothly and stopped on the 4th floor.
The staircase door slid open, revealing a dark, unfinished space.
Exposed concrete walls, empty corridors, silhouettes stretching into the distance…
Although I had expected it, my heart still skipped a beat when I faced this scene that seemed frozen in time again.
"Sister Yin?" Jiang Wuyang's puzzled voice came through the earphone.
She snapped out of her daze and casually pressed a button for a certain floor.
The elevator doors slowly closed and began to ascend.
"Sister Yin? Where are you going?" Jiang Wuyang's voice was clearly confused.
“Go down to the fourth floor.” She said succinctly.
"oh……"
Although puzzled, Jiang Wuyang did as instructed.
The elevator stopped, then started moving again. The destination was still the 4th floor.
Stop and open the door.
Outside the door, the scene remained the same quiet, unfinished landscape, as if time had fallen into a cycle.
This was repeated four times.
Jiang Wuyang finally couldn't hold back any longer, "Sister Yin, what exactly are you testing? Why don't you go outside?"
Lan Shuyin sighed inwardly. It wasn't that she didn't want to go out, but that she couldn't. Although she wasn't sure if Jiang Wuyang and the others could see what was happening outside through the surveillance cameras, she didn't want to make a rash decision and never return.
She took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Continue, go to the fourth floor."
There was silence in the headphones.
But the elevator started running again.
Buzz—
Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and saw it was a message from Wei Li, asking where she was.
Remembering his disheveled appearance last night, Lan Shuyin hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head and typed a few words when she suddenly realized that the signal had disappeared.
...Never mind, I'll think about it later. She thought to herself.
"bite--"
The elevator stopped again on the 4th floor, and the doors slowly slid open to both sides.
Lan Shuyin's heart jumped.
However, this time, the scene outside the door finally changed.
What comes into view is no longer an unchanging, unfinished space, but a seemingly normal abandoned office floor.
"I've arrived," she said instinctively into her earpiece, only to remember the signal problem after she finished speaking.
But just then, a very soft, low sneer came through the earphones.
That laughter... sinister, disdainful, and with a hint of inhuman coldness—it was exactly the same as the laughter from that unknown phone call earlier!
Lan Shuyin's face went numb instantly while wearing headphones.
At the same time, an extremely eerie sense of unease gripped her. The thick, sticky air rushed towards her; there was no visible light source, yet the light was dim and evenly distributed…
There are also dusty workstations, scattered documents... and even a potted plant that has long since withered in every corner.
Every detail presents what an "abandoned office floor" should look like, yet it also exudes a deliberately created unnatural stillness.
This is not the unease brought about by the unknown, but rather an instinctive sense of isolation as if the whole world is being quietly stripped away.
Something's not right!
Lan Shuyin almost immediately wanted to go back into the elevator.
However, the already closed stairwell doors remained motionless. A slightly pale face was reflected in the metal panel. She pounded on the external call button, but there was no response.
She took out her phone—there was no signal, but the voice call interface was still lit up, and the timer numbers were still relentlessly ticking.
I've been scammed.
This realization flashed through her mind in an instant, and Lan Shuyin practically spat out the name through gritted teeth:
"Ginger, without, illness—"
The call was unilaterally cut off the next second.
A deathly silence fell over the surroundings.
At this moment, Lan Shuyin was indeed a little flustered.
She finally realized that the unfinished space was the reality, while the seemingly normal office floor in front of her was a trap.
It was her preconceived notions, coupled with Jiang Wuyang's well-timed words, that led her to willingly step into what might have been a carefully prepared trap.
Lan Shuyin was extremely annoyed.
Despite having long suspected Jiang Wuyang of being suspicious, she still let her guard down and fell into his trap.
Looking back now, from the moment he picked her up from the airport, that guy deliberately arranged the pace so tightly that he didn't give her any chance to breathe or think things through, probably because he was afraid she would realize what was going on.
No wonder he was so attentive to her and offered her a meal just now; it turns out that this meal was her last meal before she was executed!
What exactly is his purpose?
How dare they scheme against her like this? Wait until she gets out... A cold glint flashed in Lan Shuyin's eyes as she forced herself to calm down.
Now is not the time for anger. The priority is to find a way out.
The threshold space is ultimately just a legend. Besides, even the strangest place must have its rules and flaws. This place may not really be without a way out.
With that thought in mind, Lan Shuyin calmed her rapid breathing, cleared her mind of distractions, and began to explore this seemingly normal, yet strangely quirky, abandoned office floor.
...
Inside the control room, Jiang Wuyang leaned back in his chair, his face devoid of any of his usual cheerful and sunny disposition.
He stared blankly at the image of the empty elevator car on the main screen, his pupils filled with gloom.
"Brother..." A security guard, steeling himself, cautiously held the phone closer, "It's Ms. Chang on the phone."
Jiang Wuyang slowly shifted his gaze from the screen to the constantly flashing name, his face remaining expressionless. He reached out and took it.
"Jiang Wuyang! When are you going to give me back my phone?!"
As soon as the call connected, Chang Jingyu's angry questioning voice rang out, exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
However, Jiang Wuyang's voice was very calm, "What's the rush?"
"You stole my phone yesterday and went to tell my dad all sorts of nonsense, which got him to lock me up until now! What exactly do you want?"
"Are you lacking food and clothing?"
"Are you... doing this for Sister Yin?" Chang Jingyu keenly caught his evasive intentions and her tone suddenly rose. "You took my phone because you were afraid I would contact her, right? Just because I saw her photos from her university days on your phone... Jiang Wuyang, Sister Yin will never like a stalker like you!"
"Chang Jingyu." His voice suddenly turned cold. "Don't get in the way. Otherwise, your grandfather's remaining days will be counted in days." He hung up the call and threw the phone back to the security guard.
Silence returned to the control room, and the two security guards looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.
Jiang Wuyang turned his gaze back to the monitor screen, the empty elevator car reflected in his dark pupils, unfathomable.
...
Lan Shuyin walked through the cluttered workstations. The office doors on both sides of the corridor were all closed, all with the same style—dull, dark brown wooden doors. Each door had a metal serial number, most of them heavily rusted and the writing blurred.
Only one door was ajar.
Lan Shuyin gripped the tactical pen in her hand and gently pushed the door open with the tip of the pen cap.
It was a cramped bathroom. In the corner, just like outside, sat a withered potted plant. The mirror was dusty, with faint fingerprints on it, seemingly forming a single word…
sound?
Unsure. She reached out, trying to trace the mark.
However, the moment their fingertips touched the cold mirror surface, a chilling coldness crept into their bodies.
The dust on the mirror quickly dissipated, and at the same time, the face reflected in the mirror also quickly lost its color, turning into a lifeless bluish-gray.
Even more chilling was that "her" empty eyes moved slightly, and suddenly the corners of her mouth slowly stretched to the sides, pulling out a strange and stiff smile at her.
Damn it, another trap?
She was being tricked, each time more outrageous than the last. Lan Shuyin was furious. She instinctively clenched her fists, only to find herself unable to move.
That bone-chilling cold penetrated my lungs and spread wildly along my blood vessels like a living thing, freezing even my thoughts wherever it went.
Just as her consciousness was about to be completely swallowed up, everything went black before her eyes, and she felt her body fall straight backward.
There was no impact; instead, there was a feeling of weightlessness as she plummeted downwards. It was as if she were crashing through layer after layer of hard ice, countless sharp, piercing icicles piercing her body as she fell, a series of bizarre, fragmented images flashing before her eyes…
Finally, my field of vision was completely filled by an incredibly clear and enormous image—
...
Feng Zhizhao opened her eyes with a start, her heart still pounding.
She had never slept soundly since childhood, often waking up with a startled feeling of weightlessness as she fell. Just now, she had taken a nap leaning against this large rock, and that familiar feeling of falling had returned.
Sigh, I wish I could get a good night's sleep someday.
She rubbed her sore neck, her faded indigo coarse cloth dress stained with a few bits of grass, and her simply styled hair was a little loose.
Looking up, the sun was already setting in the west, casting a golden hue over the mountains.
In the second year of the Xuantong reign, life in the mountains became increasingly difficult. The heavy taxes and levies were suffocating people. This spring, a drought struck, and the rice seedlings in the fields withered and drooped, making a harvest seem impossible.
The people of Fengmen Village are whispering among themselves that the strange stone statues that appeared on the mountain at some unknown time are the culprits.
Since she had decided to settle in this village, she decided to go up the mountain herself to find out what was going on.
She brushed the dust off her clothes and slowly made her way up the steep mountain path. The higher she climbed, the sparser the vegetation became, revealing large expanses of grayish-brown rock. The mountain wind howled through the air, carrying a pungent, earthy smell.
After rounding a bend in the mountain, she stopped and squinted as she looked ahead.
Sure enough, not far ahead on the edge of a cliff, there stood a huge, gray-black rock that resembled a python.
The stone snake raised its head, facing the village below the mountain. Its surface, eroded by wind and rain, was pitted and uneven, giving it a cold and eerie feel in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Several villagers wearing patched short jackets were kneeling and praying to the stone snake from a distance, muttering incantations, their expressions filled with awe and fear.
Feng Zhizhao couldn't help but click her tongue.
She left home at the age of twelve, but from a young age she was very familiar with the legends of mountain spirits, monsters, and earth spirits. The giant rock before her was both lifelike and spiritually complete, a masterpiece of nature. The faint, flowing light on the surface of the rock was clearly a sign that it could already absorb and expel the yin energy of the earth's veins—this was not an earth spirit, but rather something that was about to cultivate into a human.
No wonder Fengmen Village has suffered continuous disasters in recent years; it's likely that the vitality and fortune of this land have been unknowingly drained away by this local spirit. If left unchecked, once it fully develops sentience and takes human form, it will probably be difficult to control.
The villagers' kneeling and worship were not only useless, but their fearful and apprehensive thoughts actually fueled its transformation.
Feng Zhizhao patiently waited until the villagers left anxiously before slowly strolling to the boulder.
She looked up at the raised snake head, and cut to the chase, her voice clear and fearless, "Hey, little snake. Let me ask you something. If you were to cultivate into a human, would you stay here peacefully and guard this mountain, or would you harm people?"
All around, only the mountain wind howled, and the giant rocks remained silent.
"Not speaking?" Feng Zhizhao nodded, as if she had received an answer. "Then that means you'll harm people."
As she spoke, she flicked her wrist and pulled out a bronze mace, no more than a foot long, from her bag. This was one of the few old items she had taken with her when she left home.
Ordinary knives and axes are useless against this stone spirit on the verge of taking form. Exploding it with gunpowder would be a clean solution, but unfortunately, she had nowhere to get any. So, there was another makeshift method: breaking its condensed "spiritual core." Ancient texts record that this spiritual core is usually the place where its physical form and the earth's energy are most concentrated, which is…
Feng Zhi Zhaoyin swept her gaze across the stone tongue, finally landing on a slightly darker area about seven inches below it.
This is the place.
She gripped the bronze mace tightly, ready to thrust it down with all her might—
"No...please..."
A faint, trembling, childlike, and desperate plea drifted into her ears without warning, or rather, it seemed to resonate directly in her mind.
Feng Zhizhao paused, a blurry image flashing through her mind. She pursed her lips, suppressing the strange feeling, and spoke coldly to the boulder, "Was it you who spoke?"
“...Yes.” That childish, fearful voice rang out again.
“Even if I let you go today, it won’t be long before the government or someone else comes knocking on our door. Will you beg for mercy then?” Feng Zhizhao held the bronze mace tightly, waiting for her to continue.
The voice, trembling with sobs, pleaded urgently, "One month! Please grant me one month! Then I can shed my stone form and solidify into a human body... At that time, I will leave on my own and never again touch this place!"
Seeing that Feng Zhizhao did not respond, it hurriedly added, its tone filled with a desperate plea, "I, I swear on my own spiritual foundation! If it is granted, not only will I leave immediately, but I will also give back to this land and its people, returning all the life force I have absorbed over the years... bringing this place good weather and abundant harvests, and the next ten years will surely be a bountiful year!"
"OK."
Feng Zhi Zhaoyin put the mace into her sleeve, turned around and left.
However, on the day the one-month period was about to end, a group of soldiers suddenly arrived at Fengmen Village.
Those men were dressed in uniform dark gray uniforms, carrying foreign guns on their shoulders, and each of them had a cold and stern expression.
The tall, thin man in the lead wore round glasses and introduced himself as a specialist from the "Special Phenomena Handling Section under the Imperial Observatory." He spoke in a refined manner, but his eyes were cold.
The village was immediately in an uproar. When Father Feng stumbled and crawled to the stream, Feng Zhizhao was drying medicinal herbs with Mother Feng and her six sisters.
"Oh no! The officials are here! They say that rock on the back mountain is a demon, and they're going to bring in gunpowder to blow it up!"
Feng Zhi Zhaoyin's hand paused slightly.
She recalled the innocent plea from Shi Ling a month ago. Having agreed to a one-month deadline, there was still half a day left before the deadline.
Thinking of this, she put down the herbs in her hand, turned around and hurried out of the village. Not to return to the village, but to take a shortcut and block the only entrance to the mountain path leading to Stone Snake Cliff before the soldiers could go up the mountain.
The path is narrow and treacherous, with steep cliffs on one side and a deep ravine shrouded in mist on the other.
The soldiers stopped in their tracks when she blocked their way. The bespectacled commissioner squinted and looked her up and down. "Young lady, why are you blocking our way? We are investigating a case, eliminating evil spirits, and protecting this area. Please do us a favor."
Feng Zhizhao stood in the middle of the road, the mountain wind whipping around her, making her faded coarse cloth clothes cling tightly to her body. Her trousers were neatly tucked into her leggings, revealing a pair of old cloth shoes stained with mud. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, with delicate and bright features, but her complexion was somewhat rough from years of travel.
She looked worried. "Adults, it might not be appropriate to go up the mountain at this time."
The commissioner frowned: "Is there something wrong?"
"Judging from the sky, it's bound to pour down in less than half an incense stick's time." She pointed to the horizon. "The mountain path is steep, and it will be even more slippery and difficult to traverse after the rain. These things you've brought..." Her gaze swept over the explosive boxes and pickaxes carried by the soldiers behind her, "...what if they slip and fall down with their belongings? Wouldn't that be a loss for the government?"
The commissioner looked up at the sky but saw few dark clouds. He asked suspiciously, "How do you know there's going to be a downpour soon?"
Feng Zhizhao said matter-of-factly, “My family has lived in the mountains for generations. I dare not say anything else, but we do have the ability to observe clouds and predict the weather. If you do not believe me, please wait a moment.”
She calmly sat down on a large rock by the roadside, giving off an air of "If you insist on going through, you'll have to bear the consequences."
All she could do was try her best to delay the deadline by half a day.
The commissioner was skeptical. He looked up at the sky again, then looked down at the narrow, treacherous path beneath his feet, barely wide enough for one person, and the deep, misty valley beside him. In the end, he hesitated.
He certainly didn't dare risk his soldiers and these valuable weapons.
Time slipped away second by second in this silent stalemate.
About fifteen minutes later, the sky darkened at a visible speed, with thick dark clouds rolling in from behind the mountains, accompanied by faint thunder.
Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the sky. It shook everyone's internal organs.
Immediately afterwards, a blinding bolt of lightning shot up from the direction of the Stone Snake Cliff behind the mountain, like an enraged purple lightning dragon, fiercely tearing through the dark rain curtain and illuminating the entire mountain range in a ghastly white light!
The commissioner was stunned at first, looking up at the illogical lightning, his pupils behind his round glasses suddenly contracting.
"No... this is no ordinary lightning!" he cried out, his composure vanishing, replaced by a twisted expression of horror and urgency. "This is... the Transformation Lightning Tribulation! That stone spirit is forcibly breaking through the final barrier. If it survives this, it will truly become a force to be reckoned with and will be impossible to control!"
He disregarded the treacherous mountain path and the torrential rain, abruptly turning to the group and shouting, "Quick! Everyone, keep up! We must get here before it survives the lightning tribulation, or the consequences will be dire!"
After saying that, he pushed aside the soldier who was trying to hold an umbrella for him and, braving the torrential rain, staggered up the mountain.
The officers and soldiers dared not delay, hurriedly shouldered the heavy equipment, and followed in a disheveled manner.
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