CH 93

Chapter 93 – Without a Key 5

The surrounding atmosphere had clearly changed. The dark and oppressive atmosphere in the ancestral hall became stronger and stronger and the darkness almost turned into a reality, wrapping him so heavily that he couldn’t breathe. The door was clearly behind him and Lian Qiao was standing at the door. Even the candles on the incense table began to sway, as fragile as a boat in the sea, and felt as though they would be extinguished at any moment.

The more tablets Xu RenDong switches, the darker the ancestral hall becomes. It didn’t take long for it to be so dark that even the tablets on the top floor could not be seen clearly.

There were too many tablets and the relationship between the generations was chaotic. Xu RenDong occupied himself in sorting out the order and suddenly his scalp became numb. He felt that someone was looking at him from above his head. He raised his head suddenly, only to see a pitch-black nothingness, like an abyss.

It’s getting worse. He couldn’t stay here long!

Xu RenDong increased his speed. Although he was in a hurry, he knew clearly that he must not be chaotic at this time. If the order was wrong, he was afraid that the thing on top of his head would kill him on the spot.

Xu RenDong focused all his attention on the tablets. Lian Qiao suddenly said from the door: “Brother RenDong, come out quickly!”

Xu RenDong’s eyes jumped on the eighty-one tablets and his brain was running fast: “Almost, coming soon!”

Lian Qiao said anxiously: “It’s too late, the old lady is coming upstairs. It’s over!”

Xu RenDong heard the words and no longer hesitated. He immediately turned around and ran to the door. Suddenly, it was dark in front of him and he saw the two doors at the entrance of the ancestral hall begin to swing shut in front of him!

Xu RenDong was shocked. The ancestral hall became darker and darker and he felt the pressure on the top of his head obviously increased. His heart became more and more anxious. However, he was still two or three meters away from the door. Seeing that the last ray of light was about to disappear, a steel object was suddenly inserted into the crack of the gate – it was Lian Qiao’s crutch!

“Quick!” Lian Qiao’s anxious voice came from the crack of the door, “She’s coming up soon!”

With that crutch, Lian Qiao forced the door open by a dozen centimeters. The distance he pried was just enough for Xu RenDong to squeeze out and Xu RenDong squeezed through the door without hesitation.

Within an instant, Xu RenDong squeezed most of his body out of the door. Lian Qiao’s face beamed with joy. However, Xu RenDong’s expression changed – something cold quietly climbed up his back, grabbing the back of his neck and dragged him back towards the ancestral hall!

With all his strength, he moved his body out of the door and Lian Qiao freed his hand to pull him. However, the thing in the darkness refused to let go and pressed firmly on his neck, pulling him inward.

That thing was so powerful that almost the entire upper body of Xu RenDong was pulled back. Lian Qiao clung to his clothes tightly, not daring to relax in the slightest. But because of this, he couldn’t continue to use the crutches, so that the two doors pressed tightly against Xu RenDong, trapping him in the middle and making him unable to move.

Xu RenDong was so overwhelmed that he felt that his chest was about to be crushed, and the pain made him frown and bite his lips. Lian Qiao’s heart ached when he saw this. He put his crutches against his back, stepped on the door frame and, with a violent force, pried the two doors open a few inches.

At the same time, he squeezed into the crack of the door with one hand, held Xu RenDong’s shoulder tightly and used his arm as a lever to force Xu RenDong out!

“You—” Xu RenDong only had time to say this word, his body had already lost his center of gravity and he and Lian Qiao both fell to the ground. With a bang behind him, the metal crutch snapped and fell to the ground with a bang.

Lian Qiao bounced off the ground almost instantly and nervously touched Xu RenDong’s arm and chest: “Are you okay? Are you injured?”

Xu RenDong grabbed his hand and his eyes fell on his arm.

He saw a deep dent on the solid and beautiful forearm. The dent was so deep that the skin was crushed to a horrific marinade.

Xu RenDong didn’t speak, just avoided his injury and carefully helped him up. Lian Qiao had no crutches and could not stand steadily. So he could only put the barest pressure on the ground with his toes.

Xu RenDong turned to look at the stairs. There were voices coming from there.

Time was running out.

Xu RenDong turned around, grabbed Lian Qiao’s hand and put it on his shoulder.

“Come up. I’ll carry you.”

Lian Qiao hesitated for only half a second and immediately made a decision. He approached Xu RenDong’s back, kicked off with his right foot and was caught by Xu RenDong firmly until his entire person lay on his back.

Lian Qiao’s height of 1.8 meters was half a head taller than Xu RenDong and his body was stronger than the other person’s. Holding such a person on his back was really stressful. Xu RenDong shouldered his body and almost fell.

Lian Qiao immediately said: “I’d better come down.”

“Don’t move.” Xu RenDong took a deep breath, exerted strength with both hands and lifted Lian Qiao up, “Hold me tight.”

Lian Qiao knew that at this time they were out of options so he didn’t dare to move any more. He could only hug his neck tightly.

Xu RenDong tried hard to stabilize and found a hiding place as fast as possible. Just as the two people hid, a red shadow appeared on the stairs. Sure enough, it was the old lady with bound feet.

Unexpectedly, there was someone beside her.

Lian Qiao lowered his voice: “Shi JianChuan?”

Xu RenDong narrowed his eyes. Next to the old lady with little feet, it was indeed Shi JianChuan wearing a black Tang suit. He saw Shi JianChuan’s face full of spring breeze, chatting and laughing with the old lady while strolling over.

When she came to the front of the ancestral hall, the old lady seemed to notice something and her face changed suddenly. She walked fast with her little feet and, in a blink of an eye, the door of the ancestral hall was pushed open. The two doors that weighed more than a thousand feet just now were as light as nothing in her hands. The door opened in response with a “squeaking” sound. The red shadow flashed and the old lady had already jumped into the hall.

Her movements were as vigorous as an eagle swooping in, not at all like an old lady with bound feet.

Shi JianChuan glanced at the cane with interest, then folded his arms and leaned lazily against the pillar, as if he was waiting to watch a play.

There was a ping-pong-pong sound in the ancestral hall, probably something on the incense case that hit the ground. The old lady searched the ancestral hall for a while, but when she didn’t see anyone, she withdrew. She folded her hands and bowed to the tablets a few times, then closed the door again.

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao hid not far away, frightened. Fortunately, they hid early, if they were caught by the old lady, it’s afraid they would have died by now.

Shi JianChuan was still leaning against the pillar, smiling. Seeing the old lady come out, he said something with a smile. Surprisingly, when the old lady heard his words, she immediately smiled as if she had forgotten all the things that happened just now.

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao looked at each other, thinking in their hearts: This is really not easy.

While the old lady and Shi JianChuan were talking, Xu Ren Dong and Lian Qiao carefully bypassed the ancestral hall and went downstairs in the opposite direction.

Lian Qiao has no crutches and it was inconvenient to move. Xu RenDong held his shoulders and returned to the room step by step. Lian Qiao was afraid that he would struggle, so he tried his best to land on the ground with his right foot. When he returned to the room, Xu RenDong was fine but Lian Qiao was out of breath.

He was sweating profusely. It was unknown if it was from tiredness or pain. Xu RenDong saw it and his heart twitched.

If he had known this, he should have committed suicide at random on the day of his accident…

As soon as this thought flashed in his heart, Xu RenDong was immediately shocked. He thought of a question:

If he died in the real world, would he be resurrected in an elevator?

He dared not to try to answer this question.

The two rested for a while and Lian Qiao suddenly said: “Brother RenDong, do you think that Shi JianChuan deliberately lured the old woman away so that we could go into the ancestral hall to explore?”

Xu RenDong put down the teacup in his hand and wrinkled his forehead. He thought that there might be some truth to what Lian Qiao was saying.

Last night, Shi JianChuan hinted that there was something unusual to him about the ninth floor. He always thought it was in reference to the ancestral hall. But according to the old lady with bound feet, Shi JianChuan had never entered the ancestral hall. Then the hint should not refer to the things in the ancestral hall.

Perhaps when Shi JianChuan wanted to enter the ancestral hall, he was also blocked by the old lady with bound feet. But he was alone and did not dare to take risks lightly. So while everyone was exploring the tulou, he tried to lure the old lady away so that others could enter the ancestral hall.

“However, would he really be so kind?” Xu RenDong pondered, “I always feel that things will not be so simple.” 

The two discussed the next countermeasures. First of all, they had to find something to replace the crutches, otherwise since Lian Qiao was lame and encountered danger, he wouldn’t be able to run away. They had to find a way to enter the ancestral hall again. There was also a circular pool in the middle of the lower hall. The water is so deep and bottomless that it always makes people feel that there is something hidden underneath. For better or worse, they had to see it.

Just as he was thinking about this, there was a knock on the door.

Xu RenDong opened the door with a “squeak” and saw a beautiful maid salute him. She said with a smile: “The master told me to tell the two that a banquet has been set up on the xiatang square and is ready to welcome the guests. Please wash up first and don’t look down on the poor food. You must be sure to come.”

Xu RenDong said, “I see”, then closed the door and returned.

Lian Qiao pouted and said, “Who dares to eat this banquet?”

Xu RenDong didn’t speak yet. Lian Qiao tilted his head for a while and then muttered to himself: “But it’s hard to say…”

Xu RenDong: “You’re afraid like last time, the body will lose control?”

Lian Qiao nodded.

Xu RenDong said: “You can’t hide in here. Let’s go.” 

When the two of them went out, they saw a person walking out of a room on the opposite earth building. That was one of the few survivors. The incident last night caused heavy losses to the entire team and now there are only a dozen or so people left. Most of them are girls.

Xu RenDong noticed that all the dead rooms had disappeared. The original location of the door became a gray wall, as if the room never existed. The maids who were standing at the door were nowhere to be seen. So there are only a dozen or so rooms left in the entire nine-story tulou, which appeared extremely irregular from a distance.

Compared with the neat red lanterns under the eaves, it looks even more bizarre. Even in the daytime, it appeared ghostly.

When Lian Qiao walked to the stairs, he suddenly noticed something and turned his head and said “Huh”.

Xu RenDong: “What’s wrong?”

Lian Qiao turned around and limped towards the railing. He raised his hand and touched the red lantern under the eaves: “Why doesn’t this lantern light up?”